Forty Years After Apollo 11 Are Americans Losing Interest in Science?

A new book blames New Atheists and science bloggers for science's decline.

SUMMARY: When man first stepped on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission 40 years ago, scientists and engineers were heroes. Americans were interested in science, and science helped guide government policy. Today? A new book, Unscientific America, concludes that scientific illiteracy is casting a dark cloud over America's future.

Authors Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum discuss how science has fallen in popularity during the past 40 years though there was something of a resurgence during Carl Sagan's heyday. They see a decline of science in mainstream journalism, reflected in the observation that reporters are spending more and more time working on their blogs and less time investigating and learning.

Although poor science education, "science-phobic" politicians, and "religious ideologues" all play a role in undermining science's place in society, the book first and foremost blames scientists themselves. The authors make the following points:

First, New Atheism is not endearing itself to the 90% of Americans who believe in God. New Atheists are ignoring the fact that their shrillness gives science a bad name, at least in middle America.

Secondly, science blogging may actually be degrading America's scientific culture. These bloggers, who already agree about everything, strengthen each other and become increasingly self-assured and less tolerant of other viewpoints. This has led to, in some cases, a loud, angry, nasty, and profanity-strewing minority of the science world denouncing the rest of America for superstition and science ignorance. The opportunities decrease for meaningful dialogue among those holding different viewpoints.

What are some possible solutions? The book suggests developing "Renaissance scientists" who have good speaking and outreach skills, but will that work? Perhaps there are no good solutions, and the recent election of a new president isn't likely to be a panacea.

(Picture from NASA)

To read the entire opinion piece click on this HOUSTON CHRONICLE CHRON.COM link.

COMMENT: Is science really losing its mystique? This is an interesting thought considering there is also evidence that Christianity is losing some influence at the same time. But the theory of evolution (if you want to call that science) just took a beating in a recent Pew Research poll and a survey not long ago in Great Britain found the British generally have a low regard for science. It really is a timely question though considering we have just celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, arguably the moment when the popularity of science was at its peak.

I can't quarrel with the two reasons given for the falling reputation of science. New Atheism as practiced by people such as England's Richard Dawkins is an embarrassment for the scientific world just as the many "Christian" televangelists who have fallen into disrepute have been an embarrassment for Christians. The aggressive, foul-mouthed, anti-Christian attacks by the New Atheists cannot hope to win them many friends. Indeed, the LSI Blog has experienced a bit of this as I had to remove a visitor comment from a recent post because of his profanity-laden anti-creationist comments.

Real practical science also known as operational science should not be in trouble. Real science is, generally speaking, trying to make this a better world. It deals with testing and experimentation and the scientific method. It should not be confused with wild speculations about prehistoric times. Medical advances and better technologies are some of the successes for operational science as well as the triumphs of the space program.

The apparent decline in Christianity may also be due at least in part to a departure from its real purpose. Christianity’s focus should be on spreading the central message that Jesus Christ is "the way and the truth and the life" and that nobody comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Instead, some people who call themselves Christians are ignoring the Gospel of Jesus Christ and replacing it with an emphasis on issues of social justice or feeding the poor, or even proposing false gospels such as the idea that God wants all Christians to become wealthy. Pseudo-Christians cannot help those people who are desperate for answers to questions regarding life after death.

So, if both science and Christianity would get back to their real purposes, I feel they both could recover some lost ground, and we would have a much better world.

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

During a solar eclipse, what is the speed at which the moon's shadow races across the Earth's surface?

A speed of 5,000 miles an hour.

Source: Discover (July/August, 2009)

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