Academicians are not omnipotent authorities, consensus should be reached. Media: Prohibit transmission of clear signals | Academicians | Authority
According to the Xinhua News Agency on September 5, recently, the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences published the new version of the Code of Conduct for CAS Member, which was approved by the presidium of the Academic Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and approved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Party Leadership Group. It stipulates that academicians are prohibited from publicly publishing academic opinions unrelated to their professional fields.
CAS Member is the highest academic title in science and technology established by the state. Influenced by factors such as profession, time, energy, and environment, academic personnel generally develop within their respective professional fields. Undoubtedly, academicians are authoritative figures in their professional fields, and they have important discourse power whether they express academic opinions in their professional fields or participate in related evaluations, recommendations, and other activities. However, once it goes beyond the professional field, it becomes difficult for academicians to assess their research and discourse power on related issues.
However, in reality, academicians can still be seen in certain interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary activities. Some individuals or institutions in society often find ways to invite academicians to participate in certain activities and even use them as commercial platforms in order to utilize the aura of academicians to achieve certain goals. In this context, the prohibitive provisions made by the above regulations are necessary and targeted.
For example, the newly added "prohibited behavior" in the above regulations clearly prohibits the public publication of academic opinions unrelated to one's professional field, and prohibits participation in consulting, evaluation, evaluation, recommendation, and other activities unrelated to one's job responsibilities and professional field. This is not only a rational constraint on the behavior of academicians, but also a reminder to some social institutions and units not to use academicians' "crooked ideas" and invite them to participate in activities unrelated to their profession.
It should be pointed out that prohibiting academicians from participating in activities unrelated to their job responsibilities and professional fields does not mean prohibiting them from participating in all non professional activities. Instead, it requires them to adhere to the "professional" principle when participating in other activities, that is, they can only express academic opinions related to their own profession, and should not publish academic opinions that span across professions. This ban sends a clear signal that academicians are only academic authorities in their professional fields, rather than omnipotent authorities across fields and disciplines. All sectors of society should recognize that the title of academician is not a tool that can be easily used. This ban is actually aimed at maintaining the academic and pure nature of the title of academician, and can to some extent prevent academicians from expressing opinions or statements in non professional fields, which may lead to some kind of misleading.
Although the above norms are only applicable to academicians of the CAS Member, they do not prevent us from examining and reflecting on some common problems through their internal spirit. For example, in recent years, some experts have been dubbed "bricklayers" by netizens. One important reason is that "experts are not specialized", that is, the so-called expert opinions are detached from their professional fields, not down-to-earth, and even make jokes, and some may even serve as capital platforms. So, what the public expects more is that professional authorities in various fields can take the above requirements as an opportunity to cherish their feathers and restrain their words and actions.
Worker's Daily Feng Haining
