By Facundo Manes

In a global world that is becoming more and more connected and competitive, the key for progress will not be natural resources, nor the industry, nor the financial system, but the capacities and talents of citizens.  

Our big bet as a Nation for the 21st century must be knowledge. Research, education, science and technology: that is and will increasingly be the barrier that shall divide developed countries from others. And as Argentinians we must decide where we want to be.

The world has changed dramatically. We have experienced the transformation ourselves. From now on, if we want to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and competitive global society, the main keys to achieve progress shall not be natural resources, nor manufacture, nor the financial system, but citizens’ skills and talents. Consequently, our intellectual capital is the tool we must protect, stimulate and enhance in every person and in a collective way.

What is the main value of knowledge? The answer to this may come from a simple and revealing case. In 1970, Ghana and the Republic of Korea had a similar level of income per capita. However, by 2013, the income per capita in Korea was 14 times higher than in Ghana. The major cause of that difference was the sustained investment in the use and organization of knowledge. Such investment is expressed through the over 400 public research centres, public expenditure per student and the considerable growth in enrolment to technical education that Korea has nowadays.

When we talk about wealth in a knowledge society, we also talk about inclusion. Investment in educations, in new ideas and in scientific and technological research provide capacities and create genuine jobs, while it generates a solid and sustainable economy that encourages equity. It would be contradictory if it wasn’t like that. A nation based on knowledge has the priority of protecting and stimulating brains in development (a period of time that goes beyond the second decade of life) of its community. Besides being nourished, the brain must have cognitive and affective stimulus and a favourable context. Vulnerable brains are a human drama and a social mortgage. Poverty produces a “cognitive tax”. The context of poverty captures people in a circle from which it is very difficult to come out: those who do not have their (or their children’s) basic daily needs granted are forced to think on a daily basis and therefore find it difficult to focus in long term perspectives.

Inclusion is everyone’s responsibility, but those of us who have these needs satisfied have a higher level of responsibility. We must not be touched just by a heart-breaking picture posted in a newspaper, a television note that shows inequality, or a random visit to a vulnerable zone. We must work all the time as if as Argentinians we were connected as a family where members protect one another. If a boy who lives in a poor neighbourhood in Buenos Aires’ suburbs cannot have a meal today, we must feel that problem as if it affected our own child. If an unemployed person suffers in Patagonia, he must be our brother/sister. If a retiree cannot pay for his medication in Jujuy, we must worry as if he was our grandfather.

According to surveys that are published now and then in newspapers, security is one of the biggest social concerns. Actually, that is quite understandable.  Nobody enjoys living in fear within a violent society. Knowledge society is also linked to this. The positive impact of education is even deeper in adverse contexts. For instance, education in prisons reduces recidivism. A study conducted in 2013 by the University of Buenos Aires and the National Procurators’ Office showed that 8 out of 10 people who graduate from college while being in jail have not been convicted again. Education provides skills and opportunities for everyone and generates more integrated and peaceful societies.

Knowledge and democracy interact in a virtuous circle. Countries with higher levels of schooling show greater support to democratic rules and higher levels of participation. Furthermore, democracies that invest in knowledge are more prosperous and have lower tolerance to corruption. Regarding the first statement, UNESCO reports that, in average, a year of education results on a +10% higher salary. Regarding the second statement, people who understand that goals are achieved through effort and rules do not accept corruption. Education teaches us that corrupt people are criminals and that the phrase “he steals but does things” is only an immoral alibi. The reason is that the person doing this shall always favour his/her personal benefit to the detriment of his/her community. Progress is not possible without punishment granted by the judicial system and social sanction to the person who steals what belongs to all of us.

Education also favours understanding other people and that promotes tolerance to other cultures, religions and ethnic groups. Xenophobia and discrimination are both sings of fundamentalism and of ignorance.

When government, companies, research institutions and society work together to enhance the knowledge cause, social and economic progress is inevitable. Only knowledge enables us to foresee crisis, reduce social and economic gaps, seize opportunities and add value to what we produce.

These statements are rather easy to understand. However, for some reason, we cannot do it properly. Why? One of the main problems of our society is that we are constantly thinking about today, about the current circumstances, and not about the long term. Argentinians tend to suffer a neurological condition that affects the front lobe called by science “short-sightedness of the future”. However, this condition did not always prevail among us. A clear example is public education. An entire generation of Argentinians, who had already passed away by the time we graduated, were people who thought beyond their own biological lives. In 1869 around 80% of the Argentinian population could not read nor write. Decades later, only 13% of the population was in that situation. Such transformation was not the product of chance. Long-term decisions and public and social policies were made and implemented.

It is rather frustrating for people and for societies not to have a dream. Our challenge is to discuss the country we want on the long term. We must think about ourselves as a nation, as a community that has a past, a present, and most important of all, a shared future.

Development must be our obsession, instead of being just an indicator of economic growth. It is a sustainable, comprehensive and deeply human evolution of the Argentinian society. We cannot keep on waiting using the excuse of having to attend more important issues.  Education must be a priority in the public agenda. Clearly, it would be vital for the next government to assume the responsibility of ensuring this. However, society (us) must fight to set quality education as a top priority and o contribute to develop state policies based on knowledge. A society committed with quality public education can achieve this.

Currently we are living in a country that has had over 3 decades of full democracy. It has flaws, but it is a full democracy. Our compatriots fought for it and it is something we must feel really proud about. Argentinian society is responsible for achieving democracy and it must be its strongest warden. Similarly to how we obtained democracy by the beginning of the 80’s, today we must demand and achieve a society based on knowledge that enable us to go beyond our possibilities.

In order to do this, we must not be mean and we must not have a short-term perspective, as we may not be witnesses of that prosperous future. That is not relevant. We must plant the seed and take care of the sprouts, to prevent them from drying, burning or drowning. The knowledge revolution is the essential revolution for Argentina. A revolution we must be involved in.

Facundo Manes is a neurologist and neuroscientist, he is the dean of the University of Favaloro and the director of the Institute of Cognitive Neurology (Ineco).

Source: La Nación