There has been a lot of talk in the media about the loss of courtesy in modern society. By many criteria, it seems that people in general have lost a degree of politeness. Reading some of the online comments after several recent articles in The Scientist would seem to indicate that biologists have also lost their manners.
I’m thinking, in particular, of some personal attacks posted in response to Les Costello’s article in the September issue arguing that the National Institutes of Health are biased against senior scientists, since they give funding preferences to young investigators. Some of these readers commented on Costello’s recent grants, noting that he hadn’t submitted a competitive application within a few years. “I left basic academic research for one reason—people like you running the field.” “The whole system is broken, and people like you are going to keep it broken while you write papers on ...
