Cienciaes.com: The First Stone: Research.

2021-04-11 22:29:52

Today I am not going to talk to you about disclosure but about a plea in favor of research and science that I published as usual in this “Quilo vintage” more than 20 years ago. I think I could have written it today, just changing the name of the footballer who appears mentioned, nothing more than that. On that occasion he said the following:
… “Some of the media are dedicating a certain amount of effort to bring to public opinion the chronic illness of Spanish science and the terrible vital situation in which many Spanish researchers find themselves. I am not going to insist here on the ideas that are repeated in these media on this subject, and since an article is insufficient for a complete analysis of the situation of science in Spain, I will refer here to some ideas rarely expressed in other places.

As a researcher, I must say that I am pessimistic that one day the people of this country will come to understand the importance of scientific research and the influence that science has on the daily life of each one of us. However, and perhaps motivated by that pessimism, I would like to raise my voice in defense of science, in defense, actually, of everyone.

Before talking about the value of science, it is important that we distinguish between science and technology. Technology is, in simple terms, what science enables us to do. Science, the activity that leads us to increase knowledge, knowledge that gives us the opportunity to create, to manufacture a new reality: technology. For those who are not yet clear on the difference, suffice it to say that today’s technology builds on yesterday’s science, and today’s science will build tomorrow’s technology. This is always the case, but especially in disciplines in which much remains to be discovered, such as biology and medicine.

I would appreciate it if you would now reflect for a moment on the influence that science and technology have on your life. We get up in the morning and head to the bathroom. We press a button or a lever and the water evacuates our waste. We felt a certain headache that morning, and after preparing some toast in the electric toaster and a coffee in our automatic coffee maker, we decided to take an aspirin. We listen to the morning news on TV. They talk about the Internet, mobile phones, an operation to separate two conjoined sisters. After the hot breakfast and aspirin we feel better. So we headed to work in our vehicle, that marvel of engineering with airbags, antilock brakes, power steering, radio and CD player, and a herd of horsepower and mares.

All of the above is everyday, everything seems normal. But normality is supported by centuries of scientific progress. Centuries of progress made, unfortunately, generally outside our borders, in foreign countries, even more developed, even more scientific and technological than ours. And it is that when we talk about the development of countries, about what politicians like to talk about, we talk, in reality and above all, about science and its consequences in our lives.

Many things have been said to justify that science in Spain is at the bottom of Europe. It has been said that scientific research is expensive, an investment that carries a high risk of return. Spain, a “poor” country, cannot afford to waste money on an activity of such dubious benefits. It is argued as if our daily lives were devoid of the benefits of science.

Is science expensive? Let’s see. According to the data I have, the operating and maintenance expenses of the recently created Cancer Research Institute of Salamanca, which has more than one hundred researchers and technicians, are about 700 million pesetas a year (who now remembers pesetas!). The transfer of Figo cost 10,000 million, an amount that would allow the institute to function for more than 14 years. If we compare the money dedicated to football with that dedicated to science in our country, it is clear which activity is more expensive. It is also clear which activity is paid more attention to and which is more useless. But this country is interested in the useless. As a colleague once told me, what can you expect from a country that imports soccer players and exports scientists?

Thus, the argument that science is expensive is used to justify the small investment made in it in Spain, compared to the investment in other neighboring countries, which continue to advance faster than us. This also justifies the idea that if money is invested in science, it has to return more than what has been invested. The current philosophy seems to be that public investment in science in Universities or Research Centers provides Spanish private companies with the knowledge necessary to develop technologies that allow them to create wealth, that allow, above all, to make entrepreneurs who have little or nothing rich. They invest in research. This idea may seem sensible, but it has the disadvantage of turning science into an activity exclusively oriented towards those who do the least research obtaining huge benefits, instead of being oriented towards obtaining more knowledge for everyone.

And it is knowledge that science must obtain. The rest comes in addition, as has always happened, as the history of science shows. It is always difficult to give money altruistically without necessarily expecting certain benefits. However, there are people who do it every day. People who give alms and collaborate for a just cause, who fight to dedicate, for example, 0.7% of GDP to help the third world. The greed that is usually attributed to scientific activity, and to scientists themselves, has stripped it of what is most noble to it. But, I insist, the objective of science is not money, but knowledge. And if there is something that transcends all the borders erected by human beings, it is the knowledge of the Universe that surrounds us. If there is something that is, without any doubt, the universal heritage of humanity, it is what science manages to accumulate: knowledge. Spain is one of the countries with the most monuments and cities declared universal heritage of humanity, which fills us all with pride. But where Spain does not contribute what it can and what it owes to the heritage of humanity is in the number one universal heritage: the acquisition of knowledge for the development of all humanity, not just some Spanish companies.

However, even if we insist on being altruistic with science, scientific activity does not allow us to. Even if basic research activity does not bring material benefits, which is not true if enough human and material resources are dedicated to it, it will always bring intellectual benefits. The society and culture that dedicate effort to better understand the world that surrounds it, to communicate that knowledge to its members and to exchange it with that acquired by other societies, will possess an invaluable intellectual asset: a more adequate vision of the world and of man that will make to all the fullest life. This is indeed a sign of true human development. The development of a culture of research and science would also make it possible to more quickly incorporate knowledge and technologies developed in other parts of the world, and do so without complexes, since we would contribute to increasing universal knowledge in what corresponds to us.

I don’t know if our country will ever repay the moral debt it owes to the world. The debt of being a fairly developed country thanks to the use of knowledge and technology generated by other countries without having, in turn, contributed to scientific development to the best of its ability. I doubt that this is the case, judging by the management of science and the scientific policy that is intended to be developed. Since Spanish governments have traditionally not given science the importance it deserves, I dare to suggest here that perhaps the solution comes from increasing popular understanding and will to promote a culture of science in Spain through the creation of non-governmental organizations. Let’s hope that someone enthusiastic will also lay the foundation stone for this. After all, science in Spain is physically and intellectually disabled. We should help her. In the end, that way we would all help each other.”

…

This is what I thought about the situation of science in Spain around 20 years ago, I don’t know if it has changed much, I think not enough. Those who know me think that I am not excessively optimistic about certain things, I used to tell them that a pessimist is nothing more than an informed optimist.

Jorga Laborda (11/04/2021)

The complete article on Jorge Laborda’s Blog.

Works by Jorge Laborda.

Your defenses against coronavirus