Forecasts of scientific visionaries and their references to common beliefs about the role of science in the contemporary world

Abstract

In the popular works of charismatic scientists you can find messages which present
scientific code as the only appropriate way of speaking about reality. However,
the history of science shows that strongly optimistic opinions about the
role of the elements of the scientific system in the process of overcoming all the
problems of humanity are not a new phenomenon. From the psychological point
of view, it is interesting to identify the conditions of shaping of attitudes towards
science among people who meet popular scientific information every day.
In the article some results of works on psychological tool designed to examine
many aspects of strongly scientistic worldview described as “scientotheism”
were presented. During researches on the sample of 508 adult Poles, from the
primary set of questionnaire items we selected these which were characterized
by the highest level of accordance of examined people’s attitudes. Because of
the high level of agreement/disagreement, answers connected with these items
can be perceived as a sample survey of common convictions about the role of
the elements of scientific system in the contemporary world.
Analysis of collected data shown that examined people perceived scientific research
as rather useful activity which brought the real increase of knowledge 

about world, gave them tools to cope with common problems and had positive
influence on everyday life. On the other hand, common convictions of the examined
people were that there were phenomena which cannot be scientifically
explained and that forecasts which said that we would achieve the full knowledge
about the world could not be serious. Furthermore, respondents frequently
thought that science could only partially reduce common fears. Commonly
they contested also the statement that science could erase conflicts which occurred
among people.