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Pure science does not a society make
Science makes the world go round. Everything we interact with in the world is in some part due to the science our societies has developed since humans first learned how to make spears and harness fire. Yet, that science alone does not make the societies we live in. Any call to scientific objectivity that ignores the human condition falls prey to this basic fact: science is only the beginning, not the end. For all claimed objectivity there is also the subjective understanding of who we are as individuals and society, meaning that for all the scientific progress that enables us to lead our personal good lives there is also the caveat that science without ethics is doomed to treat humans as nothing more than lab rats in the pursuit of unethical ends.
I will happily admit to being a technophile and geek, the least luddite person you are likely to meet. Yet, even though I have a BSc and MSc I remain wary of the ethical implications inherent in bleeding edge science and calls to treat science as the root of the human condition. It is one of the harshest lessons of the twentieth century that we sent millions to their deaths in trenches, camps, and forced marches in part due to the relentless drive of technology. Any reading of technological progress across human history shows that unethical behaviour invariably leads to debasement of the human condition, a worsening of conditions, and…
