A case against ignorance

[benzyme]

science is a method to answer questions, nothing else.

opponents always have some misguided view that money/power motives are inherent to science; it's actually where political agendas comes into play that the data is skewed, products used unethically.. it has nothing to do with the actual science itself.

 

[Citta]

So a complete over-reliance on technology is the answer?

I simply can't imagine a technocratic society that *isn't* similar to 1984. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate the ability of science to increase standards of living and allow us to not have to worry about freezing to death or dehydrating, but technology isn't inherently beneficial to humanity. Remember that science created agent orange, the atomic bomb and makes it easier for governments and others with generally malevolent intentions to spy on us. Not to mention the price of our comfort and easy life style; take a look at the rest of the world. We've built our science-based lives upon the shoulders of child labor, slave labor, murder, rape and all sorts of terrible things. Sure, it's possible for science to make those places better as well, but that's just not how the world works.

What else should we rely on? Prayers and DMT? Wishful thinking without doing? No way, I don't wanna be a part of that. Technology is absolutely inherently beneficial to humanity. I mean, if it is one of a few things that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom it is the efficient and advanced use of technology. We don't stand a chance without some kind of technology.

Yes, science revealed the principles for the atomic bomb, but science is not to be blamed for governments using that to blow things up. On the other side, the same principles are now being used to generate 22% of the electricity supply in OECD countries. The principles can be used for both good and bad. I bet you wouldn't go on hating your kitchen knife even tho it is being used to kill and hurt people?

 

[jamie]

"Technology is absolutely inherently beneficial to humanity"

Not really. You cant generalize that way. Technology is NOT inherently benifical to humanity..SOME technology is and some is not. The nucleur reactors in Japan were not a technology that was inherantly benifical to humanity, as we soon found out. Just becasue some technology is good does not mean all technology is good and that we should just push it as far as we can.

"Yes, science revealed the principles for the atomic bomb, but science is not to be blamed for governments using that to blow things up"

That is true., but science and technology are not the same thing. Science is not "bad" for us or the earth in any way..the way people interprete it may be..but that is about humans. Technology by definition is about "technique"..and not all techniques are good for us or the earth, some are entirely destructive. Nothing about technique is inherantly benifical, though it can be applied in a benificial way.

 

[deedle-doo]

I agree that science is ethically neutral.

This leaves us with a quandary though. How do we get moral and ethical knowledge? This kind of knowledge is really important because it will inform the ways that science is exploited by technologists.

In my opinion this is where the limit of science becomes very important indeed. This is why we still need philosophers and historians, in addition to scientists.

 

[Citta]

"Technology is absolutely inherently beneficial to humanity"

Not really. You cant generalize that way. Technology is NOT inherently benifical to humanity..SOME technology is and some is not. The nucleur reactors in Japan were not a technology that was inherantly benifical to humanity, as we soon found out. Just becasue some technology is good does not mean all technology is good and that we should just push it as far as we can.

"Yes, science revealed the principles for the atomic bomb, but science is not to be blamed for governments using that to blow things up"

That is true., but science and technology are not the same thing. Science is not "bad" for us or the earth in any way..the way people interprete it may be..but that is about humans. Technology by definition is about "technique"..and not all techniques are good for us or the earth, some are entirely destructive. Nothing about technique is inherantly benifical, though it can be applied in a benificial way.

Technology as a concept or a thing in itself may not be inherently beneficial, I can agree. But further down in the same post I write "We don't stand a chance without some kind of technology" as well. But this is more about semantics than it is the general point I was trying to make, and I think you can agree that we have to have some kind of technology, and that some kind of technology is beneficial for us. Think about mankind without fire, without tools to build houses, without weapons to hunt with and so on. All of these things falls under the term "technology".

But you're right, it's far fetched to generalize the way I did =)

For the record; the nuclear reactions are beneficial in that they produce energy that is safer, less pollutable and more economic than many other sources (coal, gas, oil etc).

 

[jamie]

^yes I agree..I firmly believe that our future place is not as cavemen beating our sticks on the ground. technology can and does do some great things..and I look foreward to a future where we choose to fully express a technological society that is truely egalitarian and sustainable.

 

[christian]

excellent post fractual!

-The whole purpose of us being here is to live happily ever after through a happy lifestyle , respecting and thanking nature in the way that nature meant. happiness is good for evr4yone!!

-In the end, whatever we DO is repaid back to nature, our true debt, and where we return to.So nature always wins, and human ego always loses.

- I think like Terence McKENNA SAID, we owe it to nature to stop consuming rubbish we don't need. We need to realise that living a good life means a simple life where we can properly give thanks and appreciation for the little things in life. For that is all us humans need for happiness. Lets' all work together to make this happen, and i think it's win win for nature, humanity, and yes even GOD! 8) :d , and isn't that enough...!:?: !:d