Why are there still people in the 21st century who in some countries do not accept the prevailing knowledge confirmed by scientific research who believe that the Earth is not round is only flat or that the Earth is the center of the Solar System, not the Sun or negating the process the evolution of the origin of various life forms on Earth, etc.?
In my opinion, it is not a question of faith but a lack of knowledge confirmed by scientific research. It is strange, however, that in the 21st century, in the face of the facts widely confirmed in the media, confirmed in many aspects scientifically, on the basis of experiments carried out, space expeditions are still people who ignore this widely available knowledge in the media and create their unjustified theories.
No wonder that even a few centuries ago and before, i.e. in a situation of widespread illiteracy and lack of universal access to knowledge and information, in the absence of media it was easy to maintain, promote anachronistic and illogical theories to implement a specific information policy for the needs of maintaining absolute power, which one of the attributes was access to knowledge and information deliberately restricted for a large part of society, and in some epochs, such as, for example, in the Middle Ages, deliberately limited research possibilities and deliberately placed barriers to the development of science. In such realities, totalitarianisms are easily formed and it is easy to carry out indoctrination of the society by propagating even illogical, unjustified ideologies that are not supported by any scientific research.
Therefore, nowadays access to knowledge and results of scientific research should be universal and unlimited. A large positive role in this matter is played by the Internet and Internet portals such as the Research Gate portal.
Do you agree with my opinion on this matter?
In view of the above, I am asking you the following question:
How has the significance of scientific knowledge changed over the centuries from the point of view of the present day?
Please reply
I invite you to the discussion
Best wishes
Do you think that the significance of scientific knowledge is greater today among more people because they have access to knowledge that in the past, was only available to those in more privileged positions?
You mentioned the middle ages, but I think the availability of knowledge and what we understand as being correct is always changing and widening, as more people can access it. Concepts that were once held as being accurate and up to date are being adjusted as time passes and further investigation takes place. No doubt that some of our widely held beliefs of today will need adjusting over time and we will then view some of what we believe now as being outdated. I would think because more people can access what we hold as being valid and confirmed by scientific research, the prevalence of concepts that we consider as being outdated or incorrect (as mentioned at the start of your question) will decrease.
To date the growth of scientific knowledge had contributed much to our lives such as finding ways of treating different diseases. However people have realized that while there is a cure for most diseases many in the medical field have een simply doing enough to help people manage diseases. This means a constant visit to doctors who continue to make money. Such doctors know that if the disease is cured then their profit margin would dwindle. Plants and animals are chemically treated to grow faster and the outcomes have been a range of diseases that did not exist in our parents days. Scientific advances are therefore not contributing to improvements in people's health. Thus the rise in the use of natural herbs etc
I am not so optimistic in the matter of Internet, where the fake news can get a diffusion much more important than facts and true news. I see in this problem one priority, more urgent perhaps than reliquies of past than centrality of earth or negation of evolution. I think also that te notion of "totalitarianism" is anachronic for Middle Ages and his meaning is complexe. Personally, I prefer "closed society" or any equivalent.
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