(the Role of Science and Technology in Society and Governance, 1998) the most important thing to do is to redefine the role of science for the society and governance.
Looking at the relationship
Science does change society as much as society influences science. In the last century there were tremendous progress in scientific invention and discoveries. The vast expansion both in terms of facilities and information has affected the society to a great extent. The unfortunate part of the advancement is that science benefits the affluent, the corporate and the powers that be. While the changes in the society like medical advancements were brought about by science, they are still available to the affluent, but even insurance is not available to the poor. (Crow, 2001, p. B20)
The role of science and scientists, the thinkers of today is to figure out how they can stream line their progress so as to benefit the needy or see that there is no major upset in the social equilibrium. In 1945 Bush Vannevar proposed that there must be an informal contract between science and society. Scientific research must be carefully and closely linked to social development and all projects undertaken in research or development must have an outline of the economic and social impact it is likely to have. Today the consideration is purely monetary. There is also the problem of the scientific probes spoiling the environment and causing untold harm to the people especially in the future. Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems is of the opinion that the advancements in biotechnology, robotics and other areas like nanotechnology will cause danger to mankind in the sense that it will enable those destructive minded elements in becoming far more powerful. (Crow, 2001, p. B20) There are technologies which if carried further may not be acceptable to society like cloning, or crop genetics. Science will continue to advance, but there must be a social consensus to see and adjust the outcome of scientific advancement to the problems of the society especially the poor.
Conclusion
It is science that has brought about the modern society from the dark...
On the other hand science has also caused direct destruction and calamites in the world by aiding political and economic ambitions. Therefore the time has come to correct the situation. Just as literature and fine arts have obligation s to the society and have self-regulating principles that enable them to benefit the world, science and the scientific community must make principles to control their explorations and the use that the results are put to. The scientists must be sensitive to the needs of the underprivileged in the society.
References
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