Problem
Scientific ignorance
Other Names:
Scientific illiteracyLack of scientific knowledge
Inadequate public understanding of science
Incidence:
In the UK, surveys indicate that 30% of the public believe that the sun goes around the Earth.
A 1995 report, involving 25,000 people from 20 countries of the world, suggested unusual ignorance of current scientific thinking. Despite events like the one at Chernobyl, only 14 per cent of Poles and 23 per cent of Russians knew that radioactivity occurs naturally as well as being man-made. Only one-third of Spaniards knew that the car was an environmental hazard, but most did know about the extinction of plant and animal life because of threats to the environment in Spain's mountainous regions. There was even widespread confusion over two of the most widely debated environmental topics: global warming and ozone depletion.
Broader Problems:
IgnoranceRestrictive scientific practicesLimited social context in developing technology Narrower Problems:
Mathematical ignoranceParochial scientific viewLimited agricultural adviceIgnorance concerning disease Related Problems:
Faulty academic peer reviewDogmatic scientific orthodoxyLimitation of current scientific knowledge Aggravates:
Anti-scienceLack of diversity in medical scienceInadequate early warning of disastersInadequate models of socio-economic developmentReinforced parochialism of internal values and images Subject(s):
Education → Educational levelGovernment → Public
Science → Science
Societal Problems → Inadequacy
Societal Problems → Scarcity
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
D: Detailed problems Date of last update
04.10.2020 – 22:48 CEST