Given the power and influence that science increasingly has in our daily lives, it is important that we as citizens of an open and democratic society learn to separate good science from bunk. This is not just a matter of intellectual curiosity, as it affects where large portions of our tax money go, and in some cases even whether people’s lives are lost as a result of nonsense.
Interpretation
Citizens must discern credible science from falsehoods due to its significant impact on society and lives.
This quote emphasizes the vital role of science in our everyday lives and highlights the responsibility of citizens in a democratic society to differentiate between valid scientific information and misinformation. By doing so, we can influence how resources are allocated and protect lives from the adverse effects of pseudoscience, making the quest for knowledge not merely an academic pursuit but a matter of public safety and welfare.
In practice
In a community meeting about health policies, this quote can be used to stress the importance of relying on credible scientific studies.
I can now state that I have succeeded in operating a motive device by means of [cosmic rays]. I will tell you in the most general way, the cosmic ray ionizes the air, setting free many charges - ions and electrons. These charges are captured in a condenser which is made to discharge through the circuit of the motor.
Everyone is trying to jump on the biomimic bandwagon. But a cork floor is not biomimicry. Neither is using bacteria to clean water.
No educated person believes the Adam and Eve myth nowadays, but it's surprising how many parents think that it's somehow fun to pass on this falsehood to their children...I would want to argue that the truth of evolution is more interesting and more poetic
So far as hypotheses are concerned, let no one expect anything certain from astronomy, which cannot furnish it, lest he accept as the truth ideas conceived for another purpose, and depart from this study a greater fool than when he entered it.
New, distant Scenes of endless Science rise: So pleas'd at first, the towring Alps we try.
We must still think of ourselves as pioneers to understand the importance of space.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.