In the Living on Earth radio segment the host interviews Chris Mooney, the author of the book Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future. The host and Mooney discuses a 2009 Pew Research center poll that found that most Americans don’t believe humans have induced climate change. Mooney argues in the interview — and in his book— that there is a growing gap between scientists and the public. He argues that sciences has been politicalized in recent year, and he mentions another Pew Poll that found that Republicans— even well educated Republicans are less likely to admit Climate Change is human induced. Additionally, Democrats in the past have also been critical of certain medical vaccinations, thus he finds that both
…show more content…
However, I would argue they don’t offer a clear solution to address this problem. Mooney suggest that science students should increase their engagement with politics and communications; however, I would argue, science might become even more political. I completely agree that the scientific community has a public relations problem, but I think the the real problem here is America’s education system. Instead on just relying on training scientists to be effective communicators, society should attempt to advance the knowledge of all people. Even just ensuring that people understand the scientific method is a step in the right direction. Additionally, it is important that people understands that it is healthy to ask questions and raise concerns, but people need to learn that not every concern is valid. Skepticism is needed in a free society, and science can often only be conducted in a free society, but this does not mean we shouldn’t believe what the scientific community discovers about the world around us. Thus, the real solution is a free educated society. Thus, I would argue that the solution is not just making science “popular” by integrating into pop culture, but instead the solution is creating a better education systems in
However, I would argue they don’t offer a clear solution to address this problem. Mooney suggest that science students should increase their engagement with politics and communications; however, I would argue, science might become even more political. I completely agree that the scientific community has a public relations problem, but I think the the real problem here is America’s education system. Instead on just relying on training scientists to be effective communicators, society should attempt to advance the knowledge of all people. Even just ensuring that people understand the scientific method is a step in the right direction. Additionally, it is important that people understands that it is healthy to ask questions and raise concerns, but people need to learn that not every concern is valid. Skepticism is needed in a free society, and science can often only be conducted in a free society, but this does not mean we shouldn’t believe what the scientific community discovers about the world around us. Thus, the real solution is a free educated society. Thus, I would argue that the solution is not just making science “popular” by integrating into pop culture, but instead the solution is creating a better education systems in