With developments in science and technology being made everyday, it is only natural to address how these developments affect society, their good and their evil. Most of the time society has the biggest say in any scientific or technological advancement. It holds the final answer in deciding whether a developed technology is beneficial or it can be done without. But before addressing this let us first examine the central question; why study science and technology?
Since the dawn of formal learning, the goal has been to make technological advancements and generally improve life. That is where modern science came in. Inquiries into life have given forth physics astronomy and life sciences. Science is a field that grows relatively everyday and there is always an area that demands scientific intervention. And that is where the technology comes in. It is developed to ease the process of investigation and the final result is something that improves the quality of living or a discovery is made. The role science and technology has played in the field of medicine cannot be understated and the breakthroughs that have been made have been astonishing. In all other areas of life, from e-learning to e-shopping to space travel, it has been credited to continued use of science. However in all these attempts to improve human life, their effects on society and the individual must be better understood by non-technical professionals and ordinary citizens as well as by engineers and scientists. So why study science and technology?
Boundaries have to be set on what is right and what is downright wrong. This is where activists come in and defend the use of animals in research. If society is not to be inquired in this kind of undertaking, a point maybe reached where humans would be the subjects of research especially in the field of medicine. Because of issues of morality and professional ethics lawyers, public officials, civil servants, and business people are increasingly called upon to make decisions requiring a basic understanding of science and technology and their ethical, social, and environmental consequences. Ordinary citizens, moreover, are being asked with increasing frequency to pass judgment on controversial matters of public policy related to science and technology. These circumstances require education befitting the complex sociotechnical character of the contemporary era.
The study of science technology and society has helped map out guidelines for professional boundaries. This study acts as a reference point for most scientists on what is ethically or morally wrong and what is allowed. In medicine especially, the role is most essential and unnecessary dilemmas in some medical cases for instance, use of life support for terminally ill patients are avoided. This study gives rise to a new group of professionals known as interdisciplinarians who study the short and long term effects of science and technology from a community to a global level. Why study science technology and society? To find common ground in addressing all scientific and cultural issues.
