How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later First, before I begin to bore you with the usual sort of things science fiction writers say in speeches, let me bring you official greetings from Disneyland. I consider myself a spokesperson for Disneyland because I live just a few miles from it — and, as if that were not enough, I once had the honour of being interviewed there by Paris TV. For several weeks after the interview, I was really ill and confined to bed. I think it was the whirling teacups that did it. Elizabeth Antebi, who was the producer of the film, wanted to have me whirling around in one of the giant teacups while discussing the rise of fascism with Norman Spinrad... an old friend of mine who writes excellent science fiction. Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. It reminds me of a headline that appeared in a California newspaper just before I flew here. Well, I will tell you what interests me, what I consider important. But the problem is a real one, not a mere intellectual game.
Does studying science make you a better person? Want to be a better person? Spend more time thinking about science. That’s the implication of newly published research, which finds people who study science — or who are even momentarily exposed to the idea of scientific research — are more likely to condemn unethical behavior and more inclined to help others. “Thinking about science leads individuals to endorse more stringent moral norms,” report psychologists Christine Ma-Kellams of Harvard University and Jim Blascovich of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The researchers describe four experiments, all conducted at UCSB, that back up their surprising conclusion. The first featured 48 undergraduates who read a vignette describing a date rape. After revealing some personal information, including their major, each participant finished the experiment by responding to the question, “How much do you believe in science?” Three additional experiments involved putting the idea of science into people’s minds via a priming device.