*Parviz Karami

Many of today’s problems are rooted in the past. Today’s goodness’s and successes are not accidental or random. If we return to past we will see that how we have reached a crooked wall where we had put crooked bricks and where we took right steps, we have been guided to the correct path. It is the Almighty God’s speech that “There is nothing for the human being except the things that he tried for”. Today we harvest the thing that we have implanted yesterday. Tomorrow we will harvest what we are implanting now. Those who have implanted barley would not harvest wheat. “Never did evil that good may come of it”. It is a mistake that we think that our today’s successes and failures are because of today. The logical and scientific and fair way is to always review our past and learn from our mistakes and righteousness’s. The meaning of learning from the past is that we should return back critically and see where we made wrong decisions and where we made right ones.

Today we suffer from drought and climate changes are not for our good. Our underground aquifers have been withered and so many rivers have turned to water strips. The Lake Urmia has become less than half and the Zayanderud which previously reached Gavkhouni is nowadays such weak and powerless that can’t even reach Isfahan. It gets withered and grounded before reaching Isfahan. In addition to water, air is not very well, too. Most of our big cities have become bleary and the citizens’ respirations have become hard. Pollutants and Hazes are so integrated and stable that stops sun shining and endanger lives. When we look at far away horizons we see that pollution wouldn’t leave us soon and the prevalent solutions can’t defeat them. Making the traffic plan odd or even or closing the schools and such solutions although are better than nothing, they are like that we want to fight the weapons of mass destruction with bow and arrow. Air pollution is a mass destruction weapon, too. As well as non-standard roads. The number of killed people in road accidents is not less than killed people by bomb and missile. Each country in each place faces geographical and political and economical and natural problems. The governors’ art is to overcome these problems and difficulties with the minimum cost and settle peace and welfare and security in their country. We should triumph our country’s natural and political and social problems. Japanese are dealing with earthquake and their roofs can collapse every second but they have found a scientific and low-cost solution to cope with the earthquake troll and not being defeated by it. The drought and pollution trolls are not die harder and more bloodthirsty than earthquake so we can manage to deal with them as well and defeat them. But while we don’t obtain knowledge of our present condition and don’t find recognition about what we are, our solutions will be useless. We have been executing the odd and even plan in vehicles plying for coping with the Tehran air pollution for years. Besides that, we increase the number of streets and highways, we collect worn-out cars and replace them with fairly standard cars. We also obligate the technical diagnosis for cars. With description and regret, not only the air pollution has not cured but the situations have been worsening increasingly. The air pollution problem is rooted in the past. Our solution will be useless unless we travel in time and recognize the pollution root and understand the present wretched situation. It is the same for drought. Although it’s true that the drought session has started and rainfall has reduced, the today’s drought is rooted in previous decades. We should go and see what mistakes we have done and what wrong decisions we have made in agriculture and industry. We should see where our wrong taken steps were and why we neglected traditional methods and withered Qanats one after another. We should study more about the wills that we digged with or without certification. We should see what we have achieved for the exorbitant costs that we have paid. The considerable notion is that in far past, Iranian intelligence and knowledge had done perfect jobs that still are being applauded logically. Our fathers knew the value of water and by knowing the nature of this country, turned dry deserts to pleasant oases by the unique invention of Qanat. Signs of those pleasant gardens and oases can still be seen in the Iran central salt pan. Our fathers knew wisely and intelligently how to overcome the natural problems with minimum costs and how to prevent wasting the properties and their own power. Unfortunately in our modern era, our fathers’ knowledge has been ignored and their properties haven’t been cherished. Ignoring the intelligent water supply system and not understanding the geographical and natural requirements caused our agriculture to become the most expensive agriculture. Today, by spending so many costs, we produce goods that are not affordable at all. In this drought crisis we produce a water-consuming and full size product that has no benefit for us but wasting energy and money. Even exporting the high water products to other countries have been interpreted as exporting the “virtual water” by experts. The water that its raw export is innately more valuable than the produced goods. Fortunately, the path of criticizing the past and the present is open and we can think more about our right and wrong decisions. The important notion in reviewing the past and thinking about the current condition is that everywhere that we have used knowledge and worked professionally and wisely, we succeeded and everywhere that we have attempted unprofessionally and emotionally and sectionally and politically and “Play in any direction” we should be punished now. The knowledge-based issue is the economy issue and is related to producing goods and services but derelicatively we can discuss this issue that management and policy making can also be knowledge-based. It means that they be based on a knowledge that reduces the cost of defeating the problems. By the way, studying the best practices about advanced countries teaches us that coping with problems have knowledge-based methods, not sectional methods. If we look at the example of restraining earthquake in Japan more precisely we will see that they managed to reduced the casualties and loss and costs of the earthquake by using knowledge-based methods. We have no choice except using knowledge-based methods in encountering natural and social and political problems. Let’s return to the knowledge-based discussion. Knowledge-based is focused on production of goods and services that can simplify our lives. Our lives in new climate situation must become easier and this wouldn’t occur unless we cherish the knowledge-based economy and do something that by producing suitable good, the air pollution or water wasting is prevented. The today’s situations of Iran are notable. From one hand we are facing many problems and on the other hand, we are at the threshold of a new season. If you read economical reports, you will see that the preliminaries of growth and progress of our country have been provided more than ever. We shouldn’t burn or miss the opportunity. The important job that we should do is to know our present and past. Self-recognition is prior to any step. We can compensate our mustiness and correct our mistakes. We should correct the wall wherever it is crooked. Then we should start the growth and progress time, a session that is mixed with the knowledge-based economy. Thank God we have experts and needed capital for production blossom is provided. Real need is existed, too. People need to organize their lives and take distance from the previous expensive methods. Today even the public knows that the water is in crisis and wasting it is dangerous. The natural environment and city shouldn’t be polluted. People have understood that they should amend their lifestyle and they should deal with the natural condition to the extent that is possible. The government and governors have also understood. Today there is no governor that thinks that he can overcome the problems with the oil money. Moreover, the oil money with its descending trend warns us that not to rely on our raw sources exceedingly. Both people and the government have understood that they should deal with the new economical and natural and geographical and environmental and political situations. The cost of this dealing can be reduced to minimum by the knowledge-based economy. All of the economical analysts anticipate a bright and hopeful future for Iran. This anticipation is based on the facts of the new world. The economical relations of the world are changing and the Islamic Republic can exploit the highest advantages from these changes. We shouldn’t miss the upcoming opportunity. The meaning of knowledge-based can be using the upcoming opportunity wisely and overcome the problems by relying on scientific methods. So, knowledge-based is not a choice but a necessity. A necessity that will be lost if it isn’t taken seriously and there will be no chance for compensation.

Resource: The Knowledge-Based Monthly magazine

*The President of the Knowledge-Based Science, Technology and Economy Culture Development Headquarter of the Vice Presidency for Science Affairs