Pynchon never said that. Never will. I know that. Because I'm pompous and don't mind speaking for people I don't know.

[Joseph Tracy]

There is nothing at all wrong with trying to understand how things work, but that is simply not the only thing scientists do. You mention algorithms designed to siphon money out of the market which in fact  have become a key component of the market. Science is currently married to the dominant paradigms of capitalism and military dominance. That means more fracking,  more chemical and genetically engineered agribusiness, and I could go on here for about 5 pages but i will spare you. Most of this warning about the consequences of current technological practic comes from scientists and many scientists are providing alternatives. So there is no doubt a huge political component to avoiding some of the consequences of current technological patterns.

And  while  scientists are pointing towards problems and answers that need attention, many of those problems were created through the technological use of science. Neither did scientists all quit doing bad stuff after WW2. 
Alice is partly posturing, I suspect; managing multiple personas can get confusing. But the information is relevant to the discussion regardless.  

For my part, while I have philosophical issue with certain approaches to science, mostly my argument is that we really are in serious global trouble and we need to apply the bulk of our scientific, human and technological resources to cooling the fever and healing the wounds of predatory extraction. The passivity of accepting the current trends can only lead to catastrophe.  Exponential growth is an untenable paradigm economically, and biologically.

My other argument is that science is not some pure religious alternative to answer all our questions or to explain everything. It appears to have inherent limits, and it can get people into as much trouble as any other over-reaching belief system.

With genuine respect to all the plisters, I think this was a worthwhile discussion.
On Jun 2, 2013, at 9:45 PM, Joseph S. Barrera III wrote:

> So, um, why do you hate science so much?
> 
> I grew up a smart kid and learned about science and loved it without any a prior knowledge of power structures or anything. I just loved the concept of understanding the very fundamentals of things. I checked out books about atoms in grade school. I learned about quarks (still just a theory) when in junior high school -- also taught myself calculus that year. None of this was motivated by any plan to subjugate people, or be enslaved, or whatever. Later in junior high school I discovered computers (initially an IMSAI 8080 running BASIC at 1 MHz) and that detoured me into computer science, but I've always kept an interest in physics. I've learned basic quantum mechanics and I'm trying to teach myself quantum field theory. None of this seems very associated with power. Any physicist interested in power has gone to Wall Street and translated their math smarts into complicated trading algorithms. The folks left behind are just interested in trying to understand the laws underlying the laws that underlie the laws of what we understand as physics. Modern physics knowledge doesn't even translate into political or military power! That was all discovered by 1930. There will, I promise you, never be a "Higgs Bomb".
> 
> So of all the folks you could attack, why scientists? Why not kindergarten teachers or geriatric nurses?
> 
> - Joe