Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen on Nostr: The men (almost always men) of that Enlightenment period, however, were not yet ...

The men (almost always men) of that Enlightenment period, however, were not yet ossified by centuries of institutionalization and enthrallment to the sordid demands of commerce and politics. "Science" as a pursuit unto itself was new at the time of the great Revolution (that's the French one, you Yankee dullards!) and thus still in the hands of amateurs, albeit privileged amateurs who tended to have money and therefore leisure available to spend on quixotic scientific investigation.

Now #science is a business, required like every other business to demonstrate a reliable return on investment. A social expectation has been forced onto scientists: show that you can dependably produce publications and patents, exponentially more every year, or face ruin. Such dreary corporate necessity is the living death of human science—the death of creativity, the death of innovation, the death of hope. Capitalism is a dead thing, yet it still perforce must advertise itself as vibrant and vital and infinitely creative. This has led to a kind of scientistic dualism.

(cont'd)