Amerika

Over at Aeon, Pavel Kroupa writes an intense critique of the tendency of Science, Inc. to use theories as assumptions:

The modern argument for dark matter begins with the assumption that the Universe is described by Albert Einstein’s field equation of general relativity, and that Newtonian gravitation (that is, gravity as we measure it on Earth) is valid in all places at all times. It further assumes that all the matter in the Universe was produced at the Big Bang. Simulations based on that scenario make specific predictions about how quickly cosmic structures form, and also about the motions of galaxies and stars within galaxies. When compared with observations, those simulations indicate that gravitational effects in the real world must be stronger than can be accounted for by the matter we know. Dark matter provides the additional gravitational pull to bring model and reality broadly into alignment.

…I was studying the dynamics of small satellite galaxies as they orbit our galaxy, the Milky Way. From observation, we expected that these satellite galaxies must contain a lot of dark matter, from 10 to 1,000 times as much as their visible, normal matter. During my calculations, I made a perplexing discovery. My simulations produced satellite galaxies that look much like the ones actually observed, but they contained no dark matter. It seemed that observers had made wrong assumptions about the way the stars move within the satellite galaxies; dark matter was not required to explain their structures.

In other worlds, all of Science, Inc. was relying on a theory converted to an assumption for a simple reason: it provided them jobs!

When studying humanity, it makes sense to apply Occam’s Razor in the oldest and simplest way: if an activity can be explained by the “Four Fs” — feeding, fighting, fleeing and reproduction — that is most likely its origin.

In this case, the F is Feeding. People need jobs because we have disrupted the aristocratic hierarchies of the past that gave every person a place and also limited population to what the land could support.

This means that theories like dark matter gain popularity because the science community needs them to generate jobs, not because they are any closer to to truth than “it’s turtles all the way down.”

The same will come true for Climate Change.™ People will discover that covering earth in concrete has strong local effects, and that our climate is slowly shifting toward a new ice age as it does every ten thousand years or so. At that point, the discrepancies in “established theory” will be resolved, and the solution will be clear: drive whatever car you want and eat steak when you want it, but keep your national population confined to a third of the land area, which will regulate your numbers, and everything will be fine.

Another domino will fall with the notion of racial, sex and class equality. Right now, it is taboo to point out that the upper classes are generally a lot smarter than the people working food service, lawn care, customer support, and clerical jobs. This does not mean that the lower classes are stupid, only that they are lacking the wiring required to do more complex things, and per the Dunning-Kruger effect, are oblivious to this fact so will go ahead and make decisions on those things anyway, resulting in a situation like the incompetent reign of an Angela Merkel, Barack Obama or Tony Blair.

Humans specialize in deception because most people are low-grade wicked. They think only of their wants, justify those with good intentions, and then after a symbolic act (giving canned food to The Poor™) they go about their lives as greedily and selfishly as possible. There are only a few people who rise above this, and we either make them leaders or we are ruled by the worst in humanity.

Tags: climate change, dark matter, equality, racial equality, Realism, scientism