Hectic Skeptics

It has been a special education week at work for me. Michael has been busy with work too. Penelope has adjusted to daycare, but such that she is more fussy at drop off time now that she knows what it means. We are pretty sure she stops crying quickly, though. The cats sleep most of the day and bother me for food. And that's what's going on with all the Chirlins this fairly ordinary week.

I feel like the theme lately has been conspiracy theories. I recently watched Behind the Curve about "Flat Earthers" on Netflix, and similar topics keep coming up at work. Every school where I teach, one or two kids in each class just spontaneously tell me about NASA conspiracies, Katy Perry being a cannibal, the Illuminati, etc. I remember being fascinated with mysteries and conspiracies around the later primary grades too, but I can't help but think it's somehow worse now because of the spread of so much misinformation on the internet. When I was a kid, it didn't matter if I thought some weird government stuff happened at Area 51 because I watched the X-Files. Now, people read something on the internet and they decide vaccines are dangerous, and then make decisions that actually affect the public health negatively. Or, they see a video on youtube and decide that climate change isn't real even though the vast majority of scientists and academics agree it is a pressing issue, and most of the world is experiencing weather patterns that support the phenomenon. Then, those non-believers make decisions that affect how communities are able to adjust on local, national, and international levels. 

Today, one of the students told me that he believes in these conspiracies because science used to say one thing and then years later it says something else. Yeah, that's how science works. It's because researchers continually are testing and retesting hypothesis so that there can be improvements in our understanding of a million topics. If they weren't saying new and different things all the time, I'd think they weren't doing any research. The scientific method and scientific research aren't perfect or infallible, but a better more accurate model has yet to come about. 

I think all these science skeptics should read How to Invent Everything by Ryan North. He basically runs through every major breakthrough throughout the course of humanity. Everything we have now, we owe to thousands and thousands of years of trial and error. Thanks, science!