Science is (mostly) Fake and Gay
There is a consistent failure of subsequent researchers to reproduce the results of original experiments, even when following identical protocols. This is a crisis for the managerial class, it indicates a fundamental rupture in the scientific enterprise, revealing that a significant portion of academic literature is inaccurate or wholly false.
Investigations into the magnitude of the problem suggest that in the medical and social sciences, as many as 85% of published research papers cannot be reproduced. This breakdown in scientific validity is not limited to obscure studies but encompasses landmark research previously celebrated in mainstream media and used to inform public policy.
The depth of the crisis became apparent through large-scale efforts to verify existing literature. In two thousand and fifteen, the Open Science Collaboration attempted to replicate one hundred experimental and correlational studies reported in three leading psychology journals.
The project found that only 36% of the replications produced statistically significant results that matched the direction of the original findings. And the magnitude of the effects observed in the successful replications was, on average, only half of that reported in the original publications.
Similar failures are documented in the biological and clinical sciences. The biotechnology corporation Amgen attempted to replicate 53 landmark studies in the fields of hematology and oncology over the course of a decade. The researchers were able to confirm the findings of only 6 of these studies, representing an 11% success rate. In basic cancer biology, the median effect size for replications has been found to be 85% smaller than the median effect size in the original papers.
Survey data indicates that 52% of researchers working in the basic sciences acknowledge the existence of a significant reproducibility crisis, though many continue to trust at least half of the papers within their specific fields. The crisis is also prevalent in chemistry, hydrology, neuroanatomy, and economics.
This replication crisis has profound implications for the status of science and expertise in contemporary society, especially considering that highly educated individuals are often more vulnerable to collective psychological processes that actually diminish critical thinking.
A susceptibility that arises from a strong desire for social conformism and a need to match the social ideal image provided by the academic community. During periods of mass formation or collective hypnosis, experts may suffer from total blindness to reality, continuing to support absurd narratives even when confronted with contradictory evidence.
This cognitive narrowing allows for the persistence of invalid research methods and narratives. Intellectuals may prioritise their social standing within a group over the pursuit of objective truth, effectively becoming tools for the propagation of mainstream views. The failure of the scientific community to acknowledge the extent of the replication crisis facilitates the management of the population through psychological manipulation and propaganda.
The Case of the Wood Wide Web
You may have head of the wood wide web, the subterranean network of mycorrhizal fungi which connects the forest. In this hippie fever dream the plants act communally, helping out struggling members of the ecosystem, swapping carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus between each other. Older trees within the forest act as central hubs for the fungal network, transmitting warning signals and provide preferential treatment to genetic relatives. It's like the brain of the forest man, the fungal strands function like neurons in a human brain dude.
The study told a story that reinforces the feminine ideal of a natural world in harmony - not competition - where the caring, intuitive, and intelligent mother nurtures her diverse flock with graceful egalitarianism.
It's an amazing claim, and because the narrative aligns so well with feminist and progressive values, the entertainment industry, academia, and media enthusiastically amplified the story of the wood wide web. Documentaries, podcasts and hundreds of news articles, all telling the story, all motivated to make connections between human society and the natural world, and break connections between God and His people.
To illustrate, the TV Show Ted Lasso actually referenced the study: "You know, we used to believe that trees competed with each other for light. Suzanne Simard's field work challenged that perception, and we now realise that the forest is a socialist community. Trees work in harmony to share the sunlight."
The fly in the ointment, for the study (as well as for socialism) is that it's just not true.
Attention is Intention
The study was conducted by Suzanne Simard, a Canadian, divorced hippy and eco-activist 'observed a phenomenon' she termed the Mother Tree Hypothesis.
Where mother tree's aren't alone - no tree stands alone in her version of the forest ecosystem. Her book 'Finding the Mother Tree' shows how she idealises and personifies nature, she sees perfection in it, she contrasts to the world of men and competition, and it;s something that she seeks to maternally protect.
It's mother-nature worship, and this world view shaped her observations and interpretations. She - like everyone else - can only understand what she understands, as Frank Stella said 'You see what you know'.
A 2023 review of mycorrhizal research challenged the empirical basis of the wood wide web narrative. Justine Karst and her colleagues identified a lack of peer-reviewed evidence from forests to support the mother tree hypothesis. Even studies from Simard’s own laboratory indicated that Douglas-fir seedlings were less likely to survive near older genetic relatives in field conditions.
Technical limitations prevent the direct observation of continuous fungal networks in natural habitats. DNA analysis of roots and fungi is required to confirm the existence of large-scale connections across a forest. Current research identifies only five studies that successfully mapped these links for two tree species
The truth wasn't allowed to spoil a good story however, with her memoir, Finding the Mother Tree, being adapted into a film by Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Simard on some level knew she was projecting, in her book she acknowledged making a "narrative choice", yet she insists that her portrayal of seedling survival was not a conscious attempt to deceive. In fact, Simard doubled down, labelling critical review papers as "an injustice to the whole world", and those questioning her work she labelled as "reductionist scientists".
Simard continues to advocate for her Mother Tree Project, a research initiative that applies her theories to forest conservation and sustainable forestries.