There are many self-appointed experts and professionals who appeared in Russia during the current decade. These people like discussing social-economic and political problems with a knowledgeable air. Generally, they are concentrated at so-called “Centers” or “Institutes” which are grown by leaps and bounds, specialize in systems analysis supposedly and usually consist of several average men (sometimes with academic degrees) who like to be hip to the latest world news and immediately react to them by their dilettantish comments. Numerous reputable-looking research papers and experts’ reports which are abound in irrelevant nitty-gritty details regularly come into being in the depths of such organizations under the high-sounding titles. Content of these research papers is as clear as day, but is plenty of pseudo-scientific words and therefore they are presented in an unintelligible form.
So-called experts persistently try to convince a readership of the truth of their words that if one or another text is written simply and accessible even to a non-specialist, it means that this text is written for poor fools. These pseudo-experts refuse to admit that their sheer nonsense is usually a pile of facts presented by authors without any attempt to comprehend it and could be interesting only to people with low self-appraisal who want to prove to themselves and everyone that they are part of so-called “intellectual elite”. As a rule, they revere words like “academician”, “corresponding member”, “doctor/candidate of sciences”, “MBA”, “PhD” etc.; tend to have not one but several certificates of a degree and point out their availability each time. It is particularly important that sheepskin should be awarded by prestigious institution of higher education like Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Moscow State University, Moscow State Academy of Law etc. (any western university is a real dream). In addition such “intellectuals” consider it to be personal insult if anybody forgets to mention their regalia anywhere or, what is more, compares them with any Russian citizen with high education.
Experts of the Constructive Project Foundation adhere to the position that it’s better to cater for a general reader and write simply and accessible about difficult problems, because we are respectful to any reader and hope that he will be interested in our research papers. Of course, we have our definite opinion on many serious issues and we do not keep harping about a hundred times repeated facts of common knowledge for no particular reason or just for show of thinking. Sometimes it’s enough to systemize disembodied data and present it in obvious form, and due to this every reader will be able to come to clear conclusions. In this case we try to minimize our own comments.
As a matter of fact, it’s an open secret that there exists a well organized system of purchasing of academic degrees in Russia. New standards of image and traditions of PR resulted in cramming the scientific sector with people who were distant from it. This has undermined the status and prestige of academic degrees not only in eyes of the academic community, but also in eyes of the public at large. The current Russian system of awarding degrees is in deep crisis and is not able to accept challenges of modern times. It is a breeding-ground for numerous machinations and seriously damages the federal budget which has to throw money down the drain because maintenance costs of sham candidates and doctors of sciences (basically, legal, economic and, rarely, political sciences) became a bottomless pit. The obvious devaluation of the status of academic degrees has already ceased to be an internal problem of the Russian academic community; it begins to strike at the reputation of the whole system of higher-educated manpower development in Russia on the rebound.
Of course, it is hard to understand straight off in such circumstances, who is a real expert, and who is a parvenu which uses sham certificate of a degree as a cover. Apparently, only a high level of interest of a readership in scientific papers of one or another author may be an indicator of the author’s firm grasp of various affairs. At least, our experts are guided by these considerations in their activity.
In addition, we believe that even at the most primitive level of social development the collective experience is richer than an individual’s experience, so we focus only on the collective experience. The whole point is that, on the one hand, the specialization and professionalization increase the intellectual power of the society, on the other - divide the collective experience, leaving to individuals only a narrow set of particular specialties and too general, often rough ideas about intellectual wealth of the whole society. As a result, there is a paradoxical, but natural intellectual impoverishment of an individual in a highly developed society.
A person living in a highly developed society (like the Russian society) takes satisfaction of his needs by specialists in narrow fields for granted. He takes no notice of narrowing of his own intellectual level; he doesn’t understand that he has only a passing knowledge of many objects. However, being a particular specialist in one field, the person with higher education who likes to be hip to the latest world news, finds illusive feeling of acquiring of extensive and profound knowledge. He feels himself as an equal to particular specialists in other fields and begins to trust excessively his own passing knowledge of objects which require other skills and really profound knowledge. It seems to him that in the estimates of social phenomena beyond the range of his knowledge and experience he can rely upon his intuition and even emotions. A modern individual unwittingly follows the double standard: confidently criticizing those incompetent people who pry into the field of his knowledge and experience, he ventures to discuss fields where he has superficial and even wrong knowledge. No wonder that pseudo-scientific materials which influence emotions and perception of people spread in the modern world so easily.
On the other hand, the collective experience is a powerful tool only due to its enrichment. However, assurance of experts that no one there but them knows much about one or another matter, led to the situation when wide range of questions got shut of new ideas and criticism. As a consequence, scientific knowledge turns into dogma; methods of assessment of the present-day reality lose flexibility; observations which prejudice well-established aims are rejected, and the science ceases to be an active force of the social development.
Transformation of the science in the caste occupation puts the success of those who try to devote themselves to the science in dependence on formal indicators purely, which leads the science away from solving real problems even further. The situation is aggravated by focusing of scientific and technical projects on timeserving and political tasks solution. Striving of the major part of the modern scientists for keeping the beaten track in order to ensure peaceful and prosperous life for them, became the main obstacle in the way of the scientific development.
Someone must finally tear this vicious circle. We allow ourselves to discuss responsibly the social-economic and political problems, relying on collective experience, synthesizing knowledge stored by the society, making the most out of cumulative effect of such synthesis. We will show that there are many people in Russia besides smug “professionals”, and we know much about various matters of social and state development and may be useful for our country.
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