Tides gone and found naked – Oops

The sad fact is that science literacy is so poor in Sri Lankan society that living in the 21st century is going to be a serious handicap. We need to have a crash program in STEM education along with a STEM upgrade for the parents

Once Warren Buffet made an interesting comment – “When the tide goes out that you discover who has been swimming naked.” Some voluminous and speedy draining may be needed to achieve this; yet, the comment reminds of a recurring exposure after 74 years of existence! The 74th Independence celebrations and the present economic situation forces me to state that we are exposed and exposed seriously with all attributes in full view and the situation has been caused by the sheer lack of commitment to science and technology from Day 1. I mean from 4 Feb 1948.

I am sure many would disagree and that to me is the issue – even fully naked we still do not get the understanding. When you reach out to either China or India – we are reaching out to both- we are reaching out or have to reach out because they have positioned themselves differently simply based on this factor and this factor alone. With billions to feed they have shown some remarkable growth and the journey has been studded with Science Technology and Innovations. 

China of course moved to their position differently, but in the last 15 years did demonstrate thorough and focused effort in S&T unimaginable situations are possible. India of course was on to it from 1947 as Jawaharlal Nehru did bring S&T from Day 1 of India’s independence. We were happily politicking, socialising, and playing games and sports, anything but engaging in doing and deploying what mattered. Even when we had industries, they were a series of gifts and as such did not give way to a manufacturing mindset and at the first opportunity opting for trade. As such we do not have a technological platform to access at present. 

My use of technology or tech is much broader than the current use of tech to the narrow area of ICT and this too sends a confusing message. There was no serious discourse on the value of S&T at any time in our post-independence history and for its positioning in the decision-making cycle. We are paying a serious price for these omissions and I wonder still whether we have recognised our follies. It is important to understand the United States is what it is today not because of Hollywood, Disneyland, or American Football but because of skilful deployment of technology and the moonshot visionaries along with the strategic contributions made by universities. 

It was a Russian who described the Kondratieff cycle – a cyclical scenario observed in economies and the relationship of dynamics of technology to economic growth and stagnation. The fact that he was executed for articulating his concepts is a different story but what he espoused is now embedded in economic growth analysis. Our economic analysis certainly cannot be done with such a theory as we have moved on with few commodities and showcasing endowments from nature and history. 

It is interesting to see that even at this stage we continue to believe in tourism lifting us like Houston; we are ready to lift off once the numbers start to edge up from Katunayake. The sheer attraction of greenbacks just demonstrates the weakness so heavily embedded in our structures and mindset. An alarming situation today is the penchant for leaving the country and STEM students growing up with that sole criterion and almost all our efforts are more likely to be realised by another economy elsewhere. We are oblivious to some of these ground conditions yet planning for growth! No STEM talent no growth – Period!

I am reminded of another comment of Tony Blair the former British Prime Minister from 2002 taken from his address to the Royal Society. He indicated his belief – as a politician and as a non-scientist too – that Science is vital to his country’s continued future prosperity and in that speech, he indicated the prompt for his speech. 

He described his meeting with a group of academics, while in Bangalore, who interestingly also was engaged in business in the biotech field. Their blunt statement to him in Bangalore had been that Europe has gone soft in science and that they (India) are going to leapfrog UK and EU. Well, his call to the Royal Society is in making Britain a powerhouse in Innovation and proving those Indians wrong! Indians were extolling the power of knowledge enabling conquering as the era of guns has receded. What this speech is emphasising is that a country cannot lag in Science and Innovations. Once done and demonstrated is not enough and Britain clearly can understand this. As per us, such statements are yet to come. 

We are in an era of post-Delta and Omicron along with these economic conditions. Rating agencies are reducing the use of letters of the alphabet while simultaneously going down the list as well. We may be at our wits ends over the rating agencies’ lettering as what they say and do appear to have significant repercussions in this transactional economy. What is needed from our decision-makers is meaningful action at a completely different level of understanding. Our nakedness is only covered by the darkness that is descending.

What is quite clear and the light we need at this hour of darkness is light to be shown on science and technology as the ladder and or the road to be taken. List all the situations that made headline news in the past years and you may understand. All headlines came up for wrong reasons but definitely by not scientifically understanding the issue and the lack of technology, which failed at scaling were at the heart of all of these. All these events I am sure had so many discussions on radio and TV. 

Considering that gas turbines are kicked in to handle the night power demand – the peak demand at night time itself is a national weakness! These discussions consume so much imported fossil fuels. However, those who may have experienced some hilarious discourses of how urea is formed from acids from the air, how gas cookers are exploding because the mass as depicted by P in a universal gas equation have to seriously think about the seriously poor utilisation of energy as well as dollars quite poorly spent. 

The sad fact is that science literacy is so poor in Sri Lankan society that living in the 21st century is going to be a serious handicap. We need to have a crash program in STEM in education along with a STEM upgrade for the parents alongside. We are otherwise going to bed with lots of nonsense resonating inside our skull cavities after these nightly ever-present discussions.

It is fair to say that please do not ignore science and technology. Thinking that cash flow can cure everything is a poor understanding of issues and their solutions. I dare say here only fools would disagree with me here – one has to be provocative to get the message at least to be discussed to some length. My worry is we do have quite a number in place making ignorance quite resilient in our circles. 

A glimmer of hope perhaps is the declaration of the National Innovation Mission for Sri Lanka by the President during the last Science Day celebrations. The movement to work on STEM education forcefully through the establishment of STEM innovation labs in schools – not initially by starting new buildings but by going ahead with what exists. Yes, what is important is the creation of these spaces for children as fast as possible converting whatever the available space. 

Also important is the keenness to reduce the digital divide by the Government. These of course would deliver after some time. Significant action indeed is necessary at this late hour to resuscitate the economy and some solid grounding of these ideas is a must to start with. Politicians need to learn – of course time to learn is before coming into office – as they, after all, call most of the shots if not all in today’s Sri Lanka.