Is Science Our Friend or Our Enemy?

Use this forum to discuss the philosophy of science. Philosophy of science deals with the assumptions, foundations, and implications of science.
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Ormond
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Re: Is Science Our Friend or Our Enemy?

Post by Ormond »

Hi Philohof,
Philohof wrote:I would like to know how you would propose to organize the "limiation of knowledge development"?
No kind of organization is likely to work unless there is a widespread understanding that a new relationship with knowledge is needed, and that a failure to adapt to the new information environment will likely lead to great suffering for those we love. If such a widespread understanding and consensus can be developed, then effective management methods should follow naturally.

Unfortunately, our "more is better" relationship with knowledge has been with us since the dawn of time, and has delivered great benefits. So it seems unlikely a consensus for change can be constructed just from rational dialog. It's probably going to take some kind of historic calamity on the scale of say, a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, or something like that.

I heard a NPR story the other day about a breakthrough in genetic engineering that is apparently a game changer. One scientist said it's ten times better than the current gene editing tools. So, how do you feel about your next door neighbor creating new life forms in his garage?

I don't have a magic solution, I just hope more folks might be talking about this. Talking is unlikely to be enough, but we should be doing what we can. To me, the practical question is, what kind of language and explanations could make this understandable to the largest number of people?

The basic equation is simple. Knowledge and thus power grows exponentially, while wisdom and judgement grows incrementally at best. Over time, the gap between the two grows wider, wider, wider. We are ever more like the eleven year old boy who has just been given the keys to the car, a case of booze, and a loaded handgun.

I've tried words like the above a thousand times. They never work. Hopefully others can do better. Wanna give it a shot?
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Philohof
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Favorite Philosopher: Jose Ortega y Gasset
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Re: Is Science Our Friend or Our Enemy?

Post by Philohof »

Dear Ormond,

"I've tried words like the above a thousand times. They never work. Hopefully others can do better. Wanna give it a shot?"

Difficult issue. It is understandable why your works never work: our societies are not organized that way. Imagine a poker game, and you are trying to convince People not to bluff. - It's impossible: the whole poker game is about bluffing.

Anyway, a law against creating new life forms in garages by legally uncontrolled individuals is of course possible.
"The only thing I want is that things should be there for people, and not people for things." (Theodor W. Adorno) Philosophers (people) are there for (the discipline of) philosophy (thing), forgetting about the questions of the people.
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Ormond
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Joined: December 30th, 2015, 8:14 pm

Re: Is Science Our Friend or Our Enemy?

Post by Ormond »

Philohof wrote:Difficult issue. It is understandable why your works never work: our societies are not organized that way. Imagine a poker game, and you are trying to convince People not to bluff. - It's impossible: the whole poker game is about bluffing.
My thesis is that, like it or not, if we don't learn how to manage knowledge development, the poker game is going to come to an unpleasant end. I can't of course predict when or how.

Nuclear weapons are the easiest example, though hardly the only threat. Now that the nuclear bomb genie is out of the bottle, we are going to have to successfully manage that knowledge every day, forever. One bad day, game over.

That's the problem with the technologies we are developing at an ever faster rate, many are so powerful they leave little room for error. To pick a number at random, let's say we develop 100 new technologies in this century. We could do a great job of managing 99 of them, but a failure with just one might be enough to bring the house down, as in the nuclear example.
Philohof wrote:Anyway, a law against creating new life forms in garages by legally uncontrolled individuals is of course possible.
Sure, we can pass all the laws we want, agreed. And they will work for most people. But as the technology becomes ever more powerful, most people isn't enough. One lunatic in his home lab might be enough to say, engineer a far deadlier strain of ebola etc.

Hang on a sec, I gotta go get my THE END IS NEAR!!! sign for more dramatic effect. :-)
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