Scientific illiteracy of the literate of ours: Time to address this was yesterday

WE live in a society shaped by the advances in science and technology.

- By Prof. Ajith de Alwis

When we use solar power to generate electricity or hydrogen in today's context, we do not worship and pray for the sun to perform the task The Sun today is no Sun God! In all facets of our lives today S&T touches us though many may not know all the nuances of energy and material flows. To realise the best and also to ensure continued advances the general society should have science literacy. Science being so pervasive in living and in society has made it to be not only for the scientific community but for all members. Of course, the scientific community has an added responsibility as they lead in the advancement.

When there are decent levels of scientific literacy the societies are likely to have a positive science culture, excellent evidence based decision making, analytical mindsets, etc. The gaps in different societies are a manifestation of the differences in integrating these advances to the benefit of humanity. That fact that we do have really a big science literacy gap is evident when we listen to speeches of the day and read the plans and the thought process. Highly literate in one way but quite poor in science literacy. We allow weather gods to be responsible for our salt and discuss wiper blades of old used airplanes. We remove fertiliser and pesticides with one stroke of a pen and banned GMOs in a similar manner. Many are street smart in making use of the advances without having any respect for the sciences behind and that way mostly abuses than benefit from science for collective advancement.