provocative opinion Admitting Ambiguity A. Truman Schwartz Macalester College. St. Paul. MN 55105 Nut to be absolutely certain is, 1 think, one of' the essential things nfrationality. Berlrand Russell One of the most fundamental and pervasive human characteristics is a fascination with our surroundings. We seem to he born with anitch to discover as much as possible about the physical environment which we inhabit. It is an interest as old as our soecies. Therefore, it is not surprising that the earliest philosophers of ~ r e s o c r & c~reece-- hales, Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Empeducles-first asked questions about the nature and origin of the world. They were following the trail of the mythmakers which extends hack before recorded history. Children recapitulate this pattern of cultural evolution. Almost without exception, they are fascinated by nature-hy animals, birds, insects, plants, and rucks. They are instinctive collectors. On school excursions to zoos, aauariums, and science museums, children exhibit such boisterous enthuwasm that it often becomes an annoyance to more inhib~tedadult visitors. And they want the aniwers to a thousand questions about their environment and how things work. The seemingly incessant demands of "Why Daddy?" "Why Mamma?" are familiar to all parents of young children. There appears to be an insatiable thirst to know. Although the thirst is not quenched, it does not persist. By the time these same children arrive in college, their attitudes about nature, or at least about science, have, for the most part, undergone a major alteration. I ruutinely prohe these attitudes during the first meeting of my course in chemistry for nonscience majors. I stand a t the chalkboard and invite the members of the class to call out adjectives which describe chemistry. The words "dull," "boring," "sterile," are revealing, hut most telling of all are the words, "antiseptically arrogant." A few years earlier, these same students were collecting bugs, looking for constellations, and playing with chemistry sets. They have all studied science in elementary and secondary school; over half have had high school chemistry. Once they were fascinated with nature, now they seem indifferent or even hostile to science. Somewhere, somehow, something went wrong. Of course, one must be careful not to equate attitudes toward science with attitudes toward nature. The majority of college students are still interested in the physical world, but many of them resonate to Edgar Allen Poe's "Sonnet-To Science!true daughter of Old Time thou art! Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes. Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's henrt, Vulture, whose wings are dull realities? Ironically, science, which should aid in the understanding and appreciation of nature, is often seen as an agent eliminating the awe and wonder from the world. Instead of regarding science as a way of gaining fresh new insights about ourselves and o u r surroundings, manv . .vounw. .p e o.~ l e(and d ~ l t vi( s u~ 11a- J wtm.hi>m c o i t ' : i ~ t qw d r r w i . h quv$tiw~s. ,IIIet~t~
