An election worth voting for

September 26th, 2009

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Here is one election that lets you choose between good and better rather than bad and worse – as is more often the case. Google has initiated a project for finding the ideas that matter the most and ‘that help the most’. It is called $latex 10^{100}.$

Google invited ideas from the world about the projects that would help the most number of people. Now it is seeking votes (till October 8th) to determine which five themes will be funded (with total of $10 million) and guided to reality. FAQs suggest that once the ideas are selected, applications of interest will be sought from capable organizations. Here you can vote for your favorite theme. Two themes that looked most worthwhile to me are “Enhance science and engineering education” and “Encourage positive media depictions of engineers and scientists.” But since there is only one vote to cast, I chose the one about improving media depictions of engineers and scientists. Why? Because I am involved with science and would like the world to think better of me? Partly yes.

But more importantly: I have come to perceive that to a large fraction of public, engineers and scientists are just sources of information and service. Engineers and scientists are generally expected to fix broken equipment, develop snazzier phones and LCD TVs, create medicines that will solve current health concerns, provide images of universe suitable for the desktop, and other short-term benefits. Their impact on the quality of society is under-appreciated. The truth is, scientists and engineers have tremendous long-term impact on the world. Agreed, a few smart and greedy financial managers can change the course of economy and affect your next salary or funding for the next project. But our lives are improved by knowledge and technologies that humans have gathered over time, not by money that we have now. If nobody invented electricity, money won’t be able to power our lives. If nobody invented vaccine, money won’t be able to reduce mortality. If nobody invented the internet, money won’t let Google gather great ideas from masses. There is a real need for shifting the focus of masses from money to knowledge. Bringing about this paradigm-shift of course starts with our being enthusiastic about our professions and conveying that enthusiasm to others. The next effective means are the idiot-box, newspaper, and the internet.

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