haggai has a point here. Lots of people are overly
enthusiastic about
modern physics, while at the same time interpreting the important,
subtle points of theory incorrectly. People see news headlines (written by journalists with little understanding of science) that advertise
mysterious new technologies, but tell little about the science behind it. People then go to the library and see books with subtitles like: "physics for the layman," and "physics without formulas." If they see enough of these books they are tricked into thinking that
modern physics can be understood by laymen. It is a mistake, of course, to assume that a book like "
The Tao of Physics," gives you a degree in physics.
Will people every stop being foolish and
curious about the
frontiers of science? No. However, I don't think that the "
syndrome" that
haggai describes is necessarily a bad thing. I must admit, most of what I know about modern physics doesn't come from
formal learning in a classroom. However, I think it is good and natural that people like me are talking about physics, even if we don't know it all. Eventually this debate will lead to resolution and a
common understanding of what are now new theories.
I am sure that when
Newton first proposed
gravity, the general public did not understand it in a month. His theories helped to create
revolutionary ideas that took the public a while to digest (
Physical laws can be governed by math?
Forces can act at a distance?) Some concepts took the public decades to accept. Eventually, though, these ideas did get fully digested. A random person on the street may not be able to
spout Newton's Law of Gravity. However, they understand and accept the general idea that the movement of the planets and the falling of apples is due to an
attractive force between
massive objects.
Are people smarter today than they were in Newton's time? No, but now if you
rattle off a fact that is
inconsistent with
Newton's Laws, someone will probably correct you. The only reason this is true is because the theories were
bobbled around long enough that the public finally understood them. Now the basic ideas behind Newton's laws are widely understood and can be taught in
elementary schools, even though the theory behind them requires
calculus.
The point I am trying to make is that it is foolish to imply that people are
morons for not understanding modern physics. People will never understand modern theories since the definition of "
modern" is always changeing as new theories are presented. When theories are presented it takes a while even for the people in the field to understand it. Then, this knowledge spreads to include "
people in science." It keeps spreading until the
educated public understands it. The public may think incorrectly at first, but if people are allowed to debate these ideas, in time they will become common knowledge.