Fraud in sciences, fraud in mathematics

jstevh_at_msn.com
Date: 03/19/05 

Date: 19 Mar 2005 06:54:25 -0800

I posted on this subject years ago, but I think it's telling how much
power mathematicians have as a group that people don't take it
seriously.

>>From the public record, there does not appear to be ANY fraud in the
discipline of mathematics.

In contrast you can take physics for instance, where there have been
recent highly publicized cases of fraud.

Now if you're naive you may believe that mathematicians are just too
good to attempt fraud, as remember, the cases that get highly
publicized are the cases where people get *caught*.

If you're truly naive, you may believe the math system blocks fraud,
but they just write papers and send them to journals where basically a
committee checks them.

That part of the math system is not terribly different from the
academic system in other areas.

I'm sure you can find cases of fraud in fields outside of the sciences,
maybe even in fields like English Literature.

But can you find a single case in the field of mathematics?

It seems to me that if you have a field with an impossible perfection
then there is probably something wrong with the policing in that field.

I think that it's far worse and the focus on "pure math" is just a
license to commit fraud and get away with it, as mathematicians can
feel comfortable with the belief that "proofs" in the "pure math" area
will never be shown to be fraudulent, even if later mistakes are
uncovered, even egregious errors.

Math professors like professors in other fields need to publish.

The need to publish drives a lot of academics, but in mathematics, you
are supposedly publishing discoveries.

But discovery is hard.

For most, it is an impossible task, as they will never discover
anything of note.

But if they have a math Ph.D and wish to move up in the field they
*have* to publish, and MOST of them, probably will never find anything
of note.

So they have a democratic system where the majority gets to help
itself.

And when someone like me comes along--somone who can make discoveries
of note--they can, as a group, as a powerful democracy, just work to
smother the discoveries that most of them simply can never make.

You have helped to create a monster of a system that is so powerful
today that major discoveries from people who might otherwise be noted
as major discoverers can be held back from the bulk of humanity by
people with a vested interest in doing so, because real discovery is a
hard business.

Democracy has no place in the sciences or mathematics.

The truth should be the final word.

James Harris

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Fraud in sciences, fraud in mathematics
    ... > recent highly publicized cases of fraud. ... > If you're truly naive, you may believe the math system blocks fraud, ... > But can you find a single case in the field of mathematics? ... > smother the discoveries that most of them simply can never make. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Fraud in sciences, fraud in mathematics
    ... >> recent highly publicized cases of fraud. ... >> But can you find a single case in the field of mathematics? ... >> smother the discoveries that most of them simply can never make. ... Was Lorentz a guard,theoretical mathematician, or a train driver? ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: JSH: Fraud question is pertinent
    ... |The best explanation is that it doesn't work very well. ... making my case for a math society overtaken by fraud. ... other checking done or available with a lot of mathematics which just ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: JSH: My math
    ... mathematical discoveries. ... I counted some primes with my prime ... surrogate factoring, and it is always this weird feeling as with ... mathematics I know how much of this world is about lying. ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: JSH: Fraud question is pertinent
    ... Reality is that most math papers and mathematical research get reviewed ... That is a reality ripe for fraud. ... In fact, quite a lot has been done with computer-verifying mathematics, ... That is, it's a con. ...
    (sci.math)