Science and the Environment

[eqo]

On the grand scale of things I believe it is fair to say that modern science is wasteful, and overall a hinderence to our (humanities) total life span. What we do have is an oppurtunity, to live eternally under the natural forces that helped us evolve. Most scientists are taking full advantage of the claimed 'resource' and are using it to create (be creators, make their mark on the universe); resulting ultimately in mass consumption of vital "living power", for profits.

 

I don't want to misuse the term profit, but it comes in many forms; knowledge, reputation or monertary based are the most common types of 'profit'. An unintelligent human could survive without the knowledge taught in schools, naturally. Thus, if all intelligent people left or 'stopped', the so called 'unintelligent' would be better off; for they're living naturally without human-created knowledge. This doesn't make scientists wrong or evil completely, in a purposive sense they are attempting to improve everyone's lives, I just don't think it's being applied correctly. Resource is vital to our survival, the lives of today need to think about the lives of tomorrow.

 

This is just a rant in light of maybe persuading people to cut down on the waste they produce,.

[Essay]

On the grand scale of things I believe it is fair to say that modern science is wasteful, and overall a hinderence to our (humanities) total life span.

 

I could go along --in a way-- with all of that except the above.... Wasteful? (or are we overly efficient?)... "Hinderance?" (or is technology a distraction from quality/purpose?)... But I know what you mean, I think.

 

But hey, without all of that technology --however unplanned, unpremeditated, unintentionally complex, and full of unforseen consequences it always was-- without it we'd all be sitting around in the middle of another long glacial-advance cycle in the nutrient-poor tropics. I don't think any of today's potential for advancing toward a Type I civilization would exist. ...or is that your point?

 

I'm still hopeful that we will finally learn to learn from history. There's no do-overs, but we can choose to move forward with a different focus....

 

~

 

p.s. It's just a small percentage of the population (~10-15%) that needs to cut down on their excessive waste (or learn better waste management techniques).

[lemur]

Without science, people don't really know how much they use/waste. Do a general survey of popular articles on energy-usage and see how much confusion there is regarding amounts and equivalencies of energy. Science and technology have indeed facilitated the culture of waste by fueling the dream of automatic comfort that people don't have to think about everything that goes into their lifestyle habits, but science is also the means by which they can gain consciousness about all the things they take for granted and how those work, how much energy they use, etc.