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Why Is Scientific Literacy Important?


Science is a very broad term. Being specific, it is all of the various fields you have probably heard about; biology, physics, chemistry, geology, among hundreds of others. It's study of how things work and in case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of things out there to learn about! But using just this definition is a bit narrow. In a general sense, science is also a method of gaining the truth, and I think that right there is the main reason why it is so important to have at least a basic grasp of science.

In this day and age, you get a lot of information thrown at you. There are sources of information all over the internet, each with varying degrees of credibility (looking at you WIkipedia...). In addition, you also have a slew of different advertisers trying to sell you this product and that shampoo and whatnot. It can get really hard to weed out what's bullocks and find the truth. This is where the scientific method comes in to play. It's important to be able to evaluate a source of information and also to test (if possible) whether or not someone's claims match up with reality.

The number one example that comes into my mind when I think of ways in which basic knowledge of science come in handy is in medicine, specifically, homeopathic medicine. Your family doctors and all the other physicians you have probably encountered in your life all use medical principles that have been established through careful and objective experimentation for a long time now. In other words, they are proven to be very effective. (Sure, medicine may have once been a little nutty with their idea that heroin could be great to get rid of your cough, but I promise, it's a lot better now).

In complete contrast to modern medicine, we have homeopathic medicine. Any time someone has to use phrases/words like "essence" and "the memory of water" and "the inner balance", you know they pulling this stuff out of their back pockets. It's a completely bogus field that relies on the placebo effect... yet many clinics remain in business with millions of customers purchasing products. It is possibly one of the greatest scams in history.

This is where critical thinking could come into play. If one was educated enough in the scientific method and knew enough about how evidence is actually gathered and how things are actually proven to be true, they would see right through homeopathy's "explanations" of how their "medicine" works. Everyone wants to make a quick buck and people love to abuse terms like energy, balance, equilibrium and electricity to give their products a false sense of legitimacy. If people understood the actual meaning and background of these words, they would be able to see right through the scam.

Pseudoscientific products like energy bracelets and anti-aging creams rely on ignorance to make their money. Let's stay educated when it comes to science so that we can make good, evidence based decisions in life.

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