Well, everyone, it's that time of year again. Pollen is in the air, midterms are kind of over and finals are just around the corner, tax day approaches...
Wait, that's not why this time of year is special. On April 14, 2018, thousands of scientists and science enthusiasts will once again march on the national mall. What started as a small but powerful push back against the Trump administration's blatant anti-science rhetoric has turned into a global movement advocating for evidence-based policy, scientific funding, and scientific communication that I'm proud to be a part of.
As a scientist and engineer, its easy for me to explain the utility and necessity of incorporating science into everything. Quite frankly, evidence-based policy should form the backbone of a good democracy because it's just about as transparent as you can get: if anyone wonders why certain rules are implemented, they can examine the evidence that led to the rule being applied and then judge for themselves whether or not it makes sense. Then, because of the whole democracy thing, we can have an educated dialogue about whether or not the evidence makes sense in that specific context. It makes perfect sense to me because studying science has provided me with critical thinking skills, and my day-to-day life, that's what I use to make decisions.
However, even though science and logic do tend to inform my everyday decisions, it's important to remember that while we should all strive to be rational, we are still human and that's not quite entirely possible. Ursula LeGuin, one of my favorite writers (RIP, queen) helped me put this into perspective with her quote "Almost everything carried to its logical extreme becomes either depressing or carcinogenic."
As an extension of that, I march for science not primarily because I am a scientist. I march for science (and have marched in the past, and will continue to march in the future) because I am a human person who lives on planet Earth and cares about stuff. What stuff? Lots of stuff. I care about climate change mitigation, girls' education, animal rights, beautiful mountains, delicious food, good coffee, etc., etc. I'm sure there's stuff you care about too--aren't you driven to do something, no matter how small, about it? To me, that's a fundamental part of being human, and that's the part of me that says I need to go to the science march. I want to be a part of a movement that's bigger than just me, that affects policy that touches the lives of others than just me. Don't you?
