Trading Science

Last night, a senior scientist was overheard advising a junior colleague "Don't sell yourself short", in a discussion on scientific exchanges, research funding, and generally you-scratch-my-back and I'll-scratch-yours. I lost the rest of the conversation, since I was struck that neither paused on the part "don't sell yourself"-it was "selling short" that was the issue. The message was clear, SELL- but not for less. Optimize profits, evaluate personal gains, learn the ropes, climb the ladder. We are a nation of the free now, free to choose our bidders with care, scout the market, hunt.

Most scientific research, at least in academic institutions, here and abroad, is based largely on finding funding- funding for equipment, facilities, conferences, travel, student support and sundry - this is just how the game is played. In a climate of application based research, industrial alliances, scientific research is dictated by need, the need of the providers-so, the goal is to become a part of a market driven, fashionable funded, operation. Market is driven by profits, usually profits for those that have enough funding to invest in future prospects of further profits with research projects, proposals, swaying and setting trends in entire communities of scientists, thinkers. Higher thought is now guided by who is paying our elite to think, not about relevance of this thought for the benefit of society as a whole, or even driven by a curiosity to know more. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not propounding that all work have social relevance, or even higher moralistic goals-in fact, I firmly believe that there is space for diversity, of people, desires, and dreams. However, diversity is no longer the call of the day-markets choose mono-trends, drive mono-dreams, sold enmass in media through identical advertisements in all the multitudes of television channels. And it is this consumerism driven happiness-dream that drives most searches for funding - supplementing salary, affording happiness luxuries, traveling abroad - a sign of status symbol.

And then, when times are good, like now, the researchers run out enough man power, people, students, to assist with larger scale output, fuelled by a need/greed for more and more funding. This then sets off an entire other chain reaction, of how to attract more students, publish more papers, have more office/lab space...again a repetition of the more, more, more mantra by our most elite.

But what does all this really achieve, for us as a people? Will there be less bomb blasts, fewer communal riots, cleaner water to drink, fresher air to breathe, further dissemination of the scientific thought and process to strata lower down, a trickling down of our profits to those who are also part of us, our 'democracy'? Who will think, when all thought is already sold-and not short?