The Collapse of Science due to Environmental Issues -4

International Christian University (ICU) of Japan holds up “the Three Commitments of ICU” and declares the following in “Our Academic Commitment”.
“We expect our students to acquire the ability to think, criticize and make reasonable judgments as individuals serving truth and freedom, against any external restraint and coercion. It is our mission to send forth graduates who will fulfill their responsibilities based upon their newfound knowledge and skills”.
There have been many definitions of “culture” and the culture acquired through the study of the liberal arts in university. The above description can be recognized the representative definition. “Criticize”, “reasonable”, “truth”, “freedom”, “against restraint and coercion”, “responsibilities”, “knowledge and skills” are the keywords of “culture”.
When comparing the progress of environmental issues in society with “culture” as defined above, the difference horrifies me. Professional people and leaders who have been trained through full-grown general education should be faithful to their duties. They ought to have higher abilities to reach a higher position without getting involved in any unreliable works. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Dr. Motoo Furuta, former dean of the School of General Education and currently the vice president of Tokyo University, said that the purpose of education is the acquisition of the ability of overall discernment, a strong sense of responsibility and a worldwide view. Dr. Kinya Abe 1), Dr. Keiichi Nakahachi 2) and others defined it similarly.
The facts observed in the progress of environmental issues show that if the purpose of general education is as defined above, its implementation has so far been a complete failure.
It is after all only a definition because in reality we do not have a detailed educational program. The first reason for this is that a properly systematic program including knowledge on human beings, nature and man-made materials does not exist. The second reason is that many students who study the current program come away learning how he can suppress the weak and bend scientific facts for his own profit ). In fact, I have students at their graduation examinations possessing very sophisticated abilities make an evasive answer. I feel uncomfortable attending presentation examinations because I encounter many such students every year.
The first reason will be easily overcome. Nature and man-made materials were minor problems before the Second World War but they occupy a major part of our daily lives now. So, the contents of the new general education program should cover the three subjects - human beings, nature and man-made materials - on a nearly equal level. The traditional general education leans towards the knowledge on human beings and society such as law, economics, history, literature, philosophy, ethics and so on. The percentage of natural science and engineering must be increased in the new general education.
The second problem is more difficult to solve. The current education system has been constructed by the progress of the sciences in Europe for a long time. The defect exists in the system. Therefore, the student who studies the current educational program, cannot become a noble person but instead simply acquires a single concrete knowledge or technology. In other words, the student just acquires the guarantee of a wealthy life by becoming a professional in a given field.
A completely different concept is necessary if society hopes to establish a new program to educate the next generation according to the noble definition: the acquisition of the ability of overall discernment, a strong sense of responsibility and a worldwide view. It should be different from European culture, their justice and educational program. The person who looks at the facts happening before his very eyes without any preconceptions would not be able to understand the relationship between “European justice” and “what Europe has done to the people in the world” after it obtained the fruits of science and engineering.
All nations except a few countries such as Ethiopia, Thailand and Japan suffered colonization by a few European nations 3). The clothes, foods and luxurious ornaments used by famous philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, ethicists and noble men were produced from the materials plundered from their colonies.
As the wealth of the nation is the source of its activity and development, the plundering of its wealth means that the colony will suffer a severe blow for several generations to come, so even now almost all developing countries have not fully recovered. After World War II, the stronger countries have acquired resources from the developing countries through their economic powers in place of their military powers. The United State of America is an exception in which they maintain their colonial rule through military power even now.
The contradiction appears to have no connection whatsoever with the contradiction between social activity and scientific facts as described above, but the former is in fact the cause of the latter. If someone were to attempt to solve the problems regarding the exhaustion of resources or global climate change by CO2 by scientific means, he would have to deny his “culture” which he acquired as general education but since that is impossible, he has no choice but to give up 4).
In other words, as he cannot overcome what he has learned, he ends up agreeing with the smaller rules in the end. This is the reason why many scientists accept wrong ideas like “the recycling procedure can bring about a sustainable society” or “the forest can absorb CO2”.
I would like to propose a new program for general education here.
Independently, human intelligence is not reliable. When accompanied by “physical body” and “affection” it can be something noble, but without them it becomes violent and selfish. In other words, physical body and affection are the masters of intelligence and the enhancement of the two former elements is necessary for intelligence to come up to expectation. However, the two English words, “physical body” and “affection”, are liable to cause misunderstanding. It is this misunderstanding, not the defect of the education program, that is the origin of the worldwide misery for several centuries.
The “physical body” in this case does not mean strong muscles but the body in which the noble soul lies. It is strengthened not by simple “physical training” such as athletics, ball games and handling arms of Western style, but by Eastern-style training such as “Kendo”, “Mizugori”, “Yoga” and Zen. While the aim in Western-style training is to overcome the opponent, in Eastern-style training the aim is to prepare to be defeated or to acquire the ability to guard against an attack. So, the instructor of the Eastern arts attaches little importance to simple physical training that lacks mental enrichment.
We could see the difference in international Judo tournaments in the past. Although courtesy was the most important element in Judo, now, almost all athletes fight only to win. Judo athletes from Western countries say, “Defeat is meaningless.” On the other hand, an athlete from the old era of Japan would have said, “Winning is meaningless.” The purpose of physical training in Japan was not just to obtain stronger muscles but to acquire culture.
The meaning of “affection” in this case is much more difficult to explain in English. It is not “affection” as a kind of love but includes the entire activity of the “heart”. The nearest word seems to be “nature”, and the training of “affection” is to become one with nature. By accomplishing this, animals, stones, automobiles and other materials in nature would become close like a relative. A bumper is the best example to explain the difference. As Western people simply regard it as the part to guard a car, they use it when they want to move a nearby automobile. A small damage on it is no problem. On the other hand, many Japanese regard their car as a living body or their relative. So, a small damage even on the bumper is intolerable just as if their children are injured by somebody.
“Physical body” and “affection” as defined above are indispensable for general education. Without them, the acquired culture changes from being noble to being violent and the selfish. Many examples of the violent and selfish characteristics of human intelligence can be found in history, but the most difficult point is how to construct the new education program and to obtain the backing of public opinion. In the first step, we should construct and diffuse the concept and place it in the curriculum in the early stage of education.
The big theme lies before us, scientists and engineers. It has pressed for an answer since the early period of modern industry 5,6,7). Although numerous books and articles have been written on “society and technology” by many great writers from various viewpoints 8,9 ,10 ,11 ,12), the subject has not reached a conclusion yet.

References

1) Kinya Abe, Report at the Committee of Science and Education Ministry, June 14, 2001.
2) Keiichi Nakahachi, Keieironshu, vol. 58, 93-104, 2003.
3) Carlo M. Cipolla, “Guns, Sails, And Empires - Technological Innovation and the Early Phases of European Expression, 1400-1700”, Pantheon Books, 1965.
4) D. H. Meadows, J. Randers, and W. W. Behrens, The Limits to Growth, p.124, Universe Books, New York, 1972.
5) Arnold Toynbee, “La Revolution industielle au XVIII e siecle”, 1906.
6) H. Brown, The Wisdom of Science, Cambridge University Press, 1986.
7) Paul Mantoux, “La Revolution industielle au XVIII e siecle”, 1906.
8) Wiebe E. Bijker, Thomas P. Hughes, and Trevor F. Pinch, The Social Construction of Technological Systems, MIT Press, 1989.
9) E. D. Klemke, “Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science”, Prometheus Books, 1998.
10) E. S. Ferguson, Engineering and the Mind’s Eye, The MIT Press, 1993.
11) Garry Gutting, Michel Foucault’s Archaeology of Scientific Reason, Cambridge University Press, 1989.
12) J. Rouse, Knowledge and Power: Toward a Political Philosophy of Science, Cornell U. P., 1987.

Kunihiko TAKEDA - Nagoya University