Science, communication, society.
Science is a specific collective human activity (Hull 1988). It is about acquiring an understanding of the world that is of practical value. It is different from both commerce and ideology and hence its practice in society has to be controlled by a separate set of rules and behavioral norms. Exchange of information and opinions among practitioners of science is crucial to its progress. Results of scientific research are useless unless they are communicated to other scientists and the public at large.
Presentation by scientists of the results of their research to others, be the work academic or industrial, is thus essential to the scientific enterprise. Because the nature of scientific work, at least according to Karl Popper (1972), is to approach the truth through a series of increasingly accurate or useful approximations, no piece of research can be held to be definitive. All results are transitional and approximative. Although scientists strive for perfection, by the very nature of their endeavor they cannot achieve perfection. It follows that neither a paper presenting new results of observation or theory nor a proposal for a new investigation can be perfect. They can only be “good enough.” Of course, any success is a consequence of good planning as explained by https://rdxtricks.com/mount-everest-how-to-plan-and-pay-this-trip/, and only proper allocation of their working time will lead to a good result. One of the paradoxes of science, which purports to measure various phenomena with great precision, is that it cannot define a precise measurement of “good enough.” Assessment of what “enough” means is left to the judgement of individual scientists. Hence nonspecialists who cannot reach an informed opinion about some theory or discovery often tend to be guided by the consensus opinion of specialists.
Leaving assessment of research results and theories to the judgement of individuals, however well informed in a particular field of expertise, introduces a factor of subjective opinion into seemingly objective science. The ancient Greeks, who originated science as a specific endeavor based on logical argument and empirical tests, realized its susceptibility to subjective opinions. The Greek way of dealing with possibly biased opinions was to conduct open debates between scientists, to produce mathematically exact descriptions and to run empirical tests of statements made by learned persons. Broad discussion and empirical testing were the foundations of learning. Sometimes these were taken too far, as for example in Hellenistic Alexandria, where curious scientists conducted vivisections on condemned criminals (Persaud 1984). Roman ethics put an end to such practices and even forbade dissections of deceased humans. In Roman times, learning became more dependent on written texts than on observation of nature and theoretical arguments. Sanctity of the written word was entrenched by medieval European scholastics.
