# Science education **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-education/503463 "2009-07-18T19:44:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 6
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-education/503463/6 "2009-07-19T14:35:41Z")
> [@\_xiao\_wenti](#): > > Science/technology/engineering are not glamorous fields, they require sacrifice and discipline, and many of us are not that interesting to the layman. I have 3 engineering degrees and really think that I might have had a more rewarding (and easier) life, if I had gone into finance or economics. My .02 euro Having worked in the Corporate world most of my career, I think it would be much more fulfilling to work in a different field. When I was doing my very small part in flight test data, I was proud of my job. I liked getting the memos saying, ‘Thank you for your contribution to STS-[whatever].’ I liked the smell of jet fuel in the morning. I felt I was part of something Important. When I went into the Corporate world, I was just another employee who was subject to mass layoffs so the stockholders could see a temporary rise in their dividends. Would I like a six- or seven-figure salary? Sure, who wouldn’t? But I’d rather have a modest salary doing something fun. (FWIW, I’m still working with financial data; but it’s for a non-profit company and it doesn’t have that creepy/_Office Space_ Corporate ‘feel’ to it. And I’m having some fun.) But back to Science. In another thread, **DSYoungEsq** wrote: > [@Well, they found the landers! Hoax over.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-they-found-the-landers-hoax-over/503401/15): > > I was reading an article… that mentioned that younger people are increasingly willing to doubt the truth of the moon shots. This is apparently linked to two things: they weren’t around when they happened, and we haven’t been back, so they have no faith that they actually happened. > > Sadly, our society is becoming increasingly skeptical about all the wrong things. ☹ I’ve read posts at other places where people really do believe we never landed on the Moon. I’ve also read posts by Young Earth Creationists who believe the planet is only 6,000 years old. And let’s not even get into Evolution… What all of these things have in common is a lack of critical thinking. For the Moon, anyone can do a bit of reading and see the slow, methodical – and often deadly – steps that led to the One Small Step. It’s all documented and logical. To deny the landing is to deny the evidence, and also to assume that untold thousands of people can keep their mouths shut. For the YECs and Creationists, they not only deny (literal) mountains of evidence, but some of them cut-and-paste pseudo-science into their posts and then wave away arguments that point out the errors in their ‘proof’. This is not new. I went to high school very near to the ‘headquarters’ of the Flat Earth Society. But that was before the Internet. Now, the anti-science people are more visible and I think that might be why I have the impression that science education has been declining. If it’s just an artifact of perception, then there’s not much to worry about. But we’ve all seen how rapidly misinformation spreads on the 'Net. I fear such information will gain momentum. And then I read **Gail** ’s post, and it seems that in some places it is difficult to teach (or for students to learn) the basics – let alone critical thinking or elementary science. If kids can barely add and subtract, how can they learn chemistry or engineering? Heck, how can they learn to follow a recipe? If they can barely read or write and are slow in reading comprehension, how can they use analogies to evaluate something new? But again, this is just my impression; hence my question whether my impression is correct. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-education/503463)._