Science is awesome

Here is a short talk on why I think science is so awesome

Here is a draft of a book chapter, exploring similar themes. I welcome comments.

Science, technology, and ethics

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has stimulated discussions about its potential value and dangers. Before engaging in discussions about AI specifically, it is worth making some general observations about the relationship between science, technology, and ethics.

In the discussion that follows, you might consider how it relates to concrete examples such as screwdrivers, guns, washing machines, cars, smartphones, or AI. They vary greatly in their capability, impact, scope of application, and interaction with our humanity.

Science is not technology. Science and engineering are different academic disciplines. Science and technology are distinct, albeit interrelated, entities. Science is concerned with describing the material world and understanding of how it works. Technology is concerned with controlling it. Technologies are tools, machines, and devices that may make human life easier or better. Note that deciding what is "better" is a subjective judgement and involves human values. Furthermore, one technology may make life better for some people and worse for others. Because science and technology are not the same, important distinctions need to be made and are discussed below.

Scientific knowledge is neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of technology. Steam engines were developed before the science of thermodynamics, which describes how they work. Nikola Tesla was a brilliant inventor. But many of his beliefs about physics, and particularly the science of electromagnetism were wrong. Large Language Models (LLMs) work extremely well, but we have a poor understanding of why they work so well. On the flip side, scientists and engineers file endless patents for possible new technologies that never come to fruition. The problem is not that the science is wrong, but it is not possible to build viable, let alone commercially viable, devices. For example, we understand the science behind how a quantum computer will work, but building a useful one remains elusive.

Scientific understanding sometimes leads to improvements in existing technology and the development of new technologies. However, there is no guaranteed connection. Sometimes tinkering or intuition is enough to make progress. Scientists commonly use the prospect of new technologies (and the associated potential economic benefits) in their arguments for the public funding of their research. Consequently, scientists, their institutions, and the government agencies that fund them may be reluctant to acknowledge that the science-technology link is not as strong as sometimes claimed.

Technology shows that science works. There are laws of nature. Nature acts in predictable and repeatable ways. Thousands of planes fly safely every day. Most phones will probably work for years. If many of the laws of physics were wrong, a lot of technology would not work. On the other hand, let me be intellectually cautious. Some technologies may work for reasons different from the currently accepted scientific explanation. For example, the explanation of how a specific drug works may change with time. 

The power of technology should inspire awe and wonder at the way the world works, our ability to understand it, and to manipulate it.

What effect does technology have on our relationship with the world?

This question is important because our answers may have a significant influence on our views on the ethics of specific technologies. Broadly speaking, there are three different perspectives.

Instrumentalism. Technologies are just material artefacts that we can use to do stuff. They are not human. They have no agency and so don't affect us or the world.

Determinism. Technology is not neutral. It can have a powerful influence on us and society. It can control or alienate us individually or as a society. 

Mediation. This is a compromise between the extremes of the other two views. As an individual uses a technology, it mediates between them and the external world. Consequently, it can influence the individual and the world, for better or worse. It may change how the individual experiences, perceives, or understands the world.

Ethics: Is a technology intrinsically neutral, good, or evil?  

For any technology, people may advocate one of three moral perspectives. 

Neutral. A technology itself does not do anything. It is just a thing. It has no agency. It has no morality. Only people have agency and morality. They can choose to use the technology for good or evil. This tends to correlate with technological instrumentalism.

Good. By definition, technology makes human life easier or better. Furthermore, history shows this. Consider the significant improvements in human health and prosperity that have come with more technology. The creation of technology also reflects human creativity and the desire to improve the lives of others.

Evil. Given humans' propensity for greed, violence, and domination, it is inevitable that any technology will be used eventually by some people for destructive purposes. This tends to correlate with technological determinism.

To illustrate the moral ambiguity associated with how scientific research can lead to technology, consider the Harvard organic chemist, Louis Fieser. He discovered both antimalarial drugs and napalm. The former has saved countless lives, while the latter has been used in chemical warfare.

The neutral position is helpful if it leads us to focus discussions on good and evil ways a specific technology is used or might be used. It is unhelpful if used to avoid ethical discussions.

Most technologies have good uses and bad uses. The extent to which some uses are good or bad varies greatly between different technologies. We also need to evaluate the likelihood of good or bad outcomes, often unanticipated. The impacts of a technology are multifaceted. They include health, environmental, social, economic, and political impacts.

Our view of humanity shapes our view of technology

Those with a positive view of humanity tend to also be positive about technology. They are optimistic about people's ability to choose to use a technology for their own good and that of others. Any problems can be minimised or solved.

However, if you think people have a propensity for greed, abuse, addiction, and deception, you will be wary about technology.

A Christian perspective on humanity affirms both the goodness and depravity of humanity. We are made in the image of God and have the potential for creativity, personal agency, and benevolence. On the other hand, we are sinful and broken and the potential for evil. This is a dialectic. Different Christians and traditions have differing views of just how good or evil we are. That may shape their views about technology.

Enlightenment worldviews matter

Several beliefs characteristic of the Enlightenment lead to a positive and optimistic view of technology and to opposition to placing limits on its use. These beliefs include the following.

Optimism in progress.

All problems are solvable in principle.

Humans are emancipated and autonomous individuals.

The history of the impact of technology suggests we should question these claims.

Negative consequences of technology should not be used to criticise science. Science did not create these problems. Humans created them as a result of choices about how to use the technology.

In future posts, I hope to discuss questions we should ask about technologies and then use them to consider AI.

Why I think science is so awesome

My sense of awe and wonder at nature

 On most mornings I go for a walk with my dog, Priya in the parkland near my house. Originally this daily ritual had pragmatic motivations: exercising both me and the dog, clearing my head for the day ahead, and promoting good mental health. Over time this activity has been enriched by my observation and contemplation of the natural world. I see flowers, trees, a creek, birds, and water dragons. Two beautiful rainbow lorikeets emerge from their nest inside the trunk of a gum tree and fly off chirping. A large water dragon looks like a miniature dinosaur as it lumbers out of my path and plunges into the safety of the creek. Priya and I clamber down the banks of the creek and hop over it where it narrows and make our way through a grove of majestic bamboo trees that creak in the wind. I notice how the different trees near the creek produce an impressionist image of a range of shades of green. I am delighted to see how some of these trees have produced beautiful yellow flowers. I catch a glimpse of a kookaburra standing still contemplating its environment before it sleekly flies off in a straight line with a slightly undulating height, so unlike the random flight path of swallows.

And then there is Priya. Sometimes she walks faithfully by my side. Other times she passionately sprints in random directions, just for the sheer pleasure of it. She smells practically everything. She experiences a whole reality that I am oblivious to. These walks can be a source of joy, awe, and wonder. Nature is amazing.

If you did not grow up in Australia, you may think that some of our wildlife is weird, cute, and fascinating: kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, echidnas, wombats, and platypi. Even though they are very familiar to me, seeing a kangaroo hop along is still a delight. Until this year I had never seen a platypus in the wild. When I finally saw one from a viewing platform in a National Park I stood mesmerised as I watched this cute little creature swim and dive, while searching for food on the bottom of the creek. My heart sang. But, why?

While at university I began taking bushwalking trips in wilderness areas with friends. The trips lasted for three to fourteen days, camping and carrying all our supplies.  Within a few hours' drive of Canberra, there is a multitude of national parks, each with distinct landscapes and ecosystems. They range from stone-covered river beds at the bottom of deep canyons to alpine areas covered in fields of wildflowers. Why did I find it so enthralling? I encountered beauty. I had a sense of wonder how there was something here that stood outside the rapidly changing world of the city. Human history and personal achievements really did not matter in the wilderness. Looking over a grand vista there was a sense of our own smallness and insignificance. I had an insatiable desire for more and developed a mentality that bushwalking was my default method of relaxing and the only way I could recover from mental and emotional exhaustion.

What is it about our experiences of nature that are so special and significant? What is the origin of the awe and wonder? What produces feelings of resonance, joy, and delight? There is mystery. 

To me, speaking somewhat scientifically, the sound of a bubbling brook is "white noise" and not that different from the sound produced by a highway full of cars. But, the effect on me of the creek and the highway is very different. Walking beside a bubbling brook is delightful, calming, energising, and peaceful. Walking beside the road is stressful, tiring, and just plain yucky. Why the difference?

The mystery in my encounters with nature hints at something greater than me, something that may complete me, and something that might place my life in a grander story.

There are two things to make sense of here, nature and my response to it. How do we describe and interpret nature? How do we interpret our experience of it? There are a range of perspectives we can bring to bear. On nature, there are the perspectives of biology and ecology, ranging from genetics to how climate change affects individual species. At what scale we look at the phenomena is a matter of what questions we are asking. Our personal response to nature can be viewed through a kaleidoscope of perspectives: biological, psychological, sociological, experiential, aesthetic, and religious. The representation and communication of our experiences can be expressed in art, music, poetry, and literature. All of these may provide a window into the reality of the natural world and our relation to it.

Here, I want to explore hints of transcendence. There is something going on that is beyond DNA, physical appearances, ecology, biological evolution, and the social conditioning of aesthetics. 

Through the ages, human encounters with nature have produced rich and diverse perspectives. In reaction to the rise of scientific descriptions of natural phenomena: from Newtonian mechanics to Darwinian evolution, the eighteenth century, saw the rise of romanticism, which valued the intense emotional experience of individuals' encounters with nature.

Negative sentiments concerning natural philosophy (science) is captured in the poem, Lamia written by John Keats in 1819. 

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine—

Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made

This negative sentiment about science is countered by Richard Dawkins in his 1998 book, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder. He contends that science reveals rather than conceals the true beauty of the natural world. A softer perspective is that of Ursula Goodenough, author of The Sacred Depths of Nature, and an advocate of religious naturalism.

For me, my experience of awe and wonder hints at transcendence. But this is not my only feeling. There is also a sense of violation and lament as I see natural beauty being defiled and destroyed. Last week, the creek I walk by each day was flooded by sewage and became black. It was so polluted that dead fish appeared on the banks. The creek smelled so bad I changed my walking route for a few days to avoid the stench. There are countless other violations that grieve me: ancient forests being felled, wilderness areas flooded, wildlife losing their home, and fields of alpine wildflowers killed by late snow dumps resulting from climate change. To me, this sense of violation has a transcendent dimension. It hints that there is intrinsic value in nature and that there is a morality associated with how humans interact with it.

What is awe and wonder?

 At times when I contemplate nature, science, humanity, and Biblical texts I have a sense of awe and wonder. What do I mean by that? I know it when I feel it but it is hard to describe in words.

Members of my family have been reading Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder, and things that sustain you when the world goes dark, by Julia Baird. In this memoir, she intersperses descriptions of her own experiences of awe and wonder, her struggle with cancer, scientific studies on the value of encounters with nature, her struggles with churches, her own faith, and what all this may mean for a fulfilling life. She includes quotations from famous people that I found helpful in considering how might define and characterise awe and wonder. 

Awe makes us stop and stare. Awe humbles us, gives us perspective, and makes us aware that the world is unfathomably larger than ourselves.

Wonder makes us stop and ask questions about the world.

Here are quotes from Einstein, Adam Smith, and Rachel Carson.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein

Adam Smith was a moral philosopher and the founder of modern economics. He said that wonder occurs

“when something quite new and singular is presented… [and] memory cannot, from all its stores, cast up any image that nearly resembles this strange appearance.”

This wonder can be felt physically, characterised by

‘that staring, and sometimes that rolling of the eyes, that suspension of the breath, and that swelling of the heart’.

Adam Smith, A History of Astronomy

“Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties or mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life… Their thoughts can find paths that lead to inner contentment and to renewed excitement in living. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” 

Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder

To me this is a hint of transcendence. There is something going on and behind this which goes beyond material reality and what we can quantify, control, and describe.