With modern education so focused on processing information and learning facts and figures, the skill of thinking has become a lost art, according to Charles Darwin’s great, great grandson.
Chris Darwin will explore this idea during a free public at 10.30am on Tuesday 22 September on the Casuarina campus of Charles Darwin University.
Chris said he believed that in today’s world, with information so easily accessible, less time should be spent on reinforcing “pub trivia” and more emphasis placed on teaching a philosophical style of thinking.
“With the development of the internet and sites such as Wikipedia, kids don’t need to be bombarded with dates, facts and figures because it’s at their fingertips,” he said.
“In today’s schools, almost no time is spent on just learning how to think and I’m often frustrated more isn’t done.”
Through a combination of meticulous observation and innovative thinking, Charles Darwin developed an explanation for the incredible variety of living things. Chris said he believed that Charles’ thinking was more useful in the 21st Century than it would have been in 19th.
“He had a beautiful brain, and was involved in something really interesting,” Chris said.
“There is something incredibly attractive and powerful about his particular style of deep thought, which I definitely try to use, and I find it very useful to do so.”
Chris described being a part of the Darwin legacy as a fantastic experience and a means of getting his foot into a lot of doors.
“The best thing I’ve got out of the experience is that it’s given me a way of thinking, the perspective to think slowly and carefully, and not just jump to conclusions.”
The public lecture, entitled “Charles Darwin: His life and legacy, from the inside”, will be held in the Mal Nairn Auditorium.
It is a warm-up event for the Charles Darwin Symposium, Charles Darwin: Shaping our Science, Society and Future. The three-day symposium is also free to the public and will run from 22-24 September at the Darwin Convention Centre.