Despite Esteem for Science, Public at Odds with Scientists on Major Issues

By Lee Rainie | January 29, 2015 |

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2015/01/29/despite-esteem-for-science-public-at-odds-with-scientists-on-major-issues/

This article by Lee Rainie is interesting, not because it says something shocking but because it backs up common sense. It doesn’t surprise me that there is a difference in opinion. I can be considered more on the scientific side, I recognize that not all scientists agree on everything and like other people, they are influenced by non-scientific factors. I do believe though, the main stream scientists do rely more on facts and numbers versus opinion, religion or political winds.

Naturally, there is a gap between what the scientific community believes versus the general population. I understand that it takes time for any scientific concept to make it through the scrutiny and debate. I also recognize that in spite of the facts, we as a community make the wrong decision sometimes.

What I found striking about this research was the consensus that our educational system is falling behind the world in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). In my opinion, this is the most critical path for us to remain a leading world power. To date, I think we’ve done a lousy job satisfying that need. Our education system remains focused on the lowest achieving students and it tries to force too many of the students down the college path. Sadly, our government is just as guilty. The funding attempts to make too many people happy. Not providing a tiered education where all students have a path oriented by their skills and capabilities is the major weakness. There is nothing wrong with trade schools, technical schools or service schools.

In my opinion, our education system is overly focused on numbers and the core subjects. Instead of making changes with value, the education lobby keeps dumbing down the subject matter trying to make the numbers look good. Unfortunately, they’re forced too, in order to get money from the government. Missing subjects like music, art and physical education deprive our children of information that encourages thinking. We spend more money than any of the developed nations and yet the quality of output is disappointing. I know the answer is ‘pour more money into the system’ but only a fool will continue doing that. Unfortunately, many of the people making that decision fall into that category.

I think the future is not encouraging, we’ll pump more money into teaching less, trying to get more money.

 

Ray Jay Perreault

Science Fiction