Science VS Dogma

Isn't it wonderful to live in an enlightened society?  I mean, look how much we know about our world, our universe, our bodies, and so on.  I can Google just about anything and have an answer in seconds.  If I want to know how far it is to Alpha Centauri, I can just hit a few keys and presto!

But, when I stop to really think about it, I begin to realize that maybe we ain't so smart after all.

I mean, it was only about 500 years ago that the "experts" knew that the earth was flat.  After all, they reasoned, if it were round, we would fall off.  (Now, before you go thinking that 500 years is a very long time, stop to ponder the fact that 500 years is today's approximate life span for 7 people).

It was only yesterday that antibiotics were discovered.  We still have no cure for cancer, or heart disease, or ALS, or even the common cold.  I can practically assure you that in 100 years, people will look back on the way we treat such afflictions as cancer and marvel at our backwardness and lack of understanding.

We have many problems in this world, from energy to health care to education to overpopulation to pollution.  Many of these problems cannot be discussed in a rational manner because of a dogma that occurs in these fields.

For example, for centuries the Roman Catholic church maintained that the earth was the center of the universe.  To say otherwise, even in the face of overwhelming fact, would be heresy.

In the United States and other countries it is maintained that "diversity", the mixture of different cultures, languages, beliefs, etc, is the strongest possible society.  To think otherwise is to be politically incorrect.

Many "experts" say that global warming is occurring and the reason for it is humanity's dependence on fossil fuels.  It is politically incorrect for many other scientists to speak out in opposition to this belief.

I could go on and on---and so could you.  But the point I would like to make is this:  we are no smarter than previous generations, and when it comes to finding truth, we suffer from the same dogmatic thinking they did.  We haven't really learned much over the centuries.

Your thoughts?