As I look at our world and see divisions that certain politicians only make worse for their own gain, I wonder where we’ve jumped the rails. I was just reading about science lectures in the early part of the last century. This reminded me of a public lecture on dinosaurs that we attended in Edinburgh with some friends. Yes, we were graduate students looking for stimulating, and inexpensive, entertainment. I’ve always considered entertainment a learning opportunity. Having grown up both poor and curious, I feel a fascination regarding most new things and I began to wonder why we don’t have more public science lectures these days. We really enjoyed the dinosaur talk. I think the lecturer was Jack Horner, but what really stuck with me was not his name, but the good feeling the talk left behind.
At Nashotah House, Milwaukee and Madison were both a little too far to venture for an evening lecture. We had to be in chapel early the next morning, and besides, I had already started waking up early (around five in those days) to do my research and writing. When we came out of Nashotah, the internet had taken over the world. Let’s face it, when you reach, say, middle age, you don’t want to have to go out much in the evenings any more. At least if you’re an introvert like me. Particularly when it’s cold out. And how do you even find public lectures these days? We live near several colleges and universities in the Lehigh Valley, and I get occasional notices, but the lecture in Edinburgh was actually in a public venue, not a university site. You see, I think that’s what we need to get people back on the side of science and critical thinking.
The internet favors your biases. Algorithms send your way more of what you’ve already seen. Each click brings someone some income. (I hasten to add that I get no income from this blog; I pay for the privilege to post on it.) Wouldn’t it be better if towns had lecture halls and scientists (and others) had the name draw to bring people in? While at a small venue in the Easton Book Festival a couple years back, a university guy from New Jersey talked to me after my presentation. “We don’t have many opportunities for smart entertainment,” he told me. I’m no scientist and there’s a real debate about the “smart” part, but I took his point. You used to be able to find public lectures that were cheap or free. And everyone left feeling like they’d received a gift.
