In late November, Carleton partnered with the University of Ottawa and the National Research Council of Canada to host the 2019 Royal Society of Canada’s annual meeting and Celebration of Excellence and Engagement.
I take this opportunity to offer my most sincere congratulations to all newly inducted Fellows of the Royal Society this year, and in particular to our own Norman Hillmer (History), Robert Letcher (Biology), Tim Cook (History) and Rianne Mahon (Public Policy and Administration).
This year’s theme, championed by President Chad Gaffield, was Science, Trust and Society: Inclusive Culture Under Siege. The keyword was “trust” and the subtext was that expert opinions no longer hold sway as viewpoints increasingly fragment and polarize.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data; sustainability and climate change; better healthcare & quality of life; living together in a diverse world – these are very complex issues that will require intelligent, informed debate.
But in contrast, what we increasingly witness is emotional, partisan, polarized positions held by individuals and groups that either do not want to talk to each other, or indeed cannot talk to each other.
As we polarize towards the extremes, the centre cannot hold. William Butler Yeats captured this idea at the beginning of his epic The Second Coming, written in 1919 in the wake of the Great War.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. Maybe that reminds you of some people? The end result of this state of affairs cannot be good.
Yeats concludes with this terrifying last stanza, in essence predicting the Second Wold War:
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
There is a rough beast slouching indeed, but there is still time to summon the better angels of our nature.
Universities have a vital leadership role to play in fostering openness, enabling critical thinking and empowering citizens to make the crucial distinction between facts and opinions.
Only intelligent, informed debate will bring about intelligent, informed solutions. This is so important for our common future and I sincerely thank President Gaffield and the Royal Society of Canada for highlighting and championing this critical issue.
President Benoit-Antoine Bacon contributes opening remarks to the Royal Society of Canada’s 2019 Celebration of Excellence and Engagement recently held in Ottawa.
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