The Science of Wanting Something to Be True

20051223

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179580,00.html

         For those who have not followed the story of the South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, the basic story is that he is a stem cell researcher who recently announced breakthrough advancements in stem cell research through scholarly publication who has now had to withdraw that research because significant portions of it were fabricated to produce and artificial results.

         It is ironic that this case is in the headlines at the same time as the triumphant declarations of the defeat of Intelligent Design in US Federal Court because it shows us that there is, in fact, another side to the scientific debate that many scientists wish would not show its face. The fact is that sometimes, perhaps more often than is publicly revealed, the result of scientific pursuit is not scientific discovery but the desire of the researcher.

         Within that reality lies my questions to the modern scientific community, as I have previously posted. Within the controversy surrounding Hwang Woo-suk is the essence of supposition science and its almost inevitable result. How do scientists who presume or want something to be true avoid eventually doing anything to prove their desire?

         The problem is a lack of true objectivity. A scientific hypothesis may or may not be true, but as long as the scientist researching that hypothesis remains objective, the truth will be revealed. Once such objectivity ceases, the truth becomes obscured.

         If the scientific community wants to back up its claims to theories like evolution or the benefits of stem cell research, then it would do well to return to the objectivity that prevents disasters like the current South Korean stem cell debacle. The alternative is more disasters and less truth, and that harms everyone, regardless of what they believe to be true.

DLH