THE IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS

Science is extremely practical and, thanks to it, our society has developed in such a way that many less people die and we function more effectively. We could carry on like this and solve even more problems, but with the development of science, it gets more difficult to get updated and understand current discoveries. That is why, in many schools, teenagers start to get specialised at a younger age. Is this a good decision? Should we set aside humanities subjects for the “good” of society?

Firstly, both humanities and science help to develop critical thinking. At the time of the big Greek thinkers, science was totally linked to humanities. Mathematics, for instance, was (and could still be) considered a branch of philosophy. By learning about logic and facts, we get a powerful skill for life.

On the other hand, if we develop that ability just by learning science, we will be disregarding other useful skills. For example, empathy. Empathy is very useful when trying to understand the needs of society and doing things work properly. By learning science, we get a deep knowledge of the world around us, but we do not learn so much about how people think and act.

All in all, even when thinking objectively about what is the best for society, I come to the conclusion that we should not let young people specialise earlier than they do now, because if so, our future society may end up splitting in different groups of people that cannot understand each other.