March 14, 2011
Scientific Literacy: A Pressing Need
by A.C.Grayling*
More than twenty years ago the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) published a book called Science for All Americans (1989) to address what it recognised as a pressing need for greater scientific literacy in the general population. Better awareness of scientific ideas and ways of thinking was required, it said, to help people understand how science and technology are shaping our world, because without that understanding they would be less able to take part in decisions about such challenges as climate change and the ethics of new medical advances.
The urgency felt by the AAAS two decades ago was prompted by alarming statistics about the decline in scientific literacy during the preceding quarter century, as measured by high student performance and polling on levels of public informedness. That decline was not unique to the United States, and little has happened to reverse it, despite the fact that scientific and technological advances have accumulated with increasing rapidity since.
Today the idea of democratic debate about the promises and perils of scientific advances is almost empty, or at best comes to life only when particular problems arise, usually in crude and simplistic form, about such matters as stem-cell research, genetically modified food crops, or surveillance technologies that threaten civil liberties.
Keeping abreast of what is happening in science and technology should be a matter of course for thoughtful people, no matter what their educational background or occupation. There is no excuse for people to be ill informed in vuew of the many quality magazines and books that make awareness of science possible for those without formal training in it. Active engagement in any branch of science of course requires expertise, but an intelligent appreciation of reports about the outcomes, significance and possible applications of research does not.
This is one part of what is meant by scientific literacy. Another is being able to use relevant aspects of science awareness in decisions about one’s own health, exercise, diet and personal responsibility for the environment (such as domestic recycling and energy use). A third and equally important part is being able to take a responsible–because informed–stance on issues that vex society, such as reproductive technologies, public policy affecting the environment, use of certain kinds of military and security technologies, and ethical dilemmas over health-care resources and technologies–a stance that might, for example, influence how one votes.
In 1995 the US National Academy of Science defined scientific literacy as ‘knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity’. This is a good but limited definition, which only partly overlaps the one just suggested, and it leaves entirely out of account the biggest boon that scientific literacy can confer; the development of rational attitudes.
By this I mean the kind of healthy scepticism that asks for good evidence and good argument, that applies critical scrutiny to propositions or claims, that suspends judgment while the evidence is pending, and accepts what the evidence says once it has arrived, independently of prior wishes or partisan beliefs.
There is nothing idealised or utopian about this sketch of the scientific mindset, which simply describes it at its workaday best. In an age of resurgent irrationalism, in which assertive religious constituencies promote world-views and ethical outlooks that run diametrically counter to science–think creationism and opposition to therapeutic clonning–scientific rationality is at a premium. Yet fewer and fewer people can appreciate what that means: which is why promoting general scientific literacy has become more urgent than ever.
*The writer is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of London (Birkbeck College). Professor Grayling is Fellow of The World Economic Forum at Davos and author of Among the Dead Cities and Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius.
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
Frank, Mongkut Bean et.al,
It is almost trite to say that we need a more reasoned approach to dealing with, and understanding issues.It is true. I am convinced, as I read some comments which appear on this blog, that this is a pressing need. We should have, as Grayling says, a “healthy scepticism that asks for good evidence and good argument, that applies critical scrutiny to propositions or claims, that suspends judgment while the evidence is pending, and accepts what the evidence says once it has arrived, independently of prior wishes or partisan beliefs”.–Din Merican
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, First Prime Minister of Malaysia. “The case for English and Malay.” In Viewpoints, 192-200. Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd, 1978.
Below are the excerpts:
“We obtained our Independence constitutionally and after that, we had to seek the help of the British to educate and train our men to take over our country in order to give the best possible Government to the people. As a result of this, we have enjoyed progress, prosperity and peace, which other countries have never enjoyed in this part of the world.
Malays only form 48 per cent of the population of Malaysia and we cannot, however much we wish it, do everything to our liking. We must find a happy medium to please all these people who have accepted this country as their home, and it is our duty to make it an object of their loyalty as well.
Unless it can keep abreast with changes and keep pace with progress, no nation will enjoy peace.
Every citizen of this country should take pride in the Malay language and make a special effort to excel in it, not just to speak Bahasa but to read and write it. A nation without a language is a nation without a spirit and without a soul. If we can take pride in being Malaysians, then we must take pride in our national language. Otherwise all this profession of loyalty is but empty talk.
No sensible person will begrudge any plan by the Government to implement the two languages: that I have learned from experience. The Malays also need Government help – hence our Five Year Plan.
Those who benefited under the Plans are now happy and contented. But we must not carry out the policy too far, and the Plan must not be one which can be likened to robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Those aggrieved by this policy will not give their co-operation, and without it and the help of the non Malays, already established in big businesses and trades, whatever one does and however much one tries to help the Malays, it will not proceed smoothly, but invite criticism and resentment.
Education, at whatever level, can make or unmake a man; in the same way it can make or unmake a nation. Our leaders are well aware of it. And they all ensure that their children receive the best education possible. In contrast, boys in the kampungs do not have the same opportunities; my object is to give them the best possible education. I have said that when a good brain is not properly utilised it can be a source of danger to the society and to the country.
At the moment, the danger is not too great, but I feel that before the situation deteriorates the Government should act by setting up a Commission to review our education policy.
We must restore confidence to the many races here who have placed their implicit faith in us Malays. The experiment we have carried out in our schools has not proved all that successful, and if we take cognisance of that now, we may be able to put it right. This matter is of the utmost importance to the nation and we must look into it as soon as possible.
The whole trouble with the people is that they obstinately refuse to look at facts objectively. For this reason, we have been weak, and that weakness has been the cause of our subjection in the past to foreign rule.
A student finishing Malay school at the age of twelve has achieved little to his credit. All he can seek is a job befitting his education, and that won’t be much of a job, nor does it offer much in pay.
I called for an all out effort to make “Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa” into a slogan which was printed on posters and pasted on walls all over the country. Surely this indicated my intention to give the incentive to all to learn Malay and prove their loyalty to this country.
At the same time I advocated that English should be made, for a long time to come, the language for higher studies. This was appreciated by many people, except by those with the- fox-and-sour-grapes or the-dog-in-the-manger attitude. They can’t see why others should obtain a good education when they themselves have not.
Malaysia is new, and she wants to go ahead and not take retrogressive steps. The rate of progress rapidly developing in this world demands that we keep pace with it.
Every day new ideas take shape, and new achievements are recorded. There is never an end to what is happening around the world.
Everything in the world has changed. It would be foolish for us to imagine that we can give the best service to our country and people purely on sentiment and emotion, and it will be no wiser to follow the ways of other countries that have not gone ahead with the times.
Our duty is to give the best way of life we possibly can to our people and to help make those who come after us happy and our country peaceful and prosperous. Can we say with justification that by slipping back on our education we can keep pace with progress, still less achieve it for our new nation?
Half an education is no education at all.
The people of this country are made up of three major races — Malays, Chinese and Indians. All have languages of their own; they have agreed that since we are Malaysians, Malay shall be the national language, the Jiwa Bangsa, the soul of the nation.
But there must still be English, the language that will give them the education they seek. In taking it up, Malays do not start from a position of disadvantage, for others have also to learn it, learn what is equally foreign to them.
English can be a point of understanding and goodwill between the races, giving them opportunities to make the best use of their brains.
Independence alone is not sufficient unless it has meaning. I want our people to walk the earth with their heads up. I want to see the poor having opportunities to climb up the ladder of success with the sons of the rich and of feudal chiefs, and not be left behind because of poverty and lack of opportunities.
I am not one to shirk my responsibility; what has to be said must be said if it is for the good of the people, and I will never be afraid to say what I think is right. My critics would not be where they are today if this country had not been freed.”
Watched Charlie Rose talking with Sir Paul Nurse on TV last night where, among many matters discussed, was stressed the importance of funding ‘science’, in its broadest sense, by the government, to the long term well being of the country.
The UK, despite its economic woes, was quoted as being on the right track.
Wonder how we compare…….
Jay, open societies adapt better to changing times. Here in Malaysia, we encounter resistance from entrenched vested interests. Over time, Malaysia will be more open and transparent when our leaders are confident in themselves and can engage with others at the intellectual level.
Education with orientation in science and mathematics (to create scientific literacy) is, I think, one of the ways to make that mind set change and nurture healthy scepticism. –Din Merican
“Every citizen of this country should take pride in the Malay language and make a special effort to excel in it, not just to speak Bahasa but to read and write it. A nation without a language is a nation without a spirit and without a soul. If we can take pride in being Malaysians, then we must take pride in our national language. Otherwise all this profession of loyalty is but empty talk.”
You know racist politics and religious extremism in national schools have made the national language a medium only to vent insults and hate, to restrict critical thinking and curiosity. The language is not growing in any useful way and is becoming more irrelevant to national progress and development. The proponents can only make themselves relevant if others are similarly poorly educated and equally incapable of creating or producing anything of value to society.
Din wrote “Education with orientation in science and mathematics (to create scientific literacy) is, I think, one of the ways to make that mind set change and nurture healthy scepticism.”
Can we draw the same conclusion if rephrase the above statement into “Education with less orientation in history and religious studies (to create ‘less dogmatic’ literacy) is, I think, one of the ways to make that mind set change and nurture healthy scepticism”?
With regard to “The case for English and Malay”, ‘He did what he had to do’ right? 1) To appease the Malay nationalism during his tenure as Education Minister and 2) To appease the religious fanaticism during his tenure as Prime Minister.
And now we hope to revert back to English, science, mathematics and science and mathematics in English? No more ‘He did what he had to do’?
The sad truth of intellectual in eastern society is, their choice is awfully limited.
Science and Technology are indeed shaping our world at an unprecedented rate. The fact that there is pressing need for Scientific literacy as the esteemed Professor has stressed is too important to be ignored, since never before than now that we see stark evidence of poverty. malnutrition, with attendent famine and calamities bringing greater sufferings & illiteracy across the globe !
Whilst such consciousness is acute amongst Western nations, the Eastern nations are generally complacent in their outlook for emphasizing too much in philosophical humanism in matters of religion and’or spirituality ! To step up our awareness, it has to be recognized that material contributions through scientific achievements have equally contributed to human happiness as much as the religious or spiritual contributions.
There is a tendency amongst skeptics that the sciences and their material contributions are often in conflict with the imperatives & dictates of religion, which should be the higher paramount for human concerns.
To set our minds at peace, we need to look in one particular aspect that is developing in the current scientific thoughts, which is remarkable :
In the field of Quantum Physics/Quantum mechanics evidence is emerging to show the CONVERGENCE between Religious knowledge and Scientific knowledge to be compatible and harmonising. and not hostile or in conflict with each other. In the quantum field of physics, it is discovered right down to the minutest energy in the atomic and the sub-atomic particles, there is ” keyhole” or a “doorway” into spirituality : imagine the minutest ” matter ” , Energy, operating at or above the velocity of light, are winking in and out of this physical Universe at the speed of light : indeed, Energy has two-lives both when it appears in the physical dimension, and as quickly disappears into the next or ” other ” dimension, winking in & out – the only ” matter ” or waves that has two lives ! And, Scientist do not exactly know what ” Energy ” really is, astounding !
It is extremely exciting for all of mankind, since evidence is emerging on this point of ” convergence” between matter & spirituality !
If I were given another life (well nigh impossible and that why it is a big if) I would do science and maths, not liberal arts first. I say that after observing the way my wife, Dr. Kamsiah thinks and acts. She is excelled in Mathematics and Science and that is why she is very flexible and adaptable in her approach. She does not prejudge anything and will make up her mind based on evidence.
Some thinkers like Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig von Wittgenstein and Alfred North Whitehead and Noam Chomsky are men of science and mathematics before becoming philosophers and public intellectuals. A scientist can become a historian, but not the other way around. There could be exceptions, of course.–Din Merican