I reject the idea of a religion-like science. I would say it has become what it is now because of the economic view the society has adopted to manage it, rather than because of irrational thinking.
Apparently, science production doesn't scale well, because scientists, when asked to compete for their bread-winning, find it easier to fool their managers than to produce legit science.
Said one Chinese scientist under Mao or soon after:
The Academy of Sciences is the Academy of Sciences ... It is not the Academy of Production. It is a place where one studies, not a place where one plants cabbages. It is not a potato patch, it is a place where one does science ...
You challenge my point of "not upsetting doctrine and/or your superiors" by saying some scientists find it "easier to fool their managers than to produce legit science."
In my reading, pyrale was agreeing with you, but instead of sourcing the problem as some vague social effect putting the blame specifically on our ways of funding science.
Apparently, science production doesn't scale well, because scientists, when asked to compete for their bread-winning, find it easier to fool their managers than to produce legit science.