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> ...general public doesn't understand physics and makes little use of it. There's plenty of general science interest in the public and a significant fraction
by crispyambulance 5y ago
> ...general public doesn't understand physics and makes little use of it.
There's plenty of general science interest in the public and a significant fraction is focused on physics. It doesn't matter if folks don't "make use of it" aside from a bit of enlightenment and wonder. Some physicists have developed quite a public persona and have used that to reach out to the public. Others stay focused on communications within their own community-- both are fine.
The particular kind of autodidactic "cranks" Sabine Hossenfelder (too) generously wrote about are, in my opinion, a very different kind of beast than merely curious folks who want to learn stuff.
- wolverine876 5y agoHmmm ... all I see is repetition of the claim, 'it doesn't matter'. That's quite an assertion in a place like HN, and in a world where public education is considered important.
- crispyambulance 5y agoWell, not everyone has to be a physicist. It's part of a well-rounded education to learn some basics, of course, to understand the scientific method, and the conservation laws. Some will go farther than that if they're going into STEM, or into physics itself. Outside of that it's a matter of curiosity and public outreach from physicists... and I guess a small number of cranks.
- wolverine876 5y agoI'm not sure what the basis is for those standards, but even accepting them, > It's part of a well-rounded education to learn some basics, of course, to understand the scientific method, and the conservation laws. Very few people know those things.