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Let's separate discussion of the Soviet system from the individuals caught up in that system. I am not ( nor do I think most people) saying that this was a pro
by enkid 6y ago
Let's separate discussion of the Soviet system from the individuals caught up in that system. I am not ( nor do I think most people) saying that this was a problem purely with Lysenko overstating scientific claims (which he certainly did). It is a problem with a system that looks towards Marxism, says what science fits that best, and embeds it into society. That is in stark contrast to the way science is supposed to be done, where we reserve judgement and endorse a theory only when it has sufficient evidence and no alternative has better judgement.
- fuf_998 6y ago>a problem with a system Short recap: Vavilov was prosecuted for political opposition, not science. Two arguements for this: 1 - read his sentence and biography; 2 - genetics of that day was not an alternative and did not get a more sufficient evidence than agrobiology, that is the real explanation of genetic research being put aside (but never stopped). >the way science is supposed to be done There was a lot of good thinking done last century about how you can not disentangle science and ideology or other cultural biases, starting from defining science. Science is a tool, not a goal. So you can say > It is a problem with a system that looks towards <private gain/God's love/progress for whole humanity/etc>, says what science fits that best, and embeds it into society and it works everytime. Unless you've got an ideology based on science? That's what historical materialism attempted by the way.