Uses and Abuses of Science
Science is neither a blessing nor a curse. It is what man makes of it. Science can be the greatest of the blessing or the worst of the curses. We blame science. In fact, we should blame man. Science as a servant serves us in many ways. It is a blessing if we use it as a servant. It is a curse if we make it our master. “Science has given us powers fit for the Gods, yet we use them like small children. The great defect of science is that we don’t know what to do with our knowledge.”
Science has helped us in conquering time and distance. Trains, cars, steamships and aero-planes take us quickly and comfortably from one place to another within a short span of time. Man can fly in the air like a bird and swim in the ocean or under water like a fish. When science becomes our master, it is very destructive. Aero-planes and ships can be misused for carrying war materials for destruction. The aero-planes can be used for dropping bombs on the innocent people. They can destroy beautiful buildings, cities, museums, dams, men, women and children in no time. Railway trains can be misused for carrying armies, arms and weapons to enslave other people and countries.
Wireless, telegraph and telephone are very useful. Telephone and telegraph are the simplest means of sending news and information from one place to another. Wireless has done wonders. But all these things can be used for war propaganda as well.
Science has done wonders in the field of medicine. New injections and medicines have come into use. Many fatal diseases can now be cured. But medical science has its dark side also. These medicines cause reactions and gives birth too many unknown diseases. Science has given many destructive weapons of war. The f earful picture of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and that of Gulf war is before us. Nuclear weapons can destroy in a moment what takes centuries to build.
Science has made us too powerful. Godly powers in the hands of children men are dangerous. Machines were invented to serve man. Today man appears to be serving them. Servants have become masters, and we spend our life feeding, cleaning and maintaining these machines. We depend on machines too much nowadays. And machines are very stern masters. They must be fed with coal and given petrol to drink and oil to wash with, and must be kept at the right temperature. If we neglect the needs of machines, we face trouble. The machine fails and the loss is ours. As we used to rule our animals, machines will rule over us in the same manner in near future. Thus machine which civilization invented for the good of man can prove a curse to men leaving them with no time to enjoy life.
Thus we see that science has brought both Heaven and Hell to the world of man. It is up to man to choose his place of living.
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