Awakening of the Humanity in the 21st Century

Yuan Tseh LeeAcademia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

Our planet is limited in space and resources.

1. Things have changed dramatically since the industrial revolution.

2. In the 20th century alone the world population has increased from 1.5 billion to 6 billion people.

3. With the advancement of communication technologies and transportation equipment, the earth has shrunk in relative terms.

The energy consumption and environmental problems:

Ozone holes, the global warming trend and the reduction of sunshine by 15% in Southeast Asia during the last several decades——these are signs of our deteriorating living environment.

An “overdeveloped” world:In terms of the generation of CO2 by human activities and the worsening of global warming trend, the world in which we live is in fact an “overdeveloped” world.

CO2 Emissions (2003)

Country Total Emission(Million Metric Tons)

Population(Million)

Ton/Capita

U.S.A 5787 295.5 19.95

Australia 387 20.0 19.10

Taiwan 239 22.9 12.40

Korea 425 48.3 9.84

U.K. 553 60.3 9.53

Japan 1138 127.3 9.44

China 3541 1301.8 2.72

Brazil 343 186.0 1.97

Indonesia 318 219.6 1.45

India 1025 1067.5 0.96

World Total 3.98

A new, sustainable way of development:

2. The wisdom of Gandhi: “To achieve this standard of living for its population England had to colonize the entire world. If India wants to achieve the same standard for its vast population one has to imagine how many earths it would require to colonize.”

1. The patterns of growth of many “developed” countries are not ideal models of development for us to emulate. We need to find a new, sustainable way of development.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948 )

Most importantly, those who live in developed countries and consume excessive amounts of natural resources must ask themselves:

“If everyone on earth were to live like us, could the earth carry the burden?”

The coming of the energy crisis:

1. Global reserves of various types of fossil energy remain limited.

2. Crude oil will be fully depleted in 40-60 years, and natural gas in 80-100 years.

3. Before we are halfway through this century, the gap between energy demand and supply will probably have greatly widened.

4. The arrival of the energy crisis will also signal the arrival of a food shortage, as modern agriculture depends greatly on chemical fertilizers, which require a fair amount of energy to synthesize.

To make possible for the world to achieve sustainable development, we must:

1. increase energy efficiency,

2. reduce dependence on fossil fuels,

3. develop renewable energies,

4. maintain biodiversity,

5. examine our population policies, and

6. protect our living environment and ecosystems.

The impact of the industrial revolution:The West benefited greatly from the industrial revolution, while many parts of the world became colonies of Western powers and suffered immensely.

Map of Asian Colonization

This increasingly interconnected world cannot be a safe place if a large portion of its population still suffers from poverty, chronic disease, illiteracy, unemployment, and other barriers to survival.

What can scientists do?

Scientists should work together to make sure that science will not be used by some to dominate others and to cause damage to our living environment. It is “immoral” to hold an “amoral” attitude towards science.

“The time has come to formulate guidelines for the ethical conduct of scientists, perhaps in the form of a voluntary Hippocratic Oath.”

Sir Joseph Rotblat (1908- )The Nobel Peace Prize 1995

The Peace Pledge Movement of 1999:

“I, undersigned below, pledge with honor and dignity: To the best of my knowledge, I will not participate in research, development, manufacture, acquisition and utilization of nuclear weapons as well as other weapons

of mass destruction.”

If we do not fully appreciate and understand the rules of the game and the consequences of competition in a globalized market-driven economy, practicing the so-called“good sciences” for the greater good can still produce miserable losers among us when these “good sciences” are used as a tool for global economic competition.

The unfortunate role of science in economic competition:

Like the industrial revolution in the past, new global economic competition based on information science and biotechnology is likely to produce winners and losers, and again those nations which lose in this round of competition will remain poor and miserable.

Sharing scientific knowledge:

When asked why she didn’t apply for patents on her discoveries, Madame Curie said that she believed scientific knowledge should belong to all mankind.

Maria Curie Sklodowska(1867 - 1934)

Can we find a way to share and protect new knowledge at the same time?

1. We should look for strong global public support for the advancement of science and for the development of technology.

2. We should try to shorten the patent protection period.

A globalized world:

1. Cultural differences that make this world so rich and colorful will not, and should not, be made to disappear.

2. Whether there will be a clash of civilizations depends on how well peoples around the world learn to understand, appreciate and respect different cultures.

Learning to live in a global village:

We have to learn to solve our problems together, to share new knowledge, new technological options and the limited resources available, to understand and respect different cultural heritages in order to establish a genuine global village that promotes sustainable development for all of us.

Thank you very much.