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| Science for the masses |
So, who's science is it?
I wonder about this now and again. Its not such a big issue at the moment, in 6 months it will be. In 6 months there will be less money around fo reckless, small projects that bring about only a tiny amount of understanding but cost tremendous amounts. Most science that we know today came about through people spending their own time and money trying to describe the obvious. It was always obvious - u just didnt realize. That is one of the main points. Because of the research done by these men over so many hundreds of years, a solid foundation now underlies all our understanding of the universe and our lives here on earth. We can say that it has produced mega-results, that is to say, they are known of by the whole population, by and large. I mean, we all know that the earth is round, it goes around the sun, experiences seasons related to the tilt of the earth relative to the sun and days and nights because of its spin around its axis. We know how to create and build and mend, how to administer medicine, describe ecosystems and predict the weather. Humanity is smart, as a whole, it is smart.
How much can any one human know? I dont think its that much. And for some humans who choose to specialise into researching new things, how much of what they know is understandable to the layman? So surely the situation is one of the following:
1) By having many researchers and scientists, a society's knowledge and understanding of the universe increases overall, by merely adding up all the different bits of knowledge contained in the whole population:
2) By only researching popular topics, scientists are able to reveal things which are understandable to the whole population, and result in the knowledge of the society as a whole increasing with an accompanying technological advance;
3) By spending money that would otherwise have been spent on research into small things on other projects, for example on education or efficiency, then the societies knowledge will increase whilst also increasing the standard of living.
Im not sure that ive even listed the most main factors in this situation, but definatley its a fairly important topic in the current economic climate. There will surely be many compromises in the future. But i feel that its useful to remember that science doesnt belong to scientists, they are just servants of it, as are we all. And it would be useful to remember that humanity is not like individuals - together we are stronger, and we need each other to become the individuals we want to be. We need to work together, not just to find out new things or how things will be used for our society, to give us a better standard of living, but also to share the common purpose of humanity, which is surely to create a society of peace, properity and happiness, and it is certain that science will bring us closer to that place.
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Posted by A_Welshman on 2008-12-28 09:57:50 | Rating: | Views: 25
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