Is Science a Blessing or a Curse? Not Examined
To determine whether science is a blessing or a curse is one of the hardest decisions for us to make. This has generated a big controversy, leading to different positions and views.
Edwin Powell Hubble once said, “Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.” Mankind is curious by nature. He wishes to uncover the mysterious things. So he has concentrated on various issues and explored the several hidden truths. Science has helped him in his efforts to do so. The usage of the gifts of science for a positive aim will surely give sweet results but its negative usage will result in disasters. Science can be used both as a curse or a blessing. It totally depends on how human beings use it. So it would be difficult to declare science as a curse or a blessing.
Undoubtedly, science has helped mankind achieve fantastic mental growth. Science has provided humans a vision to explore the secrets of nature. We have already made the world a small place to live and have gone even out of our own planet. We are exploring the depth of the earth. We have been able to increase the longevity, reduced the decaying effect of nature on the human body.
With the help of medical science, humans have achieved tremendous success. Scientists are now finding the cure for fatal diseases by making extraordinary drugs and medicines. There was a time when diseases such as malaria, influenza and tuberculosis were considered to be incurable. But now even some forms of cancer are curable. All this would not have been possible if medical science had not progressed.
Science has also benefitted us in the production and preservation of foods. Such practices date to prehistoric times. Among the oldest methods of preservation are drying, refrigeration, and fermentation. Modern methods include canning, pasteurization, freezing, irradiation, and the addition of chemicals. Scientific benefits are also reflected in the construction of our homes and transportation systems. It would be unthankful on our part if we don't identify what science has offered us.
But this is one side of the picture. Some people are of the view that science is a chief cause of human sufferings. They have reasons to say that science and its applications are not, on the whole, good for mankind. Industrialism brought new troubles. It proved harmful to cottage industry; hence it caused unemployment. It introduced new machines and supported the cruelty of the capitalists over the labourers. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, once said, “The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.” The rich gained much by exploiting the poor workers. The use of machinery to the service of man resulted in more evils. Millions of dollars have been being spent on the inventions of dangerous war weapons. How can we forget the day of August 6, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the US Military? Three days later, the United States, dropped a second atom bomb on the city of Nagasaki bringing World War II to an end. In total, more than 140,000 people were estimated to be killed.
In the social field, the use of science has also produced bad results. The use of machinery has given a new speed to our life and activity. We have become materialistic. The moral values of life are now considered things of the past. Corruption and lust are also gifts of science. Medicines and other surgical aids are available to the people but these have not promoted a better standard of health. The system of joint family has shattered. Art and literature have been badly affected by the impact of mechanization. Our life is becoming more and more artificial.
From the above discussion on the merits and demerits of science, we can conclude that science is actually neither a blessing nor a curse. Science can be the greatest of the blessings or the worst of the curses. In fact, science is not to be blamed but the person who uses it badly. Science has neither urged us to invent destructive weapons nor forced us to be materialistic, selfish or greedy. If we don’t use it for constructive purposes, it is obviously not the fault of science but ours. Science surely offers innumerable benefits to humankind and we need to use it sensibly and wisely just as Albert Einstein put it, “Why does this magnificent applied science, which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.”
NOTES:
- The text is adapted from an article in an website on English essays.
- Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953) was American astronomer who played a crucial role in establishing the field of extragalactic astronomy and is generally regarded as the leading observational cosmologist of the 20th century.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) was a French writer, aviator, poet and author. He looked at adventure and danger with a poet’s eyes. His fable Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) has become a modern classic.