Dear Friends,

            In his famous letter to Kepler in year 1610, Galileo complained that the philosophers (i.e. Scientists were referred to as philosophers) who opposed his discoveries for exposing flawed belief (i.e. the Earth is at center) at the root of then dominant geocentric paradigm had refused even to look through a telescope.

            "My dear Kepler, I wish that we might laugh at the remarkable stupidity of the common herd. What do you have to say about the principal philosophers of this academy who are filled with the stubbornness of an asp and do not want to look at either the planets, the moon or the telescope, even though I have freely and deliberately offered them the opportunity a thousand times? Truly, just as the asp stops its ears, so do these philosophers shut their eyes to the light of truth."

            What is the difference between the religion and a scientific discipline, if the beliefs at the root of a scientific discipline are fiercely defended and frighteningly impervious to evidence and objective facts? Isn’t it a violation of scientific method to have untested implicit beliefs in any scientific discipline and accumulating new knowledge by relying on such untested implicit beliefs that are flawed?

           Unfortunately computer science, particularly BoK (Body Of Knowledge) related to so-called components in the context of CBD/CBE (Component Based Design, Development or Engineering) is rooted in 50 to 60 years old untested implicit flawed beliefs, which are being fiercely defended and considered impervious to evidence.  Unanimity of biased beliefs has been concluded to be objective facts and/or self-evident Truths (that needs no supporting proof and impervious to any amount of counter-evidence).

           Unfortunately, software researchers concluded that nature and essential properties of components are ideological choices, even in the context of countless quintessential CBD/CBE products (e.g. cars, computers, airplanes, machines or machinery for factories etc.) that are built by designing, building and assembling components.

Does the nature and essential properties of physical beings (e.g. animals, trees, bacteria, viruses, fungi or components) are subjective ideological beliefs impervious to any amount of counter-evidence or objective facts? Don’t researchers have any moral obligation to investigate counter-evidence to such beliefs, when offered? Isn’t it violation of moral and ethical obligation (or gross negligence), if such evidence is deliberately ignored or suppressed?

Even if the nature and properties of physical things such as bacteria, viruses or components were to be ideological choices, why software research community is killing the ideological diversity and plurality by reacting as if it is a heresy to propose or explore any other choice? The software researchers 50 to 60 years ago made an ideological choice (by ignoring the reality and fact) that software parts that are reusable (or conducive to be reusable) are components.

          The funny thing is that, I feel like advocating good aspects of capitalism to hardcore Marxists in the Soviet Union or advocating good aspects of socialism to hardcore capitalists in the USA during the height of cold war, such experiences are well articulated, by Dr. Michael Parenti, in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_iAXYBUSk (please pay extra attention to 5 minutes bit starting from 15 minutes).

             Scientific disciplines such as botany, zoology, bacteriology, mycology, or virology are not like social science. There is no room for ideological beliefs or choices in such 21st century scientific disciplines including computer science. Such sciences end up having not much different from social sciences or even religion, if the BoK (Body of Knowledge) was rooted in ideological beliefs or choices (e.g. for defining nature and properties of physical beings) by ignoring reality or facts.

            If the nature and properties of physical beings are ideological choices, why plurality and ideological diversity is not accepted, as if the properties are sacred religious dogma? What is the difference between software researchers and religious fanatics? No one ever dared to question the validity of dogmatic untested beliefs at the root of software engineering.

          Unfortunately software researchers have been fiercely defending 50 to 60 years old tacit axiomatic beliefs that are very foundation of exiting dominant software engineering paradigm (as the 2300 years old belief “the Earth is static at the center” is the very foundation of 16th century dominant geocentric paradigm).

           Is it ethical to fiercely defend untested or unproven beliefs about the properties of the components in modern 21st century scientific disciplines such as computer science? Unfortunately many untested implicit beliefs are frighteningly impervious to counter-evidence and obvious fact. Software researchers have been using every possible excuse and tactics to suppress counter evidence.

Best Regards,

Raju Chiluvuri

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