SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY — HAFSTAD 



213 



educator looking from above sees a series of plateaus or tableaus 

 (since they are flat to him) and notes with amazement and delight 

 that each successive tableau shows a successively higher standard of 

 living. With only a limited imagination he can make the slight ex- 

 trapolation to the point where no one has to work. Being foresighted 

 he places great emphasis on training for leisure. Being also suffi- 

 ciently observant to note an increase of population with time, and 

 being aware of the frictions and struggles brought about by individual 

 differences, great emphasis is also placed on standardization. For the 

 convenience of all concerned, why shouldn't the "lowest common de- 

 nominator" solution be picked? From his point of view it makes 



sense. 



GROWTH OF WORLD POPULATION 



TIME SCALE : 10,000 YEARS 



6- 



5- 

 BILUONS 



OF 



PERSONS 



3h 



2- 



1 



TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTION 



_ HUMANITIES CONTRIBUTION 



I 1 I—-T 



-6000 -4000 -2000 



-5000 -3000 -1000 



2000 4000 

 1000 3000 



YEAR 



Figure 2. 



Now look at the same staircase from the point of view of the 

 scientist. He sees each plateau merely as a hesitation point between 

 struggles to attain a higher level. To him progress represents work, 

 and he is convinced that further progress cannot be made without 

 struggle. To him there is nothing automatic or guaranteed in the 

 comfortable and continuous progress which the humanist and progres- 

 sive educator seem to take for granted. 



A rough indication of the relative contributions of science and tech- 

 nology can be seen from figure 2, adapted from the book by Harrison 

 Brown (7) . This shows the extent to which science and technology 

 have dominated modern life. Art, literature, poetry, warfare, trade, 

 government, law — all have been with us from prehistoric times. As 



