Three prominent researchers warn about the current existential threat in the United States
Helmut Schwarz has been reading about what happened to science during the rise of Adolf Hitler, almost a century ago.
The German chemist just received the Frontiers of Knowledge Award from the BBVA Foundation in Spain, due to his contributions to the field of catalysis. For him, there are parallels between the situation in Nazi Germany and Trump’s United States.
“From 1900 to 1932, a third of all Nobel Prizes went to Germany, more than to the U.S. and the U.K. combined,” he tells EL PAÍS. He and two other scientists sat down with EL PAÍS in Bilbao, where they received their awards.
“When Hitler came to power,” he continues, “German science — which led the world — completely disintegrated. But Hitler thought that wouldn’t be a problem,” he continues. Now, Donald Trump’s administration views universities — supposed hotbeds of progressive ideology — as the enemy. He wants to bring them under his control. “In my opinion, the threat isn’t immediate, but it’s very important in the long term,” Schwarz adds.
That’s the weirdest part of trying to change the “system of science.” It’s not a system, it’s a process, it’s rigorous, controlled, and peer reviewed.
What Hitler enabled was psychopaths being allowed to practice torture and murder.
When he says “the scientific system,” he’s talking about the institutions we have in the US that educate, employ, conduct research, and/or fund people conducting science. I guess I thought it was obvious he’s not referencing the scientific method
Oh boy I’d love to hear Donald J Trump’s exact thoughts on the scientific method. Every damn thing he’s has to say about it will be absolute gold.
I can give it a try.
He would just parrot whatever the last person he spoke to said about it.
If he didn’t talk to anyone about it beforehand, he would just talk about how “beautiful” our scientific methods are.
“My uncle was a scientist at MIT, so I think I know science better than most people. Also, magnets stop working if they get wet.”
Even then, it will just slow research down and set us back. Scientists won’t stop sciencing, and it certainly won’t lead to discoveries they want.
The system they’re describing helps but the people are the ones that matter, not the institutions.
My point is no matter their approach, they will not be able to control the outcome of scientific research. The anti-intellectual fails to understand this. It’s the whole of their being.
It won’t set you back. It will permanently and irreparably erode the country’s status and capacity as the pre-eminent hub of scientific innovation and discovery.
World War 2 was 80 years ago. Germany has never regained the lead it once held in chemistry and medical research.
In the global long run, yes, you’re right, however the point here is comparing what happened in Nazi Germany to what’s happening now in the US. It’s not about Trump’s America trying to get “the discoveries they want,” it’s about eliminating objectivity and punishing party-line dissenters. They don’t actually care about science at all one way or the other, they care about political control
Some of us remember the damage that Bush’s stem cell research ban did and how it set the world back decades for literally no reason whatsoever.
This is going to be so much worse than that.
Well… that can be more serious that you suggest. Tenure-track faculty need publication-worthy projects and grad students; what if the only funding available is military- and surveillance-oriented? Big universities are going to expect scientists to bring in the money or leave.
That’s… A fair point. That’s probably the best argument I’ve heard so far.
Yeah, that is exactly what they’re trying to do.
Thank you. Finally, a post that reflects what science actually is. I am do sick of people saying “Science says…”