Reliable sign a culture has gone bad: Bullies emerge as the dominant voice. Then use that power to define the culture - going forward.

Otherwise known as tyranny.

STEM the Bullying: An empirical investigation of abusive supervision in academic science:

Among the 1904 survey participants .. (a)n overwhelming proportion reported either experiencing (84%) or witnessing (59%) abusive supervision, or both (49%). Scores on the Tepper abusive supervision scale (PDF) were higher than other organizational benchmarks.

Tried/failed searching 'Tepper abusive supervision organizational benchmark rankings' to see how “higher”...? Do our nice, balanced scientists, always taking the politics out, do they hold the world record for abusive, unstable behaviour?

Participants reported experiencing the contextual checklist behaviors, especially .. being threatened about having their positions cancelled (51.9%), having the bully encourage others to mistreat them (53.7%) and having their funding taken away or receiving threats of the same (43.4%).

If your doctorate is your life's passion - that’s a worry. What are you gonna do? Buck the system - become a Uber driver? Or play along?

While a majority of perpetrators were male, they were proportionately no more likely to abuse than females. Perpetrators were more likely from the highest-ranked institutions.

Good to know that academics are equal-opportunity abusers.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Nature: Six current and former employees are calling for the Wellcome Sanger Institute — one of the world’s top genomic centres — to reopen an investigation that last week cleared its management of bullying, gender discrimination and misuse of grant money. The six were not made aware of Sanger’s response to their allegations .. (and) question the transparency of the investigatory process. “Thus, we could not correct inaccuracies nor could we comment when the Full Report was critical of us.”

Serena Nik-Zainal, whistleblower: For this serious investigation, GRLboard have appointed ONE investigator (a Wellcome lawyer and) .. did not bother to interview all the complainants. ..Terrifying lack of clarity in how conclusion reached.

Wellcome: We are satisfied that a thorough and appropriate investigation has been carried out.

Sounds familiar: When an allegation is made, conduct an ‘investigation’ then dismiss the allegation without revealing details of the investigation.

Wellcome, under Farrar, epitomizes the sad state of the science culture:

• rife with bullying by those in power
  
• dismissive of complaints
  
• ‘terrifying’ lack of transparency

It is this same science community culture that has been activated to suppress investigations into the possibility of a lab-leak - bully/financially ostracize the whistleblowers. Business as normal.

The trouble with ‘conspiracy theories’ has always been: How are you going to get so many people to collaborate and stay silent? But if you control the culture, then that takes care of all those moving parts.

The members of that culture are invested - financially/socially/psychologically. They act according to the best interests of the hive - which doubles as their own best interests. Their minds make-up the rest. To the point they vehemently believe it. In the full religious sense of the word.

As Huxley and Orwell warned, many of the members enjoy the pile-on - it appeals to a certain base human instinct. For others, it gradually becomes too problematic to oppose it. There's your livelihood and your family to consider. The ‘sensible’ decision is to comply - abrogate the sins to the system. We know it's corrupt - but whadya gonna do?

That leaves you with a brazen culture of One Health Bullies - unfettered by accountability or the truth - making decisions for the world.