Obama: Science Should NOT be an Afterthought
Obama: Science Should NOT be an Afterthought
You hear the statistics over and over again about just how dismally low the US’s math and science test scores are.
But how did we get to this point? When did America become so apathetic about science education in schools?
This is exactly what President Obama addressed recently when he spoke at the National Academy of Sciences.
He explicitly stated that science is “essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life.”
What is the main concern?
That the US is falling behind in both education and research….and fast.
We need to be devoting more to our GDP to research and development.
Obama’s big GDP push represents “the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in American history” according to The White House Blog.
Oftentimes it seems that since politics plays such a large role in science, the true intention of discovery gets lost.
By bringing science back to the core of expanding human knowledge, we can prevent our nation from falling behind globally-a fear that many feel has already come true.
By combining innovation and collaboration, we can accomplish a lot more than we think.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Science in America is a very important issue that seems so infrequently addressed in our society. With the abundance of resources and extremely innovative and educated people in the US,we have not only the opportunity but the responsibility to make advancements and discoveries in science that can and will greatly enhance the way the world works. We have lost the position as world leader I believe in a number of global matters, however this has not disabled our nation from taking the lead in new arenas.
replyWe absolutely have the ability to make discoveries that can be implemented in many countries and thus help improve the stability and health of the global environment. Albeit the government’s first and foremost concern at the moment is the economy, research and diffusion of new innovations can most definitely contribute to and spur new jobs and solutions to many things we’ve been facing for years.
Scientific developments are at the core of the world’s advancement and increasingly globalized nature. To not address the continuing need for science is short sighted of the government, and I commend and support President Obama for recognizing this and making a push to increase research and development.