The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
February is upon us, and for teachers in TUSD, that means the Science Fair is at hand. I began a recent science lesson for my third graders with a review regarding the most basic elements of science titled: “What is Science?”
First up in the lesson: The scientific method. This is the foundation for all scientific knowledge, and having presented it to children for the better part of two decades, I can assure my readers at this point that the vast preponderance of children can grasp these basic tenets:
1. Define the problem and/or make observations. 2. Research the problem. 3. Develop a hypothesis. 4. Conduct a controlled experiment. 5. Collect and analyze the data. 6. Draw a conclusion. 7. Report results/publish.
Sadly, the scientific method is no longer the barometer of truth, fact or reality for an increasing number of people. Far too many adults have long-forgotten or forsaken what they learned in science classes and substituted knowledge and solid research for gut feelings and personally held beliefs and convictions — however keenly felt.
Understanding of our visible, provable, incontrovertible world increasingly is yielding to the “facts” so readily available at the touch of a button on Facebook and the internet. “Research” takes mere clicks — no longer requiring the years or decades of training and discipline required to become an established medical doctor, professional journalist, epidemiologist, microbiologist or chemist.
Just create a search engine based upon what you want to think and dive deep into the digital rabbit hole — keep tapping and digging — the affirmation of whatever beliefs you desire to gorge upon awaits you. Nothing must be proven — belief in anything is enough. Publishing is swapped from the final step to the first step for legions of the internet faithful who accept whatever is found online as incontrovertible truth.
Internet “research” can be as powerful an addiction as can alcohol, tobacco and pornography. The incessant pull to log in to the computer/phone to feed the need that only social media can assuage is irrevocably displacing any possibility of science, facts and research-based data being the basis for rational thinking.
Don’t get me started on faith vs. science. They need not be mutually exclusive. I know many scientists and teachers for whom faith is a steadfast part of a personal belief system. I am one of them. Faith always has been, and always will be a complex and integral part of human nature.
There is another kind of faith which has arisen with disturbing potency over recent years. Faith in what we find on our glowing little screens. Faith that leads legions of adults to believe that somehow, science — the visible, provable world — and research are to be dismissed and ignored in lieu of personal feelings and beliefs; and that the mountains of “proof” and “data” one can find if one delves into the internet need be our only, final truth.
So, here we are. Social media increasingly seems to eclipse the scientific method. The Earth is flat (Watch “Beyond the Curve” on Netflix; flat-earthers still fill convention halls). Bigfoot is real (I do hope this will be proved to be true before I die — we’ve got to have bucket-list items, and I do love me some Sasquatch).
And masks don’t protect against COVID. I wish I could give everyone I know who still resists masks the excellent Oct. 20 New York Times article titled “Masks Work. Really, We’ll Show You How,” which displayed their efficacy in no uncertain terms. My 8-year-olds followed the information without any trouble.
