In Hong Kong, I talked about my point of view with an editor-in-chief of a well-known media while we were eating. I held that science and technology could no longer move forward in any case because it had the ability to make mankind extinct. Since science and technology have developed to such a high level today, the extinction of mankind is not far away. If we dare to develop science and technology any further, we will push mankind into an abyss beyond redemption.
First of all, the editor-in-chief agreed with the point that science and technology had the ability to make human beings extinct, but objected that science and technology should no longer move forward. He repeatedly stressed that science and technology were neutral, that science itself was innocent, and that in the past human beings did not make good use of it. And he firmly believed that science and technology were created by mankind and that human beings would eventually be able to take control and make good use of science and technology.
Because I had to catch the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, leaving me little time to elaborate on my view, I failed to convince him. Considering that there were so many people holding the same opinion as the editor-in-chief when I had conversations with friends in the past, I wrote this article in my blog for friends’ comments.
When the DuPont Company invented Freon, they discovered that Freon was a very stable material and an ideal refrigerant. It was widely used in air conditioners and refrigerators. However, it was exactly because of Freon’s stability and non-reaction with anything that it could float in air to the top of the atmosphere. There it met the strong stimulus of unfiltered ultraviolet rays, decomposed chloride ions and reacted with ozone, which led to the damage of the ozone layer.
DDT was once considered to be the best pesticide, because it was safe for people, domestic animals, birds, and was only harmful to the pests. Therefore, Muller, the discoverer of its effectiveness, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The reason why DDT was not harmful to people, domestic animals and birds was that it did not dissolve in water and would not be absorbed by their bodies. But it is soluble in oil. We all know that people eat oil, that birds eat fish, and that bodies of fish contain oil. Consequently, DDT becomes very harmful.
It can be seen that not all science and technology are neutral. As for the above technological products, we had hoped that they would benefit human beings, but in reality they were harmful.
Why is it so impossible to guard against and to take control of science and technology? This is because uncertainty is an inherent characteristic of science and technology. There is always a part of science and technology that cannot be identified. Even the best scientists, including Einstein and Newton, have had many misjudgments for science. Let alone other people!
Let’s talk about it from another aspect. We can say that science and technology are always right, but people who use them may make mistakes. So human beings, rather than science and technology, are to blame. It should be stressed that human beings are a particular species. No matter how good social system, legal system and moral values are, they could just play a role in the overall restriction on human beings. It is impossible to ensure that everyone is absolutely rational and does not commit extremely bad things. Then we must know that we human beings are not a perfect species. There are always some irrational people who will do extremely bad things. This cannot be changed! No matter what technological products we make or what scientific research we are engaged in, we face not only the rational people who are good and kind, but all mankind. All mankind includes all kinds of people, even people who would do evil things. We do not live in a vacuum, nor do scientists or politicians.
It is merely wishful thinking of kind-hearted people to talk about how to take control of the research and application of science and technology without considering the inherent characteristics of science and technology. And to talk about how to make human beings become rational without considering inherent human nature is a fantasy completely impossible to be realized.
In fact, not all of science and technology are neutral, and at the same time, man can never have 100 percent control of all science and technology. Besides, it is impossible that human beings can use all the scientific and technological achievements 100 percent rationally. Then, when science and technology develop to the level able to make human beings extinct, as long as there is only one misjudgment in extreme science and technology or one malicious use of the extreme means by those immoral people , the road of human beings will come to an end. To avoid the rapid move toward human extinction, the development of science and technology to a higher level must be restricted.
