Everyone has their own values and opinions that they stand by and live by, and that’s okay. It is completely okay to have your own ideas or an unpopular opinion. But what do we do when humans start to deny scientific claims that have been proved to be true, or even scientific achievements that we chooses to deny? Humans have come very far in technological advancements within the past century; we have gone from sports cars that have an average speed of 30mph to cars that have an average speed of 75mph, we went from fantasizing about leaving Earth to making it happen in the 1960’s, and we have started to develop self-driving cars. In the modern era, people have started to question science and come up with their own ideas with the success of spreading the ideas through the internet and creating world-wide communities that spend a majority of their time trying to disprove science.
One very commonly challenged scientifically proven fact is the idea of the Earth being a sphere. There are millions of people world-wide that have come together to form the community of the Flat Earthers. These people believe that the Earth is flat and some say it’s the government lying straight to our faces. Some of you may think immediately that these people are straight up idiots, but they aren’t. Most of these people are smart and have fair evidence that leads to the conclusion of flat Earth, but they choose to ignore what is scientifically proven. These people do have valid arguments, but I have seen a great majority that reject science completely out of denial and sake to prove themselves right. Spherical Earth can be countered by many logical arguments, but science counters those arguments. Some Flat Earthers refer to the laser test and use images to show that a laser should curve about 8 inches per mile, but the laser does not. This argument is valid until countered by gravity. Light is too fast and can escape Earth’s gravitational pull. I have seen many Flat Earthers reject the idea of gravity. (I do not say everyone I say most, if you don’t reject this idea then you do not fall into this category). This is only one example of humanity opposing facts and a dumbing down of society, even if they are smart.
As well as flat Earth, the moon landing is also often challenged. There is not much to say about this one particular topic other than that there are pictures to prove we went to the moon. Most people who believe we faked the moon landings protest these images and seem to think it something along the lines of a government Hollywood scandal. Some claim they used green screens and that these astronauts are just actors putting up a mask. If a person refuses to believe these pictures are real there is not much one can do. This person’s mind would most likely be very hard, if not, impossible to change. The moon landings were real and that is a fact, there were TV broadcasts and pictures that prove it, but if society wants to reject it then it is only another aspect of science that is being forgotten which is contributing to humans becoming more unaware and stupid.
A very big political debate in society that counters science is the idea that there are more than 3 genders (male, female, hermaphrodite). The idea that there are more than 3 genders is the result of multiple things; people want to feel special, people want attention, people truly feel that way, people want to be different, people are confused, people want to fit in, and so many more reasons. There should be a difference between a biological gender and an emotional gender or gender identity but the modern society is not separating the two which is a root of the debate. If a person feels that they are neither male nor female and feel that they are some made-up-name-gender it does not make this made-up-name-gender a gender. Genders are determined by chromosomes and genitalia. Sex and gender are the same as they both refer to your chromosome composition and genitalia. If a person wants to identify as a made-up-name-gender then that should be referred to as something other than a gender. This is not a fact, but it is emotion and belief taking over this person. A person is allowed to have their own opinions no matter what they are, but facts and opinions are two different things. People coming to the conclusion that there are more than the 2 common genders and a few special cases, is also a decline in science as these people refuse to believe that science is what makes a person a person. Whether or not a person believes in science is against the ideas of believing in more than 2 or 3 genders, you can believe in the laws of physics yet believe that there are infinite genders. This is still a neglect of scientific facts and each neglect is another step towards a generation with little to no intelligence.
Human patterns in history show that we are most likely going to neglect science and learning. Humans have gone in and out of periods of learning many times during our existence. It is easy to assume that humans are heading towards another Dark Age, but not just in one area of the world. Humans are neglecting science and are mixing up opinions and belief with facts and logic. If humans continue to neglect science we could be headed towards a period of Idiocracy, or the idea of a society with technology where all the people involved in the society are stupid and are incapable of advancing. If science fades, we will be back where we were in the Dark Ages and we will have erased hundreds of years of advancements and human progress. What will happen when we finally crash and burn due to our own demise?
There are many more scientific ideas being forgotten and list is very long, but I can only fit so much in one paper and make it desirable to read without it being too long. This is my first essay addressing anything that I’ve thought about on my own, so tell me what you think.
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