Introduction
An artists rendition of the Roman god Saturn created to promote NASA’s
study of Saturn. The Roman culture worshiped numerous statues that represented
gods who oversaw many different aspects of life. Saturn was a god of agriculture (Image credit: NASA. There really is no way of getting around it. Eventually, scientific ideas are going to be used to make a personal or societal decision. But as we learned in the “What Science Isn’t” part of the Scientific Method module, science ends when we, as individuals or a society, try to make a decision, a judgment, about what to do with the scientific information. This is a very important distinction to make because Americans often mix science, politics, religion, and their own opinion together. To help clarify that our decisions are separate from the framework of Science, this module will address the differences between scientific debate, political debate, and religious debate over knowledge.
Now, try to keep an open mind and to remember our first discussions about discipline specific knowledge and how each discipline creates its knowledge through a specific and unique way of knowing. Otherwise, a debate over science, politics, and religion may end up like the end of a Jerry Springer show or Monday Night Raw on World Wrestling Entertainment.
In this module we’ll learn how science, religion, and politics are very different tools for creating and applying knowledge. We’ll begin with a discussion about Science in the public school classroom, specifically, looking at why there is so much confusion about whether or not Evolution and Intelligent Design should be taught in Science class. (For the Education majors in the class, this is an idea that you will likely debate in your academic and professional career.) Then we will discuss the recent political moves to redefine the Science of Climate Change. (We will discuss Climate Change in greater detail in the latter half of the semester.) Within these discussions, we will go over the characteristics of science and how it has safeguards to partition itself from religious and political ideas, and learn the controversial ideas of mixing science and religion.
To help you to think about ways in which Science and Society interact and possibly conflict in your own life, answer this question in the Chat Room: When was the last time you heard Evolution and Intelligent Design discussed in the Media? Or when was the last time you heard Climate Change discussed in the Media? How was the idea presented? Who presented it and how did that person present it? Was it biased? If so, how?