Scientific objectivity doesn't exist
Being 'scientifically objective' doesn't exist. It is just giving political power to more powerful people
In my science degree and at school, I was taught to be an objective scientist. We would hypothesise, measure, test and analyse, and not let our opinions get in the way of the data.
Of course this is impossible. We are making value-laden judgements at every step of the journey:
- What topic should we work on?
- Who should be in the research team?
- Which equipment are we able to use?
- How do we phrase things in our report?
- Which papers should be published in a journal?
- What language should we write in?
- How certain is 'certain enough' for a conclusion?
- What metaphors do we use to describe the things we see?
- How is the research you generate being used by society?
All of these questions very quickly become political, but scientists are taught that we can and should be apolitical in our work. But when we fail to see that politics is shaping our work, we are actually just giving our political power to someone else, and that person is usually someone who is already more powerful than us - our boss, our department, members of parliament, the CEO of the company funding us etc. Sometimes this will be very visible (e.g. strict grant requirements) or sometimes less visible (e.g. a series of comments from random adults nudging a child down a particular scientific path, a commonly used metaphor in society).
In the way we have been taught, being a 'scientist' means letting powerful people take our political decisions for us which is, otherwise put, being obedient to authority. Being unquestioningly obedient to authority is a stance that most of us do not want to have, but we have been brainwashed into taking it.
This is a call to all scientists. Work out what politics are shaping your science. Who are the people making these decisions? Are the decisions that the powerful people are taking ones that you agree with? If not, find others who feel the same, and work out together what you can do about it.
Everything is political. And anyone who tells you that's not true is obeying powerful people without question.