I couldn't help comparing this science centre with the Singapore Science Centre (SSC), as that's the only other science centre I've been to. Overall, this is much bigger (of course; everything here can be and is bigger than Singapore's). I only went to a couple of exhibits: The Question of Truth, and a bit of some engineering-related exhibit whose name I can't remember, and a bit of The Living Earth. Generally, they were better than SSC; they were more detailed, more interesting and more current and updated. Many of the exhibits at the SSC's seemed to be geared towards the primary school kid and often merely echoes the concepts taught in the primary science curriculum. There is a level at the OSC that is aimed at kids, so I presume the other exhibits were set up with an older target audience.
What I found interesting was the strong social justice component running through many of the exhibits. For example, in the Truth exhibit, one of the central themes was that with so many different viewpoints, what makes one more 'right' over another? For example, both the Earth-centred and the Sun-centered solar systems models could explain the peculiar elliptical orbit of Mars, so without the sophisticated equipment we have today, and without considering further evidence, both models might be considered equally valid.
On the other side of the spectrum, wars and genocides have been carried out in the name of upholding a particular 'truth', such as eugenics and the belief that 'defectives' (physically disabled, mentally disabled, or just people who are different, like gays) spoil the human population, or that some races are worth less than others. There was a good documentary shown, on eugenics, though as always, I can't recall very much of the show but little odd facts just jump up and stick. For example, I didn't know that the Nazi eugenics movement in Germany has its roots in the US eugenics ideas. I have heard or read about a lot of the ideas presented in the Truth exhibit, still, it's very good to see it presented in a coherent fashion and in a compact exhibition. There was a mental box (with a 'disturbing content' label on the door) you can step into to get a feel of the incredibly claustrophobic environments African slaves endured when they were shipped to the US. Then the recording in the box moves on to talk about the transportation of Nazi prisoners, and the box shrinks even further as one wall slides inward. Let me put it this way: the box narrowed to the exact width of my shoulders and I'm not big-sized at all.
Another thought-provoking exhibit discussed the Milgram experiments. That was new to me, and immediately brings to mind the Stanford prison experiments, even though both study different aspects of human psychology. Both return unexpected results, are extremely interesting from an academic viewpoint, and extremely disturbing from a social viewpoint. Even at the Living Earth exhibit, some of the exhibits likewise had a strong social justice vein; in that case, it was that of environmentalism.
This focus on social responsibility, I think, is a rather interesting difference between the SSC and OSC.
No nice pictures, unfortunately. Below is a picture of the view in the cafetaria. Yes, I just included it for fun.
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