War on Science Pt. 2 (The Soviets and Lysenko)

In the numerous horrifying events and ideas that surrounded the Soviet Union, it is easy to miss a few of their more embarrassing errors. One of these was their remarkable war on science, in particular the ideology of Lysenkoism.

Trofim Lysenko was the director of the Soviet Union's Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Soviet and far-left ideology is known for essentially claiming that all conflict is ultimately caused by class differences. They believe that ultimately people are capable of essentially getting along and living in harmony. In a natural state people would get along peacefully, but things like class, money, capitalism, and competition get in the way and cause violence. Lysenko decided to extend this ideology to plants.

Learn more about Lysenko here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofim_Lysenko

Yes really.

Lysenko decided to genetics did not exist, and that differences between plans were learned. They believed that "natural cooperation" was the default state of plants. Basically all plants were inherently the same, but society/outside influences made them different. He also rejected natural selection. He and his followers claimed to have successfully turned one plant into another, for example rye into barley, and that seeds had the potential to change from one grain to another.

Those scientists who disagreed with him were sentenced to 10,000 years gulag. (Ok, actual time might have varied, but they were actually sent to gulags for believing in genetics). Some scientists were also simply executed for disagreeing with Lysenko.

For some reason, scientific progress on issues relating to agriculture and genetics ground to a complete halt during this time. Mass starvation in the Soviet Union both preceded and followed Lysenko's reign of agricultural terror. Unfortunately, Lysenko's influence was felt from East Germany to China, which numerous Communist countries embracing Lysenkoism in their agriculture. Mass famines almost always followed. This was particularly true during and immediately after the so-called "Great Leap Forward" in China. Here is the face of the man who essentially caused the deaths of tens of millions with an ideology he made up:

So how on Earth did the Director for Agriculture gain the power to throw thousands of scientists out of their jobs? Well, he had Stalin's full backing!

(Stalin reacts to Lysenkoism, basically)

Stalin had no real background in science, but he was apparently convinced that Lysenkoism fit his ideology, so he just ran with it! And of course, anyone who disagrees with the state's official position needs to die. That's all there is too it. After all, they wouldn't want any divisiveness. Why have other points of view when you know you are right?