The proposal for a scientifically themed presidential debate by the organization ScienceDebate2008 has taken another step to becoming a reality. A time and place have now been set: April 18th at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The candidates have been invited. Now, as the New York Times blog Dot Earth observes, we must sit back and wait to see what happens.
The question is whether or not the candidates will agree to participate. There are complicated issues and complex scientific theories at the heart of the important topics in the upcoming election such as the flailing economy, the energy crisis, and stem cell research, to name a few. Will the candidates be willing to open themselves up to in-depth discussions on these topics? It's dangerously easy to jump to the conclusion that this is just a high profile science quiz, but this is not the case! As Shaun Otto, the CEO of Science Debate, Inc. puts it:
"This debate is about your pocketbook, it’s about your job, it’s about whether you can still afford health care, whether we’re going to do something about climate change or not, what kind of world your kids are going to be living in in ten or fifteen years, how are we going to respond to peak oil, where is the next transistor economy going to come from?...
...This is the future of America, not some quirky science quiz. I’m not a scientist, I’m a writer and a concerned citizen. I care about the future for my son’s sake and for my own conscience, and I’m doing everything I can to elevate these issues in our national dialogue because they are that important…"
I support this debate wholeheartedly. It reenforces the fact that science is something everyone needs to pay attention to as it shapes so much of our world today. More importantly, I believe it sets an inspiring example for every school-age child and for the country if the president of the United States possess a high level of scientific literacy. With science and math capabilities nationwide continuing to decline, this debate provides the candidates with a unique opportunity to play a role in turning this around, before even getting into the White House.
1 comment:
It would be fantastically fantastic to have a presidential debate centered on science. But I think that's the problem, it's a little too fantastical, meaning there's no way it's going to happen. Politicians almost never give science enough weight, and they're certainly not going to this time around. In a way, though, the prospect for science in the political sphere is looking up, as it would be virtually impossibly to go down from the current anti-science, anti-fact, anti-truth administration.
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