{"id":654,"date":"2018-05-16T12:49:22","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T10:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uct.ac.za\/cancerphd\/?p=654"},"modified":"2018-05-16T13:11:33","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T11:11:33","slug":"can-a-phd-save-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uct.ac.za\/cancerphd\/2018\/05\/can-a-phd-save-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You the Ironman or Wonder Woman of the Science?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can a PhD save the world?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

By\u00a0 Loosely Translated<\/a>\u00a0on May 16, 2018<\/i><\/p>\n

Shared by Amanda Edwards<\/em><\/p>\n

I, like so many of us, always wanted to be a superhero. As a child, I dreamed of being Ironman. I was going to be a genius billionaire playboy\u00a0 \u00a0philanthropist who would bring about world peace, save the world from alien invasions and use my technology to develop cleaner sources of energy. I was also going to fly and shoot beams out of my hands!<\/p>\n

My dream changed as I got older. In high school, I went from wanting to be like Ironman with the suit to wanting to be a\u00a0virologist in a hazmat suit<\/a>\u00a0curing Ebola in West Africa. At the start of my postgraduate career, I went from wanting to be a virologist in West Africa to being a mycologist studying the fungi that kill trees. I pursued a PhD to help the world!<\/p>\n

\"BOOM_the<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019m here, I feel like my research won\u2019t have as much impact as someone else researching safer energy or a vaccine for HIV. In truth, many PhDs probably don\u2019t think their work matters or that they are making a REAL difference.<\/p>\n

\"NumberIf you look at the number of PhDs in the United States between 1957 and 2016, you\u2019ll see an almost tenfold increase in the number of doctorates awarded\u2014a trend that exists in many other countries too. While there are more people walking around with PhDs today than there were in the 1950s, it hasn\u2019t helped solve any of the major problems facing the world in 1957 or today. War, inequality, climate change, biodiversity loss and clean energy were all problems in 1957 and are still today (in some cases, even worse). If we adopt an extremely simplistic view, it would seem that all the PhDs in the world are not having much of an impact. That makes me feel worse. Fortunately, it\u2019s a very simplistic view.<\/p>\n

We understand a lot more about the world today than we did in 1957. The purpose of a PhD, among other things, is to generate knowledge. Knowledge drives humanity forward; it doesn\u2019t matter if it comes from studying the migratory patterns of birds, assessing the importance of cultural heritage in the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century, or developing a new vaccine for HIV. All this research generates knowledge which allows us to understand ourselves, our world and the universe better. And this knowledge is the starting point to effect change and growth. Because, in the right hands, knowledge can be used to change policy, improve education, create technology that makes the world a better place.<\/p>\n

Jane Goodall summed it up perfectly: \u201cOnly if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, this knowledge \u2013 however big, however small \u2013 has to reach beyond the thesis. If you think of the size of our global problems \u2013 migration, war, disease, climate change \u2014 science communication and engagement with society has never been more important. But it\u2019s a difficult road, trying to communicate science to non-scientists\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Bill-Nye-Saves-the-World\"<\/p>\n

Even someone like Bill Nye the Science Guy battles. His show, \u201cBill Nye Saves the World,\u201d which debuted in 2017, seeks to tackle the anti-science sentiment in the US by educating through entertainment. It has been met with a lot of criticism (obviously) and hasn\u2019t received the wonderful ratings it was looking for.\u00a0 Niel deGrasse Tyson\u2019s show, \u201cCosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,\u201d was Emmy nominated and praised for its success (mainly amongst space enthusiasts). Tyson won the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences for the show and its promotion of science. Unfortunately, it only reached\u00a01.3% of all U.S. households<\/a>.\u00a0Scientists seem to be famous among scientists and science enthusiasts, which is not a large enough part of the population or a part we need to be communicating more with.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"science<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t expect a handful of scientists to do all the communicating. To draw in a larger audience, we need to speak to a more diverse audience, of different races, religions, countries, political views, etc. To do that, we need very diverse scientists to present science issues that unite global audiences around shared values and what we can do to address them. Here lies an opportunity to become the next science hero, like\u00a0Lee Berger<\/a>,\u00a0Jill Farant<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Nox Makunga<\/a>\u2026 only better, a science superhero. Become the Ironman or Wonder Woman of the science universe and use your PhD powers for good. Talk and help save the world.<\/p>\n

Source\u00a0link:\u00a0SAYAS BLOG (2018)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can a PhD save the world? By\u00a0 Loosely Translated\u00a0on May 16, 2018 Shared by Amanda Edwards I, like so many of us, always wanted to be a superhero. 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