New Pew poll on science

by Jay McDonough

It seems fair to say the most economically powerful nations in
the world are those that develop a strong technology base.  And those
capabilities require a culture that appreciates and understands the
science that supports their technologies.   

The new Pew Research poll on Americans view of science paints a pretty bleak portrait for a long term technology leadership role for the U.S.

Science
is complicated stuff, so it's not surprising to see inconsistencies in
the poll results.  But what's most obvious from the poll is a general
decline in Americans respect for the value of science, and a strong
tendency for Americans to decide sciences worth based on whether it
conflicts with their religious beliefs.

While 84% of
the respondents believe science has a positive effect on society, only
27% (compared to 47% in 1999) felt that science, medicine and
technology were America's "greatest achievement" of the last 50 years. 
I suspect the reason for the decline in respect has to do with another
result from the poll:  When scientists were asked about the big
problems facing science, 85% identified the public's lack of knowledge
as a "major problem".  

Anecdotally, this sounds right. 
There's very little science covered in the media and, when there is,
the media seems to feel compelled to produce an opposing viewpoint. 
More often than not, this opposing view is from a religious perspective
that's all about faith and not at all about science.  The argument
becomes apples/oranges.  Add on top of that what seems a public lack of
interest in science and you end up with only 27% of Americans valuing
the technologies that have afforded them the quality of life they so
readily take for granted.

I also found the ideological and
political party breakdown of scientists interesting.  52% of the
scientists surveyed considered themselves liberal.  35% called
themselves moderates and only 9% considered themselves conservative. 
Of the scientists surveyed, 55% were Democrats, 32% Independents and 6%
Republican.

The poll has enough to scare and depress everyone. 
For most of America, the poll demonstrates an increasing disinterest
and disregard for the value of science.  That doesn't bode well for a
long term technological dominance for the United States that can only
result in a declining standard of living.

And if I was one of the
few sane Republicans out there, those statistics on ideology and party
identification would scare the shit out of me.