Message to grads

Keep using your heart, rely on the faith they taught you, but start to use your brain, trust your reason, ask questions.

An excerpt from the speech of scientist Eugenie C. Scott, may 15th 2010. during ceremony of receiving honorary degree from The University of Missouri, Columbia:

"I'm a scientist, and I believe strongly that reason, facts, and empirical evidence are essential for making not just scientific decisions, but other decisions as well. How can I encourage you to trust your brain? Well, as I was writing this talk, I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle by a reporter who attended a psychic fair. He wrote: 'A whole wonderful building full of miracles. Major credit cards accepted... It could be a magic bracelet (results not guaranteed), or a magic stick (your results may vary), or a magic meditation magnet (no refunds)'

And indeed, there were people attending the fair who seemed not to be using their brains very much. One purveyor would, for $100, converse with a customer's dead relatives. As the reporter commented, 'her conversation seemed to be a trifle one-sided'.

Trust your brain. It's useful not just for surviving four years of university, but for deciding lots of things that are important. Like what brand of sunscreen to select, or what policies our elected representatives should follow, or whose fault the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is, as well as whether to believe someone can channel your dead relatives... Trust your brain. Ask questions when people make claims that sound fishy to you — and perhaps even more importantly, when you agree with them... So use your brains, but use your heart, too. You'll be a better functioning organism if you use both of them." (NCSE, may 17th 2010.)

Use your brain, trust your reason. Ask questions when people try to fish you into their superstitions, political parties or sell products. Love, be passionate, trust your heart, but always remember that there are times to put all that aside and start to use brain and ask questions. Our world's future abides in your hands.