Yulissa Montes

04/11/17

RWS 1301

Community Problem Report: Accepting Scientific Change

 Abstract

The delay of accepting scientific change in our society has caused tremendous setbacks

throughout history. By delaying this acceptance, we are only wasting time, time that can be spent

on furthering efforts on research. This report will discuss the importance of accepting scientific

change it will include sections on the impact of delaying acceptance to change, an insight to how

our minds work and the overall long lasting impact positive impact. In the section explaining the

impact on delaying will discuss some examples of setbacks throughout history caused by this.

The section on how our minds work will discuss research studies done on the brain to see how it

is that we gain knowledge, as well as what factors affect it. And the final section, the long-lasting

impact will discuss the overall benefits it will bring to society if we did not let environmental

factors hinder our ability to retain new information.

Introduction

It is evident that we as a society take over half a century to adapt to new scientific

changes, why is it that we delay this adaption? According to scientific studies, we have great

mental capacity however the one thing that prevents us from learning everything we are capable

of are environmental factors. Environmental factors can hinder knowledge, sometimes people do

not want to understand and accept scientific change due to their belief systems and other

contributing factors. Presented in this report will be the several factors that hinder acceptance of

scientific change, the impact of delaying it, how our minds work, and the long lasting positive

impact of accepting scientific now, and taking action now. If people would overcome this,

scientific research would improve because there would be overall more community input into

research if people would accept change happening now.

 Impact of Delaying Acceptance to Change

As seen in early history scientist most often were looked down upon for their discoveries

and research, it wasnt until several decades later that their work was actually appreciated and

accepted. An example of this is occurrence is the story of

Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. Galilei studied the stars and

constellations in the late 1500s and early 1600s. He lived in

a time where the church had almost all influence on society

and it was what forced their belief system on society.

Through research Galilei discovered that the earth and all of

its planets revolved around the sun and not that the sun and
Figure 1: Depicts data taken
throughout a century of the beliefs
the other planets revolved around the earth as was the
about people.
common belief. When Galilei brought this important

discovery to everyones attention, the church nearly sentenced him for life in prison. It wasnt

until several decades later that people discovered that he was actually correct, and began to

accept his idea. Figure 1 shows how public opinions have changed throughout the 20th century on

evolution, the big bang theory, and climate change. Similarly, today we as a society still have not

accepted that climate change is an actual occurring phenomenon. When will we realize that it is

actually occurring? The government is cutting down funds for environmental research. Maybe by

the time it is widely accepted by everyone, then maybe it will be too late to fund research into

bettering the environment. In essence we are just wasting time by delaying acceptance to

scientific change and research.

 The Reason Why: Insight on How Our Minds Work

Minds have an unlimited capacity for learning, environmental factors are what limit us.

According to an article written by J Abbott, he introduces the concept that societal changes in

science should not be ignored, a person should not ignore the changes going on around them,

instead they should act and accept them. In this article, he talks about how our minds have an

infinite capacity to learn, and uses the example of a child quickly and easily learning technology

without a proper teacher. However, he brings up the point of how environmental factors can

bring limitations to the knowledge we are capable of having. He brings up the important point

that environmental factors influence the way we think, and that is one of the reasons as to why it

takes society so long to adapt to scientific change.

The Overall Long-lasting Positive Impact

Community participation in research will have a long lasting positive impact on both

advances in science and on society. For sciences that are still developing and are not concrete

this community participation turnout is essential because they need a lot of response in order for

them to be able to complete their research and get accurate results. Sciences like psychology,

sociology, neuroscience, etc. For other sciences and technologies funding and advocacy could be

reached through wide acceptance and supportiveness of scientific research. For example, funding

in research for environmental scientists to help fix the issue of climate change, and other

scientists and engineers that need funding for their research and efforts to better society. The

mind, as weve seen from the previous research provided, has been studied for several decades

and there is still much to discover about it.

 Conclusion

An overall consensus can be reached, we as a society must learn to accept and be open to

views that are different from our own, we must not let our ignorance get in the way of accepting

something that is clearly happening and unfolding before us. We must become educated and

become more open and see what is truly going on around us. We should not waste time denying

what is actually happening, together we can become involved and advocate acceptance of

scientific change and research.