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There is a silent slow revolution happening in Portugal
We have been facing gray skies and waves of dismay for
some time now. Apparently, pessimism is a social system of
positive feedback and, when it comes to this, things are
really what they seem.
We always try to maintain a positive attitude in INESC
Porto. In Portugal, optimism is also a social system of
positive feedback that, when uncontrolled, leads to euphoria
– but, these days, we could use a bit of euphoria, for a
change.
The signs are there, right under our noses, but we don’t
realize them due to an excess of intimacy: there is a silent
slow revolution happening in Portugal.
The presence of science in the media has gone from an
infinitesimal to a mandatory section in the most prestigious
newspapers and magazines, from foreign trash on TVs to shows
about Portuguese science on the general channels.
The presence of science in the speech of decision makers,
of policy makers, is no longer a brief footnote.
The presence of science, the very existence of science in
Portugal is shifting from a big flaw to a necessary
reference.
The most transforming reality is the social one – the
status socially given to science and scientists (a word that
was still forbidden some years ago, was applied to
foreigners but not to Portuguese, who were bashfully labeled
as mere researchers) has been increasingly looking
respectable in the eyes of the citizens. The social status
of those who dedicate themselves to science, and
consequently to technology, has risen to a higher level.
Portugal is the only country in the European Union in
which the demand of technological courses in high-school
actually increased. It’s true that we still have a lot to go
in terms of college education but what matters here is the
derivative.
We are raising generations having such a perspective of a
society and of its factors of relative importance. These
generations will hopefully bring up their own children in
the same perspective: science in the core of the daily
values.
This will necessarily carry consequences.
There is a silent slow optimism flowing within us, it is
right there, we just have to feel it and become aware.
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