that are likely to lead to the destruction of civilization. This scenario is even more terrifying if others in power share the same belief. Personal irrationality that only affects an individual or a small number of people within an irrational person’s circle of influence, may be beneficial to those people, but as more people are affected by the irrationality, the net result eventually becomes negative.
Reason is certainly something that can be learned, although research confirms that some people are more predisposed to irrational thinking than others2. For those who suffer psychosis stemming from irrationality, rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a psychotherapeutic solution for addressing irrationality. For the rest of us, improving our reasoning abilities is a result of multidisciplinary education and practice. Studying both formal and informal logic, fallacious reasoning, cognitive biases, probability, and other areas will provide the tools needed to reason more effectively. Engaging others in debate is perhaps the best way to practice reasoning skills, as long as the debate doesn’t devolve into one personal attack after another, which is unfortunately all too common with online debates. Another effective way to improve reasoning ability is by questioning your feelings, values, and beliefs. Before I explain this one, a little myth-busting is required.
A common but incorrect assumption is that we are creatures of reason when, in fact, we are creatures of both reason and emotion. We cannot get by on reason alone since any reason always eventually leads to a feeling. Should I get Grape Nuts or Lucky Charms? I can list all the reasons I want, but the reasons have to be based on something. For example, if my goal is to eat healthy, I can choose the Grape Nuts, but what is my reason for wanting to be healthy? I can list more and more reasons such as wanting to live longer, spending more quality time with loved ones, etc., but what are the reasons for those reasons? You should be able to see by now that reasons are ultimately based on non-reason such as values, feelings, or emotions. These deep-seeded values, feelings, and emotions we have are rarely a result of reasoning, but can certainly be influenced by reasoning. We have values, feelings, and emotions before we begin to reason and long before we begin to reason effectively. This is why questioning our feelings as reasoning adults is so important.
We all think we are reasonable and rational most of the time, and if you are reading this, you probably are. But reason isn’t something people have or don’t have; it is something we all have to a certain degree. Some of us are better at it than others. As we get better at it, we start to experience the benefits of better reasoning and are capable of doing away with more and more irrational beliefs that once brought us comfort, but we recognize as irrational because they contradict our reason. These benefits can be seen in our personal and professional lives, and the benefits can be extended to entire societies when its leaders and members value reason and rationality.
1 Kompridis, N. (2000). So we need something else for reason to mean. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 8(3), 271–295.
2 Hood, B. M. (2010). The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs. New York: HarperOne.
PART I: Science Works.
Overall, very few people have a strong understanding of what science is and what it is not. This ignorance often leads to the “rejection” of science or at least a strawman idea of science that can easily be dismissed. But science is too important to let this slide.
How Important Is Scientific Literacy?
The National Science Education Standards defines scientific literacy as “the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.” That sounds pretty important to me, but there are those who will disagree. The United States is indeed a melting pot, not just of cultures, but of ideas and values. Some people value belief and faith far more than reason and science, meaning that the subjective state of personal well-being is more important than accepting a scientific fact that risks decreasing that personal well-being. Of course, being scientifically illiterate can have a negative effect on one’s well-being through making poor choices in life or being less in demand in the workforce. What people who hold that view don’t consider is the big picture—how their beliefs (or lack of scientific literacy) affect their communities, society, and even humanity. For example, a lack of scientific literacy can result in preventable disease outbreaks in communities through not understanding vaccine safety. A lack of scientific literacy can result in a failure to embrace biotechnology that can keep local farmers in business and people fed. A lack of scientific literacy can result in listening to politicians who say that climate change is not a problem rather than listening to the scientists who actually study climate change, which the costs of such illiteracy can be catastrophic.
So what can we do about it?
I think there are perhaps hundreds of small ways that we can encourage scientific literacy such as making science more entertaining, making it a larger part of standard education, warning people of the dangers of scientific illiteracy, call out anti-intellectualism when we see it, and perhaps make Neil Degrasse Tyson President of the United States :) At an individual level, I think that everyone can do something that is unique to his or her talents to promote scientific literacy. For me, it is my show, my online courses, my work as a professor at a local college, the books I write, and the podcasts I host. That’s what I can do about it. What can you do about it?
Don’t Blame Science for Bad Doctors
Too often, the public sees science and doctors as the same “thing.” They are not. Not by a long shot. Science is a method for separating fact from fiction. Doctors and therapists are trained in this method—whether they use it or not, or how well they use it, is up to them. We shouldn’t reject science because of bad doctors for the same reasons we shouldn’t reject education because of bad teachers.
This seems obvious, but why do so many have this “rejection instinct”? It has to do with how we learn by association. “Science” is an abstract concept that is not easy to grasp and impossible to visualize. People know what doctors are and they can be easily visualized (think lab coat). When a doctor says something wrong (or just stupid), it is often seen as a strike against science. This a what is known as a fallacy or an error with reasoning that is often a result of lazy thinking.
Scientists can loosely be put into two categories: practitioners and researchers. I say “loosely” because there are many practitioners who are also researchers, or practitioners who run a strict research-based practice. The scientific method is an integral part of any researcher’s daily life, whereas practitioners, such as medical doctors or therapists who treat patients or clients for a living can begin to incorporate personal experience, anecdote, and “gut feeling” into their practice. While this is not always a bad thing, this is an abandonment of the scientific process. An example is doctors in the 1950s who endorsed smoking not based on research but on other factors mostly surrounding personal biases and other reasons.
The bottom line is that science, as a methodology, cannot be judged by the behavior of doctors because there is often a large disconnect between the two. Some doctors have a strong understanding of the scientific method and are consistent with science-based medicine, practice, and research while others are not.
Trust science as a method, but approach any claims with a healthy dose of skepticism.
The Problem with Relying on Your Own “Common Sense” and Ignoring Scientific Consensus
Let me start by being perfectly clear that we should always employ reasoning