Something which strikes me is that scientists having science as a job at all is a somewhat new idea; unless I’m wrong, it used to be that a lot of the great naturalists were either independently wealthy aristocrats and pursued scientific inquiry as a hobby, or were monks and were supported by the other brothers of their orders. On the one hand, they worked at their own paces and on topics close to their own interests (hard to imagine Mendel getting grant money, especially with his publishing rate), but on the other there are a lot of very bright people who aren’t born into much money or a particularly religious bent who ought to at least consider science.
Still, I think a smart person could sort of split the difference; an ascetic or fraternal order devoted to naturalism might have some appeal and solve a few of the basic problems. New initiates could be put to work reproducing experiments which otherwise would be ignored in the rush to publish unique papers, established scientists who aren’t cut out for corporate life or constant grant haggling could relax and focus on their actual jobs, the scientific community would be able to self-regulate with less direct interference by outsiders, and governments or rich individuals who want to appear smart or socially-conscious could patronize the order directly without the intermediary weirdness of setting up organizations of their own to vet applicants. There are concerns with group-think and corruption, but then again it’s not like those would be novel issues given what happens in peer-reviewed journals or university departments.
Is this a terrible idea, and if not how would you sell it?
You would also need to appeal to people who aren’t scientists or won’t do any groundbreaking work. What kept/keeps monastic orders together was praising God, not sustaining the holy work of one individual who was best at praising God for the highest possible Praise.
Mendel probably wasn’t supported by his fellow monks because he did research. He was supported by his follow monks because he was their brother and also prayed and worked with them. He just chose to spend some of his time working with beans and writing down the results.
Drawing in a supreme scientific mind might not be very hard. Drawing in all the other people to support that one person is a whole lot harder. You’d need a self-sustaining system, that produces its own food and other necessities. Monastic orders solved this problem by adding “labora” (working) to their mission of “ora” (praying). Every monk helped out to sustain his brothers by brewing beer, working in the garden… If your goal is to provide an environment where a supreme scientist can work undisturbed by earthly concerns, the other “science-monks” would need to take over his garden-duties. And I’m not sure if there is enough incentive for them to join.
an ascetic or fraternal order devoted to naturalism might have some appeal and solve a few of the basic problems.
The basic problem standing in the way of people thinking deep thoughts and doing nothing else is funding, aka money. How will this fraternal order solve the money problem and if it does, what will make it different from a plain-vanilla think tank?
Something which strikes me is that scientists having science as a job at all is a somewhat new idea; unless I’m wrong, it used to be that a lot of the great naturalists were either independently wealthy aristocrats and pursued scientific inquiry as a hobby, or were monks and were supported by the other brothers of their orders. On the one hand, they worked at their own paces and on topics close to their own interests (hard to imagine Mendel getting grant money, especially with his publishing rate), but on the other there are a lot of very bright people who aren’t born into much money or a particularly religious bent who ought to at least consider science.
Still, I think a smart person could sort of split the difference; an ascetic or fraternal order devoted to naturalism might have some appeal and solve a few of the basic problems. New initiates could be put to work reproducing experiments which otherwise would be ignored in the rush to publish unique papers, established scientists who aren’t cut out for corporate life or constant grant haggling could relax and focus on their actual jobs, the scientific community would be able to self-regulate with less direct interference by outsiders, and governments or rich individuals who want to appear smart or socially-conscious could patronize the order directly without the intermediary weirdness of setting up organizations of their own to vet applicants. There are concerns with group-think and corruption, but then again it’s not like those would be novel issues given what happens in peer-reviewed journals or university departments.
Is this a terrible idea, and if not how would you sell it?
You would also need to appeal to people who aren’t scientists or won’t do any groundbreaking work. What kept/keeps monastic orders together was praising God, not sustaining the holy work of one individual who was best at praising God for the highest possible Praise.
Mendel probably wasn’t supported by his fellow monks because he did research. He was supported by his follow monks because he was their brother and also prayed and worked with them. He just chose to spend some of his time working with beans and writing down the results.
Drawing in a supreme scientific mind might not be very hard. Drawing in all the other people to support that one person is a whole lot harder. You’d need a self-sustaining system, that produces its own food and other necessities. Monastic orders solved this problem by adding “labora” (working) to their mission of “ora” (praying). Every monk helped out to sustain his brothers by brewing beer, working in the garden… If your goal is to provide an environment where a supreme scientist can work undisturbed by earthly concerns, the other “science-monks” would need to take over his garden-duties. And I’m not sure if there is enough incentive for them to join.
The basic problem standing in the way of people thinking deep thoughts and doing nothing else is funding, aka money. How will this fraternal order solve the money problem and if it does, what will make it different from a plain-vanilla think tank?