Beautiful, Yet Dangerous Brains

David Dobbs’  article ‘Beautiful Brains’, is written to inform the public of new scientific discoveries about the brain, how it develops and why adolescence is such a difficult time period for most parents to handle. What Dobbs writes is that through experiments and images of brain activity, many scientists realized that the brain takes much longer to develop than most people thought. He goes into details describing the way stronger links develop between the hippocampus and that this causes humans to become better at decision making. Throughout his article, Dobbs gives examples of how his son was in his adolescent years and how this research helped Dobbs realize more about why his son was put into jail for driving at 113 mph for instance.

Dobbs mixed in anecdotes with science discovery very well and made it flow. I enjoyed being able to relate to science on an easier level than if Dobbs were to just write a science journal will all its technicalities and scientific lexicon. Dobbs was able to clearly state the people who worked on these experiments and what they did. The experiments that were run on teens were explained thoroughly and given a reason for why this kind of experiment was given and what it uncovered. Not only was science a main part of this article but so was the way in which this science relates to every day life and socialization, for example when Dobbs talks about how teens usually search for approval from their peers and how this is seen through brain activity and development. Dobbs allowed avergae people to be able to understand complex scientific discovery and be updated on the current flow of what is going on in science.

Analysis of Sagan’s “Why We Need To Understand Science” and “Pale Blue Dot”

“Why We Need To Understand Science”:

Sagan’s essay on the importance of science sparks debate over how children in the United States should be scientifically educated in response to the transcendence of technology in today’s world. Sagan first opens with an anecdote about an average Joe who, like most Americans, is falsely misguided by the pseudo science of “UFOs” and “channeling”. Sagan morphs a seemingly harmless conversation into a national epidemic: children who receive inadequate science education grow up to become misinformed adults. Sagan asserts this theory in the next section of his essay, condemning the government for their purely war-driven interests in science (“CFCs, Agent Orange, nerve gas”). Sagan also denounces the media for portraying science in a way children find unappealing and frightening (“Dr. Faust to Dr. Frankenstein”). Sagan then addresses the problems of science and math education through empirical numbers. With the use of logos, Sagan logically connects lack of interest in science to appalling test scores: “United States ranked dead last in algebra”, “U.S. kids averaged 43 percent and their Japanese counterparts 78 percent.” etc. These claims are meant to shock the audience to induce change in the educational system. Sagan regards U.S. education as faulty, with ill-equipped teachers and less hands-on experiences. The spark of intellectual curiosity is extinguished by senior year in high school, where peers judge and critique one another for being motivated by learning. Sagan’s essay is an appeal to the people, calling for a change in the educational system and social stigma of science. All of these problems contribute to the underlying factor: understanding science will produce a generation of well-informed individuals.

“Pale Blue Dot”:

The video illustrates the unity in the Earth, and how we all live and share this “pale blue dot”. The video is humbling, and shows the true insignificance of war and murder in order to gain a fraction of power which only lasts for a blink of a second in the grand scheme of the universe. The video also indicates how all humans are connected, and regardless of situation we must live together. Rather than live with war throughout our short lives, peace should triumph. The video poses important points about the human condition:  “Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel […] of some other corner”. The video highlights that violence and cruelty is futile, and such misunderstandings are miniscule in comparison to the universe.

Response to Sagan

Sagan’s piece begins with an anecdote which talks about his meeting with his driver, Mr. Buckley. He explains how amazed he is at the fact that the general public does not really not know much about what real science is. They are all convinced that UFOs, and crystals, and such is what science is. Sagan is appalled that the people do not have an interest for real science, but it is because of the fact that they do not know anything about “real science” but are only aware of the “pseudo-science.” Sagan rapidly lists in question for the many facts about science that he finds interesting that the public is unaware of. The whole introduction is a realization that he has that people are really not as smart as they are thought to be, or think of themselves to be. Sagan then moves onto to accept the fact that science has its pros and cons. He accepts the fact that scientific discoveries have led to political war weapons being created, harmful chemicals being created, but he also mentions the positives that they have done: found cures for diseases, discovering planets, etc. Sagan, unlike Orwell, thinks that science is useful to the thinking process. He states that “this is central to success.” I’m sure Orwell would pounce on that statement and argue it at once. Sagan also reviews the fact that Americans are not as smart as they think they are. He uses statistics to prove his point on how poorly America is doing compared to the rest of the world. The fact that kids don’t like going to school in American compared to other nations is a very big issue playing into this. The biggest reason why Americans do not know much about science is the fact that everyone is so hesitant. Kids are hesitant to ask questions, scientists are hesitant to share their findings, and adults just don’t have the patience to answer their kids “ridiculous” questions. Sagan concludes his piece by saying that their is a solution. He turns his so-far pessimistic piece and sheds some optimism. He says that if teachers wanted to teach, and were given better benefits for teaching, there would be so much more learned. There is an urgency in his voice as he says science should be taught–the real science. There are so many interesting things to be learned, but they are not being taught in the way that they should be or presented with as much as enthusiasm as it should have.

Response to Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan was a celebrated astronomer who was known for his many scientific papers. But, beloved for influencing others about science in his tv series called Cosmos.  Not only was he a tv personality he had made many important contributions to science while being a professor at Cornell University, where he spent the majority of his career. He made many contributions to the study of global warming, extraterritorial life,  and the Planets.

In one of his many essays called “Why We Need to Understand Science”, Carl Sagan gives us this story about his driver asking him questions about science which sparked his attention to write this essay. In talking with William F.  Buckley, his driver, he realizes how much people don’t know and how mislead they are in what is happening in science. He realizes that its not tht his driver doesn’t want to know but he’s not being given the right information. He gives us this quote to demonstrate the gap “All over America there are smart, even gifted , people who have a built in passion for science. But that passion is unrequited. A recent survey suggests that 94 percent of Americans are “scientifically illiterate.” Then Sagan gives of his definition of science which he says is more than a body of knowledge how we should take our hypotheses and see what works with the facts. He says its “very bad’ referring to how the statistics show how bad Americans are in the field of science and how uninformed we are. Sagan says we must make some changes in our system by giving more money to teachers, teach rather than just read , and more schoolwork to keep children focused. He says there is something we can do, we can motivate people to want to learn. We must show people we science can do and how it can bring us success. People need to be able to be curious again and ask questions. Not to be made fun of or ridiculed because even our principle proven concepts now were once “ridiculous” and un-heard of. He ends the essay with says its ok to admit you don’t know so we can be able to find the right answer. Encouragement and motivation is needed but it isn’t the only thing, we have to provide the tools to people like his driver. We need to provide him with the tools to be able to understand science so collectively as Americans we can become better in the field of science.

Sagan/ Pale Blue Dot

Sagan begins his article in a particular way that almost threw me off; breaking into a tangent about Orwell’s perspective on science. He starts off with by describing an experience with a man who had a rather narrow mind on the field of science. In doing so he provides an example of a byproduct of cracked system we call an education in this country. Compared to other nations we are not only falling behind, but we are also continuing that trend. The reason for such a decline is because of what Sagan refers to as a lack of “motivation”, in that of role of education and the minds of the students. In today’s day and age education has lost much of its meaning. Instead aiming to excel, most students aim for the minimum that would be enough to get them through the educational system as quickly as possible so that they can get started in the working world. Becoming the norm of things, this effect seems to have dulled the minds of many of the next generations of students, making them less insightful and willing to question. This ignorance is not only held by the students but the education itself.

I believe Sagan was aiming for a wide spectrum of people within the country, both young and old. To me it sounds much like a warning or a wake up call that things are taking a toll for the worse and something needs to be done as soon as possible. What perhaps scared me the most was when Sagan mentioned the statistics of United States students and population to that of other countries. Even for a slightly out dated article like this they do not seem so far off from the truth. But this by no means makes many of these people less intelligent in reasoning and logic. Instead it puts these people at a disadvantage to the rest of the world or progress itself.

Pale Blue Dot:

Watching this made me think back to a comparison of the universe. This had nothing to do with any philosophical meaning or anything. It was just a comparison of size; our Earth to everything else. With every new planet, star, and galaxy they showed the Earth became so tiny to the point of a small pale blue dot. Now normally we are meant to feel inferior; us, the entire human race, on a speck of dust being compared to a sun. Well of course with if we do that we look pretty meaningless right? Well what is a sun? Would it even have a name if it were not for us people of the small speck of dust? And what has a star accomplished over the centuries other than react with its elements and burn bright? We as humans have a legacy that keeps on going. And although we can thank our sun for our ability to exist we can not just forget the fact that we as a collection are just as interesting if not more than a ball of gas.

 

 

Carl Sagan’s “Why We Need To Understand Science”

Carl Sagan’s “Why We Need To Understand Science” talks about how our country needs to reach for a more scientific education. Sagan’s essay provides us with statistics showing how our country, America, falls behind when it comes to mathematical and scientific education, compared to British Columbia, Japan, Britain, and Korea. He believes that “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.” I agree with Sagan because a huge part of our life, almost everything we do or feel, involves science.

At one point in the essay, Sagan reinforces his point by explaining to us how important science is to our everyday lives. His main goal is to “deepen public understanding of science.” He mentions how important it is to understand everything that is happening around us. For example, knowing about global warming, acid rain, ozone depletion, is all part of understanding science. He mentions that jobs and wages all depend on science and technology. Without science, we would we be missing a huge part of our everyday lives. Sagan at one point, however, talks about why some may believe that people are against or worried about science and technology. He explains that science can also be harmful to some extent, not only “pouring out good deeds to the world.” He uses nuclear weapons as an example. Sagan tells us that we can not just conclude that science puts too much power in someone. We can not simply just try to get rid of science. One point that he makes that really caught my attention when reading this essay was when he said, “Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history.” Yes, in some ways, science can be harmful, but it has always done us a lot of good. There are both positive and negative aspects of science but that can also be said about almost everything.

Sagan explains to us why he feels is the reason that our country is so behind compared to others in education and what we can do to fix it. He feels that things are a lot different now than they were during the Great Depression. Teaching was an admired profession and they enjoyed teaching. He believes that this is not the case anymore. “…learning was widely recognized as the road out of poverty. Little of that is true today.” Sagan did not fully blame the teachers and parents but also the children as well. He made a great point when he described how different high school students are compared to how we were when we were in the kindergarten or first grade. He says that at that young age, children are curious and ask a lot of questions because they are young and want to learn. In high school however, it is totally different. At that age, people are worried about what their peers may think of them so that can cause them to be hesitant in asking questions to learn, fearing that it would be a dumb question. When I read this part of the essay, I was pretty shocked with how accurate this was. I never realized it until now. Sadly, our self consciousness does play a huge part on our thrive to learn.

Is understanding science a necessity?

Carl Sagan’s, “Why We Need to Understand Science?” takes a different approach to get the reader into the writing.

Carl Sagan met somebody who is an average working man. In talking to this man, one can come to the realization that the average American doesn’t know a whole lot about science. Fact that prove this, is that American students are well bellow average in academics on a global scale. The world, unknowingly, is driven by science. Of course, science doesn’t always bring about good. For example, the creation of nuclear warheads, CFC’s, and Agent Orange. Therefore, there are many reasons people feel discomfited around science and technology. However, science is a way of thinking, and allows people to hypothesize on their own. The reason Americans are flunking, is the lack of scientific education. Partly is due to many of the teacher’s themselves don’t very well understand science. To fix this, more money is needed for teacher’s training and salaries, as well as laboratories. New generations need hands on training to fully understand the world of science. Currently high school students memorize facts, and most of them time are either afraid or are unable to take their own viewpoint on a subject and hypothesize. The reason why is because, when children are the age of asking questions that they themselves want to learn more about, they are often stopped in their tracks. Parent would rather tell their kids their question is pointless, then to say they themselves don’t know the answer. Children need to be encouraged to explore their questions more, and one day they will be able to possible answer questions that no one has done so before.

Carl Sagan was not only a renowned astronomer and astrophysicist, but also a science popularizer and science communicator. As such, he seeks to make science mainstream, and show others the importance of it. He is writing to absolutely everybody, or at the very least people who may have misconceptions of science. This essay was published in 1989, at the time when science was starting to need more attention in America. What best proves this is the titles of each section of the essay. “A Prescription for Disaster,” “Why Were Flunking,” “What Can We Do.”

This essay portray how science gives people the ability to think for themselves. Or rather, the absence of science causes the inability to think for oneself and improve oneself. The essay also understands the fact that sciences doesn’t always bring good. However, it is merely stating that the education of science is a necessity. Science is “much more then a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking”(13). The most important part of scientific education is the fact you gain the ability to think for yourself. This essay also shows the scope of the world and how much science plays a role in it other than education. Starting on page 12 onto page 13, Dr.Sagan brings up many major topics that are were going around at the time. Then brings up the question, “How can we decide national policy if we don’t understand the underlying issues?”(13) He is showing how science is needed for every major topic such as, going to mars, curing AID’s and cancer, fusion, supercomputers, even unimportant ‘high-resolution television.’

The video, “Pale Blue Dot” by Joel Somerfeild, in my opinion, perfectly exemplifies and reinforces Dr.Sagan’s thoughts. On our mote of dust, everything exists and is included. All of which is important to everyone on earth. Then it was exceedingly shown to be of mere in-importance to the universe. This shows the power of science, that the only way to prove our existences worth, or better yet, the only reason for our existence is to explore this universe in which we are a mere pale blue dot.

Carl Sagan’s “Why We Need to Understand Science”

Throughout “Why We Need to Understand Science”, Sagan introduces the consequences of ignorance in the advantages and disadvantages of science in a rapidly deteriorating scientific society. Although we rely on science and technology to such an extensive degree, the generations today lack intellectual curiosity to pursue or learn any more science than they really need to. Sagan contrasts the United States with various other countries whose students far exceed expectations in terms of scores when compared to America. Later on suggests ways to overcome the crisis putting the country at the top of the educational community.

Carl Sagan, American astronomer from the University of Chicago, chose to write such an article to both educate the masses on what science is as well as warn of an impending disaster. As it stands society has led its people to believe science is a “pseudoscience”, in other words everything seen on the Sci-Fi channel. To vent his frustration, Sagan uses aggressive words like “cheap,” illiterate,” “dangerous and stupid” to describe the way people see science.

Sagan views science as a “double-edged” sword used to carefully monitor the repercussions of advancing technology in addition to dodging any sense of pride in one’s country. Sagan writes this article while countries were intoxicated in advancing their weaponry and preparing for impending wars instead of taking that funding to better their society.

Throughout his article Sagan stresses the failures of the United States in hopes of inspiring his fellow Americans to reform their educational system to bring the country to the top of the charts. He also inadvertently writes to other countries inspiring them to set the bar high giving other countries a goal to achieve.  According to a newspaper Sagan read headlining “We Stink in Science” America is “dead last in algebra.” Sagan chooses to describe America’s failing students as slackers in the race of knowledge stating the other countries’ students “outpaced” us, they were “far ahead” and “off-scale” in their testing scores.

Propositions explaining why America is lagging behind include lack of revenue to fund better “hands-on experience,” incentives that motivate students to become intellectually curious and just not enough hours at home devoted to studies. Sagan points out that elementary school students are “curious, intellectually vigorous, ask provocative and insightful questions, and exhibit great enthusiasm” as opposed to their high school counterparts who are too worried about looking stupid instead asking meaningful questions. This quote about children really hit home for me because what Sagan says is the dead honest truth and hopefully society will reform that way science is taught motivating people of all ages to learn for the sake of intellectual curiosity.

In the video “Pale Blue Dot” by Somerfield, the narrator tells the reader that all that has and will ever be happened on one planet. Although we act divided everything that human beings have done has impacted each and every one of us and as such we should be working together as a whole on this tiny “blue dot.”

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ro-Sc/Sagan-Carl.html#b

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2012/12/pale-blue-dot/266570/

Click to access Sagan.pdf

Sagan’s “Why We Need to Understand Science”

An astrophysicist, writer and TV host, Carl Sagan presents his view on the need to pursue more scientific education in the U.S. He believes that the Americans need to understand what science is because science has the influence to shape our lifestyle. Throughout his article, Sagan talks about how the U.S lacks scientific and mathematical education. He wished the U.S. impose more of both subjects because the average American student is behind in academics when compared to the students in Asia and Europe.

Sagan thinks science and math can contribute to the success of a person. Sagan shows how America is failing in standardized tests compared with Hong Kong, Japan, and Great Britain. Technology is the future and we should work towards building a strong one. How can we compete with the Asian industries if our generations are lacking in academics? We live in a digital world and we should continue to strive in it.

Sagan directs his essay to the general public. He not only wants the government to take action, but also teachers, parents, and students. Society as a whole need to come together and mold the minds of millions. Parents need to stop neglecting their children and attempt to spark their children’s interest in science. He suggests propaganda to establish an interest in science.

Opposite to Orwell’s views, Sagan wants to enforce more scientific education. Sagan understands that science can used harmfully by the wrong people, but he truly believes science is the future. Basing his opinion on statistics, America is lacking in trying to keep their students interested in not only science and math, but also school. Science is not only physics and chemistry; it is also a “way of thinking.” Students who do well in science and math tend to do better in life.

In the video, “Pale Blue Dot”, Sagan describes Earth as a place that we all call as our home. His enlightening and inspirational quote reminds us that we all share this beautiful planet with one another. Although it may seem like just a dot in space, Earth is where every culture, invention, story, and life began.

Carl Sagan’s “Why We Need to Understand Science”

In the essay “Why We Need to Understand Science,” Carl Sagan exposes a lot of alarming truths about America’s level of scientific education; he explains that people are not educated enough in the sciences, the real sciences that is. He opposes the argument that is against more science education and explains the importance and the benefits of science; he reveals just how instrumental the sciences have been for the world. As essential as this type of knowledge is for the world, Sagan continues to inform the reader just how poorly educated our country is. The reason for this awful outcome has a lot to do with the country’s priorities. Americans don’t realize just how important it is for people to be highly educated in the sciences, and they don’t know exactly how to change course for our future. So Sagan proposes several ideas for what will hopefully help get this country on the right track.

Carl Sagan is very passionate about the controversial topic of more scientific education; being an astronomer and astrophysicists, Sagan has very strong views on the fight for more science education. In addition to being very scientifically inclined, Sagan also proves to be a well rounded person when it comes to academia and personal principles. He is also a talented writer who tries to work towards making science more acknowledged and appealing to the public. He uses his credibility to convince people that having the masses so uneducated in science “is a clear prescription for disaster.” People are so uninformed and ignorant about science and technology, yet most everybody has become extremely dependent on them. Sagan gives a solid argument by not denying the potential danger in science, and instead by forming a counter argument. He points out all the good that has been, and can be, done with science. And Sagan does not claim that people need to become more educated in just scientific facts, the focus should go more towards the way of thinking and the thought process that goes into using facts to think of a possible and realistic reason for an outcome.

Sagan continues his argument with loads of facts and statistics that reveal the shocking academic standing America is in. America is falling way behind in science and math in relation to other countries, and Sagan supposes that the reason for it is that the country does not put enough emphasis on education in the sciences. People don’t seem to understand just how poor our country is doing in this area, and so Sagan finalizes his argument with possible solutions to the problem. He believes that adults need to give more encouragement to children to ask thought provoking questions, and give them the tools that will help them to actually work towards finding the answers in the future.

The video based off of Carl Sagan’s book “Pale Blue Dot” sends the message that every person, no matter where they came from, what they went through, or how they lived their life, have something in common with each other, they all have the same home. It puts the world into perspective, and makes the earth seem absolutely amazing. How could someone not be interested in knowing all of its secrets? He makes you want to learn more about the mysterious and amazing place that we call home.