Re: Who are we?

Description: We should never kid ourselves that we’re more than specks in the universe.

Question: What forces have shaped humanity most?

Transcript: So the forces that have shaped where we are today as humans go way beyond us and our intelligence. Anyone who sees the forces today at work in the world – whether they be global warming, or the tsunami, or Hurricane Katrina – has to recognize that we are but specks in the universe. That said, anyone who looks at global warming or tsunami or Hurricane Katrina has to realize that those weren’t purely natural disasters. Take Hurricane Katrina. We could have prevented that. We human beings, as small as we are in the universe . . . in our universe . . . in our part of the universe, we could’ve made a difference. Take global warming. I hope we will make a difference. That’s why as President of the University of Pennsylvania, I’ve committed ourselves to having a plan in a couple of years’ time to become carbon neutral, and that we’re . . . 30% of our energy is wind power. So the forces are enormous in the universe. And scientists as well as humanists are hard at work understanding them. And we should never kid ourselves that we’re more than specks in the universe. But we should never let down ourselves in not doing what we can do to make a difference.

Question: What event or period of history had a profound impact on who we are?

Transcript: Oh there are many seminal moments of history that made a profound impact on where we are today. So I would look – depending on how far back in history. If we go far back in my field, you have to look at Greece and democracy. You know, Greek democracy. It’s amazing to me that the Greeks have the civilization that discovered democracy and really elevated human beings, in some sense, to the center of our universe, right? With all kinds of mistakes made about science and biology along, you know, the way. But that was . . . We owe a lot to the Greeks. The Roman Empire was a great lesson in both human greatness and human hubris. Those are two great, positive moments in human history. And then if you fast forward, I would say the enlightenment and putting reason over . . . you know, giving reason more of a role than it has in human history, but showing how important human thinking is. Very important. And then in the 20th century, I look to, you know, both the ________, you know, Stalinism, Maoism and the Holocaust as three enormous, disastrous episodes in human history that we’re still . . . we still have to learn from.

Question: What forces have shaped our education system?

Transcript: Where we are today in education has been shaped, I think, overwhelmingly by enlightenment philosophy that human beings are distinctively thinking animals. And that enlightenment philosophy is – whether you’re a critic of it or a supporter of it – absolutely essential to understand the educational project that we have. I also think that in this country, the United States, John Dewey has had a huge influence on American education. And the founder of Penn, Benjamin Franklin, has had a huge influence on education. And the most important influence that I would point to is understanding the connection between knowledge and practice; knowing that ultimately for us as human beings, we strive to put knowledge into practice. And that’s a very important part of why governments are as supportive of education as they are. And when they’re not supportive, why they’re undermining their own society by not supporting education. Because ultimately, without a thinking people, you’re not gonna have a productive people. And ultimately, without a thinking people, you’re not gonna have a democratic people.

Recorded on: 7/5/07