Horizon: Science under attack

[sasguru]

I'd like to have seen more investigation of what's going on in schools, where people should be getting a good grounding in critical thinking.

You only have to look at BB, EO, SB to know that they are not.
What is even more worrying is that they are not even aware of the state of their ignorance.

[EternalOptimist]

Surely the reason why the common man is becoming disillusioned by the scientific process is because it is being politicised by failed politicians, hijacked by zealots , milked by unscrupulous reasearchers , used as a doomsday authority to sell papers and shoddy journals and blamed for everything when someone breaks a nail.

To bring it all down to the agw debate was itself shoddy, and didnt do the perception of science any favours at all

[EternalOptimist]

You forgot about the largely pointless taxes.

the zealots want petrol rationing

never mind taxes. they want to charge you 20 quid a gallon, then tell you how many gallons you can have a year.

litres probbly. bloody zealots.

[TimberWolf]

Given that about half of Americans believe the Earth is 5000 years old (or whatever the exact figure is said to be), what chance has any other science got. The other half believe in aliens.

[SueEllen]

I'd like to have seen more investigation of what's going on in schools, where people should be getting a good grounding in critical thinking.

The National Curriculum has too much political influence.

After all as a politician or big business leader you don't really want to teach young people to think for themselves.

[SueEllen]

the zealots want petrol rationing

never mind taxes. they want to charge you 20 quid a gallon, then tell you how many gallons you can have a year.

litres probbly. bloody zealots.

I heard that and thought well it's nice to know they don't want food, medicines, emergency care, clothes and other goods.

Or how else do they think things get to them?

[BlasterBates]

You only have to look at BB, EO, SB to know that they are not.
What is even more worrying is that they are not even aware of the state of their ignorance.

Odds are you're not very bright or well educated so your opinion is worth little more than a fart in a hurricane.

HTH.

[Mich the Tester]

The National Curriculum has too much political influence.

After all as a politician or big business leader you don't really want to teach young people to think for themselves.

You have a point. I remember chemistry lessons at school; we spent several weeks learning how to do 'molarity' equations for GCSE; all very important, but it was all about getting the marks for the exam; I can't say I learned anything about the scientific process or even what was actually going on when a chemical reaction occurs. I learned that later, from books. But in the mean time, lots of kids were turned off science because they thought it was 'boring', and I can understand why. It was presented as dry, boring and of little meaning to everyday life. The question 'why', which is surely an opportunity for a science teacher to expand and tell a fascinating story was met with 'that's not in the syllabus'.


How on earth have we reached a point where even many intelligent people consider science 'boring'? Boring compared to what? Big Brother? Colleen and Wayne? Trawling through second rate literature seeking 'deeper meanings' in ther texts? Think about it; it must be quite a skilled business to make the big bang, the laws of motion or evolution boring. Really, there must be some loons working in education if they can contrive to make the process of scientific discovery appear boring. If I watch the beeb, I see the likes of Prof B Cox, David Attenbrough, Iain Stewart and Jim Al-Khalili who speak with real passion for their field of work; surely science teachers who can bring across the same excitement could raise standards all round and inspire people to learn about science.

It seems that some in the education field have made it their mission in life to turn inquisitive young minds into mush.

[Churchill]

Currently reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson.

Very good it is too.

[Churchill]

Bet it's not as good as my book about the Black Death.

Or should that be "The really really dark grey Death" in these PC times?

I wouldn't know mate, we're using your book to prop the coffee table up. Soz.