Orthodoscience

A critical term for the institutional, established, and dominant form of science that is recognized as "legitimate" by the scientific establishment—the science that is taught in elite universities, published in prestigious journals, and funded by major agencies. Orthodoscience is not science as a method, but science as an institution—with its own hierarchies, gatekeepers, orthodoxies, and heresies. It is the science of the powerful, the science that rewards conformity and punishes dissent. Orthodoscience determines what counts as "real science" and what is dismissed as "pseudoscience," often based not on evidence but on institutional power. It is the science that maintains the status quo and protects its own authority.

Example: "When a heterodox researcher is denied funding, rejected by journals, and excluded from conferences, that's orthodoscience in action: using institutional power to enforce conformity and silence dissent."

Orthodoscience by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal July 12, 2026