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Friday, March 29, 2024

Science can be a tool for peace

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SCIENCE is a tool. Being a tool, science can be used for the benefit of humanity, to decrease the amount of pain and suffering in the world and move society to become more just, joyful, and prosperous. But science can also be used to satisfy greed and increase the profits of a few at the expense of the wellbeing of many people and the environment. Science can be wielded by ideologues and work in the service of deep-seated irrational prejudices.

Science can be used for peace. But it can also be used for war and destruction. We need to realize this now more than ever. The more we understand this, the more effectively we will be able to use science as a tool to improve the human condition.

Science is a powerful tool. That is why there are 7 billion of us alive today, and that is why so many of us among this 7 billion live in relative comfort and prosperity, with access to electricity, clean water, food, and medicine.

As some scholars have pointed out, the lower middle class of today’s world, even those living in developing nations, are living in conditions better than what the royalties of centuries ago experienced. The things many of us take for granted, such widely available public education, fast motorized vehicles, modern medicine, packaged foods, distilled water—the list goes on and on—all of those were beyond the wildest dreams of even the emperors and empresses of Europe and China.

That we live in a time of great prosperity is heard to believe. That is understandable. After all, we also live in a world of great poverty. Thanks to obscene inequalities in the distribution of the world’s great wealth, we live in a world where the problem of widespread obesity and widespread hunger exist simultaneously.

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But the numbers gathered by careful scientific methods paint a clear picture: we really do live in prosperous times, and more people than ever enjoy the fruits of this prosperity. Of course, it is not enough. That is why we should keep on fighting for a more just society. Science will be one of our many tools in the struggle, but struggle we still must. We should still do the hard work.

Very similar things can be said about the role of science in peace. It might be surprising to many—it sure was surprising to me—but we live in the most peaceful times in the history of the world. The scholar and neuroscientist Stephen Pinker argues for this in his excellent and well-researched book ‘The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.’ In the book, Pinker uses carefully gathered data to convincingly show how we who are alive today are very unlikely to die a violent death, especially compared to the people of hundreds or even thousands of years ago who experienced life as a succession of conflicts.

Even in the momentary absence of open conflicts, such as during the so-called Pax Romana, there have been higher rates of violent crime compared today. Murder, assault, and theft were more rampant, and were more difficult to resolve because of the absence of forensic sciences to help find the criminals. Law enforcers also did not have the tools they do now to prevent and fight crime, and to bring those who commit crime to justice.

Speaking of justice, we also now have a more humane, less violent view of justice. Crucifixions, stoning, beheadings, and hangings were fairly widespread even until very recently. Now these inhumane practices are diminishing throughout the world.

When we watch the news on TV or the news items shared on our social media feed, it doesn’t feel like it. In fact, it feels like the opposite is true: the world is going up in flames, and apocalypse is upon us. I understand that, too. After all, I tune in to the same TV stations and go to the same social media platforms as you do. But again the science is clear: the world is getting less violent.

But this trend will not persist on its own. We must aid it. Better yet, we must hasten it. Our brothers and sisters who daily suffer the cruelties of conflict, from Mindanao to Manchester and from Syria to South Sudan, are not going to be comforted by knowing that the world is less violent today compared to previous eras. They need peace yesterday.

For that, we must realize that we have, as part of our species’ heritage, the powerful tool that is science. Let us double down on finding ways to use science making the lives of more people better. Better yet, let’s use science to understand ourselves more, face and vanquish our inner demons, and let the better angles of our nature prevail to create a peaceful world.

Pecier Decierdo is resident physicist and astronomer of The Mind Museum.

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