I wonder what an 'Erbsenzähler' would be in english. Do you have an idea by chance [MENTION=10757]Nicodemus[/MENTION] ?
[MENTION=4466]Little Linguist[/MENTION] feel free to respond with a translation as well. My curiosity has been poked with this word.
As far as I can tell.. I feel science works the same way a math class does. You don't learn about unreal numbers right away. First, there are numbers. Then, there are bigger numbers. Then, you can combine numbers. Then you can divide them. Then you learn that there are equations that don't work out into perfect parts, and there are fractions of numbers. etc... It keeps snowballing into absolutes until you have a firm understanding of them, and you open a door into what is not so absolute.
Teaching science to be absolute is fine for people who will never use it--as long as you only use absolute scenarios. There is no point in teaching kids about things like what the weather may be like 50 years from now, when there's plenty of applicable information on the human body for instance. I think where educators get to teach students to question absolutes is in philosophy classes and psychology classes, where everything is subjective and nothing is ground in stone. Bringing up sciences in a class like that would be a better approach to it, imo.
As far as a good ole boy system... If it can happen in places like the government, the military, corporations, the work force, and even social circles.. I see no reason why science would be exempt to it.. and I argue that Doctors have this system the worst of all. How many doctors do you see promising this weight loss pill or that skin fix...