Science is a field that is now expanded beyond our imagination. We can’t imagine our lives without science. Human beings have their natural potential to observe and understand things. Science originated because of this curiosity to know more about nature and to extract information that can be useful for making our lives easier. Humans simply observe things and try to question their existence, and with some experiments or deep observations, they try to find reasons and mechanisms. But now science is not limited to quenching the thirst of curiosity; it has evolved into a more advanced and complex field due to the human desire to find answers and to exploit everything in nature that has the potential to make our lives easier and better.
History of science:
However, it’s not possible to exactly describe the origin of formal science, but the practice of performing science has been followed since the start of the human race. Earlier, before formal science, humans unknowingly were engaged in empirical observation, such as finding direction through stars, relying on plants to treat wounds and cure diseases, etc. Inventions of fire, wheel and agriculture, etc, were also based on survival instincts that were followed by trials and errors and information was simply passed on orally. Later, with the ancient civilisation, fields like geometry, mathematics, astronomy and ayurveda developed, and inventions like the compass, Pythagoras' theorem, pyramids, etc came. These innovations lacked experimentation, and it was more about reasoning than testing. Further in the golden age of Islam, that is between the 8th to 13th centuries, Islamic scholars expanded the knowledge of the Greeks and Romans and emphasised logical experimentation and observation. This period is marked as a bridge between ancient science and modern science. The birth of modern science was in the 16th to 18th centuries. Scientists like Galileo and Newton came and explained the universe in simple theoretical terms. This was the period of the scientific revolution. With the maturity of science, several disciplines were categorised as biology, chemistry and physics and also science began to influence politics, economics and society, and eventually it led to the establishment of factories, electricity, engines and vaccines. By this time, science was no longer limited to some philosophical minds, but it was a tool that was closely associated with the people and their lives. Now, in the 20th century, science has become more widely evolved, and we’ve explored the smallest DNA to infinite space. With technologies like artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, we are now living in a world that is immensely dominated by the power of science.
Modern science: “What we can do over why to do”
Modern science is now becoming the backbone of human civilisation, and we need to take this seriously. Science has undeniably changed our lives, and we are living a better and easier life because of it. Information is now accessible within seconds, and diseases that were once fatal and untreatable are now cured with a few antibiotics or treatments. We now have machines that can think, talk and create art. But with the increased power, we’re leading towards some powerful consequences that can be potentially disastrous to our economy or even the human life form. Let’s take some examples from modern science:
Artificial intelligence: This technology, which was once fictional and seemed like an impossible thing, is now shocking us with its developments. Machines are now leading us and can predict and interpret things better than we from creating a poem to predict the outcome of a disease, artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly. These systems are evolving and learning through human-generated data and can be biased. These systems are now learning from the human brain to perform like one. What if one day these systems tried to suppress humans once they no longer needed humans to evolve?
Genetic engineering and CRISPR:
As we edit a draft on computers, similarly, scientists are now editing human DNA using technologies like CRISPR. These technologies are developed to create genetic diseases or to extend the human lifespan. We are simply designing humans and creating programmed humans. We are unknowingly creating irreversible damage in the gene pool and developing a new hierarchy that can disrupt our human existence.
Biorobots and synthetic life:
Labs are not limited to creating machines only, but they are now creating living bots to do some tasks like cleaning oceans, etc. Scientists are now aiming to create biological machines like xenobots, which is a robot made from frog cells and can repair or reproduce themselves like a living being. These entities are capable of evolving on their own, and how they interact with the ecosystem if left exposed.
Climate engineering or geoengineering:
Earth’s climate works in a cyclical way, and we’ve already broken the pattern, which is why we’re suffering from conditions like glaciers melting and global warming. But now, to find the solution to these problems, scientists are trying to take control over the natural climate system. They’re trying to create artificial clouds, altering oceans and reflecting sunlight using aerosols. These ideas sound great, but they can backfire at anytime.
Human enhancement and brain-computer interface:
Tech companies and researchers are now trying to merge the human brain with machines through systems like Elon Musk's Neuralink brain chip. This can create two species of humans — the enhanced and the natural. Where does humanity go when consciousness is digital and intelligence is upgraded?
Modern science is a powerful force, but the intensity with which we are using it is questionable. Designer babies, super advanced machines and artificial climate can disbalance nature and its patterns, and it can lead to serious environmental damage in the future.
The forgotten boundary:
From day to night, summer to winter, from being a prey to a predator and from being a creator to a destroyer, nature has its cycles and patterns. These changing patterns are not its limitations, but they possibly act as a natural safeguard. Despite having so much development and advancement in modern science, the mystery of natural processes and mechanisms of nature is still unknown to us. Still, for the sake of some temporary control over nature, we are constantly messing with nature. The boundaries of nature act as the immunity of our planet, and we are inviting our self-destruction with each step that we take in modern science, in ignorance of these boundaries. Altering the DNA of a species, inducing non-biological organisms in the environment and making machines that can mimic human nature can abruptly alter the ecosystem, and it can lead to some dangerous consequences in future, such as the extinction of humans. Nature has never disappointed us in showing its potential to us, let it be antibiotic resistance, climate change, extinction of species, or the pandemics. Nature knows how to protect itself when its boundaries get compromised. Nature is not just a backdrop for human activities, but it's a living and interdependent system in itself, and it maintains an equilibrium between things that humans can’t. Oxygen, biodiversity, ocean currents, temperature, etc, are some invisible forces that hold our planet together. Nature speaks, but not through words; instead, it speaks in the language of destruction. And from the previous few years, nature has given us multiple warnings to stop, as we’ve already breached the boundary. From oceanic imbalances to pollution in air, water and soil, from climate extremes to the collapse of biodiversity. Nature is already showing us signs that the cycle is broken, and we, instead of maintaining the balance again, are more focused on disbalancing it further. Nature and its boundaries evolved after a period of millions of years, and these are not just boundaries but institutions from nature itself on how to maintain the balance. But in a few years had successfully disrupted the balance of nature that was formed after millions of years.
Is it too late, or do we have time?
We’re seduced by advancement, convinced that more innovation will save us from the problems caused by innovation. But no technology can replace the rivers, forests, oceans, and skies that sustain our soul and body. Despite all the data, protests, climate reports, and rising disasters, the world continues on a high-speed path of extraction, innovation, and consumption. Why?
Short-term profits overpower long-term sustainability.
Human ego believes it can outsmart nature.
Technological addiction blinds us to spiritual and ecological wisdom.
Power structures benefit from disruption, not balance.
In trying to control nature through science, we may end up controlled by the very disruptions we unleash.
“The further we go in mastering nature, the more we become its slave—chained to the consequences we did not foresee.”