Reply #18: A comment about Science: [View All]

"Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine. It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it constructs no moral rudders for the control of storm tossed human vessel. It not only fails to supply the spiritual element needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob the ship of its compass and thus endangers its cargo. In war, science has proven itself an evil genius; it has made war more terrible than it ever was before. Man used to be content to slaughter his fellowmen on a single plane--the earth's surface. Science has taught him to go down into the water and shoot up from below and to go up into the clouds and shoot down from above, thus making the battlefield three times a bloody as it was before; but science does not teach brotherly love. Science has made war so hellish that civilization was about to commit suicide; and now we are told that newly discovered instruments of destruction will make the cruelties of the late war seem trivial in comparison with the cruelties of wars that may come in the future. If civilization is to be saved from the wreckage threatened by intelligence not consecrated by love, it must be saved by the moral code ..."


William Jennings Bryan's Summation in the Scopes Monkey Trial (The Summation was NOT presented at the Trial for under Tennessee Law of the time period if the Defense rested without a summation the Prosecution could not give a summation either). Thus the above was NEVER said to the Jury in the Scopes Monkey Trial but it clearly sets forth the problem of Science. Bryan did not attack Science but clearly points out that Science has no MORAL base. Science is amoral (without morality as opposed to immoral, opposed to morals). Science being amoral CAN NOT BE THE BASIS FOR ANY SOCIETY THAT BASES ITSELF ON EVERYONE HAVING HUMAN RIGHTS. Science can be used for both good and bad purposes but to protect HUMAN RIGHTS society has to impose checks on how Science can be mis-used.

This is the basis of the problem with science in this forum, most of us have seen Science misused for the benefit of a few against the many. Science by Science is NOT the problem, Science for PROFIT is the problem. When Science is used to increase profit even if it hurts people's Human Rights, Science is no longer an aid but a curse. That is the reason for the mis-trust of Science in this forum, not that we mis-trust Science but we mis-trust the people who are using Science for their won ends.



For more on the Scopes Monkey Trial see:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm