Science for Dummies

After our lecture on Tuesday night, I logged onto Facebook (typical...) and this little gem was waiting for me on my newsfeed....

See more funny videos and TBT at Todays Big Thing.

So I guess people do care about science? One of my biggest question throughout discussion was about the statistic that 70% of Americans want to read more articles about science and technology. Sounds great, right? I am doubtful on how much of this interest is with respect to the 'science' part of science and technology. As Americans, we are ALL OVER technology. People wait for days for the new gadgets introduced by Apple and we are constantly investing thousands of dollars to have the most up-to-date 'toys'. But, how much of this interest is about the hard sciences, not just about the cool gadgets that let us play games and watch movies on the go?

In class, I was very frustrated with our discussion where we deemed it the responsibility of the scientists to essentially 'dumb down' their research so that the general public could understand. I don't know if we are overestimating the intelligence of the masses or underestimating the work that our scientists do, but either way I'm not sure any scientist could simplify their work in such a way that the girl in the video above could really understand it in a meaningful way. In a perfect world, it really should be the responsibility of the individual to become informed. If he or she really wants to learn about something, he shouldn't expect a journalist to essentially cut his food into little pieces and force feed it to him. No, that's a total cop out. Take the responsibility into your hands; yeah, science can be hard, but so what? Take the time to re-read journals (or to read them to begin with!). I will be the first to admit that the actual procedures of studies can in fact be confusing and convoluted. However, in every journal published there is a Discussion section that summarizes the study and relates its applicability in a more straightforward way. There are ways to understand science, Americans just need to put in the effort to learn about it.

But hey, it's not a perfect world, so something needs to be changed so that Americans are more informed in the field of science, as many advancements are occurring every single day. So how do we make science more 'approachable' to Americans. I think the root of the problem lies in the education system, as President Obama highlighted in his 2011 State of the Union speech. On a national level, the public school system places great emphasis on Math and English while Science is often not addressed until later years. I, personally, did not begin to take science courses until I reached middle school, and that may be part of the reason why I find so little interest in the subject. I believe that science needs to become a vital part of elementary learning, so that a foundation is built at a young age. At this moment, I believe it is essential that an interest in science is re-sparked among the youth of America. By introducing science at a young age, a stronger science foundation can be built and thus the field is no longer this big scary thing that is too difficult to understand. The hard sciences can be cool (apparently?) but as a country we need the teachers and education system to be innovative in their classrooms to once again entrance young kids with basic chemistry and biology to hopefully plant the seed for future interests. I feel like an interest in science often stems from the dreams of becoming a doctor (where potential future salary is often a driving force).The field of science research is essential and often overlooked; at a higher level more incentive needs to be created for science research using money (through scholarships andresearch grants) and beginning research projects that the 'new generation' can relate to, or appears applicable to their lives.