Sobre a Natureza das Coisas

David Takayoshi Suzuki, jubilado em 2001 da Universidade de British Columbia, é sem dúvida o mais conhecido divulgador de ciência do Canadá. Suzuki escreveu 43 livros, alguns de divulgação científica para crianças, mas é sem dúvida a sua contribuição nos mass media que o tornaram recipiente de 22 doutoramentos honoris causa.

A sua extensa lista de contribuições para a divulgação de ciência nos meios de comunicação de grande audiência iniciou-se há quasi há quatro décadas com o programa semanal «Suzuki on Science». Em 1974, fundou o programa «Quirks and Quarks» que transmitido pela CBC Radio One de 1975 a 1979. Durante os anos setenta, foi o anfitrião do programa Science Magazine passando a apresentar a partir de 1979 o programa homónimo deste blog, The Nature of Things, uma série da CBC transmitida nas televisões de quase 50 países. Suzuki foi igualmente o anfitrião da série da PBS The Secret of Life. Os episódios da série de 1985 «A Planet for the Taking», foram vistos por quase dois milhões de telespectadores e mereceram-lhe uma medalha do programa ambiental das Nações Unidas. Em 1997 produziu para o Discovery Channel «Yellowstone to Yukon: The Wildlands Project».

Nas últimas três décadas, Suzuki tem concentrado os seus esforços de divulgação em questões ambientais e, concordando-se ou não com algumas das suas posições, pessoalmente não posso deixar de concordar com a reflexão que o cinquentário de graduação lhe mereceu, especialmente com os dois últimos parágrafos, que transcrevo.

«I began speaking out on television in 1962 because I was shocked by the lack of understanding of science at a time when science as applied by industry, medicine, and the military was having such a profound impact on our lives. I felt we needed more scientific understanding if we were to make informed decisions about the forces shaping our lives.

Today, thanks to computers and the Internet, and television, radio, and print media, we have access to more information than humanity has ever had. To my surprise, this access has not equipped us to make better decisions about such matters as climate change, peak oil, marine depletion, species extinction, and global pollution. That’s largely because we now have access to so much information that we can find support for any prejudice or opinion.

Don’t want to believe in evolution? No problem – you can find support for intelligent design and creationism in magazines, on websites, and in all kinds of books written by people with PhDs.

Want to believe aliens came to Earth and abducted people? It’s easy to find theories about how governments have covered up information on extraterrestrial aliens. Think human-induced climate change is junk science? Well, if you choose to read only certain national newspapers and magazines and listen only to certain popular commentators on television or radio, you’ll never have to change your mind.

And so it goes. The challenge today is that there is a huge volume of information out there, much of it biased or deliberately distorted. As I think about my grandson, his hopes and dreams and the immense issues my generation has bequeathed him, I realize what he and all young people need most are the tools of skepticism, critical thinking, the ability to assess the credibility of sources, and the humility to realize we all possess beliefs and values that must constantly be reexamined.

With those tools, his generation will certainly leave a better world to its children and grandchildren 50 years from now.»