Open Access is much more than free access to scientific literature. It's progress, in the most fundamental meaning of the term: the next, infinitesimal yet integral, step towards scientific nirvana. It's stripping away the ancient vestiges of a bygone scientific paradigm. It's a scientific revolution as defined by Kuhn, though it doesn't change how we do science; it changes how we view science. And it's the goal towards which we strive.
Martin Luther King, Jr. noted that "the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." But history, just like a rolling ball, has inertia and will obey the Newtonian laws, follows its path until an outside force acts upon it. Now, the question arises as to the nature of this clearly potent mechanism. But the force that alters this trajectory is not of mystical or ephemeral construction. It is the power of action and conscience, words and deeds. Without these, history continues straight along on its merry way, unconcerned about the desires and hopes of its passengers.
Nathan
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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This reminds me of the Proverb in Proverbs 31 that says we are to "judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy." People who love and know Jesus especially have a power to effectively do this I believe. It is good to see that some people are working harder to help the poor and oppressed in this day and time- not only the ecosystem.
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