Saturday, May 13, 2006
we had this gp essay competition in school. naturally after all the noise i made. mr chan hurriedly downloaded MY essay and had it marked (: he gave me a pretty decent mark and im happy about it. tho i only had my 3 for and no against :D could have gotten higher with my against.

SCIENCE HAS MADE MAN LESS HUMANE

Science has inevitably become a part of our lives today. Science is based on facts and is objective and logical. Yet, it is this very definition of science that has made man less humane. Science is a field which requires perpetual new discoveries to keep up with modern times. In the pursuit for greater heights in science, man has lost sight of the fundamental aspects of morality. It is due to this reason that we have had many controversial issues on the moral and ethical aspects of science.

One field of science that has displayed an act of inhumanity is the new discovery of stem cell research. Stem cells are extracted from aborted fetuses and are used in the research for new medicines to battle life-long or threatening diseases. There are people protesting outside abortion clinics in the United States every day because they feel that it is morally wrong to extract the stem cells from these fetuses because we are denying them the right to grow into a potential human being. Researches justify their acts by showing us the successful results of stem cell research. This success has indeed elevated our position in the science field. However, in its pursuit, thousands of embryos are sacrificed, and in doing so, the feelings of the family members involved have been disregarded.

For an experiment to be successful, it must first be tested out. Due to widespread diseases which have caused an alarming decline in the world’s population, there is a scramble to find ways to curb or treat these diseases. Animals like mice and chimpanzees are used for the testing out of these new discoveries. Animal rightists are infuriated at the obvious misuse of animals. They argue that animals, too, have feelings, chimpanzees especially, whose body make-up is almost similar to that of humans. Chimpanzees are able to feel the same pain and emotions as humans do, only that they are unable to voice out their discomforts as they do not have that ability. Once again, scientists argue that the basis of their research would benefit humans in time to come.

Science has also paved the way for the birth of many inventions that have threatened the very race that they have set out to save – humans. The invention of the atomic bomb in the 20th century has caused great devastation and loss to many homes and families. Take for example the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during the Second World War. Even though the two bombs effectively ended the war, it also ended the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people. Not only that, the effects of these bombs are seen even till today. Atomic bombs, when dropped, release harmful radioactive gasses which causes cancer as well as deformity in newborns. The issue here is that these harmful effects are borne by their children and their grandchildren. How then, can one refute that science has made man less humane?

However, to a small extent, in some instances, it is inevitable that man is forced to be less humane. If we have to consider the moral aspects of every new possible discovery, science today would still be stuck at the pulley systems and the traditional use of herbs. For every human or animal sacrificed, many more are saved. Scientists have to be cold-hearted to elevate science farther than before.

Therefore, in conclusion, I do strongly agree that science has caused man to be less humane but on the other hand, I also believe that certain degrees of inhumanity is necessary because without it, science would never have evolved.

[ok lah. after reading it through again. i realise how err. fundamental it sounds. lols. terrible.]

riahh ranted at 4:42:00 PM