SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY
Science Is Dead. Long Live Science!
Our science is embracing systems thinking, qualitative research, and quantum physics. Good news for technologies that support life.
Our Western science is founded on the work of one man taken forward by many others: René Descartes. He’s the one who said:
“Cogito Ergo Sum. I think therefore I am.”
And it brought us much knowledge and wealth. We learned about DNA, we created sewage systems to prevent diseases from poo bacteria, we created medicines to cure illnesses. Live longer as human beings.
Hurray!
But it’s time to move on now. Because all this rational knowledge overshadows our true calling. To serve life. All life. Of all species. And our complete planet.
Let me explain what went wrong in my opinion:
- Descartes believed that humans are like machines. He didn’t think we have an intuitive heart. A soul. He didn’t see that all the parts are connected and if you cut the cords, the end result will be different than before
“I should like you to consider that these functions (including passion, memory, and imagination) follow from the mere arrangement of the machine’s organs every bit as naturally as the movements of a clock or other automaton follow from the arrangement of its counter-weights and wheels.” — Descartes, Treatise on Man, p.108
- Descartes is at the foundation of reductionism. We understand the world in a rational, quantitative way. We invent things in a laboratory. And then adapt it to the real world. And then it never really fits because reality is complex
- Later, economists built their image of the ‘homo economicus’ on Descartes’ worldview. A super-rational human being who can quantify everything and makes purely rational decisions based on self-interest
- And then we lost track of LIFE. Money became the only important thing. We need jobs to fulfill needs we think we have because the advertisements tell us so
- We lost track of TIME. Our time is filled with impressing others, reducing our fears with addictions, dulling our senses with distractions
- We needed more and more adrenaline to FEEL ALIVE.
It’s sad, really.
We now build business cases around sickness instead of pursuing health. We even call health sciences ‘studying medicine’…
We build business cases around unripe, uniform food that can be packed and transported easily. Instead of ensuring it is as nutritious and healthy as can be.
We build business cases around technology products that need aggressive mining. Destroying the lungs of our planet, the rainforests, in the process.
In my search for how to do it differently, I discovered Julia Watson, She explores millennia-old human ingenuity on how to live in symbiosis with nature. She says it beautifully.
“In an era of high-tech and climate extremes, we are drowning in information while starving for wisdom.”
— Julia Watson.
But.
Not all is lost.
We are gaining wisdom now.
So the rest of this story is about solutions that are real-time happening in science. It’s about systemic thinking. It’s about learning from nature. It’s about qualitative research. And quantum physics.
We’ll get there. I’m sure. We cannot be this stupid to go on following a route that is destroying our home. The planet. And us. Our souls.
We are smart. We care. We want to survive. And build an abundant future for ourselves and our loved ones. So that many generations from now our great-great-great-grandchildren will have a good life. A life worth living.
Systemic Worldview
More and more scientists accept that their vision of the world is easy for research but not getting close to reality.
We need to adopt systemic thinking to get closer to the truth of life. One physicist who understands that well is Fritjof Capra. His important book ‘The Systems View of Life’ embraces a systemic worldview. Our world is full of cause and effect, feedback loops, and emerging patterns.
That’s the reality! And we will have to learn to deal with that in science if we want to find good solutions for a future worth living in.
What does it mean in practice, systemic thinking? In order to see the connections, we have to start from reality instead of from theory. Observe, observe, observe. And then integrate that practice with science as we know it.
This is an example of how we can apply this. How we can map the environment. A field guide is created for the Cascadia bioregion. Classification of species and interactions are mapped. And a picture emerges. A quantitative and qualitative picture.
When we know about interactions, it will be much easier to draw conclusions and find the right measures to make the area thrive.
And don’t think this approach is new. Many famous scientists from the past have been aware of the world’s systemic connections and adapted their work to it. Leonardo Da Vinci, Alexander von Humboldt, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and many others.
Often they were polymaths, not limiting themselves to one field of study.
Collaboration between Fields
So how are we going to do that in practice? Science is filled with specialists who do not usually look over the side of their chosen field.
Well, let’s bring scientists together, let’s teach them how to apply deep listening and learn from each other.
In science, it all starts with a question. Why not take the deep questions of our time and find scientific solutions for them? Shall I give you an example?
We have an energy problem. And we need houses. What if we combined a team of scientists and applications that would research technological ways to build houses that are powered with gravity?
We would combine physics, biology, and architecture and we would look into all aspects of healthy buildings and energy needs.
Could we come up with solutions and make them happen in real architecture? Perhaps like this?
- The roof provides pressure
- If we build the house from bamboo or another somewhat flexible material, we’ll have a tiny bit of movement
- We can use piezo electricity to supply energy
- Instead of connecting it to a grid of 220V AC, we will use 12 or 24V DC. The knowledge can be found in the car industry, where wizards have found out how to make energy efficient in closed environments
- And the battery? It will not be using lithium, that needs mining. It will use nanotechnology and industrial hemp.
And voila. We’ll make it a healthy building, not using toxic materials that are off-gassing. We will be happy and healthy in a building that needs only a small amount of renewable energy.
Saving on big windmills and fields full of solar panels that ruin our landscapes and take away land that we need for food production.
Not possible? Think again. It will happen. And our environment will look mighty beautiful!
Qualitative Research
If we want to develop the technologies that support life, we need to add qualitative research to the current quantitative research that dominates our academic world.
One American professor I admire a lot is Brené Brown. She does qualitative research into human connection. Our ability to empathize, belong, love. She’s a researcher/storyteller, although in our current academic landscape that’s an anomaly.
Watch this TED-talk and see how she does her qualitative research and how she weaves her stories.
“Stories are just data with a soul” — Brené Brown
I know, I know. You are saying, Brené Brown researches some soft stuff. Sociology. That’s not relevant to technology!
Well, think again.
Isn’t it?
Shouldn’t we be making technology that serves us? Serves life as a whole? And shouldn’t we be looking at where the technology we have in mind fits within the system we’re trying to serve? What advantages does the technology have and what disadvantages to other fields of research?
Look at blockchain. It definitely has advantages. I see them. But in order to use it, you need massive amounts of energy. And we’re in an energy transition. It doesn’t really help if we try to make renewable energy, which is a struggle as such, and on the other side throw masses of energy away by developing new technology like blockchain.
It’s just not smart!
We need to find a way to live on this planet for some more generations. We need to develop our civilization in ways that are smart and give people a better living. We have big problems to solve around hunger, and health and ocean pollution.
Shouldn’t we research some part deeply AND look at the connections?
So, what’s my remedy? I say: back to the research table, the design table, and find ways to make blockchain with little energy use. Create a team of technical people, biologists, and ecologists to make it happen.
And while we’re at it, throw some sociology in and create the decentral financial systems of the future that serve local economies…
Look at how nature does it. Blockchain is all about interactions. Why not study the slime mold and see how it finds its way, how it makes networks? And then think about blockchain-kind technologies again.
The knowledge is there, we just don’t use it. Because we get tunnel vision as researchers. We measure, but we don’t look beyond our own noses.
Quantum Physics
Okay, as the last subject in this story, I want to tackle something that’s just not done in the academic world. Brené said it in the talk I included earlier in this article.
“If you cannot measure it, it doesn’t exist.”
— Brené Brown, quoting her science boss
Well, the fact that she’s a professor proves that in the meantime the vision has changed somewhat. Not overall. There’s still mainly measuring around, but some universities are starting to see the light.
Let me give you another example.
The discovery of DNA has resulted in DNA-modification science. In some countries, it is already allowed for food crops. And now, with the discovery of CRISPR, we want to cut and paste our DNA sequences to deal with diseases. It all still works with things we can measure. Things we can touch, we can see.
But in the laws of nature, there’s a whole world out there we cannot see. An energetic world. And what if this energetic reality is full of information? Professor Julian Vincent says it is and that nature uses this information for its products.
It is a very interesting line of thought. We, humans, mainly use energy and material characteristics to build our products. Nature uses structure (not changing the material as such, but it’s structure) and information.
And now a new field of science enters the thinking about DNA.
DNA is one thing, but the connection of DNA with the environment is also there. Epigenetics researches the connections. What if it’s true that DNA can be switched on and off? Then the genes are not solid in time, they can change. And what if we find out how these connections work?
That’s an interesting line of thought!
And if we combine that with quantum physics, we might be on the road to completely different solutions than the ones we researched so far.
Some scientists do it. Bruce Lipton, PhD, cell biologist and lecturer, for instance. He wrote the book ‘The Biology of Belief’ about it. And here is an article about his work in the US National Library of Medicine.
And also practical applications have already seen the light. The company Blue Earth Innovations treats water in such a way that chemicals are removed and biology is strengthened. This water is used in food production and health applications with very good, and scientifically proven results.
Conclusion
I know that some of the things I’m suggesting here come from a completely different mindset than the one you are used to. Our regular academic world still thinks we can measure everything.
But what if we would start from reality? The real messy world? The world that runs on universal laws of nature we know only a tiny bit about (yet)?
Let’s not limit our views to what we can measure. Let’s not limit our views to our own specialisms. Let’s combine our deep knowledge and turn it into wisdom.
Dear scientists, I invite you to do better.
Put Mother Nature on the team with you. Her laws rule this planet.
Science as defined by Descartes is dead. Long live science that supports life. Long live science and wisdom!
And if you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or my website. Or somewhere in the world listening to real wisdom, finding the connections…
Thank you Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words on science.
