Slashdot Mirror
Canada Tops List of Most Science-Literate Countries
An anonymous reader writes "A recent survey of scientific education and attitudes showed the Canadian population to have the highest level of scientific literacy in the world, as well as the fewest reservations about the direction of scientific progress (full report). A key factor is a high level of scientific knowledge among the general population (despite comparatively low numbers of people employed in STEM fields). Another is a higher level of comfort with choosing rationality over religious belief — only 25% of Canadians surveyed agreed with the statement "We depend too much on science and not enough on faith", as opposed to 55% in the U.S. and 38% in the E.U.
I also wonder if the vaunted Canadian healthcare system plays a role. When advances in medical science are something you automatically expect to benefit from personally if you need them, they look a lot better than when you have to scramble just to cover your bills for what we have now."
I also wonder if the vaunted Canadian healthcare system plays a role. When advances in medical science are something you automatically expect to benefit from personally if you need them, they look a lot better than when you have to scramble just to cover your bills for what we have now."
The fact people are convinced that Science is not a religion is really distressing. I know many people immediately think of religions as being relying heavily on the supernatural, but there are and have been plenty of religions that had no gods or mysticism. A religion itself is simply a set of shared beliefs, rituals and philosophies, just like culture is a shared set of preferences, symbols and styles.
Science itself is just that, a shared set of beliefs as detailed by theories, the Scientific method itself a dogma and there are numerous common philosophies mingled together all rooted in materialism.
The latter, materialism, is why most people do not believe Science is a religion, because most religions over the years always had elements that at face value seemed supernatural and thus non-material. This misinterpretation is mostly because materialists recognize integrated symbols (from the cultures of the people in the religions) or allegories as literal when that is not the case.
And this is also why there is so much of a rift in politics concerning Science, because many people that support it do not realize that the knowledge it presents is not absolute and thus just as fallible as some of the seemingly ludicrous alternatives. Numerous theories are also heavily laced with other religious beliefs and many people do not even see the relationship.
Don't get me wrong, there are numerous aspects to Science that have been a huge help to innovation and progress, such as the requirements of reproducibility, but anyone that thinks that the Scientific method is they ONLY way to discover things needs to spend some time diving into the history of humanity's technological progress.
Suzuki is a tree hugging hippie. He jumped the shark a LONG time ago.