Thursday, March 16, 2006

The Culture of Lying

The whole planet is infected with a culture of lying.

From James Frey's Million Little Pieces http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey1.html

to the Korean researcher who faked the stem cell cloning evidence http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/09/tech/main1194289.shtml,

from the respected Norwegian scientist who faked a study on oral cancer http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,1687477,00.html

to the Abramoff scandal in Washington, from widespread acceptance of cheating by students all across the U.S.A. http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/jan98o.html

to "The Right to Lie" http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/mar_2002/lying_to_the_public_okay.htm

The Scientific Method

Even the scientific community has been infected with The Culture of Lying, so insidious is it. Edward O. Wilson - the founder of sociobiology - made the following statement in an op-ed piece in the USA Today: " The great question remaining is whether the human mind originated the same way. Many scientists, I among them, believe it did so evolve. " [Emphasis added] http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-01-15-faith-edit_x.htm

By saying "scientists ... believe", he rejects the essence of the scientific method, which is to find out what the truth is no matter what it turns out to be. Furthermore, statements like that make the Faith-based ( i.e. reality-rejecting ) community say, " See, they have their beliefs, and we have ours - science is just a religion. "

Conservativeliberalrepublicandemocrats

The 2 " sides " of the public " debate " are the same side! The conservatives think they have the right beliefs, and feel entitled to force them on everyone; the liberals say, " That's wrong - everyone's free to choose what to believe. " Which " side " is standing up for the truth?

Reality

Reality exists. The Truth is good; the Lie is evil. Nobody's free to choose what to believe.