I guess it depends on your goal. We certainly have made progress in educating the masses over the past 400 years-- I don't think there's anyone out there who still thinks the earth is flat or that the sun revolves around us. I think everyone knows there are nine planets in our solar system (not many know there is actually only eight though). It takes a long, long time for information to filter downwards. You're right in thinking that a lot of people just don't care unless it affects them personally but awareness is percolating. I am encouraged by the resurge of NASA lunar projects, after a 40 years of not-going-back-to-the-moon. Maybe even a manned mission to Mars? I heard that was on the horizon but seems to have been shelved in favor of a lunar base. These are all measurements of progress, even if it's not towards dark skies. Yet. Society changes slowly, but it does change. We have nothing to lose by continuing to fight the fight and everything to lose by giving up. Eeep! Sorry, I stole the soapbox there. I promise not to do it again! Julie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: 2007-07-30 07:43 Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Sunday Funnies
That's pretty noble, Gary, but if it hasn't happened in 400 years, I don't hold out much hope for anything changing in my lifetime.
Soapbox time:
30+ years ago, I was very active in astronomy public outreach. I'd tote my slide projector and 8-inch scope around to schools and churches, scout camps, even the state fair- to give presentations and star-parties. I could tell that it only made a real impression on perhaps one in a hundred people, and they were usually interested in science already, anyway. The rest were entertained and amused for the time they were there, but forgot just about everything as soon as they walked away from the eyepiece.
People today, as always, I suspect, are for the most part only concerned with what affects them personally. Many working people don't have the time or energy for intellectual pursuits, and many more are unconcerned with anything other than popular culture and their place in it. Even my own daughter, who was raised in a house where science, astronomy and natural sciences in particular, are held in high regard, is utterly bored by it all. She has absolutely no interest in anything other than purely social matters. Dad and his friends are complete, irredeemable nerds and beyond all hope of understanding what is really worth spending one's time on. My hope is that she will eventually grow out of this self-centered attitude and see that life is bigger than just herself, her iPod, and the mall. My advice and example are ignored for now.
It's too bad that Hogwarts wasn't threatened by light pollution.
Scientific literacy isn't for everyone. To some people it even contradicts the very foundations of their self-image and must be kept away permanently, even actively fought. These people are all around us, every day- not just in middle-eastern nations or Kansas school-board rooms.
Many folks doing the outreach thing today are driven by a desire to share what they have discovered, and I applaud that initiative. If it's reward enough to just show the sky to people, go for it. Some people enjoy the activities of the lecturer, the docent, the guide, the teacher, for their own sake. For others it's the look of amazement as someone sees Saturn in the eyepiece for the first time. Believe me, I've been there, many, many years ago.
But if one expects to change society, to educate the masses to the point where it really makes a difference, I think that attitude is somewhat delusional. Just look at light pollution. Despite decades now of awareness and activism, successes have been few and far between, not even trending toward progress. Overall, light pollution is still getting worse around the globe, not better. The real message of more efficient, healthful, and ecconomical lighting is still completely lost on the general public and government officials. The same stereotypical attitudes of "more light is better" still pervade our culture at all levels. One could argue that it might have been much worse without the IDA and there may be something to that, but it certainly isn't any better than it was 30 years ago, either.
But, I'm not a total pessimist- more of a realist. I don't think it will ever be "too late", until the last one of our descendants dies-off. It's not a race against time. The forces of ignorance will always be present and will have to be dealt with. As long as there are a few of us, there is hope.
Having done it myself, I know that those performing outreach do it as much for themselves as for any nobler purpose. They genuinely enjoy the activity. But making measureable progress against the forces of ignorance is not a reasonable short-term goal. It will take evolutionary timescales for permanent success, historical timescales for measureable success. For now, just igniting a spark in a child's mind, maybe only once in every hundred times, will have to be reward enough. And it should be.
On 7/29/07, Gary Vardon <gvardon@webtv.net> wrote:
Lets help educate the masses before it is too late.
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