Essay on Science – A Double Edged Sword

How fascinating the world is! There are many different interesting phenomena like rivers flowing, formation of rainbow, etc. going around us. The beauty of the nature and its inhabitants: humans, animals and plants, render us speechless.

Human beings are intelligent and thinking animals. Naturally, we would seek to explain the reasons behind these interesting sightings. Questions like how the universe came about, how life started, etc…leave us astonished.

Therefore human beings have always sought to find answers to these problems since times immemorial. This quest for knowing it all took two diversions, one is philosophical and the other scientific.

Science is nothing but the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. It is very broad and includes sub disciplines like biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, etc.

Science has profound usage and implications in our daily life. It has also played an important role in development of medicine, infrastructure, agriculture and communication and travel.

Firstly, the real credit for the increase in life expectancy and the overall health of the people goes to breakthroughs in medical sciences. Researchers are constantly taking place all around the globe to develop vaccines, novel medical equipment, etc. to diagnose, prevent and cure various diseases. Treatment for deadly diseases like cancer, etc. was only things of fiction during earlier days, whereas now it is rather feasible.

Secondly, advancements made in cut edging technologies like genetic engineering, etc have contributed to food security. It is now even possible to design crops resistant to frost, salinity, etc. Upon studying the mineral requirements of various plant species using the technique of hydroponics, agricultural specialists and chemists created efficient fertilizers, thus increasing the crop yield. Proper pesticides were, further, able to prevent the sabotage of the food grains by keeping a check on the biological pests. This has resulted in tremendous benefit to both farmers and people. India’s Green Revolution during early years after Independence is the best example for this.

Thirdly, owing to the landmarks in transport engineering, the world has become a global village. In today’s highly globalised and interconnected world, the notion of faster travel is always welcome. We were able to accomplish this by exploring blueprints of better models of vehicles that are providing us with quicker transport. In fact at very recently it has been announced that Virgin Atlantic Airways is launching commercial space travel and British Airways has developed commercial flights travelling at supersonic speed! Alternations in the tradition steam and diesel engines have paved way for superfast trains like Bullet train, TGV, etc., thereby making commute and ferry of goods easier, quicker and cheaper.

Likewise, in the recent years there has been a revolution in IT, electronic and communication sectors, leading to the availability of incredibly fast computers, sleek mobiles, etc. which are very useful for staying in touch with the global community. The several improvements in supercomputers have now helped researchers to process highly complex experimental data within seconds! Further, technologies like video conferencing have reduced the need for travelling, thus saving time and money of countless number of people. Not only this, self thinking and smart robots are not very away from now, all thanks to our increased proficiency in programming, resulting in the spectacular developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

Additionally, the improvements and progress that has taken place in the field of construction is truly beyond words as it allowed us to construct tall and futuristic buildings like Burj Khalifa, approximately as high as 2750 feet! Besides, we are now in a position to create artificial beaches and landscapes.

No doubt, science has made our lives easier and simpler. But I would also like to highlight the various drawbacks and the dark and ugly side of science. I am of the strong opinion that science is a double edged sword. It can easily be misused and it is often counterproductive. Let us consider the following aspects of science.

Firstly, every single gadget used by us, say, television, mobile phone, computers, etc. do us more harm than good. The dangers of radioactivity associated with them have not only caused serious problems like sterility, cancers in humans, but are also claimed to be the prime cause for the disappearance of certain bird species like sparrow. Moreover, these days, it is quite often that we see children as young as seven or eight are seen wearing vision corrective glasses, thanks to the plummeting usage of commuters, video games, television, etc. for entertainment purposes. Studies have claimed children who are exposed to television from a very young age; tend to have poor IQ, inferior communication skills, etc. as compared to their counterparts who spent more time in healthy activities like playing outside.

Besides, the danger that constantly lurks behind science is the fact that it can be easily misused. Instances of hacking, stealing money using the credit cards, phishing, scams, etc are not new. For e.g. the Street View feature on Google Earth has been misused by buglers to rob innocent civilians’ houses. Not only that, technology has progressed to such an extent that it is possible to destroy an entire nation by launching missiles on it with the click of a mouse! Besides, terrorist outfits are misusing the internet to hack government servers and are stealing highly sensitive data.

Just as science has increased the lifespan of humans, on the very hand, it has also led to numerous health complications. A recent study claims that the highly popular house appliances like oven can seriously damage our digestive system and even lead to certain types of cancers. Further, with the coming in of machines and gadgets, the work load on us has reduced. Additionally, people are using cars for short distances also! The advent of several devices has made us all lead a sedentary and passive lifestyle. This has initiated the beginning of an era where, people in their mid 20s are having sickness blues; worrying about obesity, hypertension, etc.

In addition, we are now addicted to using the gadgets for simplest of the things. This excessive use of technology leaves us perplexed and confused in their absence. Just think how disoriented we feel in the absence of electricity! To further illustrate this, last month when the global Blackberry network was down due to some server problem, millions of people were left bewildered and cut off from the world. This shows how vulnerable we are and how much our lives are at the mercy of technology.

I also believe that it is the science is the root cause of all conflicts and wars. Someone has rightly said that over knowledge is lethal. As we became more and more aware of the ways we harness the resources for monetary gains, we have become greedy and selfish. We cannot be satisfied with what we have and want more and more. This has resulted in quarrels with other nations, and once again science has been employed to settle the matter by raining missiles and bombing settlements. America’s invasion of Iraq for crude oil supplies under the pretext of establishing democracy and maintaining global security is a classic example of this.

As an offshoot to the previous point, science has actually strained the ties and relationships. People no longer feel like talking and interacting with friends and family. They prefer to watch television or play video games. This is seriously dampening the communication and interpersonal skills of many. For an instance, my own friend has about 300 odd friends on Facebook, but a very few in real life.

Last but not the least; science is the major culprit behind the present scenario of indiscriminate use of resources and worsening global environmental health. The fumes from automobiles and factories, sewer and sewage from residencies and industries, the noise, etc are making the earth a hell to live on, quite literally! No longer do we find rabbits peering at us or the lakes almost ever half a mile. Tell me, is this what we call development? Furthermore, in name of mega development projects, we are destroying the natural habitat of plants and animals, thus driving them to the verge of extinction. Adding to our woes, scientists have estimated that given present day consumption and exploitation, most of our oil and coal reserves will run out in about 50 years, leaving a dark future ahead.

Ultimately, we can’t really call science a “boon” or ‘bane.” Everything has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. We can’t embrace a thing simply looking at its pluses, nor can we discard it regarding its drawbacks. The same applies to science; it is just a tool and just like any other tool, we can use it productively for the well being and progress of the human civilization or use it foolishly to destroy all that we have created so far. A famous quotation goes on “Science is a terrible master but a submissive servant.”

To conclude, I would like appeal to the people to exert their conscience and use the knowledge of science for universal benefit of all. The choice is really yours.

BY

SHASAHNK RAO PALETY