Scientafic!

As someone who values science and the pursuit of knowledge more than most things, I always thought that academia would be my professional home. As someone who is willing to stand up for truth and justice in the face of inconvenient consequences, I thought that academia would have room for me. To me, academia is built on ideals, including the concept that good-intentioned and talented people with the goal of advancing the frontiers of human knowledge can come and work together towards that goal free of undue influences. I thought that to achieve its objectives, namely education and research, academia must prioritize three things: honesty, equal access to knowledge, and the freedom to pursue knowledge. Even if these ideals are not realistically achievable, I thought that they were nevertheless shiny beacons that guide the academic path. I thought that through some magic, academia could advance towards its objectives and priorities while rising above practical constraints such as money, politics, and human ego and selfishness: shallow things that the outside world revolves around. Through my personal experiences and watching events unfold in this country, it has become clear that in academia, the importance of these practical constraints far outweighs that of honesty, equal access to knowledge, and the freedom to pursue knowledge. These practical constraints sit at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. People have careers to maintain and political relations to build, which are such difficult things to do that finding the time and willingness to promote truth and knowledge is simply the cherry on top in the day-to-day life of an academic. In academia, just like everywhere else, inconvenient truths and inequalities are swept aside and forgotten.

Is academia doing anything to promote honesty, equal access to knowledge, and the freedom to pursue knowledge? The answer is definitely yes. But is it doing enough? The avenue for truth telling or uncovering lies in academia is limited and comes with severe consequences, especially for early career academics, because they often create inconveniences within an organization built to maximize efficiency. Just like the outside world, in academia, people are far more encouraged to keep their heads down and work with the system, however corrupt it might be. Just like the outside world, in academia, lying and cheating is the easiest way for academics to get to the top. The only exception is that liars and cheaters are perhaps even less likely to be caught because the momentum of illusory evidence lies in that academics are honest. Just like the outside world, in academia, racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudices are rampant. In academia, students from different backgrounds are not given equal opportunities to educational and career networks. In academia, researchers are encouraged to publish in journals that charge exorbitant fees for access to their publications. Just like the outside world, academia revolves around money. Academic researchers must find ways to support their salaries and therefore are predisposed to pursue studies that rich people or a potentially biased government are willing to fund. Therefore, the qualities that are supposed to make academia special, it seems to me, are almost nonexistent. Maybe academic ideals are unachievable for their impracticality. If I am being optimistic, I could perhaps convince myself that their achievability is dependent on political regimes and the social momenta of the outside world. If I am being pessimistic, I would say the illusion of honesty, equal access to knowledge, and the freedom to pursue knowledge covers up a fundamentally flawed and corrupt core that does not truly care about these ideals.