Steve Sloan wrote:
>"K.Feete" wrote:
>
>> (never let them tell you superstition is dead)
>
>For proof of that, just look at Green attitudes toward
>genetic engineering and nuclear energy... ;-)
Yeah, bit of a problem, that. <grin>
Let me babble for a bit:
On the one hand, we have science. Science is good. Science comes up with
all kinds of neato stuff. Unfortunately, it generally takes years of
study to understand anything more than the basics. If you intend to read
and understand any scientific paper, you must either a) be unusually
bright or b) have had at least four years' training for it outside of
high school. At the very least you'll have to do tons and tons of
self-education and research in whatever field it is you're trying to
understand. Science is, therefore, not very accessible to the general
public, most of whom did wimpy Humanities degrees if they went to college
at all.
Now, this is nothing new; the same thing applies to, say, law. However,
science is a bit newer than law, and science has also had its real heyday
in a time when people are feeling very, very independent and desiring
very much to do things for themselves. Science is also having some
massive and *extremely* public effects in the world, effects that aren't
just things like noticing gravity, effects that, in essence, permeate
every aspects of our lives. Most are good. Some are very, very scary.
The public doesn't understand science; they don't have the training for
it, or the time for it, or the motivation for it- however you choose to
put it. But, this being the information age, everybody's *heard* about
it. And so we come to the crux of the problem:
Does the public- which will be heavily affected if, say, GE turns out to
be a flop- have a right to form an opinion on something which they are
completely uninformed on?
The scientists, by and large, say no. Greenpeace and the like say yes.
Me... I'm deciding.
But, yes, superstition is alive and well- and never more so than in the
field of science. One horribly famous science fictional quote is that any
sufficiently advanced technology appears to be magic. *I* don't
understand this box I'm writing on (although, being almost through those
four years, I gather that it's somehow based on quantum physics which in
turn is based on something called the Uncertainty Principle, which really
explains a lot): I don't understand genetic engineering; I don't even
understand electricity, or nuclear power, except in the vaguest possible
terms. Nor will I unless I spend a lot more time in school than I already
have *or* assign myself a lot of extra and, let's face it, rather badly
written and dry reading. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's all just
magic. But it's changing my life, and it's inevitable that I should try
to change it back. Lucky me. I have a slightly better chance at success,
even in my ignorance, than a weather shaman....
Kat Feete
Ten messages in the outbox- OK, that's it, I'll catch up on the rest
later!
-----
Too many people want to *have written*.
-Terry Pratchett
