About Monday’s total solar eclipse, a reader writes to me.
On February 26, 1979, he was in 5e elementary school year when a comparable phenomenon was visible above Montreal. It coincided with a school trip: “A few days before, the teachers explained to us why we should not look at the eclipse directly.” Instructions repeated on the day of release…
“Today, 45 years later, my son, in sec III, receives three pages of directives and warnings from the school board, the Ministry of Education and Public Health! Classes are not compulsory in the afternoon, students cannot leave before 4:45 p.m….”
And the reader curses at the end of the keyboard: “What happened over the last 45 years to get to this point???”
Excellent question!
Risk
In a recent column, I mentioned a hypothesis. We seem to be grappling with the worst aspects of a “risk society” (Ulrich Beck’s concept), which has become obsessed with the need to shield ourselves against any potentially deplorable event. Lawyers and insurance companies paralyze decision-makers. The “precautionary principle” is absolute.
- Listen to the political meeting between Antoine Robitaille and Benoît Dutrizac via QUB:
It’s better, you will retort, than the generalized carelessness which once characterized our societies: cycling “without a helmet”, drinking and driving, etc.
But there is risk and risk, and some have really exaggerated that of the eclipse.
Scientific culture
Why exactly? This brings me to a second hypothesis: the erosion of general scientific culture.
By delving into the archives of Newspaper, I am amazed at the few mentions of the risk in the editions surrounding that of July 11, 1972. On the other hand, large parts of the articles are devoted to the scientific experiments for which the event would be the occasion: experts in Concorde to document the phenomenon; NASA at Cap-Chat in Gaspésie, because that day it was the best observation post in North America. In 1979, NASA, it was pointed out, was in Winnipeg, for the same reasons, underlines The newspaper. Fifteen years later, precaution reared its head: in anticipation of the eclipse of May 11, 1994, an article the day before mentioned the recommendations of the Association of Ophthalmologists of Quebec. “Fascinating eclipse”, title all the same The newspaper.
At QUB on Thursday, I recorded a conversation with two science journalists: Mathieu-Robert Sauvé, from Newspaperand Joël Leblanc, co-author of Eclipse: When the Sun does its circus (Multiworlds).
Scientific culture has never been very high in our societies. “There has always been a part of society that had less, but today, it has more of a say with social networks,” lamented Mr. Leblanc. The internet and digital technology have made it possible to disseminate scientific information like never before. But also the worst falsehoods: let’s think about the return of those who believe the earth is flat! Or that the Sun revolves around the Earth.
With our obsession with risk, a certain scientific ignorance – or even indifference – will, for many, have wasted the opportunity that will present itself to us on Monday.