TED Conversations

Closing Statement from Lourdes Cahuich

Thank you very much to all of you for sharing your thoughts, proposals and opinions. I have been reading your comments and here are my thoughts:

Every child is born a scientist, we all began our lives with curiosity and an urge to experiment and learn about the world around us. Sciences is the best tool we have to learn about the Universe and, if we use it properly, it will be the way to guarantee our survival as a species thru space and time.

A citizen scientist is any person who, no matter his/her background, dedicates some of his/her resources (time, computers, eyes, hands, brains, etc) to help the developing and/or popularizing of science.

For the first time in the history of humankind we have the technological capabilities to have everyone around the world, engaged in the science making process. We should use this tool to teach the new generations what science is, and how to use it in the everyday life and not be afraid of making mistakes.

In short, I think we should:

* Change the way to educate our children, so they can keep with their natural curiosity when they grow up.

* Teach science in a friendly "part of our lives" way, for instance: To learn how to do our own research (to try at least) to verify the information we get from the media or the Internet, so we can develop our own conclusion about any topic, and therefore, we can teach by example the importance of "critical thinking"

Every one of us should use some part of our resources (in an innovative and creative way) to help popularizing science and critical thinking; even a few minutes of your day helping explain (or research) something to your family-friend-neighbors can make a huge difference in the long run.

Thank you again and greetings from Mexico.

Lourdes