Marc van Roosmalen is a world-renowned primatologist whose research in the Amazon has led to the discovery of five species of monkeys and a new primate genus. But precisely because of that work, van Roosmalen was this year sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison and jailed in Manaus, Brazil. Last month, his lawyers managed to get him freed on bail while they appeal his conviction on charges stemming from an investigation into alleged biopiracy. But scientists in Brazil and across the world are outraged, and describe the case as the most glaring example of laws and government policies they say are stifling scientific inquiry.To understand the sheer scope of this disaster, you should realize that this description of his honors - which include the phrase "one of the most accomplished field biologists of our time" are underselling his achievements. Tetrapod Zoology recently did a four-post series about new mammals that van Roosmalen has discovered. This is a total outrage.
This style of the activism - the smug self-righteousness of the activists, the hysterical ad homs against anyone who tries to steer a middle course, etc - creates an environment ripe for abuse. This is how global warming research became an anti-scientific endeavor where data is withheld from dissidents until they reverse engineer flawed algorithms, it's how absolutist claims about scientific practice have recently been used to shut down open source science journals, etc.
A more measured model of scientific progress - one that recognizes the sociology of scientific communities while refusing to cede ground to the cultural left on the question of science's privileged relationship to truth - would go a long way to avoiding these pitfalls. But that would lack something in the way of smug sophistication, and where would that leave the soft anti-intellectualism of international human rights activism?
[Read an extended version of this post at Mere Rhetoric]
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