RESUMO
We plan to make dreams come true. But it is an exception when such plans lead to the desired result. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to make a dream come true? Or better: Why is it so difficult to realize plans? Why, in pursuing plans, do we spend inordinate amounts of energy, time and resources addressing the wrong questions and fighting the wrong battles? Yet, we have the illusion that we are in control. Why? One reason is that we do not recognize the complexity of the system that we want to change. Those living in the Western world or in the Westernized world have been educated in linear cause and effect relationships, of being in control, in fighting ourselves out of a conflict.
Assuntos
Sonhos , Ilusões , HumanosRESUMO
To a large extent, the pursuit of science takes place in universities. In this essay, I ask the following questions. Supposing there were no universities, and that all the knowledge mankind has ever collected and generated is somehow accessible, would we invent universities to make this knowledge available to address the problems humanity faces? What should those universities perform, and what role would science play in such universities? To look for answers to those questions, I consider the nature of the problems dealt with by science, the knowledge needed to address those problems, the gap between the two, the need for interdisciplinarity and the need to educate the leaders of the future, and finally, the boundaries of scientific knowledge.