At least, not all the time.
For now, you can count on things like aerodynamics because it has no political or social agenda. People of all walks of life are interested in getting to far away places the fastest way possible. Even climate change activists like Leonardo Di Caprio and Al Gore love flying on these super-pollutants that rely on aerodynamics.
But if science looks like it might get in the way of some sort of agenda, especially one that would benefit the rich and/or powerful, then there's nothing a little money and influence can't change.
For example, I'm a graphic designer. I work with all sorts of people and all sorts of businesses. Like every service job, you are at the mercy of the customer. In my case, they usually have some sort of vision in their head of what they want their logo or their business card or their website to look like, and it's my job to extract that vision and produce something that is as close to it as possible, no matter how well or how poorly they communicate that vision.
Sometimes it ends well. I had a client with all these crazy expectations and almost impossible visions for her branding and her website. But I was able to come up with something simple that she absolutely loved and we were able to take the simplistic branding and apply it to any busy scheme or palette she could think of. She was a happy client.
Other times, though, you just gotta do what the client says. No matter how tasteless and ugly and loud and appalling the design might turn out or how many changes and iterations it may go through. But the great thing about being a graphic designer is that I don't have to publicize these logos on my website or portfolio. I don't have to attach my name to a horrible design. I can continue designing, displaying the good stuff to the public while also outputting the bad in anonymity.
Scientists, though, are stuck between a rock and a hard place even when they aren't supposed to be.
Now, let me preface this post by saying outright that I am no scientist. I am an artist to the core. I am horrible at math and not much better at science. Art, while influential to society, cannot hold a candle to the influence science has on everyday life on this planet. We rely on science for just about everything. The things scientists have contributed to this world we now live in are miraculous to mere dolts like me. I shouldn't have to list any of them, but electricity is a good one to start with. The microchip which has led to things like smartphones and computers is another.
Gravity, aerodynamics, motion, and thermodynamics are set in nature and (presumably) cannot change. But science is about data and measurements—repeated measurements. And as long as our questions and subsequent studies are ongoing, our data will expand. Our understanding of nature can therefore be fluid. There's a reason for the scientific method. There's a reason the Theory of General Relativity is still a theory and not a law. It's because it is not proven to be fact. Same goes for the Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection. I think God has something to say about those two.
Still, in today's world, many of us have replaced God with science even though time and again, the one thing science proves more than anything else is that it is fallible and subject to change. In a vacuum (that's a thing scientists like to do), the science and academic world is one big ego contest with participants trying to one-up each other in their quest to have their name etched on a plaque or their statue erected next to Copernicus or Newton or Galileo.
Again, I neither have the time nor interest to keep up with the competition, the latest theories and developments. I have enough mundane tasks and duties to worry about. But when a story pops up like THIS ONE [1], my cynical, suspicious side perks up and tells me maybe I should check this one out. The headline alone is shocking and something straight out of a sci-fi movie. But this isn't science fiction. There literally are Harvard scientists ready to experiment with blocking out the sun. This is not hyperbole or pipe-dream virtue-signalling policy like Gavin Newsom's comedic plan to end the production of fossil fuel-run vehicles by 2035. This is literally right now. They are ready to conduct experiments [2].
On its own, an experiment that will block out the sun—even for the very noble cause of thwarting our most urgent issue, Climate Change (end sarcasm)—is alarming at best. At worst, it is another example of man trying to play God. So when I try to understand why a scientist would want to conduct such a large-scale procedure all the typical reasons pop up: ego, peer pressure (there is no pressure like scientific peer pressure), delusion [3].
Then I read in a small sentence with a very casual tone, even diminutive in suggestion, that the experiment is being funded in part by Bill Gates, "For all of the precedents SCoPEx will set, the proposed experiment is quite modest. It will cost several million dollars and has been funded by private donors, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates." The experiment is modest so pay no mind that it's being funded by a guy who many think is some sort of superhuman, a guy who, on the reg, loves to play God, a guy who shies away from praise and accolades for his philanthropy, much like a smooth, serpent-like fallen angel.
When I read that sentence it reminded me of many a client whose dollars influenced the work more than any sort of creativity or originality or even moral compass. I felt somewhat empathetic to these scientists. Maybe they are trying to pioneer something, but now Bill Gates is involved. Or maybe he's been at the helm since the start. Neither would surprise me. In either case, there is a sinister aspect to Gates' involvement. If all goes well or even uneventful, Gates wins. If all goes to hell, Gates doesn't lose. He merely funded the project and there are myriad ways to explain his way out of it. The losers would be the scientists. They could suffer anything from being ridiculed and not taken seriously again to much worse, dead like the rest of us for playing God.
My point is, in this day and age, money and influence can sculpt science. Scientists are meant to gather, analyze, and interpret the data as objectively as possible, not cater to the whims of some rich guy who happens to be funding the project. Take a look at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website. They are, "...working to reduce inequity." Sounds noble enough. Makes one want to read further. How are they doing this, one might ask? Their mission is, "Ensure more children and young people survive and thrive." Great! Let's continue. "We believe the path out of poverty begins when the next generation can access quality healthcare and a great education." Hmmm. Much like the Missing Link [4] in the Theory of Evolution, there is a missing link between poverty and quality healthcare and great education. Imagine dropping off medical supplies to a tribe of people who have never seen an airplane or building before... or a bunch of textbooks. They wouldn't know what to do with them. Go even a step further. Imagine dropping a physician or teacher off. Now the mission doesn't sound so easy. You have to dig deeper. You can't just indoctrinate people and expect things to get better.
Civilized life (for what it's worth) is a generational thing. And by generational, I mean it gets passed down from parent to child and so on. But in order to do that, the first thing that needs to happen is to fix the home, fix the family structure, ensure that both parents are not only present but have their children at the top of their priorities. In a general sense, the only way to do that en masse is through God. But because it is en vogue to question or even outright deny God, we as a society have lost our way. We believe this life is the only life worth living so we need to care about ourselves only. That is why there is so much outward selflessness and virtue-signalling, but also so much inward selfishness. It's why someone would post a black square on their Instagram and call it a day, their contribution to fighting racism. It's why someone might give in to their natural urge to have children but then neglect them for frequent nights out on the town with girlfriends or with the guys while the babysitter does all the work (and by work, I mean having the kid watch TV while they scroll their phone). They live life to the fullest while other people do the hard work. They let the scientists tell them the science, the doctors tell them what's healthy and what's not, the teachers tell them what 2+2 really equals, the news tells them who are the good guys and who not to trust.
I was taught to always question authority, even if my questions are stupid. It's why I catch myself a half-step ahead of the game in most cases. It's why I can see trends and go with them when they can benefit me or avoid them when they might stifle me. When you question authority, you are taking steps to maintain your freedom and independence. It's a scary place to be sometimes, but I would rather live free and die than live safe and imprisoned. Because I know I have given myself and my life to God and He will take care of me, he has my best interests in mind, not the scientists, not the government, not the ones who play God but are really (knowingly or not) aiding the devil.
Next time you read a headline that seems a little strange, question its motive or source, look for the reason why it makes you feel so strange. Take that leap of faith that your intuition is prodding you to and you may be surprised at what you find. There is a whole world the people in power do not want you to know about. You may find yourself in a scary, lonely place at first. But freedom is not just given to you. Freedom is realizing your real strengths and weaknesses and working on them and yourself before anything else. There's a reason why flight attendants tell you to put your oxygen mask on before assisting others in a time of crisis.
Improve yourself. Fill in the missing links and you will answer many of the questions you have in life [5], rather than having someone who doesn't have your best interests in mind answer them for you. Science is a wonderful thing for practical applications within the timeframe of those applications. If we study history, science may seem concrete, but it is actually very temporary. It relies on observations of men and the data they compile. But their data is not the only data available to you. If you are not satisfied with their answers, it is not forbidden to search for your own. And if you do that, who knows, you may just realize there could be Someone out there that really does have your best interests in mind, Someone you can actually rely on for concrete answers.
[1] This Forbes article is over two years old but is still very relevant in that experiments have not yet begun.
[2] This Science Magazine article is less than a month old and purports a June 2021 test date.
[3] Delusion is knowing something like Climate Change is not proven, and in fact, highly disputed, yet moving forward with the premise as if the disputes are junk science or not credible.
[4] If you're triggered by my usage of the term, Missing Link, this article is especially for you! In fact, this entire website is for you.
[5] Okay, maybe not ALL, but the one's that matter most at that particular moment in time. And if you take that approach and the answers you seek still elude you, try praying. You don't have anything to lose and so much to gain.
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