The Modern Village Presents: Everybody is a Scientist—Science Literacy for the 21st Century Parent, with Dr. Donald Cotler MD, FAAP

Modern science literacy is less about what you know than about how you know it.  The essential  attributes — your child's scientific "habits of mind" and identity as a scientific thinker — cannot be taught effectively in school. Parents must be "front-line, informal science educators."  Before discussing topics such as GMO foods, nanotechnology, or neurogenetic engineering, we will lay a foundation for achieving and then teaching science literacy including:

• Why bother? What scientific truth is and how we justify relying on it.

• New concepts in cognitive science: how children learn to think; how we really decide.

• What is scientific consensus? How does it develop, how can we access it and understand it?

• What is not science, and how to tell the difference.

• How are the institutions of science properly held to account? How do we achieve "well-ordered science" that serves our individual and collective concepts of human flourishing?

The floor will be open for discussion of issues from homeopathy to Remote Mind Control.
Resources for further exploration will be provided.

Donald N. Cotler, M.D., FAAP has been a pediatrician in private practice for twenty-five years (and a parent for somewhat longer). He has a special interest in the public understanding of science. Dr.Cotler is a Clinical Assistant Professor at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and is currently finishing a Master’s Degree in Education in the Science and the Public Program at SUNY Buffalo. He hopes to use his combination of experiences to develop and popularize ways for pediatricians to participate in increasing the science literacy and “cognitive wealth” of the community.