{"id":4977,"date":"2010-08-20T10:40:27","date_gmt":"2010-08-20T10:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scienceblogs.com\/principles\/2010\/08\/20\/the-science-mindset-list\/"},"modified":"2010-08-20T10:40:27","modified_gmt":"2010-08-20T10:40:27","slug":"the-science-mindset-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/2010\/08\/20\/the-science-mindset-list\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science Mindset List"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s nearly time for classes to resume, which means it’s time for a zillion stories about Beloit College’s annual Kids These Days List<\/a>, listing off a bunch of things that this year’s entering college class, who were mostly born in 1992, have always taken for granted. A sample:<\/p>\n

\n

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
\n2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
\n3. “Go West, Young College Grad” has always implied “and don’t stop until you get to Asia…and learn Chinese along the way.”
\n4. Al Gore has always been animated.
\n5. Los Angelenos have always been trying to get along. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course, what’s missing from this list is what’s usually missing from lists composed by academics: Science. It occurs to me that it ought to be possible to construct a list of important scientific discoveries from 1992 or thereabouts that the entering class of 2014 has always taken for granted. Possible items include:<\/p>\n