Question

importance of scientific spirit in daily life : essay

Answer 1

Science and Society
Though modern science is of relatively recent origin in human history, it has made very rapid progress and transformed outwardly the manner of our living. It is said that our life outwardly has changed more in the last one hundred years than it did earlier in thousands of years. And this is largely because of the scientific knowledge accumulated over the last three centuries, and its application in the form of technology. The impact of science on society is very visible; and the results of progress in agriculture, medicine and health care, telecommunications, transportation, computerization and so on, are part of ourdaily living.

Despite this progress in science, and the consequent development of technology and industry, with the attendant comforts as well as power, in no part of the world are human beings happy and at peace with themselves, living without violence. It was hoped that the development of science would usher in an era of peace and prosperity, but that has been belied. On the contrary, if we look at the level of violence throughout the world during successive ten-year periods since 1900, in every decade, in every country, the crime-graph continues to go up. What we see on the one hand is greater economic prosperity, but on the other, greater violence, sorrow, anxiety along with acute ecological imbalancesand new diseases.

Krishnamurti raised the question: Has there been any psychological evolution at all in the last several thousand years? Have we progressed at all in wisdom, or the quest for truth, or inwardly, in our consciousness? Science has generated tremendous power; knowledge always gives power and is useful because it increases our abilities. But when we do not have love, compassion and a feeling of brotherhood, which are all by-products of wisdom as self-knowledge, then power is used destructively. Sixty-five percent of all the scientific research being done currently is directly or indirectly meant for developing weapons and is supported by the Defence Ministry in every nation. In the last century, several million people have been killed in wars, which is without precedent in anyprevious century.

So, does humanity have the capacity to handle the knowledge which science is generating? Are we not like children playing with fire? For, without wisdom, might we not set the whole house on fire and burn ourselves? There is hatred in our motivations; we are badly divided into groups—caste, national, linguistic, religious and other groups. We have been at war for thousands of years; and we now have nuclear weapons making war a million times more disastrous. Is the new knowledge taking us in the right direction? Through genetic engineering we might develop new power, but can we ensure that we will use that power for the benefit of mankind? All the nations of the world are spending huge amounts in developing scientific knowledge as if that is our priority. Are the problems of humanity today caused by not having sufficiently fast airplanes or computers or are they because of the psychologically primitive state in which we find ourselves due to a lack of the understanding of ourselves? Is it then responsible of us to pursue greater knowledge, giving more and more power, without the wisdom to use it rightly? Responsibility from a holistic point of view is universal responsibility. We are responsible for the whole of society, all ofhumankind, and also the earth.

Answer 2

Though modern science is of relatively recent origin in human history, it has made very rapid progress and transformed outwardly the manner of our living. It is said that our life outwardly has changed more in the last one hundred years than it did earlier in thousands of years. And this is largely because of the scientific knowledge accumulated over the last three centuries, and its application in the form of technology. The impact of science on society is very visible; and the results of progress in agriculture, medicine and health care, telecommunications, transportation, computerization and so on, are part of ourdaily living.

Despite this progress in science, and the consequent development of technology and industry, with the attendant comforts as well as power, in no part of the world are human beings happy and at peace with themselves, living without violence. It was hoped that the development of science would usher in an era of peace and prosperity, but that has been belied. On the contrary, if we look at the level of violence throughout the world during successive ten-year periods since 1900, in every decade, in every country, the crime-graph continues to go up. What we see on the one hand is greater economic prosperity, but on the other, greater violence, sorrow, anxiety along with acute ecological imbalancesand new diseases.