Richard Lewontin - Biology as Ideology Lecture 1

[drokhole]

Last edited Thu Jun 9, 2016, 07:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Great talk on science's role as a social institution/influencer by evolutionary geneticist Richard Lewontin:

Semi-related:

What knowledge societies can learn from foraging societies

[Nitram]

1. I get the idea, but science should never be confused with ideology.

Ideology is defined as "a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy." Science never deals with ideals. It goes where observations and facts lead. A hypothesis might be considered a "system of ideas," but theories, which are the foundation of science, are a great deal more than a system of ideas. They include numerous kinds of evidence including observations and experiments designed to test the accuracy and reliability of a theory. Many conservatives view science as just one ideology competing with other ideologies. It is nothing of the kind.