I’m not proud of it, but I like the Big Bang Theory. Its not great television but I find it to be excellent background noise. I have become attached to the gain and I must admit it has taught me a thing or two about physics that I would have never been exposed to otherwise. Despite all that even handed praise/criticism (not sure which way to push) the Big Bang Theory has hurt the American understanding of science.
I don’t have every scene memorized but on several occasions Sheldon, Leonard, and other members of gain have pronounced that they are “all about the science,” “I am a man of science,” “science is my lady” and it gives the impression that science is a thing. They treat science as something that is set in stone that you are either for or against. What bothers me about this is science is not a thing but a process. It is a constant search for truth but never is truth.
If you want to take this out of the world of television and into something more real world lets talk about how many people view climate change. First they wouldn’t call it climate change, they would say global warming. Either way they seem to be suffering from the same problem that plagues the BBT crew, treating science as a settled thing rather than the process that is in constant motion. This is a problem for a couple reasons. First, it misleads the public into believing that the charts, tables, and models paraded before them are a bunch of facts. They aren’t. They are best guesses, they are extrapolations of the available information, and to most including myself they haven’t been holding up well. The process of science doesn’t end when Dr. Smarty McGeniuson presents his finding to the rest of us. Actually that is just step one, and if you stop paying attention you might miss better, more complete information coming your way.
Al Gore is most responsible for general awareness that the climate is warming and fossil fuels are complicit in this process. That part of his argument seems to be holding up well, pretty much everything else from an Inconvenient Truth has not. To a population that has a solid understanding of science as a process and not a thing that isn’t surprising or alarming. That’s just how the dice fall sometimes. We are not that population though. Climate Deniers are quick to pick up on the claims that didn’t hold up and dismiss the entire premise, while Climate Truthers (not sure on the nomenclature) are forced to defend claims that are clearly false. This entire performance is being played out by people who don’t seem to understand that if you don’t constantly update your understanding you are going to be left looking pretty silly by future generations.
Most believe the deniers are usually on the political right but the left has plenty of moments in the science denier camp. Trying bringing up IQ in any context and you will be chased right out the building. Instantly they claim that Charles Murray’s research on Race and IQ has been totally debunked. That just isn’t true. Much of his methodology and assumptions have been challenged and a good part of his research doesn’t seem to hold water. However, that doesn’t mean his entire insight must be thrown out. IQ does appear to track onto reality, and when you start giving multiple test, that test multiple types of intelligence, and tries to account for cultural difference, you will find that intelligence is a real thing and certain people appear to be more capable in that arena than others. Its complicated, its easy to make logical jumps that end in wrong conclusions, and frankly I’m not sure how useful it is to me in navigating the world. Despite the difficulty I don’t walk around all day thinking everyone around me is equally intelligent.
What’s my point in the science discussion. I guess I just want people to take a deep breath and remember this is all a process. Don’t be the first to declare some new discovery as science and truth. It might be better to just stop using the word “discovery” altogether. It insinuates a finality, and nothing left to do or see here. “Noticed” is far more accurate, and it allows for further work to be done in that area as we try and get closer to truth. We will never arrive at that truth but we can get closer.
