In Denial

Wikipedia defines denialism as, "choosing to deny reality as a way to avoid an uncomfortable truth: It is the refusal to accept an empirically verifiable reality. It is an essentially irrational action that withholds validation of a historical experience or event" And, "in science, denialism has been defined as the rejection of basic concepts that are undisputed and well-supported parts of the scientific consensus on a topic in favor of ideas that are both radical and controversial".

A few days ago I heard an interview with Richard Leakey, of the famous Leakey family who have contributed so much to the study of human origins. It seemed a fairly wide-ranging interview, although I only caught part of it. My interest was aroused when the topic drifted into matters of lay people's perception of science. Leakey noted the lack of acceptance of scientific consensus on subjects such as the evidence of global warming and the fact that the earth is much older than creationists claim. He said that science has to "gain a greater currency" with people if we are to avoid some serious problems that lack of interest and widespread ignorance of science will allow to worsen to perhaps the point of no return. 

America became the world power it is probably for several reasons but surely our dominance in science and technology has been a major reason. To continue that dominance will require heavy and continuing investments in scientific education and research. If Americans don't value and support those investments we will become less and less relevant.