Presentation on Science

By Mother’s Service Society

 

Science produces negatives results to match every positive result because of the way the scientist thinks -- or rather because of the limited way that the mind of man operates. Presented here is a summary followed by an outline of the details of a speech on these and related issue as given by Garry Jacobs of Mother's Service Society to a group of physical and social scientists belonging to the Pugwash International.


1. SUMMARY OF IDEAS OF JACOBS' PUGWASH PRESENTATION

 

Here is a paraphrase of some of the key points taken from the detailed full outline listed further below: (This has been summarized and expanded on by Growth Online.)

·         Man's belief that science is something independent of his life existence is flawed.

·         All developments in the modern world, including science are the product of the mind of man.

·         Every positive development created is marked by a corresponding negative development (e.g. atomic energy and nuclear bombs; material development and pollution.)

·         The reason this occurs is because of the limited nature of mind.

·         Mind thinks linearly along one line of truth, disregarding all other lines. Mind is also knows through division, which creates reduction that sees the minute, the specialized, all the while not seeing the greater, and especially the whole. Thus, when it creates products of science, it is locked in the minutia of details, not the whole of existence, including the various impacts on life. Also, mind sees in opposites, in divisions and contradictions, not in unity and agreement. This reflects in one person not acceding to another's point of view, supporting exclusivity to a particular viewpoint and attachment to the view one has a stake in.

·         A linear, limited, specific, divided, exclusive approach to knowledge is inadequate. It is the view of the scientist, and many other disciplines. This narrow view of science, and towards scientific technology is dangerous. It is also very limited in helping us understand the true nature of reality.

·         Science must be looked at as a whole, not as part.

·         Science must be for man, human centered. That will remove the evil effects. The narrow pursuit and development of any part can hurt the whole. The development of the whole can never hurt.

·         The scientific method has become a universal standard for the validation of scientific facts and theories. But this process of validation represents only a portion, the lesser portion, of scientific discovery. Great scientific discoveries are characterized most of all by the formulation of new insight; the postulation of a new relationship that was hitherto not conceived.

·         Science can learn not just by the scientific method, but by developing the intuitive capacity of man.

·         Science was born when man recognized the subjectivity and limitation of the sense data and learned to detach from senses and formulate objective mental thoughts/ideas.

·         Similarly, scientific creativity arises when man detaches from the limited linear, unidimensional thought processes and discovers hidden relationships undisclosed to logical thought. We may call this an effort not to think. Silence thus leads to Insight. This is a spiritual truth.

·         Man can even detach from reliance on the insight (stop trying to understand which is the mental sense) and rise to the level of illumination or vision of truth which gives a higher knowledge. (Archimedes' "Eureka, I've Got It" is an example of illumined insight of knowledge.)

·         There are various parts of mind from the lower sense (i.e. inputs from the five senses) to logical to illumined to intuitive mind.

·         When we move our focus away from the surface, from the sense inputs of the surface, from sense mind, and we move our consciousness within, thoughts come not through the hard churning of thought process but from stillness. Beyond that are illuminations of knowledge and intuitions of knowledge without thought at all.

·         Our ability to perceive the truth of things depends on our level of consciousness. This means the scientist is not just the observer of the nature of the play but is himself the player as well. The higher the consciousness, the more he will see will see the truth of things.

·         Man moves to a higher consciousness by going within, away from the surface, enabling thought through silence, and descents of illuminations and intuitions of a many-sided knowledge.

·         In the deeper consciousness, we see the many facets of things that affect the outcome of events, and we thus begin to learn the subtle workings of life.

Growth Online adds the following:

·         Life response is how life suddenly and abundantly responds to our change of consciousness within. It is one of the subtle phenomena of life. (E.g., I change my attitude, and then suddenly someone who I have never known halfway across the world suddenly informs me of great positive news.) It is based on the principle of inner-outer correspondence, that the outer life around is a reflection of our inner consciousness and status. Thus if we change our consciousness within life will suddenly and abundantly respond.

·         The law of nonlocal connections proves this at the material level. Changing the spin of an electron will affect another atom of the same atom even if the electrons are thousands of miles apart. For the human, changes in his actions, sensations, emotions, feelings, attitudes, opinions can invoke such wondrous sudden and abundant life response.

·         These are but some of the subtle laws of life science miss when it sees the part not the whole, when it is views only material causes, and not vital and the other facets of his vast existence.

·         Through deeper consciousness, we learn to recognize such hidden patterns of life. Then science moves from material science to a Science of Life, embracing all the parts of our consciousness, and the multiplicity of subtle non-material currents and energies affecting life.

·         Life is an expression of an original force and energy. All existence are formulations of that non-material force. Its origins are spiritual not material. Thus to understand the world, we need to perceive life at these various planes -- material, vital, mental -- whose origin is spiritual.

·         Science can see these vast truths, and the whole of any truth, enable discoveries, products, services, and other formulations of knowledge that are not destructive.

·         More importantly, it will begin to see the multiplicity of life, which will reveal the subtle patters of life, its true character; i.e how life truly works.
 

2. AN OUTLINE OF THE JACOBS' SPEECH PRESENTED AT PUGWASH

 

1.    MSS research on Theory of Development

a.     Science is human knowledge resulting from the development of mental consciousness in humanity.

b.     Theory examines the characteristics of each stage and the process that drives it

c.     One characteristic of human development – man tends to mistake the effect for the cause, the creation for the creator.

                                                             i.      He creates money and then tries to discover independent natural laws that determine its behavior, forgetting money is a purely human invention.

                                                          ii.      He creates technology and then becomes a slave to his creation.

                                                       iii.      He creates ways of knowing we call science and then regards it as something independent of his own existence, resulting in detachment of science from society. (Descartes)

2.    All achievements of modern civilization are products of mind

a.     Democracy

b.     Science

c.     Technology

d.     Industrialization

e.     Education

f.      Economic development

g.     Money

h.     Social Organizations – Green Revolution

i.       Internet

3.    Every advance of humanity ̃ problem

a.     Industrialization ̃ pollution

b.     Automobile ̃ road accidents

c.     Money ̃ inflation, deflation

d.     Economic development ̃ unemployment

e.     Green Revolution ̃ pesticide poisoning

f.      Genetic engineering ̃ fears of new threats

g.     Democracy ̃ popular illiberalism (Zacharia)

h.     Internet ̃ internet crime, pornography and terrorism

4.    Thesis

a.     Why does progress create new problems?

b.     These problems are not just new vistas for science

c.     Not just chance or accident

d.     Direct result of the way in which mind functions

5.    Attributes of mind

a.     Linearity -- Mind tends to think in a linear, unidimensional manner and pursue one line of truth, ignoring other complementary sides, viewing all reality from a single viewpoint.

                                                             i.      Examples

1.    Sherlock Holmes -- inspector  arrested a young man for killing his father because he had earlier quarreled with him and went out into the woods in search of him. Actually an old neighbor had done it.

2.    Monetarist views all economics in terms of money supply.

3.    Freud viewed all human behavior in terms of sexuality.

4.    View that national security is only a question of military strength.

                                                          ii.      Action based on linear thinking generates problems

1.    Industrialization ̃ pollution

2.    Medical technology ̃ population explosion

3.    Prosperity ̃ rising rates of crime & divorce

4.    Nuclear weapons for defense ̃ generate greater insecurity for humankind

b.     Division – Mind knows by Division & Aggregation

                                                             i.      It knows by dividing each whole into parts and taking each part as a whole for further subdivision.

                                                          ii.      This leads to reductionism

1.    Splitting matter into smaller and smaller particles will never reveal the true and ultimate nature of matter

2.    Splitting the neuron to discover the nature of Mind

3.    Splitting the cell to discover the nature of life, which is an  emergent property of the whole

4.    Health as a product of 100s of individual functions

                                                       iii.      Leads to overspecialization and fragmentation of knowledge.

1.    Subdivision of academic subjects

2.    Subdivision of government functions resulting in uncoordinated actions

c.     Polarization

                                                             i.      It knows by contrasting one thing from another

                                                          ii.      Dualities -- Mind can function only by creating dualities

                                                       iii.      Mind progresses by creating opposition – by contrasting its position with those of others

                                                        iv.      Creates a negative for every positive

                                                           v.      Tends to see things in polar opposite terms as either black or white, right or wrong

1.    Political parties in democracy focus on their differences, not on the overall national welfare

2.    Psychology

                                                                                                       i.      Behaviorists – conditioned responses

                                                                                                    ii.      Genetics

                                                                                                 iii.      Freudian psychology of unconscious libido

3.    Religions

4.    New scientific theories define themselves by how they differ from existing theories

                                                        vi.      Other person’s point of view -- difficult for mind to concede

                                                     vii.      Opposite viewpoint almost always contains an element of  Truth

1.    Cold War -- Russia vs USA

2.    Israel vs Palestine

                                                  viii.      Reality is not like that

1.    Light has characteristics of both a wave and a particle

2.    Subatomic particles can exist in more than one place at a time.

3.    More democracy is not necessarily good – as it can be illiberal (Zacharia)

                                                        ix.      Every partial truth attracts its opposite to restore Oneness

d.     Part vs Whole – mind mistakes the part for the whole

                                                             i.      Loses site of the greater whole

                                                          ii.      Whole is greater than the sum of its parts

                                                       iii.      Health is an emergent property of the whole living organism

1.    Depends on genetics, nutrition, exercise, environment, occupation, psychology

                                                        iv.      Ecological health is an emergent property of the whole biosphere

                                                           v.      Life – more than a bunch of living cells

                                                        vi.      Mind – more than a bunch of neurons

                                                     vii.      Company – not just a bunch of people & machines

                                                  viii.      Society – not just population of individuals and institutions

                                                        ix.      Behaviorists, Freudians, Social and Transpersonal psychologists have all perceived parts of the truth of human behavior, but none encompasses the whole

6.    Results of Mental approach to knowledge

a.     Health

                                                             i.      Heredity

                                                          ii.      Food – British consumed 171 lbs of sugar per capita in 1815

                                                       iii.      Exercise

                                                        iv.      Nutrition

                                                           v.      Pollution

                                                        vi.      Occupation

                                                     vii.      Psychology -- placebo

b.     Causes of Development

                                                             i.      Originally viewed as result of trade

                                                          ii.      Then industrialization & electrification

                                                       iii.      Technology

                                                        iv.      GDP -- Money is the source of development -- Monetarists view – we now recognize money is only a part, society is the whole.

                                                           v.      Education

                                                        vi.      Information

                                                     vii.      Political factors – democracy – Sen’s thesis

                                                  viii.      Social freedom

                                                        ix.      Consciousnesss – Harlan’s rising expectations

                                                           x.      Not growth for growth sake, but human centered development -- Schumacher