Wow, didn't know the full story surrounding the Helicobacter pylorii......
And I was going to suggest reading some Husserl too.
Cheers
Fernando.
on 25/06/2005 08:19, Andrew Fildes at afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, wrote:
>
> Read Karl Popper and then Thomas Kuhn - then you begin to question
> the whole notion of 'scientific method' and value free scientific
> research. Most scientific workers simply are not doing what they
> think that they are doing. Of course, understanding that problem
> doesn't really get you anywhere either.
> Science is a cultural artifact - that which challenges the
> conventional wisdom of the dominant group (COWDUNG) doesn't get
> funded and those who suggest it get crushed as mad persons.
> My favorite example in the medical vein is the (Australian) medical
> researcher who discovered Helicobacter pylorii, the bug that causes
> most gastric ulcers. Every physician had been taught that bacteria
> could not survive the gastric environment and the pharmaceutical
> industry had a massive investment in medications that merely
> alleviated symptoms. It's hard to make a big profit out of a one
> week, two dose treatment. The researcher in question was punished
> with ten years of derision and obstruction. Even now that it has been
> widely accepted, his career is damaged and he remains an minor
> academic at a minor university. I can't even remember his bloody
> name! He will NEVER be forgiven for being right.
> AndrewF
>
>
> On 25/06/2005, at 4:18 PM, Moose wrote:
>
>> So while there are certainly venal, weak and otherwise unworthy
>> scientists, there are also many who are true and pure of heart, but
>> it's
>> a really complicated universe and some of them will still do
>> inadequate
>> and incaccurate work. And that's the way the world is, always has been
>> and is likely to remain.
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