Astrobiology for the 21st Century Opinion
Carlos Oliveira University of Texas at Austin E-mail: [email protected]
Key Words
Astrobiology Communication Scientific Knowledge Evolution Non-Science Majors
We live in a scientific world. Science is all It is therefore in the interest of society that pects of human life. The solution has to lie in around us. We take scientific principles for non-science majors understand the basics educating people. Knowledge is humanity’s granted every time we use a piece of tech- of science in order to make informed deci- most important weapon. nological apparatus, such as a car, a com- sions. Unfortunately, most people do not puter, or a cellphone. In today’s world, citi- have the most basic scientific notions and Scientists, educators, and communicators zens frequently have to make decisions that do not understand the nature of science. of science often disagree about the meth- require them to have some basic scientific ods to achieve their goal. But it is the same knowledge. To be a contributing citizen in a goal for all: scientific literacy. modern democracy, a person needs to un- Evolution derstand the general principles of science. A few months ago, in a Republican Debate, There are many misconceptions about the three candidates to the Presidency of the nature of science among the population, Non-Science Majors United States of America stated that they do and these, to me, are the ones we need to not believe in evolution. This is scary! And it focus on. For non-science majors, in formal A major challenge in this scientific world, is especially surprising, since they clearly are or informal learning environments, the scien- however, is that most people are not scien- very knowledgeable and intelligent persons. tific details are practically irrelevant. Accord- tists; neither should they be, since the hu- One reason for this belief may be that the ing to Carl Sagan, the “big picture” is the man endeavour shouldn’t start and end in three candidates do not have a very sophis- best knowledge to transmit to persons who science. Thus, most of the people in our ticated understanding of the nature of sci- are uninterested in the scientific nitty-gritty. world are not as scientifically knowledge- ence. And the biggest problem is that many The details are vital in scientific research but able as we would like them to be in order to other American citizens share the same hide the essential points from the majority of understand the world that surrounds them. belief — several millions of them accord- the population. These people, who comprise the majority ing to some polls. It is troubling to consider of the population, have great power in the that these individuals may be in a position Misconceptions about world, and some are involved in decision- to make decisions that will profoundly affect making — politicians, businessmen, judges, the future of science in our society. the Nature of Science CEOs, and so on. These are the ones who decide the funding and policy of scientific The solution to this problem should not be to With evolution, there are clearly several mis- research. This segment of the population take a passive attitude, or to blame religion, conceptions about the nature of science. might be called “non-science majors”. and expect that things will magically turn out One is that the population thinks that sci- right. Neither should it be to turn this into a ence is a question of belief. This happens “holy war” between science and other as- most probably because science is usually
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transmitted in schools and also in informal because is not newsworthy. It is important Additionally, astrobiology is an interdisci- environments, such as science centres, that people know where the boundaries lie. plinary science, with concepts from natural books, articles, and so on, as being “the Science education needs to focus on this sciences like astronomy, biology, chemis- truth”, something that must be believed in- too. try, geology, ecology, and so on, and also stead of understood. Science is viewed as a from social sciences like history, sociology, belief! On the other hand, people don’t rec- Finally, there is also the popular perception psychology, etc. It’s a perfect combination ognise all the science around them — there that a scientific theory is limited to one area of sciences, which, when integrated, will not appears to be a disconnect between sci- of science. Evolution is perceived as being be perceived as “island-sciences” with no ence and the general population. By saying about biology. But that’s not the case. The relation among themselves — as is usually that they don’t believe in evolution, they are theory of evolution is, as with most scien- perceived in science classes. At the same not only saying that they don’t understand tific theories, an interdisciplinary theory, with time, it will allow people — and most im- science, but they are also saying that they strong footholds not just in biology, but also portantly, non-science majors — to have a do not believe in the scientific process. This in geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, basic knowledge of many sciences, how is shocking, since they enthusiastically use paleontology, and other disciplines. There- they relate to one another, and how scientific televisions, aircraft, and cellphones, all of fore, not to support the theory of evolution is knowledge is intrinsically multidisciplinary. which work on scientific principles and were not to support several sciences or science Moreover, the incorporation of social sci- developed using the scientific process. It’s in general, which, of course, is absurd — ences connects astrobiology with the soci- as if I said that I do not believe that my car especially taking in consideration the exam- ety in which it is embedded. Furthermore, works while I’m driving it; or writing in a blog ples of driving a car or writing a blog, men- almost daily we have news related to one that I do not believe the internet or comput- tioned above. of the sciences spanned by astrobiology, ers exist! It makes no sense for people to ful- which gives the notion that science is work ly trust science in certain areas — like when We can’t blame the general population for in progress. All these factors are advantag- their life depends on it in a hospital — but these misconceptions. If people don’t un- es provided by astrobiology that may help to not in others that follow the same scientific derstand the nature of science, that’s prob- diminish the misconceptions many people principles; and it makes even less sense for ably because the agents of transmission of have about the nature of science. people to state that they do not believe in science to the population are not communi- science (evolution, for example) while using cating effectively. A change is imperative! On top of all this, there is a public fascination and trusting it (example: on television). for the possibility of life in the Universe (and UFOs — where the social sciences enter). Neither do most people have any idea of the Astrobiology is the In the last ten years, Gallup, Roper, ABC, meaning of a scientific theory. They assume Answer CNN, and many other polls, have clearly a theory is just an idea that someone had. shown that most Americans (and the same They don’t realise that a proper scientific My solution is directly related to astrobiol- happens with Europeans) believe in alien theory, like evolution, was and continues to ogy. If taught appropriately, using critical life. In addition, there are several science fic- be, tested repeatedly, and that the results thinking and scientific speculation, astrobiol- tion movies with extraterrestrial life that have of these tests create a bulk of evidence ogy can be an excellent vehicle for teaching been great box-office successes. This shows supporting the theory, making it as close the nature of science. the interest that people have in astrobiology- to “fact” as it can be. Furthermore, people related issues. Basically, it enhances the in- have difficulty comprehending that the gaps Astrobiology, as defined by the NASA As- herent motivation of the general population in our understanding are minor details that trobiology Institute, is: “The scientific study for this subject. And this makes astrobiology do not bring the overall theory into question. of the living Universe: its past, present, and the perfect hook with which to attract people We send probes to other planets, we have future. It starts with investigating life on Earth, to study science, the nature of science, and computers, we deal with science daily, even the only place where life is known to exist, the interdisciplinary aspect of science. though we do not fully know how the Uni- and extends into the farthest reaches of the verse works; and we don’t need to! Science cosmos. It ranges in time from the Big Bang Following in the steps of Carl Sagan and is work in progress; it is an ongoing human and continues on into the future”. It studies others, the teaching and communication of endeavour. It will never be fully complete, the origin, evolution and distribution of life in science needs to relate more with the gen- otherwise curiosity, and thus part of what it is the Universe; thus, it studies life on Earth, eral population; it needs to be engaging, to to be human, would die. The communication and searches for life beyond our planet. have an inherent motivation, and to be multi- of science needs to emphasise this point. Astrobiology covers many questions, of disciplinary. Astrobiology can be the answer which the best known is: “Are we alone in to all this! Maybe these popular misconceptions come the Universe?” from formal teaching or informal communi- cation, which is presented as if everything From the misconceptions mentioned ear- lier, we can see that astrobiology, especially were already known. For instance, in sci- Bio ence classes, the current news is rarely em- with respect to extraterrestrial beings shown phasised. Science is taught as something everywhere, has already incorporated a be- lief system. Instead of ignoring it, the teach- Carlos F. Oliveira is a PhD student at the complete, a finished endeavour. On the University of Texas at Austin, USA. His PhD other hand, in TV news reports, only new, ing and communication of astrobiology can is in Science Education, with an emphasis possibly still unconfirmed discoveries at the use this belief in its favour, by clearly demon on astronomy. He created and periodically strating the line separating beliefs from sci- teaches a unique astrobiology course at the frontier of science are emphasised. This can same university. He has an undergraduate give people the mistaken impression that all entific knowledge. Useful issues in this re- degree in Astronomy, Astronomy Communica- scientific results are as shaky and as vulner- gard may be science fiction and ufology. A tion, and Science Fiction from the University able to revision as the latest discoveries. But critical analysis of these subjects helps to of Glamorgan, United Kingdom. He also holds distinguish scientific knowledge from scien- an undergraduate degree in Business from the this is not the case: most science is not vul- Universidade Portucalense, Portugal. nerable at all. We don’t hear much about it, tific speculation and from plain beliefs.