Science is everywhere. In nature’s beauty, in a laugh between friends, the buildings
we build, and the communities we form. It’s constantly wondering...asking, why things
are the way they are. How can we make things better? What are we in the grand scheme of
the universe? It spans from the depths of space to the device you’re watching this
video on, right now.
During the Enlightenment era, scientific revolution brought ideas around calculus, atomic theory,
and gravity to our world; the Industrial Revolution, saw significant technological and manufacturing
developments including the first cars; and in the Digital Age, scientists helped spur
the formation of the internet as we know it, as a means to share research and ideas. Today,
advances in medicine and agriculture have saved more lives than have been lost in all
the wars in history.
But, despite these achievements, science and society are often at odds. Scientific discoveries
like the Earth is round, that our planet revolves around the sun, or that diseases are spread
through germs were all once ideas that were rejected by society. So much so that Giordano
Bruno was burned at the stake for suggesting the Earth wasn’t the centre of the universe,
and even Galileo was sentenced to house arrest for supporting the theory. Today we see the
rejection of scientific evidence for vaccinations - leading to preventable disease like measles
coming back, after being wiped out in the year 2000; or the rejection of scientific
evidence for climate change, despite the vast consensus among scientists.
As put by Carl Sagan “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology,
in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology”.
And yet when we look to history, we see that ignoring science has lead to the crumbling
of societies. Ancient Greece was a time of great learning around ideas of space, time
and light and during the subsequent Roman Empire these ideas were mostly embraced. However,
the Romans were complacent with the learnings of the Greeks, and little innovation or exploration
of new ideas around science and knowledge took place during this era. With shifting
governments and values, emphasis on reason and science slipped away and Rome eventually
fell into the Dark Ages.
Today, despite the voices of many supporting logic and reason, this war on science continues.
In the UK, investment in publicly funded research has dropped to less than 0.5% of the GDP - the
lowest it has been in two decades. This year, the US has cut at least 300 million dollars
from NASA’s earth-science budget - which just happens to include climate science. Not
only does this mean that existing climate studies will be ignored, but useful data won’t
even be collected in the future, all to serve ideological agendas.
But for what? The bank bailout in America cost more money than NASA’s entire 50 year
running budget - a budget that stirs imagination and visions for the future of our world and
universe. And the military budget? One month of spending is equivalent to NASA’s entire
annual budget. Here in our home of Canada, the War on Science
is in full effect under Stephen Harper’s Conservative Government. Our science libraries
dedicated to health, environment, fisheries and oceans are being shut down. Laws that
were once in place to ensure the protection of endangered species have been gutted, with
80% of Canada’s 71 freshwater fish species currently at risk of extinction. And not only
has Prime Minister Stephen Harper eliminated the National Science Adviser role, but some
2500 federal scientists have lost their jobs. In a recent survey, 90% of government scientists
felt they could not speak freely about their research and roughly 25% say they have been
forced by the government to change their research for non scientific reasons.
We’re told that the remaining funds are geared towards science that has a clear commercial
output. Which at first glance may seem fair - research that isn’t a ‘waste of money’
so to speak. But, when Einstein constructed the theory of relativity, did he know that
it would lead to the development of GPS, nuclear energy, or the original television? These
industries are worth billions, but focusing on commercial output is shortsighted, as science
is often a slow, evolving, iterative process.
Science is much more than a body of knowledge and applications; it’s a way of thinking.
A way to unravel the world’s mysteries, see it’s beauty - where we can look at all
the facts to make informed decisions, instead of relying on preconceived notions and bias’.
Science doesn’t choose a political party - it simply adheres to evidence. But just
like good policy is supported by science, science is supported by funding and advocacy
from our governments. So when you head to the polls to vote, wherever you may be, remember
that a vote for science, is a vote for knowledge and progress based in reality. Look at your
parties policies on science, and take a stand.
If you believe in the message of integrating science successfully into our societies, please
share this video - on facebook, on twitter, through email and in person - to remind the
world how important science is.
And subscribe for more weekly science videos.