Scientists are threatening in a dystopia for obvious reasons. But as I was reading, I couldn't help but think they can also be frustrating for people who care about improving the world; taken to the extreme, the pattern-seeking, truth-seeking, curiosity-driven personality is more interested in what's real (and often only a tiny corner of what's real) than what's good, which is something that's kind of beyond science. Basically, science on its own can say what is, but not what should be. Dystopias often rely on lies or secrets, like the one you describe in the Silo, so just pointing out the raw facts of the world is subversive in that context. But current circumstances really show the limitations of scientists thinking they can just stick to producing facts without engaging with what those facts ~mean~ in the context of human morality and society.
Thanks for reading. That’s for sure fair, and I do wish today’s scientists have been trained or somehow incentivized to learn how to be legible outside of their bubble and do some of that meaning-making that you reference. It’s absolutely true that part of why anti-science sentiment has been able to thrive is that academics especially have little as compelling they can offer instead (+ they conceive of themselves as a class beyond workers). The complaint that I’m lodging over how easy we’ve made it to conceive of science as being used for something bad or purely instrumental is, I think, in conversation with that.
loved this! silo is one of my fun shows, and i read the books because i was impatient to wait between seasons… the flaws you point out in the show are soooo much worse in the books 😅 that being said, there’s so much in the show and books that definitely overlaps in provoking ways with what’s happening now!
Ah, ok, then it’s good that I couldn’t find time for the books haha. In season 2 already they sorta forgot to give Juliette any character development other than being in danger a lot. But am I gonna keep watching? 1000%
lol yeah i’m right there with you! i couldn’t differentiate any of the (all dude) characters introduced in the second and third books but i was very in it for the plot 😂
This was fun to think about, thanks for the post.
Scientists are threatening in a dystopia for obvious reasons. But as I was reading, I couldn't help but think they can also be frustrating for people who care about improving the world; taken to the extreme, the pattern-seeking, truth-seeking, curiosity-driven personality is more interested in what's real (and often only a tiny corner of what's real) than what's good, which is something that's kind of beyond science. Basically, science on its own can say what is, but not what should be. Dystopias often rely on lies or secrets, like the one you describe in the Silo, so just pointing out the raw facts of the world is subversive in that context. But current circumstances really show the limitations of scientists thinking they can just stick to producing facts without engaging with what those facts ~mean~ in the context of human morality and society.
Thanks for reading. That’s for sure fair, and I do wish today’s scientists have been trained or somehow incentivized to learn how to be legible outside of their bubble and do some of that meaning-making that you reference. It’s absolutely true that part of why anti-science sentiment has been able to thrive is that academics especially have little as compelling they can offer instead (+ they conceive of themselves as a class beyond workers). The complaint that I’m lodging over how easy we’ve made it to conceive of science as being used for something bad or purely instrumental is, I think, in conversation with that.
loved this! silo is one of my fun shows, and i read the books because i was impatient to wait between seasons… the flaws you point out in the show are soooo much worse in the books 😅 that being said, there’s so much in the show and books that definitely overlaps in provoking ways with what’s happening now!
Ah, ok, then it’s good that I couldn’t find time for the books haha. In season 2 already they sorta forgot to give Juliette any character development other than being in danger a lot. But am I gonna keep watching? 1000%
lol yeah i’m right there with you! i couldn’t differentiate any of the (all dude) characters introduced in the second and third books but i was very in it for the plot 😂