“SCIENCE: A BOON OR A BANE”

Humans incessantly explore experiment, create and examine the world. This urge to know more and explore the unexplored has given birth to the field called science. The active process by which physical, biological and chemical occurrences are studied is known is science. The origin of science has been lost in the mists of time.
Science- this single word itself has lot to say. Science has truly been the burning topic of the century. Today, you just need to think about any sector and the word science will surely come up. Science technology has made an immense impact on nearly every sphere of daily life. Science plays a major role in today’s society.
Science is like a knife. A knife can be used to cut vegetables, fruits…etc. The same knife can also be used as lethal weapon. In the same way science can be used as a tool for the development but like every coin has another side, science, when it is in wrong hands can be abused. The exploitation of science can result in several disastrous consequences like nuclear wars, catastrophic pollution and ruinous bloodshed.
Although science has changed the face of the world it has of course, given many things that benefit man. But the evils that it has showered on man wash away the advantages. It has made man depend on the machines, calculators and computers. A day may come when his physical and mental faculties may grow so weak that he may not be able to lift a bag or solve a simple equation. In the field of health services, it has given us life-saving drugs. But it has also given drugs like smack and heroin. Nuclear energy created by science has been much praised but the blast in Russia has exploded the myth. Atom bombs created by scientists were thrown on Hiroshima and Nagasaki decades ago. The painful memory still lingers and millions of people are still ill.
The greatest harm science has done is to the faith of man. God has become a nonentity. In the modern jungle of mental activities where would a desperate man go? Having lost faith, his intellectual activities lead him to suicide. A number of scientists meet this fate every year in most of the countries.
But we must not forget that it is only due to science that we stand where we are today. Science has given us lot. Computers, technology, electronics, gadgets and the list go on and on. Science has made life easier for man. Thanks to science, we can travel from one corner of the world to another within seconds. Transportation has become a million times easier due to science and technology.
Through telecommunication and technology science has brought the world closer. Today a man in Nepal also can communicate through the interest to a person in another nook of the world. Science has truly made us say that this is a small, small world. In fact; the world has become so small for us that we have started exploring the space and we are even thinking of settlements on Mars.
Science has done a great service to mankind by giving birth to medical technology. Today, science has greatly augmented the longevity of life. Once incurable diseases like small-pox have completely been eradicated and dreaded maladies like cancer are no longer without a remedy.
Through the advent of hybrids farmers have received a boon. Today farming is a lot easier than it was a decade ago. After the green revolution farming has become a lot easier and the yield has increased tenfold.
Like every coin have two faces. The same science which has been of such great assistance to mankind has another face. Science which has best owed us with development, progress, expansion and growth has also brandished us with hostilities, destruction, violence, ruin, devastation, annihilation bloodshed, carriage and obliteration. Gone are the days when peace and tranquility used to prevail throughout the world. Today a gun booms in one corner of the world or another every day. Wars are fought between countries for years and years together at a stretch. Families are torn apart and friends are lost forever, never to be reunited. By giving birth to weaponry, war craft and armaments it can be indisputably said that science is the root of battles, armed conflicts and international disputes. Thanks to science we are plunging headlong into an era of nuclear wars.
Due to the advent of science the longevity of life has greatly increased. But, this is paving the way for over-population and population explosion. This has resulted in mass deficiency of land. Today, due to this we are even auctioning of land on the moon!
Thus, I have illustrated some of science’s advantages and disadvantages. But can we really lame science when it comes to the disadvantages. I believe that the culpability lies with those who misuse science. The radar of blame worthiness, in my opinion, should never fall on science. Hence I can state indubitably that science is a great boon for human kind, but when it is misused it can prove to be the most worst of banes.

Milan Thapa