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This channel is devoted to improving public science literacy in all areas of life. I hope to provide the tools that are necessary in order to be able to assess scientific research.
I’m not a scientist, so I'm not going to be attempting to explore a lot of these concepts and fields in rigorous technical detail.
However, I do want to outline the steps that we ought to take in order to conform our beliefs to the very best evidence available...
...and avoid many of the traps and mistakes that many of us fall victim to when looking at scientific research.
Science, and the technology that's been created through our scientific understandings, has been responsible for many of the advancements in our society and culture.
From transportation advancements like airflight in the early 20th century,
to medical advancements like the development of semisynthetic antibiotics to treat infections,
to vaccines that have been responsible for eliminating and even eradicating disease,
to more modern accomplishments like the sequencing of the human genome, which will help in our understanding of the pathophysiology of many diseases,
science continually demonstrates that it is the best method for constructing reliable models about the physical universe that we observe and for applying such understandings to our society for the betterment of everyone.
First, a definition. What is meant by “science literacy” ?
The National Academy of Sciences defines it as:
Science literacy doesn’t just entail the ability to memorize facts, but it's really a way of thinking --
one in which we are skeptical, in which we demand good quality evidence to base our beliefs upon,
and in which we understand the methodology by which scientific knowledge advances.
This doesn’t mean that we need to attain expert status on any given field that we're looking into,
but simply that we understand the processes by which science is done.
In this sense, science literacy is not only a luxury in our increasingly complex world,
but a necessity, one that directly relates to public health.
Can you imagine what your life would be like if you ignored all the fruits of scientific discovery?
Or if society stifled the implementation of many of these technologies that could improve all of our lives?
Unfortunately, this is the predicament we sort of face in our society today.
Despite the fact that many of us rely on science and technology everyday,
many of us don't realize that we do,
or at least we don't realize the extent to which we do
and thus, we consciously or unconsciously deny science or reject its methodologies --
and we do so for a multitude of reasons that are psychological in nature
-- such as stemming from religious or political beliefs
or due to perceived conflicts of interest within certain industries.
These will be recurrent themes that I will cover throughout the videos on this channel.
For example, a recent survey on the fears and beliefs of Americans found a disconcerting tendency to believe in paranormal phenomena,
such as believing that thoughts can metaphysically affect the physical world or that houses and rooms are haunted by spirits,
and perhaps an even more disconcerting tendency to reject scientifically verified models of reality,
such as evolution by natural selection, anthropogenic or man-made climate change, or that vaccines are safe and effective.
Another recent Pew poll documented the discordance that's often found between the public's opinion and scientific opinion.
The lack of science literacy globally has also been documented.
Of the countries surveyed here in this study, only roughly 71% of respondents said they believed the Earth went around the Sun, rather than the Sun around the Earth;
only 34% said they accepted the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the universe;
47% believed that antibiotics killed viruses, as opposed to just bacteria;
and only 62% believed that human beings developed from earlier species of animals.
So what are the consequences of a scientifically illiterate population?
Well, there are many, and throughout the videos on this channel, I will attempt to discuss these.
But a few examples are warranted for now.
Certain religious and cultural groups oppose medical interventions that would be life-saving.
For example, Jehova’s Witnesses often oppose life-saving blood transfusions as a direct consequence of their biblical interpretation of the bible.
Some indigenous populations will refuse mainstream cancer treatment and opt for traditional or alternative, unproven cancer treatments.
The antivaccination movement has largely been responsible for the resurgence of diseases that vaccines protect against.
And opponents of biotechnology retard social progress in the effort to improve the sustainability and efficiency of our agricultural practices.
It is my hope to empower you with the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate scientific claims and immunize yourself from accepting unsupported ones.
I hope you find the videos in this channel useful.
Thanks for watching.