Michael Crichton on Power and Science – The Unwritten Law of Research

„…Whoever has the power in society determines what can be studied, determines what can be observed, determines what can be thought. Scientists fall in line with the dominant power structure. They have to, because the power structure pays the bills. You don’t play ball with the power structure, you don’t get money for research, you don’t get an appointment, you don’t get published, in short you don’t count anymore. You’re out. You might as well be dead.“

Michael CrichtonMichael Crichton reveals how power shapes science and controls research – a provocative quote about the truth behind scientific study.
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Michael Crichton was an American author, screenwriter, and director, renowned for his thrilling sci-fi and thriller novels that frequently explore scientific and technological themes.

This quote highlights the close link between science, power, and social control — a warning to critically examine who holds the authority to define knowledge.


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Quote about power and science by Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton (1942–2008) was an American author, best known for his engaging scientific thrillers such as "Jurassic Park." With a medical background, he often combined complex scientific concepts with gripping storytelling. Besides writing, he also worked as a director and screenwriter.

Danny Minot quote about power determining science and thoughtCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"Whoever has the power in society determines what can be studied, determines what can be observed, determines what can be thought. Scientists fall in line with the dominant power structure. They have to because the power structure pays the bills." Danny Minot
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Quote by Yuval Noah Harari about the relationship between science, power, and truthCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"I mean science, as an institution, is interested in gaining the power — to gain control over the world — to be able to gain control over diseases, over the human body, over the environment, over rivers and animals and forests. You have to submit a grant to somebody to fund, it all comes down to money, in many cases. It’s also an institution- If you’re a freelance scientist, you just explore the truth. Okay. But in an institution, a university, you need money to finance so you submit a research grant, and you have to convince the authority not of the truth. You have to convince the authority that what you want to do will somehow make us more powerful. Will somehow enable us to produce a new weapon. Will somehow enable us to produce more food. Will somehow enable us to gain control over previously uncontrollable, or deadly disease. And this is really what gets the money. Of course, it means to also be truth to some extent. Does it work and who wants it?" Yuval Noah Harari
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Quote by Eugen Rosenstock about the tension between research and knowledge in science.Copyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"Perhaps the following current example can best illustrate this point. We do not live in the clerical age, where lay people and clergy fought each other; nor do we live in the state-political age, when state officials and the people fought over democracy. The free growth area in the scientific age lies in a new pair of tensions, namely between research and knowledge. This pair of conflicts is still largely unclear. We scholars all disguise ourselves as researchers, just as the old clergy behaved like saints in order to hold back the division between clergy and people. This does not change the fact that today the danger of the sciences becoming ossified is looming large. Scholars are competent and therefore completely incapable of loving the overthrow of their virtue. They are science officials, and they always oppose amateurs. But since research is as much a part of science as the Holy Spirit is part of the Church, there is a great deal of pseudo-research competing with the progress of free research; and only the former is conscientiously supported by official bodies and foundations, because only this appears worthy of support to the professional officials of science. Such harmful research acts according to the principle: Wash my fur, but don't get me wet. It researches cancer according to Pasteur's outdated ideas, as if it were rabies. It examines religion according to Wellhausen's ideas, but because it bases its research on ancient authority, it is extensively funded. As long as scholars and researchers both remain poor, genuine research has prospects. That was the case until 1900. Today, the prognosis for research is deteriorating because grateful peoples are generously funding “science.” Thus, power is shifting to the side of the knowledgeable, against the researchers. Our doctor factories and Rockefeller fellows are eloquent witnesses to this." Eugen Rosenstock
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Quote by Matthias Burchardt about the corruption of science through third-party funding at universitiesCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"Science itself is dead. The university has become a brothel of third-party funding. I mean that quite seriously — a colleague of mine once said this when her rector at a university in the Ruhr region drove away in a sports car wearing a gold chain. We each have our little room there, and we make a career if we let ourselves be used by whoever provides the funding. In other words, the agenda and the criteria for quality are outsourced. The criterion of truth becomes corrupted by the criterion of external funding. Not everyone who accepts external funding behaves this way, of course. But the metaphor of the brothel was meant to illustrate that love can be corrupted when it becomes something that can be bought — and that science can be corrupted when it becomes something that can be bought." Matthias Burchardt
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Prof. Dr. Michael Meyen quote about media power and definition in mainstream newsCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"During lectures, I have repeatedly noticed that it is beneficial to clarify this obvious fact: No, the news is not a reflection of reality, not even a poor one. When we use mainstream media, we observe power relations in terms of definition. Who brings their topics and their view of things to the public? Who can I safely quote, who or what can or must I refer to? Which terms are appropriate and which are not? If the mainstream media say that there is a virus and a disease that I should be afraid of, then I have to take that seriously because those who decide about my life take it seriously. I can claim the opposite and attack the power of definition, but then I have to expect to lose all reputation (Wendler, Hildmann), being transferred (like Friedrich Pürner, head of the health department in the Aichach-Friedberg district until November 2020), or being kicked out of important committees (like Christoph Lütge from the Bavarian Ethics Council in February 2021) without any public resistance." Prof. Dr. Michael Meyen
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Quote about scientific paradigms blocking progress by Sir Fred HoyleCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"Science today is locked into paradigms. Every avenue is blocked by beliefs that are wrong, and if you try to get anything published by a journal today, you will run against a paradigm and the editors will turn it down." Sir Fred Hoyle
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