(Al Baez gave me permission to post his beautifully expressed essay. He
submitted it to the American Journal of Physics, but Robert Romer didn't
think it would be useful. I respectfully disagree. Let's all send a kind
e-mail to Robert Romer at ajp@amherst.edu and ask him to print it in the
American Journal of Physics! The whole physics community should be
privileged to read this essay and reflect on it.
Cheers,
Jane Jackson)
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EDUCATION'S 4 C's vs SOCIETY'S 4 P's
Albert V. Baez*
I believe that science and technology are extremely important because
they have been the most powerful agents for social change in the
history of mankind.
In the process, science and technology have extended the length and
improved the quality of our lives. But we must also concede that they
have contributed to the deterioration of the human environment. This
shows up in four of the most serious problems of our society, the 4
P's: population, pollution, poverty, and proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction.
In spite of this, I claim we need more, not less, science and
technology, but they must be utilized constructively. To this end I
believe that education will have to play an increasingly important
role. But it will have to be an education that generates the real
basics, the 4 C's: curiosity, creativity, competence, and compassion.
There can be no science without curiosity, no technology without
creativity, and no production without competence, but without
compassion they may be used to destroy the environment and life on
Earth.
The world stands in need of an environmental ethic which, in my mind,
should spring from respect and affection for all living things.
Benito Juarez once said, "El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz,"
which translates loosely into: "Respect for the rights of others is
the basis of peace."
Juarez had respect for the rights of people in mind, of course, but
if we extend the concept to all living things - plants, animals,
people, and the Earth itself - we have the basis of peace with the
Earth and peace on Earth.
This, I believe, is the end toward which science and technology should
be applied.
______________________________________________
*On receiving an award from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement
Award Conference. Published in the " Hispanic Engineer," Winter 1990.
Jane Jackson (Prof. of Physics, Scottsdale Comm. College--on leave)
Dept.of Physics, Box 871504, Arizona State Univ.,Tempe AZ 85287-1504.
jane.jackson@asu.edu (602)965-8438 FAX:965-7331
Modeling Workshop Project: http://modeling.la.asu.edu/modeling.html