Santander (EFE).- The paleonthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga considers that Spain has advanced in science and dissemination because, although “we come from far behind, there has been a very rapid change” and “we are getting closer to the advanced countries”.
Juan Luis Arsuaga and the writer Juan José Millás have held a dialogue with those attending a course at the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) of Santander.
Arsuaga believes that “there has been good science and dissemination” and points out that half of Spaniards have done a Bachelor of Science, which proves that in Spain there is “scientific culture”.
However, he acknowledges that “another thing is communication” and also “we must distinguish between doing science and communicating science.”
For Arsuaga, who was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Research and Science in 1997, what happens is that science “is everywhere, but disorganized.”
“There is a lot of information in a lot of places” and “science permeates everything,” he warns.
Millás, for his part, points out that the Humanities and Science “cannot be separated” and agrees that the pandemic “has aroused a lot of interest” in the scientific field.
In his opinion, there is a “great interest” in scientific and technical discoveries and “any moderately educated person, if he does not know anything about this, is mutilated.”
He also thinks that the term disclosure cannot be used lightly when talking about science, and even more so if it is associated “with lowering the level.”