Classic Dunning–Kruger effect - they believe that because they are so smart in their own field, that they are just as smart in other fields - including march organization. From Stat News:
Science march on Washington, billed as historic, plagued by organizational turmoil
It may be the largest rally in support of science ever. Hundreds of thousands of people have joined the Facebook group for the upcoming March for Science, and tens of thousands have offered to volunteer. Beyond a march in Washington, more than 400 cities worldwide will host simultaneous events on April 22 to repudiate science policies of the new White House and Congress.
Yet for all the excitement, STAT has found, plans for the march are plagued by infighting among organizers, attacks from outside scientists who don’t feel their interests are fairly represented, and operational disputes. Tensions have become so pronounced that some organizers have quit and many scientists have pledged not to attend.
What was billed as science advocates speaking with a unified voice, then, has instead surfaced long-lingering tensions within the scientific community.
Sad to say, scratch an academic and you find a progressive:
Jacquelyn Gill, a biology and ecology professor at the University of Maine, told STAT that she quit the organizing committee in recent weeks because of leaders’ resistance to aggressively addressing inequalities — including race and gender.
“We were really in this position where, because the march failed to actively address those structural inequalities within its own organization and then to effectively communicate those values outward, we carried those inequalities forward,” Gill said. “Some of these problems stem from the march leadership failing early on in its messaging.”
Hey Jacquelyn, this is not about your personal soapbox, this is about, you know, Science.
Much more at the site - shows you just how much partisan politics has infected the academic community. It used to be pure but is now a cess-pit.
Leave a comment