WatchSomething I've noticed a lot as I've gotten older is that american society has become increasingly hostile towards science and technology.
Now, obviously we love the fruits of this stuff. We love our computers, smartphones, GPS, and all the rest. But when it comes to actually building and developing these things? It's all derogatory.
To a certain extent, I can understand subsets of the anti-science people, particularly those bits that disagree with your worldview. I understand why religious people don't want to study biology, chemistry, geology, or even physics in some cases. These sciences frequently lead to uncomfortable confrontations with one's faith.
To a lesser extent, I can understands subsets who want to ignore scientific findings that might point to them doing something harmful to themselves, society, or the planet. Nobody likes to be forced to change what they're doing.
But I really don't get the anti technology crowd. I'm talking about the people who deride anyone who enjoys applied math and science with any number of terms intended to separate them from the "normals". The movies that portray engineers as, at best, socially awkward support personel for the hero. The people who actually look down on anyone who happens to be good at math.
It wasn't always like this. We used to actually have engineers and scientists as role models. We used to consider technological advancement an important factor in growing and developing our economy. We even used to have engineers and scientists who were politicians. There hasn't been a president with an actual technology background since Hoover (though, perhaps that explains the bias...).
During the state of the union, Obama mentioned having a "sputnik moment". His examples were lame. I think that's because there hasn't been a genuine sputnik moment since sputnik itself. What we really need is a new real moment. A "holy shit" moment, if you will, where we actually see some massive breakthrough that comes from a major foreign competitor, ideally China.
It isn't enough to see a country like China simply match something that we've done. China putting a man on the moon or developing a stealth bomber isn't going to spur us to action. China figuring out how to accomplish something major, like a real solution to getting off of fossil fuels or a major breakthrough in medicine might do it.
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"american society has become increasingly hostile towards science and technology."
No they haven't, Politics has grabbed hold of the Scientific community and are using them as their Papal guidance. Science has become a Zealot church of the Liberals. So much so, just a mear theory, the rest of America is expected to take those theories as undisputed truths. Those that don't agree with the latest Scientific findings are ostracized and ridiculed. Science doesn't operate like that, only the Douche bags with agendas act like that.
A Mathematician doesn't give Two shits if you can't Add and Subtract, that means more work for them, and less competition from you.
From a Science prospective, Science doesn't care, if you take stock in a Theory, Proof or consider it Law.
That's the Politicians job.
Sabe?
Let me ask you a related question. Why does Science, er, uh I mean the Liberals have a problem with people that believe in "Creationism" and does not believe in "Evolution"?
What the Liberals don't get, it's about "Faith" and not academics. D.L. Hughley summed it up nicely Friday night on Politically incorrect. When he was asked by Bill Maher, after a Liberal knee slapping on other issues. Bill expected a quick "Yes" answer because D.L. is a Liberal, when asked if he believed in Evolution.
After struggling a bit with the answer, D.L. finally said... "No because I believe in God."
Even though admitting that in that context while sitting in the Den of Liberal jackals that would surely chew him to shreds, still he stood by his Faith and answered the question accordingly.
Now before you get the wrong Idea, I'm more leaning atheist, BUT(and this is important!) I respect all religions and their beliefs. Their beliefs are not up for debate, as I am not a devout(insert religion here).
Who in the hell am I, to make them repent?
As long as they aren't making inquiries and putting me to the TEST, they believe what ever they want.
I would suggest to the Liberals, Stop putting religions to the "TEST". Religions have more experience at Witch hunts, you really don't want to get THEM started. They aren't out for political gaffs and sound bytes when they go looking for converts.
It's Faith stupid, leave them alone, and go count your protons.
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EBGuy says
Yeah it really pisses off a community when they sprout up Cancer clusters in their kids all around the same age, and lived at the same site for the same amount of time.
Just because Science can make things differently, doesn't always mean it's better or safer.
Polio Vaccine - Scientific achievement
Edible Plastic - Creators of the Human Goat.
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Bap33 says
Anti-Jewish sentiment is strongest in the fundamentalist Christian south. I've met plenty of right wing Christians who were STRONGLY anti-Jewish. (all KKK members are Christian) I have yet to see any liberal spout anti-semitic rhetoric of any kind.
For the record, disagreeing with policies or actions by the Israeli government against Muslims does NOT count as anti-semitic.
As far as anti-Christian bias, that's easy. I think attempts to force anti-abortion laws, force the teaching of creationism, force prayer back in schools, and force laws against homosexuality have left many left-wing citizens extremely angry at activist Christians.
Most of the fundamentalist Christian political agenda involves forcing morality on people who don't want it or don't believe in it. For example contrast gay activists (we want the right to get married) with Christian activists. (we're going to pass laws to prevent you from doing what heterosexuals do)
The argument that the left is "forcing gay marriage on straight people" is retarded and not worthy of comment. A married gay couple could live next door to a married Christian couple for 1000 years without either being aware of the other's marital status.
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Troy says
IF the only way to think about God was as a "being" then I might be an atheist. But from my point of view, I'm happy to just enjoy the mystery. I like being open to the possibility that there are aspects of the universe and life that are so far beyond my comprehension that it would be foolish to commit to an absolute nonbelief. Call it some kind of universal intelligence, or maybe the sum total of all consciousness exerting some influence on the physical world. The definition doesn't have to be the old man in the clouds. In my view, by definition this is beyond description or definition, if it exists.
Call me guilty of magical thinking. Okay.
Maybe my consciousness, and my sense of "self" is just a trick that my brain is playing on me, and it can all be explained as coming about by random happenstance. But I'm not feeling it.
The argument to this might be, "just because it's so far beyond comprehension, doesn't mean that that there is a metaphsical aspect to it." Yes, but if you can agree that there is so much that is far beyond our comprehension, then you can't know that it is not guided by some metaphysical intelligence. Therefore being at least agnostic (or even having faith) makes sense.
In my view the atheist has something in common with the faithful believers, and that is the atheist can't handle not knowing the answer. So their answer is a definitive no.
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Milarepa humbled says
No, no, it was I who was wrong to have taken any issue with your opinions. Please forgive me and pray that God can forgive me for implying that stories of our reward in heaven might be motivated by something other than the best interests of future generations. Please bear no ill will, that I might not feel a continued shame over my thoughtless and inconsiderate sharing of comments that might be construed as a contradiction of yours.
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Milarepa humbled says
Wow. Gone for a day and a new angry person appears. Don't worry about Kevin - he wears big boy pants unlike you and probably understands that the picture was a FREAKING JOKE! Life is too short to be that angry.
I was kind of looking forward to what rendition of myself Kevin would respond with - I don't really look like the guy riding the dinosaur.
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My former gf was quite religious and at times I found it very frustrating when discussing science with her. One of the main difficulties we had was basic terms during communication. For example, she once asked me if I 'believed' in alien beings. I told her that no, I didn't 'believe' in aliens, but I theorized that by mere mathematical probability given the vastness of the universe life most likely exists on other worlds. She couldn't grasp the difference between belief and mathematical probability. She wants to believe we've been visited by little green men, but there is no credible evidence of this. It seems that any debates we entered into regarding science all seemed to break down to me believing in science (vs believing what the bible says). Interestingly enough, given that she is a type 1 diabetic, her very survival depends on science. I once tried to explain the difference between religious faith and science. Religion (at least Christianity anyway) is rigid and totally based on faith- faith in what the bible says, faith that God exists, faith that the clergyman provide valid interpretation of the dogma. It is unquestionable. You must believe- it is the central tenant in Christianity above even emulating the moral teachings of the savior himself. There is no allowance for challenging the religious viewpoint. Science on the other hand is built on welcoming challenge. The scientist developes a theory ( an educated guess) and sets out to prove it. Sometimes he has success and other times he doesn't. When he successfully proves his theory he publishes the results in some widely read scientific journal. As other scientists read and evaluate his theory and results, questions may arise with regard to his methods for testing his theory and decide to run their own tests to attempt to disprove or futher clarify the results. It's not personal, it's the scientific method, and that's the reason why science advances. When enough scientists test a theory and the theory holds up only then is it generally accepted as fact. But even then, if someone comes up with an alternate theory, they are free to and encouraged to challenge the accepted fact. Unfortunately, this explanation seemed lost on her probably because this just didn't fit in with her 'belief' system. I would consider myself a Christian atheist even though that may sound like a contradiction in terms. I think there was a guy named Jesus Christ and that he did wonderful things and showed how to care for and love your fellow man. It is wonderful philosophy on morals. So I try to live and emulate these morals; however, I don't believe or see any evidence of the supernatural. It is a nice notion that some benevolent supernatural being loves and looks after us, but I see no evidence of that. Sadly, I think there is much evidence that none exists. If God looks out for us why are little children raped and killed every day, why does he let so many people suffer? Yes yes, God works in mysterious ways. Mysterious way indeed. Sorry, but I'm just not impressed. That being said, I think religion has its place. I think learning a moral code based on love and selflessness is a good thing. And if people want to believe in the carrot and stick approach of heaven and hell motivates them to live a moral life, great. But not everyone needs the promise of utopian afterlife in order to be a good person in this life. I personally believe if religion put alot more emphisis on moral behavior instead of unwavering faith, religion and science could coexist quite nicely, and maybe, just maybe we could have a kinder, gentler society.
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deanrite says
You should have tried speaking in paragraphs.
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Yeah, I think you have something there vincinte. I think early on clergy recognized the inherent savagery of humans toward one another and felt it necessary to find some way to reign in mankind's brutality. It seems the promise of eternal punishment in the afterlife might give those bent on mayhem some pause for thought. And so hell became one of the principles to keep the faithful on the straight and narrow. Funny how it didn't take long for this concept to be employed as a powerful tool in bringing political power to the church in dealing with enemies. Fight in the name of God, go to heaven, those non-believers will go to hell even if the faithful have to kill them. Even now this is done in one way or another, though not always in a violent manner. One example is the big fight over california's prop 8. Churches call to arms (or wallets moreover) to defeat the perceived sinful was a rousing success- financially that is. That's why I would like to see chuches taxed, with deductions for doing good works- caring for the poor, helping the sick, and so on. Isn't this what Jesus would be doing? Spreading the word should be secondary, especially as it is employed today- looking to find converts to fatten the kitty. Seeing some of these very wealthy televangelists spout political propaganda from the pulpit seems a bit unethical to me. Perhaps some of the faithful should consider something Jesus once said- beware of false prophets, for when you reach the gates of heaven, I will not know them.
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Science isn't sexy. It doesn't sell anything. It's unfortunate - but kids are only exposed to science if they see it on YouTube.
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kevin says
All the science and stuff got sent to India. Didn't you get the memo?
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There's a site with tons of videos - wimp.com - that has all sorts of stuff on it. I do enjoy the vids about science - and also the vids from http://www.ted.com/. That site has brilliant people sharing information and is truly amazing.
I was married to the stereotypical scientist, few social skills. He was the smartest person I will ever meet, speaks 5 languages and can perform complex calculus equations in his head. His work parties were a blast, tho. Verysmart people know how to have fun.
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Where did the anti-science/technology mentality of American society come from?
Wilful ignorance, as demonstrated by some commenter s here.
People who do too many drugs, and focus primarily on their own little world. Because it's easy to be comfortable with simple mysteries we can attribute to God. We don't have to think for ourselves anymore, we let others tell us what house/clothes/car to buy. We let the idiot box and drugs take care of that.
But think back to HS or College. Science is hard. It takes mental work, lots of it. Remember the people who avoided the 'hard' classes? The people who rail against science are at least one of two things:
1) Lazy
2) Stupid
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I stand in awe of ToT's post. It answers the question that Kevin posted, and so much more.
Please tell me that you weren't high when you wrote it, ToT. 'Cause if you were, I'm swearing off pot forever.
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marcus says
You have to get them young. It is very difficult to develop the necessary skills needed to perform well in science and tech fields in a short period of time. More importantly, it is almost impossible to do well if you don't have an inherent love for the subjects (this is far, far more important than being good at math).
I think we really need to tackle it at a cultural level. Most of our messaging to kids is focused on 'leadership', usually in the form of military prowess. That was probably a very valuable culture to develop during an era of constant land wars, but these days it's antiquated.
It might sound silly, but I think the best answer is to replace the toy guns with legos and the barbies with chemistry sets. Make movies and TV shows that show scientists and engineers solving problems to save the world (make it cool and flashy, like them developing robots or something) instead of the lone gun hero who kills a million bad guys without running out of ammo.
Basically, you have to make technology cool.
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theoakman says
Seems like a difficult comparison to make. Not only because you are comparing real time perception to history (sort of ancient history in modern science), but also because in most areas we are in such a different part of the learning curve (learning curves look like a logarithmic function).
Huge dramatic gains are made in short periods of time in the early part of any learning curve. Hard to compare to the breakthroughs that don't come nearly as easily later.
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"If the sun refuse to shine
I don't mind
I don't mind
If the mountains fell in the sea
Let it be
It ain't me
Got my own world to look thru
And I ain't gonna copy you
Now if 6 turned out to be 9
I don't mind
I don't mind
If all the hippies cut off all their hair
I don't care
I don't care
Dig it
Got my own world to look thru
And I ain't gonna copy you
White collared conservative flashing down the street
Pointing their plastic fingers at me
They're hoping soon my kind will drop and die
But I'm gonna wave my freak flag high, high
Fall mountain, just don't fall on me
Hello, Mr. Businessman, why you ain't dressed like me?
I'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die
So let me live my life the way I want to
Sing on, brother,
Play on, drummer"
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Don't really see how jimi hendrix is relevant, but cool song, great album. anti establishment message true, but interesting that he had a work ethic that anyone could be proud of. You don't become a virtuoso at anything without working really really hard at it.
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Tenouncetrout says
http://www.marijuanadispensaries411.com/
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marcus says
He also choked to death on his own vomit.