Connect to spark ideas, add up to collective knowledge
Science is perhaps the most powerful collective enterprise in human history, a social endeavour supported by an intricate division of cognitive labour. According to OECD, research comprises "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humans, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications."
How do we keep our scientific and technological enterprise going on? With a lot of effort, because science is hard. Like Penelope, scientists unravel the piece of knowledge that they have woven the day before. That’s what science is about — new evidence constantly arriving to correct the old wisdom.
Today, science might be moving at a slower pace than it should due to the massive size of what we already know. The exponential growth in the number of papers makes it increasingly difficult for researchers to keep track of all the publications relevant to their work.
What's worse, in the era of big data, an alarming amount of research is flawed. Why? Because it is simply too easy to generate statistical evidence for pretty much anything. And what's even worse, more and more, governments, corporations, and other powerful organizations or individuals, may yield to the temptation to fund biased "scientific" evidence guided by spurious interests.
Furthermore, who decides what to research? What is the right kind of science? Who have the right or the power to decide about it? Innovation can serve society better than it does at the moment. We can use the incredible power of technology to shape the world for the better, addressing our great social, ethical and environmental challenges in ways which are humanising, empowering and life enhancing. To do that, we need to tap our collective Intelligence. Think in advance and imagine together, and then create together.
Prior to the 20th century, science was often the pursuit of gentleman scientists, amateur or self-funded researchers such as Sir Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, or Charles Darwin. By the mid-20th century, science became dominated by researchers employed by universities and government research laboratories. Modern science requires highly qualified resources and costly scientific equipment and facilities.
Public funded and corporate research are necessary and welcome. It is not an either or choice. However, as individuals and as citizens, we cannot surrender our sovereignty. If science aims to understand the world, technology aims to change it! Science and technology are the tools to build the world we want to live in. That's why we need a truly open and democratic scientific endeavour.
Newer technologies, and the internet in particular, have increased the options for participation. At Indie Research we think that it is time to bring back independent research to the forefront, and we strive to take advantage of technology to support independent researchers and citizen participation.
Francisco J. Jariego
Twitter: @fjjariego
Linkedin: https://es.linkedin.com/in/franciscojariego
Email: francisco.jariego@indieresearch.net