Americans Need to Affirm the Power, Capabilities of Science, Math
December 20, 2009
The following guest opinion was written by Gil Shapiro, public relations director for CFI-SAZ, and published in the Arizona Daily Star on December 16, 2009.
In a Nov. 23 address to the nation titled "Education to Innovate," President Obama lamented that "for decades we've been losing ground" in science and math education. He pointed out that "American 15-year-olds now rank 21st in science and 25th in math when compared to their peers around the world."
The White House went on to say that there should be "a nationwide effort to help reach the administration's goal of moving American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade."
Unfortunately, however, this administration will have to deal with millions of Americans who will undoubtedly reject this initiative and continue to harbor and, in many cases, teach children deep-seated suspicions and fears of evidence-based thinking.
The most egregious example of what the Obama administration has to contend with, according to a 2008 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Survey, is that "45 percent (of Americans reject) the notion that evolution best explains the origins of human life." It continues, "At least seven in 10 members of evangelical Protestant churches, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses reject the evolutionary account as the best explanation for the development of human life," and that "among the public overall, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of those who attend religious services at least once a week reject the idea of evolution."
According to further survey results, millions of Americans would most likely agree with these statements of belief:
- "The universe and everything in it was created by God rather than by spontaneous generation and development from one kind to another."
- "All creation was accomplished in six consecutive literal days, not over millions of years, and the Earth is relatively young (thousands, not billions, of years)."
- "There is a divine design and purpose in nature as opposed to an unorganized random and chance development."
- "A worldwide, historical flood, caused by God, occurred at the time of Noah. It was not just a local flood."
- "The Bible is the inspired, revealed word of God to man and is accurate in all areas."
Setting aside the fact that these beliefs are all refuted by current scientific knowledge and understanding, at best, they contain premises to be proved scientifically rather than "revealed" conclusions to be accepted on faith.
Indeed, The Center for Inquiry of Southern Arizona would challenge all those who believe that revelation and ancient biblical beliefs are the preferred pathways to an accurate understanding of our world to simply name a single medical or scientific advancement in our culture that is provably attributable to divine intervention.
We are troubled that such a large segment of our population does not understand that mainstream science and mathematics are the tools most responsible for the improvements in our standard of living.
All Americans, therefore, need to unequivocally affirm the power and capabilities of mainstream science and math. These two fields may never answer life's deepest question, "What is it all about?" But science and math have (thankfully thus far!) gotten it right when it comes to accurately explaining, understanding and gaining knowledge of our tangible earthly reality and, additionally, to at least answering the question, "What is going on here?"
