Several stories have been floating about lately, all generally on the topic of popular understanding of science. Here are the highlights.
A court has ruled that the University of California was well within its rights to deny admission to students they found unqualified as a result of their having attended Christian schools. The schools in question taught many classes that were extremely Bible-centric, to the exclusion of nearly all other content, making it impossible to meet the UC admissions requirements with their courses misleadingly called “biology” or “history.” I found this personally interesting in light of my earlier comments on how far it’s appropriate to extend religious tolerance. Even though it has upset some religious people, the courts have ruled that it’s okay to assess religious descriptions of the world and find them academically lacking.
Speaking of lack of academic background, I was happy for once to read USA Today, which reported that 76% of Americans believe that improving science education should be a priority issue for presidential candidates. In keeping with this, about 26% say that they themselves have an adequate understanding of science, but more ridiculously “44% couldn’t identify a single scientist, living or dead, whom they’d consider a role model for the nation’s young people.” My reaction is similar to Doug Natelson’s: Or dead? Really? We couldn’t name, oh I don’t know, Einstein? Perhaps he is not hip enough for the youth. (Check out Doug’s post for some more details on presidential candidates and their support for science research funding, as well.)
The USA Today article discussed science literacy in the context of voting ability. If Americans aren’t sufficiently “science-savvy,” how can we make the right choices about science issues? It’s not just about budgeting for research, it’s also about healthcare availability, education, stem cells, abortion… and it’s about every issue that invokes statistics. A bit more math than science, yes, but if we were more educated about science we’d be better at identifying large enough sample sizes and acknowledging deviations from the mean. That applies to almost every issue on which there is public debate involving presentation of evidence.
I certainly agree that science education should be a bigger priority than it currently is, and my opinions were only reinforced by this report on end of life care, which stated that 57% of the American public believes that “God’s intervention could save a family member if physicians declared treatment would be futile.” Almost 20% of medical professionals share this belief. While I don’t believe in miracles myself, I of course can’t offer positive falsification of their existence. What we should all be able to agree on, though, is that if all medical signs point to imminent or already-real death, a miracle recovery is not coming this time. There are many other interesting outcomes in the study, such as differing opinions about persistent vegetative state and how long it is acceptable to demand continuing treatment of a dying loved one. Orac of Respectful Insolence wrote a very thoughtful and thorough treatment of all this, cautioning against becoming too preoccupied with the religion aspect. I agree wholeheartedly with his bottom line:
Indeed, the focus on religion takes away the focus from the real issue: improving public understanding of scientific medicine and what it can and cannot accomplish. Lots of patients have unrealistic beliefs about health care based on all sorts of things, be they religion, faith in pseudoscientific quackery, or just fears based on misinformation that is rife in the media (i.e., the claim by antivaccinationists that vaccines cause autism). … Persuading families and patients that what evidence-based medicine recommends is the best for their injured or ill loved ones requires a far gentler touch.
Tags: discrimination, education, pseudoscience, religion, science