Simeon Agathopoulos

The challenge of young researchers
between true education and advanced research

    The scientists of the oncoming highly qualified generation, endowed with a remarkable knowledge background and advanced technical facilities, are challenged to accomplish their task in a complex world at which the "natural selection" will contend the "virtual reality", testing the tolerance of ethics.

    The generation of scientists of the 90's, which will soon pull the world strings of science, research and development is just around the corner. The identity of this generation results from three parameters: the identity of previous generations, the current conditions and the consequences of the accomplished tasks. Apparently, only the latter element is not definable, yet.

    The forthcoming scientific generation is unquestionably better educated and trained than previous ones. Therefore, promising expectations would arise. However, qualifications do not guarantee by themselves that the prospects are viable and reasonable. For example, a genetic perfect tree will reach a prosperous fruition only if it would be planted in appropriate soil and climate conditions. Fertilizers affect fruit bearing, as well.

    Accordingly, a young scientist simultaneously attends the wonders of biotechnology such as the birth of octuplets by 60 year-old childless women and the death of thousands of children for lack of cheap vaccination. He has immediate access to all information provided he spends hundreds of hours waiting for downloads from heavily visited Internet sites or tames his cells in millions of radio or cellular telephone frequencies. He drives powerful cars with an apparent speed of 200 kms/h, since, due to traffic in big cities, the mean speed hardly exceeds 20kms/h. Many controversial examples could glean to outline the scenery for the oncoming scientific generation.

    The departing scientific generation had been suckled with the dogma of an infinite planet, in terms of inexhaustibility, profuseness and capacity. Nevertheless, the Chernobyl accident, regarding not only the radiation itself but the validity of the relevant information spread all over the world, proved that our planet has finite resources, capability and tolerance. Apparently, this is the dogma of the new generation.
    Of course, there are endless arguments about the distinction between research and application. Obviously, nobody could dare to accuse A.Einstein or M.Curie for the death of thousands of Japanese in Hiroshima. Nevertheless, the young scientist has direct and fast access to historical data and information of any kind that allows him to perceive the application of his research and activity. Therefore, there is no excuse to cede his right to decide for the application of his research to other non-specialists. Nowadays, the aim of guileless research is not merely the search of the unknown. The researcher can not commit an experiment at the sacrifice of the care for the animal he uses it for. He must be skeptical whenever he produces a recycled commercial product if its production process causes ecological catastrophe. Otherwise, the ancient Greek apothegm "war is the father of everything" is so close to be true.

    The young scientist certainly utilizes all of the required tools to estimate his responsibility. He actively contributes to the entire scientific knowledge through numerous publications and congresses. Twentieth century definitely crossed the threshold from obscurantism towards an abundant transfer and consumption of scientific knowledge, ideologies and technology.

    Nevertheless, in such euphoria, we must secure that we do not attempt to discover America again. Obviously, old results should always be checked under the modern perspectives. In fact, Columbus had not realized that he had discovered America, as well. However, we can not claim his glory, too. Therefore, the material scientists must realize that, before kevlar, the first composite material was the shield of the mythical Greek hero Achilles. We must know that, higher than the umbrella of light pollution specifically in big cities, the constellations of stars are still shining at the positions the ancient Egyptians had studied. Hence, there are scientific presentations, which suggest the use of olive oil in food, although olive oil is well recognized as a nutritious and healthy component part of food since 3000 years ago. Evidently, there is a vast amount of knowledge and information produced and spread every second. Nevertheless, there is not enough time for their true and deep evaluation.

    Actually, we have entered the "one-button" world, of either mouse or remote control. Soon this button will be a historical item, too. However, we do not really care on how many people of our finite planet can follow such not speeds but accelerations. We are confused if a truly educated person is someone who understands the Y2K and ignores Aristotle and Socrates. We forget that no civilization has realized a progress similar to the development of our PCs from 128Kb to the super Pentium within 20 years. It seems that we have produced a fast elevator but we have not properly constructed the building. Hence, we add new floors by just constructing a primitive skeleton in order to satisfy the elevator cabin without paying attention to its safety and stability. Moreover, we are not honest enough when we announce for whom we build that strange building.

    Evidently, the current and the forthcoming scientific generation will function on a different background and base line, compared to the older ones. The striking difference is that complex problems inherited from the previous scientific generations must be resolved. High specialization is the powerful feature of current science but easily widens and deepens the gap between scientific fields. Nevertheless, current problems of any kind are usually multidisciplinary and require co-operation between scientific fields along with specialization.

    There is no doubt that breathtaking achievements accompanied by breathtaking novel problems outline the scenery nowadays. The "natural selection" will contend the "virtual reality" increasingly often, testing the tolerance of ethics. In this challenge, the pioneers of science with their theories and philosophical aspects, from the ancient eras until the 20th century, would be our precious mentors.

    Consequently, according to the evolutionary process, that causes the progress, there are not pessimistic prospects for the new scientific generation. The evolution process led the previous generation to travel outside the earth gravity field, to familiarize us with DNA and the highest speed of light, to observe or predict the existence or properties of items so tiny or so far away from us, to break the frontiers of Gutteberg typography in knowledge spreading. The same evolution process dictates the oncoming scientific generation to adapt itself within the current framework. It requires differentiation from the departing one by undertaking its responsibility and ethical commitments towards the human race and our planet. It demands to establish a balance between assisting the familiarity of humans and society with the already broadened scientific limits and expanding those limits further.