3.7. Science
In a few hundred years, humanity has made colossal technological progress, and this is only the beginning. The risk already exposed is that these technological marvels exceed our capacity to assimilate them and make reasonable use of them.
However, it is not a question of slowing down the pace (on the contrary!), but of putting clear limits on the scope of technological progress, while the ethical reflection progresses.
These limits must be set in both directions: encouraging the positive use of scientific progress and strictly monitoring potentially dangerous research.
Valuing progress for the benefit of humanity
One of the perverse effects of the current system is the confiscation of research capacities for private or military needs.
But this is just another example of where digital democracy will reverse the incentives: pure scientific research or research projects in the service of humanity will be put forward again.
Examples of areas where knowledge must progress include
- Energy: the ecological solution is in energy abundance, not in the economy. We must therefore make progress in the abundant production and storage of "green" energy: solar, wind, nuclear, nuclear fusion... All low-carbon energies have a future and their use must be developed rapidly!
- Optimizing the use of remaining fossil fuels: these inexpensive energies still have a role to play in enabling the economy of abundance, if only to ensure the transition to other energy sources. To stop using them abruptly is to condemn our society to misery; much worse than a few more degrees!
- Understanding of the living world: we have acquired extraordinary knowledge but medicine is still very much a game of chance where we test hypotheses. We know how to go to the moon but we don't know how to treat everyday ailments!
- Space: if one part of science must turn towards Man and the Earth, another part must look decidedly far away. Space is our next frontier, and confronting it will advance humanity and increase its chances of survival.
Surveillance of dangerous areas
It is not a question of stopping research in areas where an in-depth ethical debate has not yet clearly established an approach, but of putting it under citizen surveillance: military research, artificial intelligence, genetic manipulation, transhumanism.
These and other fields offer a phenomenal potential for scientific progress and for this reason there is no reason to stop research. On the other hand, they also present a threat to humanity and therefore cannot be carried out without strict and transparent supervision.
Here too, transparency, accountability, publicity and public debate are essential.