While noble and sincere as our intentions may be at times our methods and approach may not always be the safest, most ethical or most moral of choices. This is simply a product of human nature, which while not constrained to the realm of science, nor is science immune to errors in judgment. As such we all must conform to certain expectations and acceptable behaviors. This is true in society in general and it is true in science as well.
There have been monumental breakthroughs in science in just the past one hundred years. Many of these breakthroughs have brought unimaginable gains for human society which we are all better for. Unfortunately some scientific breakthroughs have pushed us to the brink of our destruction on more than one occasion. Had the men and women who took part in the latter discoveries not been governed by other independent judgments those breakthroughs could have fulfilled the worst fears of mankind.
Imagine for instance an atomic weapons research project in which there were no restrictions. If unrestricted human experimentation were allowed on biological weapons research. The development of infectious disease vaccines and immunization allowed to be carried in-masse, infecting large swaths of the population in an uncontrolled manner to track natural human resistance. Any one of these or countless other horrible projects left to their own devices could prove cruel and inhumane at best, disastrous and apocalyptic at worst.
Scientist can release unimaginable amounts of energy through splitting and fusing of atoms. We now have the ability to clone living creatures. We can manipulate the very substance of human and animal DNA at the most basic levels to create almost entirely new life forms. Science holds the choice of life or death in the palm of its hand in so many forms it’s disturbing to even being to contemplate it. Today’s science is far and above anything that the human race is truly mature enough to handle as a society in a safe, mature and responsible manner, yet we manage. To expect an individual to handle this awesome responsibility alone is unthinkable.
Of course scientists should not be allowed carte blanche in their experiments, any more than any other person in a position of power should be allowed carte blanche. Neither should we allow our fears of what could be restrain the beneficial work that is done on a daily basis by our scientists. While our knowledge of the universe is rapidly expanding beyond our ability to maturely and responsibly act on such knowledge, we as a species have great potential to be much more than we are today. Only through scientific breakthroughs and learning more about our universe can we ever hope to slip past the fragile bonds the restrain us both physical and mentally and excel as a dominant species in the universe. We simply must take steps to ensure we continue on this journey in the safest way possible. That way is to continue to govern the work of scientist as tightly as progress allows.
