Scientific Literacy

The first and second place essays, in the Seed science writing contest, on what it means to be scientifically literate can be found here. I especially liked this paragraph from the first essay by Thomas W. Martin.

In the present cultural climate, altering one's beliefs in response to anything (facts included) is considered a sign of weakness. Students must be convinced that changing one's mind in light of the evidence is not weakness: Changing one's mind is the essence of intellectual growth. By forcing students into evidence-based debates with one another, this mode of interaction, like any other, can become habitual. After being consistently challenged by their peers, most students eventually see that attempts to free themselves from facts are a hollow, and fundamentally precarious, form of "freedom."

I hold some pretty firm opinions which I like to think are based on evidence, facts and reason. I also like to think that I would change my opinions given a good reasoned argument based on new evidence, facts and reason.

The second place essay by Steven Saus also makes a good point.

A literate person is not a walking dictionary, but someone who has enough knowledge about the language to be able to read. Being able to examine our models, critically evaluate them, and even discard them is far more scientifically literate than being able to regurgitate facts for a standardized test. Surely, a certain basic, fundamental knowledge is vital to avoid having to constantly return to Descartes. But as he found, even then, critical thinking is necessary to verify these fundamental "facts."