One of the most debated questions of our time asks: What shapes societies more, Science or imperialism. These subjects both hold a tremendous weight on the path of which societies are created, but only one has had the most dominance; not one or the other. Imperialism is the domination of one country over the other, but in the core beginnings of humanity, dominance between countries was nonexistent. There were no empires to dominate; the only necessity was sustainability. Science was used through the beginning, middle, and will be used till the end of time. While it may seem to some that imperialism has shaped societies more, it is actually true that scientific discovery has played a predominant role in every society, far more than imperialism.
Scientific discovery spurred rapid development in many societies which has allowed them to endure the passage of time. The cavemen, one of the first humans on this planet, certainly used the innovation of fire to help them push through. If there was harsh weather in the times of the caveman, many people would have died from freezing. But then the scientific discovery of fire came about 500,000 years ago. This fire is what generated heat for many families during tough weather and is a great example of how science kept the cavemen alive. If they did not survive, this paper would not have been written. Our lives are increasingly affected, for better or worse, by innovations in science; some of these innovations we rely on to present future threats (Guardian). Whether science was a byproduct of innovation or it came out of necessity, either way it severely impacted society for better or for worse. In the case of cavemen, it allowed them to survive.
The foundation of numerous societies is base...
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...nce works through though every society, even simple things such as using a stick as a spear is science. Science has made the countries that have utilized it prosperous, and it has allowed people to survive in harsh climates. Imperialism was used by quite a few countries, and it created major gains in terms of economic development and resources. The countries that suffered from imperialism had severe damage and perhaps could not recover. But the statement remains the same; imperialism had only been used by a few advocates of it, and even with the damage, the credit will still go to science. Science has allowed imperialism to be germane through society because science made the weapons that were utilized by those countries to practice imperialism. Science has the most prevalent effect on our society, and that effect has led our society in 2014 to be what it has become.
The scientific and technological advancements of the early 20th century entered people’s daily lives with the intention of bringing the whole of humanity into a brighter, more modern era. However, the darker side of such immense achievement was the increasing encroachment on the previously untouched natural world. Many great minds grew weary of such advances and conveyed their apprehension through the popular literature of the time. The pivotal novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy explores the impact that industrialists with access to technology had on the pastoral countryside and lower classes. Conan Doyle expands on this message in his novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, by examining how the well-educated elite began using science to their advantage, threatening nature in the process. While each novel warns against abusing available technologies, the authors differ in how they believe nature will eventually respond and have incited a debate that has lasted well into the 21st century.
Imperialism - the domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country. European Imperialism did not begin until the 1800's. Because of its significant gain in power, and economic and military strength, Europe began an expansion that modern historians call the "new imperialism." This process lead to Europeans feeling racially superior. Because of this, "they applied Darwin's ideas about Natural Selection and survival of the fittest to human societies" (Various). “Social Darwinism is a philosophical, economic, social, and scientific movement that claims that the ways society functions is, and ought to be, a reflection of the methods and movements of biological evolution” (Darity). This concept was particularly executed in Africa. Because of Africa's diversity and traditional culture, they were much easier to conquer than other countries, like India and China. This conquest had a large impact for Europe socially, politically and economically. But by the mid 17-18th centuries, social Darwinism had an intense social consequence on European colonies in Africa.
Imperialism greatly impacted the world. With imperialism came connections between nations and divisions between peoples.
In modern days, scientific discourse between ‘normal’ and ‘revolutionary’ scientists has raised questions about what they should or shouldn 't give proper attention and further study. One example of this, is the orthodox narrative of modern human history shared by geologists and archaeologists around the world, which tells us that the first technologically advanced human civilizations started in Mesopotamia around 3,000-5,000 BC. However, a series of evidence brought forth by two science skeptics and scientists suggest that the current narrative of our history could be inaccurate. They argue that it’s possible that a lost, technologically advanced ancient civilization mapped and explored the globe with great accuracy millennia before orthodox human history tells. From this debate arises a question: Should scientists focus exclusively on driving the current paradigm to its limits and not bother challenging it, even if other theories and scientific evidence defy the paradigm?
The British Empire was a period of , but it was only this way due to their imperialistic views and the exploitation of people within the Empire. Even though the British Imperialism of the late 19th century/early 20th century brought great wealth, knowledge, and technological advancements, but at the expense of others. Britain had to find a way to justify their ‘superiority’ over these other countries….. Scientists and social scientists created many sciences, including social Darwinism, eugenics, phrenology, and polygenism. Many historians have argued whether or not these sciences were proposed in order to justify the British Empire or not. These pseudo-sciences were constructed to rationalize the imperialism during the 19th century. This paper
Having understood that the world has taken the form it has through the domination or imperialism of Western countries, it is said that they are the agents that have greatly influenced the world; their ideologies in addition to their political as well as economic influences have spread across the globe through time (Headrick, 1981).
New imperialism was the mid nineteenth and twentieth centuries cultural equivalent to a modern day mafia, its roots entangled in the economic, cultural, and humanistic aspects of life. The sole objective of the nations entailed the exploitation of their controlled state. Gestating from the change in control of Asian and African nations to the Europeans by means of political deviance, malicious sieges, and strategic military attacks. The juxtaposition to the modern equivalent endures as the aforesaid is sheltered by the fairytale that these nations were in need of aid and by doing so the Europeans were the good guys. The ideas of new imperialism are greatly influenced by those of the enlightenment. Taking place during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the enlightenment was an intellectual movement with the goal of social progress (Genova, 1/11). Armed with scientific thought and reason, enlightenment thinkers set out to explore the fields of science, economics, and human nature. Brilliant minds such as Voltaire, Kant and others all across Western Europe collaborated to further knowledge. The enlightenment laid the foundation on which new imperialism sprung, embedding the ideas of an incessant need to explore not only the scientific world but the physical world as well. The enlightenments goals and ideas significantly influenced new imperialism, because the enlightenment created a need for new means and a purpose to accrue them.
Social structures are constraints that affect the lives of both the affluent and the indigent members of society. Each society has its own set of social arrangements for example; class, gender and ethnicity are all constraints that each society has to deal with in one way or another. One of the most fundamental of the social structures would be class. Class structure is found in all societies and is the key source of economical inequality. Members of different class groups start their lives with unequal opportunities. This means that when someone is born into a poor household they will undoubtedly remain in the same economical situation they began in. Gender is another important issue when regarding structures. For years women have struggled to be accepted into the workforce and although there have been many improvements on the treatment of female employees there is still a long way to go to reach equal opportunities. Ethnicity has a strong bearing on what we can achieve in life by greatly affecting our place in the labour market. Although Australia is a multicultural society life chances for Australia's own migrants are still less than adequate when it comes to being treated fairly in the workforce.
In order to understand the dynamics of each nation’s different fate through western imperialism, it is important to discuss what western imperialism is and it how came about. Over the course of history, we’ve seen many empires rise and fall through certain time periods. Imperialism is the practice of which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples . Western powers such as the British already had great advantages in this procedure by the 2800’s. One of the reasons why they had an advantage of imperialism is because they led the world in technology. Technology is a valuable asset for a nation to grow and a great resource in taking over other nations. This procedure of western imperialism was designed more towards the underdeveloped world which led to the domination and exploitation of Asia.
Throughout the history of western civilization, the human race has had a continuing relationship with nature and the environment. Progress has improved the way in which human beings use natural resources and the ways in which they work together to improve the quality of life. Developments in science and technology of the twentieth-century have greatly improved the way that humans interact. As the technological advancements of the twentieth-century progressed from the discovery of vaccinations to computer age technology, humans have learned to take a considerable amount of control over their lives and the environment as compared to the past, in which humans had very little control over nature. These progressions have had positive and negative effects on society. Positively, medical research has been able to allow the human race to lengthen life span and improve the work of genetics. Science has connected the globe through computer technology. The negative aspects of progression have some far-reaching consequences, such as new forms of imperialism, the atomic bomb, and destruction of the environment.
“Scientific knowledge is not inevitable” (Andrew Irvine). There is no guarantee that scientific progress would keep increasing. As long as people have the belief to live better, the scientific progress is not essential or necessary to exist. Progress of science and technology is a key factor in promoting the development of productive forces. The history of human civilization has fully proved this point. As research, ancient people to the natural forces that extreme lack of understanding, when they are faced the thunder lightning, floods, volcanic eruptions these natural scene, they are terrified. In order to find the strength to survive rely on primitive religion produced. Several of religious that domination of the human mind for thousands of years, which long confined ignorance of human wisdom. Scientific technology as a knowledge system is a powerful spiritual force, it helped people to keep the internal laws of the world know the real face and overcome to get rid of all outdated fallacious thing. It also does not worship any idols superstitious that always gifted elimination inferior and always full of innovation and creativity. This inherent ethos of science and technology would inevitably lead people to the way of thinking of
Science has played a significant role in the development of society. Other world views, such as Hum...
Through their readings, Michael J. Bishop and Pamela Samuelson discuss the positive and negative aspects of science. Science can benefit humans by providing them with solutions to improve their lives, such as immunizations and cellular phones. Yet, the same positive solutions can turn detrimental and destructive when science's warnings are not respected and understood.
Throughout history technology has been one of the most defining aspects of any time period. Technological advancement is often utilized to increase the human condition making life easier and increasing a societies chance of survival however what follows is not only a technological advancement, but also a change in the way societies interact and behave. Weather it be the creation of science during the age of reason, the advancement in communication and transportation in the industrial revolution, or the discovery of farming in the Neolithic revolution, each advancement in technology has led to a significant change in the political and social standards of society. Throughout history advancement in technology has marked a progression in society.
The Scientific Revolution, perhaps one of the most significant examples of human beingsí relationship with the natural world, changed the way seventeenth and eighteenth century society operated. The power of human knowledge has enabled intellectual, economical, and social advances seen in the modern world. The Scientific Revolution which included the development of scientific attitudes and skepticism of old views on nature and humanity was a slow process that spanned over a two century period. During the Scientific Revolution, scientific knowledge enabled humans to control nature in order to improve society. With leaders such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes, the Scientific Revolution proves to be a crucial piece to the puzzle of understanding the effects of humansí interactions with the natural world.