SCIENCE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

1. The present age is completely dominated by science.

2. Science has added much too material comforts, health, resources and power of man.

3. The aesthetic and imaginative enjoyment is completely denied to modern man.

4. Science has told man nothing of ultimate purposes or even the immediate purpose of life.

5. There is much vital in life which does not lie within the sphere of science.

6. Science rules over the world of matter, but is helpless in the world of spirit.

7. Unsupplemented and uncorrected, science gives an inadequate view of Life.

8. The co-ordination of the different branches and sub-branches of knowledge and its application to human welfare is very essential.

 

This is the age of science. Science has made such tremendous progress in a short period of three hundred years that life seems a mess without the amenities provided by science. The process of agriculture, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, our social relations, were all at one time under the domination of religion, but gradually they have passed out of its control and become subjects for scientific study. The scientists have revealed the mysteries of nature, and have harnessed the most powerful forces of nature for the benefit of mankind.

Science has added considerably to the material comforts of man. It has annihilated distance, time and space. The means of communi­cation have become much easier and swifter. The means of transport are much more comfortable, convenient and safer. Electricity does every odd job for us. It keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer it lights our houses, cleans our utensils and washes our clothes. Medical science has proved a great boon to man. Countless new drugs have been discovered to relieve and cure human sufferings. Penicillin is almost a panacea. Even those diseases which were considered to be fatal are being tackled successfully. To be indifferent to science is to refuse the inexhaustible material gifts of science which have already added so much to the health, resources and power of man.

Science, no doubt, has made our life very comfortable and rich materially. But these comforts do not mean happiness. True happi­ness lies in the peace of mind. The materialistic attitude which we have developed because of science has added to our miseries. We are full of hurry and worry, and in the midst of ever-increasing social and political excitements, we do not have any leisure and there is no time for us to stand and stare. The world is too much with us; we are totally engrossed in the worldly activities. The aesthetic and imagi­native enjoyment is altogether denied to us.

Science has made the world jump forward with a leap. It has built up a glittering civilization, opened up immeasurable avenues for the growth of knowledge and added to the power of man to such an extent, that for the first time, it has become possible to conceive that man can triumph over and shape his physical environment. Man has become almost a geological force, changing the face of the earth chemically, physically and in many other ways. But all this is of no real use to him until he has knowledge of the ultimate purposes or at least an understanding of immediate purpose. Science has told him nothing about any purpose in fife.

There is no visible limit to the advance of science if it is given the chance to advance. Yet it may be that the scientific method of observation is not always applicable to all the varieties of human experience and cannot cross the unchartered ocean that surrounds us. It has little to say about creations of the human spirit which alone are immortal, great literature or great art. It is dumb if we explain the greatest human works or emotions or experiences. The ultimate purposes of man maybe said to be to gain knowledge. The scientific method of objective enquiry is not applicable torn these and much that is vital in life seems to lie beyond its scope—the sensitiveness to art and poetry, the emotion that beauty produces, the inner recognition of goodness. The botanist and zoologist may never experience the charm and beauty of nature; the sociologist may be wholly lacking in love of humanity.

Man lives in two worlds—the world of matter and the world of ‘Spirit. The scientist, indeed, is the ruler of the world of matter which is completely under his dominance. But the latter is altogether beyond his sway. He seems quite helpless in the world of spirit which is of vital importance for human life and cannot be ignored. Moreover, there are large numbers of problems like man’s relation with God and nature, question of death and birth, sin and virtue— which science is unable to explain and which form an integral part of human life. The final mysteries still remain far beyond the reach of human mind, and are likely to continue to remain so.

It is true that science encourages a forward looking and active temper of mind. It helps in removing the cobwebs of superstition, dogma and ignorance. But unsupplemented and uncorrected, it gives an inadequate view of the world. The co-ordination of the different branches and sub branches of knowledge and its application to human welfare is the main function of man’s life. The scientist with all his logic and objective enquiry is not capable of achieving it. It is, therefore, with the temper and approach of science, allied to philosophy, and with reverence for all that lies beyond, that we must face life. Thus, we may develop an integral vision of life which embraces in its wide scope the past and the present, with all their heights and depths.