I assume that the reader understands what I mean by scientific attitude , so I will not bother with defining it. In the first aim, I think that science popularization has been eminently successful. The plethora of books and articles in newspapers and magazines, and the unprecedented impact of television, has made it possible today for one to talk about the Pathfinder mission to Mars, or the cloning of sheep, in almost any company, without committing a faux pas . In the second aim, I feel there has been only a limited amount of success. This article tries to identify some of the failures of the science popularization megamachinery, in developing a scientific attitude among laypersons, and the reasons behind them.
Superstitious beliefs are easy to define within the scientific framework.
Many rationalist organizations have put in great amounts of time and effort, to fight superstition. In their zealous pursuit, they have run into opposition from religious and other groups, that take offense to the rationalists incapability in distinguishing belief, from superstition . The answer depends on your point of view. In the scientific framework, there is no fundamental difference. In science, their is no belief that is absolute, except of course the implicit belief in the universal validity of the scientific method .