Knowledge is always a good thing because it empowers you to react and to do something if

there is something that has to be done.” – Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

When people don’t value science they value ignorance

 Knowledge is always a good thing because it empowers you to react and to do

something if there is something that has to be done.” – Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
-
- This statement is one of the initial key points of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson in his
interview with Stephen Colbert. If a person accepts knowledge for what it is then he
or she can use that knowledge for the common good. According to the book of Yuval
Harari, the real test of knowledge is not whether it is true, but whether it empowers
us to act. Because in reality, not knowing anything does not change anything it will
only make the person vulnerable. Even if an individual is unaware of what might
come given the knowledge that they have, they can still choose how they will handle
the outcome. . For instance if a person is in college, he/she will be able to apply
what knowledge they have acquired in their life. It will help them become more
aware of the surrounding despite the odds of what they may face. The choices that
they make will be influenced by the knowledge that are able to hold.
 “What about Oppenheimer’s invention of the bomb… should it not have been
discovered?” – Stephen Colbert
- This question poses the different sides of having the power to acquire
knowledge. Neil emphasized that the people behind the invention of the
bomb is an individual who pays whose intentions is either bad or good.
The discovery of the bomb itself does not poses a negative implication to
the discovered knowledge. Because knowledge is a concept of inertness.
What a person does with the knowledge that they obtain does not does
not say something about the knowledge itself. It says something about the
action that was committed by the person.

- Furthermore, in an article of the history of yesterday, a question stated

that what if the atomic bomb was never invented? It explained that the war
would have last longer if the bombs were not invented because it was
used as an offensive weapon to make the enemies surrender. In the end,
the use of science played a major role in the country’s defenses as well as
the use of technological advances to protect the nation.
 “The core of distrust in Science is not because of what it can do, but because of
the absence of an understanding of what it can actually do.” – Dr. Tyson
- Emotions affect everything that we do. A 2015 study in the Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science points out that when
something is politicized, we react emotionally, and stick to status-quo. Political
opinions and ideologies are part of those emotions
- People are afraid of science because of their lack of knowledge or
misunderstanding of its influence to the society. Process of learning science is
hard intellectual work, and the fact is that most individuals are not likely to invest
time and effort to gain further knowledge that is not very interesting or useful to
them.
 based on this research, is eople don't believe in science because it requires a person to think,
evaluate, and re-evaluate, which is a demanding thing to do we think, evaluate, and re-evaluate.
At times science does feel unnatural, it asks us to question, be skeptical, and to debate
As objectively as possible -- all things we don't naturally do well. It's a skill we can learn, if
cultivated, and encouraged. All in all if a person or a group wants to convince people through
science, they must appeal to their curiosity of a certain idea rather than their emotion

 “People have a misconception that projects for scientific discoveries are “acts of
burning taxes” but people don’t get it… if they continue thinking this way – that’s the
beginning of the end of their culture.” – Dr. Tyson

According to UNESCO (2018), “Science is the greatest collective endeavor” . It has

been a debate why the government goes to the extent of funding scientific
researches even though there is no apparent or practical issues that might benefit
the public. In fact, scientific discovery has the potential to change the world. Over
the past few years humanity has been evolving at a pace that few could have
perceived, fueled by technological advancement along with great economic and
societal progress.

Culture provides a platform and shared values that bring people together. With science
the community is able to develop tools and products in order to improve life in that
certain community. People should be aware of the contribution of science in order for
them to appreciate what it has to offer to the society. If the community stops its venture
to advancement, the place will remain as constant and will not be able to develop its
potential. This includes the people’s ideas and possibility to provide scientific
implications to their societal problems.
Harari, Y. N. (2014). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Random House.

Piper, G. (2020, November 5). What If The Atomic Bomb Was Never Invented? -
History of Yesterday. Medium. https://historyofyesterday.com/what-if-the-atomic-
bomb-was-never-invented-78b494d1e6d5

Science for Society. (2018, August 10). UNESCO.

https://en.unesco.org/themes/science-society

Why the world needs to embrace science. (2015, December 16). World Economic
Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/why-the-world-needs-to-
embrace-science/

Blank, J. M., & Shaw, D. (2015). Does partisanship shape attitudes toward science and
public policy? The case for ideology and religion. The ANNALS of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, 658(1), 18-35.