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‘Decolonizing’ Math and Science
- achrono 4y agoAs the article hints, the irony is that many postcolonialists have a caricatured understanding of history. There are proper intellectual histories that establish abundantly that pre-15th century science, engineering and mathematics have been built by multiple cultures/nations and Western Europe was relatively a backwater of this international activity. Civilizations have come and gone -- all we have in their wake is some of their pottery and some of their knowledge. Come 15th c. AD and things change dramatically. Science & technology can barely happen if you're in poverty due to subjugation, so comparisons of colonized nations with their colonizers from the 15th to the 20th centuries are simply not apples to apples. Today you can already witness China and India getting started on their own scientific & technological journeys (with China obviously way ahead). In another 5 centuries, maybe we'll all be wondering about the Chinese miracle, astonished at how they accelerated science & technology so dramatically way beyond what some north-west Eurasian nation-states cobbled together during and shortly after the so-called Enlightenment.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- zozbot234 4y agoChina and India were wealthier and more advanced than the West prior to the industrial revolution. Colonization was a comparatively minor factor historically (with obvious exceptions in the Americas) ; polities have always engaged in conquest and oppression throughout history. Industrialization is what actually propelled the West to its current prominence.
- achrono 4y agoSurely colonization was not a "minor factor historically", comparatively or not. Polities have engaged in conquest and oppression for sure, and the subjugated have always paid the price. Baghdad for example lost its glory after conquest too. But the scale at which Western colonialism happened after the 15th c. is commensurate with the scale of scientific progress that took place there. Industrialisation, I would submit, was something that accelerated the process via radically higher efficiencies, not what enabled the development of science and technology in the first place. Let's also remember that industrialisation itself was also used as a weapon of colonization and was hardly a morally neutral value addition to Western society.
- gloryjulio 4y agoAs an Asian, decolonize scientific subjects is one of the funniest thing I have ever heard. What does it even mean?
- mathteddybear 4y agoOhm's law you called resistance law, Maxwell's equations you called electromagnetic equations, Planck's constant you called the quantum constant... -- The Three Body Problem
- gloryjulio 4y agoYeah sure, if it's just renaming of the functions and variables in the code base that's harmless I guess. But why would you do that if it's indeed from certain person (provided by that it's not stolen credit)? Are we going to getting rid all of the human names from the heaven's objects? We are still naming those things with ppl's names afaik
- zen21 4y agoAlso, aside from credit, it just makes it harder to research the history. I mean did someone else discover Maxwell’s equations, and Plank’s constant who we are overlooking? Do we need to stop using the word algorithm, and replace it with say, “procedural recipe”?
- mathteddybear 4y ago
- aaron695 4y ago
- Georgelemental 4y agoDirect link to the curriculum that is the subject of this article: https://ncea.education.govt.nz/science/chemistry-and-biology https://ncea.education.govt.nz/science/chemistry-and-biology If this wasn't from an official government website, I would have sworn it was parody.
- animitronix 4y agoWhat garbage. Just lost all respect for NZ.
- animitronix 4y ago"All living things contain genetic material that informs whakapapa and provides for continuity and diversity of life" WTAF
- cuteboy19 4y agoReplace whakapapa with genealogy and it kind of makes sense.
- macrolocal 4y agoCaveat: there can be deep ecological insight in how locals conceptualize their environment, eg.
- vba616 4y agoInstead of reading crap on the internet, I recommend this classic book on colonialism in Africa: https://www.amazon.com/Things-Fall-Apart-Chinua-Achebe/dp/0385474547/ https://www.amazon.com/Things-Fall-Apart-Chinua-Achebe/dp/03...
- vba616 4y agoCall National Review crap, get downvoted. Noted.
- noobermin 4y agoTo be honest, I find the Maori example a bit strange, but it isn't like people do not impute their own religious beliefs or more blandly, their culture into science or what they learn. The only thing that may make it slightly distinct is this is a directive from a government. I once had an acquaintance in grad school who was studying string theory, and he connected what he studied to his fundie christian beliefs, for example, he talked about how multiple dimensions required by string theory explained how God worked in ways we could not see. Again, I found it odd, but I respected his work regardless, which was not that bad merely looking at the research.
- PeterStuer 4y agoUsing the same awfull terminology, a 're-collonization' of the humanities is well overdue.