DiiBridge • The Inquiring Mind 



rendered obsolete by unforeseeable 

 new developments. What were these 

 new developments? They were of two 

 kinds— technological and social. On the 

 technological side men learned how to 

 raise more pounds of food to the acre, 

 learned to get more nutritive value to 

 the pound, and learned how to trans- 

 port food quickly from areas of surplus 

 to areas of shortage. On the social side, 

 great segments of the human race 

 came to regard voluntary birth control 

 not as a sin but as a virtue. 



Now I think it is quite evident that 

 without this latter factor— voluntary 

 population control— the Malthusian 

 disaster can be only postponed, and 

 not finally prevented, by any advances 

 in technology. We must admit that the 

 supply of land is limited, that the pro- 

 ductivity of land can not be expanded 

 beyond all limit. But population, if not 

 controlled, does expand without limit, 

 and sooner or later— in 50, 250, 500 or 

 5000 years— a population which is 

 doubling every 75 years or so is bound 

 to outrun any given food supply. 



This makes it clear that the pri- 

 mary need of the world is to insure that 

 in all parts of it the population recog- 

 nizes the need for growth that is con- 

 trolled by voluntary action rather than 

 through starvation. Clearly, this is not 

 primarily a job for science and tech- 

 nology, but rather for education. 



But science and technology do have 

 some terribly important tasks to per- 

 form in this field. First, there is the 

 task of improving the technology of 

 producing, processing and preserving 

 food so that the food supply will keep 

 pace with population for the 25, 50 or 

 100 years required to complete the 

 educational job. Second, there is the 

 task of improving standards of living 

 over a larger part of the world— for in- 

 creased education goes only with in- 

 creased living standards and increased 

 disposable wealth. Finally, science and 

 technology have the task of providing 



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the necessary tools so that any segment 

 of the population that has overcome 

 the starvation limit can then proceed 

 to help men and women lead happier 

 and richer lives. 



Now I claim that these constitute 

 quite substantial and immensely chal- 

 lenging tasks. Another way of express- 

 ing them is to say simply that if men 

 are to attain those social, moral and 

 spiritual goals which we of the Chris- 

 tian nations believe desirable, then 

 science and technology must provide 

 the physical tools to make their at- 

 tainment feasible. 



This being about as important a 

 goal as I can think of, it behooves those 

 of us who are working in the fields of 

 science and technology to ask ourselves 

 how we are doing. Have we properly 

 visualized our task and our goals? Have 

 we properly analyzed and evaluated the 

 steps which need to be taken, the pre- 

 requisites for progress? Are we putting 

 first things first and do we know which 

 things are first? Are we creating within 

 science and technology itself, and 

 within the community at large, the 

 conditions most likely to nurture prog- 

 ress and success? 



THE GOALS WE SEEK 



It seems to me obvious from the 

 way in which I have stated the prob- 

 lem that it is important that we keep 

 in mind the goals we seek. As I have 

 suggested, these goals are not merely 

 more food, more products, more gadg- 

 ets. Our goal in the last analysis is a 

 moral goal— more happiness for indi- 

 vidual human beings, expressed in 

 whatever terms their own philosophy 

 of life dictates. 



I emphasize and repeat this matter 

 of ultimate goals precisely because it 

 is so obvious to us that it is often for- 

 gotten. We become so absorbed in our 

 gadgets, our machines, our new foods, 

 new medicines, our new weapons, that 



