Summary of Patrick J. Michaels & Terence Kealey's Scientocracy

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The priestly class in classical Greece was not as powerful as the scientists who emerged in medieval Europe, and so the writings of Francis Bacon still have the power to startle. Bacon was the first great philosopher of science, and he wrote that science was a gateway to the sublime.

#2 While science has flourished in the modern era, it has lately come to be captured by the state. Scientists have long sought state funding, and as a result, they have long aligned themselves with state doctrines.

#3 The argument that science is a public good is false because it ignores the principle of opportunity benefit, which is the converse of opportunity cost. If there is a choice between doing A or B, and if A is chosen over B, the opportunity cost is the forgone benefit from B. But if A is more valuable than B, it is rational to choose A for its additional or opportunity benefit.

#4 The linear model, which looks like this: was proposed by Bacon, and it was believed that academic research was the source of industrial technology. But modern scholarship shows that it is advances in industrial technology that stimulate academic research.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822517936

IRB Media

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Insights on Patrick J. Michaels & Terence Kealey's Scientocracy

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The priestly class in classical Greece was not as powerful as the scientists who emerged in medieval Europe, and so the writings of Francis Bacon still have the power to startle. Bacon was the first great philosopher of science, and he wrote that science was a gateway to the sublime.

#2

While science has flourished in the modern era, it has lately come to be captured by the state. Scientists have long sought state funding, and as a result, they have long aligned themselves with state doctrines.

#3

The argument that science is a public good is false because it ignores the principle of opportunity benefit, which is the converse of opportunity cost. If there is a choice between doing A or B, and if A is chosen over B, the opportunity cost is the forgone benefit from B. But if A is more valuable than B, it is rational to choose A for its additional or opportunity benefit.

#4

The linear model, which looks like this: was proposed by Bacon, and it was believed that academic research was the source of industrial technology. But modern scholarship shows that it is advances in industrial technology that stimulate academic research.

#5

The West engaged in a natural experiment in the 18th and 19th centuries, where governments funded science differently. Britain funded mission research, which was research in aid of its geopolitical ambitions, while the French and German governments funded science and technology.

#6

There are two exceptions to the story of American prewar research laissez faire. One is mission research, which is the kind of research necessary to further specific government actions. The second is the land-grant colleges, which were created in 1862 under Abraham Lincoln.

#7

The funding of science by German governments allowed Germany to overtake Britain during the 19th century, but this is a myth that powered the campaign for the government funding of science. When tested econometrically against contemporary national rates of per capita GDP growth, government-funded research fails to demonstrate economic benefit.

#8

The fact that knowledge is not freely available is due to its tacitness. Companies need to bear the costs of information and failed imitation attempts, which explains why they cannot neglect even pure science.

#9

The tacit nature of industrial knowledge has other effects on the dissemination of innovations. For example, only a small number of companies have the ability to duplicate typical innovations. And in science, most important advances are made by a small number of scientists.

#10

The model also accounts for the spread of knowledge in ways that are mutually beneficial. While companies are supposedly secretive today, the opposite is