#and the modern advertising friendly internet does not counteract it

[trans-cuchulainn]

as an aroace person with limited sexual experience, no interest in watching porn, and poor sex ed as a teen, there IS something simultaneously funny and vaguely tragic about being 28 adult years old and realising how extremely tiny your frame of reference is for genitalia and deciding you should expand this to better understand bodies (yours and others). and then you're just there like "okay so what the fuck do I even google right now, anyway"

[monique-ratana]

The Oxford Illustrated History of Science Introduction

Today science is a way of understanding ourselves and the entire world around us. With this knowledge we are able to increase our survival abilities. This is also what is has been used for similarly in the past. In modern times our scientific knowledge is as advanced as it ever has been and we are starting to use it for more superficial reasons such as enhancing attractiveness. In more recent times the scientific community has been more focused on Identifying issues and finding solutions. Science can help us to understand what has caused an issue and predict the outcomes of what were to occur should it remain unchanged. Also what preventative measures are available, what needs to be stopped and what can counteract the negative effect in order for improvements to begin.

The latest scientific idea in circulation is to stop plastic straws and save the turtles/marine life.  Science has found plastic waste to be an issue of our natural environment through the observation of its effects. We see that it does not decompose and strangles, hurts and traps animals particularly in the ocean. With seeing this issue and knowing what causes it Science is then able to show us what needs to stop and what can be a replaceable option. The most advertised replacement is a metal straw which is supposedly more environmentally friendly. Obviously instead of using hundreds of plastic straws in your lifetime and replacing it with a reusable durable option the amount of plastic waste is reduced however it has already been brought up that the Carbon Footprint is much higher in Metal straws. So now there is an issue of what is actually more important and also an idea of should I do anything if the information or knowledge keeps changing.

Today being environmentally friendly is seen as a fad or a trend and not necessarily as an important way of life. One day we are looking at substituting straws and next we are looking at replacing plastic bags. It is seen stereotypically as a young hipster movement and I think somehow this is discrediting the supreme importance of the matter. I think science should be more incorporated into everyday life for everyone. We should all invest more thought into our bodies and natural environments.

Today for me Science has a lot of confusion surrounding it and this is partly caused by the accessibility and non definable parameters. With the internet being available to nearly everybody, knowledge is able to be shared and read by anyone. This makes us question the legitimacy of everything we read and creates a sense of academic or true fact mistrust. Today there is so much information out there that it becomes overwhelming and being environmentally friendly seems difficult. As soon as a solution is provided for an issue it seems that another consequential problem has arised. There are so many ideas floating around that it is hard concentrate on perhaps the most important ones as we dont really know what these are. A positive of this accessibility however is that it enables all to share in the collaborative work that is science with less academic boundaries. Like the history of science the age of the internet supports that science has been made by everyone and therefore belongs to everyone.

In our world today especially in third world countries we have become quite lazy and any environmental issues that arise by discovery in science are not given much weight in our minds. We have lost a great deal of our survival instincts because it is no longer difficult to survive, or even to do so quite comfortably. In New Zealand and many other countries we are basically provided with all means of our survival and all that's left for us to do is pay for this, work towards this and enjoy our lives. Even although everything is being handed to us on a plate we seem to have much more difficulty with the enjoying our lives part as our personal satisfaction from the seemingly pointless day in and day out lives we lead is nearly non existent; or maybe it’s just me.

A point in the introduction which resonated with me was where it mentioned the past and the present of science in terms of proving and falsifying knowledge. I recently had a conversation with someone about a Cosmos documentary. He thought theories to be ideas until proven true and in my mind they are true until proven false which is an opinion I have in consideration of the historic scientific theories which are eventually proven inaccurate. I suppose thinking about Science as a whole historic process we are both right.

Science should not confuse so much to the point of disregarding, I think it should simplify and clarify the most effective environmental and physical form preservation. This may be different information for different people in different areas and for different times but we should all be brought up with this knowledge and practice it within and as a part of our cultures rather than it being a side note or all encompassing umbrella.