An era of collective problems and challenges

By Muhammad Nauman

In the light of science and innovation, human civilization is divided into different phases starting from the Stone Age, through the Bronze Age and Iron Age, and now we are living in a Silicon Age.

The key parameter in the advancement, evolution and spread of scientific knowledge is collaboration, cooperation and collective effort. The knowledge of allopathy and allopathic medicine took over the homeopathic counterpart due to the working mechanism mentioned above. Collaboration always leads to exciting outcomes and effective tackling of the challenging scientific and societal problems of different human civilizations, while a self-serving approach and prioritization of local interests over global interests always lead to conflicting situations and chaotic results.

Humans are facing grand scientific and existential challenges in the 21st century such as climate change, food and water security, deforestation, air pollution, global health, geoengineering and pandemics. All these problems can be tackled through collective efforts and collaboration.

We are living in a global village where every region is connected to other regions through the land, air and sea. The flow of information and flux of the human population is much stronger and faster than in the civilizations of our ancestors. Under such circumstances, the problems of a country or region are not just local but instead, problems with global consequences. We have the recent experience and experiment of the COVID-19 pandemic where one individual was enough to shake the policy and economy of the whole country, thanks to the scientific revolution in the field of transportation in the last five or six decades. Collaboration is more crucial than ever before.

Developed countries bear more responsibility compared to developing and underdeveloped countries due to their stable economic situation, access to scientific tools and effective role in policymaking on a global level. They can share knowledge, expertise and tools with other countries in order to meet the minimum threshold of the workforce and human resources required in tackling the grand challenges.

Developed countries have opened their doors for smart and skillful people from all over the world towards greener life pastures. This mode of working is quite effective in enhancing productivity, but also widens the gap between developed and underdeveloped countries which face a shortage of capable minds and effective policymakers. The working mechanism requires a paradigm shift from absorption of bright minds in one's own country or territory towards sharing and cooperation.

Homogenous distribution of human capital will be more effective in addressing the grand challenges. On one hand, it will act as a bridge among different countries and improve collaboration and understanding, while on the other hand, it will help in handling problems such as poverty, access to quality education and extremism.

South Korea is a rising star in the fields of science, innovation, economy and quality education and therefore can play a key role in addressing the abovementioned outstanding issues of the 21st century.

The writer is a former student and researcher of Kyungpook National University and former vice president of the Pakistani Students and scholars Association Korea (PSAK).