Module 4: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

Lesson The Human Flourishing in Terms of Science and Technology

1

The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method is a combination of the creative reasoning and testing of hypotheses.
It occurs in step by step procedures outlined below:
1. Carefully Identify the Problem under study based upon observation of the natural
world. To identify is to specify the problem for the purpose of gathering specific data
or information.
2. Gather Specific Data or Information about the specific problem. This information is
used to formulate hypotheses as a tentative solution to a specified problem.
3. Formulate a Hypothesis as a possible answer or solution to the problem. This
hypothesis will be tested in the experimentation process.
4. Plan and conduct an Experiment and Series of observation to test and verify the
validity of the hypothesis or tentative solution to the problem. It is a controlled
attempt to verify and test the hypothesis.
5. Formulate Conclusion/ Generalization based on the facts discovered from the
experimentation / laboratory activity.
6. Communicate the Result through television, radio, magazine, and science journal for
future application.
7. Apply the Result of the process for the formulation of theory and/or Scientific law.

Other Values and Attitudes

A scientific attitude is a way of looking at things governed by facts based on
observations. Scientific attitudes are very useful in any career particularly in Science. The
following attitudes that one should possess in order to become more successful in the chosen
field.
1. A belief that Problems have Solutions. Major Problems have been tackled in the past, like
sending a man to the moon. Other problems such as pollution, war, poverty, and ignorance
are seen as having real causes and are therefore solvable perhaps not easily, but possible.
2. A respect for Power of Theoretical Structure. A scientist is unlikely to adopt the attitude:
“ That is all right in theory but it won’t work in practice.” Theory is “all right” only if it does
work in practice. Indeed the rightness of the theory is in the end what the scientist is working
toward; no science facts are accumulated at random. Theory guides observation; and
observation modifies theory.
3. A thirst for Knowledge, an “Intellectual Drive.” Scientists are addicted to puzzle-solvers.
Scientists are willing to live with incompleteness rather than “…fill the gaps with off-hand
explanations’”
4. Ability to Separate Fundamental Concepts from the Irrelevant or Unimportant. Beginning
science students get bogged down in observations and data that are of little importance to
the concept they want to investigate. Levels of analysis vary, and Keeping focus on the “big
picture” can be difficult.
5. Ability to suspend judgement. A scientist tries hard not to form an opinion on a given issue
until he or she has investigated it, because it is so hard to give up opinions already formed.
Willingness to act on the best hypothesis that one has time or opportunity to form.
6. An Appreciation of Probability and Statistics. Correlations do not prove cause-and-effect,
but some pseudoscience arises when a chance occurrence is taken as “proof”. Individuals who
insist on an all-or-none world and who have little experience with statistics will have difficulty
understanding the concept of an event occurring by chance, or the relationship of a sample
to a population.
7. An Automatic Preference for Scientific Explanation. No scientist can know all of the
experimental evidence underlying current science concepts and therefore must adopt some
views without understanding their basis. A scientist rejects non-scientific explanations and
prefers science paradigms out of an appreciation for the power of reality based, testable
knowledge.
8. An Understanding that All knowledge has Tolerance Limits. All careful analyses of the
world reveal measurements that scatter at least slightly around the average point; a human’s
core body temperature is about so many degrees and objects fall with a certain rate of
acceleration but there is some variation. There is no absolute certainty, nor is it required in
science.
9. Awareness of Assumptions. A good scientist starts by defining terms, making all
assumptions very clear, and reducing necessary assumptions to the smallest number possible.
Often we want scientists to make broad statements about a complex world. But usually
scientists are very specific about what they “know” or will say certainty: “when these
conditions hold true, the usual outcome is such-and-such.”’
10. Determinism. “Cause-and-Effect” underlies everything. In simple mechanisms, an action
causes a reaction, and effects do not occur without causes.
11. Empathy for Human Condition. The practice of Science is bounded by ethical constraints,
and good scientists are aware of, and often deeply involved in, other moral and ideological
domains.
12. Empiricism. A scientist prefers to “look and see.” You do not argue about whether it is
raining outside- just stick a hand out the window.
13. Loyalty to reality. Ability to accept a model that matched reality better. A scientist would
never have considered holding to an opinion just because it is associated with his name.
14. Parsimony. Prefer the simple explanation rather than the complex.
15. Precision. Scientists are impatient with vague statements. Scientist are very exact and
very “picky”
16. Respect for Quantification and Appreciation of Mathematics as a Language of Science.
Many of nature’s relationships are best revealed by patterns and Mathematical relationships
when reality is counted or measured.
17. Respect for Scientific Paradigms. A paradigm is our overall understanding about how the
world works. It means a framework or structure is working at things.
18. Scientific Manipulation. Any idea, it may be simple and conform to apparent
observations, must also be confirmed by work that teases out the possibility that the effects
are caused by other factors. Don’t jump to conclusions, especially if you found what you were
looking for in the first place!
19. Skepticism. Nearly all statements make assumptions of prior conditions. A scientist often
reaches a dead-end in research and has to go back and determine if all the assumptions made
are true to how the world operates. Be particularly skeptical of assumptions that come from
non-science domains. If they claim scientific truth. In short, harness a questioning mind about
things to be the truth.
20. Willingness to Change Opinions. Scientists are willing to immediately throw away old
fashion ideas that are no longer applicable to scientific endeavors.

Application 1A

Instruction: Do the following to ensure mastery of the big ideas presented in this module.
1. Define, in your own words human flourishing.
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2. Differentiate Eastern and Western Philosophy in terms of human flourishing.

Human
Flourishing

3. How will you achieved human flourishing?

 Lesson
The Good Life
2

Aristotle and Good Life

It is interesting to note that the first philosopher who approached the problem of
reality from a scientific lens is Aristotle who is also the first thinker who dabbled into the
complex problematization of the end goal of life: happiness.
Compared to his predecessor and teacher, Plato, Aristotle embarked on a different
approach in figuring out reality. Plato thought that things in this world are not real and are
only copies of the real in the world of forms. While Aristotle puts everything back to the
ground in claiming that this world is all there and that this world is the only reality, we can all
access.
Aristotle also forwarded the idea that there is no reality over and above what the
senses can perceive. As such, it is only by observation of the external world that one can truly
understand what reality is all about. Change is a process that is inherent in things. We, along
with all other entities in the world start as potentialities and move towards actualities. The
movement, of course, entails change.

Look at the seed in the picture. It eventually germinates and grows into a plant. The
seed that turned to become the plant underwent change from the potential plant that is the
seed to its full actuality.
This can be likened to what Aristotle says that every human person aspires for an end.
This end is happiness or human flourishing. In addition, no one resists happiness because we
all want to be happy.

Materialism
The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient Greece. Democritus and Leucippus
led a school whose primary belief is that the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny
indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds. Accordingly, the world, including human
beings, is made up of matter and there is no need to possess immaterial entities as sources
of purpose. Atoms simply come together randomly to form the things in the world. As such,
only material entities matter.
In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain happiness. The material things
we possess give us ultimate happiness. We see this at work with most people who are clinging
on to material wealth as the primary source of meaning of their existence

Hedonism
The Hedonists see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. Pleasure has always been
the priority of hedonists. For them life is obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is
limited. They believe that pleasure gives meaning to their life without thinking of the future.
The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink and merry for tomorrow we
will die.

Stoicism
Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics, exposed the idea that to
generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. The original term
apatheia, precisely means to be indifferent. These groups believe that they can do things on
their own and believe that happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy.
Theism
Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as the fulcrum of their existence.
The Philippines, as a predominantly country, is witness to how people base their life goals on
beliefs that hinge on some form of supernatural reality called heaven. The ultimate basis of
happiness for theists is the communion with God.

Humanism
Humanism as another school of thought espouses the freedom of man to carve his
own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and
controls. For humanists, man is literally the captain of his own ship. They see themselves not
merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and
the world outside them.
As a result of the motivation of the humanist current, scientists eventually turned to
technology in order to ease the difficulty of life. Scientists of today meanwhile are ready to
confront more sophisticated attempts at altering the world for the benefit of humanity. Some
people now are willing to tamper with time and space in the name of technology.
 Application 1B

Instruction: What is your meaning of a good life? Show your creativity and draw a picture of
what a good life is to you. Take a picture and upload it in the LMS.
Lesson
3 When Technology and Humanity Cross

Television sets, Mobile phones, Computers, and Humanity

A number of technological devices can be easily found inside the home, the most
accessible place to anyone. Having said that, it can also be easily inferred that these
technological devices are some of the most popular and most commonly used types of
devices across all age groups. To be more specific, these “celebrities” in the field of technology
are television sets, mobile phones, and computers. People all over the world use these
technologies every day to accomplish different purposes.

In television, used mainly as a platform

for advertisements and information
dissemination. It remains to be the most
used avenue by different advertisement
companies not only in the Philippines but
also all over the world. Various
advertising companies trust that
television is still one of the most used
technological devices up until today. It
also serves as a recreational activity and
good stress reliever to most families,
specifically to Filipino families. Television also is a good platform for different propagandas
and advocacies. Lastly, it can also be a good way to bond with one’s family members.

In mobile phones, used primarily for

communication. It offers services like
texting and calling. In the past, these were
the only functions of the mobile phone but
as technology progressed, there have been
many additional features included on
mobile phones. In the present, people use
their mobile phones to surf the Internet and
to take pictures more than text or to call
people. This is the reason why more and
more people all over the world prefer to
buy smartphones over the old models
where such features are not available. These make this particular technological device very
appealing to the masses. Additionally, it is very portable and convenient because it can fit into
any space, may it be inside the pocket or bag.
Computers and laptops, on the other hand,
can be used to surf the Internet and
communicate. For a lot of people, they
prefer to do their job using either a personal
computer or a laptop rather than a mobile
phone. Personal computer or a laptop has a
wide keyboard, wide screens and separate
keyboards than mobile phones. Another
reason is that the availability of a mouse or
a touchpad made these two technological
devices easier to maneuver than mobile phones. Lastly, for the youth and those who love to
play different computer games, personal computers or laptops are really the better choice
because these allow them to play with comfort and convenience.

Ethical Dilemma Faced by these technological advancements

It is true that these technological devices are useful and beneficial, the fact remains
that there are several dilemmas faced by these “necessities”. First, most parents would argue
that these devices make their children lazy and unhealthy. This is because of the fact that
people who are fixated on these technological advancements start and end their day by using
such devices. For example, those who love to watch television shows stay in front of the
television for more than six hours a day while those who love to surf the Internet or play
computer games stay on their laptops, computers, or mobile phones for more than half a day.
These people have the tendency to be unaware of the time because they are so engrossed
with the use of technological devices. Also, there are the same people who are more likely to
experience alienation because they no longer take time to get out of their houses and mingle
with other people. It is really concerning to know that there are people who develop different
kinds of sickness because of too much use of technological devices. The agents using the
devices are the ones to be blamed for the undesirable consequences, namely, laziness and
unhealthiness. In terms of alienation, it can be concluded that the people in the scientific-
technological world are blameworthy because they tell the people something that seems
positive but when examined closely, brings worse than good.

Robotics and Humanity

Another great product of the innovative minds of the people is the robot which is now
widely used. For example, there are so -called service robots that do specific tasks but focus
mainly on assisting their masters in their everyday tasks.

Roles played by Robotics

Robots play different roles not only in the lives of the people but also in the society as
a whole. They are primarily used to ease the workload of mankind. They were invented to
make life more efficient and less stressful. They perform complicated activities which human
beings are incapable of doing. On the other hand, they perform the simplest tasks at home
so that their masters can perform the complex ones without stressing themselves over the
simple tasks. There are also robots which are made for pleasure. To be more specific, these
types of robots perform activities to entertain people. They can usually be found in
amusement parks or exhibits. In addition, there are also some robots which were made to
serve as toys. They also perform different activities but they are usually child-friendly.

Ethical Dilemma/s faced by Robotics

Just like any other technological advancements, robotics also faces different problems
and dilemmas. Although the idea is to help people and make their lives a lot easier than
before, it is still not immune to different ethical dilemmas and possible undesirable outcomes.
One of the dilemmas faced by robots is safety. Who should be held accountable if someone’s
safety is compromised by a robot? It is important to know who should be blamed and who
should be held responsible if such a thing happens.
Another dilemma is the emotional component. This may seem a little absurd as of the
moment, but looking at how fast technology progresses nowadays, it is not completely
impossible for robots to develop emotions. So here, the questions become, “What if robots
become sentient? Should they be granted robot rights? Should they have their own set of
rights to be upheld, respected, and protected by humans?” It is just right for the robots to be
given their own set of rights should they develop the ability to feel different kinds of emotion.
 Application 1C

Instruction: Answer the following questions.

1. Do people really need technology in their lives? Is it really a necessity?

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2. Should there be an ethics of technology? Justify your answer.
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