Theory of Scientific Oligopolies

A situation where a small, entrenched group of elite institutions, journals, or research paradigms collectively control a field. They may compete amongst themselves, but they present a united front against outsiders, maintaining a closed system that determines whose work is credible and what questions are valuable.

Theory of Scientific Oligopolies Example: The "top five" journals in many social sciences. Publishing in them is essential for career success. This creates a scientific oligopoly where a small set of editorial boards, sharing similar methodological preferences, gatekeep the entire discipline, marginalizing innovative or heterodox research that doesn't fit their mold.

by Dumu The Void February 7, 2026

Theory of Scientific Oligarchies

Focuses on the small, powerful networks of individuals—senior professors, editors, grant committee chairs—who wield disproportionate influence. These scientific oligarchs control resources and reputations, often perpetuating their own intellectual lineages and protecting the status quo through personal connections and peer review.

Theory of Scientific Oligarchies Example: A handful of senior figures in a field who sit on every major grant review panel, editorial board, and prize committee. They consistently award funding and prestige to their own former students and collaborators, creating a self-perpetuating oligarchy that controls the field's direction and limits upward mobility for outsiders.

by Dumu The Void February 7, 2026

Theory of Scientific Elites

Studies the social stratification within science, where a credentialed elite possesses the cultural capital, institutional access, and specialized language that separates them from both the public and from less-prestigious researchers. Their elite status grants their pronouncements automatic authority.

Theory of Scientific Elites Example: The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scientists. They constitute a scientific elite whose aggregated reports carry immense weight in global policy. While based on evidence, their elite status gives them unique power to define the crisis and its solutions, potentially marginalizing localized or indigenous knowledge systems in the process.

by Dumu The Void February 7, 2026

Theory of Scientific Hegemony

The most pervasive form of control, where the scientific worldview becomes the dominant, "common sense" framework for understanding reality itself. It’s when scientific authority extends beyond the lab to shape culture, ethics, and politics, making alternative ways of knowing (e.g., spiritual, artistic, traditional) seem pre-modern or invalid.

Theory of Scientific Hegemony *Example: The mantra "Follow the Science!" during a public health crisis. While well-intentioned, it can establish a scientific hegemony where complex political trade-offs (liberty vs. security) or ethical choices are framed as purely technical problems with a single scientific solution. This sidelines democratic debate and frames dissent as "anti-science," consolidating authority in expert institutions.

by Dumu The Void February 7, 2026

Scientific Neopentecostalism

Treating the institution of science with the fervor, dogma, and proselytizing zeal of a fundamentalist religious movement. Adherents treat peer-reviewed papers like sacred texts, major institutions like infallible churches, and leading researchers like prophetic authorities. Doubt is heresy, critique is blasphemy, and the goal is conversion, not understanding. It’s faith in the authority of science, replacing the scientific method of skepticism.

Scientific Neopentecostalism Example: A climate activist who shouts down any discussion of nuanced policy trade-offs (like economic costs in developing nations) by yelling, “The SCIENCE is settled! You’re a DENIER!” They aren’t engaging in scientific discourse; they’re using “Science” as an unchallengeable monolithic truth to end debate, mirroring a preacher using a Bible verse to shut down questioning.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026

Scientific Logicalism

The narrower application of formal logic as the supreme framework for validating all scientific inquiry. It holds that any scientific claim must be reducible to a syllogistic argument, and that empirical data is subordinate to logical proof. It fails where science often succeeds: through abductive reasoning and iterative grappling with messy evidence.

Scientific Logicalism Example: A researcher rejects a groundbreaking clinical trial result showing a drug works because “the mechanism of action isn’t logically deducible from our current biochemical models. The data must be flawed.” They privilege the internal consistency of their logical model over empirical, observed reality.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026