I cancelled my subscription to Science Magazine about fifteen years ago. Science is the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I was sick and tired of the good-old-boys-club mentality that was reflected in the magazine’s low level of morality and high level of sentimentality and romanticism.
We have an example of the latter two in the recent issue of Science that gave the Best Science in 2004 to the NASA rover teams for discovering water on Mars. Water on Mars? Yes, it was there three and a half billion years ago.
The Mars rovers were a great technological achievement, but the project is a minor contribution to science. It doesn’t evoke new questions or destroy existing theories. It is minor science.
However, the Mars water discoveries are great emotional consolation for the sentimental and romantic branches of science. Scientists who worry that humans are alone in the universe now can have more hope of finding them. Scientists who want recognition and appreciation for their lifetime of work now have hope that some bacteria have evolved into humans and will send them Intergalactic Nobel Prizes.
Scientists who don’t know the difference between quantum physics and metaphysics can cite water on Mars as a great intellectual bridge to understanding human biological history.
The good-old-boys club of Science, just like the commradarie that comes from thinking there are other human beings somewhere in the universe who appreciate them.
The fact that nearly all known species (99.99%) are able to communicate with their own species doesn’t seem to create much interest among human scientists for reliable communications with other species. The main research on other species is on primates and cetaceans. Cetaceans, so they can work on underwater mines.
Science clearly doesn’t expect other species to teach us much. Humans have felt the same way about other societies for a long time. If we consider them inferior to us we have no use for them.