Monday, 23 February 2009

Scientific Skepticism : Part 3


And what does these deliberations teach me as an engineer ?
As an engineer my pupose is to use scientific knowledge and creativity  to produce a technology for the upliftment to human lives. 

But there is a catch. Actually two catches !

1.Science is inexact. Engineer cannot rely completely on Science to create/design/modify his technology. He will have to use his imagination and intuition , which is beyond systematic step by stem evaluation system of  contemporary Science. It sometimes takes just a Blink to assimilate the complexity of a technological problem.

2.How will an engineer know what technology is best for the industry and in turn, society? (remember upliftment of humans) 
In the Institutes of Technology all we learn is Science (and in some better universities, technology). Do they also teach how to evaluate the benifits of technology ? I am proud to say that TU Delft confronts this problem through its emphasis on Sustainability. However, we students need more training in sustainable thinking to be able to apply it in practice.

I have come to realise that although an industry is driven by Technology, it is manoeuvred by Economy,Ecology,Ethics (ideally) on the path of Sustainability. It is therefore the essential for an engineer to be aware of these aspects. If misguided by frivolity, his invention and innovation can lead to disasters. The History teaches us from the horrors of Atom Bomb and the current global economic crisis. They both are  perfect examples of the need for a Sustainable way of thinking. 

13 comments:

Arpit Bhargava said...

Parkhi, just an alternate opinion. There was no need to split that post.. it was well written . Also, since it was written to be read all together, now I have to go up to continue reading.

D the P said...

thanks for the comments bhargav,

keep them coming so I can learn the true art of blogging...

Arpit Bhargava said...

You could give sub headers to make a post seem more manageable to read?

Arpit Bhargava said...

What true art of blogging? All I do is put up pictures... ha.

D the P said...

i never said ur blogs r gr8 ;)
i just value ur comments

i ll try out the header thingy

r said...

The atom bomb example doesn't seem perfect to me coz nuclear energy is considered to be one of possible solutions to sustainable energy but again it neglects society to a great extent.
TU Delft on hand does a lot of research and the govt of holland is against the technology but trades nuclear energy from France.
So to cut the long story short horrors of atom bomb does not lead to a sustainable way of thinking :P

r said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
D the P said...

@R

your sarcasm is misplaced.

An Engineer may choose to make use of Nuclear Science to work on Nuclear Reactor or Atom Bombs.

Now, an engineer (even one with good intentions)if not trained in sustainable thinking , can screw up the ecology with Nuclear Reactor as well.

r said...

I guess i did not put it in the right way..but its a nice topic for a debate... jald milte hai..beer ke saath debate karenge

D the P said...

apana naam to batao

Anonymous said...

Good Blog and a niice perspective on:
1) whether 'Science' is exact or inexact
2) how quest for scientific knowledge has evolved / changed
3) how the above two relate with each other

lekin (but) You start of with Your opinion on Sanjay Joshi's comment "History is Inexact Science" and this fades away immediately with no mention of it anywhere.
You have only touched upon the Inexact Science part of it.
A post on the complete picture would be interesting !!

r said...

Humara naam hai newtonsguru

D the P said...

astablieft