Science is Life.

by Sheril R. Kirshenbaum     Department: Science & Society

I love being a scientist.  That said, science is far too vast to be limited to me and my test tube holding,  statistics-savvy, lab-coat-wearing, and/or globe-trotting colleagues who traverse the spectrum of 'ologies'...  You see, science reaches out infinitely beyond the realm of those who 'do' it as a profession.

Science is life.

It's intimately connected to everything we do and never independent of how we spend our days wandering about our great green and blue home.  The thing is, we often lose our way as most of us plod through high school wondering how science is actually relevant to our daily lives... (In this example, admittedly, 'most of us' is anecdotally me).  Somehow, in the rush of growing up, we lose touch with what science actually means as we focus on equations,  formulas, and pop culture interpretations that bore us/frighten us/(insert unpleasant verb of choice).  Science is often tragically misrepresented, when de facto, it should be celebrated!

Why?

Everything we will be thinking about in the mainstream media in 2008 and beyond all goes back to science.  There.  I said it.  Just think... at this very moment, we're asking questions about geoengineering, stem cells, storms, the human genome, ethics, and socioeconomics - and you can bet that we'll be looking to science for answers.

Now the thing is, political affiliations are independent of this the discussion.  No matter where we fall in terms of elephants, donkeys, or everything in between (and I'm vocally nonpartisan), I expect all of us prioritize providing our children with the brightest future we can.  In that respect, we need to be making decisions now informed by the best science available.  It's time to press hard for research, innovation, and technology.  We're at a critical point in our planetary adolescence and the choice of trajectory is ours.  In the great epic of planet earth, our story will be a choose-your-own-ending...

So how do we pursue a collective push for improving the state of things?  As a nation, there are some major decisions to be thinking about over the coming year and right now is the greatest opportunity to emphasize our national priorities while everyone is paying attention.

Introducing Science Debate 2008.  More on this coming soon!

Tags: Election, Science Policy

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