The Casual Transhuman
Why doesn’t
everyone get excited about transhumanism? Why aren’t all people fascinated by
augmented and virtual reality, radical life-extension, brain-uploading, and The
Singularity? “The Casual Transhuman” will examine H+ topics from the layman’s
perspective and give suggestions on how transhumanists can spread their ideas
without looking like crackpots to the world-at-large.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and
there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant
thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the
false notion that democracy means that my
ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -
Isaac Asimov
“Scientific Illiteracy.” I didn’t
come up with the term, but I took it. Illiteracy is a major problem, in every
sense of the word. However, studies show that we may be moving toward a “post-literate”
society. https://www.wfs.org/node/1000
I’m not going to discuss my thoughts on this right now. Post-literacy
may-or-may-not be a good thing, actually, but that is a discussion for
elsewhere. The problem is not how the information is being transmitted, it is
the ability of the population to understand, comprehend, even grok the information they receive.
Watching a film adaptation of Moby Dick
will not replace reading the thing, but it allows those who have not read it
the ability to understand the material, even if in a different context. Someone
who is illiterate would still be able to discuss the plot, even the intent of Moby Dick after seeing one of the films
based on it.
But how would you respond to
someone who not only didn’t read it, but refused to watch it, saying that it
goes against their deeply held belief to know what Moby Dick is about, and that they have been told never to discuss
it, think about it or speak to anybody that had
read or watched it? That may sound strange, but one can live their entire life
unaware of Moby Dick and be just
fine.
However, scientific illiteracy is
not about Moby Dick. It is not about
ignorance of a fictional story or character, and you cannot go through a
lifetime ignorant of certain things about the world around you. Just what is
Scientific Illiteracy? Here are a few instances…
-
Recently, a group of scientists were charged,
tried, and found guilty of manslaughter for failing to predict that a deadly
earthquake was about to strike an area of Italy. They are awaiting their
appeal, but there is a good chance that these people will serve time in prison
for not doing something that it has proven nearly impossible to do. Here is a more complete write up of the case.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/1022/Earthquake-predictions-and-a-triumph-of-scientific-illiteracy-in-an-Italian-court-video
-
In certain parts of the United States and Great
Britain (and possibly many, many other countries), some children are removed
from school and taught at home according to their religious beliefs. Now, that
may not sound terrible at first, until you see the textbooks that these
children are given, specifically when it comes to science. They are taught that
the Earth is only 6,000 years old, that dinosaurs and humans lived together,
and that nobody understands electricity, because it is unknowable, just like
God. Their proof of these claims? We still live with dinosaurs. The Loch Ness
Monster (which is apparently absolutely real) is a plesiosaur and things like
radiocarbon dating are frauds committed by evil people who are trying to turn
otherwise intelligent people into Satan worshippers. I am not exaggerating.
Here are some pages from these textbooks. http://www.11points.com/Books/11_Eye-Opening_Highlights_From_a_Creationist_Science_Textbook
- In September, the Chairman of the US House of
Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Rep. Paul Broun
(R-Ga.) said that all he had been taught “about evolution and embryology and
the Big Bang Theory” are “all lies straight from the pit of Hell.” He goes on
to claim that these well-known, researched, peer-reviewed topics are meant to
“keep me and other folks who were taught that from understanding that they need
a Savior.” Don’t believe me? Look here… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/06/paul-broun-evolution-big-bang_n_1944808.html As the fantastic writer David Brin said,
“That’s the chairman. Of the Science Committee. Of the House of
Representatives. Of the United States of America.” Amen, David.
THAT is
Scientific Illiteracy. Hundreds of years of experimentation, questioning,
reproducing, publishing, peer review, etc. (you know, the friggin’ SCIENTIFIC
METHOD) is completely disregarded by those in authority, who
replace it with their personal beliefs, which they present as iron-clad fact,
in some cases even legislating their views into law. This whole discussion goes
far beyond the evolution/creationism/intelligent design argument and takes a
turn into dangerous territory.
I recently saw
an argument about global climate change. One person used numerous facts,
graphs, extrapolations, quotes from scientists, trends, etc. The other person,
when confronted with these facts said “So what?” The first person said “What do
you mean `so what?’” The second person responded with “It doesn’t matter,
because God will always provide for us. He will never give us any more or any
less than we can actually handle. Even if these things you say are true, it
won’t matter because God won’t allow me to come to harm.”
America is the
most advanced country in the world, depending on your point of view. Yet nearly
half of all people in this great country truly, deeply, completely believe that
even basic concepts like evolution, the Big Bang and even electricity are
entirely fictional, and that those who “believe” in these ideas are lost at
best, or at worst pure evil. And, this being America, one of our most cherished
ideals is that people in this country are free to believe whatever they choose
and are even more free to express their beliefs. So where does the right to
freedom of religion and the freedom of speech/expression end and the right to
advance the knowledge of our species begin?
This article is
not meant to pass judgment on religion or religious people. It is meant to start
a discussion regarding how to make science ‘sexy’ again. Go back about 100
years. Who were the heroes in America and around the world in the first half of
the 20th Century? Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Sigmund
Freud and Albert Einstein. Who are the most discussed people now? The
Kardashians, Snooki and Honey Boo Boo. The presidential candidates were asked
to openly explain their policies regarding science. Both refused to answer and
sent form letters that summed up their respective party views.
When elected
officials, the very people we ask to lead our country, are ignorant of how the
world works, how can our country be expected to survive much longer? We have
congressmen like Todd Akin talking about how women who are being “legitimately
raped” being able to shut their reproductive systems off like a light switch.
Others, like Richard Mourdock, say that if a pregnancy occurs from a rape, it
is a “gift from God.” Then we have the
aforementioned Rep. Broun’s statement. It is time to begin the discussion of
making our candidates for public office give their opinions of issues regarding
science, religion, biology, geology, climate change, etc. while they are campaigning, publicly and definitively.
There
is some reason to be hopeful for the scientific future of America. The amount
of outrage from both sides of the political aisle in response to those comments
was encouraging, although I think that some of it may have been just to appease
the equally outraged constituents. How many politicians would have even
responded if there had been little-to-no outcry from the people?
Also,
there has been a massive amount of exciting science and space news this year.
NASA landed an SUV-sized rover on the surface of Mars with pinpoint accuracy.
The scientists at CERN announced that they believe they have discovered the
existence of a particle that is “consistent” with the hypothetical Higgs-Boson.
However, in order to get the average American to even look up at the news, the
media insisted on calling it “The God Particle.”
This
year, a privately-owned spacecraft docked with the International Space Station.
This means that space is now within reach for everyone, not just the
government.
It
was announced in 2012 that nearly every star in the Milky Way Galaxy could potentially
have planets. They estimate that the average is 1.6 planets per star. Hundreds
of exoplanets have been discovered just this year, many of which are not too
far away, relatively speaking. I have noticed that when space makes the news,
there is a spike in other science-related news. That is encouraging.
The
most important thing for the future of our nation is to make science education a
priority again. How that can be implemented or even acknowledged is a whole
other discussion. But I believe that once it is made a significant part of our
culture again, our future will seem a whole lot brighter.
