Science – Responsibility, Expectations and what can it Deliver?

In a nutshell: “Science is the careful and orderly study of how the physical and natural world works. It relies on watching things happen, doing tests, and checking facts to build true ideas. The word comes from an old Latin word that simply means "knowledge" (Cambridge Dictionary

Science is both, a discipline and a method. It is important to be mindful of this difference!

Science as a Method
The scientific method has at its core the requirements for proof, which rely on so-called hard facts. The process demands from the researcher to be unbiased and to accept well-controlled research results as factually relevant. Personal opinions and feelings need to be kept at bay. Research results need to be transparently published and repeatable, so that others can investigate further. Tests need to be free of distorting influences so not to direct the outcome of research projects into false assumptions. Statistics and mathematics need to be suitable for the analysis of research data at hand. All in all, the process is highly restrictive, clearly defined and based on philosophical notions laid down throughout the history of Science. They are based on the knowledge and collective understanding what can we know and what is difficult or impossible to know. There is a clear line between science and so-called pseudoscience and believe systems. Emotions, preferences, ideologies and economical desires should not intervene in the scientific process.

Science as a Discipline
Science and the process of research is mostly associated with universities and their purpose to discover and to teach. In addition, and in recent decades, the number of privately organised and financed research institutions has increased (e.g. Garvan Institute for Medical Research etc.). Many governments are also supporting their own scientific research institutions (e.g. CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, The Australian Nuclear & Technology Organisation). The pharmaceutical industry is heavily reliant on their own research laboratories and other industries are equally conduction their own investigations and testing.

The Research Profession
Researcher, scientists and academics have received a great deal of social admiration and enjoyed previously high social standings, often supported by parts of the society who had little or no understanding of their expertise. It was given as a form of trust, by generalising the benefit of research and scientific endeavour as only being able to be good. This might have changed somewhat in very recent times.

The Benefits and Challenges with the Science Discipline
Without questions, scientific endeavour has produced a large amount of interventions which have greatly benefitted entire generations and societies. Medical research has eliminated diseases which until recently killed many, often prematurely. Consequently, we can notice an ever-increasing average life expectancy in recent times (in 1900 males 51 years, females 55; in 2026 males 81.1 years, females 85.1 years).

Many new technologies have been invented and developed which allow us to live a much easier and more connected life. We are mobile and apply energy to physically difficult task, generations before us could only do with the greatest hardship and difficulty, if at all. Whilst mostly beneficial, there were also failures and examples of scientific discovery being used against the benefits of people (e.g. the atomic bomb, chemical warfare etc).

A recent worrying example of misleading strategies in the name of Science is the 2020 to 2022 epidemic and its handling by health authorities. The recent US Senate Committee on Homeland & Security Affairs (on 29th of July 2026) questioned the former Head of the NIAID (National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease) Dr. Anthony Fauci about his dealings with the C19 crisis. His actions are now known as misleading, dishonest, even criminal, a clear case of abuse and failure, pointing to misuse of power and betrayal of trust, consequently harming many people physically, psychologically and economically. On his knowingly wrongful advice entire nations’ economies were harmed, and many individuals suffered or even died unnecessarily. (You will find the footage of this hearing addressing Fauci’s involvement in NIAID-financed “Change of State” research from 2014 in Wuhan, China, and the mismanaged consequences of a world-wide C19 pandemic online).

Our questions could be, what makes science good and what makes it fail us?
We may also wish to discuss:
· What is actually science and what is not?
· How objective and unbiased can science be?
· What are the influences and temptations which challenge objectivity?
· Has science lost its integrity and good standing?
· Where are the problems when scientific results serve politics, administration and commerce?
· What happens to Science when it is hijacked by ideology and doctrine?