The Twilight of the Scientific Age

Martín López Corredoira: The Twilight of the Scientific Age

Several topics within History/Philosophy/Sociology of Science are discussed, to argue that fundamental research is in decline. 
Some of the problems of science nowadays, which constitute some symptoms of the decline of the culture, are: First, the society is drowned in huge amounts of knowledge. Most of it is about research of little importance to progress the world view or produces no advances in the basic fundamentals of pure science. Instead, people invent countless technical applications or investigate secondary details. Second, in the few fields where some important aspects of unsolved questions have arisen, powerful groups of administrators of science control the flow of information. They have inherent biases resulting in a preference for consensus truths, rather than having objective discussions within a scientific methodology. This process gives few guarantees that people are obtaining solid new truths about nature. Finally, should the current scientific process continue the way it is, individual creativity is condemned to disappear. Indeed, truly creative scientists are substituted by large corporations of administrators and politicians of science specialised in searching ways of getting money from States in megaprojects with increasing costs and diminishing returns.

Tieteiden talo, Hall 104

3.6.2024

18.00-19.45

Free entry

In English