Scientific Advance Or Moral Backwardness

The world today is advanced as we see it. “Advanced” in a way that today we are getting benefits in more quantity and high quality. Moreover, the cost of getting a benefit is reduced sufficiently. By comparing past with present we can easily approach the differences between the two time zones. The differences contribute to changes; positive and negative.

I will not discuss the journey through which all this scientific advancement or luxuries are achieved, rather my approach, as the topic suggests, will be more concrete about the prospects and will focus on the consequences that have resulted from our curiosity.

How it started? In the beginning, as we all know, human being was backward, ignorant, and more vulnerable to changes; changes relating to seasons, atmosphere, and behavior. He was liable to attack by the ferocious creatures. He did not know about the correct usage of the available resources. Slowly and gradually he started to feel that he can live and survive in a better way by manipulating the resources. He learned new ways to provide himself with better living conditions.

His standards of life began to exalt. He aspired to become “The Best”. To make his way to success he set up goals for himself. He equipped himself with skills and abilities that helped him achieve his goals. In this way, “A new era of human accomplishments commenced! ”.
Here one important question arises. Did he really succeed in achieving his goals? This one question has its answer hidden in a case of ambiguity. We can analyze this question through various perspectives: through the perspective of an orthodox or that of a radical. The diverging views of different people have made this question a paradox. However, while remaining in a frame of reference of a particular person, we can find an absolute answer. But as we move on and our observation embraces a wide range of people, the outcomes begin to diverge drastically. Hence, there is no satisfactory explanation to this statement. Now I am going to discuss this issue through the lens of comparability and in a general context.

Are we happy with our way of life? From saints and poor through normal people to radical, rich, modern, and moneybags, everyone has his own way of life. Some live a dignified life while others dwell in misery. While looking into the living conditions of diverse people, we can easily draw conclusions about as to what extent our lives have been changed since the inception of a revolutionary world. We will consider this issue in moral context. Firstly, we look at the extremes: the rich and the poor. The rich has access to all the modern inventions and luxuries. Firstly, we talk about necessities. The rich lives in a better house, he eats better food, and earns respect in the society. On the other hand the poor craves for such basic necessities of life. The poor person remains poor for his whole life because the demand for his skills is not very high in the market. He does not deserve respect because he is deprived of better clothes and a better house. So, we see that the blessings of scientific advance have their impact on two set of persons in an entirely different way. One acquires the skills and gets absorbed in the modern system and provides himself with latest luxuries and earns respects while the other one has no resources to enjoy the benefits and he is denigrated to such an extent as to call it opprobrious. So, this leads us to believe that the scientific advance results in an unequal distribution of resources which brings dishonor to the poor. This proves that the human being has achieved his goal at the cost of moral grace.

While looking at this issue through scientific point of view we observe outcome otherwise. Today we call ourselves “advanced” because we have better opportunities to make our lives beautiful. We adapt those conditions that suit us the most. Unlike people of the past we can travel more distance in a short time. We have developed a sense of rationality. We have wiped out our superstitions. We live in a different world where we drive luxurious cars (Well, who don’t like to drive a Mercedes!), we can eat variety of food, we can educate our children in the best institutions, we can communicate and promote our ideas in an effective manner. All of this is possible due to science.

Although we have saved time by reducing the distances yet we have no time for our relatives. We live in a type of cocoon but our fears have shaped themselves as a giant. We call ourselves educated but we have no regard for the poor.

In the end, the question remains. Have we approached our destiny or we are just wandering in dark? Science has provided us with benefits and costs but it has also provided us with a choice. Whether we’d like to raise our standards while turning a blind eye to the afflicted people or we’d link our happiness with them. The choice is yours!