Does society shun science?

Answer 1

I don't think so. The idea that some people, such as the Religious Right, shun science is a rather naive point-of-view. The situation there is that some disagree with theories of established scientists, therefore they must be ignorant of science.

However, in terms of what science truly is, the process of making hypotheses and then testing them, that is generally accepted by everyone. Very few people will question the notion that the human body requires food intake in order to survive. That would be an easy hypothesis to test as one can simply stop eating. On a little more advanced level, most people are aware that taking an antacid will reduce or eliminate gas. And very few people doubt that automobiles work by the combustion of petroleum derivatives.

We as a society might de-emphasize some aspects of science and certain elements might refuse to embrace certain branches of science in favour of a religious interpretation. But to characterise society as despising science is an unfair generalisation.

[By the way, I'm a chemist that agrees with evolutionary theory for the most part, and believes that the universe is far older than a few thousand years.]

Answer 2

Society has begun to shun science because more and more it is used to scare people into spending money. The Y2K bug is a good example of junk science causing people to spend a fortune on nothing. One of the biggest proponents of the Y2K bug story was Al Gore so as a result no one takes his Global Warming film seriously. (The Sky is Warming! The Sky is Warming!) People have been ripped off too many times by so called scientists looking for government grants. We need to change the way we fund science in this country if we hope to return it to it's objective roots. Right now there is just too much money around it to believe most things most grant grubbing scientist's say these days.

Answer 3

Well this is a complex question actually, because, society is bombarded daily in the media with lots of rubbish. People are fed an intellectual diet of dumbed down, psuedo religious / psuedo science mumbo jumbo. Therefore many people are put off, or just kept too dumb to grasp the complexities of science. People are fed yes-no and black or white answers in the media. This is too simplistic an attitude to have with science, yet many scientists also suffer from this kind of thought structure.

the other problem science has is the fact that there are so very few facts..

There is nothing in science that is correct, just lots of things that are not wrong YET. lots of things that can be supported by experiments ... so far. Yet ... There have been many scientific certainties that have had to be discarded, as they have been proven wrong later.

So how can the scientists expect anyone to believe them with conviction? They disagree amongst themselves, they are often bought by the highest bidder and discredited by a corporate owned media if they dare to go against the establishment. Regardless of the actual scientific merits of their argument.

As for religion, I have not so far, found anything as dogmatic as religion, except for some science. Spirituality is shunned by large sections of both.

Scientific truths are re-written and scriptures are re-drafted... "What I think GOD meant to say was gays can be OK..."

The weak link in all of this is human beliefs linked to rigid dogma that support a fragile ego. Fundemental truths are a danger to this mindset.

Answer 4

I think the religious society shuns science because of a lack of understanding for it. I don't know many people such as myself that would rather learn about science than read about life written by people 2000 years ago. Science is something you need to be active in and if you don't like it then obviously your not going to be active in it and you won't understand it. Science is about discovery and understanding for things. Why is society so against that?

Answer 5

People are afraid of what they don't know or understand.

Of course society shuns science, otherwise there woulnd't be fundamentalist christian movements in the US trying to bury scientific fact under a layer of religious bull using speculation and misinformed fact.

A wider understanding of science, how it works and the discovery process might lead to a society more open to knowledge and advancement.

Answer 6

its not the society that shuns science but religious people do.religious people dont like when it comes to explaining natural phenomenon with physics and other branches of science.they think that this method of scientists steals the divinity of god.
religious people fail to understand that science and religion are two different path using different method to find the same answer:god

Answer 7

The society that is promoted by the current presidential administration in the United States certainly seems to do so. I don't, I just shun intolerance, and cats (allergies)

Answer 8

Yes, it does. Consider this: in most societys women are attracted to "bad boys"- they like the excitement of being a "bad girl".

Then, the girl gets pregnant. All of a sudden they wake up mentally and say "Geeze, this "bad boy" is worthless as a mate to raise kids- what shall I do?"

Then, the girl figures out the quiet, nerdy "science guys" make the best husbands.

Smart guys- "Poindexters" are smart enough to bed these kind of women, and smarter enough to keep from haivng kids with these women. Think on that

Answer 9

I dont think people shun science. However people are greedy self-fullflilling people who will do what is often times in their own best interest.

This is why politicians who only want to get re-elected or get there big corporate CEO friends the next big contract will often times take science and manipulate it to their own needs.

Answer 10

"Society" is afraid of science. In some respects they are right do do so. There is a genuine concern that aspects of science are outstripping society's inherent control mechanisms - the "Oh yuck" factor that is a real measure of societal tolerance of the limits of investigation.

On the other hand, "society" is ignorant of how much "science" has contributed to the life we live.