Cultural Nature of Scientific Temper

Dr. P.V. S. Kumar Scientist, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), CSIR, India

Abstract
The explicitly stated 'policy' statement on science communication can be inferred by a few references to inculcating 'scientific temper' among the people in the Science Policy Resolution of India in 1958. This article of faith was also incorporated later on as the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1976. These articles of faith remained on paper or rhetorical speeches without operationalising nor implemented in large scale in India. One of the main objective of the Science and Technology Policy formulated in 2003 is "To ensure that the message of science reaches every citizen of India, man and woman, young and old, so that we advance scientific temper, emerge as a progressive and enlightened society, and make it possible for all our people to participate fully in the development of science and technology and its application for human welfare. Indeed, science and technology will be fully integrated with all spheres of national activity". In academic literature, a gradual shift away from simplistic conceptualisations of the citizen as empty vessels awaiting authoritative knowledge from scientists and scientific institutions (deficit model), towards a more sophisticated conceptualisation based on ideas about distributed expertise and mutual respect (dialogic model), can be identified over the past 25 years, which is reflected in at least some policy documents, institutional rhetoric, funding initiatives, and practical applications.

Nature of contemporary science: We live in an era where most policy debates relevant to science and emerging technologies are not simply technical issues. Rather, they are collectively decided at the intersection of politics, values, and expert knowledge. The academic discipline - science communication (and its overlapping discourses such as science literacy, public understanding of science etc) has emerged due to concerns such as the lack of intellectual public support for scientific ways of thinking and funds for public scientific research work. The widespread diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies facilitated global reach of science and technology erasing time and space barriers. Along with these developments, the neo-liberal economic policies adopted by a majority of countries, including India, have resulted in privatisation of scientific research and its results (intellectual property regimes). Scientific research got embedded in high tech instrumentation with the result the boundaries between pure and applied research erased science became techno science. As opposed to the sciences (as conceived, especially, by scientists and philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries), the technosciences do not even attempt to distinguish between theoretical representation of the world and technical intervention into the world. It is nowadays a commonplace that representing and intervening are part of every attempt to arrive at knowledge of empirical matters (Hacking 1983). With the result that science communication subsumes both science and technologies and the disciplinary field of science communication has also come to be known as Public Understanding of Science and Technology (PUST) (Massimiano Bucchi and Brian Trench (2008))

The western countries are besieged with issues relating to sophisticated public outreach and engagement to overcome perceptual gridlock on climate change, for encouraging public acceptance of the teaching of evolution in schools, for meaningfully involving the public in societal decisions about plant biotechnology and nanotechnology, or for effectively engaging with stakeholders and a wider public on almost any issue. On the other hand, the developing countries, particularly in India, are concerned to spread values and attitudes of scientific culture among broad sections of people. The issues before developing countries is to inculcate rational attitudes and values among lay people who can then participate in public policy making and also contribute to the progress of the society and nation. These concerns become even more important as India moves from traditional resource based economy to knowledge based economy (as is evidenced by the constitution of Indias National Knowledge Commission in 2005). This kind of economy requires, inter alia, people who are skilled and educated in science subjects. These people must be able to conduct research and undertake development initiatives to maintain or increase production of goods and services

The academic discipline of science communication has flourished since 1970s with the establishment of teaching courses, research and diffusion of the reseach through scientific journals such as Public Understanding of Science, Science Communication etc, and annual conferences of its professional researchers (Public Communication of Science and Technology PCST) and Science Journalists etc. The

basic terminology of the discipline - such as science (and its relation to technology) public and communication have been debated in these fora as also the theoretical bases of the disciplinary practices been identified. Burns et al (2003) map the various schools of thought and offer a 'contemporary' definition of science communication:
"as the use of appropriate skills, media, activities, and dialogue to produce one or more of the following personal responses to science (the vowel analogy) Awareness, including familiarity with new aspects of science Enjoyment or other affective responses, e.g. appreciating science as entertainment or art Interest, as evidenced by voluntary involvement with science or its communication Opinions, the forming, reforming, or confirming of science-related attitudes Understanding of science, its content, processes, and social factors" Science communication is usually mediated by media, science communicators, museums etc as shown in Figure.1

Public Scieentists

Media Science Communicators

Figure 1 showing different spheres of science communication

Three Stages in the development of Science communication: Bauer et al (2007) identify 3 stages in the growth of science communication literature - Science Literacy (1960 onwards), Public Understanding of Science (1985 onwards) and Science and Society (1990s onwards).

Science Literacy School Scientific literacy is conceptualized as the level of understanding of science and technology needed to function as citizens in a modern industrial society. Science Literacy is a term first coined by Paul De Hurd in 1958 soon after the launch of Sputnik by the Soviets. Science Literacy is defined is conceptualised as having three dimensions (Shen 1975):

1. Practical scientific literacy, is scientific knowledge that can be applied to help solve practical problems. 2. Civic scientific literacy enables a citizen . . . to become more aware of science and science-related issues and thus participate more fully in the democratic processes of an increasingly technological society. 3. Cultural scientific literacy, is an appreciation of science as a major human achievement,

Miller (1983) emphasized that In a democratic society, the level of scientific literacy in the population has important implications for science policy decisions to improve the quality of both science and technology and political life. His construct of survey instruments based on (a) content (a vocabulary of basic scientific constructs sufficient to read competing news stories in a newspaper or magazine)(b) process (an understanding of the process or nature of scientific inquiry) and (c) social factors (some level of understanding of the impact of science and technology on individuals and on society) became the basis of surveys used in the US, particularly the National Science Foundation (NSF) driven Science and Engineering Indicators (since 1985 edition), of which Science and Technology - Public Attitudes and Understanding of Science is based on the analyses of these nation wide surveys. Miller believed that in a democratic society, the level of scientific literacy in the population has important implications for science policy decisions... any measures we can take to raise this level... will improve the quality of both our science and technology and our political life (Miller 1983). The Scientific Literacy measures were based on formal school science knowledge rather than practical scientific knowledge. This model does not take into cognisance of heterogeneous publics - each with different levels of capabilities and cultures. The Scientific Literacy model considers people who hold superstitious and religious beliefs to be scientifically illiterate. The model does not take into account the culturally subjective environments in which people live. It does not recognise that people can have conflicting and coexisting beliefs that manifest according to the cultural context (Raza et. al., 2002) The Scientific Literacy model assumes a causal link between the acquisition of scientific knowledge and a positive relationship between the public and S&T, however this positive relationship did not show up in several rounds of longitudinal surveys - the scientific literacy showed a plateau over the years

Chris Toumey et al (2010) discuss the lacunae in the Millers's Science Literacy model, particularly as it is applied to NSF indicators and recommend a series of changes in the design of the survey instruments. Toumey et al find that persons in the public have different reasons for acquiring scientific knowledge and using it. Arguing that the theoretical basis of Miller's Civic Literacy is based on 'deficit model' (the public as a 'micro-scientist' compared to Scientists who possess large amount of scientific knowledge) Toumey et al offer a schema based on the contexts and needs of public who uses the scientific knowledge, as presented below in Table. 1:
Table 1. SSCC for science in the service of citizens and consumers.

A 3 by 3 Matrix of Purposes and Content, showing how certain kinds of knowledge fit into cells

Civic engagement with Science Factual Knowledge

Practical / Individual decision Making How should antibiotics be used

Cutlural Curiosity about Scientific Worldview What is an electron

Processes & Standards

Institutional Knowledge

How is probability relevant to a particular issue Why does nanotechnology receive government money ?

Principles of naturalistic explanation Which experts and institutions that I can Trust

Chris Toumey, John Besley, Meg Blanchard, Mark Brown, Michael Cobb, Elaine Howard Ecklund, Margaret Glass, Thomas M. Guterbock, A. Eamonn Kelly, & Bruce Lewenstein (2010) The NSF Workshop On Public Knowledge Of Science,October 2010 Public Understanding of Science School: Britain has a long tradition of promoting science and technology being the pioneer of industrial revolution. Concerns for spread of scientific culture were a concomitant development along with the growth of science and technology in U. K. The interest in public understanding of science which is a British idea was articulated by a report published by Royal Society in 1985 called Bodmer Report, after its chairman, Sir Walter Bodmer. The report identified public ignorance as the reason for declining enrolments in science and the general decline of UKs intellectual and economic power. PUS got institutionalised as a result of this report one of them being Committee on Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) in 1986. PUS was basically seen as following deficit; model of science communication a top-down model in which scientific information was supposed to flow uni-directionally from scientists to public, albeit through the mediation of science journalists, media and museums etc. The PUS model was also perceived as being paternalistic. The House of Lords, published another report Science in Society in 2000 emphasing the importance of public engagement in science communication activities. The result was the birth of public engagement of science and technology (PEST. The Office of Science and Technology and various research councils in UK which published a series of guidelines on public engagement of scientists with lay people. International measures such as the Eurobarometer (European Union countries) and National Science Foundation (USA) surveys are based on the PUS model. However, the PUS model also acknowledges some aspects of the multidimensional character of the public's relationship with S&T. Hence measures that have been used to gauge levels of PUS examine: knowledge of science, attitudes toward S&T, and interest in S&T issues The deconstruction of several concepts involved in Public Understanding / Engagement of Science by several scholars led to a profusion of academic literature. The general consensus of these works are that public are heterogenous, have differing needs depending on the context, have their own frame of values and attitudes in perceiving and understanding science. Science also was seen as consisting of different disciplines and specialisations each with its own jargon and communities of practioners. Understanding can be decomposed as cognitive understanding ( new knowledge being intelligible, plausible and useful), affective (the engagement with science as germane, salient and palatable) and connative (actionable, trust and control on engagement) (Steve Aslop 1999).

Burns et al depict these issues through an analogy of mountain climbing as shown in figure 1 below. Figure 2. Mountain Climbing Analogy of Science Communication

Public awareness of scientific disciplines (domains) and their efforts to climb begins the awareness and later understanding of people. The ladders depicted in the figure are the means media etc which enable people to climb up a chosen mountain (domain). The depth and height may represent the amount of skills and knowledge one may acquire during the process of accent. Though the peaks are represented as highest level of capabilities / skills they are ideal states for lay public, which only specialist scientists can claim to have achieved. The Science in Society model This model holds that the relationship between science and the public is not only based on formal literacy or attitudes, but also on the social, cultural and political environments in which the public actively engages with science in their everyday lives. The developments in social constructivism within Science Technology and Society (STS) disciplines led to redefinition of science communication. Science and technology were seen as social / cultural products involving human subjects who interact within a laboratory or in a wider society with values and norms which enter into production of scientific objects. The communication of science, for that matter, any communication is seen as a cultural construct to frame the messages and context in suit the cultural milieu of public. Scientific culture is an integrated societal value system that appreciates and promotes science, per se, and widespread scientific literacy, as important pursuits The report Optimising Public Understanding of Science and Technology (OPUS) published in 2003 depicts the cultural differences across European countries in their activities relating to public understanding of science The report as a starting point reveals the different nomenclature adopted by different European countries for similar set of activities Public Understanding of Science in UK, the French notion of Scientific and Technological Culture etc. The report identifies several success stories across the European countries for implementation in other countries (OPUS 2003). Language is both a carrier and manifestation of culture where linguistic variations occur, the science communication has to be sensitive to frame and deliver the messages. At the same time, linguistic barriers also prevent trans-cultural ideas or objects in a given culture. Ulrik Felt et al (2003)

discuss the problems in transferability of science communication activities across European countries which they label as boundary objects( Felt et al 2003) Scientific Temper:

In India, the scientific culture is expressed by the notion Scientific Temper. Articulated by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book, Discovery of India (1946) scientific temper refers to a mentality or an outlook rather than a specialized body of knowledge. It addressed itself to universalist concerns of values of life rather than to narrow and specialized questions of scientific research and application Unlike scientific expertise alone, the project of scientific temper was a call for the diffusion of science mindedness throughout the population. The growth of scientific temper was measured by the extent to which ordinary people were using the methods of science to lifes problems Scientific temper is an indigenous discourse rich with potentials for cross cultural / gender sensitive and environmental sensitive and laden with values to overcome scientistic excesses and fight against irrational / traditional modes of mentality. The Indian Science and Technology Policy of 2003 states clearly the role of Science and Technology (S&T) in India, inter alia, towards the need to spread of scientific temper in the country. Recognizing the changing context of the scientific enterprise, and to meet present national needs in the new era of globalisation, Government (of India) enunciates the following objectives of its Science and Technology Policy:

To ensure that the message of science reaches every citizen of India, man and woman, young and old, so that we advance scientific temper, emerge as a progressive and enlightened society, and make it possible for all our people to participate fully in the development of science and technology and its application for human welfare. Indeed, science and technology will be fully integrated with all spheres of national activity.

Although enunciated by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1946, the concept of Scientific Temper remained elusive in its implementation. This is even more ironical because, Scientific Temper was incorporated as one of the Fundamental Duties of every citizen of India through an amendment in the Indian Constitution to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. (Fundamental Duties of every Indian citizen vide Part IV-A, Article 51-A (h) introduced as a part of 42nd Amendment to the Constitution of India in 1976) An attempt was made to trace the usage of the word scientific temper in published literature by using Google ngram viewer a tool which allows any user to trawl through the digitized texts in the Google books which is a corpus of about 5 million published books all over the world in most of the languages. The Google ngram viewer enables to

search for a particular word, phrase as they occur within these corpora of published books. Although the Google Books do not cover every publication that is printed in the world, they can be taken as a fair sample of the entire published literature. What the yaxis shows is that of all the bigrams contained in books written in English and published, what percentage of them are "scientific temper" or "science communication" and public understanding of science? The frequency of selected words / phrases occurring in at least 40 books in a given year will be shown in the graph, and these frequencies can be smoothened to by using averages across 3, 4, 5 . Years as per the users choices. Below is the graphical view of the occurrence of the phrase scientific temper, science communication and public understanding searched through the 1800 to 2008 corpora to elicit the patterns of their occurrences over these years: Google ngram viewer for Scientific temper , science communication and public understanding of science through 1800 2008 using a 3 year average of frequencies of occurrence Figure 3. Ngram view of Science Communication, Scientific Temper and Public Understanding Science 1800 - 2008

As a concept Scientific Temper was used initially to refer to a set of practices scientific praxis among the scientists (epistemic communities). The concept of scientific temper was initially used to refer to a set of norms and practices fostering to the growth of science among scientists. Over time, this concept is transposed to refer to set of beliefs among lay public with the hope that these scientific beliefs would lead to progress of the society / nation to which this publics belong. The efforts of scientists / science communicators to communicate with public led to a growing corpus of academic and popular literature. Together this body of literature came to be identified as science communication or public understanding of science. The science communitys historic perspective on the public is grounded in the legitimate interests of science; but, the promotion of the public understanding of science needs to be grounded in the publics legitimate interests in science. The earliest usage of the concept of scientific temper was around 1890s (to be specific 1893 in The Andover Review page 759).When the concept peaks in the 1940s and again in 1990s

most of the publications are from India denoting a shift in the meaning and indigenization of the concept a possible influence of Nehrus Work and the impact his work generated The phrase scientific temper predates the other two concepts science communication and public understanding of science which show their appearances from about 1950s peaking around 2000. The saliency of scientific temper as concept is thus established using this tool. There is a growing literature around the phrases science communication and public understanding of science each of these have attained the status of scientific disciplines through well established epistemic community of practitioners, journals and teaching programs. Although Scientific Temper predates these two concepts, there is yet no such conceptual clarity nor the disciplinary focus around this concept. Unlike scientific expertise alone, the project of scientific temper was a call for the diffusion of science mindedness throughout the population. The growth of scientific temper was measured by the extent to which ordinary people were using the methods of science to lifes problems. Post Nehruvian era the usage of the term came to refer to a set of attitudes / values / outlook (Weltanschauung) among the lay people. The term has acquired some popular currency by the rhetorical usage of political leaders and bureaucrats particularly during the public ceremonies relating to S&T in India. Scientific Temper has the following aspects in its conceptualisation. 1. An active sensitive questioning, understanding and creative relationship between humans and environment 2. A rational approach to the discovery of truth through free and creative thinking, experimentation and objective analyses 3. A steadfast commitment (with humility) to established truth while being open to new facts which can change the established paradigms / dogmas 4. A deliberate effort to distinguish apparent and real causes of phenomenon 5. Consistency between theory and practice 6. Willingness to follow up to logical conclusions of search for facts 7. A systems approach to problems In a way the popularization of the concept scientific temper though with imprecise definitions resulted in what Anthony Giddens jargonized as double hermeneutics which refers to everyday "lay" concepts and those from the social sciences in a two-way relationship Etymologically the phrase conveys conceptual fuzziness while science and its adjective scientific can be resolved by philosophers of science, the word temper when conjoined with science becomes difficult to decipher. Temper according to dictionary meanings relate to:

temper (v.) late O.E. temprian "to bring to a proper or suitable state, to modify some excessive quality, to restrain within due limits," from L. temperare "to mix correctly, moderate, regulate, blend," usually described as from tempus "time, season" (of unknown origin), with a sense of "proper time or season," but the sense history is obscure. Meaning "to make (steel) hard and elastic" is from late 14c. Sense of "to tune the pitch of a musical instrument" is recorded from c.1300. temper (n) late 14c., "due proportion of elements or qualities," from temper (v.). The sense of "characteristic state of mind" is first recorded 1590s; that of "calm state of mind" in c.1600; and that of "angry state of mind" (for bad temper) in 1828. Meaning "degree of hardness and resiliency in steel" is from late 15c. In popular usage, scientific temper refers to the second definition (noun) characteristic state of mind. Seen from this perspective, scientific temper relates to scientific practices rather than scientific knowledge praxis rather than content. Scientific temper, thus, can be distinguished from public understanding of science, which relates to content of scientific concepts and dispositions toward such scientific knowledge. Science communication can be properly construed to refer to activities / efforts to convey such content of scientific knowledge the media and strategies to convey the knowledge. In other words, science communication can be conceived as the supply side and the public understanding of the science as the demand side of the society. Its imperative for gauging scientific temper, that this concept be clarified ontologically and measured epistemologically. Attitude represents an individuals like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views. Unlike personality, attitudes change as a result of experience. Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. Beliefs are stubborn but can be changed in the face of overwhelming evidence. Values Personal values evolve from circumstances with the external world and can change over time. Groups, societies, or cultures have values that are largely shared by their members Scientific temper can be postulated as a comprehensive world view - a fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy; fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and ethic Scientific temper on the other hand can be conceptualised as a stable cultural component. The term culture can be defined as the body of learned beliefs, tradition, principles and guides for behavior that are commonly shared among members of a particular group. Culture serves as a road map for both perceiving and interacting with the world. Given such a wide definition of culture, scientific temper refers to worldview (or Weltanshauung) of a

community or society. The Center Leo Apostel (VUB Belgium) defined a worldview as an ontology, or a descriptive model of the world. It should comprise the following six elements An explanation of the world A futurology, answering the question "where are we heading?" Values, answers to ethical questions: "What should we do?" A praxeology or methodology, or theory of action How should we attain our goals?" An epistemology, or theory of knowledge. "What is true and false?" An aetiology a constructed world-view should contain an account of its own "building blocks," its origins and construction. While Apostel and his followers clearly hold that individuals can construct worldviews, other writers regard worldviews as operating at a community level, and/or in an unconscious way. For instance, if one's worldview is fixed by one's language, as according to a strong version of the SapirWhorf hypothesis, one would have to learn or invent a new language in order to construct a new worldview. On 19, July 1981 a group of scientists and intellectuals issued a Statement of Scientific Temper (Bhargava 2007). This statement is the culmination of 3 days of brainstorming during October 1980 and later vetted by a large number of scientists, artists and scholars. The statement consists of 3 sections(1) preamble (2) attributes of scientific temper and (3) role of scientific temper. The preamble emphasises the importance of scientific temper to rid the country of its socio-economic ills at that time. They pitted scientific temper as an antidote to widespread antiquarian beliefs including religious beliefs and dogmas. Scientific Temper is incompatible with theological and metaphysical beliefs. While science is universal, religions and their dogmas are divisive. The authors also note that inequality and poverty must be banished to help spread of scientific temper - When the social structure and stratification prevent the application of rational and scientifically proven solutions, the role of Scientific Temper is to lay bare the anatomy of such social barriers. The debates and discussions on Scientific Temper that the Statement should have triggered, have not taken place in India towards ushering a second renaissance, at least to the extent that the signatories wished. Ashish Nandi published a counter statement critiquing the western positivist science emphasis of the authors of Scientifc Temper Statement. Nandy advocates for a more humanistic temper Rajendra Prasads critique of Statement of Scientific Temper and its counter humanistic temper emphasises lack of political will of the ruling classes to empower the oppressed classes, which benefits their interests. Dogmas and adherence to obscurantist practices help them in this role.(Prasad 1982) The Scientific Temper remained largely confined to rhetorical statements. Sadly even social scientists did not make an effort to refine this concept or operationalise the concept for

measuring/gauging Scientific Temper except for a Ph.D. dissertation on this subject (Pattnaik 1987). The intellectual space left untapped by academicians and the state structures has been to an extent occupied by various voluntary organisations (also called NGOs and Civil Societies). These efforts, though commendable, have not been able to change the direction of the tide of irrationality. Since the 1980s, there has been a substantial growth in the number of these organisations. What impact these various efforts have had on the inculcation of Scientific Temper in the population is yet to be studied. Ever since the 1981 Statement was released, two opposite, and yet synchronous, changes have been observed in the country. It should be noted with some satisfaction that the combined effect of efforts made to propagate scientific ideas in the country, to which peoples science movements and scientific institutions have contributed in a large measure, have definitely made a difference, however small it may be. Such efforts had modest impact as in the case of bringing out large numbers of people to watch the 'total solar eclipse' during 1995 or critically appraising public policies as in the case of the Silent Valley Project. But, at the same time, during the past 30 years there has been a marked increase in public display of religious and sectarian identities, ascendance of irrational cults, and glorification of obscurantist practices, religiosity and wielding of religious symbols. This has provided the ideological basis for at times brutal unscientific actions in both public and personal domains. Privatisation of electronic media has also had the undesirable effect of providing increased space for forces responsible for this increasing spread of irrationality and undermining scientific temper.

Scientific Temper versus Religious Beliefs In India, most of the writers have counterposed scientific temper against religious beliefs including the authors of Statement on Scientific Temper. The assumption is that once scientific temper diffuses widely within the country, the religious beliefs and other supernatural beliefs would wither away. Scientific temper as the evidence based verifiable knowledge claims is privileged over revealed knowledge. Various scholars have expressed their opinions on this subject such as Conflict thesis of Dickson White, Independence thesis of Stephen Jay Goulds NOMA, Dialogue thesis of William Pollard, and Integration thesis of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's Omega Point Our understanding of the relationship is close to dialogue thesis of Polalard. Religious beliefs can be conceptualized as consisting of two cores the inner core being the dharma or ethical core and an outer core consisting of dogmas and rituals. The outer core is identity markers to distinguish one sect / religion versus others. Scientific temper ought to contest and replace the outer core. This view is strengthened by an international survey conducted by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC) in Connecticut, US. During August 2007 and January 2008 they conducted a survey among 1,100 participants from 130 universities and research institutes. This survey revealed that a majority of the scientists felt that the state is not doing enough to inculcate

scientific temper in India. They responses to certain rituals conducted in scientific organisations such as carrying a model of rocket before it is released by the ISRO scientists were negative. At the same time many of the scientists replied that they consider themselves to be spiritual. These responses indicate that scientific temper which one assumes to be prevalent among scientists can coexist with core religious beliefs.