guthriedm15's blog

“The Day the Universe Changed-Episode 9 (Making Waves)” was a short video that depicted the progress of science and technology as related, but separate stories. According to the video, the innovations in technology have come about because of the world of science and have received far more public attention than the discoveries that were responsible for new inventions. Furthermore, the video implies that technology has clouded the view of the public from the importance of scientific discoveries because it is so quick to apply the discoveries in order to use them in daily life.

According to Webster’s dictionary, science is the knowledge about and study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observations. Note that the application of discoveries made in the world of science is not mentioned within the definition of it. Technology is the application of scientific discoveries through inventions and innovations. While these fields are related, they are definitely discernable.

Science and technology are often thought of as a single thing in the minds of people who are not trained in these fields. As explained by the video, people have long taken light and electricity for granted. They are not often concerned with how or why these things work, but how they can be harnessed in daily life.

The lack of discernment for science and technology is important today because it has stolen the genuine curiosity about nature. The enthrallment and love of all things new has kept us from asking truly important questions about the way things are and how they work. This love of industry is interesting because its very existence is due to the discoveries that have been made in science, but it quickly destroys the scientific curiosity that has brought us this far.

The worlds of technology and science seem to differ today in major way. It seems that popular culture believes that technology can answer all of the problems that we as a race face today. Edison is premiere example of this because he believed that all things could be improved. In his mind, invention and improvement had no limits. Science, on the other hand, has taken a view point that is in direct opposition to this. In the world of science, nothing can really be known for sure because of the relativity and uncertainty that is inherent to our universe. Additionally, it has stopped trying to answer the question “why” and has settled for the question “how”.

Science, or the study and knowledge of nature, is misunderstood by the general public. This is exemplified by the way in which it is talked about. Einstein’s famous equation (E=mc²) is talked about in all types of scenarios (from children’s shows to comedy skits), but the general population does not have the opportunity to think about the implications that it has on our understanding of reality. If the entire population were able to truly ponder scientific discoveries such as this, the advances in understanding of nature would exponentially grow.