An Engineering Education of Holism: Einstein’s Imperative

Abstract

In the aftermath of World War II, Einstein urged scientists to develop a substantively new thinking, lest we suffer a technology-enabled self-destruction. In this chapter, we will unfold the emerging scientific findings that serve as vectors, pointing to the same conclusion: the educational foundation that has brought about Industry 5.0 is causal to brain development that not only undermines our ability to address our emerging complex societal challenges, but biases us toward inhumane logic. We will outline a science of holism, the profoundly new thinking urged by Einstein. This science is rooted in nature’s ontology of dynamic complexity. An engineering education reflecting this new thinking will be described along with the novel developmental capacities afforded by it. The chapter will end by considering questions that need to be resolved to manifest such a radical shift in engineering education.

Preliminary Application of Reductionism and Holism in Teaching Mechanical Engineering Materials

“…Among the various thinking routes, both reductionism and holism are two primary and essential cognitive modes, which are widely used and discussed comparably [7,8]. Some trials were also conducted in engineering education, and the results were inspiring and enlightening [5].…”