Analysis of “Welcome to the Age of Denial”

Adam Frank has an interesting approach to science in today’s world, which he expresses in his article "Welcome to the Age of Denial". He states that people do not celebrate scientific discoveries anymore; they just criticize these discoveries. He supports this with a statistic that shows the creationist population in America has risen, which is shocking because I often feel I do not know many people that believe in God and his creation. However, I have taken into consideration the fact that I have recently entered college, and this is a time in which my beliefs will be tested. Many people are exposed to several different beliefs as they enter college, causing them to feel lost and alone in their original faith. I immediately began to analyze the statistic; I checked the date on the article to see how recent it was, and I also considered the size of the population observed for this statistic. I’m sure hearing this would make Frank’s ears bleed.

            He says he is sending his students into a world that is skeptical about science, and he has a negative attitude about this. I agree with the fact that our society does not simply accept scientific studies now, but I do not think this is a bad thing. Galileo was ostracized for challenging the teaching that the earth was the center of the world, but he was ultimately correct. We need people like Galileo in this world to question our teachings and studies. This will either break down a belief or make it stronger. Either way, we will continue to move forward.

            Although Frank seems to consider the skeptical part of society as a point of concern, I disagree. Criticism is healthy; it forces people to dig deeper and search for more answers. In fact, we are discovering more through the small, scientific battles that are absorbed by the media. The people in the general public read the articles that show up on their homepages because they are interested in the latest “scientific discovery”. These discoveries go back and forth; somebody questions a theory, and somebody else fires back defensively. The only thing we should do about this shift in society is allow it to happen. We could even contribute to the skepticism, thus becoming better critical thinkers ourselves.