Author’s note: I wish to thank Janet Browne, André Grjebine, Rebecca Lemov for their constant support and critique, Michael Connolly, Thomas Grjebine, David Jones, Juan Palacios, Sara Press, Yvan Prkachin and Sylvia Ullmo for their insightful comments and suggestions.
If people don’t understand how science works, they can’t properly understand how to think about new findings, argues Liv Grjebine, Visiting Post-Doctoral Fellow - Université Paris I Panthéon – Sorbonne.
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| Photo: Scientific American |
The confidence people place in science is frequently based not on what it really is, but on what people would like it to be. When I asked students at the beginning of the year how they would define science, many of them replied that it is an objective way of discovering certainties about the world. But science cannot provide certainties. For example, a majority of Americans trust science as long as it does not challenge their existing beliefs. To the question “When science disagrees with the teachings of your religion, which one do you believe?,” 58 percent of North Americans favor religion; 33 percent science; and 6 percent say “it depends.”But doubt in science is a feature, not a bug. Indeed, the paradox is that science, when properly functioning, questions accepted facts and yields both new knowledge and new questions—not certainty. Doubt does not create trust, nor does it help public understanding. So why should people trust a process that seems to require a troublesome state of uncertainty without always providing solid solutions?
A more realistic understanding of how science works can contribute to a better comprehension of the decisive role of doubt and skepticism in the scientific process. Indeed, science is not a linear path leading from one success to another, but rather a constant reevaluation of hypotheses. Failures are part of the scientific process and should be taught along with successes.Read more...
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