Eugeny Bunimovich
State Duma Science and Education Committee chairman
- What are the questions you think should be recommended to the G8 for their consideration?
- I think that the major problem (maybe it has something to do with the mass media globalization, including television and internet) is the problem of “Me and others”.
Before if a person lived in a small town or village he did not se other types of people. Today the problem of our attitude to other people is acute for all of us. We are constantly face those Others – different in their religion, skin color, nationality, social status, health condition etc. The point is that tolerance is not in human nature. Tolerance is the result of a directed upbringing. Initially a child tends to react at something alien, unknown with aggression. That’s why it’s important to cultivate his tolerance. It should be seen as a a prime task.
- What concrete decisions do you expect from the Forum “Civil G8” on the 9-10th March.
- I am very skeptical about this kind of events, but from the point of view of education, the decisions concerning tolerance cultivation maybe the most important. It should be realized and declared as one of the crucial points.
One of the topics considered by the G8 is terrorism counteraction. We have to realize that the only way to overcome contradictions is education.
Of course we cannot solve all the problems but we can at least try to deal with them in civilized ways. Only through education we can change ideology. Obviously, ideology does not change in an instant, though we have to declare that education is the only way to cultivate tolerance, without which our society cannot survive.