sidelined writes:
The more science that can be properly discussed [at all levels] the better peoples critical thinking skills will become regardless.
This is what I used to think. However, through some demonstrations by various people, whose names I'm not going to mention but should be obvious enough, I think there are other problems which prevent people from benefiting from scientific discussions.
Take 'whatever' for example. I must admit that he/she appears to be much more calm than me, and that suggests maturity. However, the contents of his/her posts are those of a child. I have yet to see any real coherent discussion carried out by anyone with 'whatever' simply because it's impossible to. Everytime a point has been made that comes in conflict with his views, it is simply brushed aside and ignored no matter what. One of the most notable and recent examples is the presidential debate thread, which Shraf tried to engage 'whatever' in a discussion but failed.
This is a clear case of everything-that-comes-in-one-ear-goes-out-the-other-ear.
I absolutely don't see how discussions about science can help people like 'whatever'. In order for it to have any usefulness, it must be picked up by 'whatever'. However, since there's really no indication that he's learning anything from past discussions, how can we expect him/her to learn anything from something as complex as the various scientific disciplines? He, and many others, are still struggling with something as simple as the scientific method.
Personally, I still don't know of anyway to get through to these people, although sometimes I admire them for being able to live in the dark like that.
™ Version 4.2
