Science is a great blessing. It has changed our life.
Science is a faithful servant of man. It serves us in all walks of life. It is our servant at home and away from home. It serves us at every step in life. It has relieved our suffering. It has removed our ignorance. It has also lightened our labour. Therefore, it is very important to us in everyday life.
How Science Has Changed Our Life
Science has changed our daily life. It has made many things cheap. It has brought them within reach of everybody. We can produce goods on a large scale because of science; these things are sold at cheap rates in the everyday market.
Books, music and all other entertainment are easily made available today. We have radio and television. So these things are needed in the daily life of a common person
- A boon for homemakers:
Science has made the life of homemakers pleasant. Now she is not always busy in the kitchen. She has a gas oven. She can cook easily and without smoke and dirt. There is a fridge to store eatables.
Electricity serves to wash and press clothes. It gives us light and moves our fans. We have coolers, electric irons and other gifts of science.
- Travelling made easy:
We often go from one place to another. Travelling was a problem in the past. But science has made travelling a pleasure. It has solved the problem of time and space.
Trains can move through deserts and jungles. More cars, buses and scooters and motorcycles have made travelling easy. Besides, aeroplanes can fly across hundreds of kilometres in an hour.
- Cut down on labour:
Science has given us a lot of things to save our day-to-day labour. For example, a tractor ploughs our lands and carries things. Science has made farming more effective.
Our life has become happy. Because of medical science, we have medicines for diseases. So science has increased our life span. We have printing presses for cheap books, journals and newspapers. Thus, science has changed our everyday life.
- Made lives luxurious:
Humans today enjoy more luxuries than ever before. We have a much higher standard of living than our forefathers. It is all due to the increased production of goods made possible by science.
Deserts have been converted into granaries. We can today grow two blades of grass where formerly only one used to grow. It is all due to the scientific methods of cultivation. Better irrigation facilities, improved seeds, chemical fertilisers, etc., have increased agricultural production manifold.
Similarly, in the field of industry, large industry-scale production has become possible by the use of machines invented by science. After hard work, humans need a healthy recreation to relax. Science has provided us with the radio, cinema, television etc. These modern means not only entertain but also educate the people.
But besides this, the great enemy of man — ignorance — has been completely defeated. Books, magazines and newspapers are being published on a mass scale. Every person is now in a position to receive education, owing to the invention of the electric printing press.
The computer is a scientific device that has proved its importance in every branch of knowledge. It is a great substitute for humans on all front, office or industry, study or research, home or field entertainment or war, everywhere the systems are being computerised. One cannot say to what extent the computers will go.
A Myriad Of Blessings
So, the blessing that science has provided are numerous. But this is only one side of the picture. Humans have misused scientific knowledge in various ways.
We have used it for inventing large machines. These machines are now used to increase production. Country after country is being industrialised. But industrialisation has given rise to competition, unemployment, pollution and capitalism. Machines, being labour-saving devices, have thrown thousands out of employment.
Capitalism has created a class struggle. Big capitalists exploit the labourer. This is a curse for the whole society. Misuse of science is responsible for this. Science has made man forget about God and religion. We believe only in those things which we can explain and understand by reason. Thus we have become a moral pygmy.
If we look at the problem impartially, we shall find that it is not easy to label science as a blessing or curse. In itself, science is neither a curse nor a blessing. If it is used for peaceful purposes and for promoting the welfare of humanity, it is a great blessing. If it is used otherwise, then it is a curse. So it is its use that makes it a blessing or curse.