I just finished editing in French The Impact of Science on Society of my dear Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), who is for me the greatest philosopher of the XXe century.
These lectures, delivered in London in 1950, relate to science and scientific technology, to the effects which they have and will undoubtedly have in the future on society, to the means of relishing their promises and of those of to avoid the dangers – sometimes so serious that they threaten the very survival of humanity. We will remember that we are then in the middle of the Cold War and that the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki fell five years earlier…
Some of the ideas that Russell puts forward seem to me still relevant for thinking about current affairs, including in education. See instead.
GAFAM and ChatGPT
It is not difficult to imagine that the mathematician and logician would have been fascinated by developments in the Internet and artificial intelligence and by this very recent episode, ChatGPT.
Russell, faced with the scientific technologies of his time, is neither a pessimist who guarantees that they will have terrible effects nor a blissful optimist who thinks that they will always be beneficial. However, he warns that “scientific technology often results in […] a singular concentration of power”, in the hands of a “reduced oligarchy [qui] wields vastly increased power”.
He gives as an example the oil companies, an example which remains very relevant. I would tell him about the GAFAMs (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft) that he would perhaps remind me that he had warned that technologies increase “the importance of organizations, and subsequently the influence of dirigisme on life of individuals” and the control they are able to exercise over opinions. I would then talk to him about the divisive effects of the new media and the powers they hold over freedom of expression.
science and research
At the heart of science, we find virtues, ways of doing and thinking. Russell describes them as follows: “Listening to all parties, trying to ascertain all relevant facts, testing our own opinions by talking to people who hold opposing opinions, cultivating a willingness to discard any assumptions that have proven to be inadequate. »
These methods have proven themselves, and Russell asks that they be applied everywhere, and especially in politics. The lesson seems relevant to me, in these hours when even at the university freedom of expression is not doing very well. Talk to Professor Patrick Provost, from Université Laval. To illustrate the effects that ideology can produce on knowledge and its transmission, I would also gladly show Russell what is happening these days in the United States in the teaching of its beloved mathematics, decreed nothing less than racist. Fortunately, voices are raised against this delirium.
Russell considered a world government necessary to counter the effects of nationalisms and ideologies and to make knowledge and its fruits accessible to all. However, he does not explicitly discuss the effects of money and commercialism on research. He did not see predatory journals and the privatization of research coming. But I have no doubt that he would be horrified to learn that 50 of our public universities in Canada, including some in Quebec, are working on research projects with the Chinese military.
education
For humanity to survive and be happy, Russell therefore bet on a world government, and also on birth control and population stabilization. But he also bet a lot on education. Changes in terms of ideas, mentalities, are necessary if we want to survive, and education is, according to him, essential to give birth to this wisdom which we so need. “As long as the human being does not develop in wisdom as much as in knowledge, the increase in his knowledge will imply an increase in his misfortunes. »
What is needed for this, he says, is “compassion and the fervent desire that humanity be happy; moreover, the will to know, to know, to educate oneself, and the determination not to be taken in by captious theories; finally, above all: courageous hope and creative impulse”.
If the virtues which command science were to spread, he thinks, “nine-tenths of the ills of the modern world would be cured.” War would become impossible because each side would realize that both sides are bound to be wrong. The persecution would cease. Education would aim to broaden the mind, not shrink it. Individuals would be chosen for jobs based on their ability to do the job, not because they pander to the irrational dogmas of those in power. Thus, rational doubt, if it could be generated, would open a new era”.
I would dream of showing him the Quebec school’s training program and asking him what he thinks about it…