World Science Day: Building Trust in Science

By Pof.K. Tennakone

Today, the world celebrates science. The United Nations proclaimed 10^th November as World Science Day to highlight the importance of science for peace and development. The theme this year is building trust in science.

The method of science stands unshakably as the only reliable avenue available for understanding nature by solving problems. It is based on the search for evidence, confirmation and rational argument to arrive at conclusions, subjected to continuous scrutiny. Science remains immune to extraneous voices but allows doubt and corrects itself. Science has no different brands, Eastern or Western or other.

Science does not accept an idea, however convincing unless proven by experiment or observational data.

Modern theoretical physics demanded the existence of an elementary particle named Higgs boson. The scientific community confirmed the idea only after the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, built for the purpose at a cost of several billion US dollars, detected it.

Sometimes scientific facts take a long time to get established. In 1915, Albert Einstein predicted gravity could be propagated as waves. The circumstantial evidence for the phenomenon appeared in 1974. Yet it was only in 1915, just after one century, the prediction was confirmed by experiment.

Scientific investigations go on continuously, being questioned and pursued by many. Open to criticism and today doing that would not be punishable, unlike blasphemy.

Science deals with nature. In the broadest sense, nature implies everything and all affairs. The meaningful method to analyse every problem and seek solutions would be the evidence supported – approach. Although science transformed the world for the betterment of humanity, the general public and policymakers are not sufficiently aware of the potential of science. Instead, they make unsound decisions dictated by tradition, bias and superstitious beliefs.

People firmly believe in things never seen and physically unrealisable and concepts logically impossible, but distrust scientific explanations when evidence amply supports them

Building trust in science clears the development path of stumbling block problems and cures social ills.

Humans encounter problems all the time. The individual issues or those to common society at large. Our problems fall into two distinct domains. Unwelcome situation that has occurred or envisaged to happen and needs resolution or things we wish to understand because of inquisitiveness. The two kinds of problems are interrelated. Often, solution of a problem in one category clears the way for understanding of puzzles of the other category.

Michael Faraday’s experiments to reveal the relationship between electricity and magnetism and subsequent theoretical work on the subject by Clark Maxwell delivered electrical machines and radio communication. In an attempt to improve steam engine the French engineer Sadi Carnot initiated the science of thermodynamics.

Numerous examples illustrate how obstacles have been overcome by scientific intervention. Illnesses and crop failure confronted mankind since time immemorial. They appealed to unseen deities and performed rituals.

Later, the empirical knowledge gained suggested above calamities have causes behind them. For example, people living in marshy environments catch malaria more frequently, and adding manure to the soil promoted plant growth giving better yields. Indicating soil infertility is one of the causes of crop failure.

Subsequently, the scientific method was realized. The causes were analyzed logically relating different observations.

Marshlands are infested with mosquitoes, endlessly biting people. Could mosquitoes transmit a pathogen? To test the hypothesis the blood of malaria patients and the guts of mosquitoes were examined with a microscope, confirming a microbe cyclically transmitted by misquotes caused the malady.

The attempt to understand why manure improves plant growth resulted in a major breakthrough. The active ingredients of manure were found to be mainly simple inorganic compounds of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous. The findings led to the development of chemical fertilizers, dramatically eliminating the deadly consequences of malnutrition and hunger.

Despite the crystal clear and conspicuous achievements of science, many resort to unproven and irrational alternatives. Needless to mention quack medicines for COVID-19 and so-called carbon fertilizer wreaked havoc in the country. If policymakers and their advisors trusted science, these unfortunate situations wouldn’t have arisen.

Sri Lankans are aware of the practical value of science and its bearing on technology. Parents wish their children would pursue science, qualify them to enter socially prestigious professions such as engineers and doctors with good avenues for earning money. At the same time, many of them uphold more confidence and attach superiority to scientifically invalid occult and traditional beliefs, misinterpreted religion, nationalistic ideals and pseudoscience.

Because of tradition, people entertain scientifically incorrect beliefs and practices. Avoidance of certain food items on basis of folklore and hearsay a cause of malnutrition and illnesses. Patients approach practitioners of alternative medicine when their ailments respond with almost one hundred percent certainty to modern treatment methods. Tradition and folklore are often innocent and incorrect or correct, but rarely the repercussions could be grave – a consequence of not adopting known scientific knowledge.

Astrology has no credence whatsoever and deleteriously interferes with decision- making. Nonetheless, even persons engaged in science-based professions get the horoscopes of their sons and daughters read, and act accordingly, totally disregarding genuine issues. No self-confidence in the quintessence (science) of their work. So much importance is attached to astrological timing. Even many of the so-called educated class adhere to the myth. If they ponder rationally in the light of popular astronomical knowledge and explain the stupidity of the belief to their children, future generations will do better.

Religion is misunderstood and misinterpreted, prioritising superstitions, rituals and ceremonial aspects. Science and religion are separate non-overlapping realms. As argued by the American biologist, Stephen Gould, the former deals with facts and the latter values. The greatest virtue of religion, ethics are rarely followed. Religion also has cultural and literary values. Unlike the good olden days, erudite scholarship needed to promote these aspects seems to be rare.

All religions advocate similar core ethical principles and for that reason, religions immensely served human advancement.Following ethical precepts of religion helps man to avoid problems, but unlike science, religion cannot solve problems.

The probability a person develops cancer may be reduced if he or she abide by ethical guidelines of the religion. Although faith and spirituality may relive the depression of suffering believers, cancer cannot be cured by rituals. The most effective relief for cancer patients is science based modern medicine.

Nationalistic idealism misleads people to distrust science. A common misconception in society considers our ancient hydraulic engineering and traditional medicine to be alternative sciences. Although topmost in the world at the time, they were empirical technologies, meaning methods discovered and improved by trial and error. Science, dependent on observation and reasoning to determine causes, overtook the empirical approach, providing ways of obtaining new information and planning.

Presenting unsubstantiated material purporting scientific validity is pseudoscience. Sectors of society perpetuate pseudoscience because of ignorance ideological beliefs, commercial or political interests and sometimes in good faith not knowing the absurdity. Citizens accept such propaganda for similar reasons and blindness to doubt, although science encourages suspicion, questioning and attempts to refute.

Pseudoscience reigns in health products advertisements. Drugs, supplements and certain food items are sold at exuberant prices exaggerating the efficacy. At the height of the pandemic, sellers have priced a quarter bottle of paniya above 10000 rupees! However, the paniya episode is childish compared to some products promoted by the health supplements business, where science may have marginal theoretical validity but not proven by clinical trials.

Attributing unproven causes to problems or denying established scientific facts proposing groundless alternatives are also pseudoscience. Some reject the anthropogenic cause of global warming. Or vaccines as ineffective and lead to complications. You may have heard people say they get aches and pains all the time after of COVID-19 shots. The Immediate development of COVID-19 vaccines, a remarkable achievement of science saved billions of lives. Yet around 30% of adults distrust science behind and hesitate to receive the inoculation, constraining the possibility of achieving herd immunity.

Without evidence, our political circles declared poisons in chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals caused the chronic kidney disease. Although the cause of the disease has not been fully understood, current investigation disfavors the speculation, according to some, a foresight of a deity. The work of Sri Lankan researchers, currently working in collaboration with foreign groups to resolve the problem is commendable.

What constraints building public trust in science? The Morocco-born epistemologist and economist Fouad Laroui pointed out the primary reason is many consider science as a belief.

Naturally, when there are many beliefs, an individual would accept one and disfavor others or reject all. Essentially the question posed by Kalama’s, when Gautama Buddha visited the town of Kesaputta.

Confused Kalama’s pleaded Buddha, how to ascertain the truthfulness of a doctrine, when every teacher presents his version dispelling others? Buddha’s reply as translated from the Pali text by Rev. Kotahena Soma Thera reads:

“Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias toward a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration,”

The truth cannot be reached on basis of a belief. And science is not a belief but the method available for us understand things in sense of correlating different observations leading generalizations and make predictions to be tested.

How to build public trust in science? People are exposed to science through formal education in schools and universities, reading and media outlets and social dialogue. Yet they live in an environment where, traditions, superstition, religious indoctrination and ideologies prevail. Science teaching doesn’t seem to be very effective in building trust in science, because the emphasis is on learning techniques and acquiring skills. In discussing star constellations in the eighth grade, would a teacher comment on the folly of astrology? The students who take notes during lectures and reproduce by rote rarely hear enlightening words to assimilate the spirit of science.

Today, people devote less time to reading books, magazines and columns in newspapers and instead indulge in concise less in-depth social media posts which include science, as well as pseudoscience and superstitions as a mix-up difficult to discern. For that reason, social media would not be that effective in curbing myths. However, this should not be an argument to regulate social media .On overall social media benefits society, as concluded by many studies and assessments.

Beliefs are vociferously disseminated by their stakeholders and establishments. Likewise, public trust in science should be built by scientists, intellectuals and teachers in association with their institutions. Generally, the policymaker’s interest in science is to drive technology to obtain economic returns. Scientists should also push them to support programs to build trust in science. Indirect economic returns from the effort could outweigh gains from technological projects.

Faiths and beliefs, because of their variation create social divisions and therefore conflicts. Science is universal and unifying – the hope for humanity’s future.

The author can be reached via email: ktenna@yahoo.co.uk