Knowledge institutions or propaganda outlets?
In a recent leading editorial in Science Kamaljit S. Bawa, Ganesan Balachander and Peter Raven advocate the creation of new "knowledge institutions" - universities and research facilities - in developing countries, with "the alleviation of poverty and environmental sustainability" as their "explicit goals."Increased knowledge has always provided the basis for human advance.
If this were true - which I don't know - then spreading falsehoods and ideological propaganda would obstruct human advance. These are the first words of the editorial:The environment in most countries is being degraded, poverty worldwide is increasing, and the gaps between rich and poor individuals and nations are widening.
To put it mildly, knowledge is not Bawa, Balachander and Raven's priority.
Maybe joining these "propaganda" with knowledge institutions is not fair, but at least the basic ideas are "knowledge" and "poverty-environment degradation", and i don't disagree in the defense of the first and in the critics to the seconds
ReplyDeleteIt would be easy if they were interconnected!