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Lesson 22 |
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Knowledge and progress |
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In what two areas have people made no 'progress' at all? |
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Why does the idea of progress loom so large in the modern world? |
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Surely because progress of a particular kind is actually taking place around us |
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and is becoming more and more manifest. |
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Although mankind has undergone no general improvement in intelligence or morality, |
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it has made extraordinary progress in the accumulation of knowledge. |
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Knowledge began to increase as soon as the thoughts of one individual |
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could be communicated to another by means of speech. |
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With the invention of writing, a great advance was made, |
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for knowledge could then be not only communicated but also stored. |
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Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries: |
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the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound interest law, |
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which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing. |
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All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, |
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the tempo was suddenly raised. |
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Then knowledge began to be accumulated according to a systematic plan. |
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The trickle became a stream: the stream has now become a torrent. |
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Moreover, as soon as new knowledge is acquired, it is now turned to practical account. |
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What is called 'modern civilization' |
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is not the result of a balanced development of all man's nature, |
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but of accumulated knowledge applied to practical life. |
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The problem now facing humanity is: |
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What is going to be done with all this knowledge? |
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As is so often pointed out, knowledge is a two-edged weapon |
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which can be used equally for good or evil. |
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It is now being used indifferently for both. |
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Could any spectacle, for instance, be more grimly whimsical |
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than that of gunners using science to shatter men's bodies |
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while, close at hand, surgeons use it to restore them? |
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We have to ask ourselves very seriously |
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what will happen if this twofold use of knowledge, |
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with its ever-increasing power, continues. |
