The use and the misuse of science

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Lingue
Voto:	2 (2)
Download:	90
Data:	20.12.2000
Numero di pagine:	2
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

THE USE AND THE MISUSE OF SCIENCE.
IN HISTORY SCIENCE HAS OFTEN GONE AGAINST NATURE’S LAWS. THOUGH WE CAN THINK THIS IS WRONG, IT HAS TAKEN TO GREAT PROGRESS, WHICH COULD BE THOUGHT AS IMPOSSIBLE.
THE CLEAREST EXAMPLE IS MEDICINE, WHERE A GREAT NUMBER OF DISCOVERIES HAVE HELPED US IN INCREASING THE WELL-BEING AND LIFE’S QUALITY.
BUT WE MUST ADMIT THAT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT HAVE ALSO CREATED MONSTERS AS HIROSHIMA, CHERNOBYL, POLLUTION OR CLONATION.
WE THINK THAT CLONATION, THAT IS REPRODUCTION OF “PHOTOCOPIES-MEN”, IS SURELY THE MOST DANGEROUS PRODUCT OF MODERN SCIENCE. THE KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN GENETIC PATRIMONY CAN HELP IN PREVENT AND CURE ILLNESSES, BUT IT CAN ALSO TAKE TO UPSETTING APPLICATIONS.
SO WE CAN SAY THAT EVERYDAY SCIENCE GOES ON MOVING ITS OWN LIMITS.
SCIENCE’S LIMITS HAVE ALWAYS CAUSED A GREAT DISCUSSION: HOW CAN WE CONTROL A NEGATIVE USE OF SCIENCE?
IN DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE IT’S CLEAR THAT THE SCIENTIST WANTS TO GET OVER THIS LIMITS: HE IS OBSESSED WITH THE IDEA THAT HIS DEVIL TENDENCIES CAN BE SEPARATED FROM HIS GOOD SIDE, BUT THIS TAKE TO THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS PERSONALITY. JEKYLL SHOWS US A GREAT FRIGHTEN OF MEN: WE OFTEN REFUSE OURSELVES AND HE TRIES TO ELIMINATE HIS BAD SIDE. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE, BECAUSE WE ARE MADE OF GOOD AND EVIL COMPONENTS, AND IS UP TO US CHOOSING HOW TO BE, NOT TO SCIENCE.
THEORETICALLY JEKYLL’S EXPERIMENT COULD HAVE HELPED HUMANITY, FOR EXAMPLE IN FIGHTING AGAINST BD BEHAVIOURS, BUT THERE IS AN IMPORTANT OBSTACLE WHICH MUST BE CONSIDERED: SCIENCE CANNOT FORESEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF SOME EXPERIMENTS AND, THOUGH THEY COULD TAKE TO GOOD RESULTS, MEN WITHOUT SCRUPLES COULD USE THEM FOR BLAMEWORTHY SCOPES.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO? SHOULD WE STOP EVERYTHING? SHOULD WE STOP SCIENCE PROGRESS? THIS WOULD BE THE WORST REMEDY TO EVIL.
NOWADAYS PROGRESS SHOWS MORE DANGEROUS APPLICATIONS THAN ONCE, BUT SOCIETY CAN ALSO DO A GREATER CONTROL ON BAD USE OF SCIENCE: IN OTHER EPOCHS KNOWLEDGE WAS CONTROLLED BY FEW PEOPLE WHO USED IT TO SUBJECT OTHER PEOPLE. THEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE HAS PRODUCED, FIRST OF ALL, THE CONVICTION THAT EVERYONE CAN ACCESS TO STUDIES. THIS MEANS THAT WE CAN HAVE A GREATER CONTROL ON SOMEONE’S BAD INTENTIONS.
SO WE CAN SAY THAT SCIENCE PROGRESS IS ESSENTIAL FOR OUR LIFE BUT IT’S ALSO CLEAR THAT WE MUST PUT A LIMIT ON KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIMENTS: IS IT RIGHT TO MODIFY HUMAN GENETIC PATRIMONY? TO DESTROY THE ENVIRONMENT? THE ANSWER COULD BE YES, IF MEN WERE ALL GOOD, BUT NO-ONE CAN DECLARE IT. MEN’S INTENTIONS ARE OFTEN BAD, THEY ARE LEAD BY POWER DESIRE, ECONOMICAL INTERESTS AND POLITIC CONFLICTS.

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