D
Derek1955
Guest
Science by its very nature is amoral or value neutral and whilst this might be true of science itself it can hardly apply to scientists who are human and thus vulnerable to all temptations to which humanity is heir. It is a comparatively simple matter to pursue knowledge for its own sake but infinitely more difficult, if not impossible, to deal with the consequences of subsequent discoveries.
The lid of Pandora's Box is now wide open, its content made more easily available to the world via electronic media and therefore it cannot now be closed and whilst the last thing remaining in that box was hope, even that aspirational entity has now become more of a pipe dream than a likely prospect.
The driving force behind scientific enquiry is, in the main, humankind's insatiable desire to seek out knowledge for its own sake with scant regard for any moral or practical dilemmas that might ensue. Many examples of this dichotomy abound in the fields of nuclear physics, eugenics, genetic manipulation of both plants and animals, robotics, global warming et al where the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge is not accompanied by an equivalent growth in humankind's moral sagacity to cope with it. One example is the discovery and abuse of plastics and there are many others.
The search for knowledge, accompanied by rapid increases in technology along with the ever present desire of commerce to exploit its findings to the maximum will continue to outstrip the ability of mankind to use its discoveries wisely and totally for the common, good and thereby hasten its demise.
I embrace an apocalyptic view of the future. Why? Apart from Biblical predictions, mankind, arguably might be neither better or worse than in the past but today it possesses, and is more than capable of using, world destroying weapons of heretofore unimaginable power. This applies to the nuclear field, eugenics, robotics and virus manipulation to name but four.
Before his death, leading physicist Stephen Hawking said “Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time and becomes a near certainty in the next 1,000 or 10,000 years.”
I'm not so sure we have anywhere near that long and these parlous times are vividly described and explained for all in the third chapter of 2 Timothy which is well worth reading times without number that we might increasingly understand and so better prepare ourselves.
The lid of Pandora's Box is now wide open, its content made more easily available to the world via electronic media and therefore it cannot now be closed and whilst the last thing remaining in that box was hope, even that aspirational entity has now become more of a pipe dream than a likely prospect.
The driving force behind scientific enquiry is, in the main, humankind's insatiable desire to seek out knowledge for its own sake with scant regard for any moral or practical dilemmas that might ensue. Many examples of this dichotomy abound in the fields of nuclear physics, eugenics, genetic manipulation of both plants and animals, robotics, global warming et al where the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge is not accompanied by an equivalent growth in humankind's moral sagacity to cope with it. One example is the discovery and abuse of plastics and there are many others.
The search for knowledge, accompanied by rapid increases in technology along with the ever present desire of commerce to exploit its findings to the maximum will continue to outstrip the ability of mankind to use its discoveries wisely and totally for the common, good and thereby hasten its demise.
I embrace an apocalyptic view of the future. Why? Apart from Biblical predictions, mankind, arguably might be neither better or worse than in the past but today it possesses, and is more than capable of using, world destroying weapons of heretofore unimaginable power. This applies to the nuclear field, eugenics, robotics and virus manipulation to name but four.
Before his death, leading physicist Stephen Hawking said “Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time and becomes a near certainty in the next 1,000 or 10,000 years.”
I'm not so sure we have anywhere near that long and these parlous times are vividly described and explained for all in the third chapter of 2 Timothy which is well worth reading times without number that we might increasingly understand and so better prepare ourselves.
