Some students looked to the stars. Others looked inward, wondering about consciousness and the meaning of life. But many focused on societal problems – from affordable housing and clean water to traffic and mental health. Some answers stemmed from personal experience: one student whose grandmother has cancer dreams of a cure; another hopes we’ll learn more about depression because “it feels like we’re still kind of guessing.”
The responses varied so widely that we grouped them into broad categories. Taken together, they reveal students’ desire for discoveries that will make life healthier and fairer – and improve our understanding of ourselves and the world.
the world
planet
This highly unscientific poll of 100 U of T students was conducted across the three campuses in June and July.
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No Responses to “ We Asked 100 Students What They Hope Humanity Will Solve in Their Lifetime ”
What good is progress in fighting disease if we continue to damage the environment in ways that threaten human health? Protecting the planet should be just as much a priority.
Why people are so mean to each other and kill each other? It all starts from there.
I think defeating disease would be my choice. It’s such a broad category that it could include mental illnesses that cause people to be violent or unkind to others. If we could cure violent behaviour, we could put an end to wars forever. Our planet is 4.5 billion years old, and it will survive whether we’re here or not. Protecting it isn’t a priority in my mind.
Seeing “protect the planet” ranked lowest is really disheartening. I’m studying public health at U of T, and I wish these students knew how much our ability to fight diseases – especially antimicrobial resistance – depends on the health of our environment.