Diederik Stapel, a scientist working in the field of social psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, has been suspended after it came to light that he had made up, or manipulated, data in dozens of papers over nearly a decade. When confronted with the accusations, it is said that he stated that some of his papers contained falsified data. In a statement issued on October 31, he wrote, "I have failed as a scientist, as a researcher," and offered his "sincere apologies" to all concerned.
I was able to speak with several members of the International Interfaith Dialogue Unit which discovered the discrepancies, and who, as a body, subsequently alerted the authorities. All those I spoke with expressed a wish to remain anonymous, unanimously citing the maintenance of social cohesion within their unit as the reason. In deference to their wishes, I will refer to them by the agreed aliases "Honest John", "Honest Gabriele" and "Honest Abdul."
Speaking with Honest John, via Skype, he explained that the International Interfaith Dialogue Unit (IIDU) were discussing the way forward for interfaith dialogue when, incredibly, he fell into a deep sleep. In a dream, the Lord came unto him and spake thusly: "Honest John, there hath been grave misdeeds committed by Juan Stapel at the Kirk of Tilburg." When he awoke, it came to him that he must have misheard 'Juan Stapel', and that the Lord had meant 'one Stapel', the relatively unknown scientist working at Tilburg University. Immediately, he interrupted the proceedings to convey this message to those of other faiths in the IIDU, and after a bit of interfaith dialogue, they all agreed that the revelation should be passed on to the University.
Honest Gabriele, via satellite link, confirmed the overall story, although he said he felt honour bound to say that it was actually revealed to him by an angel who appeared to him in the corridor after he'd slipped out for a quick one.
Honest Abdul, via short wave radio, assured me that it had indeed been a revelation, but it had in fact been revealed to him during the time that interfaith dialogue had been put on hold while he broadcast afternoon prayers. He said he had picked up a direct transmission on a divine wavelength.
Read the full story here: ScienceMag Insider
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