Mae Jemison, an environmental studies professor and the first back woman astronaut, emphasized the need for a common perspective to allow technology and science to solve many of the world's problems when she spoke to about 40 people Thursday.
Jemison spoke about "Views of the Future, Part I: Searching for a Common Perspective" in 105 Dartmouth Hall.
She said 60 to 70 percent of the world's problems have scientific or technological solutions.
Technology plays different roles in different countries, she said.
"Many people do live in improved circumstances due to technology, but there are others who lack the basic necessities of life," she said.
While Jemison warned the audience there would not be much "finesse in" her oratory, she delivered a speech peppered with stories and allusions the audience received well.
Jemison told the audience how she had been affected by people's perspectives.
"When I was five or six years old, I imagined myself among the stars," Jemison said.
People questioned her audacity to go into space when other astronauts before her, mostly white men, did not look like her, she said.
But Jemison defended her responsibility to challenge herself.
"Each human has the desire to understand the universe around them. It is my right and my responsibility to develop to my full potential," she said.
Television has an effect on people's views, Jemison said.
Although Jemison is a lover of science fiction programs and has appeared on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" she said there is a problem with television's predictable stories.
Often women and minorities are marginalized in the plot lines of the shows, she said.
"We need new, different perspectives" to counteract the depiction, she said.
She said the way technology is used depends on individuals. Different people could use the same technology to create fireworks or a nuclear bomb or a power plant or medicine, she said.
"We provide definition of science and technology through the people we are," she said.
"Science is misunderstood these days -- people only think of the language of science like 'E equals MC squared,'" Jemison said.
"Science is when you say, 'I think, I wonder, I understand.' Science is the search for understanding and technology is putting to use this understanding," she continued.
She said survival on this planet depends on reaching a common perspective on science.
"We need to find a common perspective to look ahead to the future," Jemison said. "We can best do this by recognizing that human needs are important."
"Universal needs we all share are love, safety and happiness," she said. "Technology is the tools we create to further these needs."
"We need to step back and look into ourselves at our priorities and values," she continued.
She said people have often approached her and told her she was closer to "the divine" when she was in space, but Jemison quoted a Brahmin legend which states "the divine" is truly inside of people.
"And inside is where we will identify common perspectives," she said.
Jemison said people need to realize they are an integral part of nature.
"We need to reevaluate how we see the world and science and technology," she said.
Part two of her lecture series will discuss the next step -- the implementation of technology once the common perspective is achieved. A time for the second part of the series has yet to be set.
Jemison is the director of the Jemison Institute at the College, which works toward furthering technology in developing countries.
