Thanks for playing along.

I hope to be able to link people to the larger, extended copy, soon!

I’m not so concerned with exactly how much special relativity people understand. The “dumbed down version” is fine. I don’t think we should try to teach everyone linear algebra in order to make sure they really get it. My point is that we shouldn’t pretend there isn’t any linear algebra and make it seem like a cartoon animation is the sum total of a century of scientific progress on the topic. Learning isn’t just about the concepts and facts. It’s also about understanding what a career in the sciences is like, and why we should trust and value the results obtained by scientific experiments.

Even in the process of ‘dumbing down’ science we still have citizens with vastly more basic knowledge than someone living a couple centuries ago.

Also, “dumbing down” can bring in funding from some places (if they’re happy to see outreach) but can cut you off from funding from other places (if you dumb down too convincingly and make your work seem easy, or if you get so simplified that you spread misconceptions rather than understanding).

I consider the scientific method as the foundation of science, not math. And as such I know a lot of ’scientists’ who rely heavily on the scientific method and who are, in fact, lousy at math. As an archaeologist I was surrounded by social scientists who applied the scientifc method every day in the field, in the lab and in the classroom. But the use of math was limited to making sure an excavation unit was 1 meter by 1 meter. And that we accurately measured the width of a layer of stratigraphy.

Also, my company was heavily involved with ‘public archaeology’ i.e. bringing our profession to the public in the form of public digs where we ‘dumbed down’the rhetoric and actually let them participate. But that also sparks interest and they can pursue more knowledge on their own. It also brings in funding, which is equally important. I don’t see a problem with that.

I’ve lived in ‘middle America’ my whole life, but I’ve also traveled quite a bit, especially on the East Coast. My wife’s family is from New England, I’ve attended week-long conferences in Providence, we vacation in NH, etc. All told I’ve spent probably 30 weeks on the East Coast. Add to that plenty of other time spent in places like Chicago, Seattle, etc. Maybe I’m not an expert on geographic differences in cultural attitudes, but I do feel like I’ve seen some pretty good anecdotal moments.

Not once in 33 years have I heard someone here make a negative generalization about people living in big cities on the East Coast. But in my travels beyond my state I can name at least 10 instances where I heard negative remarks about small towns, middle America or the South. On my honeymoon I was on a ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard, two days after Bush defeated Kerry, and I heard a woman ask, “How can the rest of the country be so stupid?” When the owner of the inn we stayed at there saw a GOP patch on my backpack she said I was brave for having that around there. People don’t worry about those things where I live.

So my point is, maybe there is some truth to what Palin says. I think there are very different attitudes towards things like guns, religion, education in places like Boston than there are in places like Louisville or St. Louis or Tulsa. It’s not wrong to point out that Obama has a different set of values than many of us in the middle of this country. Is it populism? Yes. But so is a lot of what Obama says.

Some scholars today believe that the ‘working class’ is defined more by their education level and their profession than by their actual income. Accepting that premise, then when people like John Edwards talk about ‘two Americas’ he’s actually positioning a lot of non-college graduates against those more educated. So the anti-intellectual label for Palin is a bit hypocritical in that light.

I also have to reject your notion that Palin’s comments somehow make it more difficult for atheists. I think you’re giving her words waaaaay more power than they deserve.