May Science Promote Peace and Development!
World Science Day for Peace and
Development 2022 / 10 November / Article
May Science Promote Peace
and Development!
Fr Dr M. D. Thomas
Director, Institute of
Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi
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The 10th day of November
is designated by the United Nations as ‘World Science Day for Peace and
Development’. It was proclaimed by UNESCO, United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization. The celebration kicked off in 2002,
following the first World Science Conference.
Promoting awareness about the vital
role of science in the human society and engaging the public in debates on matters
connected to science was the twin purpose of the day. Underscoring the role of
scientists in broadening the understanding of our planet and in making it
sustainable is the logic that guides the destinies of the day.
Awareness programmes include
government officials, NGOs, students, media and volunteers. Concrete projects
are chalked out for advancing the collaborative efforts among diverse sectors
of the society. Coming together of scientists is instrumental to the
advancement of technical knowhow. Special attention is paid to areas marred by
conflicts.
The impact of science on the day-to-day lives of the people has social, ethical, democratic, cultural and other implications. International Council for Science and British Association for the Advancement of Science played a significant role in the launch of World Science Day, that commands increasing relevance in the modern times.
Galileo Galilei is considered the ‘father of modern science’, by Albert Einstein. Vincenzo Galilei, the father of Galileo, was an accomplished Florentine mathematician and musician. Mathematics is considered ‘the mother of all sciences’, because it solves problems of every other science. Carl Friedrich Gauss, a celebrated Mathematician, deems mathematics as the ‘queen of sciences’, as well.
The full form of science is ‘Systematic, Comprehensive, Investigation and Exploration of Natural Causes and Effect’. It is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world, following a systematic methodology based on evidence. Scientific methodology includes ‘objective observation, measurement and data’.
Many people consider Aristotle ‘the
first scientist’, although the term postdates him by more than two millennia.
He pioneered the techniques of logic, observation, inquiry and demonstration,
in the fourth century BC Greece.
Making complex facts simply clear is
the aim of science. More often than not, we tend to think that facts are
simple. Seeking simplicity and at the same time distrusting it has to be the
guiding motto of every natural philosopher. Besides, Natural Sciences have
three main branches, Physics: the study of universe, Chemistry: the study of
matter and Biology: the study of life and living organisms.
The word ‘science’ derives from the
Latin term ‘scientia’, meaning ‘knowledge, a knowing, experience and
expertness. Towards the 14th century, science in English meant
‘collective knowledge’. Science is a socially embedded activity; that is say,
people seeking, systematizing and sharing knowledge.
Science is perhaps as old as the
human species. Some of the archeological evidence for scientific reasoning is
tens of thousands of years old. The earliest written records in the history of
science come from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3000 to 1200
BCE.
The sense of science in life is the
‘temper of science’. Scientific temper is the fundamental logic of human life.
Without reasoning, a reasonable human life is next to impossible to exist. Even
if it is possible, to the least possibility, it is certainly not worth being
attempted. The species ‘homo sapiens’, per se, is known for its scientific
temper in life, without which it will prove to be a reversal of the evolution
theory.
Religion is the sector that almost
nullifies scientific temper the most. The Himalayan heap of superstitions,
irrational stories, mythical theories, power-centred interpretations, and the
like, makes the humans incapacitated for sound thinking. Heavy-laden by blind
faith, they are sheer slaves of the human-made system of the religious web, far
away from a sense of science. The religious system requires being redeemed with
a high dose of scientific temper, indeed so.
The political system, all over the
world, is notorious for its power-mongering, with its foul motto of ‘anointed
to rule over the people’. It is in the interest of politicians and rulers to
find idiots all around. Besides, they have their gimmicks to reduce the public
to idiocy of the supreme order. Only the sense of science and scientific temper
can come to the rescue of citizens to be enlightened enough to think for their
best interests and that of the country.
It doesn’t require a mention that
science has to be oriented to peace and development. Science has made it
possible for the gadgets of development to make human lives more convenient and
comfortable. Peaceful living of the humans is necessary for making scientific
development take the right direction. But for peaceful living on earth all
development gets rendered useless, as well.
‘World Science Day for Peace and
Development 2022’ is an occasion for citizens of India and beyond to step up a
‘sense of science’ and ‘scientific temper’ in life. It is also an opportunity
to do all that is possible to make ‘science of life and scientific development’
sustainable and oriented to harmonious and peaceful living on earth. If so, ‘science’
will prove to be a blessing for life on earth, human and other, and the entire
creation will remain worthy of the great and intelligent Creator.
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The author is Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and
has been committed to education, cross-cultural
perspectives, cross-scriptural values, constitutional values, social ethics, interfaith
relations, communal harmony, national integration and social wellbeing, for
the past over 40 years. He
contributes to the above cause through lectures,
articles, books, video messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV
channels, social media, and the like.
He
could be viewed, listened to and
contacted at the following portals – websites ‘www.mdthomas.in’ (p), ‘https://mdthomas.academia.edu’ (p), ‘https://drmdthomas.blogspot.com’(p) and ‘www.ihpsindia.org’ (o); social media ‘https://www.youtube.com/InstituteofHarmonyandPeaceStudies’ (o),
‘https://twitter.com/mdthomas53’ (p), ‘https://www.facebook.com/mdthomas53’ (p);
email ‘mdthomas53@gmail.com’
(p) and telephone 9810535378 (p).
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