As for motivated cognition, of course it's present, as it is virtually everywhere in life and academia
Don't you think that being both a field of study and a social movement aiming to change prevalent values and social structures offers especially rich opportunities for motivated cognition? Compared to the baseline of life and academia average?
they don't submit grants for $100 million dollar construction project
That's peanuts. When social scientists fuck things up, the cost is in millions of human lives. Exhibit A: Karl Marx.
Don't condemn the field just by its sins.
Well, the problem is that I don't think it's a field of study at all. I think it is, as you said, a project to change the society.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.