Rethinking science to protect the planet

NEW DELHI : India has to rethink how we teach science to a population that has inherited so much science in its everyday culture, but fails to think scientifically about the environment today.

Enter the 21st century Indian. In the winter, a well-educated individual suggested we improve our immediate environment by burning eucalyptus leaves. Another suggested gobar (cow dung).

I understand these as ancient remedies, when the air was less polluted, science less advanced and alternatives not available. But burning anything causes air pollution. Sure, people make trade-offs. You can do a havan but keep it short and small.

Also, you have to be cognisant that you’ve increased pollution. The same applies to agarbattis (incense sticks), which one can avoid. All this is small stuff compared to the many who claim that air pollution doesn’t kill anyone. They often present themselves as evidence-“we’re alive,” they pronounce.

How does one explain chronic exposures to them? That the heart can collapse one day. That 12 lakh die every year in India from unclean air? People stumble when science confronts beliefs, not in air alone but in other areas as well. One can rationalise how both came to be, but for that, one has to understand both science and its pathway in India.

The challenge is to stop rote learning and help people apply science to their lives and backyards. To push teachers to facilitate critical, science based, rational questioning and thinking.

This requires a new way to teach and test science. Otherwise, we’ll get 10th pass folks pontificating non-science and harming the planet and its people.