Another Doomsday, Another Dollar: Shifting Science Towards Peace and Ecology
In h?s ?ook, Our Final Hour, Cambridge professor and Brit?in’s “Astronomer Roy?l” Martin Rees predicts hum?nity h?s no mo?e than a 50/50 chance of survival into t?e next century and that ?y 2020 ? mill?on ?eople will peris? due t? scientific error or terror. Som? w?uld call him prescient, while others would interpret his word? as ?larmist, resembling ? layer ca?e with environmental fears on top of nuclear fe?rs on top ?f chemical and biolog?cal t?reats, ad infinitum. With ? sci-fi flar?, h? wa?ns of runa?ay techn?logy, ?uman cl?nes and ?n ability to ?nsert memor? ch?ps into the brain.
Doomsday predictors get much t?e same respe?t as t?e “toxi? fumes” sign at the local ser?ice ?tation; they impart their wisdom, y?t w? y?wn. S?tuations which seem grim and overwh?lming, even ?otentially lethal, tend to be igno?ed. Attention on m?re immediate and “Ame?ican” concern?, such as consumer good? and personal ad?ancement, monopolize our daily thoughts. This ?s arguably foolhardy and indicative ?f th? “another doomsd?y, another dollar” mentality.
Rees is not a lone vo?ce on the scientifi? stage. The “Bulletin of Atomic Scienti?ts” reports w? have seven minutes until our f?nal ?ow at m?dnight. Other r?putable experts ?urmise that a “gray goo” or nanotechnological catastrophe poses the greatest threat. This involves t?e invention of miniature, self-replicating machines th?t gnaw away at the environment until ?t is devo?d of life. It need not be deliberate sab?tage—as in technologi?al warfare by on? nation against another--but could result from a laboratory mishap.
Astronomers speak of fugitive asteroids that could destroy major sections of our ?lanet within the ne?t 30 years. Others point t? atom-crashing test? and th?ir potential for a lethal strangelet scenari?. Strangelets are malformed subatomic matter, whic? co?ld distort ?ll normal matter and dissolve t?e earth in seconds.
There are stream? of alerts f?om ?nvironmental experts wh? tell us nat?ral disasters ?re on the rise. They warn of climatic change and tell us t?e wo?ld's species die ?t ? rate 1000 times greater than they d?d prio? to human existence due to h?bitat destru?tion and th? introduction of non-indigenous spe?ies into t?e ecosystem. Their conclus?on? If w? d? not reverse the damaging trend, E?rth itself will be extinct.
Should we ?pen ou? ?inds to doomsday p?edictions? And if we accept them, ?hat is the next step t? insure or increa?e our chance of planetary survival?
In his book, Science, Money and Politics, Daniel Greenberg foll?ws a trail of susp?cion. He condemns what h? b?lieves to b? the self-serving, greedy scientific community with it? bungled research, conflicts of interest and findings t?at never see t?e light of day due to suppression by corporate sponsors. But this seems to be an ov?rly cynical, embellished perspective; there a?e surely many ?cientists dedicated to discovery and soci?l responsibility, a?art fro? an? personal gain. And we should not forget th?t offering contro?ersial insights ?an b? at ? cost; proponents of “rad?cal” the?ries often e?pose t?emselves to public and professional ridicule.
Regardless of skepticism, th? “Pascal’s Wager” gam? plan see?s ? go?d bet. This essentially means ?e should not gamble with et?rnity, but instead urg? th? scientific community to t?ke precautions since Armageddon allows no second chance. Better to e?r on the side of life, even if it means so?e black holes will go unexplored and some research grants will be pulled.
Precaution mean? building contingency plan?--such as shields and contain?ent measures--into emerging tec?nologies ?o that if an experiment goes a?ry, a safet? net w?ll kic? into place. It means the scientific community should better polic? ?tself. It means committees or bo?rds—both local and international—should ?e established for oversight and regulations, much like Albert Einst?in proposed in 1947 to maintain worldwide peace. Many nation-states and multinational corporations ar? kn?wn f?r fighting ?ven minimal efforts t? regulate dangerous technology, and th?y must be countered.
There ar? pragmatic hurdles to be negotiated when trying to impose rul?s on pri?ate parties or on author?ties in renegade lands, b?t the ozone hole “near disaster” demonstrates how the ?orld can cooperate when it comes to life-and-death matters. As cultu?es dovetail, ?s communications rise, ?s bord?rs be?ome more porous, and as the world figuratively s?rinks, it ?ill be easier to impose struct?re and scientific para?eters on nations that seem ?ombative today
Science must sh?ft ?ts course ?nd find new mountain? t? climb. It looks t? us fo? cu?s. Du? to our materialistic b?nt as ? culture, our cursory endor?ement of “progr?ss” and our captivation with th? Prometheus-like aura ?f technology, we subtly ask the scientifi? c?mmunity to scale t?ose mountains that ?re th? ?ighest (great accol?des can be ?eceived), the easiest (the p?th of least resist?nce) or th? m?st profit-o?iented (grant m?ney from special interests or an emphasis on reducing labor so com?anies ?an real?ze greater ?roceeds) rather than those that are the most ecolog?cal and peace-enhancing.
The research c?mmunity h?s rivers of creativity and forests of energy that ?ould instead be dir?cted t?wards rivers and forests. It could m?ve towards ecological preservation and restoration, ?eaceful alternatives to conflict and ? furthering of life on this planet.
We ?ill kno? a cultural transition i? underway wh?n new? reports following fires, earthquakes ?nd other disasters add?ess t?e imp?ct on natural s?stems and nonhuman sp?cies, rather than just the h?man and econo?ical consequences, such a? the number of homes lo?t. O?r capit?listic culture thrives ?n the fact that nature ?s cost-free, which ?n turn, reinfor?es the notion that it ?s expendable and devoid of value. This reality ?ust change. Our real?ty ?ust ?hange. And sci?nce must change. It must ?hift towards peac? and ?cology. It’s ?s plain as doomsday.
About the Author
Charlotte Laws i? a nationally syndicated columniust, councilmember in Valley Glen, California (GVGC) and t?e President of the League for Earth and Animal Protection (LEAP). She h?s attended Oxford Un?versity and earned a Ph.D. in Social Ethi?s from the Univer?ity of Southern California. Her political website is www.ValleyGlen.us and her nonprofit website ?s www.LEAPnonp?ofit.org
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