Humanity's Struggle in The Age of Science
Or
Existential Challenges in The Scientific
Epoch
Or
The Suffering Soul of a Men in the
Scientific Age
Or
The Human Experience Amidst
Scientific Advancement
Or
Navigating The Human Condition in A Scientific
World
Outline
I. I. Introduction
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men—TS Eliot
Thesis statement: although the
Scientific Age has conferred a multitude of material comforts on mankind it has
discomforted the human soul by disregarding man's spiritual needs
II. II. What does the Scientific Age signify?
a) It is a
tremendous tale of inventions and innovations driven by reason, rationality,
and objectivity
b) However, the
immaterial needs of man are completely disregarded
III. III. What are the needs of the human soup
a) Hope (provided
by religion)
b) Compassion (through emotional
linkages and social interactions)
c) Discipline
(through moral code and values)
d) Contentedness) through
avoidance of jealousy and
competition)
e) Nurturing
(through soul-searching self-improvement and self-reliance)
IV. IV. The soul suffers in the scientific age because it
faffs to meet the needs of a human soul
a) Hopeless and
restless human soul due to perennial skepticism and the neglect of religion in
this age (Result: pessimism, alienation, mental issues, surge in suicide rates)
b) Soul devoid of
compassion and subtle feelings as this age has caused chasms among people
(Result: fragile family relations increased divorce rates and violence)
c) Uncontended
souls: because of cut-throat competition and rat race for material affluence
d) (Result:
Restlessness, panic, treachery, betrayal)
e) Nurturing and
improvement of the soul has become difficult as the present era accords more
importance to improvement in technology than improvement of humans.
V. V. Soul can be extricated from the clutches of
excruciating suffering through
-Fulfillment of man’s intangible
needs along with material welfare
-Synthesis of science and
spiritualism
(As mentioned by Dalai Lama in his
book “Convergence of Spirituality and Science)
VI. VI. Conclusion:
He has captured the rays of the Sun
But he could not illuminate his own dark life
(Iqbal)
“If nationalism is to govern the world without the regard of
the religion, the experience after the French Revolution is there to teach us
the lesson of such a blunder”—Renan
“Industrialization and our future” — Ted Kaczynski
“We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men"
(TS Eliot)
This is an apt description of a modem man. A man living in
the age of science and technology is devoid of fine feelings. He pays more
attention to hard facts and data. Emotions, sentiments, faith, care,
compassion, and love are feelings unknown to him. Such a situation takes its
toll on the human soul. The human soul is the crown jewel of a human
personality but science rejects the notion of the soul and its existence.
Therefore, the needs of the soul are neglected and ignored by science. As a
result, the human soul faces an unbearable pain in the Age of Science.
Restlessness, panic attacks, psychological disorders, pessimistic attitudes,
nihilistic behaviors, and dissatisfaction have become common maladies of the human
soul. All of this is happening amidst a marvelous scientific revolution in the
material sphere of human life. Humans have better healthcare facilities, better
protection against natural calamities, better public amenities, better tools
and gadgets to assist humans, and better opportunities to improve their
standard of living. However, all of this is happening at the expense of quality
of life.
Quality of life is a broader concept than the standard of
living that does not only take into account the economic and material needs of
man but also the intangible and immaterial needs of humans. The quality of
human life is not improving but rather deteriorating on many counts. Although
the scientific age has conferred a multitude of material comforts on mankind
but discomforted the human soul by disregarding the spiritual needs of man.
The Scientific Age is a tremendous tale of inventions and
innovations driven by reason, rationality, and objectivity. The Scientific Age
coincides with the Age of Enlightenment. Both have one common denominator and
this is the ascendency of reason and rationality over dogmas. Such precedence
of reason encouraged experimentation and objectivity. The emergence of
experimentation heralded a continuous stream of discoveries and inventions.
Such inventions have transformed human lives especially when it comes to its
material dimension. Distance between places has constricted and diseases have
been overcome. Natural forces have been tamed and ferocious beasts have been
subdued. Vast uncharted areas of the universe have been explored and a plethora
of machines have been invented to serve man at his pleasure. In short, the
scientific age is the age of progress, transformation, and advancement concerning
the material sphere of human lives.
However, the immaterial needs of man are completely
disregarded in the scientific age. Science has played wonders for the bodily
comforts of man. It has devised cures for various maladies of the human body
but fails to soothe the suffering soul of modern man which is afflicted by far
more dangerous diseases. In this present age of science, every man is
painstakingly making an effort to empower himself physically. He takes care of
his bodily health and beauty but allows his soul to be consumed by evil. He does
not care to empower himself spiritually. His attitude is rooted in scientific
beliefs that do not consider the soul to be a reality. As a result, the soul of
today's man is in a state of shambles.
“You wash your face and clothes
Have you ever washed your inner self?
You have made progress in every field
Have you ever progressed towards
yourself?”
(Jalal-ud-din Rumi)
(Masnavi-e- Rum: Vol III)
The two varying aspects of the modern scientific age have
been discussed. Now, the needs of the human soul can be looked upon. As the human
body requires food, care, and training, similarly human soul also requires it
for its nourishment and proper functioning. Such needs are discussed in the
succeeding paragraphs.
First of all, the human soul needs hopes and dreams to
survive. According to Iqbal, hopes are the winds of the human soul that enable
it to fly high like a ‘Shaheen’ (eagle). Hope is to a soul what fuel is to a
car as either cannot function without them. Such hope is usually provided by
some religion. In his essay: “Is religion possible today?" Iqbal discusses
a similar concept. Due to hope provided by religious beliefs, man can bear
tremendous burdens. He can withstand suffering and misfortunes with the hope of
getting compensation or relief in the afterlife.
Secondly, the human soul needs compassion and affection. Both
are provided by attaching oneself to other human beings. The soul of a child
gets compassion from his parents and the soul of the parents derives feelings
of affection and reverence from their children. Similarly, the souls of husband
and wife, metaphorically, become one when they develop a bond of love between
them. Likewise, friends develop similar feelings of attachment towards each
other. Without such interactions and emotional attachments, the soul becomes
bone-dry like a barren land.
Thirdly, the soul needs discipline and training too.
Al-Ghazali famously remarked soul is man’s steed which helps him reach his
desired destination. This steed must be bridled otherwise it will act like a
wild beast. Al-Ghazali also formulated a detailed method to discipline the human
soul in his seminal work “Alkemia-al-Saadat" (Alchemy of Happiness). To
discipline the human soul, moral values and a code of ethics play a pivotal
role. Moral values and corresponding moral sanctions keep humans in check. They
keep their passion within their limits and conform to societal norms.
Fourthly, contentment and satisfaction are one of the most
vital needs of the human soul. Human pleasure and contentment of man’s inner
self go hand in hand. Man can never be happy if his conscience or inner self is
not satisfied. His inner self will not be satisfied if he is always jealous of
others and tries to compete with others recklessly. On the contrary, if he does
not take the success of others to his heart and tries to build amiable
relations with others, his soul will be contented.
Finally, the soul needs nurturing. Nurturing is an
overarching concept that takes into its folds all that is required for a
successful and self-dependent soul. The concept of ’Khudi’ is very close to it.
If a man strives to improve his inner self, tries to rely on his powers, and
makes efforts for soul searching, he will become a ‘Mard-e-Kamal’ (complete
man) in the words of Iqbal and an ‘Authentic Man’ in the ' words of Jean-Paul
Sartre. If a man does not nurture his soul, it will start to set and decay. His
solid will lose conscience and will adopt degrading ways to fend for itself
like begging and stealing. Therefore, nurturing is an important need of the soul.
So far, the Scientific Age and the needs of human souls have
been dealt with, separately. In the coming paragraphs, the denial of these
needs in the Scientific Age will be discussed. Denial of these needs has
resulted in the suffering of the human soul which has also given rise to a plethora
of other problems.
First of all, perennial skepticism and the neglect of
religion in the scientific age have caused human souls to become restless and
hopeless. As discussed previously, hope is the cornerstone of a healthy soul
and religion provides such hope. Unfortunately, religion is either neglected or
outrightly rejected in the present age. The result is increasing pessimism and
alienation among people. When their hope is lost, they fall into the abyss of
depression and other mental problems. As a result, suicide rates are surging
especially in those countries where the Scientific Age is in full swing like
Japan, Germany, and the USA. According to the annual report of WHO 2Q16,
suicide rates are persistently increasing at the rate of 3.2% in the Western
world- indeed a sad state.
Moreover, the human soul is devoid of compassionate and
empathetic feelings as this age has created chasms among people. As previously
mentioned, human interactions and emotional attachments are imperatives for a
functioning and healthy soul. However, in this age of connectivity, people are
ironically disconnected from each other. Face-to-face interactions have
decreased, family meetings have become a rarity, and social get-togethers have been
confined to the confines of social media. A Harvard University research team
working on the impacts of technology on our daily life social interaction has
called this phenomenon the ‘digital divide.’ This divide is weakening family lineages
and hence violence and divorce rates are soaring at unprecedented levels. Souls
that are devoid of fine feelings are more prone to violence and anti-social
behavior. Hence, human souls are more perturbed in the Scientific Age.
Furthermore, as the present Scientific Age fails to provide a
proper moral code or guidance, human souls have become undisciplined and
delinquent. Amidst all technological development, crime rates have
sky-rocketed. Moral perversion and economic corruption have become norms of the
day. Science has gained ascendency over conscience. The moral compass of humans
namely the soul or conscience has gone wayward. Martin Luther King Jos has
rightly summed it up:
“Our scientific power has overturned our spiritual power. We
have guided missiles but misguided men."
In addition, cut-throat competition and rat race for material
affluence have rendered human souls unattended. Everyone is after wealth and
material pleasures. Reckless competition has taken the place of cooperation.
Every person considers this to be a zero-sum game where one must flourish at
the cost of others. Scientific Age has caused restlessness and panic among
people. No one feels satisfaction even if he is well-off because he craves
more. He wants everyone to lose and only himself to succeed. For this purpose,
he can let go of principles and embrace treachery to harm others. This
prevalent discontentedness has made this world a place where a brother cuts the
throat of his kin to gain some property, what is the use of all material
progress when humans cannot cherish the fruits of progress in peace?
Finally, nurturing of human soul has become difficult as the
present era focuses merely on technological improvement and not on
self-improvement. Scientists are always busy making better smartphones but do
not pay heed to devising ways to make humans better. The quality of phones has
improved but the quality of humans has deteriorated. In the Scientific Age, man
has become more reliant on his tools, and in the words of Thoreau “Man has
become a tool of his tools.” Man, and his soul have abandoned the practice of
Emerson's “Self-reliance" and embraced the disgrace of laxity.
Fortunately, the present situation can be changed and the human
soul can be revivified. For this to happen, we have to acknowledge that the present
situation is of our own making and we have to make amends in this regard. First
of all, man’s intangible needs must be fulfilled along with his physical needs.
The soul needs food and care in the same manner the body needs them. Without
them body suffers, so the soul suffers too. Both body and soul must function in
tandem to keep a man in high spirits both are the wheels of a car named man.
Therefore, the needs of both body and soul must be met.
Secondly, deliberated efforts are required to synthesize
spirituality and science. Dalai Lama has made similar efforts in his book which
should be emulated by other distinguished scholars too. Spirituality and
science have a relation between them similar to that of body and soul. There
can be no life if body and soul are not together; similarly, there can be no
true progress in human living conditions if science and spirituality are
daggers drawn.
The upshot of all discussion is that the Scientific Age has
transformed the physical sphere of human life but ignored the spiritual sphere.
Due to this negligence spiritual needs of man are not met and hence for want of
proper treatment, the human soul is suffering in the present age. Although, the
human soul is in a decadent state for now its condition can be improved. The
tormented human soul can be healed if requisite attention is paid to it. Once the
human soul becomes free of its sufferings, only then we can truly realize the
potential of the Scientific Age in the form of an egalitarian, progressive, and
peaceful world.
One who trekked the paths of stars
He could not explore the depth of his
ideas
He has captured the rays from the sun
But he could not illuminate his own dark life
