SCIENCE: A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

Marry Grace A. Macatula

Is it possible for a helpful thing to give you unfavorable consequences? How about Science? Is it a double-edged sword? 'Science' is an intellectual endeavor to explain the workings of the physical world, informed by empirical investigation and carried out by a community trained in specialized techniques. Its task is to produce testable ideas. In its modern version, complete with experimentation, scientific journals and societies. Which results to the things that we all enjoy these days. But are all these results beneficial for us? Let us see.

We are at the age where “A modern man minus science is a non-entity”. We have been enjoying the gifts of science every moment. In fact, science makes our daily life smooth, easygoing and very convenient. Science provides us with the things of daily use. Like the electricity that we have, the vehicles we ride that can bring us wherever we want to go instantly. The gadgets we used to have fun, the machines and engines in factories that produces things that will bring luxury to us, The Medicines and medical technologies that can now instantly heal even the worsts and incurable diseases before. Science really plays a major role in making our lives very convenient however we must also know that in everything there is pros and cons and some of those are most of the time ignored by us but id we will just be more observant we will see recognize these disadvantages.

Economies of scale and volume have ensured that even the food we eat is not clean - it is loaded with pesticides. And to counter that problem we are now talking about genetically modified food that doesn’t really gives us the nutrients our body needs. Even the discovery of medicines has somehow become the gateway of the discovery of highly addictive and harmful drugs. And while humans enjoy the luxury of technological advances, we neglect to preserve the whole of the nature which in return also causes us our destruction. Lastly the mind-set of the people is more on gaining knowledge on how to make the most advance technology and forgetting the values of peace, virtue, tolerance, chastity and character up to the point that man have relied to the knowledge that science have given them that they want to prove even the non- existence of the divine one.

W e must remember that every good thing in this world may have both favorable and unfavorable consequences. Even science who introduced a lot of good things can also be the source of everyone’s extinction.

The author is Teacher

--oOo-

I at Doña Asuncion Lee Integrated School