Science, what is it good for?

Without it technological advancements would be nowhere near what they are now if that apple didn’t spark a question in Newton when it fell from the tree, resulting in various laws we are taught to follow when working out things like speed, weight, and whatever else those equations do.

But how do you decolonise science?

In the #FeesMustFall movement, the decolonisation of subjects and transformation of the institution itself is a massive part of the debate within various faculties, especially at UCT: How do you turn a university in Africa into an Afrocentric space, using the ideas and history of the continent to teach those in attendance?

During one of the many debates happening at UCT, a student stood up to ask this about science:

Here’s what she had to say, thanks to Times Live:

Science as a whole is a product of western modernity and the whole thing should be scratched off. Especially in Africa.

I have a question for all the science people. There is a place in KZN called Umhlab’uyalingana. They believe that through the magic‚ you call it black magic‚ they call it witchcraft‚ you are able to send lightening to strike someone. Can you explain that scientifically because it’s something that happens?

The meeting then breaks into laughter at her question as someone in the audience yells “It’s not true!”. After the meeting’s chair restores order‚ she continues:

Western knowledge is totalising. It is saying that it was Newton and only Newton who knew and saw an apple falling and out of nowhere decided gravity existed and created an equation and that is it.

Whether people knew Newton or not‚ or whatever happens in West Africa‚ Northern Africa‚ the thing is the only way to explain gravity is through Newton who sat under a tree and saw an apple fall.

So western modernity is the problem that decolonisation directly deals with. It’s to say that we are going to decolonise by having knowledge that is produced by us‚ that speaks to us and that is able to accommodate knowledge from our perspective.

Decolonising the science would mean doing away with it entirely and starting all over again to deal with how we respond to the environment and how we understand it.

Of course, this sparked the #ScienceMustFall debate on Twitter – and in real life:

Sure, her question is a bit silly, but then again it seeks a broader understanding of the space they are in and what the conversation is about.

To claim outrage over a UCT student asking for science to be completely scrapped without consideration of the broader picture is pure laziness.

Do better.

[source:timeslive]