Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-05-24]: The predictions of a evangelist that the end of the world will occur on May 21 was disproved his former followers feel disappointed. Many of them try to get back the money they had given to support the dissemination of the message that the world will soon end [source: web news]. At the same time a similar story is in progress: scientists announced that the official estimates of the rate of extinction of species are over-exaggerated [source: web news]. In one case someone can mock the stupid people who believed that the Apocalypse will come and the foolhardy of those who gave money to them. In the latter case, however, do we mock someone? Are we naive when we are giving billion of dollars to save species from extinction, when those who told us so now simply say "Okay, we were wrong"? How many of us know exactly what does the CERN do with OUR money? And how many of us have said something when we learned that the billions given to SETI finally came up to... nothing? Is science is the new "religion" that requires money without having to give account what it does with it? But, isn't this what science was supposed to fight against in the first place? If the authority of priests remains and we have simply changed the priests, then we have achieved nothing...
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