relativity and atoms

[JaBlue]

I couldn't find the post I'm talking about. Oh well.

Some dignified scientist here said that a lot of people don't know about atoms or relativity and that they are idiots. While it is undoubtedly true that there are certainly uneducated folk that don't know about these things, they are not idiots.

First of all, who cares about relativity and atoms? What relevance does this have to any of our lives?

Secondly, not knowing that time is not static does not make you an idiot. There is no reason to assume that your experiences in every day life do not indicate the nature of the universe. We don't have the opportunity (yet) to experience time differences. Not knowing that time can feel different depending upon one's motion is not going to matter.

Atoms are a little bit more important, but only really because of electricity. The fact that everything is made up of smaller and smaller particles really doesn't matter either.

[Hermlord]

True, it doesn't make you stupid per se, just uneducated. But I bet there's a really high correlation here. Most smart people will naturally endeavor to educate themselves. These are not obscure concepts from highly specialized fields, but foundations of modern science. Yes, there are highly intelligent people from highly disadvantaged circumstances who don't have access to this kind of information, but in the U.S. at least, this is a rare exception.

"Education" should not stop with what you need to perform a job and produce in some economic sense. For one, innovation often comes from making connections with seemingly disparate fields. Similarly, being well-rounded makes you more valuable to the general societal network (the "Great Conversation"). Most importantly though, these ideas are beautiful and rank among the highest achievements of human thought. Science is obviously not Art, but they can both serve to elevate.

Typically, the type of person who says "I'd rather not learn that, I don't need it" is not usually the type of person I want to waste my time on.