Once upon a time, there was Science.........

Greetings to all,

Well this is my first ever post so please be gentle....

I have recently finished a wonderful book by Ben Goldacre called (brilliantly) Bad Science. It has some great chapters regarding pseudoscience and its portrayal by the media, however it has really got me thinking....

Ive had some great conversations regarding the dumbing down of our society, but i still cant work out why this has happened. Why is it cool to seemingly appear ignorant about anything remotely scientific or technical? Is it because people have almost become afraid of Science? I think i may have found one of the reasons...

I remember an incident from early in my career. I was confronted by a technical question by the management and when I sought assistance from my supervisor, he responded "just baffle him with science......" Good answer! But jokes aside, he was on to something.

Science is continually manipulated and distorted in the Media to give credibility to an idea or product. Just watch an advert for any anti-ageing "serum" or read some of the evidence on the efficacy of these products. You will soon find yourself lost in a torrent of pseudo scientific babble, designed purely to make the reader feel somehow unqualified and prevent any consumer daring to question the evidence. However this practice seems to be spreading to other areas and it undermines the value of real Scientific Evidence. Its awful that people are somehow made to feel stupid by this, as it just pushes Science away, something that only men in white coats should dabble with, but it need not be like this!

Science has helped us shape and understand the world around us, its importance to us should never be cheapened or underestimated. I'm not suggesting that we all take an interest in Quantum Mechanics (but then again, why not?) but it is approachable on many levels and for all abilities and ages. I was delighted (and slightly amused!) when my five year old daughter returned home from school announcing that she had learnt about a chap named Charles Darwin, who sailed to the Galapagos Islands on a ship with a beagle looking for monkeys..... mistakes aside she is now hooked on the subject! Scientific enthusiasm spreads so lets all get involved and end this apathy towards scientific understanding.

Thanks...Si