Does science do more harm than good?

Answer 1

Science does much more good than harm. In fact, science, as an institution, has a much better track record than any other institution. Here's my off-the-cuff comparison:

Science Pros: medicine, communication, transportation, world view, answers to big questions
Science Cons: technology towards warfare, morally-questionable experimentation

Religion Pros: morality, sense of place, hope, answers to big questions
Religion Cons: indoctrination, persecution/discrimination, religious wars

Government Pros: organization, unity, social services
Government Cons: war, corruption, exclusion

Science is the clear winner with more on the pros side and less on the cons side than any other.

Answer 2

If it weren't for science, we wouldn't be where we are today. I think you need to take it on a one by one basis. Harm to what? If you are talking about our overpopulation problem, well, perhaps, we have advanced far enough that our infant mortality has dropped, women don't die in childbirth nearly as often and people are living longer and longer. We have increased our lifespans dramatically in just the past 100 years.
So I guess if you are against people living longer and more often, then I guess science is doing harm. If you are an animal and nature lover who sees that industry has caused a lot of damage to environments, and in the past hundred years all these species have gone extinct directly or indirectly because of us, well, yes, I guess science did more harm than good. If you are talking about polluting the earth and making nonperishable chemical products that dont disintegrate, nuclear power, oil spills, genetically modified food, etc. yes, science is doing harm. They also have tortured and killed billions of animals in the name of science, so from the animal standpoint, wild or domesticated, science did more harm than good. From the religious perspective, traditional faith systems have relied on people believing their explanations so, in their eyes, science has done more harm than good.
People have gone away from mysticism and ritual and have embraced only what is proven and what they can see, so many people have become cynical and skeptical of any new and free, independently-thinking ideas, so in that aspect science can cause more closedmindedness because people falsely think there is nothing else left to know--in that way modern science does more harm, (in a way of killing innovation) than good.
Overall, I really don't know what to think. I know I depend on some miracle drugs that I couldn't live without. But living in the midst of the biggest human population explosion in all of history gets kind of tiresome at times.

Answer 3

If it weren't for science, we wouldn't be where we are today. I think you need to take it on a one by one basis. Harm to what? If you are talking about our overpopulation problem, well, perhaps, we have advanced far enough that our infant mortality has dropped, women don't die in childbirth nearly as often and people are living longer and longer. We have increased our lifespans dramatically in just the past 100 years.
So I guess if you are against people living longer and more often, then I guess science is doing harm. If you are an animal and nature lover who sees that industry has caused a lot of damage to environments, and in the past hundred years all these species have gone extinct directly or indirectly because of us, well, yes, I guess science did more harm than good. If you are talking about polluting the earth and making nonperishable chemical products that dont disintegrate, nuclear power, oil spills, genetically modified food, etc. yes, science is doing harm. They also have tortured and killed billions of animals in the name of science, so from the animal standpoint, wild or domesticated, science did more harm than good. From the religious perspective, traditional faith systems have relied on people believing their explanations so, in their eyes, science has done more harm than good.
People have gone away from mysticism and ritual and have embraced only what is proven and what they can see, so many people have become cynical and skeptical of any new and free, independently-thinking ideas, so in that aspect science can cause more closedmindedness because people falsely think there is nothing else left to know--in that way modern science does more harm, (in a way of killing innovation) than good.
Overall, I really don't know what to think. I know I depend on some miracle drugs that I couldn't live without. But living in the midst of the biggest human population explosion in all of history gets kind of tiresome at times.

Science does much more good than harm. In fact, science, as an institution, has a much better track record than any other institution. Here's my off-the-cuff comparison:

Science Pros: medicine, communication, transportation, world view, answers to big questions
Science Cons: technology towards warfare, morally-questionable experimentation

Religion Pros: morality, sense of place, hope, answers to big questions
Religion Cons: indoctrination, persecution/discrimination, religious wars

Government Pros: organization, unity, social services
Government Cons: war, corruption, exclusion

Science is the clear winner with more on the pros side and less on the cons side than any other

Answer 4

Nope science has been an integral part to the advancement of the human race. A world without science would be one without medicine and more importantly a world without yahoo answers.

Answer 5

well... as i know... most of all scientists made there inventions by accident... soo... i think they were harmed...
benjamin franklin=died bcuz of the lightning
albert einstein=been electrolized...
but science can cause no harm if we know or sure how to use or do it...

Answer 6

NO NO NO! Without science you'd be using plants to wipe your ****, you'd have no house, no towns, cities. We wouldn't have invented the wheel or discovered fire. We certainly wouldn't be having this conversation...

Answer 7

Absolutely not. If it was not for science there would be no medicine, no computers, no internet, no electricity...you get the point.

Answer 8

no. without science we really wouldn't know anything about the way this world functions our how to improve it for our (and others) benefit.

Answer 9

No
But on the other hand GOD does only harm. no help from there.

Answer 10

No, only the people who abuse it.