Re: [asa] Political posts

Hi Bill,

In short, you're gonna need a whole heckofa lot more of the field known as 'science studies' (originally called naukovedeniye) taught in America in order to enable such a conversation to take place. I do of course applaud the idea as you propose it. Btw, 'political science' is called 'political studies' or 'politology' in other parts of the world, and *most* people on this ASA list don't consider it to be *real* 'science,' which in their minds means 'natural-physical sciences.' But then again, the utter depravity of philosophy in the minds of most North Americans is an indication that change doesn't come about too quickly. 'Yes we can!' is a nice slogan, but the results of sloganeering are not so simply observed in society and in the hearts of people.

Repectful regards from Russia,
Gregory

________________________________
From: William Hamilton <willeugenehamilton@gmail.com>
To: asa@lists.calvin.edu
Cc: Glenn Morton <glennmorton@entouch.net>; Gordon Simons <gsimons@email.unc.edu>
Sent: Mon, November 23, 2009 10:08:09 PM
Subject: [asa] Political posts

While I can understand the reasoning that keeps political posts off this list, I believe a forum where the impact of politics on science can be discussed would be a good thing. After all, political decisions do affect funding, and politicians need to understand what scientists are doing well enough to be able to make wise decisions. Furthermore, there _is_ such an academic field as political science. It would seem that the interaction of politics and science is a legitimate discussion area for ASA.

-- 
William E (Bill) Hamilton Jr., Ph.D.
Member American Scientific Affiliation
Austin, TX
248 821 8156
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