Better living through science

    I tend to think that science is the way we can move society forward, but it also can teach us about our past. The mammoth tusk found in Scarborough in 1959 is a good example of that. It has been able to tell scientists a great deal about Maine 12,000 years ago – what its climate was, what its landscape was.
    In many ways, I am a skeptic. I need evidence to be able to believe something. For others, it is easy to believe in ideas or thoughts. So when I am told that mammoths roamed the countryside in Maine thousands of years ago, it helps me to see that there is actual evidence of that. What was dug up in Scarborough in 1959 proves that to me. It was no accident that after research, scientists pieced together a picture of this creature – its sex, its age and it structure.
    Our world is now undergoing a metamorphosis right before our eyes. It is constantly changing bit by bit. The only way to keep ahead of it is to rely on science. When mammoths were present in Maine, the world was also undergoing a metamorphosis – glaciers that dominated that landscape were on the retreat and new life was being born as a result. Science has told us that.
    Since I am a skeptic, why do I even believe what scientists say? Well, I guess that, much like journalists, those who are involved with science rely on facts to further their work. I think it is much more easy to believe fact than hearsay or conjecture.