*This post is a response to the article, “Does Science Matter?” written by William J. Broad and James Glanz, published by the New York Times.

So, you’re not a science person? That is understandable. Though you do enjoy your smart phone and your yearly vaccines. Well, I suppose frequenting the doctor is not something to exactly look forward to, but if it was not an option, surely you would notice? The point is, one does not have to find the pursuit of science enjoyable to enjoy its benefits. For example, the search for extraterrestrial life may seem useless and irrelevant, yet what is learned along the way will benefit society, as a whole. Don’t believe me? What if we told Alexander Fleming that his search for a wonder drug was absurd and improbable? He may have never discovered lysozyme, let alone penicillin, both of which were discovered by chance! (1)

It is hard, sometimes, to zoom out of ourselves and to see the bigger picture. That is why it is understandable that the general attitude of the public is something along the lines of ‘why should my hard earned tax dollars fund some wacko’s interest in quasar-ma-jigs??’ However, we must realize that the bigger efforts taken to understand bigger ideas yield more discoveries!

Bigger is better, right?

The point is, the crazier the idea, the more we are forced to develop new technologies to be able to test the idea (technology that can apply far and wide). The less concrete that it is we are looking for, the more we are open to anything that we discover along the way. So next time you wonder what there is to gain from shooting for the stars, just know that even though we may not get there, we’ll get somewhere along the way.

Reference:

(1) http://history1900s.about.com/od/medicaladvancesissues/a/penicillin.htm