"If ideas are just patterns of nerve impulses, then how can one say that any idea (including the idea of materialism itself) is superior to any other? One pattern of nerve impulses cannot be truer or less true than another pattern, any more than a toothache can be truer or less true than another toothache.”--Stephen M. Barr (From
here.)
The following article is posted to stimulate conversation. The failure of the writer to define terms like "creationist" and "tradition" is problematic and provides a clue as to why many doubt journalistic claims on science. People often fail to distinguish popular science and true science and do not detect ideological bias. At the end of the blog post are links to articles that I believe provide balance to Adam Frank's perspective. -- Alice C. Linsley
The Age of Denial: Our society no longer values the integrity of scientific fact
New York Times
By ADAM FRANK
August 21, 2013
ROCHESTER — IN 1982, polls showed that 44 percent of Americans believed God had created human beings in their present form. Thirty years later, the fraction of the population who are creationists is 46 percent.
In 1989, when "climate change” had just entered the public lexicon, 63 percent of Americans understood it was a problem. Almost 25 years later, that proportion is actually a bit lower, at 58 percent.
The timeline of these polls defines my career in science. In 1982 I was an undergraduate physics major. In 1989 I was a graduate student. My dream was that, in a quarter-century, I would be a professor of astrophysics, introducing a new generation of students to the powerful yet delicate craft of scientific research.
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