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Send us your questions and we'll reply with individualized suggestions for topics and concepts you might want to investigate, which might help you pursue your questions. (Here's a sample of such a dialog, based on a response to the first question in the self-assessment). You may also want to join our e-mail discussion list to become part of a community of individuals pursuing similar questions. Self-Assessment Questions:The central question (complete after working through the questions below): The rest of the questions are designed to trigger your thinking and connect you to ideas that will help you answer the main question above. For many of them, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers - they are meant to help you become more aware of your own thinking about your world. Pick and choose the questions that are most helpful to you, and please send us suggestions. Awareness of your surroundings 1) Have you ever seen a full moon in the middle of the day? Where was it in relation to the sun and in relation to the directions (N-S-E-W) on earth? 2) What is the nearest plant to your front door. Does it have edible, medicinal, or other uses? 3) What is the last sentence on the last page of the most recent book or article you've read? 4) At about what time did the sun rise and set yesterday? (indicate the date if you want to check your answer) 5) What phase is the moon in, now, and at about what time will it rise tomorrow? (list today's date) 6) Where is the nearest source of fresh water? 7) What is the eye color of the last person you talked to? 8) What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up this morning? Thinking about origins 9) Where did the earth come from? 10) Where does life come from? 11) Does it bother you to think that humans evolved from other species? Why or why not? If it does bother you, can you come up with a way to interpret it that might make it more acceptable? 12) What are our bodies made of? Where did this material come from? Trace it as thoroughly and as far back as you can. 13) Why do we think and feel? How did consciousness develop, and what purpose does it serve for the universe which produced us, that we are able to think? 14) How does evolution work? Does it matter to you, whether we understand the process or not? 15) Why do you think the smell of a flower or an old song can bring back memories so instantly and vividly? How does this work? 16) Why is there sand at the beach? 17) Why is the sunset red? 18) Why do birds sing in the morning? Cause/effect links and interactions 19) What effect does the moon have on the earth, if any? What would be different about the earth if the moon did not exist? 20) What are shooting stars? What are they made of, and what causes them? 21) Do objects from space ever land on earth? If so, how often, and how big are the objects? What are they made of? If not, why not? 22) Are we more closely related to bears, dogs, or cats? 23) Is a cherry tree more closely related to an oak or a strawberry plant? 24) If you see cottonwood trees around, what does that tell you about a landscape? 25) How do bat populations relate to fish populations? 26) What does it mean if a red-tailed hawk is hanging out in your neighborhood? What else must also be there? 27) Describe a wind in terms of the atomic theory of matter. 28) If your chair is made of atoms which are mostly empty space, why don't you fall through it? 29) How would your bio-region be different if the earth's average temperature were10 degrees F warmer? 30) Why is ash harder than cedar wood? 31) Why does the moon have craters? What caused them? Why don't we see craters like them on earth? 32) List some of the ways the sun affects you (as many as you can). 33) What would happen to our solar system if mars suddenly disappeared? 34) Are there elements in our solar system that are not found on earth? 35) What positive effects do humans have on the earth? 36) What are some of the ways your thoughts affect the world around you? 37) What are some of the ways the world around you affects your thoughts? Attitudes and perceptions about science and its relation to your life 38) What comes to mind when you hear the word "science." Don't evaluate or filter your answers, just write down a few things you automatically associate with the subject. 39) Summarize your previous experiences with science. Particularly helpful will be experiences other than in a science class. What questions about the world have most sparked your curiosity? What experiences with science have most turned you off of the subject? 40) Describe how you use the information you learn in science classes in your daily life, and how this information impacts the way you perceive the world. 41) Lists some beliefs you hold that you would classify as superstitions. Where do you think these beliefs come from? Why do you believe in them? What makes you label them as superstitions? 42) When do you pay the most attention to the world of nature around you? Early in the morning when the birds are singing? At sunset? Whale watching? Hiking? Feeding pigeons? What kinds of activities most easily put you in a frame of mind where you are aware of the big picture of the world you are a part of? 43) Are you ever so absorbed in your surroundings and senses that you seem to not be thinking? If so, describe what this is like. 44) Do you think it is important to understand things like: why the constellations are in different places at different seasons, or why cats have retractable claws, or why there is mostly basalt rock around your city, or how your cells work? Does it make any difference to your life, to know such things? Does such knowledge change the way you look at your life in relation to the universe? Does this knowledge make you happy or sad, feel purposeful or obsolete? 45) Do you think science takes away magic, purpose or fun in life? If so, can you think of ways it could it be changed (either in how it's practiced or how it is taught) so it would not do this? In other words, try to identify specific things about science, either its attitude and approach to the world or specific discoveries it has made, which make you feel it has taken magic and purpose out of the world. 46) Do you think you would be happier if our culture told and believed in myths about nature that made the world alive and magical and purposeful, even if these stories were "inaccurate"? 47) Describe the properties of your "ideal universe." What kind of universe would make you feel most welcome, most at home, most certain that your life was meaningful? How would such a universe operate, what would be in it, etc.? 48) Which of the elements of your ideal universe do you think are contradicted by the worldview associated with science? 49) Are forest fires bad ? Why/why not? 50) Are earthquakes bad ? Why/why not? 51) Is global warming bad, if it is caused by natural changes in the sun? Is global warming bad if it is caused by the increase in carbon dioxide produced by humans? Why/why not, in each case? 52) Does it make you sad to see a fox eat a rabbit on nature show? Why/why not? 53) How do you decide whether the use of certain technologies is right or wrong? Nuclear power, or genetically engineered foods, or driving your car to work, or what kinds of clothes you buy, for example? 54) What fundamentally makes something good or bad? 55) What are the most important things you've learned from science? 56) Is the scientific view of the universe beautiful? 57) Where do you get your beliefs about the great questions of life: where do I come from, what is my purpose here, etc.? 58) Do you think science can provide all, some, or none of the answers to these kinds of questions? 60) Where does the authority of science to describe the world dwindle, in your mind? Where do you draw boundaries between the part of your experience where science applies, and the part where it does not? Does it occur at questions of morality, consciousness, religion,...where? 61) Do you consider yourself to be part of nature? What's the basic difference between something that is natural and one that is artificial? 62) Do you think science is the only, best, or worst set of tools with which to reliably interpret the world? |
