Читать книгу Reason: Book I - Bo Bennett - Страница 5

The National Science Education Standards defines scientific literacy as “the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.” That sounds pretty important to me, but there are those who will disagree. The United States is indeed a melting pot, not just of cultures, but of ideas and values. Some people value belief and faith far more than reason and science, meaning that the subjective state of personal well-being is more important than accepting a scientific fact that risks decreasing that personal well-being. Of course, being scientifically illiterate can have a negative effect on one’s well-being through making poor choices in life or being less in demand in the workforce. What people who hold that view don’t consider is the big picture—how their beliefs (or lack of scientific literacy) affect their communities, society, and even humanity. For example, a lack of scientific literacy can result in preventable disease outbreaks in communities through not understanding vaccine safety. A lack of scientific literacy can result in a failure to embrace biotechnology that can keep local farmers in business and people fed. A lack of scientific literacy can result in listening to politicians who say that climate change is not a problem rather than listening to the scientists who actually study climate change, which the costs of such illiteracy can be catastrophic.