• Question: Will science and engineering give us back our individuality?

    Asked by clockwork18 to Zara, Edd on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hey clockwork18, this is a really good question which is going to require a bit of thought… I’m going to go away and have my lunch and think about it! When I come back, I’ll have an answer 🙂

      Right, now that I’ve scoffed my sandwich, here’s what I think….

      Individuality is all about setting yourself apart from other people. Does science and engineering help you do that? My answer would be yes and no.

      When you’re studying science at school, everyone else in the class is studying exactly the same course as you. You’ll be taught the same things… the exam questions will be the same… there is little opportunity for you to stand out as an individual or study what interests YOU (that’s why events like “I’m a Scientist” are great because YOU have the power!)! At school, sadly, a lot of the time it’s all about getting through your exams.

      If you choose to study science at university, however, you will have a much bigger chance to express yourself… part of teaching in university involves ‘tutorials’ in which you’ll be asked what YOU think. You’ll be able to debate with other students and scientists. In your final year, you will probably do a dissertation or research project which will be different from everyone else’s – again, increasing your individuality.

      Finally, if you finish your science degree and decide to do scientific research, then you will research a specialised topic that may be unique! If if you’re lucky, you’ll discover things that nobody else has, and publish your work. In that sense, you’re definitely showing your individuality by coming up with new ideas and discoveries of your own. If you do well, you’ll make a name for yourself! Everyone’s heard of Charles Darwin, right?

      HOWEVER… science would be impossible if we didn’t work together. Some of the best science projects have a huge number of people working on them (e.g. the Hadron Collider experiments which have tried to recreate ‘the big bang’ have over 1000 scientists working on them!). Expressing your individuality is great but so is working as a team, for the greater good!

      Hope that answers you – let me know if I misinterpreted your question and I’ll have another go! 🙂

    • Photo: Edward Codling

      Edward Codling answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Tough question – I think Zara has given a good answer above about how studying science can relate to individuality. I’ll try and give an answer about how science itself might affect individuality.

      I think science is essentially neutral in terms of how it relates to individuals and society in general. It is the application of science which is important – and this application is not actually usually done by scientists (it is usually politicians or companies). Some technological developments definitely stopped elements of individuality – mass production for example led us to all wearing the same clothes and shoes etc, whereas in the past we might all have made our own clothes or bought locally. There is certainly a backlash against this type of thing at the moment though. Similarly, television can act to blunt individuality – if we are all watching the same shows then we all might start thinking the same. However, TV can also inspire us to go out and do new things we hadn’t seen before or thought about so it can empower individuality.

      Clearly the biggest recent technological development has been the internet – this has defintiely allowed us to express our individuality better. Now anyone can have a website or blog and let everyone else know what they think. We can have discussions like on I’m a Scientist where individual school students can ask their own questions of scientists – and get an immediate response. This is great and (hopefully) very empowering – we didn’t have anything like this when I were a lad! 🙂

      So I think the answer to your question is – yes – but only if we act to empower ourselves and assert our individuality. Technology is just a tool for people to use to further their own ideas!

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