oops! i almost forgot to do my blog...again! this is pretty late since we will all be in class in 40 minutes, but i guess it is still worth doing. So, 3 questions. the first one i guess I'll talk about is is science controllable? um, no, i don't think it is. Perhaps it should be, but i don't really think that is possible. People are too selfish and stubborn to do whatever the government or other controlling forces say they should do. we talked about this in class on Monday, so most of this is a restatement. anyway, i guess i think there are at least 3 reasons i can think of about why people would not allow science to be controlled. the first, and probable least important in my opinion, is rebellion. there are people that will do things just because you tell them not to. so i think that is a factor in this issue. second, money. like i said in class on Monday, there is a lot of money to be made in the scientific field (or so i hear) so i think that would be a definite motivator for continuing to do scientific research, even if it is not supposed to be allowed. lastly, curiosity. this was also mentioned in class, and i thought it was a good point. most human beings are innately curious about things, and it is natural to want to discover why and how things work.

The second question I'll attempt to deal with is why don't people value scientists as much as they once did. i think this has to do with a change in worldview. we talked about this some in Dr. Garner's human sit. class. in a more modern point of view, science is good and trustworthy because it proves things about the universe. absolute things. however, modernism is dying out and giving way to postmodernism. in this line of thought, absolute truth and being able to prove things is viewed as much more subjective. a lot of times, postmodern people believe that there are no absolutes, and we cannot really know anything. So, if there are no absolutes, why would science have any value? that whole profession is based on knowing things and learning more about the world around us. i think that is the reason that many people do not place as much value in science as they once did.

The last question i chose was an instance where science and society were not in step. i think a very good example of this can be found in the cold war and the"atomic age." we are talking a lot about this in my U.S and the World Since 1945 class (imagine that!). anyway, during this time, many people were afraid of an atomic attack from the soviets, so, to defend themselves, they practiced drills in schools, built radiation shelters, etc. this is perhaps one of the most ludicrous things found in history. protecting yourself from an atomic bomb by hiding under a desk?!?! ha! the problem was science was way more advanced that societal understanding. the people of this time had no concept of what an atomic bomb would really do. this is a perfect example.