Public-Attitude-Toward-Science

PublicAttitudeTowardScienceWhetherwelikeitornot,theworldweliveinhaschangedagreatdealinthelasthundredyears,andit’slikelytochangeevenmoreinthenexthundred.Somepeoplewouldliketostopthesechangesandgobacktowhattheyseeasapurerandsimplerage.Butashistoryshows,thepastwasnotthatwonderful.Itwasnotsobadforaprivilegedminority,thougheventheyhadtodowithoutmodernmedicine,andchildbirthwashighlyriskyforwomen.Butforthevastmajorityofthepopulation,lifewasnasty,brutish,andshort.Anyway,evenifonewantedto,onecouldn’tputtheclockbacktoanearlierage.Knowledgeandtechniquescan’tjustbeforgotten.Norcanonepreventfurtheradvancesinthefuture.Evenifallgovernmentmoneyforresearchwerecutoff(andthepresentgovernmentisdoingitsbest),theforceofcompetitionwouldstillbringaboutadvancesintechnology.Moreover,onecannotstopinquiringmindsfromthinkingaboutbasicscience,whetherornottheyarepaidforit.Theonlywaytopreventfurtherdevelopmentswouldbeaglobalstatethatsuppressedanythingnew,andhumaninitiativeandinventivenessaresuchthateventhiswouldn’tsucceed.Allitwoulddoisslowdowntherateofchange.Ifweacceptthatwecannotpreventscienceandtechnologyfromchangingourworld,wecanatleasttrytoensurethatthechangestheymakeareintherightdirections.Inademocraticsociety,thismeansthatthepublicneedstohaveabasicunderstandingofscience,sothatitcanmakeinformeddecisionsandnotleavetheminthehandsofexperts.Atthemoment,thepublicisintwomindsaboutscience.Ithascometoexpectthesteadyincreaseinthestandardoflivingthatnewdevelopmentsinscienceandtechnologyhavebroughttocontinue,butitalsodistrustssciencebecauseitdoesn’tunderstandit.ThisdistrustsisevidentinthecartoonfigureofthemadscientistworkinginhislaboratorytoproduceaFrankenstein.ItisalsoanimportantelementbehindsupportfortheGreenParties.Butthepublicalsohasagreatinterestinscience,particularlyastronomy,asisshownbythelargeaudiencesfortelevisionseriessuchasTheSkyatNightandforsciencefiction.Whatcanbedonetoharnessthisinterestandgivethepublicthescientificbackgrounditneedstomakeinformeddecisionsonsubjectslikeacidrain,thegreenhouseeffort,nuclearweapons,andgeneticengineering?Clearly,thebasismustlieinwhatistaughtinschools.Butinschoolsscienceoftenpresentedinadryanduninterestingmanner.Childrenlearnitbyrotetopassexaminations,andtheydon’tseerelevancetotheworldaroundthem.Moreover,scienceisoftentaughtintermsofequations.Althoughequationsareabriefandaccuratewayofdescribingmathematicalideas,theyfrightenmostpeople.WhenIwroteapopularbookrecently,IwasadvisedthateachequationIincludedwouldhavethesales.Iincludedoneequation,Einstein’sfamousequation,E=c2.MaybeIwouldhavesoldtwiceasmanycopieswithoutit.Scientistsandengineerstendtoexpresstheirideasintheformofequationsbecausetheyneedtoknowtheprecisevaluesofquantities.Butfortherestofus,aqualitativegraspofscientificconceptsissufficient,andthiscanbeconveyedbywordsanddiagrams,withouttheuseofequations.Thesciencepeoplelearninschoolcanprovidethebasicframework.Buttherateofscientificprogressisnowsorapidthattherearealwaysnewdevelopmentsthathaveoccurredsinceonewasatschooloruniversity.Ineverlearnedaboutmolecularbiologyortransistorsatschool,butgeneticengineeringandcomputersaretwoofthedevelopmentsmostlikelytochangethewayweliveinthefuture.Popularbooksandmagazinearticlesaboutsciencecanhelptoputacrossnewdevelopments,buteventhemostsuccessfulpopularbookisreadbyonlyasmallproportionofthepopulation.Onlytelevisioncanreachatrulymassaudience.TherearesomeverygoodscienceprogrammesonTV,butotherspresentscientificwonderssimplyasmagic,withoutexplainingthemorshowinghowtheyfitintotheframeworkofscientificideas.Producersoftelevisionscienceprogrammesshouldrealizethattheyhavearesponsibilitytoeducatethepublic,notjustentertainit.Theworldtodayisfilledwithdangers,hencethesickjokethatthereasonwehavenotbeencontactedbyanaliencivilizationisthatcivilizationstendtodestroythemselveswhentheyreachoutstage.ButIhavesufficientfaithinthegoodsenseofthepublictobelievethatwemightprovethiswrong.