Sunday, April 4, 2010
Science Power and Societal Perceptions
So as you all know we recently just finished (or if your like me your still working on) thhe second written assignment which if you decided to follow the prompt had something to do with science and power. As I was reading through my comments etc on my rough draft Something that Hasan suggested on mine was to discuss the way scientific knowledge affects our perception of other people/societies. Although I did not end up including this in my essay for lack of sufficient research time (thanks to my procrastinating self) I thought it was a really interesting idea and thought that maybe you all would like to discuss it here. So.......how does science affect our perception of other cultures?
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Well, Carleigh I'm glad you took my comments seriously... even though you ended up not including it in your final draft. Nevertheless, that was a kind gesture on your part.
ReplyDeleteSo. To the question. One way to look at this would be through the eyes of the European imperialist in the 18th and 19th centuries. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, scientific research and improvements in technology (read: steam engine, farming tools, electricity, railways, telegraph, etc.) it's not hard to imagine that they viewed themselves superior to other races, and held the peoples who were not as scientifically advanced with contempt. The "white man's burden" philosophy played easily into this scenario along with the ever-present need to spread the ideas of Enlightenment & Christianity. I have touched upon these issues in my final version of the second essay.
Now, on the flip side: what if you are the scientifically backward person confronted with a culture far more advanced than yours? The weird thing about science is that it's very hard to argue about. Enlightenment as a philosophy may be challenged by other schools of thought - but the basic premise of science is to question. So not only does science question societal norms, it also questions itself.
Even today, we see a growing respect for different cultures and modes of thinking. Yet, as we become increasingly globalized and multicultural, science is pegged to the same standards. A scientifically backward person is a scientifically backward person. No questions asked. But the statement that a person is culturally backward is very debatable.
Science can give people perceptions on other culture because it affects the way one value a culture. In science, reason and logic are considered the most important elements. People tend to evaluate other cultures by reason and logic, instead of ethics, literature, and other social factors that make up the culture. Therefore, some achievements accomplished by a culture that doesn't have much science may be evaluated less than what it should be. However, science doesn't really affact people's perception about other cultures' religions because they generally are not related to science. So what I mean is a person who are educated with science tends to set his or her standards based on science and evaluate other cultures based on his or her standards.
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ReplyDeleteIn general the level of scientific understanding and technological advancement of the two interacting cultures (or societies) determines their perception of one another. One historical example that illustrates this is the European exploration, takeover and annihilation of North America and its indigenous inhabitants during the 1500s and onwards. The scientifically and technologically superior Europeans felt it was their duty to convert and civilize the North American culture they viewed as primitive. Indigenous North American cultures, who’s scientific understanding was heavily influenced by their harmonious relationship with nature, viewed Europeans as “evil” since they introduced such counter ideas as property rights.
ReplyDeleteI think Zihao and Tarun both add a new dimension to this question, and their examples demonstrate their points effectively too.
ReplyDeleteScience is just one of the many things that one can use to evaluate a culture - whether it is appropriate or not. Let me give you a personal example: when I first came here (almost 9 months ago), my sense of "culture shock" was considerably less - primarily because I came here to continue a line of education I was already familiar with. Hence, most of the things I experienced here were through that prism of scientific education. I mean, obviously I'm not that narrow-minded to judge Americans by that small perspective, but it did help in assuaging the culture-shock and helped me to adjust more quickly