Do you think we have got something positive from "Science"?

-Science- is not a separate entity - evil or good , apart from humanity.

Science is a *tool* that we use - to discover, to create, to develop, to learn.

The earth did not become ''dirty'' because of science - - the failure your friend points out are the failures of *humans* - who have used science in ways that... are not always well considered.

(Its the nature of humanity - - we want to do what we *want* to do - - and we use whatever we have to get the results we think we want.)

Science did not create 'war' or killing. That's been a human trait for millenia - - since long before bombs - before guns, before swords.

Science itself is not 'good' or 'evil' - - how it is *used* is the determining factor.

A scientist develops a way to grow crops more quickly.. (sounds good, right?)

But this method is taken by the military to de-foliate jungle - killing millions of plants (sounds bad, right?)

But this is done to reduce the number of soldiers (and civilians) killed in indiscriminate bombing and jungle warfare. (sounds good, right?)

But it turns out that the method also has long term health effects upon humans or civilians exposed to the chemicals. (sounds bad, right?

But.... and so on.

Nuclear bombs and nuclear energy are flip sides of a coin - and if you study *both* carefully, you will see positive *and* negative aspects to *each*! (Yes, one can actually make positive statements about nuclear weapons...)

The main thing that makes science ''in our favor'' - - is that it is *scientific*! There is a process for peer-review - and for error-checking. One can determine if this hypothesis is true - or not. This cannot be done with the oogie-boogie or the 'magic'-thinking of superstition, guess-work and psuedo-sciences.

If your friend truly feels that science has harmed us so badly - suggest that he try a one-month sojourn using no scientific-created items. No electronics. No woven fabrics. No freeze-dried, canned or otherwise preserved food. No items made of plastic - or steel - or glass - or any metals other than cast iron. No dental work - have those implants or bridges or crowns removed.

Quite honestly - he would not be able to survive. Very, very few humans could. And even if you could - it would be utterly miserable. Miserable in ways that would be nearly incomprehensible to almost anyone living in the ''modern world'' over the last 300 years or so.

There are two different questions here.

1. Have we got anything positive from science? (Your original question)

2. Does science do more harm than good?

If your friend wants to argue that the amount of harm is more than the amount of good, that's an argument you can have. But it admits the existence of good.

On the other hand, if you want to say there's no such thing as a good accomplishment of science, then you're saying there's no benefit from clothing, cars, bicycles, aircraft, telephones, radio, agriculture, lights, grocery stores, heaters, roads, houses, weather prediction, computers, the internet, movies, paint (I'm free associating here), medicines, hospitals, refrigerators, stoves, eating off plates, wearing shoes,...

I could go on but I'm getting tired of the list. You could probably add to it too. The things on that list are anything that you don't have if you are naked and sitting in a cave in the dark. As soon as you light a fire you've added science.

I agree with Mike. Science is not inherently good or bad, it is the application of that which we learn from science that is good or bad.

Sure, guns and bombs seem bad on the face of it. But from that we also developed rocket and jet technology. Would he argue that satellites facilitating instant communication across the globe is "evil?" Again, you could argue that certain communications are evil, but that's the usage.

Smallpox? Polio?

Anyone who says science has done *NOTHING* good can go and live in his cabin on the shores of Walden Pond and live merrily a life without science. Since he doesn't do that, doesn't do away with his cell phone, or internet, or cars (or modern transportation), and so on, simply demonstrates that he *HIMSELF* doesn't believe his own argument, but was simply either arguing a Devil's Advocate or was trying to annoy you.

On the Discovery channel on my cable TV there is a series of programs playing right now called "Naked and Afraid". It is about a man and a woman being put out into a wilderness for 21 days with absolutely nothing, not even clothes. It is usually a miserable experience for the both of them. I think your friend should watch a few episodes and then get thrown out into the wilderness himself for 21 days. After returning, I think he/she will have a new appreciation for science. Before science, humans had a hungry, cold, miserable existence, and their average life expectancy was measured in the early 20s, if not younger. Your friend is a total idiot, in my opinion.

Let's try something different... THINGS are not necessarily good nor evil. How we use them produces good or evil results. Science has produced wonderful tools to allow medical doctors to save many lives, the ability for many countries to now feed themselves (even with growth in population). When I was a kid, the USSR bought food from the USA. China bought food from the USA. India bought food from the USA, but now all these countries regularly produce enough grain and other food for their population, and can send food to other countries with disasters and famines. That's all due to science.

Science made guns, but guns are not evil. They allow people to hunt, to defend themselves against other people bent on stealing from them or harming them. Science has given us computers and the internet and satellite television transmission and books and ....

Science helps us answer questions about how to address environmental issues. It does not choose the answers -- that's up to the people and politicians and so on.

I would tell him to think of it this way: EVERYTHING is science. Without science, we would have nothing. The food you eat and the water you drink are there because of the way science has allowed people to purify and clean away all of the potentially dangerous poisons and chemicals. Science is even the swords that were used all the way back in the day. He wouldn't even be alive without science.

Yes, we have.

"Science" is merely people trying to find out how things work. Without it we would be hunter-gatherers, constantly suffering famine, weather, pain and fear of predators.

Today we are safer, have more food, suffer less pain and live much longer than at any time in history.

Perhaps a more accurate phrase to describe your friend's concern would be "Can we sustain our present standard of living"?

My answer: Perhaps, but probably not. But it is very nice while it lasts.

. .

You can live past 20 now. In ancient Rome, the average life span was 20 years. If you want to see dirty, you should see what cities were like before cars with all the manure.

If i'm being pedantic, she is solid interior the rawest experience of the term "helpful motivator". while you're hungry, you will attempt to alleviate that issue. i'm particular that there are not a extensive proportion of ravenous young babies on American streets, yet to rule out a software alongside with this (which has helpful intentions) is somewhat severe in my opinion

Science is the reason why we are advanced. We'd still be hunting animals and eating them raw in Africa without Science. Science is the greatest thing ever.