30. Does Studying Science Make You a Better Person?

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/23/does_studying_science_make_you_a_better_person_partner/

Tom Jacobs's article "Does Studying Science Make You a Better Person?," published on March 23 2013, argues that science, or exposure to science, produces psychological effects that display higher inclination to condemn unethical behavior and to help others. Jacobs mainly accords to various academic experiments and research to assert the theory. One such experiment Jacobs refers to is one conducted by psychologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in which 48 undergraduates were surveyed to judge a rapist's behavior, with the variable being each person's amount of exposure to science. Such explanations of studies carried out by groups of researchers from reputable universities like Harvard and the UCSB provide credibility to the assertions Jacobs presents. The several experiments he mentions in the article further suggest that exposure to even just scientific vocabulary directly correlates to a heightening of selflessness and stricter judgement of morally wrong actions. At the conclusion of the article, Jacobs states, "who knew Bill Nye, the Science Guy might be a spiritual teacher?," approaching the audience's concordance using an allusion of the familiar and loved Bill Nye from our childhood.

Tom Jacobs presents this article to a general audience of non-specialists who are either skeptical about science in relation to morality, or are interested in science. The familiar diction and clearly explained arguments indicate an audience who are not necessarily well educated about the topic discussed. Jocobs's purpose of providing this article is to inform the public of such additional beneficiaries of science itself, and perhaps even to rid of the common stereotype that scientific people are less warm-at-heart. Jacobs successfully conveys his purpose through effective use of references to academic sources.