Reply to What percentage of the population is scientifically literate?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A very small percentage.  [b]I think people who don’t understand statistics (which is most people IME) or logic (also most people) are fundamentally incapable of understanding science.[/b]

Sadly I also think the majority of people don’t have any clue how much capitalism dictates scientific study.  Not necessarily for any intentionally nefarious purposes, but scientists need to have their research funded, and journals like to have their publications subscribed to, and all of this means that what is being studied and what is being reported is heavily influenced by those (most likely scientifically ignorant) who control the purse strings.[/quote]

^^This. I have a lot of education beyond college, and am very well versed in logic, but I do not understand statistics. Thus, I don't consider myself scientifically literate. I can and do read a lot of studies, but without having studied statistics and without having done research myself, my ability to consume it well is limited. I have a side gig at a med school, and we heavily encourage our students to take the opportunity to do some research while in medical school because if they haven't done it, they'll never be able to consume it well, and if they can't do that, it's hard to keep up to date on things. [/quote]

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