More Respect For Science?

Aaron_Ragmaan

I want to vent!

does anyone have an explanation as to why science seems to take a back seat in everyday life? it really irritates me how much people take for granted and have absolutley ZERO appriciation for everything around them!

It does not compute! how can you (not you obviously! your intelligent enough to realise i mean them!) go about everyday and not wonder! I litterally have 1 million examples of everyday things that you should consider at least once in your life and not just shrug it off and say:

You ~ "Don't know"
Me ~ "Would you not like to research it and see why it does the thing it does?"

You ~ "No...."
Me ~ "Why Not!?"

You ~ "Effort....."
Me ~ "Sigh......just............just why"

But in all serious'ness'ness what is the point of you being here!? Dont get me wrong i am an Athiest and i most confidently know there is nothing after this life so why do you (again them not you!) waste it by fluting about with trivial issues like "why doesnt Decko want to come to my house for cans before we head out tonight!??" and i seriously doubt you get into rows over why Jason hasnt returned your copy of "War and Peace" or "the Universe in a nutshell" I mean its only 900 pages, he should be done in 3 days!

GRRRRRRR at society!
GRRRRRRR at you! (again.....not you the reader! them the flutes!!)
GRRRRRRR at idiot Journelists writing about things they dont understand and getting the idiot masses into a panic over things they dont equally understand! (you may have noticed ive recently read Ben Goldacres "Bad Science")

anywho i really should get back to the lab! This has been a nice distraction but as you know yourself, you have to start that damn project sometime!!!

Regards
Angry Man


P.S. Grrr at creationists (no explantion needed!)

Denerick

Dude... Chill out. Watch TV or something

I know this isn't PI, but I think your post is more a reflection on you being a tad out of touch rather than the people you're giving out about. Calm down and realise not everyone cares about the stuff you care about.

Aaron_Ragmaan

true-or-false wrote: »

I know this isn't PI, but I think your post is more a reflection on you being a tad out of touch rather than the people you're giving out about. Calm down and realise not everyone cares about the stuff you care about.

...........no

Aaron_Ragmaan

Denerick wrote: »

Dude... Chill out. Watch TV or something

HAHAHA good idea, dont even get me started on the ****e on TV now! i kid i kid

threeleggedhors

Relish your scientific mind, laugh at those who chose not to question things ... IMO

Aaron_Ragmaan

threeleggedhors wrote: »

Relish your scientific mind, laugh at those who chose not to question things ... IMO

If by luagh you mean have a new vein on my forhead pulsate at idiots then im already there! I need to start some sort of league of intelligence! i shall call it.......MENSA......

DailyBlaa

My favourite is when people post on the internet that science is only doing harm my suggestion to them is to go use normal mail and stop using the internet so.

As regards the media doing a disservice to science just look at the recent coverage of the nuclear reactor problem in Japan. All we here is doom and gloom. Oh no it is 20 times higher than normal radiation! Oh wait that is still way inside what is safe but they don't mention that. Or that nuclear reactors are unsafe. The sixth largest earthquake since records between happen close by and several large aftershocks since and it hasn't melted down. I don't know about you but that seemed relatively safe given what happen in the region.

Even go back to MMR injections, the media needed something to print so lets take something completely out of context and blow it out of proportion. Now we are left with the situation where the herd immunity is compromised. They we going crying about in the media next, why or why didn't the scientists warn us.

The media should face the restriction we have in science. To publish anything credible it must face peer review. Peer review isn't a 100% effective but is a damn sight better than the drivel they broadcast.

Aaron_Ragmaan

DailyBlaa wrote: »

My favourite is when people post on the internet that science is only doing harm my suggestion to them is to go use normal mail and stop using the internet so.

I completly agree, and when i was watching sky news about the quake i was thinking along the same lines. I am very impressed with the integrity of the buildings in Japan and how they held up against the quake.

Most of the things you have mentioned are in Ben Goldacres book "Bad Science" dont know if you have read it, but it raises similar if not the exact same points you have with ways of combating them.

It is incredibly irritating when everyday journelists take statistics and information they dont understand and write it in a very "Doom and gloom" sense, MMR is the perfect example! This entire situation was set off by a man who got his degree from an un accredited university working from guess where!? oh yes thats correct, his garden shed!

A man who could differentiate basic bacteria set off both Ireland and the U.K into a crazy state of insanity!

My God people, dont just take what ever is said in a News paper to be the Gospel truth ( or the internet for that matter ) for all you know i could be off my rocker and telling porkys!!

partyatmygaff

Some people want to study life and some people want to live life.

Some people want to do both at the same time.

Aaron_Ragmaan

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Some people want to study life and some people want to live life.

Some people want to do both at the same time.

Thats a great soundbite, but im not really sure what your getting at? If your attempting to imply that I dont "live life" or that certain people dont do what the sheeple do to have "live life" then i ask you to define what is living life?

I could be totally wrong and have taken your comment the wrong way!

Nolanger

Aaron_Ragmaan wrote: »

does anyone have an explanation as to why science seems to take a back seat in everyday life? it really irritates me how much people take for granted and have absolutley ZERO appriciation for everything around them!

Most people don't understand science because they are not bright enough. Add in religion where it preaches to accept things without question. Then there's the dumbing down of society. Also, the feminisation of the education system means subjects like physics are getting removed from schools. Society now prefers moronic teamplayers to thoughtful science. It's sh*t being a scientist in this country!

Quiet you

Nolanger wrote: »

Most people don't understand science because they are not bright enough. Add in religion where it preaches to accept things without question. Then there's the dumbing down of society. Also, the feminisation of the education system means subjects like physics are getting removed from schools. Society now prefers moronic teamplayers to thoughtful science. It's sh*t being a scientist in this country!

I wouldn't consider myself bright enough to be a scientist. I don't understand a lot of what I read in journals but all it takes is a little research to find out if it's accurate or not. People (by people I mean the public at large) are either un-interested or simply too lazy to do it. Sometimes its just plain naivety. I don't think its intentional.

Most people I know that talk about science or technology read about it in the paper or hear about it through the T.V. or radio. They believe what they hear because they don't realise that studies are not proven fact and that when a scientist says something they don't necessarily speak for the majority in their field.

The amount of "no way, is that ture?" moments I've had while talking to people about science is un-real. They're interested when told about something but would never in a fit research it themselves. Thats how the media get away with reporting the sensational bad news stuff. I've explained why the nuclear topic in Japan isn't as bad as it sounds and people accept it without question. I could just as easily make it sound worse then the media does and they'd accept that too.

As far as society being dummed down goes, thats societys own fault. Crappy T.V. is made because people like it and watch it. If it didn't make money then we'd have nothing but clever comedies, dramas and sci-fi and every second show would be a BBC Horizon special. A nice dream but that's how it will stay I'm afraid.

Just to finish, I honestly never heard of the educational system being feminised before. In fact all but one of the people I know in science are women. Science subjects aren't being taken up because they're poorly taught in most cases and considered difficult. Kids are interested in maximum points because that's what gets them on the course they want. The way the CAO is run I don't blame them either. They need to do what they think is best for them.

Oh_Noes

Nolanger wrote: »

Most people don't understand science because they are not bright enough. Add in religion where it preaches to accept things without question. Then there's the dumbing down of society. Also, the feminisation of the education system means subjects like physics are getting removed from schools. Society now prefers moronic teamplayers to thoughtful science. It's sh*t being a scientist in this country!

You're preaching that people should just accept Western science as bible, in spite of the fact that it is as culturally constructed as religion and all kinds of scientific research has been reviewed and dismissed over the last century or so.

Believing something that you read in New Scientist without questioning it is exactly the same as reading a religious text without questioning it.

Capt'n Midnight

Oh_Noes wrote: »

You're preaching that people should just accept Western science as bible, in spite of the fact that it is as culturally constructed as religion and all kinds of scientific research has been reviewed and dismissed over the last century or so.

Believing something that you read in New Scientist without questioning it is exactly the same as reading a religious text without questioning it.

That's the point, unlike religion science can be questioned and rewritten. If the evidence doesn't match the theory, either you are doing the experiment wrong or you have to change the theory.

And some of the blame for bad science has to go to bad reporting. Look at the scare over radiation in Japan at the moment. On the other side of the coing people are comparing it to Banan Equilivant Doses without mentioning that potassium 40 isn't the worst isotope and that the body regulates it anyway so you don't hold onto excess potassium for long.

Love the Dara O'Brien sketch where he goes on about journalists giving "balanced" interviews with science on one side and non-science on the other. "Science doesn't know eveything, otherwise it would stop"

superelliptic

Has science taken a back seat? Or is your argument that people appear less curious about things than they used to? Tbh, I 'd say people have more respect for science and rational thinking in this country that you may think. If we did'nt, then we would be facing the same faith vs science BS arguments that they seem to be having in the US every other week. If anything, I see the opposite here in Ireland.

....thank god!

cavedave

If anything, I see the opposite here in Ireland.

....thank god!

Is their an Irish Scientist who is publically recognisable?

Is their a science program made in Ireland? Skywatching live on the bbc had two Irish presenters (and Dara O'Brein has a physics degree). But I do not know of a program made here that encourages peopel to think scientifically or try find out how the world works. Mythbusters has shown science programs can be edumacationaly and popular

stevenmu

cavedave wrote: »

Is their an Irish Scientist who is publically recognisable?

Should there be? Personally I don't like the idea of celebrity scientists (but then again I don't like the idea of celebrity chefs, footballers or pretty much any other type of celebrity).

Is their a science program made in Ireland? Skywatching live on the bbc had two Irish presenters (and Dara O'Brein has a physics degree). But I do not know of a program made here that encourages peopel to think scientifically or try find out how the world works. Mythbusters has shown science programs can be edumacationaly and popular

There is the Young Scientist award which gets good coverage and interest. I would like to see more science/educational programming though. RTE do show some fantastic documentaries and I think could do a good job producing a good science show.

cavedave

Fair point on the young scientist. Maybe we should have an old scientists show as well

RTE probably could do a good science show. They dont really do one though. Lambing live, Spring/Autumnwatch or even skywatching live would be popular here I reckon. Particularly something that has some farming aspect that would get both city slickers to find out stuff and country people to point out what the other farmers are doing wrong.

Capt'n Midnight

cavedave wrote: »

Is their an Irish Scientist who is publically recognisable?

Liz Bonnin is French :eek:


But IIRC there is a little bit of science on childrens TV but we need more. And there is a lot of stuff out there. Make it a mix of science and engineering to keep everyone happy.

*big turbines* engineering segment
*this is how a dynamo works* science
*this is a garden shed in the spillway and winning streak is nearly over *

papu

The truth is we dont need a millionty Scientists like Brian cox or Michio kaku Promoting science , The best ones are in the lab Researching heck even Lecturing , because without them we'd get nowhere

Johnny Coleman TCD Material Scientist

However allot of peoples arrogance towards what science has already achieved does bug me

*soon to be 3rd year Science student

cavedave

papu The truth is we dont need a millionty Scientists like Brian cox or Michio kaku Promoting science

What number between the current 0 and a millionty promoters of science do we need on Irish television though?

Capt'n Midnight

Bring back Leo Enright !

papu

cavedave wrote: »

What number between the current 0 and a millionty promoters of science do we need on Irish television though?

Theres allot of things we dont have on irish television , Decent Science Programs being one of them! I remember I used to get up around 6 or 7 am on a saturday to watch the old Documentaries they had on about space!

SecurityGuy

papu wrote: »

Theres allot of things we dont have on irish television , Decent Science Programs being one of them! I remember I used to get up around 6 or 7 am on a saturday to watch the old Documentaries they had on about space!

6 or 7 am on Saturday - broadcasting time also shows what priority the science programs have in TV