Papua New Russia

Modernization is our new cargo cult
Games of Tandemocrats
Dmitry Zankov, APN 

The appearance of Putin's new project, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, of course, first of all again drew attention to the election intrigue. Everyone is discussing whether this innovation is a sign of a split in tandem, and whether it can be contrasted with Medvedev's Skolkovo.

However, a more global issue remains unresolved. And what exactly are the processes of modernization and innovation that Russians have been hearing about regularly for almost ten years?

That is, what they are for the vast majority of the population of our country – everything is clear with this. In nanotechnology, and even under the control of such an odious person as Chubais, it is difficult to see anything other than another grandiose cut of budget funds.

Without denying the correctness of such a point of view, I would like to note that these projects are still not ideal for cutting. They cannot be compared with such mega-developments as the upcoming Olympics and the World Cup. There, the dissolution of money occurs not just imperceptibly, but also with the presentation of claims is difficult, if you do not dig in detail and carefully, like Navalny. There will be competitions, there will be; spectacles and medals are also available. Special benefits in financial terms do not seem to be initially expected – dear Russians are invited to experience a sense of deep satisfaction from the very fact of holding competitions of this scale in the country.

From modernization, which the government stubbornly declares to be part of scientific development, the majority of the people, out of old habit, still expects quite concrete and material results. And this can create certain inconveniences in the case of a complete absence of such.

Therefore, the question of what modernization and innovative technologies are for government representatives remains largely open.

It is not difficult to make sure that they are not science in its classical modern sense.

For a long time in the popular imagination, the image of a scientist merged with the figure of a wizard who transforms nature in absolutely incomprehensible, and often sinful ways. Western legends about Paracelsus or Russian tales about the warlock Bruce show this very vividly.

In a certain sense, the masses were right. Firstly, up to a certain point, scientists themselves did not clearly distinguish between scientific and magical ways of influencing the world around them. It is unlikely that a modern representative of science recognizes a colleague in a medieval alchemist. But even the transition to a proper scientific picture of the world did not mean a synthesis of science and everyday life. The discoveries of Newton, Copernicus, Galileo were not just unknown and uninteresting to the vast majority of contemporaries, they really had no effect on their daily lives.

Perhaps it was only since the second half of the XIX century that the idea began to assert itself in the mass consciousness that, of course, these scientists are very strange types, what they do and how it works is unclear, but the benefits of their activities are easily noticeable and accessible to everyone. There are railways, telegraphs, and the beginning of the era of electricity.

By the middle of the next century, a scientific and technological revolution was taking place, which further emphasized the integration of scientific knowledge and consumer society, which greedily absorbed this knowledge in the form of all sorts of high-tech devices.

Accordingly, the image of the scientist is changing. Up to the developed industrial era, this is a loner who has a certain capital, a rich patron, or just a fanatic who neglects household amenities. One way or another, but the main incentive for research was one's own curiosity, and the satisfaction of curiosity was, in principle, the most important result.

In the era of NTR, a scientist loses his independence. Its activities are paid for by industrial corporations or the state. Scientists are now waiting for concrete developments that can be implemented into a product and thrown on the market within the shortest possible time. Actually, this is the notorious innovative technologies.

Of course, if Rusnano was a private shop, then Mr. Chubais would be free to develop Petrik filters and other technologies to his heart's content. The impending bankruptcy, well, or dismissal (after all, Chubais is presented to us as an effective manager capable of steering anything) would in no way affect the interests of the majority of Russians.

The situation in our country is different. Modernization is not just on budget support, but also under special sovereign control, which implies some accountability and openness to society.

Maybe the state believes that the majority of citizens simply will not understand sophisticated technological innovations? So after all, no one wants explanations in the style of "how it works". It would be enough to have an idea of what exactly we can expect and in what time frame. A new super-machine, a cleaning robot, a flying car – all this is quite capable of attracting people's interest and making it clear that innovators are not eating their bread for nothing. Considering that modernization has been going on for several years, now we should not just hear explanations, but also see concrete results. Moreover, it should not be some mysterious Russian smartphone, apparently assembled in one copy and solemnly demonstrated to the president, but a mass appearance on the shelves of high-tech goods of domestic production.

Nothing like this is observed.

Advocates of domestic modernization sometimes try to state that Skolkovo is intended for the development of some fundamental science, which may not always bring an immediate and completely predictable option. But this is too obvious a distortion. Fundamental science all over the world continues to develop successfully at leading universities, in Russia the remaining science cities from the USSR still continue to work by inertia. The state innovation program was supposed to ensure the implementation of theoretical developments into practical implementation.

So, we see that the modern process of modernization according to objective criteria is not a modern applied science. In fact, in the case of domestic innovations, we are faced with a kind of manifestation of one very curious religion – cargo cult.

The origin of this religion dates back to the Second World War. It appeared among the aborigines of the Pacific islands and became a real gift for historians who could follow with their own eyes the formation of a religious cult in conditions close to the primitive era.

In short, the essence is as follows. After the outbreak of the war with Japan, the Americans became interested in many small islands in the Pacific Ocean for the placement of airfields there. For the Aborigines, this was in fact the first full-fledged contact with Western civilization. Due to the small size and scarcity of resources, these islands did not attract the attention of the colonizers at the time, so the natives had practically no knowledge of the white man.

Big iron birds, in addition to bombs and camouflage-clad Yankees, brought a lot of new, useful, interesting and tasty things to the islands for the natives. Whether the idea that these were gifts from the blessed land of the ancestors, delivered by spirits, was already born in the minds of the aborigines, it is difficult to say.

The most interesting thing, however, began after the end of hostilities, when the need for airfields lost in the middle of the ocean disappeared, and the Americans safely went home. The islanders were deprived of many beautiful things that they had already gotten used to.

The problem had to be solved, and a way out was found. However, the decision was completely at the level of the archaic mythological worldview. The world of nature and the world of spirits must obey certain rituals, the main thing is to perform them correctly, following the schedule exactly. For the natives, such rituals, incomprehensible and mysterious, were almost all the actions of the Americans associated with the arrival of aircraft. It remained only to correctly copy the behavior of the white wizards. And in this the savages showed remarkable ingenuity and talent. Ethnographers who visited the islands said that with the help of improvised materials, they managed to almost completely recreate the appearance of a typical American airfield with a life-size model of an airplane, a walkie-talkie woven from reeds, etc.

Naive children of nature believed that regular and careful execution of all these manipulations would ensure the return of iron birds with a valuable cargo. The theological thought of the natives moved in different ways, somewhere Americans were called servants of the gods, somewhere evil spirits, but this is no longer interesting to us. We are interested in Russia.

Well, it would seem that what can a savage from one of the Pacific islands have in common with our top dignitaries, including the president himself? After all, they have education, thank God, and the opportunity to broaden their horizons with the help of foreign trips is available.

And they have in common just this very "primitive" conviction that it is possible to achieve quite practical results by simple external copying, turning meaningful activity into a superficial gloss and meaningless ritual.

Russia has often been accused of blindly borrowing a lot from the West, that not everything worked out for her. Maybe so. But what is happening today is not even copying, which in itself is not something unambiguously negative. This is exactly blind aping, a monkey wearing glasses.

Let's take the name for example. Skolkovo is called our Silicon Valley with amazing regularity, so that everything is like them, not worse. One of our authorities, telling us what the most relish of the Skolkovo project is, said something like this: "Well, this will be a place where everyone will meet. There will be golf courses, concert halls."

There is no doubt what modernization is, according to our authorities. This is when in a properly cultivated area, with the right, preferably foreign, name, the right civilized people in expensive European suits meet. They talk peacefully while playing golf and visit expensive restaurants.

Of course, apart from this, from time to time they should gather at conferences and symposiums, where they are obliged to pronounce a lot of abstruse and incomprehensible words, which will all revolve around the three main "spells": modernization, innovation, nanotechnology. Well, these meetings should end in no case with a Russian feast, but necessarily with a buffet in a civilized manner.

Of course, the question of the sincerity of such behavior remains open. Looking at Dmitry Anatolyevich, sometimes the thought arises that he really believes – if all the necessary rituals are observed, it will work. Russia will have its own new high-tech production, the export of petroleum products will be replaced by the sale of technical innovations, and Western students and postgraduates will rush for an internship in Skolkovo.

If you rise a little above the level of thinking of a native stuck in the Stone Age, then the sad prospects loom quite clearly.

Pacific aborigines, by the way, waited for their iron birds. Only now it's not the military, but scientists who have again provided the islanders with the benefits of civilization. The savages are happy and probably sure that their careful observance of rituals still worked.

But there is no one to fly to Russia.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru31.05.2011