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Old 04-10-2007, 12:21 AM   #16 (permalink)
Acting Like Godot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Julia.Ru View Post
As for science... I don't believe it has become commercial here, in Russia, at least I've never encountered such works, but only genuine researches.
I am not saying that the research is not genuine. I am saying that the research is very much geared towards commercial ends.

Example - suppose Scientist A tells his university, "I would like to investigate the phenomenon of ghosts and whether they really exist. Please give me USD 10 million to fund my research."

Meanwhile, Scientist B tells his university, "I would like to develop a new type of advanced technology which will lead to a new generation of handphones. Potentially it can be very lucrative once we start selling the new handphones. Please give me USD 10 million to fund my research."

Guess who's going to get the research dollars?

What this tells you is that science simply doesn't venture very much into certain areas. It is therefore a bit silly to make statements like: "It's unscientific to believe in reincarnation" or "Psychic powers are not proven by science", because very few scientists have ever ventured to research such topics. "Few", relative to, say, scientists studying Vitamin C, or handphones, or oil drilling methods.
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