Interview: Leroy Little Bear offers a different view of science

Tuesday, March 22, 2011  

"Leroy Little Bear wants to change the way you see the world.

Imagine, he invites, being suspended above Phoenix, looking down at the scene below. What would you see? Movement? Flux? The big picture?

Little Bear asks us, metaphorically, to suspend ourselves in this way. Doing so will allow us to see that the hierarchies and patterns we see as “natural” – from the linearity of time to the ordered world of mathematics – have, in fact, been imposed upon nature by Western science. Asking us to rethink existing definitions of “science,” which he argues, are dependent upon the worldview of the definer, Little Bear invites us to see the powerful possibilities for change that arise through the collaboration of Native science and Western science.

Question: Can you say more about the differences you see between Western sciences and Native sciences?

Answer: Western society has a particular way of looking at things, best exemplified by the linearity of time. We look at life in linear, hierarchical terms. These hierarchies have been built into “classical physics,” Newtonian science. For example, for Western scientists, the Big Bang is a creation story of linear progress. However, the relatively new science of quantum physics invites a different way of looking at science, a more holistic way. This way of looking at science is more like Native American science, which sees flux, movement, simultaneity. There are areas of overlap between quantum physics and the Indigenous way of thinking.

Q: Generally speaking, the Western mind resists the kind of flux you describe. Why do you think that is?

A: Part of it is fear. We are fearful of the unknown. We would rather keep what we know, what we think we can control. The notion of control is built into Western ways of thinking. In Genesis, a Christian creation story, the world is as God made it and God’s work is perfect. Yet men like Copernicus and Galileo introduced imperfection into this creation story by saying it wasn’t quite like what [the Church] described. We have a vested interest in the existing system. Modern technology, our ways of doing things, are all based on linearity. We don’t want to fool around with it. As Einstein said, “God does not play dice with the universe.” We don’t want to mess up the picture, God’s picture. In contrast, consider the Navajo Sand Painting ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the artists erase the sand painting. We Westerners want to save the painting. We take pictures, saying, “It’s so beautiful. Don’t destroy it.” The Navajos say, this painting is only for this ceremony not for all things. There is a greater willingness to see ebb and flow in the universe."

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Q&A: Little Bear offers a different view of science (ASU News 3/22)