Life is about trying to distinguish yourself from rocks and dirt. The less we are like rocks and dirt, the better we are for it. Society thinks less of people who are lazy, uneducated and unproductive. Rocks and dirt are all of those things: lazy minerals that get pissed on, shat in and stepped over. In short, they don't matter. They are matter, but don't matter, and that distinction is everything.

Science illiteracy makes us more like rocks and dirt. If you enumerated all of the things that make us human, there would be a subset of attributes that we share with rocks:

People who lack science literacy have more in common with rocks than people who don't.

Education and literacy in the arts and sciences are one of the precious few things that humans have that distinguish us from other things, let alone animals. One might argue, "humans move!" So what? So do pigs, sea slugs and snot. Basic locomotion isn't that impressive. Really, when it comes down to it, one of the only important things that separate us from other things, is our ability to infer. So I don't take it sitting down when some dipshit at a party brags about science illiteracy.

And when I talk about science, I mean real science. Not bullshit like "spirit science, economic science" and "creation science." That's where the scientific method comes in. Basically, if you can't apply the steps of the scientific method to your observation and hypothesis, it isn't a scientific hypothesis. If your beliefs aren't falsifiable, they aren't scientific and they probably belong to the realm of philosophy.

Here's how you can tell if you believe in bullshit:

Tacit science illiteracy is just as bad as active. Scientists would need to create a device more sensitive than a gravitational-wave detector to determine what's more obnoxious: science illiteracy, or faux science literacy; I delved into this topic in much greater detail here . Believing in bullshit is inexcusable in the age of Google, and it doesn't help if all you do is apply a heavy dose of confirmation bias to reaffirm your beliefs.

Being good at life requires critical thinking so you don't just go down a rabbit hole of your own thoughts. You have to actively look for evidence that contradicts your opinions if you want anyone to give a shit about what you have to say.

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