The 10 Commandments of “Scientism”
“The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” - The Definition of the Scientific Process
Observation and experiment…
Observation… AND experiment.
Somehow it appears as though there is a blind spot in terms of the word “observation” as it pertains to the… religion (cough-cough) ‘excuse me’… field… of scientism masked as science. Here is the passage restated correctly as many within the… religion (oops… sneeze-sneeze), field of scientism interpret the scientific process:
“The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through experiment and only experiment.” - The Definition of the Scientism Mindset
In the religion known as “Scientism” there is absolutely no room to discuss any observation that takes place prior to proof of the observation taking place via experimentation. The experimentation itself must take place at only the top institutions in the world and must be replicated at a minimum of 5 different times with the involvement of hundreds of participants in order to be even considered as a potential topic for discourse. “Scientism” is obviously a mindset that solidifies intelligent discourse and protects the sanctity of the scientific field at it’s highest form.
Unfortunately… the truth of the matter is that “science” is nothing but a methodology of studying something. That equates to true “science” potentially taking place anywhere in the world at anytime. If we are only to believe that “real science” takes place in specific places by specific people, we are delving into the world of marketing, public relations, and politics which have little to nothing to do with data driven science. This is why the “scientism” movement has inspired me to develop the “10 Commandments” of this emerging and quite amusing religion.
Downloadable link for the image here.
The more legible format…
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF SCIENTISM
I. SCIENCE IS THE LORD THY GOD THAT CAN EXPLAIN THE MECHANISMS BEHIND EVERY OCCURRENCE IN THE UNIVERSE MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FORCE KNOWN AS “NATURE”
II. THOU SHALT DISAVOW ANY SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OUTSIDE OF MAINSTREAM SCIENTIFIC CIRCLES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED AND DISTRIBUTED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA
III. DO NOT USE “BAD” SCIENCE IN “BAD” JOURNALS AS SOURCES OF INFORMATION. THY DEFINITION OF “BAD” CAN BE ADJUSTED ACCORDING TO ONE’S EMOTIONS.
IV. THOU SHALT EQUATE STAUNCH SKEPTICISM WITH DEEP INTELLECTUALISM.
V. THOU SHALT MOVE “GOAL POSTS” WHEN NECESSARY TO SUPPORT ONE’S OWN CURRENT BELIEF SYSTEM BASED ON POTENTIALLY ANTIQUATED, OUTDATED, AND AN INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE BASE.
VI. THOU SHALT RELY ON MASS CONSENSUS OF A BELIEF IN ORDER TO SUPPORT ONE’S OWN BELIEF. IT WOULD BE ABSURD TO PRESUME THAT LARGE GROUPS OF HEAVILY EDUCATED SCHOLARS COULD EVER BE INCORRECT.
VII. THOU SHALT NOT SPECULATE ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF SUPERNATURAL OCCURRENCES SUCH AS THE PLACEBO EFFECT, SPONTANEOUS REMISSION, XENOGLOSSY, ENDOGENOUSLY INDUCED ANALGESIA, AND ANY OTHER SUPERNORMAL CLAIMS.
VIII. THOU SHALT DISCARD THE EVIDENCE THAT ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND CHANGES IN BRAIN ACTIVITY OCCUR IN SYNCHRONOUS FASHION WITH ALTERED LEVELS OF BIOCHEMICAL COMPOUNDS, BIOELECTRICAL ACTIVITY, SYSTEMIC FLUID COMPOSITION, BIOMAGNETIC PROPERTIES, GENE EXPRESSION, AND CELLULAR PROCESSES.
IX. HONOUR THY PRIESTS OF SCIENCE WHICH ARE FAMOUS, MAINSTREAM SCIENTIFIC FIGURES THAT PROTECT THE STATUS QUO OF MAINSTREAM ACADEMIA. IT SHALL BE CONSIDERED BLASPHEMOUS TO QUESTION THE WORDS OF THESE ACADEMIC SAGES.
X. THOU SHALT DISCARD ONE’S OWN OBSERVATIONS AS INHERENT FALSITIES UNLESS SUPPORTED BY RIGOROUS EXPERIMENTS IN MULTIPLE UNIVERSITIES PUBLISHED IN MULTIPLE, WELL KNOWN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS OF THE UTMOST INTEGRITY THAT VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF ONE’S OWN SENSES. THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL IT BE ACCEPTABLE TO DISCUSS OUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.