TOW #19: Why Science Is So Hard To Believe

In an opinion post on Washington Post, Joel Achenbach explored many humans questioning of science. He builds around the point that "science is a method for deciding whether what we choose to believe has a basis in the laws of nature or not." Achenbach discusses how although science may prove things, there are millions of ways and thought processes that disprove or counter that science. Also that whatever one believes, is hard to refute with scientific laws because we cling to our intuitions. The human brain "craves pattern and meaning" so we like to create and explore the correlations between certain ideas or scientific findings, that sometime lead us to a general conclusion that may not always be fully accurate. Achenbach basically applies the idea of induction to show that the reason many people refute science is because they believe if X is true, and Y is true, then X and Y but connect or happen because of one another, etc. He also claims that no scientist ever claims to be fully certain about their findings because "uncertainty is inevitable at the frontiers of knowledge." His overall purpose is to demonstrate that there are many misconceptions and misinterpretations of science and that many don't believe it because many concepts are hard to wrap one's head around. Achenbach appeals to a big audience because he uses multiple past and present examples of scientific discoveries that people try to disprove and dramatize. He also creates a basis for why many people doubt science, and brings the thought process together.