One of the things that makes it harder too is the sheer
_popularity_ of Science. I love Science but it's gotten a huge
publicity push to the point that what used to be stuff just for
nerds now has memes and T-Shirts and Instagram Starbucks girls
singing the Bill Nye chant and getting Neil deGrasse Tyson
tattoos. There's a huge demand for something "new" to come out
of Science somewhere every day. Of course there's new stuff
every day but everything is pushed as This Amazing New Science
thing by media and when you really look at it, it's nothing
spectacular at all. It's just sold that way. So with a greater
popularity comes greater publication to feed the needs of the
people for news. With greater publication comes... sloppiness.
So, how can they be held accountable? I mean who is watching?
That's why I try to keep my eyes and ears open. I see how
IMPORTANT Science is to the public and I see things good and bad
being spread around in the name of Science ... some of it is
just dreadful. Scientism is on the rise. A belief that science
has all the answers or soon will. A trust that "if it's called
Science, it's really Science and it's trustworthy". But not
everything coming out of journals - or media - or memes - is
good, correct Science. I guess the answer is to keep observant
and know what's Science, what's wishful thinking, what's
exaggeration and hyperbole... and be discerning. Something as
important as what Science holds for our future - both with the
future of technology and ALSO as the future religion (the old
ones are dying but the religious centers of the brain need to be
fed with SOMETHING) can't be left to run amok without critical
eyes making sure things go well. == It's the public that
concerns me with that. As part of the public too, there have
been plenty of times that I mistook their speculative consensus
with scientific consensus, simply because I considered them
authorities. I get better and better at being discerning but
it's not always easy.
