Where Science has lead the Modern man?

[Sriram]

It’s been hardly 100 years and man has progressed so much technologically. More than 90% of the inventions of man have come in these years. Where have all these taken us? Modern civilization is all set for a toss and is not expected to enter the second quarter of the 21st century, not because they have invented the atom bomb, not because of a third world war, not because there is going to be a massive earth quake, Not because the oceans are going to flood the whole of earth, not because a comet is going to strike the earth, not because of aids, not because of terrorism, not because of corruption, not because of the endless divisions of man, but because of their very scientific inventions. Modern civilization is built on the wrong foundation. We are dependent on various materials like coal, petrol, diesel, natural gas, iron, steel, aluminium, copper, tungsten, sulphur, silica, sand, gravel, clay and a whole lot of minerals and metals for our survival. Most of these resources have been dug out and consumed and the consumption rate is at an all time high and the grave is ready to bury the modern civilization. They say necessity is the father of invention and kept making all their inventions and optimists may say we will find an alternative for everything as and when they get exhausted, but it will be obvious even to a child that we cannot find an alternative to all the natural resources. It is time for the end of the possibility for invention and beginning of an exponentially growing necessity. Modern man has made the impossible possible and it is now time for the possible to become impossible. We cannot stop digging because we are very much dependent on the resources. Science has exploited the natural resources and medicine has increased the population. When we look back, why have they made all these inventions and to what end?

We were compassionate towards the ailing man and invented all the medicines and surgical methods. We encouraged hard work and said a man should come up in life through his hard work. We encouraged our children to excel in their studies so that they shine in their respective areas. These very things that seem to be a virtue at the individual level have been the curse for the modern civilization because of the exploitation of natural resources and has become a life threat.

When I look at what will be a sustainable lifestyle, I am disgusted. A sustainable lifestyle is one in which we get all the products that we need from plants and animals. Man has to live in thatched huts near rivers or lakes, cooking in earthenware using firewood and forget about traveling around the globe. We have come way far from that and cannot think of that. The politicians think power will save them, the rich think money will save them, the devotees think their god will save them, the scientists think their inventions will save them, the workers think their hard work will save them, the students think their excellence in education will save them, but the whole modern civilization is going to topple because it is built on wrong foundation.

Where is the creator? What can be his plan? Has he planned for mass destruction? Is he going to replenish all the natural resources for us? It is well within his capacity, but he is not seen to do it. Even the creator seems to believe in evolution and lets time do the needful though initially he is said to have created everything instantaneously. Probably everyone can become yogis so that they can live on just oxygen and sunlight. Surely we cannot continue as we are for long. There will come one day when essential commodities cannot be produced or cannot be transported to where we are. The first among these are petrol, diesel and natural gas. Our smart idiots have invented ways to exploit the natural resources and exhaust them in less than 100 years. This is probably the greatest Guinness record ever. 2 or 3 generations lived in luxury and did they at least live happily or were they worrying that they could not amass enough wealth, could not find the right life partner, could not experience all the luxuries that were invented as of date or could not travel to all the places on earth?

When we look in history, no one has warned the modern man that he is building on the wrong foundation. Till date I don't find anyone concerned about that. We would have been better off if we had wanted nothing other than this morning's bread. Always.

Though that is a problem without a solution, I'm not at all bothered, because what is impermanent always has an end. And probably that end is nearing. It is just not a graceful end. How does everyone feel about this?

 

[Mercy Not Sacrifice]

Interesting thoughts. Will respond later when I have time.

 

[Ody]

Though that is a problem without a solution, I'm not at all bothered, because what is impermanent always has an end. And probably that end is nearing. It is just not a graceful end. How does everyone feel about this?

This has been said for every generation that had an advance in the sciences, read a little, your concerns are nothing new.

 

[michel]

This has been said for every generation that had an advance in the sciences, read a little, your concerns are nothing new.

I agree. But, I heard on the TV just this morning that, as at today's date, we in the UK, had used up an entire year's worth of our own natural resources. That means, effectively, that for 2/3 of the year, we are dependent on produce and resourses from other countries. It made me think a bit..............

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

We would have been better off if we had wanted nothing other than this morning's bread.

A world where your father is old and worthless by 50 and your mother has a enormous chance of dying in childbirth - where your brother is crippled by pneumonia and your sister killed by tuberculosis - where your neighbors up the road are burying the third stillborn child and those down the road were long ago decimated by small pox - where you barely have enough to eat because the growing season was too hot or too cold or too wet or too dry. What tired old nonsense ...

I suggest you cancel your internet subscription, domate your fancy computer to charity, and walk your talk.

 

[Mike182]

A world where your father is old and worthless by 50 and your mother has a enormous chance of dying in childbirth - where your brother is crippled by pneumonia and your sister killed by tuberculosis - where your neighbors up the road are burying the third stillborn child and those down the road were long ago decimated by small pox - where you barely have enough to eat because the growing season was too hot or too cold or too wet or too dry. What tired old nonsense ...

I suggest you cancel your internet subscription, domate your fancy computer to charity, and walk your talk.

:clap agreed :clap

i would not be alive today if not for modern science! diabetes used to kill, now, its a managable condition (relatively speaking, but in about 20 years i predict they can "cure" it)

yes, everything we do has consequences, everything we invent will have pros and cons, but to focus wholly on the cons will get humanity nowhere fast.

 

[Popeyesays]

I agree. But, I heard on the TV just this morning that, as at today's date, we in the UK, had used up an entire year's worth of our own natural resources. That means, effectively, that for 2/3 of the year, we are dependent on produce and resourses from other countries. It made me think a bit..............

That's probably been true for four hundred years at least. This is why Britain is a sea-faring nation, and owned the largest colonial system on earth at one time.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Flappycat]

Personally, I like living in a world in which you can get fat eating out of garbage cans and you'd get nothing worse than a slap on the wrists for stealing a plum out of fresh produce. We've got so much food that, if a stranger were to walk up to our door asking for food, we'd give him enough food to last him a month, thinking of it as a single meal, and direct him to where he can get some food stamps. I like living with the knowledge that, if I were to have a heart attack, I wouldn't have to be filthy rich to get treated for it. I like being able to travel hundreds of miles in a matter of hours, and I like being able to stay up all night reading a book without risking permanent eye strain. I like the internet, and I like television. I absolutely love being able to know months in advance if my area is likely to be hit by a hurricane, and I wouldn't under any circumstances give up effective treatment for cancer. Does anyone remember when we were trekking through the rainforests searching for a cure for cancer? Nowadays, our odds of survival are pretty good if we catch it early and might even be treatable if more advanced. That's awesome. It thrills me to the core that I can have pneumonia twice in a lifetime without having to go through anything terribly different from what I would for a common cold because we have anti-biotics that work like a big, old can of whoopass.

Finally, I absolutely adore living in a world in which people freak out like it's the black plague over something that's killed less than fifty people in a population of billions and nearly all of THAT in Third World populations. That, my friend, makes me laugh maniacally and say "take that, you virulant scum! Down with you, Evil Lord Bacteria!" Yahaha!

Face it, folks. We trusted the evil, godless scientists, and we got filthy rich. We're all filthy rich. If you're poor, you're filthy rich. If you have no income, you're filthy rich to someone who lived in your great-grandparents' time. Practically anyone can amass enough wealth to own an estate that would make some of the richest of Medieval European nobles break down in tears if they're willing to bust their rumps for it for a few decades, and they'll live long enough to enjoy it because plenty of us are living actively well into our nineties. Yes, it's actually possible, if you have the ingenuity and the will, to be born penniless and become a millionaire within your lifetime, billionaire if you come up with something truly innovative. That's the world we're living in, folks, and I have to say that I wouldn't give it up under torture.

 

[Mercy Not Sacrifice]

One of the greatest classroom discussions that I have ever been a part of concerned this very issue. It took place on a day that I was visiting a school, and to this day I sometimes think about what was said.

We talked about how humans existed ages ago, millenia before any sort of organized civilization or technology. Life was simple; life was equalitarian; life was difficult. The means to survive was straightforward in theory but filled with risk: risk of disease, of natural disasters, of war, of wild animals, of other elements that presented constant danger. Humans, using the great intellect that Nature has given them, came up with ways of overcoming these obstacles: Build up tools and apparati (sic) to protect themselves from the elements, and build up social systems to protect the physical systems. To this extent, the changes did their job.

Unfortunately, what humans did was to create a wildly disproportionate society, where a very few people posessed most of the wealth and power, which emerged as the two dominant foci of human control. As a result, many people craved more wealth and power than they already had, whether a lot or a little, sometimes by means of violence. This tragic result brought the human race right back to where they started, facing them with the question of how to overcome fundamental problems of survival and living satisfactory lives. The irony, of course, is that humans caused this set of problems.

The question was left, without clear answer: Where do we go from here? What do we do? We have much to speculate on this matter. Personally, I think if we as humans are to overcome the problems that we have introduced to the planet, we must steadfastly focus on two principles: Sustainability and peace.

We must learn to not take from the earth and from each other what we cannot give back. What we and the earth have, we have, and not a bit more. The environment is a fragile one, and as a part of it, we humans are no exceptions. Exploiting the earth and each other, regardless of justification, simply have no place in a future that is to be sustainable. This will be a hard goal to accomplish, but if we will all work together, I think this can be done.

In addition, we must not take advantage of each other in our states of weakness. Humans will rise, and humans will fall; such is life. However, to intensify the fall of individuals is to intensify the fall of our race as a whole. As alluring as it may be, Nature posesses great danger to us; by fighting one another over whatever cause, be it territory or relationships, we increase this danger that much more. Racism, sexism, homophobia, wars, bullying, child abuse, and other forms of hatred simply cannot continue if we are to live a life of peace. This I see as a much more difficult goal to accomplish than sustainability, because this requires not a change of action, but thought. Acts of hatred are often subconscious, often not even perceived by the one committing them. How can we correct the ways of people who don't even realize what they are doing?

But that is no excuse for inaction. We must take steps to sustainability and peace. We must learn to love the earth and love each other. This is not a choice; this is survival.

 

[Flappycat]

Hmm, I think most of the world's problems would be solved if people spent more time getting out and meeting each other. In one way or the other.

 

[Yerda]

A world where your father is old and worthless by 50 and your mother has a enormous chance of dying in childbirth - where your brother is crippled by pneumonia and your sister killed by tuberculosis - where your neighbors up the road are burying the third stillborn child and those down the road were long ago decimated by small pox - where you barely have enough to eat because the growing season was too hot or too cold or too wet or too dry. What tired old nonsense ...

I suggest you cancel your internet subscription, domate your fancy computer to charity, and walk your talk.

Brilliant.

So yes, science, useless.:slap:

 

[willything]

yes science is ok but very over rated. it couldnt get the ss minnow crew off the island.so much for that professor.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

yes science is ok but very over rated. it couldnt get the ss minnow crew off the island.so much for that professor.

Come on...he made a radio out of coconuts. You've gotta be impressed by that.

 

[joeboonda]

Science, like anything else, can be used for good or bad. I like living in this time and enjoy the comforts and advances, be it technilogical, medical, etc. I think this is an impermanent world and is coming to an type of an end soon, as in the last days people would travel to and fro and knowledge will increase, as Daniel prophesies. It is all very exciting to witness.