Questioning the Hope in Science and Schooling

Abstract

The succession of extraordinary traumatic events, such as the poles defrosting, the fires in Australia and Amazon, the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial global crises revival, the Black Lives Matter movement, seems to call for science (to solve problems) and schooling (to make time to the unemployed) for help. Science and schooling are some of the big successes of post-modern culture and states. Given these successes, questions remain. Why do they not deliver hope? We are left to ponder (a) why these extreme events takes us by surprise; (b) why those who have been afforded the best education ever are so anxious, so frozen; (c) why is it that our best policies, science, and minds continue to fail us when it comes to solving the problems associated with the environment, this pandemic, capitalism, and racism; and (d) given the promise of science, why are we so in need of solutions?