Having had a career in
science a few decades ago, I continue to find that I am very
interested in news about science and often read books on the subject.
This field of discipline is critically important to humanity today,
as it brings an increasing understanding of the world around us and
our place in it. But science is struggling... particularly in the US.
Americans are becoming progressively illiterate about science, and I
find that worrisome.
Our educational
system—both secondary schools and universities—do not do a very
good job of either educating scientists or the general public.
Our elected politicians and public policy makers do not understand
science, and are even often hostile to it. The most egregious example
of this is Washington's current war on the science of global warming.
In addition, an anti-science bias frequently creeps into much of
society's discourse on subjects such as vaccinations, space research,
antibiotic use, energy use, nutrition, etc. It is sadly ironic,
because the public enjoys and benefits from the developments of
science, as people simultaneously denigrate it.
Tania Lombrozo recently
wrote about this struggle in her science blog on National Public
Radio. She makes the point that many researchers are working hard to
increase the public's scientific literacy. In doing so, however,
there is often confusion on their part over the difference between
the public's knowledge of science and their understanding
of it. Not only are many Americans uninformed about science—if not
biased against it—but many who do try to acquaint themselves
with the subject simply come to know a few facts, but really don't
understand science.
What is the difference
between knowledge and understanding? I may know that
photosynthesis is the process of plants using sunlight to synthesize
foods from carbon dioxide and water, but if I understand the
process I can appreciate why plants are the source of oxygen and how
they help to combat global warming. Thus I'll be more likely to
advocate for halting the warming process, because plants can't keep
up. I may know that NASA has sent several spacecraft to our
solar system's planets, but if I understand a little of the
science of the space program, I will be more supportive of these
missions, not just for the cool pictures that they radio back, but
for the gathering of crucial scientific information that will help
scientists comprehend similar natural processes here on Earth; maybe
even to better combat global warming.
Scientists know that they
need to help the public to become more scientifically literate, but
even they often fail to appreciate the important difference between
scientific knowledge and understanding. Science educators know that
they need to do a better job at countering the public's uninformed
and biased opinions. Given the current struggles, there's a lot of
work to do.
More on the struggle next
time...
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