17 Science questions 18-year-olds are supposed to have an opinion on \ stacker news ~science

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17 Science questions 18-year-olds are supposed to have an opinion on

1582 sats \ 30 comments \ @cryotosensei 21 Jul science

Singapore is an ex-British colony, so our senior high students who aspire to attend college take the Cambridge General Education “A” Levels examinations.

For the English component, students are expected to tackle a comprehension passage as well as write an argumentative essay. If you look at the syllabus here, you will realise that the essay questions require our youth to articulate an informed opinion on complex, multi-disciplinary issues.

Because I intend to spend more time on ~Science (mainly due to @south_korea_ln’s warm welcome when I posted here for the second time), I complied the questions related to Science yesterday evening. (Our tuition centres will post and dissect these questions, hoping to secure their customer base for the coming years.)

I wanted to frame my mind in regard to the Big Questions that come to mind. You’ll notice that ethical and economic considerations are often asked for Science questions. Without further ado…

2023 General Paper Questions

‘Fossil fuels should no longer have a part to play in the production of energy.’ Discuss.
Consider the view that spending money on space travel cannot be justified in today’s world.
‘The quality of human communication is diminished by modern communication devices.’ How far do you agree?

2022 General Paper Questions 4. The results of scientific research should be available to everyone.’ How far do you agree? 5. Since the extinction of species is a natural phenomenon, is there any point in trying to prevent it?

2021 General Paper Questions 6. ‘Scientific advancement breeds complacency.’ How far do you agree?

2020 General Paper Questions 7. Examine the view that the scientist is concerned only with knowledge, not morality.

2019 General Paper Questions 8. Science is the only answer to global hunger’. Discuss. 9. To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans?

2017 General Paper Questions 10. Can the use of animals for scientific research ever be justified? 11. How far is science fiction becoming fact? 12. Assess the view that attempts to control climate change can never be truly effective.

2016 General Paper Questions 13. ‘Human need, rather than profit, should always be the main concern of scientific research.’ Discuss.

2015 General Paper Questions 14. Should there be any controls over the production of energy when the need for it is so great? 15. ‘Human actions should be based on scientific fact, not religious faith’. How far do you agree with this statement?

2014 General Paper Questions 16. Discuss the view that, with an increasing global need for energy, every possible source should be exploited to the full. 17. To what extent can the regulation of scientific or technological developments be justified?

I like Question 11 the best. What about you?

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73 sats \ 4 replies \ @south_korea_ln 22 Jul

Those are some pretty thought-provoking questions. In the end, it's probably not a matter of what opinion you defend, but more an assessment of how well you can defend said opinion.

Many of these questions seem to tackle ethical questions about the role science should or should not have in our future as a society and will probably help them build up a critical mind when reading essays about Effective Accelerationism (see #616803) or Effective altruism.

I agree with @SimpleStacker that years of life experience is required to have a reasonable opinion on any of these topics. And I want to add that, even then, we probably have the illusion of being reasonable as we are very much shaped by our up-bringing. It's for that reason that very much try to stay within the realm of provable facts than venture into the realm of ethics and philosophy, unless I've had a few beers and I am talking with friends.

114 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 22 Jul

Yeah I had exactly people like SBF and Greta Thunberg in mind with my comment. And in general the many young people these days who feel entitled to moral outrage when they don't get their policy preferences, or think the solutions are so clear cut that anyone who disagrees is morally deficient

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Jul

The moral outrage is annoying and morphs into a dangerous ideology where the end justifies anything

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Jul

I know a good question:

Is it immoral to charge interest to third world countries?

Is it immoral to lend money to third world and expect them to pay you back?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

I think most students will steer away from ethics and philosophy. There are other palatable topics to choose from, such as mass media and sports. One just has to pick the question he is most confident of excelling in to pen an essay.

97 sats \ 6 replies \ @SimpleStacker 21 Jul

On the one hand, it's neat that 18 year olds are asked to think about such complex topics.

On the other hand, it may give them a false illusion that they actually know what they're on about, especially if they get good grades.

Sometimes I wonder what is more damaging, lack of knowledge, or knowledge not tempered by humility or life experience.

Oh, with that being said, I'm most interested in 3 and 15

114 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

I think only the top 5-10% of our youth are well-read and analytical enough. For the rest, we have tuition centres and private tutors who do a great job at providing notes and hothousing them.

As a product of my country’s educational system, I doubt I ever cared about whether I was being damaged by such unrealistic expectations. I just wanted to get my bloody A! Haha

49 sats \ 4 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Jul

I agree

The questions require knowledge that most teenagers or college students lack

These are professional think tank type questions

14 sats \ 3 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

To be fair, Singapore is one of the world’s top suppliers of students to the Ivy League universities. And they have been well trained to adopt a certain rigour and robustness in their writing from a young age. We are not one of the world’s smartest people for nothing haha 😝

49 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Jul

I agree but those questions are not scientific and require ability to spew creative BS

Are students in Singapore creative? Are they great at writing persuasive BS?

14 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

Depends on the individual. Yes, we can crap n smoke our way through essays, Sensei included haha

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 22 Jul

Persuasive BS is a valuable skill in life

105 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 22 Jul

So few of these are actually about science.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

Yes, our examination board likes to complicate matters by asking students to compare A with B.

63 sats \ 2 replies \ @SatsMate 22 Jul

I like 2017 "How far is science fiction becoming fact"

I encourage everyone to watch some documentaries on the church of Scientology. There religion essentially is based on science fiction by El Ron Hubbard, especially when you go further down the rabbit hole.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

Thanks for the recommendation! Sounds intriguing

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln 22 Jul

Start with watching the Southpark episode on Scientology. Surprisingly accurate and well sourced for a cartoon.

63 sats \ 2 replies \ @Satosora 22 Jul

Too many questions. And they dont even have enough knowledge to even make educated answers, they havent even lived life yet.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

Well when I was a General Paper tutor, I dumped notes on my students and unapologetically taught to the test. Rote memorisation is an Asian strength, as I’m sure you will know.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 22 Jul

I hated doing that. They already have enough going on at regular school.

49 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined 21 Jul

Question 7 is probably the most interesting to me. I also like 8 and 10.

21 sats \ 3 replies \ @south_korea_ln 22 Jul

I do like question 7 too... For fear of expressing strong opinions in terms of morality, I stay in safe by only worrying about knowledge. I'm not working on cloning humans so morality is not really something I have worry about anyhow.

14 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul

I think researchers in the physical sciences are usually in the clear on that one. In the social sciences or life sciences, though, there have been and continue to be experiments that I'd describe as morally horrific.

35 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 22 Jul

I imagine physicists and chemists can also face moral conundrums if their work has major applications in weaponry and warfare

14 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul

I agree, but at least they are a step removed from the moral problem.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 22 Jul

I like 10 too. Reminds me of a National Geographic article about how scientists are examining mole rats because the latter live a ripe old age. Let’s see if I can compile some research and post it here.

14 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul

I think it's something about being able to regenerate telomeres.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @fm 23 Jul

I like Question 11 the best. What about you?

Number 5 is my favorite..

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @5e5d0604a5 22 Jul freebie

Yeah I had exactly people like SBF and Greta Thunberg in mind with my comment.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nexus 22 Jul outlawed

stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.