Hello, My Name is Science
Illustrated by Jessika D’Oliveira
Information has become more and more easily accessible to anyone one who happens to own a smart phone, a tablet or simply a computer. Internet connection is now available almost everywhere you go. No matter what information you are looking for, you can find it. Whether you want to know what new innovative project scientists are working on or who made the winning shot during the last hockey game or simply if Leonardo DiCaprio is finally an Academy Award winner, everything is only a click away. Despite this widespread availability of information, however, most of us are not more informed than our parents ever were back when computers were thought to be a futuristic invention coming straight out of the comics.
We, as a general population, are especially uninformed when it comes to science, even when it comes to the kind of information one would need to claim even a basic scientific literacy.
The real issue today is that we are mostly disinterested by scientific topics. The majority would rather read entertainment news than a research article, the former so much more readily available and easy to digest. Could people make more of an effort to educate themselves about science? Yes. But are they the only ones to blame for this general lack of interest? No. In fact, scholarly articles are often unappealing and only understandable by university graduates. For those whose science education ended with a 12th grade requirement, the articles are probably gibberish.
Luckily, websites like IFL SCIENCE! and Useful Science do a great job of simplifying (without oversimplifying) science research and making it more accessible for the general public. They address various questions across a large spectrum of scientific topics in an innovative way. YouTube Channels such as Crash Course or ASAP Science are equally useful in making sciences more accessible. Despite these new methods of explaining challenging scientific ideas, however, so far no one has made science a social hub. Science has the potential to be as irresistible as Gatsby's parties, with pools of knowledge and fountains of discoveries.
In this era where everything is changing extremely quickly, from sea levels to our understanding of sub-atomic particles, we must re-introduce Science. Sciences should appeal to a wider community. One should not need a full background in sciences or a PH.D in quantum physics to be interested and aware of the new discoveries in this extremely large and fascinating field. Therefore, it is time to introduce a different approach, to make this field something people will want to tweet about, share on Facebook, send a picture of on Instagram and have in their stories on Snapchat. By re-engaging with science, we will help it to blossom like a sunflower in spring: both lovely when looked from a distance, and magnificently complex when seen up close.
Science is ready to make your acquaintance. Are you?
Comments
matt
March 16, 2017I agree with this piece as we are forgetting about the importance of science in our world today and how important it is to the understanding of the many phenomena’s such as the rising sea levels etc. This article has made me realize how technology is taking over our world and how accessible information is to us. It also made me realize how people are not acknowledging the importance of science in our world and would rather read something entertaining rather than a science article where one could learn many interesting things as there are endless possibilities for discoveries that can be found because of science. What I found intriguing was how websites such as Useful Science and YouTube channels like ASAP Science are trying to simplify science as much as possible. I find it intriguing as they try to make the finding of scientific articles understandable for everyone so that people can understand the information as well as learning the kind of impact science has on our lives and what we can achieve thanks to science. This article was very informative, interesting and well written!
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