> What happens when the public lose confidence in academic findings? flat-earthers half-joking aside, I have come to understand that the academic institutions

> What happens when the public lose confidence in academic findings? flat-earthers half-joking aside, I have come to understand that the academic institutions are part of the state (perhaps I should say civilization?). the point being that academia (as the part of state that I'm saying it is) has a primary function of ensuring stability (same as the most well known face of the state i.e. government); this is mind-bending when faced with the idea that academic research is at the forefront of advancing civilization into uncharted waters (...a PhD must provide an original novel contribution...). Seems that at some point artists became showbiz employees and at that same time, only scholars kept 'advancing the state of the art'. Which is a role historically fulfilled by real artists of the sort that ain't doing it for money nor fame.