Differential Thinking and Integral Thinking | Toru Takebayashi, Dean of the Graduate School of Health Management
2021.07.06
This is the 10th entry in this diary. Looking back, I am reminded once again that since my fourth entry last April, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed our lives and society. As for the diary, I had intended to include sketches from the front lines of public health, but it has been over a year since I have been able to go out.
Around the Shinanomachi Campus, preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics at the new National Stadium are relentlessly moving forward. Walking alongside it, I ponder the future of public health in a post-COVID society. Take vaccination, for example. We are simultaneously witnessing the success of groundbreaking vaccine development, both in terms of time and technology, and the challenge of a societal structure that fails to distribute them appropriately, even though we know that "No one is safe until everyone is safe" (WHO).
The pandemic is inevitably forcing a paradigm shift upon us and our society. In a society where precedents no longer apply, it is necessary to master and utilize cutting-edge technologies. This involves discovering new axes of value from the accumulation of human knowledge to date. Surely, this is also part of the role of a graduate school.
As I was thinking about these things, a phrase from a conversation between Takehiko Kariya and Shunya Yoshimi came to mind. "To put it very simply, the sciences represent an expansion of knowledge about what will happen next at a certain extreme point, which can be called differential thinking. On the other hand, in the humanities, the focus is on how to utilize accumulated knowledge, so integral thinking becomes important" (from "Is the University Already Dead? A Challenge from Top Universities." Shueisha Shinsho ).