Science Education

　X When I’m browsing sites like this, I sometimes find myself thinking about the debate over science and math education. Well, basically, the discussion forum (if you can even call it that?) at X is pretty irresponsible, so at first glance it’s entertaining. They do mention things like where to secure the funding—or whatever you want to call it—to expand science and math education, and I find myself thinking, “Oh, that makes sense.”

　Generally speaking, Classical Chinese is often singled out as the source of these foundational skills. Since I attended a technical college for my secondary and early higher education, I never experienced taking university entrance exams after graduating from a general high school. Not only did I sacrifice Classical Chinese, but I also gave up World History, Japanese History (modern period only), and even science subjects like biology and earth science to free up class time for math and specialized courses. There was simply no such thing as a well-rounded education. After I graduated and started working—had it been two or three years?—there was a late-night TV show called “The Humiliation of Canossa.” From my perspective, I just thought it was “a show with an unusual title.”I remember a junior from that time (who was in the same grade but two years behind because he had a bachelor’s degree) saying, “That’s a brilliant choice of name, isn’t it? ‘The Humiliation of Canossa’—it’s something you definitely learn in world history…”Nowadays, I devour books on world history and religion, discuss their origins with people from the countries where they originated, and have even written for publications other than specialized journals—but back then, that was the extent of it. Needless to say, the driving force behind these activities was the complex I felt from not knowing about “The Humiliation of Canossa”…

　Well, if you claim to have received a science-based education—however modestly—you should understand that this problem has structural causes and that “it’s not simply a matter of finding the funds and reallocating them.” Still, setting priorities and tackling the issues in that order is an essential approach. First, we need to consider what the “science” and “humanities” tracks actually are, and what issues are involved there…

　At first, I simply thought of “science” as “a body of knowledge that serves people” and “humanities” as “a body of knowledge that entertains people.”Now, I’ve expanded and refined that view somewhat: “The sciences are academic disciplines that deal with nature,” and “the humanities are academic disciplines that deal with society.” When asked, “Well, what about ‘social sciences’?” my position is that “those are just opportunistic ‘imitations.’”Saying “I’m bad at English, so I’ll study the sciences” or “I’m bad at math, so I’ll study the humanities” is a common excuse among those who’ve studied for entrance exams, and I think you’ll all nod in agreement. Since the “language” of English is mentioned directly, the distraction is so great that you might not notice it, but to put it simply, mathematics is a language for describing nature. It’s simply a matter of which language you choose, and it goes without saying that English is derived from Latin. In other words, in Western countries, the structure is such that “struggling with English” is less common (compared to East Asia, including Japan), so the very concept of dividing fields into “science” and “humanities,” as in Japan, doesn’t even arise…

　It’s about time to wrap things up. Which structure do you find easier to visualize in your mind? Is it the complexity of the natural sciences, or social structures like human relationships? I suppose it varies from person to person. Looking back on myself as an old-timer, I was deprived of opportunities to study the liberal arts, fell behind in science classes, and my brain is left in a half-baked state.I don’t hold a grudge against anyone, but I think the fact that even a half-baked person like me has managed to get by reasonably well is a testament to the excellence of Japan’s education system, and for that, I’m grateful…