Free Spoken Word Show at ASU Friday Nov. 13th 6 pm : AZ IMC

Restoring Science to its Rightful Place

Ezra Niesen
Friday, November 13th, 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 5:45)
ASU Memorial Union, 2nd floor, in the Gold Room
Open to the public
Admission free for everyone

President Obama said in his inaugural address that we’re going to restore science to its rightful place and transform our schools and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

I was a volunteer in the War on Terror, and there are a lot of teachers in my family, so I’ve seen from two different directions how much war can be prevented with a better education system, by people learning how to find constructive solutions to their problems.

Some of the scientists who pioneered global environmental science have also been pioneering a new approach to education. That would use environmental science as the foundation of the education system, which includes the evolutionary origins of human psychology. In everyday language, that means studying human behavior from the perspective that we’re all individuals and we’re also all members of the same species—as opposed to teaching human behavior with the assumption that some category of people are the Chosen Ones, which is how racism, sexism, and nationalism are always justified.

This education system would be a huge victory for anyone who’s struggling for environmentalism and social justice. But it faces a big obstacle from all the people who have built up a lot of power though anti-environmentalism and social injustice.

The key to this environmental education lies in five recent discoveries that have connected what traditionally have been separate fields of science. This might as well be considered a philosophy of science, because these aren’t facts you memorize, but perspectives for interpreting science and applying it to everyday life. You can learn about them in five highschool level books, and you can read a growing list of books by people who have applied them to specific topics, from the history of the European conquest of the world to the future of global warming. So take President Obama up on his promise and learn how to transform the education system yourself!