In Defense of Scientists

Something discussed in English class sparked my interest. We discussed the fact that science majors seem to be arrogant and look down on English or humanities majors. My first thought was, “Oh c’mon, science and math majors are looked down on as nerds and geeks. It might be more subliminal in college than it was in high school, but it’s still there.”

Then I started thinking that science majors are perceived as arrogant because many of them are arrogant. Since I am a chemistry major, this is kind of personal. There is undoubtedly arrogance and pride in the field of science. Students become puffed up with the knowledge they learn. They grow impressed with themselves for understanding complex scientific theories. I find even myself falling into this attitude at times, viewing what I’m majoring in as more important than what humanities’ students are majoring in. Part of the reason is that in the 7 core classes I have taken so far (classes such as art history, music theory, philosophy, etc), I have noticed that the students in the top fourth of the class are generally science or math majors or doing the pre-med track.

This arrogance is wrong. Dead wrong. However, if anybody were to have the right to be proud (and in my opinion, nobody’s ever got that right), it would be scientists. Statistically, scientists are some of the most highly educated, lowest payed professionals, and despite having up to a decade of education, have a salary similar to that of bus drivers (not that there is anything wrong with being a bus driver - I have lots of friends who are bus drivers). That is partly why I have such a strong admiration for scientists. They are like the Marines of society, suffering greatly at times to provide the rest of us with a comfortable world in which to live. Last semester’s organic chemistry professor looked like a stereotypical mad scientist - he had a PhD from Harvard, and he looked disheveled and wrinkled everyday, having twinkling eyes and wild salt and pepper hair that pointed and curled in every direction. In his lectures, he told us story after story of chemists who had literally died (in various unsavory ways) for science.

Funny thing is, (returning to the arrogant scientist thing), any scientist worth his salt is generally not proud, but humble because the complexity of the universe he studies forcibly imprints on him the awareness of his own inconsequence. Thomas Alva Edison had it right when he said that “We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.”