One key reason for this is the fact that China is pouring vast resources into research and development. Between 1995 and 2002, it doubled the percentage of its rapidly growing GDP that it invests in R&D, with biotechnology and other high-tech fields enjoying the highest priority. Science, it seems, is becoming a partner in the unnerving development of a new global superpower.
Today, science belongs to a rapidly globalizing world. It is perceived as a motor of economic growth, but also as a threat to our security and beliefs. Cultural worldviews and religion, of course, will continue to shape the overall cultural and value context within which science and technology interact. But values are subject to change, often in response to past experience and fears about the future.
It took centuries for science to carve out its sphere of autonomy, always a relative one, from politics and religion alike.
This autonomy has served science well, and independent and accountable science has served society and the economy well. If this beneficial relationship is to be maintained, scientific independence -- from both religious dogmatism and governmental intervention -- must be defended.
Who would have thought that, at the dawn of the 21st century, the old Enlightenment debates would still be so potent?
Helga Nowotny is professor of science studies, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, and chair of the European Research Advisory Board.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
RSS