Is competition bad for science? Should there be more cooperation amongst scientists? Does the moneti

[Lisa]

Is competition bad for science? Should there be more cooperation amongst scientists? Does the monetization of activities lead to more successful results?

We’re accustomed to thinking of competition as leading to discoveries and advancements in all walks of life. However, this article looks at how competition can sometimes lead to scientists being less than honest about the results of their research in order to secure funding for future projects.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/26/research-funding-exaggerates-results

[Wu Li]

The original state funded university was created immediately after the French revolution. They provided the first grants to their best and brightest peasants and within five years Napoleon used their discoveries to help him kick all of Europe's butt. Similarly, what led to the American civil war was the rise of northern industries who, to this day, basically promise to provide anyone who bends over and greases their ass for them with the latest and greatest weapons. The US today is the world's largest exporter and our largest manufactured export is weapons and the US now has a military equal to the next six largest in the world combined. It's empire baby, and this train ain't stopping until it derails. The banks and international conglomerates are now running things making record profits during the worst economy since the great depression, which they caused!

The rapid pace of science during the last century is usually traced to the advent of Big Science which is when industries first started mass producing all the toasters, cars, radios, and washing machines consumers today take for granted. To make these things they had to have scientists of their own and today 80% of all research is done by corporations who jealously guard their secrets whenever they see any possible advantage to doing so. Another 10% is done by governments who also jealously guard their secrets, while less than 10% is done by academic institutions which, increasingly, resemble corporations and carefully guard their secrets until they can patent them. Much of the funding for academic research comes from private corporations and governments who want basic research done cheaply for them to possibly use in secret to develop products and weapons.

In other words, what comes around goes around and the corruption of capitalism has slowly filtered down into scientific research because the entire system is focused on making money and weapons. The US is now the de facto world empire with the dollar underscoring virtually every economy in the world and an computer study estimate indicates a mere 1,700 companies now run the entire world economy. Meanwhile, academia is more infamous than ever for workaholics with piss poor senses of humor who are increasingly faking their results in much the same manner that corporations lie to the public routinely and lobby governments for laws that make it even harder to sue them for lying and cheating people. Not a single major figure in the banking industry who caused the economic collapse has spent a single day in jail despite committing massive fraud on millions of people. Basically, it's up to industries and governments to set the moral standards which, increasingly, the more socialistic countries of the developed world are doing because as an alternative way to compete with the more corrupt empire. Currently the Scandinavian countries enjoy the best economies in the world today, have the fewest social problems, and are expanding their scientific research because they can trust their scientists more and socialism can now compete with the massive corruption of the empire.