Blinded Me With Science

While I was at my local coffeeshop the other day, another regular came in to get a cuppa joe to go. While I don't know her, I've been there several times when she was and I've noticed that she is a very friendly extrovert. Anyway, she makes a comment about the Mars lander and goes on to accuse NASA of having sent the roving robot to see if Mars could be another potential supply of natural resources we could exploit.

Earlier today I read the diary of a woman which was a list of questions directed at "evolutionists" by a "creation-scientist". The diarist is a born-again bible-basher so I assume that she agreed with the premise behind it all. And since directing a question like "Where did matter come from?" to an evolutionist is like asking a paraplegic about running a marathon.

These little instances demonstrate, to me anyway, a great distrust and ignorance of science. Rather than having a sense of wonderment that we've sent a machine some 48 million miles to another fucking planet and being in awe of the magnificent vistas of the Red Planet, all she can do is bitch. And rather than actually learn what evolution is and how science works, my fellow ODer just regurgitates the pieties of a lunatic.

Environmental conservation, agricultural science, medicine - they all have underpinnings in evolutionary biology. As Theodosius Dobzhansky said, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution." And I bet that woman at the coffee shop has no problem with the chemists that devised the materials of her clothes, the engineers whose work became her car, the people who formulated her hair care products, etc. Why do people distrust scientists so much yet run around enjoying all of the toys they create? Why do people think there's this cabal of cigarette-smoking scientists plotting evil?

I saw this program on the Science Channel this evening about the genetic disorder called progeria syndrome. It causes its victims - children - to age at a vastly accelerated rate and they usually die as teenager. Their faces become deformed and they have a whole host of medical problems. The show profiled a scientist who was studying children afflicted with the disorder so he could find a cure. THIS is the kind of thing that I think about when I think of science. Well, that and guys in lab coats ensconced underground ramming various sub-atomic particles into each other to shed light on string theory. Scientists don't oppress minorities, they spend years of their lives digging up dinosaur bones with paintbrushes and those things you use to rearrange your cuticles.

Learn about what scientists do and why they do it. Are there frauds and cheats? Sure, just like any other human endeavor. But, unlike, say religion, science is a self-correcting process. Check out last months Popular Science for a list of some scientists caught cheating. Have you ever seen the Church list the names of paedophiliac priests?

Does no one actually appreciate the work that goes into the things that make our lives easier and things that add pleasure and depth? Does anyone else have an appreciation for this wonderful world and its wonderful web of complexity? Science has given me a tremendous appreciation for life, for this world, and beyond. So instead of just talking out of your asshole, try learning so that you can at least make an informed criticism.