Column:
Science in crisis and a new grand unifying theory
In the early 21st century, a critical intellect is in more demand that perhaps ever before, yet science as an institution is in a crisis.
Faculties and disciplines have fragmented into tiny specialised enclaves. Nothing seems to unify science as a whole anymore.
Humboldtian ideals have all but vanished because they are no longer taught and people no longer live by them. This is one of the reasons why Finnish universities have so powerlessly succumbed to commercialisation and the tenets of New Public Management.
However, a new grand unifying theory of the universe is emerging. In his book Maps of Time. An Introduction to Big History (2005, University of California Press), David Christian presents the foundations of this theory. The world has a beginning; research topics represent emerging levels of complexity in the evolution of our universe.
According to this theory, the Big Bang produced only two elements, hydrogen and helium, the other elements originated in solar furnaces.
The Earth was born when a gas and dust cloud left behind by a supernova became concentrated into a revolving cloud, from which the heavier elements condensed into planets. This was the beginning of the Earth's geological and chemical history.
Single-cell life entered the stage quite early on. Evolution gave rise to more complexity, first slowly but then at an increasing speed. Multicellular organisms, based on co-operation and division of labour between cells, emerged and formed ecosystems.
Evolution also resulted in society. Humans, who had diverged from other apes, began to develop co-operation and labour division with the help of rapid cultural learning.
When explaining the rise and fall of various civilisations and cultures in the era of agriculture, the crucial advantage enjoyed by some cultures is frequently a technology that other cultures did not yet possess.
The industrial economy that has gradually arisen in the last millennium represents a new emerging stage: the amount of energy harnessed by humans for their use has multiplied and soil is no longer the main source of prosperity.
Knowledge is also power. The scientific-industrial capacity to produce and destroy has caused the current problems facing humanity and the Earth. Struggles on the direction of ethical and political learning will decide which of the many future scenarios will become reality.
This vision of the fundamental unity of science and collaborative responsibility could be - if translated into Finnish - the textbook shared by all young people seeking admittance to university and the starting point for their studies.
Text: Professor Heikki Patomäki
Photo: Simo Salmela
