As we prepare to open Brecht’s Galileo, cast member Val Rigsbee found and shared a striking article from MinnPost.com.  Sharon Schmickle writes about the decline and failure of science education in America.  According to one survey she cited…

One in four Americans surveyed in a recent test of scientific literacy did not correctly answer the question, “Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?” (Emphasis mine.)

One of the points the article makes is that, as science coverage is getting squeezed out of mainstream news media, it is relegated to the blogosphere.  As a result, it’s only exposed to those who actively seek it, and the current media climate results in people only consuming ideas with which they agree, leaving no room for new or challenging information. 

Brecht’s script champions the dissemination of knowledge among the masses and asserts that, when the elite hold a monopoly on knowledge, the establishment is free to exploit the people.  Today, political agendas succeed or fail based on the ignorance of the constituency.  Schmickle makes a good point when she says, “We get steamed over the politics of stem cells and global warming, but few voters know even the basics of cellular development and carbon emissions.”  This is just one of the ways in which Galileo is as relevant today as it was in Brecht’s time.

Uninformed individuals who, in the face of overwhelming evidence and scientific consensus, choose to ignore the facts and scoff at the concept of evolution use the same arguments that were used to attack Galileo’s heliocentric model.  We live in a world where fact is often rendered meaningless, as some people take it upon themselves to decide that their lazy speculation and selfish economic interests are more sensible than the factual evidence of global warming.  If we live in a world where so many of us can know so little and are subject to mental manipulation in the face of cold, hard fact, what does this mean for our future?  I personally don’t want to live in a world where “intelligent design” and creationism are given the same intellectual and scientific weight as actual science, based on evidence.

Read the whole article here: http://www.minnpost.com/sharonschmickle/2009/03/26/7632/science_news_why_americans_know_so_little

Theatre Pro Rata’s The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Carin Bratlie, opens Saturday, April 4th: www.theatreprorata.org