Wow!

This editorial appeared in the Seattle Times. I almost fell out of my chair as I read it, wondering if I had blinkered myself into Bizarro Seattle or some such thing.

Here is a list of beliefs in the biomedical and climate sciences that must not be questioned if you’re applying for a government grant:• That global warming is caused by humans;
• That AIDS is caused by a virus;
• That radiation, cigarette smoke and other toxins are dangerous in proportion to their strength, no matter how small the dose;
• That heart disease is caused by saturated fats;
• That cancer is caused by mutations.

This is part of a list offered by a University of Washington professor of surgery, Donald W. Miller, who is a heart surgeon at the VA Medical Center in Seattle. Miller believes that all the above ideas may be false, and ought to be tested. Whether they are false, I don’t know. I have thought they were true, but that is only a belief — and it is the business of science to test such beliefs.

But much of science runs on government money. Some people find the stink of bias only in private money, and see government as free of it, but they are mistaken. Government likes certain beliefs. To get its money, you have to get the approval of the scientists it selects, and you are less likely to get it if they think your idea wrong.

I expect the LttE will be full of outraged spittle over this bit of opinion.