I first heard this story from the historian Eleni Glykatzi-Ahrweiler. She once spoke about a Nobel Laureate who was asked which stage of his education had been the most important.
His answer shocked me and was unexpected: kindergarten.
Because that was where he learned the things that truly mattered: to share, not to take what belongs to others, to play fairly, to apologize when he was wrong, to wash his hands before eating. And perhaps most beautifully, to hold another child’s hand when crossing the road.
I don’t know whether the story happened as it is told since I could not find the name of the Laureate or if it was simply mixed with Robert Fulghum’s central idea of his remarkable 1986 book. But the truth it contains does not depend on historical accuracy.
As scientists, we spend our lives accumulating knowledge, learning mathematics, physics, chemistry. We build increasingly sophisticated machines to observe the Universe, space telescopes, sending instruments beyond the Solar System. We observe galaxies whose light began its journey before our planet was formed.
And yet, despite all this knowledge we still struggle with some lessons of kindergarten. We have learned how to split the atom, but not always how to share the planet. We have artificial intelligence but struggle to listen to one another. We search for life in the Universe, but we fail to protect the life of our planet.
The greatest paradox is that our scientific knowledge grows exponentially while our moral wisdom does not necessarily grow with it. So,
- share what you have
- treat others fairly
- do not hurt people
- respect what belongs to others
- take responsibility for any mess you make
- say sorry when you cause harm
- take care of your basic health
- live a balanced life: learn, think, create, play, work, rest
- stay curious
- when facing danger, look after the other
- hold hands and stick together
