Yesterday’s story about the sacking of Professor Nutt and another one today about the needless death of a senior officer in Afghanistan merely serve to highlight one of the biggest blights on our society. The truth, be it scientific or otherwise, is now subservient to both consensus, which has it’s roots in political correctness, and politics, be that national, international or indeed corporate.
It seems we’ve learned nothing from recent history. The fallout from the financial debacle of the last couple of years can be traced back to one root cause – never mind the facts, as long as we can sell each other bullsh*t.
If this doesn’t change, we are condemned to repeat our mistakes. More the pity, then, that it looks increasingly as if it’s going to be SSDD. Don’t say anything that might be controversial or upset anyone, especially if it’s someone relatively senior who may get egg on their faces from being presented with actual facts.
It’s even more of a pity when the willful ignorance of the facts costs lives.