Richard Tingle
noted that a
recent poll found that "Four in 10 Americans, slightly fewer today than in years past, believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago." Who, oh who, could come to the rescue of science? The
science cheerleaders, perhaps?
That cheerleader video is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteNow when I watch the NFL and I pause the game to stare at the cheerleaders, I'll just tell my wife that I'm trying to figure out which one has her Ph.D.
The problem here is that this is like having one set of cheerleaders for all of football. I'm thinking we need cheerleading teams for the major factions at scientific conventions. You know, for the big fights between the Baysians and the Frequentists, or the Inflationistas, or the Dark Matterites. Or something.
ReplyDeleteBricker-bracker firecracker
ReplyDeleteSiss-boom-bah!
Punctuated equilibrium
Rah! Rah! Rah!
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ReplyDeleteHey, I'm all for it. My Dad was a high-school teacher, and he used to lament how a National Honor Society induction, with candles in a dark room (symbolizing the proverbial candle in the dark), "looked like a funeral." He'd harangue, "Why isn't it like a pep rally, with the cheerleaders and the band?"
ReplyDeleteCarl Sagan used to lament the "seemingly hopeless" prospect of making science "look cool" on TV. I think he'd be pleased by the show, "The Big Bang Theory." I'm not sure what he'd think of the cheerleaders. Far be it from me to say anything bad about anything to get young people interested in science, but it used to pay adequately, you know.
it used to pay adequately, you know.
ReplyDeleteNot compared to the effort expended to get the credentials. Most kids willing to expend that much effort are looking to be doctors, where the return on investment is a lot higher.
And no, I'm not dissing the humanities. But straight humanities jobs (unless you're really lucky) don't even pay as well as straight science jobs, so kids looking for a financial return on their effort and money won't even consider that.
I just watch cheerleading for the articles.
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