There’s no reason for science not to be interesting. It tells us about how the world we live in works, but if there’s one main reason why people don’t “get” science, maybe it’s because they don’t understand it. There are a lot of basic answers that people don’t have and a bevy of misconceptions that could use some explanation, so leave it to Bill Nye—scientist of the people—to clear things up. That’s what he did in a recent video for WIRED, in which he sat down and fielded eight minutes worth of questions from Twitter users wanting to pump some science into their brains.
In the video, he offers his views on some important but relatively simply topics. For example, he says the reason some people deny global warming could be cognitive dissonance, which happens when people reject new information because it challenges and conflicts with long-held beliefs. He also tackles the myth that humans evolved from monkeys by explaining that while that’s not entirely true, both us and monkeys do share a common ancestor but branched off from it differently over the years.
A lot of the information in this video is stuff you astute readers might already be aware of, but regardless, it’s a fun refresher course on some of the basic mechanisms that govern how our planet operates. It’s also a good piece of promotion for Bill Nye Saves The World, his new Netflix series that premieres tomorrow.
What science questions do you have that weren’t answered in this clip? Let us know on Twitter!
Featured image: WIRED/YouTube
