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What's a Year?

Entry 698, on 2008-02-15 at 19:42:32 (Rating 3, Science)

Today I listened to a podcast in the Point of Inquiry series where they interviewed Lawrence Krauss, the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University (are you impressed yet?). Actually I listened to this when it first appeared but left it on my iPod to listen to again because I found it so interesting.

When asked about the poor standard of science in the US he responded by saying science literacy is worse than you can imagine. A National Science Foundation survey found that 50% of people don't know that the Earth takes one year to orbit the Sun. I know that fact isn't necessarily important to the average person's everyday life, but it does indicate a lack of basic knowledge which probably extends to more practical issues as well.

Perhaps a more worrying thought is that people are proud of their ignorance. Its like not knowing basic science is a good thing. I don't know whether this is related to the fact that religious belief is common in the US and that many churches encourage ignorance by promoting faith. Its tempting to suggest this might be a factor but even if it is there are many others as well.

Over 80% of science teachers in the US have no tertiary science training. Many of them no doubt feel uncomfortable teaching a subject where they know very little themselves, so a poor result is almost inevitable.

Science isn't seen as an important area of knowledge to most of the role models in the US. Politicians, business leaders and entertainers are notoriously ignorant in the area in most cases. Yes, I know there are exceptions, but in general its true. For example, only two people have PhDs in science in the US congress (one from each party). I know that science advisors exist but we have already seen how easily they can be ignored.

And the problems with leaders are magnified because traditional media (newspapers, TV, radio) don't report scientific issues very well. Again this is because of the ignorance - in this case of the reporters. If they don't understand the subject how can they ask meaningful questions? Its obvious that everyone needs some basic science skills (like knowing the astronomical basis of the year).

Education is under constant attack by fundamentalists too. Why would any education system even contemplate teaching creationism in a science class? Its totally ridiculous and the whole idea should be removed from the future agenda because its been thoroughly examined and rejected already.

The final problem is philosophical. Many people find it difficult to accept that science tells us that there are hard facts and that some things are just inherently wrong. In politics and business the idea of right and wrong is less substantial but in science we can really reach a conclusion where something is accepted as a fact - while also accepting everything can be questioned if new evidence is found. And yes, evolution is a fact. And - you guessed it - creationism is undoubtedly wrong.

This philosophical lack of acceptance of facts has lead to denial of global warming, support for creationism in science class, and other unfortunate beliefs. There is also a definite hesitancy in the US to criticise religion. I don't find this in other countries. You can compare the attitude of Richard Dawkins (all out attack) with many US supporters of science, atheism and humanism to see this effect.

Despite all of these obstacles the US is still the current major center for scientific and technological progress in the world. How has this happened? I guess having a large population and plenty of money helps, but this won't work forever. Already other centers: China, India and Europe, threaten the US dominance. That's OK because the US is a democracy and has chosen its own path. Empires don't last forever and the US empire is coming to an end. I just hope that the next dominant power is as benign as the US has been because, despite its obvious deficiencies, it has still been very successful.

Comment 1 (1184) by Anonymous on 2008-02-24 at 09:13:19:

Despite your pessimism scientific progress in America still seems to be on course. It is still where most of the world's science comes from. I'm not convinced people answer questions they are asked seriously too. And isn't the global warming controversy real?

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