'Given limited resources, should the scientific community focus on broadening our horizons or improving standard of living?' - Yaqoub Mohamed Ismail
Given limited resources, should the scientific community focus on broadening our horizons or improving standard of living?
YAQOUB MOHAMED ISMAIL (1,997 words)
As world leaders grapple with a variety of global crises such as climate change and the exponential growth in conflict, billions of people lack access to clean water, healthcare and other basic necessities, with 1 billion people living in extreme poverty. In an era where only 1.7% of the richest man’s net worth could be used in a $6 billion plan to solve world hunger, extreme hunger has almost doubled in the world’s worst climate hotspots whilst SpaceX announced their “Ground-breaking Mars Colonisation Initiative” with the estimated building of a Martian city costing up to 1000 trillion dollars. With the UN calling for an ‘urgent rethink’ as resource use skyrockets, resulting in an ever-diminishing supply of resources, the importance of addressing the basic needs of billions makes the idea of expanding the human understanding of the universe seem less of a priority in comparison. Facing a moral crossroads, the scientific community must ask themselves a pressing question: should our limited resources be placed on humanity’s most dire problems or the exploration into the new realms of discovery? Franklin D Roosevelt’s words, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.", serve as a timeless reminder that the scientific community is obligated to prioritise their efforts into improving the standard of living. This essay argues that by focusing on eliminating extreme poverty, ensuring equitable access to healthcare and education and protecting people from the dangers of climate change, the scientific community can elevate the standard of living, without completely sacrificing our curiosity, to make the world a more sustainable and just place.
SServing a dual purpose in society, science both allows for the curiosity-driven research that lead to the greatest scientific leaps in history and the generation of solutions that improve daily life. On one hand, science represents curiosity, seeking to expand our understanding of the universe. Curiosity is essential to what it means to be human. All humans are born curious about their surroundings, with infants being inquisitive from birth. From Albert Einstein, whose concepts such as the theory of relativity shaped our view on the universe, to Edwin Hubble, whose ground-breaking discovery of an expanding universe paved the way for the Big Bang theory, curiosity-driven research, which may have seemed abstract at the time, has resulted in the development of technologies such as GPS navigation and laser surgery, emphasising how broadening our horizons can benefit society as a whole. On the other hand, science enables us to address the real world obstacles that pose challenges to people around the world. The practical applications of science to improve the standard of living can be seen throughout the existence of humanity; a prime example is Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, kickstarting the antibiotic revolution and saving at least one million lives each year since 1990. Both curiosity-driven research and the practical applications of science have contributed to immense societal progress; a balance between these two aspects would be appropriate in a world where problems such as climate change and social inequalities such as lack of healthcare and education didn’t require urgent action. By combating these issues, science can fulfill its main responsibility: to uplift humanity.
One could argue that given limited resources, the scientific community should focus on broadening our horizons through scientific exploration. Being essential to our current and potentially more extensive understanding of the universe, scientific exploration has enhanced fields such as quantum mechanics and astrophysics, providing insights into the once indescribable phenomena of the universe, such as dark matter; this curiosity-driven research has led to innovations, such as integrated circuits found in smartphones, that have impacted our daily lives greatly, highlighting how the pursuit of knowing the unknown yields remarkable benefits to society.
Furthermore, facing depleting resources, overpopulation and climate disruption, broadening our horizons through space exploration can potentially be crucial in the long-term survival of the human race. The plethora of minerals, gases and water found within the more than 20,000 near-Earth asteroids and the millions of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter can provide raw materials, energy and sustenance to sustain human life, by alleviating the resource crisis, and to allow humanity to continue our exploration deeper into the cosmos.
Ultimately, there is one concept that unites humanity: curiosity. Curiosity has powered us, leading to invention and innovation, and it allows us to put aside our differences for the pursuit of a greater understanding and the betterment of all. This can be exemplified by the 1975 Helsinki Accords, a multifaceted agreement signed by 35 nations during the Cold War, that addressed a wide range of issues and were separated into three major baskets, with one basket to schedule future meetings; in the second basket, scientific exploration and cooperation were emphasised, having a far-reaching impact on US-Soviet relations at the time. Curiosity and the potential of broadening our horizons contributed to suppressing global tensions, with the US-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz space project being the first international human spaceflight, which paved the way for the International Space Station (ISS). Boasting ‘20 Breakthroughs from 20 Years’, driven by global cooperation, the ISS has been responsible for innovations ,such as protein crystal growth experiments that have provided insight into disease treatments for cancer and the discovery of steadily burning cool flames that has allowed the ISS to research into the development of less polluting vehicles, that could provide solutions to the challenges experienced by billions. By pushing the boundaries of what we know, the discoveries and achievements of our generation can inspire the life-changing innovations of future generations.
However, while broadening our horizon through curiosity-driven research holds intrinsic value, the ethical imperative to address the needs of others stems from the innate human disposition of empathy. As Einstein wisely noted, "The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.", underscoring the idea that selflessness is not only a moral responsibility but also essential for societal progress and stability. With 45 million children globally being malnourished and 2 billion people lacking access to clean water, urgent action from the scientific community is required in order to achieve increased access to healthcare and education, prevention of avoidable deaths and societal progress; scientific breakthroughs have had pivotal impacts that have contributed to societal progress by meeting the basic needs of people worldwide. For example, the recently designed ultrafiltration system that is more effective in removing bacteria and viruses, more economical and easier to maintain than the previously best option, reverse osmosis; this innovation is predicted to contribute to a reduction in the approximately 3.5 million people that die each year due to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene. Additionally, preclinical research into Malaria led to the development of a vaccine that has reduced severe malaria by 30% in Sub-Saharan Africa, increasing investment into other aspects of society as education that would have otherwise been spent on treatment of infected individuals. By addressing the immediate needs of others, science not only reduces preventable deaths but also increases the sustainability and long-term prosperity of humanity, which in turn enables scientists to continue their research.
The American Geophysical Union asserts the importance of the scientific community addressing the immediate needs of others by saying that it is the responsibility of all scientists to ’protect the health and safety of people, animals, and the environment, following
ethical guidelines for their treatment and bearing in mind the broader implications
of one's research for the environment and society’.
In the past 50 years, we have faced a series of global crises such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ozone hole that pose a threat to the stability and sustainability of humanity; global crises will continue to occur in the future and we must generate solutions to these challenges. Through focusing their efforts on generating solutions to these challenges, the scientific community has been able to adapt to and mitigate them, improving the standard of living. Innovative technology and methods ,such as carbon capture and storage that reduces the amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere or the buildings of sea walls along the coasts of islands to adapt to rising sea levels, could have only been put into place with the scientific community focussing on generating the solution to these challenges, improving the standard of living. Similarly, if it were not for the scientific community uniting at such a desperate time, the COVID-19 vaccine would not have been developed in such a short time, meaning that the estimated 1.5 million lives saved by COVID-19 vaccination would most likely have died. Through the global cooperation of the scientific community, not only has the standard of living improved for many across the world and without this, the world would experience erosion of collective resilience needed for future challenges, decreasing societal progress and stability.
Moreover, by improving the standard of living, the scientific community is able to stimulate economic growth and reduction in social inequalities; science-led innovation and research allows for practical applications with the knowledge gained such as the application of theoretical mathematics and electromagnetism which has led to the IT devices industry being worth 1.78 trillion or how the accumulation of research on mRNA and coronaviruses reduced the amount of money needed to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development have suggested that space satellites could be used to provide reliable energy to vulnerable communities in Africa, which is the least ‘electrified’ continent with 568 million lacking access to electricity. Both stimulating economic growth and reducing social inequality, the scientific community is able to improve the standard of living to allow for the virtuous cycle of growth across the world through the continued development of industries and markets.
The argument that by focussing on the immediate needs of humanity to improve the standard of living, such as by addressing poverty and healthcare issues, our limited resources will be diverted away from curiosity-driven research, perhaps leading to the stagnation of discovery and a lack of technological advancement, may be used by some to suggest that the scientific community should focus on broadening our horizons rather than improving the standard of living. However, this perspective overlooks their interdependence. By addressing the immediate needs of people worldwide, a more healthy, educated population is cultivated through various aspects, such as economic growth and reduced social inequality; this results in a new generation of individuals capable of conducting innovative curiosity-driven research; curiosity-driven research can then in turn improve the standard of living through innovations that alleviate the challenges experienced by people across the globe. The Green Revolution exemplifies this. Experiencing famine, countries in South Asia and South America benefited from innovations based on curiosity-driven research, such as synthetic fertilizers and
advanced irrigation systems; this had a profound impact on crop yield with the Punjab Region in India yielding 0.1 million metric tons of rice in 1950 to 5.1 million per year by 1985, supporting India’s economy and providing more investment into research and development. Therefore, improving the standard of living and broadening our horizons are not conflicting goals but reinforce each other; by addressing the immediate needs of humanity, a foundation for a virtuous cycle of societal growth is laid.
In conclusion, by addressing the immediate needs of others through the scientific generation of solutions to these challenges, the scientific community can improve the global standard of living with limited resources, fulfilling their moral obligation to uplift humanity and promote societal growth. Through this increased standard of living, a healthier, more educated population will be more capable of conducting curiosity-driven research, creating a sustainable, equitable future through innovations that push the boundaries of knowledge. Science has the power to transform the lives of our generation and future generations, but now it is the time to solve the urgent problems in our world before exploring beyond it.
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