It's always kind of exhilarating to me to see some of the science reporting that manages to squeeze its way into the news amid the stories of corporate corruption, political pandering, and celebrity salaciousness. How amazing that there is still so much being discovered, and yet to be discovered, about our world and our universe.
A case in point is the search for new planets now made possible by the Kepler telescope. New planets with a variety of characteristics have been identified, but none yet with the right combination of conditions to support life as we know it. Can Earth be unique? I doubt it - something like us must be out there, and we can suppose it will be found (though I doubt strongly that I'll ever live on it).
Sometimes, though, I wonder why we bother to expand our understanding, to increase our knowledge, to seek out facts -- when the trend on our own planet (well, in the U.S. anyway) seems to be toward an ever-more-common denominator of ignorance, an unwitting shamble into a new Dark Age. Here are a few of the things I have heard in conversation recently, from people with university education:
70% of all IRS employees don't pay their taxes (well OK, they may pay withholding, but if they owe more, they never pay it).
A British scientist who argues against climate change was beaten up by UN police because of his beliefs.
Interpol has carte blanche to operate "above the law" in the U.S.
You should not even think about answering all the questions that will be posed by the U.S. census this year - "just say no."
Sometimes, it seems as if the planets must be whirling around in people's heads rather than out there in space. We're used to the exaggerated lie from politicians seeking to sway voters by any means (witness Sarah Palin and her death panels). But now, we're seeing more frequent and even less factually-based claims from all manner of "ordinary" people.
Of course, it's evident that these sorts of assertions, believed wildly and blindly by those who express them, come from that modern-day font of all knowledge, the internet, or its close cousin, talk radio. They're picked up, believed, and repeated by many who ought to know better. I have no doubt that the stories about new planets will give new vigor to all sorts of paranoiac theories about our being spied on by aliens. Here is my own humble contribution: A guy from the gas company came today to replace a battery in the gas meter (which reports usage without requiring someone to come into the house). Naturally, I am absolutely certain this means that the gas company (and maybe others) can now listen to every conversation my wife and I have. (NOT!)
Maybe we'd better put aside our telescopes and focus a bit more on educating ourselves right here on Earth. I have no doubt that the freshly announced initiative for science and math education is needed and useful, but it looks as if we need to focus more on some of the humanities: civics, history, logic, evaluating and using sources of information. Or, should we believe that the cause is lost, and accelerate that search for another planet that sane people might move to?
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