If you need to move something heavier than yourself, a basic understanding of physics is invaluable. If you find yourself lost, cold, and hungry in the wilderness, a little creativity and some basic understanding can keep you comfortable and alive. Knowing science—the more the better—provides the tools to approach life successfully. In the extreme, it can be a matter of life or death. Unfortunately, as the author laments in this month’s opinion piece, today’s students don’t see relevance in science because they don’t need to. They don’t need to understand to survive or even to thrive. However, by understanding this difference in perspective, we can reduce our collective and fruitless tendency to complain about our students’ commitment and work to find a way to move forward productively.