Act of Discovery
Group stimulus
The following makes the 7th instalment of Dr. M Ali Asgar's original article titled "Establishment of an Interactive science discovery centre in Asia-Pacific region."
Although one could argue that poor countires can make use of the sotck of world scientific knowledge, it is not tenable. Because the precise composition of the scientific knowledge is such that there are large gaps between this knowledge and the knowledge that would be particularly relevant to the developing countries. The discrepancy between the resource mix for which modern technology is increasingly designed, and the actual resource mix in the developing countiries places them at increasing disadvantages. A very great deal of world scientific and technological effort is concentrated in industries which simply do not exist and will not come to exit in near future. Thus it is not the total stock of knowledge whcih determines the progress but the rate of growth of new knowledge coming from new discoveries that is more relevant to economic growth. Robert Solow attributed only 12.5% of the growth or output per man-hour to increased use of capital and the remaining 87.5% to technical change. Moreover the fact is that a potential for original technological innovation is necessary in order to get the proper benefit from other people's innovation.
The Need For Regional Cooperation:
For creating the microscopic and macroscopic conditions for discovery, motivation, mutual stimulation and judgment is essential. In some ways the economy of a nation, a region and the economy of the world at large form systems, these systems ought to be optimised anew every time new innovation and communication come about. There is also the threshold size below which research programmes and production units are not functional or profitable. Out of this realisation international and regional scientific relations have developed considerably since the nineteenth century, and have taken many forms. In fact since renaissance, the spread of scientific ideas and methods has always surmounted frontiers, often even when the nations concerned were in war.
In the European sector we see the creation of organisations whose essential or even only task is research. CERN in 1953, Euratom in 1958, ECMB in 1970 are a few examples. One of the most effective agents of motivation for discovery is mutual stimulation which arises from the interaction of two or more individuals or even between groups belonging to different nations. Given the right circumstances, human beings can interact in extremely constructive, useful ways. The interaction can induce enhanced motivation as well as corrective judgments. Most of us are responsive to our environment, and group stimulus seems to be one or the best ways of enhancing creativity.
To be continued
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