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In this article: For the support of humanitarian purposes For the promotion of research About IFAS For the protection of the natural environment For the Support of Humanitarian Purposes To support humanitarian endeavors means, in a broad sense, to deliberately aim at benefiting people - especially people who are in distress and in need of human care. Humanism is a new phenomenon in the history of mankind and of the world - only a couple of centuries old. Before humanism seriously came to the fore - at the end of the 18th century, around the American War of Independence and the French Revolution - man was foremost looked upon as a gregarious animal, not as an individual. One was in the midst of the crowd because there was no room, means or strength to distinguish oneself, for the single individual to accentuate his own person or his own aspirations. Thus being in the middle of the crowd was not due to a decision, on the contrary, it was an expression of a necessity reflecting the hard conditions of life which were the destiny of the vast majority of people. Only as a part of the crowd did one have a chance. Unfortunately, this is still so with regard to the many people on the earth - and still so due to distress. In our Western and Northern part of the world we have good conditions - and each one of us is the single and special person we also consider ourselves to be. But most people in the world today are difficult to distinguish as single individuals. They appear first and foremost as a mass of people forced to struggle through a consuming fight against conditions much too inferior - a fight to survive and to improve the basic conditions of life. This is often a Sisyphean labor. But mankind’s opinion about mankind has recently changed - within the last 30 years. Therefore the future is not, and will not become, the same as the past. In some places in the world of today, mankind has begun to look at mankind in its own right. Humanism emphasizes the individual and its right to freely seek good fortune. It is by now widespread. Thus many people today are humanists, and of the opinion that every single human being has a right to a life in safety, with secured material conditions and with the possibility to realize its potential as a human being. But as the world looks, there is a lot of work being a humanist. There is a lot to be done before all the people needing better living conditions are actually included in, and surrounded by, a humanitarian atmosphere - in spite of all the good, humanitarian efforts. And if it is a big job being a humanist, confronted by the single individual in need, it is an even bigger effort to perform the necessary work of finally arranging the world so that there, in reality, is freedom, space and good material conditions for ALL individuals of the world. Poverty is a main problem on our planet - and this despite the fact that the earth is rich and has resources enough to create room for a good existence for all its beings. In addition to the poverty come catastrophes and emergencies, induced by nature - floods, typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions - as well as man-made problems like war and destabilization. Not to mention the modern plague, HIV/AIDS, which is spreading at the speed of light to all corners of the world and is on its way to overtake the Black Plague in numbers killed and affected. There is therefore a drastic demand for humanists. People, who will deliberately aim at benefiting others - especially people in distress and in need of human care. People, who have the surplus and the willpower to want to reach the multitudes in the world who need help, need to learn something new, and need the Münchausen-like strength to pull themselves up by their own hair. And who can only do this if others reach out their hands and give of their good heart and surplus, if input is acquired in the form of ideas, systems and structures, materials, solutions, money... and first and foremost in the form of human solidarity. It is this calling from the many people of the world which has caused the Foundation, as part of its humanitarian objectives, to do its best to live up to our point of departure - being that we, as contributors to the Foundation, are so lucky to have grown up in surroundings which were rich: rich in care, rich in material conditions, rich in education and opportunities, rich in all of that which many people in the world do not have. The wealth, which we thus benefit from, have we considered a responsibility to use, on the basis of humanism, for the benefit of some of the world’s many people who need help. The achievements of the Foundation in the humanitarian field have, in agreement with the prevailing rules and within a deeply humanistic tradition, concentrated on supporting the fight against disease, more specifically in connection with the modern plague HIV/AIDS - which today represents a more comprehensive threat to many people’s lives in the world, as well as for the overall condition, future and possible progress of society. Furthermore, in certain concrete emergency situations the Foundation has given humanitarian assistance to people who, through no fault of their own, were hit by catastrophes of one or the other nature. Both of these two fields are decisive fields, where contributing a humanitarian effort is part of humanizing the world, part of giving the individual human being a face and a form, and part of giving us, who give, and those, who receive, a view of the future as it could be, and can become. Here the Foundation has done its civic duty - and made its small contribution to make the world a bit better than it would have been, if the Foundation had not supported these areas. For Promotion of Research The modern concept of research in its most commonly used form is relatively new in human history - only a few hundred years old. It emerged together with, and as a part of, modern science, which was introduced more thoroughly into our culture only with Newton in the 1600's. Before modern science, there was no such concept like research. Knowledge, and that which was considered to be true, was collected through the experiences of people and their elaborations of these experiences, as well as through faith, assurances, guessing and second-guessing, assumptions, convictions, superstitions, daily life events and adventures, arguments and reason. Research has never been for the many. It has belonged to and been exercised by a limited number of educated people, who have been trained in and occupied with very specific questions, and who have contributed to the investigation and mapping of the world, bit by bit, piece by piece - all the way through to the picture we through this research have of the world of today. The first scientists and researchers stood in obscure basements and dissected animals and human corpses - to see what was inside. Or sat like Newton under the tree, while the apple fell - and asked himself why it fell DOWN and not UP. Or observed, like Edward Jenner, how the milkmaid was naturally immunized against cowpox, and used the knowledge to "invent" the vaccine. Stereotypes, yes. But significant. The prevalent method of science has been reductionism: The typical scientist, from the 1600’s until today, has studied the world and its phenomena - the matter, the animals, the plants, the chemical substances, the universe, the air, the water, the soul, the chemistry, the medicine, and everything else - singly, bit by bit, a small part at a time. From all these small entities, the world in its entirety was understood. One of the more modern concepts of science has emerged within the last century and more formulated during the last 30 years. It holds that you cannot understand the entirety, the whole world and its phenomena, solely by taking your point of departure in its constituent parts/units. A very easy-to-understand example: If you take only H and O - hydrogen and oxygen - and add each of their chemical properties together, there is no way in which you can reach H2O - water. The holistic approach to science and research stipulates that science has a special obligation to study and take its point of departure in the whole, and understand the special properties of the whole in their own right - instead of only understanding phenomena as put together by an infinite number of entities with the resultant properties of exactly those of all the ones added together. It is from discussions on these two approaches that the now famous sentence stems: two and two is more than four! The holistic way of looking at science has brought science to soaring new heights and has given room for a more varied understanding of what the world is and consists of, how it should be understood and what the tasks of scientists should be. One of the spectacular results of this approach is to have made one "subject matter" out of the Planet, the Earth, GAIA - or whatever we choose to call this beautiful place, where we live. In the old days, all phenomena pertaining to the planet were divided into a large number of "scientific subjects": Geography, Geology, Meteorology, Biology, Zoology, Oceanography, Chemistry, etc. Today the Earth has won the right to be looked upon as a whole, as a giant example of a cooperation, a symbiosis of thousands of complicated and mutually interacting elements with an abundance of variety. This in turn will serve humankind to understand the basic fundament, upon which our life is based, and to treat this huge value with care and solicitude. Another modern obligation to put to science of our time is for it to make an effort to understand and do research in the whole of this world, and the entities within the whole, in order to secure that all the results of science and research will be used to the benefit of ALL people - so we do not waste the time, but use it to go for progress for the many people. Today science actually has, for the first time on our planet, the capacity to bring progress to people. And it is outright interesting, as well as both untraditional and urgent, to use research to further development on the Globe as such, and to make sure, that research and scientific results will be directed towards the many people, will take its point of departure in the many people, will reach the many people and will work on behalf of the many people who do not live in the "mainstream" areas of the affluent part of the world, but on "margins" of the world. This is made very clear for the main part of the research projects supported by the Foundation. Here the Foundation has made a pioneer achievement, and in a modern manner not only benefited the people, but also benefited the science - for it is scientifically precarious to keep people in a position where that, which is common in some parts of the world, is not at the disposal for millions of the world’s poor. This situation is ominous, and something has to be done about it. One of the first tasks in research is to establish that the problem exists, and that it is possible to find ways to overcome it. Here the Foundation and IFAS have shown new ways. Just to mention a few of the projects which the Foundation has supported and IFAS has implemented: Research into how accumulated research in the rich part of the world can benefit the majority of people in the poor part of the world (the project Global Research). And research into how connections and cooperation can be created between the Western Countries and the dawning modern China (the project Mutual Mandarin).
Most of the research projects of the Foundation were carried out by IFAS. A number of research methods are defined and very clearly established in the objectives of IFAS - to facilitate the understanding of the Foundation’s and IFAS’ research achievement I quote from the objectives of IFAS:
In this book the Foundation tells concretely and practically about how its research projects were carried out. It is clearly evident that all the above mentioned forms of research have been used in the projects supported by the Foundation - except basic research. Overall, there is reason to point out that the research achievement accomplished within the frames of the Foundation is concrete, advantageous, interesting, exceptionally useful, and finds itself well within the frames of existing legislation. For Protection of the Natural Environment When one hears the expression "protection of the natural environment" one has to ask oneself the question what "natural environment" actually is. For we know what nature is - but natural environment? The word "environment" in itself means the ‘condition, circumstances, and influences’ in which something takes place. So the "natural environment" is therefore the ‘condition, circumstances, and influences’ existing in connection with nature. This can be freely interpreted as nature’s cooperation with its most aggressive and hard-hitting living being or component, namely Homo Sapiens Sapiens, the human being. One can therefore understand "the protection of the natural environment" as a means of expressing the opinion that mankind represents an environmental threat to nature, which therefore is in need of protection. This might seem paradoxical, yet maybe not far from the truth. From a historical perspective, the objective of protecting the environment is completely modern. It was first put on the agenda during the last century. For millions of years, nature has been so overwhelmingly "big" in reference to the numbers and the strength of its inhabitants, that it did not seem to be in any particular need of protection. On the contrary, it has ruled and reigned to such a large degree - and been so superior to mankind and human life - that no one would even consider the task of protecting it. It was Nature with a capital N which was on the agenda, so to speak. It was the macro-factor deciding everything - and the matter, the plants, the animals, and the human beings had to dress the ranks and adjust to its offers, deficiencies, whims and other vicissitudes which took many, and often violent, forms: continental drifts, cosmic radiation, tectonic convulsions, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, ice ages, meteor bombardments, climatic changes and many other phenomena. It has, however, in pretty recent times seen from a historic perspective, been possible for the human race, through its violently intervening and altering achievement within industry- and energy development during the 19th and 20th centuries, to have lasting effects on nature and its phenomena: Decisive beneficial effects for the species Homo Sapiens Sapiens, which had become more populous than ever before, at an unprecedented speed. And, gradually, maybe also decisive (and damaging) impact on nature and the natural environment - which until then had reigned in solitary majesty. These new impacts have taken place with an astonishing and terrific speed, which is unprecedented in the history of the planet and of mankind. The products and the production of the industrial society have permitted a rapidly growing and, during the last century, an exponentially increasing world population. This has on the other hand led to a drastically negative effect on the planet’s natural systems, that is, the systems which temper the climate, which purify and store water, which recycle waste, and which produce food. On a global scale we see:
These are the conditions which the expression "to protect the natural environment" relates to: In the world today there is a need to protect the natural environment, there is a need for securing that the planet we live on can continue to keep its balances for the benefit of all its beings. To secure that it can continue supplying its people with food, clean water, fresh air and future possibilities. As the list above clearly points out, these balance are not something mankind can take for granted any longer. On the contrary, mankind has to make a special effort to maintain them. The Foundation, along with many others in the world, has understood this. The Foundation’s projects for the protection of the natural environment include the research into, as well as the establishment and advancement of a long row of alternative energy sources, which do not pollute and strain the natural environment - including biomass, biogas, windmills, and solar energy. The Foundation has in addition supported projects which included elements like the protection of the rain forest and the establishment of habitats and natural reserves as sanctuaries for animals, plants, and people. |
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