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The Fate Of Man In A Scientist-technological Era
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In
many ways the ethical issues raised by such researches and experiments
are similar to those that come from our acclaimed potential to control
our own heredity. Just as the genetic content of our cells may be
manipulated in the laboratory, in the same way, some specific
information will (if not already experimented) be fed into human brains
at birth.
Already we can exert enormous power over the mind by the
use of drugs and even more by the use of electrodes. And one can attest
to it that “never before has man held such power in his hands. And never
before has there been such a temptation to misuse itâ€13.
1.3 How brave the new world
For
Alexander Denis, by 1970, matters were coming to its zenith. The richer
countries were becoming over-extended. Most of them were becoming
over-populated, over industrialized and over-reliant upon cheap imported
raw materials. Resources were either becoming less plentiful or were
being deliberately withheld by the producing countries, all in the
interest of long-term conservation.
The twentieth century has seen
the most rapid technological development in human history. As such,
people who were born before powered flight saw men walk on the moon.
Within five decades, medicine has moved from leeches and cupping to
organ transplant. Thus, if the main feature of a god were his power, it
might seem that man was more like a god than ever before. “It is man who
with his inclination to science and technology has travelled to the
space. It is this same man who fits people with new hearts, keeps them
alive in machines and even changes their minds or their sex. Mankind has
even gone to the realm of trying to produce himself artificially
(cloning). There is no doubt that man has benefited much from his own
effort of research to gain the potential for healing the minds and
bodies of the sick onesâ€14.
But amidst all this, Alexander believes
that one of the outstanding characteristics of this present generation
is a U-turn from science. It is no more a hidden fact that the prospect
of technical innovation has now become almost a threat to humanity. In
his book “chance and Necessityâ€, Jacques Monod spoke of the apparent
frustration, which has brought about the rejection of science and a
resultant shift to religion as the only moral approach.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 5]
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