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Who Knows

by Peter Mawhorter

Does evolution, slowly shifting genes through generations of competition, create new species?
Does CO2, released into the atmosphere, cause the globe to warm?

Who knows?

If science helps us understand the world, who is “us?”
What is “common knowledge,” and is it common, or knowledge?

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Which genes are needed to produce a more bountiful crop?
Which genes ensure that crop will not produce seeds of its own?

Who knows?

If science produces knowledge, who has access to that knowledge?
Who has the tools to put it into practice?

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Does nuclear fission, if the fissile material is packed tightly enough, produce an explosion large enough to destroy a city?
Does a neural network, trained on the data from a biased system, accurately predict the results of that system?

Who knows?

If knowledge equals power, are the powerful knowledgeable?
Are the knowledgeable powerful?
If I want to be powerful, should I fill my head with facts, or others’?

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Does publishing your results constitute the production of knowledge?

Who decides what knowledge is taught, and who does the teaching?

Does a scientist, working on a deadly disease, share their results with the world, or with their employer?

Who decides who owns an idea, and who can put it into practice?

Could you discover penicillin, but not the atomic bomb?

Who decides what problems are worth solving, and who learns the solutions?

May I respectfully submit a revised thesis?

Power equals: knowledge plus power.