by Christyl Rivers

Created on: November 29, 2010   Last Updated: November 30, 2010

We choose to ignore science, so it often appears as though science is obsolescing itself.  Ultimately however, science endures. The reason why has largely to due with our inability to drop the security blanket of comfortable denial we wrap ourselves in to cope with modern life.

People prefer faith over science because faith offers beautiful, compassionate answers.  Science offers truth, be it beautiful, or ugly, and humans cannot handle the truth.  This does not mean we have to choose God over science, or truth, but that human beings are not very adept at having to think beyond black and white, good and evil, and right and wrong.  We are unable to recognize that the Cosmos is filled with many shades of grey, and with many subjective opinions.  We seem binary.

The other  major reason why science seemingly  obsolesces itself, is that just as faith comes with great compassion and passion, science is by definition impartial, and can feel cold when scientists struggle to show their work is objective, credible, and not just a wished for outcome.  Scientists, often called geeks and nerds,  often are not full of bubble and warmth.  They are not full of zeal and charisma.  Therefore science is not to be persuasive in the sense that those issues which depend upon pulling our emotions are usually presented to us. Politicians, rock stars, athletes, actors, and artists play the role of wonderful theatrical presentation and they are the favored ones in national hearts and minds.  They provide the emotional appeal and pathos we need psychologically. Their popularity is reflected in the monetary value we put upon them.  Scientists, on the other hand, and most especially teachers of science, are not making the tremendous income that reflects our preference for the charismatic members of our planet.

For all of us this is a great tragedy.  When scientists, for example show the most truthful “likelihood” projections of something as crucial as climate change, they are not screaming, shouting, weeping, or in any way drawing extreme attention to the crisis we are in. They are quietly revealing the truth, and then sitting back and scratching their heads upon realizing that people are still more interested in Dancing with the Stars!  The great Sociobiologist, Dr. E.O. Wilson, has done supreme scholarship upon the importance of biodiversity for the continuing existence of healthy life on our planet.

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