Recognising the problems facing humanity requires seeking solutions that ensure its preservation. In this context, educational institutions of the highest level, such as universities, play a fundamental role. The university’s mission is to educate professionals, intellectuals, and leaders who make crucial decisions for the future of humanity. However, today’s challenges reflect the absence of leadership focused on the preservation of our species, increasingly driving us toward self-destruction.

The general perception of the causes behind humanity's problems is superficial. Criticism often focuses on individuals—leaders, politicians, ideologues, or advisors—while neglecting an essential aspect: the institution where these individuals are formed, the university, the alma mater, and academic laboratory. The university faces two major challenges, which translate into two urgent needs: the obsolescence of the scientific research method, and the lack of a method for cultivating universal wisdom.

Obsolete scientific research method

The current scientific research method used in universities has become ineffective, generating an abundant yet meaningless body of scientific output, lacking the ability to foster new ideas or significantly contribute to knowledge. As a result, the university is no longer a centre for knowledge creation, and the so-called "knowledge era" has turned into an era of irrelevant information.

This situation produces a professional class incapable of addressing global problems because they are ill-prepared for the task. The contradiction lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the university proclaims itself the centre of universal knowledge, but on the other, it produces an intellectual elite devoid of the creativity needed to meet contemporary challenges. The academic products generated—such as scientific articles, essays, and theses—lack fecundity, do not generate discoveries or significant advances, and, consequently, do not contribute solutions to humanity’s problems.

The current research methodology lacks a critical element: the foundation in scientific laws. All scientific knowledge should be grounded in principles that allow for validation and the creation of techniques and theoretical innovations. However, university research primarily relies on citations from other authors, under the erroneous belief that a greater number of references equates to greater validity. This is a fundamental weakness of the current research approach, and if the university needs to innovate anything, it is precisely its research methodology.

Lack of a method for cultivating universal wisdom

The absence of a method that fosters universal wisdom has led to a shortage of leaders with a global vision. To train citizens with a planetary perspective, it is necessary to move beyond individualistic education and adopt a universal approach, with the goal of cultivating wisdom. The university must assume the role of cultivating this wisdom so that graduates, regardless of their specialty, possess an integral and global vision.

The lack of citizens with universal wisdom is evident in everyday life: civic irresponsibility, uncertainty, insecurity, and the prevalence of corruption, among other negative values. These are the products of an individualistic education, which produces citizens devoid of universal values. Therefore, it is imperative to innovate the educational paradigm, replacing the individualistic approach with a model that fosters citizens with universal wisdom.

Conclusions and innovation proposals

Based on these two major problems, it can be concluded that the root of humanity’s challenges lies in the university. We often criticise leaders and politicians but forget that the underlying causes of these problems originate in the institution that trained them. Humanity, therefore, faces two major needs centred on the university: to innovate the scientific research method, and to innovate the educational paradigm.

The first solution lies in transitioning from the "knowledge era" to the "creativity era." The new research method must be based on scientific principles, as laws allow for the creation of techniques, which in turn fuel creativity in all fields of knowledge. Moreover, innovating the educational paradigm would ensure the formation of a new citizenship endowed with universal wisdom, values, ethics, and reason, all grounded in universal truth.

To implement these innovations, a central tool is necessary: a philosophical method applied to scientific research and technical creation. This method, called "Princonser" (Principle of Conservation of Being), is the path followed by all beings in the universe. Humanity can return to this path through the new role that an innovative 21st-century university can assume.

Innovating the scientific research methodology and the universal educational paradigm requires applying this method, which guarantees the achievement of the objectives necessary for humanity’s development. Today, the university possesses the Princonser method, which has triple applications: philosophical, scientific, and technical.