"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."
-- Carl Sagan
Sagan was a very wise man and tried to reach the masses to help them understand. I am sure that it helped, but there needs to be much more.
ReplyDeleteI agree much more needs to be done, Jono. I'm especially worried that our society is dividing into a science literate group and a science ignorant group. I don't think that division is healthy.
ReplyDeleteI always loved Carl Sagan and admired his ability to infuse science with a child-like enthusiasm, a sense of awe. I remember some people ridiculing his "Billions and Billions of ...", and I'd feel bad that he was being ridiculed. Unfortunately, other scientists sometimes look down at those who try to popularize science - whether because they're jealous of the publicity, or for whatever other reason (perhaps because the popularizer needs to simplify topics and avoid complex debates in the field which would require too much background information for the general audience to understand).
ReplyDeleteTrue. We're mostly a society of technology-users, not technology-understanders. To boot, a country in which sizeable percentages of people believe in creationism, "ex-gay" ministries, and other pseudosciences is NOT a scientifically literate society. It needs to change. Maybe the answer lies in improving science education in schools? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteJon, what do you think of this idea: Just about every field nowadays is in need of intelligent popularization because society is simply too large and complex for anyone to master every field of knowledge or field of endeavor. If we are going to hold together as a society, we must to some extent understand each other. But how are we to do that if not through intelligent popularizations? It is simply impractical for us to study every field out there.
ReplyDeleteAhab, I'm thinking about using what you said as a launching pad to a blog post.
ReplyDeletePaul -- Cool.
ReplyDeleteIt don't help the case that some of the presidential candidates reject science,and unfortunately a lot of people listen to them.
ReplyDeletePaul, RE: "just about every field nowadays is in need of intelligent popularization because society is simply too large and complex for anyone to master every field .."
ReplyDeleteI agree with that.
Pjevs, in a just world, we'd consign those candidates to the insane asylums.
ReplyDeleteI'm just curious, Jon, but have you ever thought of trying your hand at popularizing neuroscience? The field in my opinion is one of the most exciting and important of our time.
ReplyDelete