Science, Technology and Society *
Dr. Kota Harinarayana
The importance and pervasiveness of Science and Technology (S&T) are universally accepted features of our world. At the national level, science and technology are the backbone of national security and economic vitality. Expectations of science and technology are getting higher and higher and there are hardly any problems facing our society, where science and technology are not called upon, one way or other to provide solutions.
While science and technology helped to drive the economy boom, they also helped to amplify the gap between the haves and the have-nots. In course of time, progress in industry, business and commerce based on scientific and technological development has ushered in the developed societies, a whole set of attitudes and value options which cause abuse of science and technology.
There is consumerism that seeks only immediate satisfaction of needs, some of which may be artificially created, without considering the consequences either on oneself or on the community or on nature.
There is unbridled commercialism egged on by the profit motive. In simple terms, it could be called greed, both individual and collective. As a matter of fact today the rich and industrial nations, which form only one-third of humanity, consume 83% of all material resources of the earth, leaving only 17% to the two-thirds of humanity constituting the poor nations of the world.
There is selfishness, both individual and collective. One is concerned only about oneself and one’s immediate community.
There is no concern for the global community. Thus in the first world countries, one would not mind producing substandard drugs; they are sold to the poor of the third world. One would not mind polluting the atmosphere or the waters with nuclear or other industrial wastes provided one’s own community is not immediately affected.
There is a lack of respect of nature, its structure and its laws. One does not bother about eco-systems as a whole. Nature is seen as something to be used, dominated and exploited. It is not seen as something to be humanised, to be lived in, to be appreciated, to be in harmony with.
While developing and utilizing science and technology for growth and improvement in quality of life, there is an absolute need to guard against excessive consumerism, commercialism, selfishness and lack of respect for nature. We have to set science and technology in the living context of basic humanism that affirms that science and technology are for society.
We need to ask questions to ourselves. What kind of human beings do we want to make of ourselves? What capacities do we want to give our younger generation? What qualities and values do we want our scientists and technologists to imbibe? What kind of a nation we want India to be? Is the vision of India that of a dynamic, progressive, 21st century democracy that provides opportunity and well-being for all of its citizens?
* Extract from Lecture delivered at AMS School of Informatics, Hyderabad.