Module Science, Technology, and Society

CHAPTER I: GENERAL CONCEPTS AND HISTORICAL EVENTS IN SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

Lesson 1: Intellectual Revolutions that Defined Society

Scientific Revolution

Science is as old as the world itself. There is no individual that can exactly identify when
and where science began. From the genesis of time, science has existed. It is always
interwoven with the society. So, how can science be defined?

1. Science as an idea. It includes ideas, theories, and all available systematic

explanations and observations about the natural and physical world.

2. Science as an intellectual activity. It encompasses a systematic and practical

study of the natural and physical world. This process of study involves systematic
observation and experimentation.

3. Science as a body of knowledge. It is a subject or a discipline, a field of study, or

a body of knowledge that deals with the process of learning about the natural and
physical world. This is what we refer to as school science.

4. Science as a personal and social activity. This explains that science is both
knowledge and activities done by human beings to develop better understanding of the
world around them. It is a means to improve life and to survive in life. It is interwoven
with people's lives.

The idea of scientific revolution is claimed to have started in the early 16th century up
to the 18th century in Europe. Why in Europe? The probable answer is the invention of
the printing machine and the blooming intellectual activities done in various places of
learning, and the growing number of scholars in various fields of human interests. This
does not mean, however, that science is a foreign idea transported from other areas of
the globe. Anyone who can examine the history of science, technology, medicine, and
mathematics is aware that all great civilizations of the ancient world had their own
sophisticated traditions and activities related to these disciplines.

Scientific revolution was the period of enlightenment when the developments in the
fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry transformed the
views of society about nature. It explained the emergence or birth of modern science as

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a result of these developments from the disciplines mentioned. The ideas generated
during this period enabled the people to reflect, rethink, and reexamine their beliefs
and their way of life. There is no doubt that it ignited vast human interests too rethink
how they do science and view scientific processes.

Scientific revolution was the golden age. for people committed to scholarly life in
science but it was also a deeply trying moment to some scientific individuals that led to
their painful death or condemnation from the religious institutions who tried to preserve
their faith, religion, and theological views. Some rulers and religious leaders did not
accept many of the early works of scientists. But these did not stop people especially
scientists to satisfy their curiosity of the natural and physical world.

Scientific revolution is very significant in the development of human beings,

transformation of the society, and in the formulation of scientific ideas. It significantly
improved the conduct of scientific investigations, experiments, and observations. The
scientific revolution also led to the creation of new research fields in science and
prompted the establishment of a strong foundation for modern science. In many ways,
scientific revolution transformed the natural world and the world of ideas.

Some Intellectuals and their Revolutionary Ideas

To further understand what exactly happened during the scientific revolution, it is

important to examine the different individuals whose ideas have shaken and contested
the dominant theories and ideas during this period-the truths of their time. Scientists in
all periods of time are driven by their curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity to
explore the physical and natural world. Their love for science is driven by their deep
passion to know and to discover.

Scientists are not driven by clamor for honor and publicity. They are ordinary people
doing extraordinary things. Some scientists were never appreciated during their times,
some were sentenced to death, while others were condemned by the Church during
their time. In spite of all the predicaments and challenges they experienced, they never
stopped experimenting, theorizing, and discovering new knowledge and ideas.

In this part of the lesson, three notable scientists are discussed. For sure, there were
many scientists who worked before and after these individuals. However, it is important
to note that these men, particularly through their ideas, had shaken the world.

Nicolaus Copernicus

One of the Renaissance men, particularly in the field of science, is Nicolaus Copernicus.
Knowledge about the nature of the universe had been essentially unchanged since the

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great days of Ancient Greece, some 1,500 years before Copernicus came on the scene
(Gribbin, 2003). This continued up to the Renaissance period. In one important way,
Copernicus resembled the Greek ancient philosophers or thinkers-he did not do
anything extensive such as observing heavenly bodies or inviting people to test his
ideas. His ideas were an example of what is presently called as a thought experiment.
By the time he finished his doctorate degree, Copernicus had been appointed as canon
at Frombork Cathedral in Poland. Despite his duty as a canon, he had plenty of time to
sustain his interest in astronomy. Copernicus was strongly influenced by a book entitled
Epitome published in 1496 by a German author, Johannes Müeller. This book contains
Müeller's observations of the heavens and some commentary on earlier works especially
that of Ptolemy.

Copernicus's idea and model of the universe was essentially complete in 1510. Not long
after that, he circulated a summary of his ideas to his few close friends in a manuscript
called Commentariolus (Little Commenta). There was no proof that Copernicus was
concerned about the risk of persecution by the Church if he published his ideas
formally.

Copernicus was a busy man. His duty as a canon and as a doctor affected his time to
formally publish his work and advance his career in astronomy. The publication of his
book De revolutionibus orbium coelesthumn (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Spheres) in 1543 is often cited as the start of the scientific revolution.

In his book, he wanted a model of the universe in which everything moved around a
single center at unvarying rates (Gribbin, 2003). 2003). Copernicus placed the Sun to
be the centerpiece of the universe. The Earth and all the planets are surrounding or
orbiting the Sun each year. The Moon, however, would still be seen orbiting the Earth.
Copernicus's model of the Earth orbiting around the Sun automatically positioned the
planets into a logical sequence. In his model, Copernicus outlined two kinds of
planetary motion: (1) the orbits of Venus and Mercury lay inside the orbit of the Earth,
thus, closer to the Sun; and (2) the orbits of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter lay outside the
Earth's orbit, thus, farther from the Sun. From this model, he would work on the length
of time it will take for each planet to orbit once around the Sun. The result would form
a sequence from Mercury, with a shortest year, through Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn with the longest year. He placed the planets in order of increasing distance
from the Sun. One of the great problems in the Copernicus model, however, was the
position of the stars. The stars cannot be placed in a fixed position like crystals in a
distance sphere.

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Copernicus is also a courageous man. Although the Copernican model makes sense
now, during those times, it was judged to be heretic and therefore it was an
unacceptable idea to be taught to Catholics. The Catholic Church banned the
Copernican model and was ignored by Rome for the rest of the 16th century.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin is famous for his theory of evolution. He changed our concept of the
world's creation and its evolution. Johnson (2012) described Darwin as a genius who
came from a line of intellectually gifted and wealthy family. He developed his interest in
natural history during his time as a student at Shrewsbury School. He would also spend
timne taking long walks to observe his surroundings while collecting specimens and he
pored over books in his father's library (Gribbin, 2003). According to Johnson, Darwin
went to the best schools but was observed to be a mediocre student. He struggled in
his study in medicine and ministry, which his father has imposed to him. Darwin's life
soon changed when one of his professors recommended him to join a five-year voyage
through the HMS Beagle on the Islands of Galapagos.

Darwin published his book The Origin of Species in 1589. This book is considered to be
one of the most important works in scientific literature. Darwin collected many
significant materials in order to present his theory with overwhelming evidence. His
book presented evidence on how species evolved over time and presented traits and
adaptation that differentiate species. Like many other scholars, Darwin accumulated
many pertinent materials and data that he could ever possibly need to substantiate his
theory.

Darwin's observational skills as a scientist were extraordinary that moved beyond the
realms of plants and animals into the realms of humans. His book The Descent of Man
was so impressive yet very controversial. He introduced the idea of all organic life,
including human beings, under the realm of evolutionary thinking. This replaced the
dominant views of a religious or biblical design that places human beings in a privileged
position of having been created by God. Darwin's theory of evolution scientifically
questioned this view.

Darwin's accomplishments were so diverse that it is useful to distinguish two fields to

which he made major contributions: evolutionary biology and philosophy of science.
More than these works, what made Darwin truly remarkable was his courage to
challenge religious and unscientific ideas that are deemed to be prominent during those
days. His unorthodox way of pursuing science gave more value to evidence- based
science. Darwin provided a different framework for doing scientific activities. It is a
science marked by observation and experiment.
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Sigmund Freud

Freud is a famous figure in the field of psychology. Rosenfels (1980) also described him
as a towering literary figure and a very talented communicator who did his share to
raise the consciousness of the civilized world in psychological matters.

However, apart from these Freud also made a significant contribution in the scientific
world through the development of an important observational method to gather reliable
data to study human's inner life. This method is popularly known as the method of
psychoanalysis. The scientific hypothesis he formulated formed the essential
fundamental version of this method. For Freud, this method of psychoanalysis is a
scientific way to study the human mind and neurotic illness. It is no doubt that amidst
all questions on his works that led to some sort of academic controversy, his method of
psychoanalysis had great impact on the scientific way of understanding human nature.

Freud is not a traditional thinker. According to Weiner (2016), his method of

psychoanalysis was proven to be effective in understanding some neurological
conditions that were not understood by medicine at that time. His method was
unorthodox-focusing on human sexuality and the evil nature of man. This posed
immense challenges to scholars and ordinary citizens of his time. To some, they found
his ideas not easy especially in his explanations of human sexuality.

Freud was born in a much later period from the scientific revolution but his contribution
to knowledge can be seen in many aspects of the human scene, including art,
literature, philosophy, politics, and psychotherapy. Whether he is more of a psychologist
or a scientist is for people to decide. The fact remains that Freudian ideas and theories
are still considered nowadays as a great inspiration to examine human mind and
behavior in a more scientifically accepted way.

Cradles of Early Science

Development of Science in Mesoamerica Mesoamerica includes the entire area of

Central America from Southern Mexico up to the border of South America. There is no
doubt that the Mesoamerican region is rich in culture and knowledge prior to the arrival
of its European colonizers.

The Maya civilization is one of the famous civilizations that lasted for approximately
2,000 years. These people are known for their works in astronomy. They incorporated
their advanced understanding of astronomy into their temples and other religious
structures. This allows them to use their temples for astronomical observation. For

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example, the pyramid at Chichén Itzá in Mexico is situated at the location of the Sun
during the spring and fall equinoxes.

Mayan knowledge and understanding about celestial bodies was advanced for their
time, as evidenced by their knowledge of predicting bodies was eclipse and using
astrological cycles in planting and harvesting. The Mayans are also known for
measuring time using two Complicated calendar systems. These calendars were very
useful for their life especially in planning their activities and in observing their religious
rituals and cultural celebrations

The Mayans also developed the technology for growing different crops and building
elaborate cities using ordinary machineries. They built hydraulics system with
sophisticated waterways to supply water to different communities.

Furthermore, they used various tools and adapt themselves to innovations especially in
the field of arts. The Mayans built looms for weaving cloth and devised a rainbow of
glittery paints made from a mineral called mica. They are also believed to be one of the
first people to produce rubber products 3,000 years before Goodyear received its patent
in 1844.

The Mayans are considered one of the most scientifically advanced societies in
Mesoamerica. They are also famous as one of the world's first civilizations to use a
writing system known as the Mayan hieroglyphics. They were also skilled in
mathematics and created a number system based on the numeral 20. Moreover, they
independently developed the concept of zero and positional value, even before the
Romans did.

The Inca civilization is also famous in Mesoamerica. The Incas made advanced
scientific ideas considering their limitations as an old civilization. The following were
scientific ideas and tools that they developed to help them in everyday life:

1. roads paved with stones;

2. stone buildings that surmounted earthquakes and other disasters,

3. irrigation system and technique for storing water for their crops to grow in all types
of land;

4. calendar with 12 months to mark their religious festivals and prepare them for
planting season;

5. the first suspension bridge;

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6. quipu, a system of knotted ropes to keep records that only experts can interpret, and

7. Inca textiles since cloth was one of the specially prized artistic achievements.

Following the Inca, the Aztec civilization has also made substantial contributions to
science and technology and to the society as a whole. Some of their contributions are
the following:

1. Mandatory education. The Aztec puts value on education; that is why their
children are mandated to get education regardless of their social class, gender, or age.
It is an early form of universal or inclusive education.

2. Chocolates. The Aztec in Mexico developed chocolate during their time. In the
Mayan culture, they used it as currency. The Aztec valued the cacao beans highly and
made it as part of their tribute to their gods.

3. Antispasmodic medication. They used a type of antispasmodic medication that

could prevent muscle spasms and relax muscles, which could help during surgery.

4. Chinampa. It is a form of Aztec technology for agricultural farming in which the

land was divided into rectangular areas and surrounded by canals.

5. Aztec calendar. This enabled them to plan their activities, rituals, and planting
season.

6. Invention of the canoe. A light narrow boat used for traveling in water systems.

Development of Science in Asia

Asia is the biggest continent in the world and the home of many ancient civilizations. It
is a host to many cultural, economic, scientific, and political activities of all ages. In the
field of science, technology, and mathematics, great civilizations have stood out: India,
China, and the Middle East civilizations. These civilizations were incomparable in terms
of their contributions to the development of knowledge during their time.

India

India is a huge peninsula surrounded by vast bodies of water and fortified by huge
mountains in its northern boarders. The Indians creatively developed various ideas and
technologies useful in their everyday lives. They are known for manufacturing iron and
in metallurgical works. Their iron steel is considered to be the best and held with high
regard in the whole of Roman Empire.

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India is also famous in medicine. For example, Ayurveda, a system of traditional

medicine that originated in ancient India before 2500 BC, is still practiced as a form of
alternative medicine. They discovered some medicinal properties of plants that led them
to develop medicines to cure various illnesses. Some ancient texts, like the Susruta
Samhita, describe different surgical and other medical procedures famous in Ancient
India.

Ancient India is also notable in the field of astronomy. They developed theories on the
configuration of the universe, the spherical self-supporting Earth, and the year of 360
days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each. Sama (2008) noted that their interest in
astronomy was also evident in the first 12 chapters of the Siddhanta Shiromani, written
in the 12th century. According to Sama (2008), this ancient text covered topics such as:
mean longitudes of the planets; true longitudes of the planets; the three problems of
diurnal rotation; syzygies; lunar eclipses; solar eclipses; latitudes of the planets; risings
and settings; the moon's crescent; conjunctions of the planets with each other;
conjünctions of the planets with the fixed stars; and the paths of the Sun and Moon.

Ancient India is also known for their mathematics. Bisht (1982) noted that the earliest
traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent appeared in the Indus
Valley Civilization. The people of this civilization, according to Bisht (1982), tried to
standardize measurement of length to a high degree of accuracy and designed a ruler,
the Mohenjo- daro ruler.

Clifford (2008) and Bose (1998) pointed out that Indian astronomer and mathematician
Aryabhata (476-550), in his Aryabhatiya, introduced a number of trigonometric
functions, tables, and techniques, as well as algorithms of algebra. In 628 AD, another
Indian, Brahmagupta, also suggested that gravity was a force of attraction, and lucidly
explained the usè of zero as both a placeholder and a decimal digit, along with the
Hindu-Arabic numeral system now used universally throughout the world (Clifford,
2008; Bose, 1998). Another Indian named Madhava of Sangamagrama is also
considered as the founder of mathematical analysis (Joseph, 1991).

China

China is one ofthe ancient civilizations with substantial contributions in many areas of
life like medicine, astronomy, science, mathematics, arts philosophy, and music, among
others. Chinese civilizations have greatly influenced many of its neighbor countries like
Korea, Japan, Philippines. Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and other countries
that belong to the old Silk Road.

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The Chinese are known for traditional medicines, a product of centuries of experiences
and discovery of the Chinese people. They discovered various medical properties and
uses of different plants and animals to cure human illness. An example is the practice of
acupuncture.

In terms of technology, the Chinese are known to develop many tools. Among the
famous discoveries and inventions of the Chinese civilizations were compass,
papermaking, gunpowder, and printing tools that became known in the West only by
the end of the Middle Ages (Davies, 1995). They also invented other tools like iron
plough, wheelbarrow, and propeller, among others. They developed a design of
different models of bridges (Zhongguo ke xue yuan, 1983), invented the first
seismological detector, and developed a dry dock facility (Needham et al., 1971).

In the field of astronomy, the Chinese also made significant records on supernovas,
lunar and solar eclipses, and comets, which were carefully recorded and preserved to
understand better the heavenly bodies and their effects to0 our world (Mayall, 1939).
They observed the heavenly bodies to understand weather changes and seasons that
may affect their daily activities. They used lunar calendars, too. The Chinese are also
known in seismology. This made them more prepared in times of natural calamities.

China made substantial contributions in various fields. The list or their discoveries and
inventions is overwhelming. These contributions were made along with mathematics,
logic, philosophy, and medicine. However, cultural factors prevented these Chinese
achievements from developing into modern science. According to Needham (1986), it
may have been the religious and philosophical framework of Chinese intellectuals that e
them unable to accept the ideas of laws of nature.

Middle East Countries

The Middle East countries are dominantly occupied by Muslims. With the spread of
Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries, a period of Muslim scholarship, or what is called the
Golden Age of Islam lasted until the 13th century. The common language of Arabic,
access to Greek texts from the Byzantine Empire, and their proximity to India were
contributory to the intellectualization of the Muslims and provided their scholars
knowledge to create innovations and develop new ideas. But contrary to the Grecks,
Muslim scientists placed greater value on science experiments rather than plain-thought
experiments. This led to the development of the scientific method in the Muslim world,
and made significant improvements by using experiments to distinguish between
competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation. A Muslim
scientist named Ibn al-Haytham is also regarded as the Father of Optics, especially for
his empirical proof of the intromission theory of light.
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In mathematics, the mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al- Khwarizmi gave his name
to the concept of the algorithm while the term algebra is derived from al-jabr, the
beginning of the title of one of his publications. What is now known as the Arabic
Numeral System originally came from India, but Muslim mathematicians did make
several refinements to the number system, such as the introduction of decimal point
notation.

Muslim chemists and alchemists also played an important role in the foundation of
modern chemistry (Durant, 1980). In particular, some scholars considered Jabir ibn
Hayyān to be the "Father of Chemistry'" (Derewenda, 2007; Warren, 2005).

In the field of medicine, Tbn Sina pioneered the science of experimental medicine and
was the first physician to conduct clinical trials (Jacquart, 2008). His two most notable
works in medicine, the Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, were used as
standard medicinal texts in both the Muslim world and in Europe during the 17th
century. Among his many contributions are the discovery of the contagious nature of
infectious diseases and the introduction of clinical pharmacology (Craig &Walter, 2000).

There are numerous Muslim scholars who made significant contributions in the field of
science, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and even in the field of social sciences.
The decline of this golden age of Islam started in the 11th to 13th century due to the
conquest of the Mongols whereby libraries, observatories, and other learning
institutions were destroyed.

Development of Science in Africa

Africa is blessed with natural and mineral resources. Science also emerged in this part
of the planet long before the Europeans colonized it. The history of science and
mathematics show that similar to other ancient civilizations, the early civilizations in
Africa are knowledge producers, too.

The ancient Egyptian civilization has contributed immensely and made significant
advances in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. For example, the
development of geometry was a product of necessity to preserve the layout and
ownership of farmlands of the Egyptians living along the Nile River. The rules of
geometry were developed and used to build rectilinear structures, the post of lintel
architecture of Egypt. These early science activities in Egypt were developed to improve
the quality of life of the Egyptians especially in building their early homes and cities.
The great structures of the Egyptian pyramids and the early dams built to divert water
ftom the Nile River are some proofs of their advanced civilization.

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Egypt was known to be a center of alchemy, which is known as the medieval forerunner
of chemistry. They tried to study human anatomy and pharmacology, and applied
important components such as examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for the
treatment of diseases. These components displayed strong parallels to the basic
empirical method or studying science.

Astronomy was also famous in the African region. For instance, documents show that
Africans used three types of calendars: lunar, soal, and stellar, or a combination of the
three.

Metallurgy was also known in the African regions during the ancient times. North Africa
and the Nile Valley imported iron technology from the Near East region that enabled
them to benefit from the developments during the Bronze Age until the Iron Age. They
invented metal tools used in their homes, in agriculture, and in building their
magnificent architectures.

Mathematics was also known to be prominent in the life of early people in the African
continent. The Lebombo Bone from the mountains between Swaziland and South Africa,
which may have been a tool for multiplication, division, and simple mathematical
calculation or a six- month lunar calendar, is considered to be the oldest known
mathematical artifact dated from 35,000 BCE. Ancient Egyptians are good in the four
fundamental mathematical operations and other mathematical skills. They have
knowledge of the basic concepts of algebra and geometry. The Islamic regions in Africa
during the medieval period was also benefiting from mathematical learning, which is
considered advanced during those times, such as algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.

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Lesson 2: Science, Technology, and Nation-Building

Brief Historical Background of Science and Technology in the Philippines

The history of science and technology in the Philippines started way back before the
country gained its independence from the American colonizers. Before the coming of
the Spanish colonizers, the early he early inhabitants of the archipelago had their own
culture and traditions. They had their own belief system and indigenous knowledge
system that keeps them organized and sustained their lives and communities for many
years.

Science, in pre-Spanish Philippines, is embedded in the way of life of the people.

Scientific knowledge is observed in the way they plant their crops that provide them
food, in taking care of animals to help them in their daily tasks, and for food
production. Science is observed in the way they interpret the movements of heavenly
bodies to predict seasons and climates, and in organizing days into months and years.
They use science in preparing the soil for agricultural purposes and like any other
ancient cultures; they discovered the medicinal uses of plants.

Technology is used by people in building houses, irrigations, and in developing tools

that they can use in everyday life. They developed tools for planting, hunting, cooking,
and fishing; for fighting their enemies during war or tribal conflicts; and for
transportation, both on land and on waterways. They also developed technologies in
creating musical instruments.

The different archeological artifacts discovered in different parts of the country also
prove that the Metal Age also had a significant influence on the lives of early Filipinos.
The sophisticated designs of gold and silver jewelry, ceramics, and metal tools proved
that their technological ideas helped in the development of different tools. Also, trading
with China Indonesia, Japan, and other nearby countries have influenced their lives by
providing different opportunities for cultural and technological exchange. All these
ancient practices in Science and technology are considered now as indigenous science
or folk science.

When the Spaniards colonized the country, they brought with them their own culture
and practices. They established schools for boys and girls and introduced the concept of
subjects and disciplines. It was the beginning of formal science and technology in the
country, known as school of science and technology.

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Learning of science in school focuses on understanding different concepts related to the

human body, plants, animals, and heavenly bodies. Technology focuses on using and
developing house tools used in everyday life.

Life during the Spanish era slowly became modernized, adapting SOme western
technology and their ways of life. The Filipinos developed ways to replicate the
technology brought by the Spaniards using indigenous materials. Medicine and
advanced science were introduced in formal colleges and universities established by the
Catholic orders.

The galleon trade has brought additional technology and development in the
Philippines. Although it is only beneficial for the Spaniards, these trades allowed other
ideas, crops, tools, cultural practices, technology, and Western practices to reach the
country. Some Filipino students who were able to study in Europe also contributed to
the advancement of medicine, engineering, arts, music, and literature in the country.

The Philippines, being one of the centers of global trade in Southeast Asia during that
time, was considered to be one of the most developed places in the region. Although
the country is blessed with these developments, the superstitious beliefs of the people
and the Catholic doctrines and practices during the Spanish era halted the growth of
science in the country.

The Americans have more influence in the development of science and technology in
the Philippines compared to the Spaniards. They established the public education
system, improved the engineering works and the health conditions of the people. They
established a modern research university, the University of the Philippines, and created
more public hospitals than the former colonial master. The mineral resources of the
country were also explored and exploited during the American times. Transportation
and communication systems were improved, though not accessible throughout the
country.

The Americans did everything to "Americanize" the Philippines. They reorganized the
learning or Science and introduced it in public and private schools. In basic education,
Science education focuses on nature studies and science and sanitation, until it became
a subject formally known as "Science." The teaching of science in higher education has
also greatly improved and modernized. Researches were done to control malaria,
cholera, and tuberculosis and other tropical diseases.

The desire of the Americans to develop the human resources of the Philippines to serve
their own interests is, somehow, beneficial in the country. These allowed American
scholars to introduce new knowledge and technology in the country. The Protestant

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church missions in different places in the country also brought hospitals and schools to
far-flung areas. Little by little, these efforts built a stronger foundation for science and
technology in the country.

However, World War II has destabilized the development of the country in many ways.
Institutions and public facilities were turned into ashes, houses were burned, and many
lives were destroyed. The country had a difficult time to rebuild itself from the ruins of
the war. The human spirit to survive and to rebuild the country may be strong but the
capacity of the country to bring back what was destroyed was limited. The reparation
funds focused on building some institutions and public facilities like schools, hospitals,
and transportation systems. The reparation money from Japan was also concentrated
on building highways and in providing technological training and human resource
development in the country.

Since the establishment of the new republic, the whole nation has been focusing on
using its limited resources in improving its science and technological capability. It has
explored the use of ODA or Overseas Development Allocations from different countries
to help the country improve its scientific productivity and technological capability.
Human resource development is at the heart of these efforts focusing on producing
more engineers, scientists, technology experts, doctors, and other professionals in the
country.

The development of science and technology in the Philippines, based on its brief
history, is shaped by several factors and influences. Like in the history of science in
other countries, it is always shaped by human and social activities, both internal and
external.

Government Policies on Science and Technology

The Philippine government introduced and implemented several programs, projects,

and policies to boost the area of science and technology. The goal is to prepare the
whole country and its people to meet the demands of a technologically driven world
and capacitate the people to live in a world driven by science.

Padilla-Concepcion (2015) reported that in 2015, in response to the ASEAN 2015

Agenda, the government, particularly the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST), has sought the expertise of the National Research Council of the Philippines
(NCRP) to consult various sectors in the society to study how the Philippines can
prepare itself in meeting the ASEAN 2015 Goals. As a result of the consultation, the
NCRP is expected to recommend policies and programs that will improve the
competitiveness of the Philippines in the ASEAN Region.

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The NCRP clustered these policies into four, namely:

1. Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, International Policies and Governance

 Integrating ASEAN awareness in basic education without adding to the

curriculum
 Emphasizing teaching in the mother tongue
 Developing school infrastructure and providing for ICT broadband
 Local food security

2. Physics, Engineering and Industrial Research, Earth and Space Sciences, and
Mathematics

 Emphasizing degrees, licenses, and employment opportunities

 Outright grants for peer monitoring
 Review of R.A. 9184
 Harnessing science and technology as an independent mover of development.

3. Medical, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences

 Ensuring compliance of drug-manufacturing firms with ASEAN-harmonized

standards by full implementation of the Food and Drug Administration
 Creating an education council dedicated to standardization of pharmaceutical
services and care
 Empowering food and drug agencies to conduct evidence- based research as
pool of information
 Allocating two percent of the GDP to research
 Legislating a law supporting human genome projects

4. Biological Sciences, Agriculture, and Forestry

 Protecting and conserving biodiversity by full implementation of existing laws

 Use of biosafety and standard model by ASEAN countries
 Promoting indigenous knowledge systems and indigenous people's conservation
 Formulation of common food and safety standards.

There are also other existing programs supported by the Philippine government through
the DOST. Some of these projects are the following:

 Providing funds for basic research and patents related to science and technology.
The government funds basic and applied researches. Funding of these research

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and projects are also from the Overseas Development Aid (ODA) from different
countries.
 Providing scholarships for undergraduate and graduate studies of students in the
field of science and technology. Saloma (2015) pointed out that the country
needs to produce more doctoral graduates in the field of science and technology,
and produce more research in these fields, including engineering.
 Establishing more branches of the Philippine Science High School System for
training young Filipinos in the field of science and technology.
 Creating science and technology parks to encourage academe and industry
partnerships.
 Balik Scientist Program to encourage Flipino scientists abroad to come home and
work in the Philippines or conduct research and projects in collaboration with
Philippine-based scientists.
 Developing science and technology parks in academic campuses to encourage
academe and industry partnerships.
 The establishment of the National Science Complex and National Engineering
Complex within the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman. These aimed
to develop more science and technology and engineering manpower resources
needed by the country. They also aimed to produce more researches in these
fields.

The Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE, 2008) identified

several capacity-building programs such as:

 Establishment of national centers of excellence

 Manpower and institutional development programs, such as the Engineering and
Science Education Program (ESEP) to produce more PhD graduates in science
and engineering
 Establishment of regional centers to support specific industries that will lead the
country in different research and development areas
 Establishment of science and technology business centers to assist, advise, and
incubate technopreneurship ventures
 Strengthen science education at an early stage through the Philippine Science
High School system

In the field of education, several science-related programs and projects were created to
develop the scientific literacy of the country.

Special science classes were organized and special science elementary schools were
established in different regions. Aside from these, science and mathematics in basic

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education were continuously improved. The current K to 12 education program included

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) as one of its major tracks
in the senior high school program to encourage more students to enroll in science-
related fields in college.

Lately, the Commission on Higher Education launched its Philippine-California Advanced

Research Institutes (PICARI) Project to allow several higher education institutions in the
Philippines and some US- based laboratories, research institutes, and universities to
work on research and projects related to science, agriculture, engineering, health, and
technology. This project is hoped to strengthen the STEM competitiveness of the
country.

There are many other areas and fields that the country is looking forward to embark
various research and projects. The, following are some of them:

1. Use of alternative and safe energy

2. Harnessing mineral resources

3. Finding cure for various diseases and illness

4. Climate change and global warming

5. Increasing food production

6. Preservation of natural resources

7. Coping with natural disasters and calamities

8. Infrastructure development

The Philippine Congress has also created various laws related to Science and
technology. These laws serve as a legal framework for science and technology in the
country. These laws vary according to different themes such as: conservation, health-
related, technology-building, and Supporting basic research, among others. Some laws
and policies are in line with international treaties such as the United Nations (UN),
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other international agencies.

Famous Filipinos in the Field of Science

School science is filled with names of foreign scientists: Einstein, Galileo Galilei, Newton,
Faraday, Darwin, and many other Western scientists. We rarely hear of Filipino
scientists being discussed in science classes. Lee-Chua (2000) identified 10 outstanding

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Filipino scientists who have made significant contributions in Philippine science. These
scientists are also famous abroad especially in different science disciplines: agriculture,
mathematics, physics, medicine, marine science, chemistry, engineering, and biology.

These Filipino scientists are:

1. Ramon Cabanos Barba- for his outstanding research on tissue culture in Philippine
mangoes

2. Josefino Cacas Comiso- for his works on observing the characteristics of

Antarctica by using satellite images

3. Jose Bejar Cruz Jr. - known internationally in the field of electrical engineering;
was clected as officer of the famous Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

4. Lourdes Jansuy Cruz- notable for her research on sea snail venom

5. Fabian Millar Dayrit- for his research on herbal medicine

6. Rafacl Dineros Guerrero III- for his research on tilapia culture

7. Enrique Mapua Ostrea Jr - for inventing the meconium drugs testing

8. Lilian Formalejo Patena- for doing research on plant biotechnology

9. Mari-Jo Panganiban Ruiz- for being an outstanding educator and graph theorist

10. Gregory Ligot Tangonan- for his research in the field of communications
technology

There are other outstanding Filipino scientists who are recognized here and abroad for
their outstanding contributions in science:

 Caesar A. Saloma- an internationally renowned physicist

 Edgardo Gomez- famous scientist in marine science
 William Padolina- chemistry and president of National Academy of Science and
Technology (NAST)-Philippines
 Angel Alcala - marine science

There are other scientists in the Philippines who were not identified in the list. Yet, the
Philippines still need more scientists and engineers, and there is a need to support
scientific research in the country. The University of the Philippines-Los Baños is a
science paradise for agriculture, forestry, plant and animal science, and veterinary
science. It has produced numerous scientists and various research in the fields

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mentioned. The University of the Philippines-Visayas is also a national center for marine
science, fisheries, and other related sciences. The University of the Philippines-Manila is
a center of excellence and has produced many researchers, doctors, health
professionals, and scientists in the area of medical and public health. The University of
the Philippines-Diliman also has established a national science and engineering complex
to develop more research and produce more scientists and engineers in the country.
The government must find ways to establish more research laboratories and research
institutes. There is also a need to find ways on how their researches are disseminated
to the public.

Many of these Filipino scientists are products of good school science. It means they
were taught and inspired by great teachers. Their interests in science started to
manifest during their childhood years. Their natural environment ignited their curiosity
to learn more about the natural and physical environment. Schools and the laboratories
where they studied and worked nurtured this.

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Lesson 3: Science Education in the Philippines

The Concept of Science Education

Science education focuses on teaching, learning, and understanding science. Teaching

science involves developing ways on how to effectively teach science. This means
exploring pedagogical theories and models in helping teachers teach scientific concepts
and processes effectively. Learning science, on the other hand, includes both pedagogy
and the most interesting aspect, which is helping students understand and love science.

Understanding science implies developing and applying science-process skills and using
science literacy in understanding the natural world and activities in everyday life.

Getting deeper into the discourse of science education, John Dewey (2001) stressed the
importance of utilizing the natural environment to teach students. Accordingly, nature
must indeed furnish its physical stimuli to provide wealth of meaning through social
activities and thinking. It is not surprising therefore that science education is important.
In fact, Marx (1994) opines that science is going to be one of the most important school
subjects in the future.

Science education is justified by the vast amount of scientific knowledge developed in

this area that prepares citizens in a scientifically and technologically driven world.
Science education provides skills and knowledge that are necessary for a person to live
in what Knight (1986) describes as the age of science and to develop a citizenry that
will meet the goals of science in the society (Tilghman, 2005). Developing a science
culture is therefore an immense responsibility for schools.

Science Education in Basic and Tertiary Education

In basic education, science education helps students learn important concepts and facts
that are related to everyday life (Carale & Campo, 2003; Meador, 2005; Worth &
Grollman, 2003) including important skills such as process skills, critical thinking skills,
and life skills that are needed in coping up with daily life activities (Chaille & Britain,
2002). Science education also develops positive attitude such as: the love for
knowledge, passion for innovative things, curiosity to study about nature, and creativity
(Lind, 1997). Science education will develop a strong foundation for studying science
and for considering science-related careers in the future. This is an investment for the
country to develop a scientifically cultured and literate citizenry.

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In tertiary education, science education deals with developing students' understanding

and appreciation of science ideas and scientific works. This is done through offering
basic science courses in the General Education curriculum. Science education in the
tertiary level also focuses on the preparation of science teachers, scientists, engineers,
and other professionals in various science-related fields such as engineering agriculture,
medicine, and health sciences. The state provides scholarships to encourage more
students to pursue science courses.

Science Schools in the Philippines

One outstanding program for science education supported by the government is the
establishment of science schools in various parts of the country. There are also several
government programs implemented by the Department of Education and few private
schools for science education.

Philippine Science High School System (PSHSS)

This is a government program for gifted students in the Philippines. It is a service

institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) whose mandate is to
offer free scholarship basis for secondary course with special emphasis on subjects
pertaining to the sciences, with the end-view of preparing its students for a science
career (Republic Act No. 3661). The school maintains a dormitory for all its students.

Since its inception, the PSHSS continues to pursue its vision to develop Filipino science
scholars with scientific minds and passion for excellence. PSHSS students have proven
to be a beacon of excellence, courage, and hope for the country. They have brought
honor to the Philippines through their exemplary achievements in various international
competitions and research circles. When the students graduate from the school, they
are expected to pursue degrees in science and technology at various colleges and
universities locally or abroad.

Special Science Elementary Schools (SSES) Project

The Special Science Elementary Schools (SSES) Project is in pursuance to DepEd Order
No. 73 s. 2008, and DepEd Order No. 51 S. 2010. This project started in June 2007 with
57 identified elementary schools that participated or were identified as science
elementary schools in the country. Since its inception, the number have grown to more
than 60 schools nationwide and this is now its sixth year of implementation.

The SSES Project aims to develop Filipino children equipped with scientific and
technological knowledge, skills, and values. Its mission is to:

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 provide a learning environment to science-inclined children through a special

curriculum that recognizes the multiple intelligences of the learners;
 promote the development of lifelong learning skills; and
 Foster the holistic development of the learners.

The subject Science and Health is taught in Grade 1 with a longer time compared to
other subjects: 70 minutes for Grades I to III and 80 minutes for Grades IV to VI. The
curriculum also utilizes different instructional approaches that address the learning
styles and needs of the learners like the use of investigatory projects.

Quezon City Regional Science High School

The school was established on September 17, 1967. Originally, it was named Quezon
City Science High School. It was turned into a regional science high school for the
National Capital Region in 1999. The school was a product of a dream to establish a
special science school for talented students in science and mathematics. The focus of
the curriculum is on science and technology. The school still teaches the hoc: education
courses prescribed by the Department of Education (DepEd) for secondary education.
However, there are additional subjects in sciences and technology that students should
take. The school envisions to serve a venue in providing maximum opportunities for
science-gifted students as to develop spirit of inquiry and creativity. The school is well-
supported by the local government unit and by the Parents and Teachers Association
(PTA). The school is under the Department of Education.

Manila Science High School

The school was established on October 1, 1963 as the Manila Science High School
(MSHS). It is the first science high school in the Philippines. The organization and
curriculum of the school puts more emphasis on science and mathematics. MSHS aims
to produce scientists with souls. In order to do this, humanities courses and other
electives are included in their curriculum. Students are also encouraged to participate in
various extracurricular activities. The school administers an entrance exam, the Manila
Science High School Admission Test (MSAT), for students who wish to enroll. The MSAT
has five parts: aptitude in science, aptitude test in mathematics, problem-solving test in
science, problem- solving test in mathematics, and proficiency in English. The school
prides itself from producing outstanding alumni and for winning various national
competitions.

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Central Visayan Institute Foundation

It is the home and pioneer of the prominent school-based innovation known as the
Dynamic Learning Program (DLP). The DLP is a synthesis of classical and modern
pedagogical theories adapted to foster the highest level of learning, creativity, and
productivity. The school takes pride in its Research Center for Theoretical Physics
(RCTP) established in 1992, which organizes small international workshops to foster the
informal but intense exchange of ideas and perspectives on outstanding problems in
physics and mathematics.

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Lesson 4: Indigenous Science and Technology in the Philippines

Indigenous Knowledge System

Indigenous knowledge is embedded in the daily life experiences of young children as

they grow up. They live and grow in a society where the members of the community
prominently practice indigenous knowledge. Their parents and other older folks served
as their first teachers and their methods of teaching are very effective in transmitting
cultural knowledge in their minds. The lessons they learned are intimately interwoven
with their culture and the environment. These lessons comprised of good values and life
stories of people on their daily life struggles. Their views about nature and their
reflections on their experiences in daily life are evident in their stories, poems, and
songs.

Some examples of indigenous knowledge that are taught and practiced by the
indigenous people are:

 predicting weather conditions and seasons using knowledge in observing

animals' behavior and celestial bodies
 using herbal medicine;
 preserving foods;
 classifying plants and animals into families and groups based on cultural
properties;
 preserving and selecting good seeds for planting;
 using indigenous technology in daily lives;
 building local irrigation systems;
 classifying different types of soil for planting based on cultural properties;
 producing wines and juices from tropical fruits; and
 keeping the custom of growing plants and vegetables in the yard.

Indigenous Science

Indigenous science is part of the indigenous knowledge system practiced by different

groups of people and early civilizations (Gribbin, 2001; Mkapa, 2004; Sibisi, 2004). It
includes complex arrays of knowledge, expertise, practices, and representations that
guide human societies in their enumerable interactions with the natural milieu:
agriculture, medicine, naming and explaining natural phenomena, and strategies for

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coping with changing environments (Pawilen, 2005). Ogawa (1995) claimed that it is
collectively lived in and experienced by the people of a given culture.

According to Cajete (2004), indigenous science includes everything, practiced by

indigenous peoples both past and present. Iaccarino (2003) elaborated this idea by
explaining that science is a part of culture, and how science is done largely depends on
the cultural practices of the people.

Indigenous beliefs also develop desirable values that are relevant or consistent to
scientific attitudes as identified by Johnston (2000), namely: (1) motivating
attitudes; (2) cooperating attitudes; (3) practical attitudes; and (4) reflective
attitudes. These cultural beliefs therefore can be good foundation for developing
positive values toward learning and doing science and in bringing science in a personal
level.

Pawilen (2005) explained that indigenous science knowledge has developed diverse
structures and contents through the interplay between the society and the
environment. According to Kuhn (1962), developmental stages of most sciences are
characterized by continual competition between a number of distinct views of nature,
each partially derived from, and all roughly compatible with the dictates of scientific
observation and method Sibisi (2004) also pointed out that indigenous science provides
the basics of astronomy, pharmacology, food technology, or metallurgy, which were
derived from traditional knowledge and practices.

Pawilen (2006) developed a simple framework for understanding indigenous science.

Accordingly, indigenous science is composed of traditional knowledge that uses science
process skills and guided by community values and culture.

1. Indigenous science uses science process skills such as observing comparing,

classifying, measuring, problem solving, inferring, communicating, and predicting.

2. Indigenous science is guided by culture and community values such as the following:

 The land is a source of life. It is a precious gift from the creator.

 The Earth is revered as "Mother Earth." It is the origin of their identity as people
 All living and nonliving things are interconnected and interdependent with each
other.
 Human beings are stewards or trustee of the land and other natural resources.
They have a responsibility to preserve it.
 Nature is a friend to human beings-it needs respect and proper care.

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3. Indigenous science is composed of traditional knowledge practiced and valued by

people and communities such as ethno-biology, ethno-medicine, indigenous farming
methods, and folk astronomy.

Indigenous science is important in the development of science and technology in the

Philippines. Like the ancient civilizations, indigenous science gave birth to the
development of science and technology as a field and as a discipline. Indigenous
science helped the people in understanding the natural environment and in coping with
everyday life. UNESCO's Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge
(1999) recognized indigenous science as a historical and valuable contribution to
science and technology.

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CHAPTER II: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY AND THE HUMAN

CONDITION

Lesson 1: Human Flourishing

Eudaimonia, literally "good spirited," is a term coined by renowned Greek philosopher

Aristotle (385-323 BC) to describe the pinnacle of happiness that is attainable by
humans. This has often been translated into "human flourishing'" in literature, arguably
likening humans to flowers achieving their full bloom. As discussed in the Nicomachean
Ethics, Aristotle's human flourishing arises as a result of different components such as
phronesis, friendship, wealth, and power. In the Ancient Greek society, they believe
that acquiring these qualities will surely bring the seekers happiness, which in effect
allows them to partake in the greater notion of what we call the Good.

As times change, elements that comprise human flourishing changed, which are subject
to the dynamic social history as written by humans. People found means to live more
comfortably, explore more places, develop more products, and make more money, and
then repeating the process in full circle. In the beginning, early people relied on simple
machines to make hunting and gathering easier. This development allowed them to
make grander and more sophisticated machines to aid them in their endeavours that
eventually led to space explorations, medicine innovations, and ventures of life after
death. Our concept of human flourishing today proves to be different from what
Aristotle originally perceived then- humans of today are expected to become a "man of
the world." He is supposed to situate himself in a global neighbourhood, working side
by side among institutions and the government to be able to reach a common goal.
Competition as a means of survival has become passé; coordination is the new trend.

Interestingly, there exists a discrepancy between eastern and western conception

regarding society and human flourishing. It has been observed that western civilization
tends to be more focused on the individual, while those from the east are more
community-centric. Human flourishing as an end then is primarily more of a concern for
western civilizations over eastern ones. This is not to discredit our kinsfolk from the
east; perhaps in their view, community takes the highest regard that the individual
should sacrifice himself for the sake of the society. This is apparent in the Chinese
Confucian system or the Japanese Bushido, both of which view the whole as greater
than their components. The Chinese and the Japanese encourage studies of literature,
sciences, and art, not entirely for oneself but in service of a greater cause. The Greek
Aristotelian view, on the other hand, aims for eudaimonia as the ultimate good; there is
no indication whatsoever that Aristotle entailed it instrumental to achieve some other
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goals. Perhaps, a person who has achieved such state would want to serve the
community, but that is brought upon through deliberation based on his values rather
than his belief that the state is greater than him, and thus is only appropriate that he
should recognize it as a higher entity worthy of service.

Nevertheless, such stereotypes cannot be said to be true given the current stance of
globalization. Flourishing borders allowed people full access to cultures that as a result,
very few are able to maintain their original philosophies. It is in this regard that we
would tackle human flourishing--in a global perspective and as a man of the world.

Science, Technology, and Human Flourishing

In the previous chapters, contributions of science and technology have been laid down
thoroughly. Every discovery, innovation, and success contributes to our pool of human
knowledge. Perhaps, one of the most prevalent themes is human's perpetual need to
locate him in the world by finding proofs to trace evolution. The business of uncovering
the secrets of the universe answers the question of our existence and provides us
something to look forward to. Having a particular role, which is uniquely ours, elicits our
idea of self-importance. It is in this regard that human flourishing is deeply intertwined
with goal setting relevant to science and technology. In this case, the latter is relevant
as a tool in achieving the former or echoing Heideggers statement, technology is a
human activity that we excel in as a result of achieving science. Suffice to say that the
end goals of both science and technology and human flourishing are related in that the
good is inherently related to the truth. The following are two concepts about science
which ventures its claim on truth.

Science as Method and Results

For the most part, science's reputation stems from the objectivity brought upon by an
arbitrary, rigid methodology whose very character absolves it from any accusation of
prejudice. Such infamy effectively raised science in a pedestal untouchable by other
institutions-its sole claim to reason and empiricism garnering supporters who want to
defend it and its ways.

In school, the scientific method is introduced in the earlier part of discussions. Even
though the number of steps varies, it presents a general idea of how to do science:

1. Observe and determine if there are unexplained occurrences unfolding.

2. Determine the problem and identify factors involved.

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3. Through past knowledge of similar instance, formulate hypothesis that could explain
the said phenomenon. Ideally, the goal is to reject the null hypothesis and accept the
alternative hypothesis for the study "to count as significant" (can also be separated into
additional steps such as "to generate prediction" or "to infer from past experiments").

4. Conduct experiment by setting up dependent and independent variables, and trying

to see how independent ones affect dependent ones.

5. Gather and analyze results throughout and upon culmination of the experiment.
Examine if the data gathered are significant enough to conclude results.

6. Formulate conclusion and provide recommendation in case others would want to

broaden the study.

At least in the students' formative years, the above routine is basic methodology when
introducing them to experimentation and empiricism two distinct features that give
science edge over other schools of thought. Throughout the course of history, however,
there exists heavy objections on the scientific procedure; the line separating science
and the so-called pseudoscience becomes more muddled.

Verification Theory

The earliest criterion that distinguishes philosophy and science is verification theory.
The idea proposes that a discipline is science if it can be confirmed or interpreted in the
event of an alternative hypothesis being accepted. In that regard, said theory gives
premium to empiricism and only takes into account those results which are measurable
and experiments which are repeatable. This was espoused by a movement in the early
twentieth century called the Vienna Circle, a group of scholars who believed that only
those which can be observed should be regarded as meaningful and reject those which
cannot be directly accessed as meaningless. Initially, this proved to be attractive due to
general consensus from people, which happened to see for themselves how the
experiment occurred, solidifying its validity and garnering supporters from esteemed
figures. Its shortcomings, however, proved to be a somewhat too risky- several budding
theories that lack empirical results might be shot down prematurely, causing slower
innovation and punishing ingenuity of newer, novel thoughts. Celebrated discoveries in
physics, for instance, are initially theorized without proper acknowledgment of their
being. Einstein's theory on the existence of gravitational waves would, following this
thought, be dismissed due to lack of evidence almost a hundred years ago. (Quantum
mechanics would not have prospered if the scientific society during the time of Edwin
Schrödinger did not entertain his outrageous thought that the cat in the box is both
dead and alive, which can only be determined once you look in the box yourself.

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Aside from above critique, this theory completely fails to weed bogus arguments that
explain things coincidentally. A classic example is astrology, whose followers are able to
employ the verification method in ascertaining its reliability. The idea is that since one
already has some sort of expectations on what to find, they will interpret events in line
with said expectations, American philosopher Thomas Kuhn waned us against bridging
the gap between evidence and theory by attempting to interpret the former according
to our awn biases, that is, whether or not we subscribe to the theory. Below is a short
story illustrating this point:

 Suppose, for instance, this girl, Lea has a (not-so- scientific) theory
that her classmate lan likes her. Good, she thought, I like him too. But
how do I know that he likes me?

She began by observing him and his interactions with her. Several gestures she noted
include his always exchanging pleasantries with her whenever they bump into each
other, his big smile when he sees her, and him going out of his way to greet her even
when riding a jeepney. Through these observations, she was then able to conclude that
lan does like her because, she thought, why would anyone do something like that
for a person he does not like?

As it turns out, however, lan is just generally happy to meet people he knew. He had
known Lea since they were in first year and regards her as a generally okay person. It
is no surprise then that upon learning that lan basically does this to everyone, Lea was
crushed. She vowed to herself that she would never assume again. Based from above
story, is it justified for Lea to think that lan does not like her? Not quite. The next
criterion also warns us about the danger of this view.

Falsification Theory

Perhaps the current prevalent methodology in science, falsification theory asserts that
as long as an ideology is not proven to be false and can best explain a phenomenon
over alternative theories, we should accept the said ideology. Due to its hospitable
character, the shift to this theory allowed emergence of theories otherwise rejected by
verification theory. It does not promote ultimate adoption of one theory but instead
encourages research in order to determine which among the theories can stand the test
of falsification. The strongest one is that which is able to remain upheld amidst various
tests, while being able to make particularly risky predictions about the world. Karl
Popper is the known proponent of this view. He was notorious for stating that up-and-
coming theories of the time, such as Marx's Theory of Social History and Sigmund
Freud's Psychoanalysis, are not testable and thus not falsifiable, and subsequently
questioning their status as scientific. Albeit majority of scientists nowadays are more
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inclined to be Popperian in their beliefs, this theory, similar to the theory above,
presents certain dangers by interpreting otherwise independent evidence in light of
their pet theory.

To illustrate, previous story is restated:

lan is generally everybody's friend. He likes to be around people and generally

aspires to become everybody's friend. However, there is this one girl, Lea, who
seemed to not like him when he is around. Every time he waves at her, she turns
away, and when they are in the same room, she avoids his glances. Through
this, he concluded that Lea does not like him and does his best to show her that
he is not a threat. He began greeting her whenever they pass by each other at
the corridor, even going so far as calling her attention when he was in the
jeepney and saw her walking past. When they are able to talk to each other, he
found out that Lea is just really shy and is not accustomed to people greeting
her. He then was able to conclude that his initial impression of her not liking him
(as a person) is wrong and thus said proposition is rejected.

Although there is no happy ending yet for Lea and Ian, we can thus see how in this
case, falsification method is prone to the same generalizations committed by the
verification method. There is no known rule as to the number of instance that a theory
is rejected or falsified in order for it to be set aside. Similarly, there is no assurance that
observable event or "evidences" are indeed manifestations of a certain concept or
"theories." Thus, even though, theoretically, falsification method is more accepted,
scientists are still not convinced that it should be regarded as what makes a discipline
scientific.

Science as a Social Endeavor

Due to inconclusiveness of the methodologies previously cited, a new school of thought

on the proper demarcation criterion of science emerged. Several philosophers such as
Paul Thagard, Imre Lakatos, Helen Longino, David Bloor, and Richard Rorty, among
others, presented an alternative demarcation that explores the social dimension of
science and effectively, technology. Sciences cease to belong solely to gown- wearing,
bespectacled scientists at laboratories. The new view perpetuates a dimension which
generally benefits the society. For instance, far-off places in South America where many
of the tribes remain uncontacted, do not regard western science as their science.
Whatever their science is, it can be ascertained that it is in no way inferior to that of
globalized peoples' science. Thus, it presents an alternative notion that goes beyond the
boundaries of cold, hard facts of science and instead projects it in a different light, such
as a manifestation of shared experience forging solidarity over communities.
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Science and Results

For the most part, people who do not understand science are won over when the
discipline is able to produce results. Similar to when Jesus performed miracles and
garnered followers, people are sold over the capacity of science to do stuff they cannot
fully comprehend. In this particular argument, however, science is not the only
discipline which is able to produce results-religion, luck, and human randomness are
some of its contemporaries in the field. For some communities without access to
science, they can turn to divination and superstition and still get the same results.
Science is not entirely foolproof, such that it is correct 100% of the time. Weather
reports, for one, illustrate fallibility and limitations of their scope, as well as their
inability to predict disasters. The best that can be done during an upcoming disaster is
to reinforce materials to be more calamity proof and restore the area upon impact. It
can be then concluded that science does not monopolize the claim for definite results.

Science as Education

Aforementioned discussion notes that there is no such thing as a singular scientific

method, offering instead a variety of procedures that scientists can experiment with to
get results and call them science. Discoveries in physics, specifically in quantum
mechanics, appeared to have debunked the idea of objectivity in reality, subscribing
instead to alternative idea called intersubjectivity. With objectivity gone, it has lost its
number one credence. Nevertheless, there still exists a repressing concept that comes
about as a result of unjustified irreverence of science-our preference of science-inclined
students over those which are less adept.

There are distinct portions in entrance exams in the secondary and tertiary levels that
are dedicated to science and mathematics. In the Philippines, a large distribution of
science high schools can be found all over the country, forging competition for aspiring
students to secure a slot and undergo rigorous science and mathematics training based
on specialized curricula. Although arguable as these schools also take great
consideration in providing holistic education by assuring that other non-science courses
are covered, adeptness in science and mathematics are the primary condition to be
admitted. This preference is also reflected on the amount of STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)-offering schools accommodating Grades 11 and
12. Among all the clusters being offered, STEM trumps the remaining clusters in terms
of popularity and distribution, with Accounting and Business coming in as a close
second. One might infer that there are more demand in this field as students are
preconditioned that the field would latter land them high-paying jobs and a lucrative
career after graduation.

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How is science perceived by those who graduated from this field? A couple of years
ago, a student entered a class all curious and excited. When he was made to report on
Paul Feyerabend's work How to Defend Society Against Science one day, he looked
dissident, staunchly refusing to consider the author's ideas on science and critiquing
him instead. When asked why, he reasoned out that he had come from a science high
school and was trained to regard science in a distinct accord. As isolated a case as it
may seem, it somewhat suggests that the aforementioned kind of academic
environment has made students unwelcoming of objections against science.
Reminiscent of Paul Feyerabend's sentiment above, he muses how the educational
system can hone and preserve students' capacity to entertain other options and decide
for themselves the best among all presented. It will thus reinforce their imagination and
allow some level of unorthodoxy, bringing forth novel discoveries that otherwise would
not be considered had they stuck to the default methodology. Innovations are brought
forth by the visionaries, not the prude legalists, and several notable figures in science
even consider themselves as outsiders.

If one is really in pursuit of human flourishing, it would make sense for them to pursue
it holistically. Simply mastering science and technology would be inadequate if we are
to, say, socialize with people or ruminate on our inner self. Aristotle's eudaimonic
person is required to be knowledgeable about science, among other things of equal
importance. They are supposed to possess intellectual virtues that will enable them to
determine truth from falsehood or good reasoning from poor reasoning. A true
eudaimon recognizes that flourishing requires one to excel in various dimensions, such
as linguistic, kinetic, artistic, and socio-civic. Thus, he understands that he should not
focus on one aspect alone.

How Much Is Too Much? In 2000, world leaders signed the Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) that targets eight concerns, one of which states that they should be able
to forge a global partnership for development. Inasmuch as the institutes imposing
them do so in good faith, the primary goal to achieve growth for all might prove to be
fatal in the long run.

Economists believe that growth is the primary indicator of development, as both go

hand in hand, and has put forth their resources in trying to achieve such. Technology
has been a primary instrument in enabling them to pursue said goal, utilizing resources,
machineries, and labor. What is missing in this equation is that growth presents an
illusory notion of sustainability-the world's resources can only provide so much, it
cannot be expected to stretch out for everybody's consumption Over a long period of
time. Moreover, growth is not infinite-there is no preordained ceiling once the ball starts
rolling. If the MDG convention’s intent was to get everyone in the growth ship, that ship

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will surely sink before leaving the port. The same analogy applies to the capacity of
nature to accommodate us, whom Joseph Hickel contemplated on, suggesting that
developed countries should not push forth more growth but instead adopt "de-
development" policies or else, everybody loses. The rapid pace of technological growth
allows no room for nature to recuperate, resulting in exploitation and irreversible
damages to nature. Right now, we are experiencing repercussions of said exploits in the
hands of man-made climate change, which would snowball and affect majority of flora
and fauna, driving half of the latter extinct in less than a hundred year from now. If this
continues in its currently alarming rate, we might bring about our own extinction.

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Lesson 2: Technology as a way of Revealing

The Human Condition Before Common Era

Our early ancestors' primal need to survive paved way for the invention of several
developments. Gifted with brains more advanced than other creatures, humans are able
to utilize abundant materials for their own ease and comfort. As it is difficult to pinpoint
the particular period where technology is said to have started, one can say that at the
very least, the motivation to make things easier has been around since humans are.
Homo erectus have been using fire to cook, through chipping one flint over the other
to produce a spark, all the while without realizing the laws of friction and heat. Tools
from stone and flints marked the era of the Stone Age, during the advent of our very
own Homo sapiens, and humans began to sharpen stones as one would a knife; an
example of this is the simple machine called wedge.

This particular period proved to be difficult for our ancestors, but in a remarkably
distinct way. There is little to no written accounts except for several cave drawings and
unearthed artefacts from various parts of the world that narrate how their culture came
to be. It then proves that there is little capacity for our ancestors to contemplate and
perceive things outside themselves in a more reflective manner. For instance, there are
several excavations in different parts of Europe of miniature statues prevalent during
the Paleolithic period, the so-called "Venus" figure. It depicts a rudimentary carving of a
voluptuous woman out of ivory or stone. The reason behind this is still unknown to
archaeologists and anthropologists alike; they can only infer that the humans of
yesterday have a certain fixation on the female anatomy. What did this fascination
translate to? Lack of conclusive evidence hinders us from proceeding any further.

Soon enough, people discovered minerals and began forging metalwork. They realized
that these substances are more durable, malleable, and have more luster than the
previous material. On the other hand, there are some indicators that humans in the
past share the same concerns and interests, suggesting that these inclinations persist
through multitudes of generation over several millennia. Fur clothing and animal skin
are primarily used for comfort against harsh winds-our ancestors are able to draw the
connection between their being naked and vulnerable due to some lack of fur or
protective covering which would otherwise allow them to withstand extreme weather
conditions. They begin to cover themselves up out of necessity, and gradually, added
several more to their garments. Some of those found at excavation sites are
reminiscent of early accessories, suggesting that our ancestors have been deeply
engaged in the concept of beauty. Perhaps, they had taken a liking to a certain shiny
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stone, or a perfectly shaped bone, and wanted to wear it as trophy. What does this tell
of them and their philosophies? Were they perhaps proud to show off their hunt and
how good of a hunter they were? Were they concerned with social standing and
stratification? How about the meaning of life? Were they also curious on finding
explanations to certain phenomena?

At least for the last question, it seems that they have found their answer in the person
of religion. Excavations on the latter half of the Stone Age include several figures
thought to be ceremonial, meaning, that perhaps people of the time had also
painstakingly wrought and hewed said figures in honor of some deity. This notion, as it
was then and as it is now, is often people's resort to make sense of events happening
outside their control. The initial roster of primitive gods includes objects they encounter
through their day-to-day lives, so it is not surprising that different tribes may have
different gods. Those who might have lived alongside majestic creatures, such as
elephants and mammoths, might have been awed by their size and worshiped them as
the owner of the land, asking for blessings in their hunting ground. On the contrary,
they might have hunted the mammoths for their woolly coat and meat, taking down the
animal for the entire community to eat. In windy places near mountains, they might
have had a mountain god to explain wind currents and ask for provisions. On the other
hand, those who were near coastal areas or bodies of water might have had water gods
they referred to when asking for a good catch. However, it might be also the case that
people of prior civilizations shared several generic gods, such as the sun.

Nevertheless, it can be positively inferred that like the people of today, our ancestors
also found the need to explain things in a way that makes sense to them. They quickly
realized that there are events outside of their control and attempted to justify things as
being a work of a supernatural being. Throughout the course of history, religion
remains to be the strongest contender to science arguably due to its being the most
easily grasped. Admittedly, once people stop connecting the dots between cause and
effect, they turn to something that could possibly explain their inadequacies in making
sense of the world. The people of yesterday appeared to have acknowledged early on
that they could only do and understand as much, that perhaps other powers at play
also existed alongside them. This notion effectively humbled and perhaps grounded
them, with their constant befuddlement serving as an early reminder that they were
way behind several larger, more powerful forces in nature in terms of order of things.

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The Human Condition in the Common Era

For a long time, humans were content with their relationship with nature. Earliest case
of man-made extinction occurred over 12,000 years ago, possibly brought upon by
hunting and territorial disputes. The Holocene extinction, also called the sixth extinction
or more aptly Anthropocene extinction, occurred from as early as between 100,000 to
200,000 years up to the present. It pertains to the on-going extinction of several
species-both flora and fauna-due to human activity. Driven by their primal need to
survive and gaining the upper hand in terms of development and adaptability, humans
were quick to find ways to drive off other megafaunas threatening a prospective
hunting spot and eventually, settling grounds. Growing population also necessitated
finding additional resources, leading to overhunting and overfishing common prey,
some of which were endemic to the area. Hunting, coupled with a changing terain that
the humans began cultivating when agriculture emerged some 9,000 years ago, caused
several species to lose competition in territory and food resources. Formation of
communities caused humans to expand more in territory and more people to feed;
large, separate communities hailing from the same ancestors and residing in the same
large community paved way for civilizations. Even as a community, the people realized
that though they were at most self-sufficient, they were in constant need of resources.
Albeit waging wars with other tribes seemed to be the early solution, they were able to
find out some 5,000 years ago that engaging in a peaceful negotiation was also a
possible and less bloody method. They realized that they could get hold of things not
present in their towns by offering something of same value present in theirs. It is in this
process that trade emerged, leading to cross-town and eventually cross-cultural
interaction as more products were exchanged and the initial needs extended to wants.

People then had a new objective-gather as much products as possible. They have
turned to wealth as one of their goals as humans and ultimately as civilizations, for they
perceived that those who have many, live comfortably and thus are generally happier
than those who do not have sufficient wealth. Thus, they began to hunt, farm, and
produce things with prospect of profit. A nuclear community which is initially self-
sufficient has to accommodate their growing population with depleting resources,
leading them to be reliant to other communities' produce which keeps them surviving.
In return, these communities have to make use of their current resources twice as
much to provide for other communities' needs. Products of every kind were exchanged,
ranging from necessary ones such as crops, cattle, poultry, others of kind, and clothing
materials, up to metals, accessories, weapons, spices, literature, and entertainment.
They were able to find and create niches for interests. When they could not sell
products, they used their skills and got compensated for it-bringing forth a specialized

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group of artisans. Humanity became more complex. The primary goal was not merely to
survive, but to live the good life.

Technology has been instrumental in all of these because in searching for the good life,
people were able to come up with creations that would make life easier, more
comfortable, and more enriching. Although the good life envisioned before might be
pale in comparison to the multifariousness of today, it offered us the initial intricacies of
how today came to be. Such intricacies are also evident in the machines created and
causes endeavored by the people of long ago. They perceive death as, at the very
least, unpleasant and concocted potions to ward evil off from their kinsmen, often
appealing to their gods for blessings. Medicine was thus born, although it would take a
considerably long time before it part ways with potion. They became fixated with gold
and were adamant in procuring more, trying to use incantations with mixtures of
substances to turn lead into one. This ultimately paved way for the emergence of
chemistry in its primitive form, not quite distinct from alchemy. Due to differing races,
belief, or abundance of resources and/or territory, wars were always being waged,
leading communities to allocate resources to the militia. Initially, the early leaders were
those who portrayed exceptional strength among their group-this condition carried on
for generations. Physical strength was valued at most, although there appeared to be
as many intellectually gifted figures just the same. These innovators were primarily the
ones behind discoveries and triumphs of these civilizations.

Position-wise, the humans of today are much better off compared to humans several
centuries ago. Advancements in medicine, technology, health, and education ushered in
humanity's best yet, and show no sign of stopping. Below are some of the notable
comparisons then and now:

1. Mortality Rate. Due to technology, lesser women and children die during birth,
assuring robust population and strong workforce. Medical care for premature infants
allows them to survive and develop normally, while proper maternal care ensures that
mothers can fully recover and remain empowered.

2. Average Lifespan. Aside from the reason that people engage less in combat and
are less likely to die in treatable diseases now as opposed to then, science is able to
prolong lives by enhancing living status and discovering different remedies to most
diseases. Distribution of medicines is also made easier and faster.

3. Literacy Rate. Access to education provided to more individuals generally creates a

more informed public that could determine a more just society.

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4. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Although not an indicator of an average person's

lifestyle in a certain country, it is often used to determine the value of the country's
goods and services produced within the territory given a certain time period. Higher
country income is brought upon by high productivity, often an indicator of presence of
technology.

The Essence of Technology

Humanity has indeed come a long way from our primitive ways, and as a general rule,
it is said that we are more "developed" than we were before. Above data are few
indicators of the route that we have come to take as species, and there are no signs of
stopping. Modern humans are reliant on technology in their search for the good life. We
see ways and means from nature to utilize and achieve growth-a goal that we believe
would bring forth betterment.

In retrospect, this view of technology proves to be goal-oriented. It assumes that it is

instrumental in achieving a goal in mind, that it is a purposeful, deliberate craft humans
steer in order to reach some greater good. In the advent of postmodernism, however,
the deterministic view appended to technology crumbled as people began to question if
anything is deterministic at all. Apart from its purpose, what is technology? Was the
history of technology brought purposeful choices for man in his search for the ultimate
good? Some tried to redefine technology away from its purpose. One philosopher by
the name of Martin Heidegger argued that its essence, or purpose, and being are
different from each other. He was able to expound on this point upon identifying that
technology can either be perceived as first, a means to achieve man's end and second,
that which constitutes human activity. The second perspective paints technology in such
a way that each period reveals a particular character regarding man's being. A
characteristic design, or flaw, unfolds based on the repercussions brought upon by
immersing ourselves with a piece of new technology. In effect, through technology, a
myriad of new questions begins to mount. Rather than thinking that humans have a
clear idea of what to expect in a good life, it can be stated that technology allows
humans to confront the unknown and see how they would react.

This is not a good thing altogether though, for technological revelation is but one of the
many ways to perceive the world. However, as long as humans are invested in growth
and development, we cannot distance ourselves from this perspective. In the name of
growth, we view the world as a field of resources, vent on attributing monetary value
on seemingly priceless entities. We begin to categorize nature as renewable and
nonrenewable instead of seeing it as it is. Humans are reduced into the amount of
productivity they are able to render during their lifetime, and our current mindset is

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geared toward which would utilize our own skills. A good life is one which is practical in
essence; a life which makes use of our labor and which we get compensated fairly
upon. It is no wonder that the sciences are one of the most sought after courses, for
the opportunities are plenty and the resources are bountiful. Since humans appear not
to really know what they are seeking for, the search continues. It is a looming fear,
however, that the path we are treading will not take us to the right direction, leading us
in endless circles instead in our pursuit of the good life. This is the danger presented by
too much reliance on technology. Humans lose track of things that matter, reducing
their surroundings to their economic value. As this presents strong backing by the
sciences whose reverence is also brought upon by our deluded enchantment with
technology, it will prove to be a herculean task to distance ourselves from this
perspective and consider alternatives. After all, it was science and technology that gave
us explanations, which worked for us and benefited us. Rejecting a working, tried-and-
tested process seems foolish, more so, knowing that there are no options of equal
value. It will be absurd to venture the dark and the unknown, but it should be done in
order for us to retrace our steps to be able to achieve the Good.

Backtracking the Human Condition

Technology's initial promises proved to be true, regardless of its ramifications. All in all
the human condition improved, only if by improving we measure the level of comfort,
various scientific breakthroughs, and improved lifestyles of those who had the luxury to
afford to do so. Different machineries aid in prolonging lives-assisting those with
disabilities, honing efficiency in industrial workplaces, and even exploring the universe
for places we can thrive once all the Earth's resources are depleted. As to the initial
aims, it appears that things really did not much differ. Some places in the world are still
battling for their daily survival-diseases, tribe was, lack of habitable territories, and
competitions on resources are several factors contributing to such. People still wage
wars on the basis of races, belief, and abundance of resources and/or territory; except
that now, they are able to inflict such in a global scale. A lot of people still subscribe to
religion in explaining things that they do not know. For those who have ceased to do
so, they have turned their worships to reverence of science. Whether science or
religion, these people is still bent on trying to make Sense of the events happening in
the world on the basis of either of these two paradigms. They are still trying to discover
and rediscover things that would give meaning to their lives-whether it is honor,
strength, or merit. People are still trying to make sense of their existence in the world,
and technology does little to aid them in their pursuit of life's meaning.

It seems that the human condition, although more sophisticated, is nothing but a
rehashed version of its former self. Nothing much has changed since then, and it

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appears that nothing will change in the times to come if we fail to shift our view
elsewhere. While it is true that technology offered us one compelling notion of the truth
and the good, we should be staunch in our resolve if we want to know the real one. For
starters, we might begin with considering other concepts, which corresponds to the
Good, such as Aristotle's conception of human flourishing. His notion entertains the idea
of holistic enrichment of a person situated in his society. A notable distinction on
Aristotle's idea is his subscription on evaluative concepts called virtues and their role in
achieving the good life. Technological advancements are seemingly occurring in a rapid
pace that our morality cannot quite keep up; no such consideration was given in this
approach in achieving the good life. This will further be discussed in the following
chapters.

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Lesson 3: The Good Life

Aristotle and How We All Aspire for a Good Life

It is interesting to note that the first philosopher who approached the problem of reality
from a "scientific" lens as we know now, is also the first thinker who dabbled into the
complex problematization of the end goal of life: happiness. This man is none other
than Aristotle.

Compared to his teacher and predecessor, Plato, Aristotle embarked on a different

approach in figuring out reality. In contrast to Plato who thought that things in this
world are not real and are only copies of the real in the world of forms, Aristotle puts
everything back to the ground in claiming that this world is all there is to it and that this
world is the only reality we can all access. For Plato, change is so perplexing that it can
only make sense if there are two realities: the world of forms and the world of matter.
Consider the human person. When you try to see yourself in front of the mirror, you
normally say and think that you are looking at yourself-that is, you are the person who
slept last night and you are the same person looking at yourself now, despite the
occasional changes like a new pimple that grows on your nose. The same is true for a
seed that you threw out of the garden last month. When you peek into the same patch
of land where the seed ingrained itself into, you may be surprised to see a little plant
showing itself to you and to the sun. Plato recognized change as a process and as a
phenomenon that happens in the world, that in fact, it is constant. However, Plato also
elaims that despite the reality of change, things remain and they retain their ultimate
“whatness"; that you remain to be you despite the pimple that now sits atop your nose.
Plato was convinced that reality is full of these seemingly contrasting manifestations of
change and permanence. For Plato, this can only be explained by postulating two
aspects of reality, two worlds if you wish: the world of forms and the world of mater. In
the world of matter, things are changing and impermanent. In the world of forms, the
entities are only copies of the ideal and the models, and the forms are the only real
entities. Things are red in this world because they participate in what it means to be red
in the world of forms.

Aristotle, for his part, disagreed with his teacher's position and forwarded the idea that
there is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive. As such, it is only by
observation of the external world that one can truly understand what reality is all about.
Change is a process that is inherent in things. We, along with all other entities in the
world, start as potentialities and move toward actualities. The movement, of course,
entails change. Consider a seed that eventually germinates and grows into a plant.
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The seed that turned to become the plant underwent change- from the potential plant
that is the seed to its full actuality, the plant. Aristotle extends this analysis from the
external world into the province of the human person and declares that even human
beings are potentialities who aspire for their actuality. Every human being moves
according to some end. Every action that emanates from a human person is a function
of the purpose (telos) that the person has. When a boy asks for a burger from a
Filipino burger joint, the action that he takes is motivated primarily by the purpose that
he has, inferably to get full or to taste the burger that he only sees on TV. When a girl
tries to finish her degree in the university, despite the initial failures she may have had,
she definitely is being propelled by a higher purpose than to just graduate. She wants
something more, maybe to have a license and land a promising job in the future. Every
human person, according to Aristotle, aspires for an end. This end, we have learned
from the previous chapters, is happiness or human flourishing. No individual-young or
old, fat or skinny, male or female-resists happiness. We all want to be happy. Aristotle
claims that happiness is the De all and ends all of everything that we do. We may not
realize it but the goal of everything that we do is happiness. If you ask one person why
he Is doing what he is doing, he may not readily say that it is happiness that motivates
him. Hard-pressed to explain why he is motivated by what motivates him will reveal
that happiness is the grand, motivating force in everything that he does. When Aristotle
claims that we want to be happy, he does not necessarily mean the everyday happiness
that we obtain when we win a competition or we eat our favorite dish in a restaurant.
What Aristotle actually means is human flourishing; a kind of contentment in knowing
that one is getting the best out of life. A kind of feeling that one has maxed out his
potentials in the world, that he has attained the crux of his humanity.

Happiness as the Goal of a Good Life

In the eighteenth century, John Stuart Mill declared the Greatest Happiness Principle by
saying that an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the
greatest number of people. At a time when people were skeptical about claims on the
metaphysical, people could not make sense of the human flourishing that Aristotle
talked about in the days of old. Mill said that individual happiness of each individual
should be prioritized and collectively dictates the kind of action that should be
endorsed. Consider the pronouncements against mining. When an action benefits the
greatest number of people, said action is deemed ethical. Does mining benefit rather
than hurt the majority? Does it offer more benefits rather than disadvantages? Does
mining result in more people getting happy rather than sad? If the answers to the said
questions are in the affirmative, then the said action, mining, is deemed ethical.

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The ethical is, of course, meant to lead us to the good and happy life. Through the
ages, as has been expounded in the previous chapters, man has constantly struggled
with the external world in order to reach human flourishing. History has given birth to
different schools of thought, all of which aim for the good and happy life.

Materialism

The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient, Greece. Democritus and Leucippus
led a school whose primary belief is that the world is made up of and is controlled by
the tiny indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds. For Democritus and his
disciples, the world, including human beings, is made up of matter. There is no need to
posit immaterial entities as sources of purpose. Atomos simply comes together
randomly to form the things in the world. As such, only material entities matter. In
terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain happiness. We see this at
work with most people who are clinging on to material wealth as the primary source of
the meaning of their existence.

Hedonism

The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. Pleasure has
always been the priority of hedonists. For them, life is about obtaining and indulging in
pleasure because life is limited. The mantra of this school of thought is the famous,
"Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die." Led by Epicurus, this school of thought
also does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the materialists.

Stoicism

Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics espoused the dea that to generate
happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. The original term,
apatheia, precisely means to be indifferent. For the stoics, happiness can only be
attained by a careful practice of apathy. We should, in this worldview, adopt the fact
that some things are Ot within our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we
can become.

Theism

Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a fulcrum of their existence.
The Philippines, as predominantly Catholic country, is witness to how people base their
life goals on beliefs that hinged on some form of supernatural reality called heaven. The
ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with God. The world where we
are in is only just a temporary reality where we have to maneuver around while waiting
for the ultimate return to the hands of God.

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Humanism

Humanism as another school of thought espouses the freedom of man to carve his own
destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and
controls. For humanists, man is literally the captain of his own ship. Inspired by the
enlightenment in seventeenth century, humanists see themselves not merely as
stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and the
world outside them. This is the spirit of most scientists who thought that the world is a
place and space for freely unearthing the world in seeking for ways on how to improve
the lives of its inhabitants. As a result of the motivation of the humanist current,
scientists eventually turned to technology in order to ease the difficulty of life as
illustrated in the previous lessons. Scientists of today meanwhile are ready to confront
more sophisticated attempts at altering the world for the benefit of humanity. Some
people now are willing to tamper with time and space in the name of technology. Social
media, as an example, has been so far a very effective way of employing technology in
purging time and space. Not very long ago, communication between two people from
two continents in the planet will involve months of waiting for a mail to arrive. Seeing
each other real time while talking was virtually impossible. Now, communication
between two people wherever they are, is not just possible but easy. The Internet and
smart phones made real- time communication possible not just between two people,
but even with multiple people simultaneously.

Technology allowed us to tinker with our sexuality. Biologically male individuals can now
undergo medical operation if they so wish for sexual reassignment. Breast implants are
now available and can be done with relative convenience if anyone wishes to have one.
Hormones may also be injected in order to alter the sexual chemicals in the body.

Whether or not we agree with these technological advancements, these are all
undertaken in the hopes of attaining the good life. The balance, however, between the
good life, ethics, and technology has to be attained.

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Lesson 4: When Technology and Humanity Cross

Television Sets, Mobile Phones, Computers, and Humanity

A number of technological devices can be easily found inside the home, the most
accessible place to anyone. Having said that, it can also be easily inferred that these
technological devices are some of the most popular and most commonly used types of
devices across all age groups. Almost all households, if not all, own these types of
devices. To be more specific, these "celebrities" in the field of technology are television
sets, mobile phones, and computers. People all over the world use these technologies
every day to accomplish different purposes.

First, according to Kantar Media, one of the most trusted television audience
measurement providers, in the Philippines, 92 percent of urban homes and 70 percent
of rural homes own at least one television set. It is for this reason why television
remains to be the ultimate medium for advertisement placements (The Manila Times,
2014). This survey simply shows that almost all Filipinos use this particular type of
device. In fact, Filipinos are believed to have this big fascination for television. Most of
the time, they watch television during their free time or any time of the day when they
have nothing important to do. In addition to this, Kantar Media also reported that in the
Philippines, the current count of households with television set already reached 15.135
million (Noda, 2012). This number signifies something, that is, television plays a great
role in the lives of the people or in this case, the Filipinos.

Television was a product of different experiments by various people. Paul Gottlieb

Nipkow, a German student, in the late 1800s was Successful in his attempt to send
images through wires with the aid of a rotating metal disk. This invention was then
called the "electric telescope" that had 18 lines of resolution. After some time, in 1907,
two inventors, Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton who was an English scientist and Boris
Rosing who was a Russian scientist, created a new system of television by using the
cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical scanner system. This success story gave
rise to two types of television systems, namely, mechanical and electronic television
(Jezek, n.d.). These experiments inspired other scientists to improve the previous
inventions, which led to the modern television people now have. However, it is
important to remember that several scientists and several experiments were performed
first before finally achieving the modern television at present.

Second, Filipinos love to use their mobile phones anywhere, anytime. They use it for
different purposes other than for communication. More than half of the Filipino

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population own at least one mobile phone regardless of type. In 2010, global research
agency Synovate conducted a survey and declared 67 percent product ownership in the
country. In lact, it was also claimed that mobile phones are considered a must-have
among young Filipinos (ABS-CBN News, 2010). To prove that Filipinos really love to use
their mobile phones, the Ipsos Media Atlas Philippines Nationwide Urban 2011-2012
survey results showed that one in every three Filipinos cannot live without a mobile
phone. In other words, 30 percent of the Philippine urban population nationwide said
that mobile phones are necessities in life (Roa, 2012). Philippine streets are full of
people using their mobile phones. Not only this, there are some Filipinos nO even own
more than one mobile phone.

Mobile phones have a very interesting background story. On April 3, 1973, Martin
Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, made the world's mobile phone call. He called
their rival telecommunications company first properly informed them that he was
making the call from a mobile phone. The mobile phone used by Cooper weighed 1.I
kilograms and measured 228.6 x 127 x 44.4 mm. This kind of device was capable of a
30-minute talk time. However, it took 10 hours to charge. In 1983, Motorola made their
first commercial mobile phone available to the public. It was known as the Motorola
DynaTAC 800OX (Goodwin, 2016).

Lastly, computers and laptops have also become part of many of the Filipino
households. There are some Filipino families who own more than one computer or
laptop while some own at least one computer or laptop. However, the number of
computers or laptops sold per year may not be as high as the number of mobile phones
and television sets. This is because of the relatively higher cost of computers and
laptops. While it is true that almost all Filipino families own at least one television set
and a mobile phone, it is not possible for all Filipino families to own at least one
computer or laptop. In fact, most of the profits gained by computer and laptop
manufacturers come from offices, businesses, or schools where such devices have
become part of their necessities.

In 2010, 3.6 trillion was the estimated total value output of al manufacturing
establishments. Semi-conductor devices and other electronic components took more
than half of the total value output of all manufacturing establishments. To be more
specific, 5.4 percent of the total value output came from computers and peripheral
equipment and accessories (PSA, 2013). In line with the growing number of computer
and laptop sales, there have also been a growing number of Internet users in the
Philippines. Although there have been problems regarding the Internet providers, this
never hindered Filipinos from continuously using the Internet.

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Just like television sets and mobile phones, computers and laptops also have a long
background history of trial and error. It was Charles Babbage, a nineteenth-century
English Mathematics professor, who professor designed the Analytical Engine which was
used as the basic framework of the computers even until the present time. In general,
computers can be classified into three generations. Each generation of the computer
was used for a certain period of time and each gave people a new and improved
version of the previous one (Steitz, n.d.).

Laptops have been available to the public for even less time than personal computers.
Before, the first design of computer was so big that it could occupy whole floors of
buildings. It was not long before people started dreaming that they could bring their
devices to any place they wished. They hoped that someday it would be possible for
these devices to be portable. It was believed that the transition from a personal
computer to a laptop was only a matter of design, an improvement and a little deviation
from the standard design of a personal computer. The first true portable computer was
released in April 1981. It was called the Osborne 1 (Orfano, 2011). From that moment
on, the evolution of laptops continued until the present time where various designs and
models are already available.

A typical household owns at least four of the following devices: a mobile phone (89%),
smartphone (53%), tablet (14%), desktop (39%), laptop or netbooks (37%), and smart
TV (4%) (Philstar, 2013). These data prove the deep-seated fascination of Filipinos to
different technological devices.

Here are some facts about Filipinos and their use of gadgets and the Internet (Rappler,
n.d.):

 Mobile phone subscription is at 119 million.

 Filipinos spend approximately 3.2 hours on mobile and 5.2 hours on desktop
daily.
 Currently, the Philippines have one of the highest digital populations in the
world.
 There are now 47 million active Facebook accounts in the Philippines.
 The Philippines is the fastest-growing application market in Southeast Asia.

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Roles Played by These Technological Advancements

Television sets, mobile phones, and computers or laptops all have different functions
and roles played in the lives of the people, although may be a little similar. These roles
have become so essential that people, more specifically Filipinos, developed a strong
inclination toward technology and its products.

For instance, television is mainly used as a platform for advertisements and information
dissemination. In fact, television remains to be the most used avenue by different
advertising companies not only in the Philippines but also all over the world. Various
advertising companies trust that television is still one of the most used technological
devices up until today. However, it is important to note that these are just some of the
roles played by television. Aside from the ones mentioned above, it also serves as a
recreational activity and good stress reliever to most families, specifically to Filipino
families. Television also is a good platform for different propagandas and advocacies.
Lastly, it can also be a good way to bond with one's family members.

Mobile phones, on the other hand, also have their own roles in the lives of the people.
They are primarily used for communication. Mobile phones offer services like texting
and calling. In the past, these were the only functions of the mobile phone but as
technology progressed, there have been many additional features included on mobile
phones. For example, in the present, people use their mobile phones to surf the
Internet and to take pictures more than to text or to call people. This is the reason why
more and more people all over the world prefer to buy smartphones over the old
models where such features are not available. Other applications include music player,
calendar, radio, television, and photo editor, among others. These are just some of the
additional features of mobiles phones in the present. These make this particular
technological device very appealing to the masses. It is like an all-in-one device. In
addition, it is very portable and convenient because it can fit into any space, may it be
inside the pocket or bag.

Personal computers and laptops also have useful set of functions and roles. Although
most of the functions found in these technological devices are now also available in
mobile phones, they still offer their own unique features that make them attractive. For
example, personal computers and laptops can be used to surf the Internet and
communicate. Just like the mobile phones, these devices also have features like
calendar, calculator, music player, movie player, camera, and many more. However, for
a lot of people, they prefer to do their job using either a personal computer or a laptop
than a mobile phone. One reason is that a personal computer or a laptop has wide
keyboard than using a mobile phone, especially when the mobile phone has a small

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screen. Contrary to mobile phones, personal computers and laptops have wide screens
and separate keyboards, although some mobile phones can now be connected to a
keyboard. Another reason is that the availability of a mouse or a touchpad made these
two technological devices easier to maneuver than mobile phones. Lastly, for the youth
and those who love to play different computer games, personal computers or laptops
are really the better choice because these allow them to play with comfort and
convenience. However, it cannot be denied that some would even prefer laptops over
personal computers for the simple reason that personal computers are not portable and
there are times when they need to bring such devices to different places.

Ethical Dilemma Faced by These Technological Advancements

While it is true that these technological devices are useful and beneficial, the fact
remains that there are several dilemmas faced by these "necessities." First, most
parents would argue that these devices make their children lazy and unhealthy. This is
because of the fact that people who are fixated on these technological advancements
start and end their day by using such devices. They have a great tendency to sit and
chill all day long without doing anything productive in their homes, thus making them
unhealthy because they do not just skip meals sometimes but also lack exercise or any
bodily movements. Here, it can be inferred that these types Of people are already
overly dependent on these technological devices for example, those who love to watch
television shows stay in front of The television for more than six hours a day while
those who love to surf ne Internet or play computer games stay on their laptops,
computers, or mobile phones for more than half a day. These people have the tendency
to be unaware of the time because they are so engrossed with the use of technological
device. In fact, if they get disturbed, there is a great chance at they will get mad or
annoyed. Moreover, these are the same people are more likely to experience alienation
because they no longer take who ne to get out of their houses and mingle with other
people.

Another dilemma faced by these technological devices is the moral dilemma. People,
especially the children who are not capable yet of rationally deciding for themselves
what is right or wrong, are freely exposed to different things on television, mobiles
phones, laptops, or computers. Because of the availability and easy access to the
Internet, they can just easily search the web and go to different websites without
restrictions. This allows them to see, read, or hear things which are not suitable for
their very young age. This makes them very vulnerable to character change and can
greatly affect the way they view the world and the things around them.

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On the first dilemma, it is really concerning to know that there are people who develop
different kinds of sickness because of too much use of technological devices. Not only
this, it also causes them to become reclusive, alienating themselves from other people.
Although some would argue that technology brings people together, it can also be
argued that this is not always the case in the real world because it may bring them
virtually closer but not physically or personally. In fact, there are people who are
friends, for example, only on social media but not in real life. This just shows that there
are things that technology claims to do but in reality, does not. It is for these reasons
why there are people who call for the establishment of ethics of technology. This
subcategory of ethics will in one way or another guide people on how technology ought
to be used in order to prevent abuse and other unfortunate results.

Digging deeper, it can be said that these reasons make such devices somewhat
unethical because they bring undesirable consequences to people. However, it can also
be argued that it is not the fault of the technological devices but the agents using them
or the ones making them. The classic deontological and teleological approaches to
ethics are already too old to be applied in such cases. This is because technology has
become very complicated and dynamic over time. Having said this, it is true that there
are problems that can no longer be addressed by using these theories only. This is why
the ethics of responsibility is an appropriate theory that can be used in these dilemmas.

The word "responsibility" in the sense of being accountable for and St: accountable to is
very appropriate to the ethics of technology because it ye makes each and every person
in the scientific-technological development a proxy with reference to one another. In
other words, each person must indicate the priorities, values, norms, and principles that
constitute the grounds for one's actions and define one's contribution to the scientific-
technological event. The ethics of responsibility focuses on the positive rather than the
negative. Instead of asking "What ought not to be allowed?" ask "What ought to be
allowed?" To put it in another way, people who are part of the scientific development
ought to let the public know the good in their respective technological contribution/s. In
this way, the people will have an idea how the devices ought to be used in order to
maximize their positive results.

However, it is also important for the people in the scientific world to inform the masses
of the dangers of their contribution/s to the world of technology. In this way, the
people will be sufficiently aware of what to do and what not to do. In addition to this,
the agents using the devices should also be accountable to and accountable for their
use of their gadgets.

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Going back to the first dilemma, it can be said that the agents using the devices are the
ones to be blamed for the undesirable consequences, namely, laziness and
unhealthiness. However, it is the assumption that the people in the scientific-
technological world have properly informed the public of the positive tenor of their
action in technology and the possible dangers of the misuse of their technological
contribution. Thus, the undesirable consequences are brought about by the misuse of
the agent. Now, talking about alienation, it can be concluded that the people that the
scientific-technological world are blameworthy because they tell the people something
that seems positive but when examined closely, brings more bad than good.

On the second dilemma, the people in the scientific world nor the children are
blameworthy because first, the children are not yet capable of rationally deciding for
themselves what is good and what is bad. Second, even if creators of these
technologies went out of their way to inform children of the pros and cons of these
technological contributions, it would be useless because the children have no capacity
to understand them yet. So in this dilemma, the ones to be blamed are the adults who
allowed children to have access to such devices in the first place without any
supervision. It is the recklessness and overconfidence of the adults that cause the
character change in children.

Robotics and Humanity

Another great product of the innovative minds of the people is the robot. Robots are
now widely used. For example, there are the so-called service robots. These particular
robots do specific tasks but focus mainly in assisting their masters in their everyday
tasks. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE) made it their task to formulate a working definition for
service robots. A preliminary extract of the relevant definition is (IFR, 2012):

 A robot is an actuated mechanism programmable in two or more axes with a

degree of autonomy, moving within its environment, to perform intended tasks.
Autonomy in this context means the ability to perform intended tasks based on
current state and sensing without human intervention.
 A service robot is a robot that performs useful tasks for humans or equipment
excluding industrial automation application. Note: A robot may be classified
according to its intended application as an industrial robot or a service robot.
 A personal service robot or a service robot for personal use is a service
robot used for a noncommercial task, usually by laypersons. Examples are
domestic servant robot, automated wheelchair, personal mobility assist robot,
and pet exercising robot.

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 A professional service robot or a service robot for professional use is a

service robot used for a commercial task, usually operated by a properly trained
operator. Examples are cleaning robot for public places, delivery robot in offices
or hospitals, fire-fighting robot, rehabilitation robot, and surgery robot in
hospitals. In this context, an operator is a person designated to start, monitor,
and stop the intended operation of a robot or a robot system.

Germany was one of the first countries to develop service robots. As part of the German
Federal Ministry of Education and Research's "Service Robotics Innovation Lead
Initiative," it sponsored a collaborative project called DESIRE (Deutsche Servicerobotik
Initiative-Germany Service Robotics Initiative) which was launched on October 1, 2005.
DESIRE has the following individual objectives (DESIRE, 2009):

 To achieve a technological edge toward attaining key functions and components

that are suited for everyday use
 To create a reference architecture for mobile manipulation
 To promote the convergence of technologies through integration into a common
technology platform
 To conduct pre-competition research and development activities for new
products and technology transfer in start-up enterprises in the field of service
robotics

Some of the expected work to be performed by DESIRE are the following: (1) "Clear up
the kitchen table" - all objects on top of the kitchen table will be moved to where they
belong; (2) "Fill the dishwasher - the dirty dishes will be sorted correctly into the
dishwasher; and (3) "Clear up this room" - all objects that are not in their proper places
will be moved to where they belong (Mock, n.d.).

The earliest conception of robots can be traced around 3000 B.C. from the Egyptians.
Their water clocks used human figurines to strike the hour bells. This mechanical device
was built to carry out a specific physical task regularly. From that time on, different
machines were already built that displayed the same mechanism and characteristics as
the robots in the present. For example, there was a wooden pigeon that could fly, a
talking doll, steam-powered robots, and hydraulically-operated statues that could speak
and gesture. However, the earliest robots as people know them were created in the
early 1950s by George Devol. "Unimate" was his first invention from the words
"Universal Automation." Unfortunately, his attempt to sell his product to the industry did
not succeed. After Unimate, several robots were also invented which were better
versions of the previous ones (Stanford, n.d.). Ever since, people never stopped their
quest in the field of robotics.

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Roles Played by Robotics

Robots play different roles not only in the lives of the people but also in the society as a
whole. They are primarily used to ease the workload of mankind. They were invented to
make life more efficient and less stressful. On one hand, they perform complicated
activities which human beings are incapable of doing. On the other hand, they perform
the simplest tasks at home so that their masters can perform the complex ones without
stressing themselves over the simple tasks. There are also robots which are made for
pleasure. To be more specific, these types of robots perform activities to entertain
people. They can usually be found in amusement parks or exhibits. In addition, there
are also some robots which were made to serve as toys. They also perform different
activities but they are usually child- friendly. Other examples of robots are those which
can be seen in movies. One of the reasons why robots are very famous is because of
movies. A number of local and national movies were inspired by robots. This goes to
show that people have developed a distinct fascination over robots.

Just like people living in the society, robots also have their own set of rules and
characteristics that define what a good robot is. These laws were formulated by Isaac
Asimov back in the 1940s, when he was thinking of the ethical consequences of robots.
These are the following (Stanford, n.d.):

Law One:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.

Law Two:

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.

Law Three:

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with
the First or Second Law.

Ethical Dilemma/s Faced by Robotics

Just like any other technological advancements, robotics also faces different problems
and dilemmas. Although the idea is to help people and make their lives a lot easier than
before, it is still not immune to different ethical dilemmas and possible undesirable
outcomes. One of the dilemmas faced by robots is safety. Who should be held
accountable if someone's safety is compromised by a robot? Who should be blamed,
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the robot, the agent using the robot, or the maker/inventor of the robot? It is important
to know who should be blamed and who should be held responsible if such thing
happens.

Another ethical dilemma faced by robots is the emotional Component. This may seem a
little absurd as of the moment, but looking at how fast technology progresses
nowadays, it is not completely impossible for robots to develop emotions (Evans, 2007).
So here, the questions become, "What if robots become sentient? Should they be
granted robot rights? Should they have their own set of rights to be upheld, respected,
and protected by humans?" It is interesting to know how people would react if the time
comes when robots can already feel pain and pleasure. Would they act differently or
not at all?

In the field of robotics, there are the so-called partial autonomy and full autonomy.
Partial autonomy includes active human-robot interaction while full autonomy excludes
active human-robot interaction. In Words, a robot with full autonomy can perform
actions or activities even without a master telling it what should be done or what should
be performed next (IFR, 2012).

Using Asimov's laws for robots, it can be concluded that robots are ethical but only if
they strictly follow the laws specified. They are tr ethical mostly because the laws
formulated by Asimov ensure the safety a of not only the users of the technology but
also the people around him. Remember that these service robots are already available
to the public; thus, they can already be found inside the homes. Having said that, the
safety of not only the owner of the technology but also all the people inside the house
should be the priority more than anything else. In other words, the service robots only
follow what their masters tell them to do all with great consideration to the laws
formulated by Asimov. However, if the agent using the technology misuses the robot to
achieve personal agendas, then without a doubt, the agent should be held accountable
for any consequences it may bring. It is important to note that this is under the
assumption that the robot strictly followed the laws specified without any form of
deviation.

If the problems arise when the robot deviates from the laws specified, then the maker
or the inventor of the machine should be blameworthy. It just means that the robot
was not programmed very well because it violated the laws. Other problems may arise
when the machine develops for the ability to think for itself. In this case, the one that
should be blame can both be the maker or inventor and the robot itself. This is
because, in day, the first place, the maker gave the robot the capacity to think for itself
so he should be very much aware of its possible consequences. To put it in another

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way, the maker programmed the robot in such a way that it can already think for itself
even without an active participation from a human being. In addition, since the robot
thinks for itself, whatever decision it makes and whatever consequence it may bring,
the robot itself should be held responsible.

For the second dilemma, it is just right for the robots to be given their own set of rights
should they develop the ability to feel different kinds of emotion. It can be argued that
the same thing happened with animals. Before, animals did not have their own set of
rights because people believed that they were not capable of having emotions.
However, after years of testing and experimenting, it was concluded that animals are
indeed capable of emotions. It is for this reason that people decided to give them rights
that are due to them. The same should be done to robots without any reservations.
Should that time come, they ought to be treated differently and they ought to have new
laws to follow in order to accommodate the new characteristic they have developed.

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SPECIFIC ISSUES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

Lesson 1: The information Age

Highly modernized, automated, data-driven, and technologically advanced-these best

describe our society nowadays, as evidenced by how information could be transferred
or shared quickly. The different areas of society have been influenced tremendously
such as communication, economics, industry, health, and the environment. Despite our
gains due to the growing development of information technology, the rapid upgrade of
information also has disadvantages. This lesson will discuss the history and impact of
technological advancements to society.

Life is accompanied by endless transmission of information that takes place within and
outside the human body. According to Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary,
information is "knowledge communicated or obtained concerning a specific fact or
circumstance." Hence, information is a very important tool for survival.

The Information Age is defined as a "period starting in the last quarter of the 20th
century when information became effortlessly accessible through publications and
through the management of information by computers and computer networks"
(Vocabulary.com, n.d.). The means of conveying symbolic information (e.g., writing,
math, other codes) among humans has evolved with increasing speed. The Information
Age is also called the Digital Age and the New Media Age because it was associated
with the development of computers.

According to James R. Messenger who proposed the Theory of Information Age in

1982, "the Information Age is a true new age based upon the interconnection of
computers via telecommunications, with these information systems operating on both a
real-time and as-needed basis. Furthermore, the primary factors driving this new age
forward are convenience and user-friendliness which, in turn, will ereate user
dependence."

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History

The table below traces the history and emergence of the Information Age.

Year Event
3000 BC Sumerian writing system used pictographs to represent words
2900 BC Beginnings of Egyptians hieroglyphic writing
1300 BC Tortoise shell and oracle bone writing were used
500 BC Chinese small seal writing was developed
100 AD Book (parchment codex)
105 AD Woodblock printing and paper was invented by the Chinese
1455 Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press using movable
metal type
1755 Samuel Johnson’s dictionary standardized English spelling
1802 The library of Congress was established

Invention of the carbon arc lamp

1824 Research on persistence of vision published
1830s First viable design for a digital computer

Augusta Lady Byron writes the world’s first computer program

1837 Invention of the telegraph in Great Britain and the United States
1861 Motion pictures were projected onto a screen
1876 Dewey Decimal system was introduced
1877 Eadweard Muybridge demonstrated high-speed photography
1899 First magnetic recordings were released
1902 Motion picture special effects were used
1906 Lee DeForest invented the electronic amplifying tube
(triode)
1923 Television camera tube was invented by Zvorkyn
1926 First practical sound movie
1939 Regularly scheduled television broadcasting began in the US
1940s Beginning of information science as a discipline
1945 Vannevar Bush foresaw the invention of hypertext
1946 ENIAC computer was developed
1948 Birth of field-of-information theory proposed by Claude E.
Shannon
1957 Planar transistor was developed by Jean Hoerni
1958 First integrated circuit
1960s Library of Congress developed LC MARC (machine-readable
code)
1969 UNIX operating system was developed, which could handle
multitasking

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1971 Intel introduced the first microprocessor chip

1972 Optical laserdisc was developed by Philips and MCA
1974 MCA and Philips agreed on a standard videodisc encoding
format
1975 Altair Microcomputer Kit was released: First personal computer
for the public
1977 RadioShack introduced the first complete personal computer
Mid 1980s Artificial Intelligence was separated from information science
1987 Hypercard was developed by Bill Atkinson recipe box metaphor
1991 Four hundred fifty complete works of literature on one CD ROM
was released
January 1997 RSA (encryption and network security software) Internet
security code cracked for a 48-bit number

As man evolved, information and its dissemination has also evolved in many ways.
Eventually, we no longer kept them to ourselves; instead, we share them and manage
them in different means. Information got ahead of us. It started to grow at a rate we
were unprepared to handle. Because of the abundance of information, it was difficult to
collect and manage them starting in the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, real angst
set in. Richard Wurman called it "Information Anxiety." In the 1990s, information
became the currency in the business world. Information was the preferred medium of
exchange and the information managers served as information officers. In the present
generation, there is no doubt that information has turned out to be a commodity, an
overdeveloped product, mass-produced, and unspecialized. Soon, we become
overloaded with it.

Different authors have diverse, contrasting ideas on the evolution of the Information
Age. In spite of this, we can still say that information is a very imnportant tool that
helps improve our way of life. One thing is for Sure, the Information Age will continue
to move forward and far greater than our minds could imagine.

In his article "Truths of the Information Age" (n.d.), Robert Harris detailed some facts
on the Information Age.

1. Information must compete. There is a need for information to stand out and be
recognized in the increasing clutter.

2. Newer is equated with truer. We forgot the truth that any fact or value can endure.

3. Selection is a viewpoint. Choose multiple sources for your information if you want to
receive a more balanced view of reality.

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4. The media sells what the culture buys. In other words, information is driven by
cultural priorities.

5. The early word gets the perm. The first media channel to expose an issue often
defines the context, terms, and attitudes surrounding it.

6. You are what you eat and so is your brain. Do not draw conclusions unless all ideas
and information are presented to you.

7. Anything in great demand will be counterfeited. The demand for incredible

knowledge, scandals, and secrets is ever-present; hence, many events are fabricated by
tabloids, publicists, or other agents of information fraud.

8. Ideas are seen as controversial. It is almost certainly impossible to make any

assertion that will not find some supporters and some detractors.

9. Undead information walks ever on. Rumors, lies, disinformation, and gossips never
truly die down. They persist and continue to circulate.

10. Media presence creates the story. People behave much differently from the way
they would if being filmed when the media are present, especially film news or
television media.

11. The medium selects the message. Television is mainly pictorial, partially aural, and
slightly textual, so visual stories are emphasized: fires, chases, and disasters.

12. The whole truth is a pursuit. The information that reaches us is usually selected,
verbally charged, filtered, slanted, and sometimes, fabricated. What is neglected is
often even more important than what is included.

Computer

Computers are among the most important contributions of advances in the Information
Age to society. A computer is an electronic device that stores and processes data
(information). It runs on a program that contains the exact, step-by-step directions to
solve a problem (UShistory. org, 2017).

Types of Computer

Computers are associated with numerous terms and descriptions. Most people suggest
the dimensions, intended use, or the computer's power. While the term "computer" can
apply to virtually any device that has a microprocessor in it, most people think of a
computer as a device that receives input from the user through a mouse (hand-guided

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directions tool) or keyboard, processes it in some fashion, and presents the result on a
screen.

1. Personal Computer (PC)

It is a single-user instrument. PCs were first known as microcomputers since they were
a complete computer but built on a smaller scale than the enormous systems operated
by most businesses.

2. Desktop Computer

It is described as a PC that is not designed for portability. The assumption with a

desktop is that it will be set up in a permanent spot. A workstation is simply a desktop
computer that has a more powerful processor, additional memory, and enhanced
capabilities for performing special group of tasks, such as 3D graphics or game
development. Most desktops offer more storage, power, and versatility than their
portable versions (UShistory.org, 2017).

3. Laptops

These are portable computers that integrate the essentials of a desktop computer in a
battery-powered package, which are somewhat larger than a typical hardcover book.
They are commonly called noteboóks.

4. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

These are tightly integrated computers that usually have no keyboards but rely on a
touch screen for user input. PDAs are typically smaller than a paperback, lightweight,
and battery- powered (UShistory.org, 2017).

5. Server

It refers to a computer that has been improved to provide network services to other
computers. Servers usually boast powerful processors, tons of memory, and large hard
drives (UShistory.org, 2017).

6. Mainframes

These are huge computer systems that can fill an entire room. They are used especially
by large firms to describe the large, expensive machines that process millions of
transactions every day. The term "mainframe" has been replaced by enterprise server.
Although some supercomputers are single computer systems, most comprise multiple,
high-performance, parallel computers working as a single system.

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7. Wearable Computers

They involve materials that are usually integrated into cell phones, watches, and other
small objects or places. They perform common computer applications such as
databases, email, multimedia, and schedulers.

The World Wide Web (Internet)

Several historians trace the origin of the Internet to Claude E. Shannon, an American
Mathematician who was considered as the "Father of Information Theory." He worked
at Bell Laboratories and at age 32, he published a paper proposing that information can
be quantitatively encoded as a sequence of ones and zeroes.

The Internet is a worldwide system of interconnected networks that facilitate data

transmission among innumerable computers. It was developed during the 1970s by the
Department of Defense. In case of an attack, military advisers suggested the advantage
of being able to operate on one computer from another terminal. In the early days, the
Internet was used mainly by scientists to communicate with other scientists. The
Internet remained under government control until 1984 (Rouse, 2014).

One early problem faced by Internet users was speed. Phone lines could only transmit
information at a limited rate. The development of fiber-optic cables allowed for billions
of bits of information to be received every minute. Companies like Intel developed
faster microprocessors so personal computers could process the incoming signals at a
more rapid rate (UShistory.org, 2017).

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, directors of a Stanford research project, built a search
engine that listed results to reflect page popularity when they determined that the most
popular result would frequently be the most usable. After talking with family, friends,
and other investors into contributing $1 million, the researchers launched their company
in 1998. Google is now the world's most popular search engine, accepting more than
200 million queries daily.

Back then, new forms of communication were also introduced. Electronic mail, or email,
was a suitable way to send a message to fellow workers, business partners, or friends.
Messages could be sent and received at the convenience of the individual. A letter that
took several days to arrive could be read in minutes. Internet service providers like
America Online and CompuServe set up electronic chat rooms. These were open areas
of cyberspace where interested parties could join in a conversation with perfect
strangers. "Surfing the net" became a pastime in and of itself.

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Consequently, companies whose businesses are built on digitized information have

become valuable and powerful in a relatively short period of time; the current
Information Age has spawned its own breed of wealthy influential brokers, from
Microsoft's Bill Gates to Apple's Steve Jobs to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

Critics charged that the Internet created a technological divide that increased the gap
between the members of the higher class and lower class of society. Those who could
not afford a computer or a monthly access fee were denied these possibilities. Many
decried the impersonal nature of electronic communication compared to a telephone
call or a handwritten letter.

On one hand, the unregulated and loose nature of the Internet allowed pornography to
be broadcast to millions of homes. Protecting children from these influences or even
from meeting violent predators would prove to be difficult. Nowadays, crimes in various
forms are rampant because of the use of social media. Cyber bullying is an issue that
poses alarm worldwide. Consequently, we need to be aware of the possible harm and
damage due to abuse of these advances in the Information Age.

Applications of Computers in Science and Research

One of the significant applications of computers for science and research is evident in
the field of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is the application of information technology to
store, organize, and analyze vast amount of biological data which is available in the
form of sequences and structures of proteins-the building blocks of organisms and
nucleic acids-the information carrier (Madan, n.d.). Early interest in bioinformatics was
established because of a need to create databases of biological sequences. The human
brain cannot store all the genetic sequences of organisms and this huge amount of data
can only be stored, analysed, and be used efficiently with the use of computers.

While the initial databases of protein sequences were maintained at individual

laboratories, the development of a consolidated formal database, known as SWISS-
PROT protein sequence database, was initiated in 1986. It now has about 70,000
protein sequences from more than 5,000 model organisms, a small fraction of all known
organisms. The enormous variety of divergent data resources is now available for study
and research by both academic institutions and industries. These are made available as
public domain information in the larger interest of research community through the
Internet and CD-ROMs. These databases are constantly updated with additional entries
(Madan, n.d.).

Computers and software tools are widely used for generating these databases and to
identify the function of proteins, model the structure of proteins, determine.the coding

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(useful) regions of nucleic acid sequences, find suitable drug compounds from a large
pool, and optimize the drug development process by predicting possible targets. Some
of the software tools which are handy in the analysis include: BLAST (used for
comparing sequences); Annotator (an interactive genome analysis tool); and
GeneFinder (tool to identify coding regions and splice sites) (Madan, n.d.).

The sequence information generated by the human genome research, initiated in 1988,
has now been stored as a primary information source for future applications in
medicine. The available data is so huge that if compiled in books, the data would run
into 200 volumes of 1,000 pages each and reading alone (ignoring understanding
factor) would require 26 years working around the clock. For a population of about five
billion human beings with two individuals differing in three million bases, the genomic
sequence difference database would have about 15,000,000 billion entries. The present
challenge to handle such huge volume of data is to improve database design, develop
software for database access, and manipulation and device data-entry procedures to
compensate for the varied computer procedures and systems used in different
laboratories. The much-celebrated complete human genome sequence which was
formally announced on the 26th of June 2000 involved more than 500 x 1018 (500
million trillion) calculations during the process of assembling the sequences alone. This
can be considered as the biggest exercise in the history of computational biology
(Madan, n.d.).

Examples of Useful and Reliable Web Sources

1. AFA e-Newsletter (Alzheimer's Foundation of America newsletter)

2. American Memory the Library of Congress historical digital collection.

3. Bartleby.com Great Books Online - a collection of free e-books including fictions,

nonfictions, references, and verses.

4. Chronicling America search and view pages from American newspapers

from 1880-1922.

5. Cyber Bullying a free collection of e-books from ebrary plus additional reports
and documents to help better understand, prevent and take action against this growing
concern.

6. Drug information websites:

 National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus

 Drugs.com

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 PDRhealth

7. Global Gateway: World Culture & Resources (from the 7. Library of Congress)

8. Google Books

9. Googlescholar.com

10. History sites with primary documents:

 AMDOCS: Documents for the study of American history

 Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Yale Law School)
 Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Colonial Latin America
 Teacher Oz's Kingdom of History

11. Illinois Digital Archives - the Illinois State Library working with libraries,
museums, and historical societies in Illinois provides this collection of materials related
to Illinois history.

12. Internet Archive - a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in
digital form.

13. Internet Archive for CARLI digitized resources

14. Internet Public Library

15. ipl2- a merger of Librarians' Internet Index and Internet Public Library. Special
interest may include the "Literary Criticisms" page which can be found after clicking on
the "Special Collections" link.

16. Librarians' Internet Index

17. Making of America a digital library of primary sources in American social history.

18. Maps- from the University of Texas at Austin collection. Includes historical and
thematic maps.

19. NationMaster - a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically
compare nations. It is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World
Factbook, UN, and OECD.

20. Nursing sites:

 AHRQ
 National Guidelines

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 Clearinghouse PubMed

21. Project Gutenberg- the first and largest single collection of free electronic books
with currently over 20,000 e-books available.

22. Shmoop - literature, US history, and poetry information written primarily by PhD
and masters students from top universities like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale.

23. StateMaster- a unique statistical database which allows you to research and
compare a multitude of different data on US states using various primary sources such
as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. It
uses visualization technology like pie charts, maps, graphs, and scatter plots to provide
data.

24. Virtual Reference- selected web resources compiled by the Library of Congress.
One can also visit the university library and seek help from librarians as they are
knowledgeable and the library has a rich collection of online library resources that are
very useful for academic and research purposes.

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Lesson 2: Biodiversity and the Healthy Society

Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Biodiversity is defined as the vast variety of life forms in the entire Earth. It
encompasses all kinds of life forms, from the single-celled organisms to the largest
multi-celled organisms. Its definition is in the structural and functional perspective and
not as individual species.

Another definition of biodiversity is "the variability among living organisms from all
sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological
complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between
species, and of ecosystems. Biodiversity is the source of the essential goods and
ecological services that constitute the source of life for all and it has direct consumptive
value in food, agriculture, medicine, and in industry." (Villaggio Globale, 2009)

Understanding biodiversity within the concept of ecosystem needs a thorough study on

the relationship of the biotic, the living organisms and the abiotic, non-living organisms.
Interdisciplinary approach is needed to study the ecosystem. Biodiversity plays a major
role in this natural dynamics. For example, a large number of golden snails in a certain
area of a rice field can help predict a low production of rice harvest, since eggs of the
golden snails are considered pest for rice plant. On a positive view, the larger number
of different species in a certain area can be a predictor of sustainable life in that area.
Sustainability of the ecosystem ensures a better survival rate against any natural
disaster. Therefore, we, as human inhabitants of the ecosystem, must preserve and
conserve the biodiversity of all creatures.

In simpler terms, it is true that people will always depend on biodiversity on the
wholeness of our being and in our everyday lives. Moro so, our health will ultimately
depend upon the products and services that we acquire from the ecosystem. Somehow,
there are ways and processes in the ecosystem that are not apparent nor appreciated
by us, human beings. Think about the need to drink clean and fresh water, the need to
eat healthy vegetables and food, or the need of man to transport which makes him rely
on fuel. All of these are human needs that are answered and provided by our
ecosystem. Thus, if we fail to keep the process of taking care of the ecosystem, it is us
who are actually putting our lives at risk. Significant decline in biodiversity has direct
human impact when ecosystem in its insufficiency can no longer provide the physical as
well as social needs of human beings. Indirectly, changes in the ecosystem affect
livelihood, income, and on occasion, may even cause political conflict (WHO, n.d.).

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Changes in Biodiversity

Alteration in any system could bring varied effects. A change in biodiversity could have
erratic effects not only in wildlife or marine life but also in human beings. For example,
humans inhabiting the forest would disturb the natural order of life. Trees and plants
would be affected in the land- clearing operations where the houses would be built. The
animals, insects, and all types of life forms in the cleared area would either be displaced
or most likely be killed. The loss of these life forms could affect the entire ecosystem
governing that environment. The food chain might be damaged. From this, we can
clearly infer that when our ecosystem is not well taken care of, biodiversity encounters
changes that may impact human health on such different levels.

Threats to Biodiversity

There are major threats to biodiversity that were identified by the United Nations'
Environment Programme (WHO, n.d.). These are the following:

1. Habitat loss and destruction. Major contributing factor is the inhabitation of

human beings and the use of land for economic gains.

2. Alterations in ecosystem composition. Alterations and sudden changes, either

within species groups or within the environment, could begin to change entire
ecosystems. Alterations in ecosystems are a critical factor contributing to species and
habitat loss.

3. Over-exploitation. Over-hunting, overfishing, or over-collecting of species can

quickly lead to its decline. Changing consumption patterns of humans is often cited as
the key reason for this unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.

4. Pollution and contamination. Biological systems respond slowly to changes in

their surrounding environment. Pollution and contamination cause irreversible damage
to species and varieties.

5. Global climate change. Both climate variability and climate change cause
biodiversity loss. Species and populations may be lost permanently if they are not
provided with enough time to adapt to changing climatic conditions.

Consequences of Biodiversity Loss

Even with the improvement of technology and science at present, we still have a lot to
learn about biodiversity, more so about the consequences of biodiversity loss. However,
the basic concept about biodiversity loss was from Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel
Wallace.
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Intact ecosystems function best since the organisms composing them are specialized to
function in that ecosystem to capture, transfer, utilize and, ultimately, lose both energy
and nutrients. The particular species making up an ecosystem determine its
productivity, affect nutrient cycles and soil contents, and influence environmental
conditions such as water cycles, weather patterns, climate, and other nonbiotic aspects.
The loss of biodiversity has many consequences that we understand, and many that we
do not. It is apparent that humankind is willing to sustain a great deal of biodiversity
loss if there are concomitant benefits to society; we hope they are net benefits. In
many cases, the benefits seem to accrue to a few individuals only, with net societal
loss. However, it is extremely difficult to, estimate the future costs of losses in
biodiversity or of environmental damage (Rainforest Conservation Fund, 2017). As
stated by Tilman, "The Earth will retain its most striking feature, its biodiversity, only if
humans have the prescience to do so. This will occur, it seems, only if we realize the
extent to which we use biodiversity (Rainforest Consevation Fund, 2017)."

Nutritional Impact of Biodiversity

According to the World Health Organization, biodiversity is a vital element of a human

being's nutrition because of its influence to food production. Biodiversity is a major
factor that contributes to sustainable food production for human beings. A society or a
population must have access to a sufficient variety of nutritious food as it is a
determinant of their health as human beings.

Nutrition and biodiversity are linked at many levels: the ecosystem, with food
production as an ecosystem service; the species in the ecosystem; and the genetic
diversity within species. Nutritional composition between foods and among
varieties/cultivars/breeds of the same food can differ dramatically, affecting
micronutrient availability in the diet. Healthy local diets, with adequate average levels of
nutrients intake, necessitates maintenance of high biodiversity levels. Intensified and
enhanced food production through irrigation, use of fertilizer, plant protection
(pesticides), or the introduction of crop varieties and cropping patterns affect
biodiversity and thus impact global nutritional status and human health. Habitat
simplification, species loss, and species succession often enhance communities,
vulnerabilities as a function of environmental receptivity to ill health (WHO, 2007).

Health, Biology, and Biodiversity

Almost all living organisms are dependent to their environment to live and reproduce.
Basic needs of living organisms such as air, water, food, and habitat are provided by its
environment. The evolution of human beings was due to the improved access to these

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basic needs. Advances in agriculture, sanitation, water treatment, and hygiene have
had a far greater impact on human health than medical technology.

Although the environment sustains human life, it can also cause diseases. Lack of basic
necessities is a significant cause of human mortality.

Environmental hazards increase the risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma, and many
other illnesses. These hazards can be physical, such as pollution, toxic chemicals, and
food contaminants, or they can be social, such as dangerous work, poor housing
conditions, urban sprawl, and poverty. Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation and
hygiene are responsible for a variety of infectious diseases, such as schistosomiasis,
diarrhea, cholera, meningitis, and gastritis. In 2015, approximately 350,000 children
under the age of five (mostly in the developing world) died from diarrheal diseases
related to unsafe drinking water, and approximately 1.8 billion people used drinking
water contaminated with feces. More than two billion people lacked access to basic
sanitation.

The interrelation between human health and biological diversity is considerable and
complex. With the current biodiversity loss at unprecedented rates, the delicate balance
between human health and biological diversity is at risk.

Environment-Related Illnesses

Some human illnesses that are found to be related with its environment include
Parkinson's disease, heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
asthma, diabetes, obesity, occupational injuries, dysentery, arthritis, malaria, and
depression.

By contrast, activities that promote health and extend human life could have adverse
environmental effects. For example, food production causes environmental damage
from pesticides and fertilizers, soil salinization, waste produced by livestock, carbon
emissions from food manufacturing and transportation, deforestation, and overfishing.
Health care facilities also have adverse environmental impacts. Hospitals use large
quantities of electricity and fossil fuels and produce medical wastes. To prevent some
diseases, it may be necessary to alter the environment. For example, malaria was
eradicated in the United States and other developed nations in the 1940s and 50s as a
result of draining wetlands and spraying DDT to kill mosquitoes. A reduction in mortality
from starvation or disease can lead to overpopulation, which stresses the environment
in many different ways-increasing use of fossil fuels, clearing of land, generating
pollution and waste, and so on (Rensik & Portier, 2017).

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Lesson 3: Genetically Modified Organisms: Science, Health, and Politics

Introduction

In 2001, Rosalie Ellasus, a former overseas Filipino worker in Singapore turned farmer,
attended the Integrated Pest Management Farmers Field School and was introduced to
Bt Corn, a genetically modified corn that is resistant to the destructive Asian corn borer.
Ms. Ellasus volunteered for demo-testing in her field. Bt Corn yielded 7.2 tons per acre
as compared to a regular yield of 4.2 tons per hectare. No insecticide spraying was
needed. This is one of the success stories of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
(Ongkiko, 2016).

Genetic engineering has been with the human society since selective breeding was
introduced to humankind and when animals were domesticated. Yet, the process of
genetic alterations is all but natural.

It was in 1951 that the term genetic engineering was coined by Jack Williamson, author
of the science fiction novel Dragon'& Island (Stableford 2004). This was years before
actual research findings on the DNA's role in heredity and its structure, the double-helix
of Watson and Crick, were published. Through continuous search for development,
genetic were engineering no longer stayed in science fiction novel. It became a reality
in science laboratories. The general process of genetic engineering is the deliberate
manipulation of the organism's genes, where it may involve transfer of genes from
other organism.

An antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria was created in 1973. To date, there are ongoing
researches on GMOs such as using genetically modified male mosquitoes as pest control
over female mosquito carriers of Zika virus. However, despite the many possibilities of
creating solutions for problems and opening doors for innovations, genetic engineering
faces much opposition. Opponents raise ethical, social, and environmental issues
related to genetic engineering and its GMOs.

This lesson will present the existence of genetic engineering, engineering, specifically
GMOs in the different areas of life, the impact to humankind, and the controversies that
surround them.

Genetically Modified Organism

Genetically modified organism (GMO) is the term used for an organism created through
genetic engineering. The World Health term used for Organization (WHO, 2014) defines
GMO as an "organism, either plant, Health animal, or microorganism, in which the
genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by

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mating or natural has recombination." Below is a diagram of how bacterial gene is

introduced through genetic engineering to plant cells and tissues to develop and breed
a genetically modified plant.

The development of GMOs was perceived to help in the advancement of technology for
the benefit of humans in different industries like agriculture and medicine.

GMOs in Food and Agricultural Industries

The Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health (CEEH, 2013) identified the
following roles of GMOs in the food and agricultural industries:

1. Pest resistance- genetically modified plants to resist certain pests.

An example is Bt Corn. The DNA (genome) of the Bt Corn has been modified with the
gene of Bacilus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium that produces proteins which is toxic
to corn borers (worms).

2. Virus resistance - genetically modified plants to resist certain viruses. An example

is GM papaya or rainbow papaya. The papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) is known to be
detrimental to papaya plants. The protein of PRSV was introduced to the papaya plant
through plant tissue which turned out to be resistant to the virus itself. The effect was
like the vaccines humans have against measles or influenza virus.

3. Herbicide tolerance- genetically modified plants to tolerate herbicide.

An example is Roundup Ready soybean. Glyphosate, an herbicide for weeds, was

introduced to soybeans making it tolerant to the herbicide itself. Farmers then can
spray the herbicide killing the weeds but not the soybeans.

4. Fortification- genetically modified plants fortified with certain minerals.

An example is Golden Rice. Beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, was introduced

through biosynthesis genes to the rice, making the rice grains fortified with vitamin A.

5. Cosmetic preservation- genetically modified plants resist natural discoloration.

An example is Arctic Apple. The apple variety was genetically modified to suppress the
browning of apple due to superficial damage.

6. Increase growth rate - a genetically modified organism that has higher yield in
growth than normal species.

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An example is AquAdvantage salmon. A gene from an oceaan pout, an eel-like fish was
introduced to Pacific Chinook salmon, making the salmon grow faster than its normal
rate.

GMOs in Non-Food Crops and Microorganisms

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in non-food crops and some microorganisms

involve the following:

1. Flower production - GMOs in flower production are seen in modified color and
extended vase life of flowers.

Examples are Blue Roses. The so-called "blue" roses, which are, in reality, lilac or
purple, contained cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside, together with large amounts of flavonols.
The introduction of the flavonoid 31, 51-hydroxylase gene into pelargonidin- or
cyanidin- producing rose cultivars diverts the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway toward
the production of delphinidin glucosides and the flower color to blue (Elomaa & Holton,
1994).

2. Paper production- modified characteristics of trees for higher yield of paper

production. Examples are poplar trees. Lignin is a complex polymer in trees that is
removed from wood to make paper through kraft process, through inserting genes that
code for ferulic acid in young poplar trees, the lignin structure is modified, making lignin
easier to breakdown (Veniza, 2014).

3. Pharmaceutical productions- modified plants to produce pharmaceutical

products. Examples are periwinkle plants. Bacterial genes were added to the periwinkle
plant to enhance the production of vinblastine, an alkaloid usually added to drugs for
cancer treatments like Hodgkin's lymphoma (Runguphan, 2010).

4. Bioremediation - use of modified plants that can assist in the bioremediation of

polluted sites. An example is shrub tobacco. Nicotiana glauca, or shrud tobacco
8enetically modified with phytochelatin TaPCSI1, is used for bioremediation. It shows
high level accumulation of zinc, lead, cadmium, nickel, and boron and produces high
biomass.

5. Enzyme and drug production- use of modified microorganisms that can produce
enzymes for food processing and medicines.

One example of this is CGTase. Cyclomaltodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase), an

enzyme used for food flavor enhancer, is produced in higher quantity by bacterium

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Bacillus which was genetically modified with the gene of a thermophilic anaerobe,
Thermoanaerobacter, carrying CGTase (Pedersen & Jorgensen, 1995).

Another example is artemesin. Artemesinic acid is a compound used for anti-malarial

drug extracted from sweet wordwood plant. Through genetic engineering, it can be
synthetically produced by yeast and bacteria with sweet wordwood plant gene (Zimmer,
2006).

6. GMOs in the medical field- genetic engineering is playing a significant role from
diagnosis to treatment of human-dreaded diseases. It helps in the production of drugs,
gene therapy, and laboratory researches.

One classic example is Humulin, the genetically engineered insulin used by Type 1
diabetes patients who are insulin- dependent. In the past, insulin is extracted from the
pancreases of pigs and cows that have caused allergic reactions to some diabetics using
it. In 1978, researchers from the City of Hope National Medical Center and Genentech
Biotechnology Company were able to produce human insulin. The gene for insulin was
inserted to bacterial DNA that was able to produce almost exactly the same human
insulin. This was a breakthrough in the mass production of human insulin. In 1996,
modified human insulin was approved, called the Humalog.

Benefits of GMOs

Studies show some of the potential benefits of GMOs:

 Higher efficiency in farming- with the use of pesticide- resistant/herbicide-

tolerant GMO crops, there will be less use for herbicides/pesticides, and lower
cost for labor and cultivation.
 Increase in harvest- GMO crops resistant to pests and diseases means
increase in potential growth and harvest.
 Control in fertility - controlling the purity of the hybrid seeds (GMO seeds)
ensures higher yields.
 Increase in food processing - altered characteristics of GM10 crops help ease
food processing.
 Improvement of desirable characteristics - GMOs offer longer shelf life,
enhanced color and taste, enhanced production or reduction of enzymes, and
other modified characteristics of plants, animals, and microorganisms.
 Nutritional and pharmaceutical enhancement- GMO crops like maize
fortified with lysine and Golden Rice fortified with vitamin A and iron. There are
now edible vaccines for viral and diarrheal diseases.
 Reduce the use of fertilizer and pesticides

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There are over 400 million acres of GMO farmlands all over the world. The top five
countries that operate GMO farmlands are the United States, Brazil, Argentina, India,
and Canada. Some of the GMO agricultural crops that have been approved for public
consumption and are already in the market include: alfalfa, corn, papaya, soya bean,
sugar beets, and squash. Most of these GMO crops were made to be resistant to pests.
Some examples of common food with GMOs are Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Quaker Chewy
Granola Bars, Ultra Slim Fast, Quaker Yellow Corn Meal, and Alpo Dry Pet Food.

In the animal industries, there are ongoing researches like studies on Pacific salmon
that grows twice faster than the native salmon and chicken resistant to H5N1 bird flu
viruses. However, these GMO animals are all in research laboratory and not yet
approved for public consumption.

Potential Risks of GMOs

Despite the promising claims of GMOs, the opponents of GMOs claim otherwise. For
example, there are studies that show a link in the adaption of pesticide-resistant GMO
crops to the significant growth of super weeds that became pesticide-resistant, too.
This caused additional problem to more than 12 million acres of farms in the United
States.

Opponents of GMOs have the following major concerns:

1. Since genetic engineering is still a young branch of science, there are inadequate
studies on the, effects of GMOs to humans and the environment.

2. Genetic engineering promotes mutation in organisms which the long term effect is
still unknown.

3. Human consumption of GMOs might have the following effects:

 More allergic reactions- GMO food may trigger more allergic reactions, more
so create new ones, as side effect of the gene alteration.
 Gene mutation -GMO food may develop abnormalities and mutation, more
than the desired product of the gene alteration.
 Antibiotic resistance - GMO food contains antibiotic- resistant genes; this may
cause disease-causing bacteria likely to be more antibiotic-resistant too,
increasing the possibility of widespread of the disease.
 Nutritional value- GMO food may have change in their nutritional value.

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Potential Environmental Risks Caused By GMOs

Karki (2006) summarized the perceived potential environmental risks caused by GMOs.
The identified major risks are the following:

1. Risk in gene flow- there is a potential risk of the modified gene to be transferred
from the GMO crop to its wild relative or organism in the soil and human intestine
(when ingested). For example, a decaying GMO plant could possibly transfer the
modified genes to the bacteria and fungi in the soil. Bacteria and fungi are capable of
using a genetic material from their surroundings. There are no studies yet on the
effects of the absorbed modified genes to the other organisms.

2. Emergence of new forms of resistance and secondary pests and weed problems -
GMO crops resistant to certain pesticides may trigger new form of pest resistance while
GMO herbicide- tolerant crops may lead to the over use of the herbicides which may
trigger new form of weed resistance.

3. Recombination of Virus and Bacteria to Produce New Pathogens-the modified gene

can be transferred and integrated in the viral or bacterial genes which may lead to viral
or bacterial gene modification or mutation. This living modified virus and bacteria may
then cause new disease that may affect other organisms including human beings.

Other direct and indirect environmental risks caused by GMOs (Molfino & Zucco, 2008):

1. Direct environmental risks are:

 introduction of the GMOs in the natural environment w may cause disruption of

the natural communities through food cons competition or interference;
 the possibility of unexpected behavior of the GMOs in the environment if it
escapes its intended use and may post threats or become pest;
 may cause harmful effects to ecosystem processes if GMOs interfere with the
natural biochemical cycles; and
 The persistence of GMO genes after its harvest which may cause negative
impacts to, the consumer of GMO products.

2. Indirect environmental risks are:

 alteration of agricultural practices like managing negative impacts of GMOs to the

environment such as evolution of insects, pests, and weeds that became
resistant to GMO crops;
 may have impacts to biodiversity caused by the alteration in agricultural
practices; and

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 may have varied environmental impacts due to GMOs interaction and release in
the natural environment.

Potential Human Health Risks caused by GMOs

A major concern in the use and consumption of GMOs is its effect on human beings,
primarily on human health. Some potential human health risks are identified (Akhter,
2001), such as:

 consumption of GMOs may have adverse effects since it is not naturally or

organically produced;
 consumption of GMOs may alter the balance of existing microorganisms in the
human digestive system;
 production of toxins may be detrimental to human health; and
 production of allergens may have adverse effects on humans.

Worldwide, there are many groups that campaign against GMO food consumption. They
encourage people to boycott GMO products and to be vigilant in checking if the food
they buy has GMO ingredients. In the Philippines, the Supreme Court has ruled against
the use of Bt eggplant, another genetically modified crop (Ongkiko, 2016).

Other potential risks that raise major concern are:

 Human Genome Project (HGP) - Mapping of human genes to provide framework

for research and studies in the field of medicine. It was feared that the ability to
produce human genetic information would create biases and give much power to
people holding the information and to the disadvantage of those who do not
have the genetic information.
 Mutation of genetically engineered microorganisms- Genetically modified bacteria
and viruses may mutate to become more resistant or virulent that may cause
more dreadful diseases for human beings.
 Cloning- The asexual reproduction of an organism using parent cell through
genetic engineering. In February 24, 1997, the first mammal, Dolly, a sheep
from Scotland, was born through cloning. With its celebrated success came the
fear or human cloning. It emerged the ethical issue of man "playing God."

Scientists and medical practitioners would definitely continue to search for ways to
preserve lives. Genetic engineering is perceived to be one of the keys to this venture.
Gene therapy and gene alteration are promising ways t0 improve human health
conditions.

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On the other hand, great fears loom in the process of this quest. There are many things
to be considered before a certain medical process using genetic engineering be
accepted.

These concerns were affirmed by the reports, of the World Health Organization. WHO
reported three major issues on GMOs that are in international public debates. These are
the potential risks of allergic reactions, gene transfer/flow, and outcrossing (WHO,
2014).

The primary issue on GMOs presented in public debate is its unnatural production or
what is termed to be a violation of nature. The creation of new organisms, like GMOs,
posts moral issues on defiance to natural laws. Another concern is the potential risks to
the environment and human health, to which so much is unknown yet.

Biosafety on GMOs

There are initiatives for the protection of the general humar population regarding the
issues and concerns about GMOs. International organizations developed principles and
treaties that somehow ensure biosafety on GMOs. Some of these initiatives are as
follows:

 The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). The Food and Agricultural

Organization (FAO) together with the World Health Organization (WHO) created
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). Codex is an intergovernmental
body that develops the Codex Alimentarius, know us the International Food
Code. Codex is responsible for the p development of standards, codes of
practices, guidelines, and recommendations on food safety. With the pressing
issues and concerns on GMOs, in 2003, Codex has developed principles N= for
the human health risk analysis of genetically modified (GM) food products. The
principles include pre-market assessments of GM food products and its
evaluation of direct and indirect effects. However, the Codex principles has no
binding effect on national legislation but through the sanitary and phytosanitary
measures of the World Trade Organization, national legislators are encouraged
to complement their (Ba national standards with the Codex Principles (WHO,
2014).
 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Established in 2003, Cartagena Protocol is
an international environmental treaty that regulates the transboundary
movements of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs). The Cartagena Protocol
requires exporters to seek consent from the importers before its first shipment of
LMOs (WHO, 2014).

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 International Trade Agreement on labeling of GM food and food

products. The agreement requires exporters of GM food and food products to
label their products and give rights too importing parties to reject or accept the
GM products. The premise of this policy is that consumers have the right to know
and the freedom to choose GM or non-GM products (Whitman, 2000).

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2014) claims that all GM products that are
available in the international market have passed safety assessment by national
authorities. The safety assessments basically look at the environmental and health risk
factors and food safety usually follows the Codex Food Code.

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Lesson 4: The Nano World

Scientific researchers have developed new technological tools that greatly improve
different aspects of our lives. The use of nanoscale is one important interdisciplinary
area generated by advancement in science and technology. Scientists and engineers
were able to build materials with innovative properties as they manipulate
nanomaterials. Indeed, research and application of knowledge on nanomaterials will
continue to bring widespread implications in various areas of the society, especially
health care, environment, energy, food, water, and agriculture.

Nanotechnology refers to the science, engineering, and technology conducted at the

nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers (NNI, 2017). Nanoscience and
nanotechnology employs the study and application of exceptionally small things in other
areas of science including materials science, engineering, physics, biology, and
chemistry (NNI, 2017).

The concepts of nanotechnology and nanoscience started in December 29, 1959 when
Physicist Richard Feynman discussed a method in which scientists can direct and control
individual atoms and molecules in his talk "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom"
during the American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology.
The term "nanotechnology" was coined by Professor Norio Taniguchi a decade after the
dawn of the use of ultraprecision machining (NNI, 2017).

How Small is a Nanoscale?

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10 of a meter. The illustration below shows

how small nanoscale is compared to other particles or materials.

Manipulation of nanomaterials needs an adept understanding of their types and

dimensions. The various types of nanomaterials are classified according to their
individual shapes and sizes. They may be particles, tubes, wires, films, flakes, or shells
that have one or more nanometer-sized dimensions. One should be able to view and
manipulate them so that we can take advantage of their exceptional characteristics.

How to View Nanomaterials

Scientists use special types of microscopes to view minute nanomaterials. During the
early 1930s, scientists used electron microscopes and field microscopes to look at the
nanoscale. The scanning tunneling of microscope and atomic force microscope are just
among the modern and of ne remarkable advancements in microscopy.

1. Electron microscope

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German engineers Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll built the first electron microscope during
the 1930s. This type of microscope utilizes a particle beam of electrons to light up a
specimen and develop a well-magnified image. Electron microscopes produce higher
and better resolution than older ight microscopes because they can magnify objects up
to a million times while conventional light microscopes can magnify objects up to 1,500
times only. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope
(TEM) are the two general types of electron microscope.

2. Atomic force microscope (AFM)

It was first developed by Gerd Binig, Calvin Quate, and Christoph Gerber in 1986. It
makes use of a mechanical probe that gathers information from the surface of a
material.

3. Scanning tunneling microscope

This special type of microscope enables scientists to view and manipulate nanoscale
particles, atoms, and small molecules. In 1986, Gerd Binig and Heinrich Rohrer won the
Nobel Prize in Physics because of this invention.

Nanomanufacturing

It refers to scaled-up, reliable, and cost-effective manufacturing of nanoscale materials,

structures, devices, and systems. It also involves research, improvement, and
incorporation of processes for the construction of materials. Therefore,
nanomanufacturing leads to the development of new products and improved materials.
There are two fundamental approaches to nanomanufacturing, either bottom-up or top-
down (NNI, 2017):

1. Bottom-up fabrication

It manufactures products by building them up from atomic- and molecular-scale

components. However, this method can be time-consuming. Scientists and engineers
are still in search for effective ways of putting up together molecular components that
self-assemble and from the bottom-up to organized structures.

2. Top-down fabrication

It trims down large pieces of materials into nanoscale. This process needs larger
amounts of materials and discards excess raw materials. There are new approaches to
the assembly of nanomaterials based from the application of principles in top-down and
bottom-up fabrication. These include:

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Dip pen lithography

It is a method in which the tip of an atomic force microscope is "dipped" into a chemical
fluid and then utilized to "write" on a surface, like an old-fashioned ink pen onto paper

Self-assembly

It depicts an approach wherein a set of components join together to mold an organized

structure in the absence of an outside direction.

Chemical vapor deposition

 It is a procedure wherein chemicals act in response to form very pure, high-

performance films.

Nanoimprint lithography

 It is a method of generating nanoscale attributes by "stamping" or "printing"

them onto a surface.

Molecular beam epitaxy

 It is one manner for depositing extremely controlled thin films.

Roll-to-roll processing

 It is a high-volume practice for constructing nanoscale devices on a roll of

ultrathin plastic or metal.

Atomic layer epitaxy

 It is a means for laying down one-atom-thick layers on a surface.

With the use of these techniques, nanomaterials are made more durable, stronger,
lighter, water-repellent, ultraviolet- or infrared- resistant, scratch-resistant, electrically
conductive, antireflective, antifog, antimicrobial, self-cleaning, among others. The
abovementioned characteristics lead to the manufacture of the present variety of
nanotechnology-enabled products such as tennis rackets and baseball bats to catalysts
for purifying crude oil and ultrasensitive recognition and classification of biological and
chemical toxins. It is not impossible that in the near future, computers that are better,
more efficient, with larger storage of memory, faster, and energy- saving will be
developed. Soon, the entire memory of a computer will be saved in a single tiny chip.
Moreover, nanotechnology has the potential to construct high-efficiency, low-cost
batteries and solar cells.

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Distinct Features of Nanoscale

Nanotechnology involves operating at a very small dimension and it allows scientists to

make use of the exceptional optical, chemical, physical, mechanical, and biological
qualities of materials of that small scale (NNI, 2017). The following are distinct features
of nanoscale:

1. Scale at which much biology occurs.

Various activities of the cells take place at the nanoscale. The deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) serves as the genetic material of the cell and is only about 2 nanometers in
diameter. Furthermore, the hemoglobin that transports oxygen to the tissues
throughout the body is 5.5 nanometers in diameter.

A good number of modern researches focus on advancing procedures, therapies, tools,

and treatments that are more accurate and custom-made than traditional methods and
cause no adverse effects on the body.

An example of this is the bio-barcode assay, which is a fairly inexpensive approach for
identification of specific disease markers in the blood despite their small number in a
particular specimen.

2. Scale at which quantum effects dominate properties of materials.

Particles with dimensions of 1-100 nanometers have properties that are significantly
discrete from particles of bigger dimensions. Quantum effects direct the behavior and
properties of particles in this size scale. The properties of materials are highly
dependent on their size. Among the essential properties of nanoscale that change as a
function of size include chemical reactivity, fluorescence, magnetic permeability, melting
point, and electrical conductivity.

One example is the nanoscale gold, which is not only the yellow-colored element we are
used to seeing but it can also appear red or purple. Gold's electrons display restricted
motion in the nanoscale. Practically, nanoscale gold particles selectively build up in
tumors, where they permit both precise imaging and targeted laser destruction of the
tumor while avoiding damage on healthy cells.

3. Nanoscale materials have far larger surface areas than similar masses of
larger-scale materials.

As we increase the surface area per mass of a particular material, a greater amount of
the material comes in contact with another material and can affect its reactivity. If l
cubic centimeter is filled with micrometer-sized cubes-a trillion (1012) of them, each
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with a surface area of 6 square micrometers-the total surface area amounts to 6 square
meters, or about the area of the main bathroom in an average house. When that single
cubic centimeter of volume is filled with 1-nanometer-sized cubes--1021 of them, each
with an area of 6 square nanometers-their total surface area comes to 6,000 square
meters.

Government Funding for Nanotechnology in Different Countries (Dayrit, 2005)

1. U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative

 The best-known and most-funded program is the National Nanotechnology

Initiative of the United States. The NNI was established in 2001 to coordinate
U.S. federal nanotechnology R&D. The NNI budget in 2008 and 2009 were $1.4
billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.

2. European Commission

 In February 2008, the EC officially launched the European.Nanoelectronics

Initiative Advisory Council (ENIAC).

3. Japan (Nanotechnology Research Institute, under the National Institute for Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology, AIST)

4. Taiwan (Taiwan National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology)

5. India (Nanotechnology Research and Education Foundation)

6. China (National Center for Nanoscience and Technology)

7. Israel (Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative)

8. Australia (Australian Office of Nanotechnology) Bene

9. Canada (National Institute for Nanotechnology or NINT) Nanc

10. South Korea (Korea National Nanotechnology Initiative)

11. Thailand (National Nanotechnology Center or NANOTEC) society initiati

12. Malaysia (National [Malaysia] Nanotechnology Initiatives or to acce NNI) develop

Possible Applications of Nanotechnology in the Philippines (Dayrit, 2005)

1. ICT and semiconductors

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2. Health and medicine

3. Energy

4. Food and agriculture

5. Environment

Nanotech Roadmap for the Philippines (funded by PCAS- TRD-DOST)

1. ICT and semiconductors

2. Health and biomedical

3. Energy

4. Environment

5. Agriculture and food

6. Health and environmental risk

7. Nano-metrology

8. Education and public awareness

Benefits and Concerns of Using Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology has various applications in different sectors of the society and

environment. Salamanca-Buentello et al. (2005) proposed an initiative called
"Addressing Global Challenges Using Nanotechnology" to accelerate the use of
nanotechnology to address critical sustainable development challenges. They suggested
a model that could help figure out the possible contributions of the community in
overcoming global challenges that pose risk on health and other aspects of peoples'
lives. However, there are concerns that need to be addressed before using and
promoting materials derived from nanotechnology (Dayrit, 2005).

1. Nanotechnology is not a single technology; it may become pervasive.

2. Nanotechnology seeks to develop new materials with specific properties.

3. Nanotechnology may introduce new efficiencies and paradigm which may make some
natural resources and current practices uncompetitive or obsolete.

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4. It may be complicated to detect its presence unless one has the specialist tools of
nanotechnology.

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Lesson 5: The Aspects of Gene Therapy

Introduction

Medical science has detected many human diseases related to defective genes. These
types of diseases are not curable by traditional methods like taking readily available
medicines. Gene therapy is a potential method to either treat or cure genetic-related
human illnesses.

In 2015, a team of researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the Boston Children's
Hospital stated that they were able to restore basic hearing in genetically deaf mice
using gene therapy. The Boston Children's Hospital research team also reported that
they have restored a higher level of hearing-down to 25 decibels which is actually
equivalent to a whisper. They used an improved gene therapy vector developed at the
Massachusetts Eye and Ear that was identified as "Anc80" which enables the transfer of
genes to the inaccessible outer hair cells when introduced into the cochlea (Fliesler,
2017).

Human gene therapy was actually first realized in 1971 when the first recombinant DNA
experiments were planned. It can be simply viewed as insertion foreign DNA into a
patient's tissue that hope to successfully eradicate the targeted disease. It was actually
inspired by the success of recombinant DNA technology which occurred over the last 20
years. Without a doubt, gene therapy is the most promising yet possibly unfavorable
medical field being studied.

The Basic Process

There are several approaches to gene therapy. These are the following (Fliesler, 2017):
Replacement of mutated gene that causes disease with a healthy copy of the gene
Inactivation of a mutated gene that is functioning improperly Introducing a new gene
into the body to help fight a disease In general, a gene cannot be directly inserted into
a human gene or cell. A gene is inserted into another gene using a carrier or vector. At
present, the most common type of vectors are viruses that have been genetically
changed to carry normal human DNA. Viruses have evolved a way of encapsulating and
transporting their genes to human cells inn a pathogenic manner (Science Daily, 2017).

Two Types of Gene Therapy

The idea of gene therapy is based on correcting a disease at its root; fixing the
abnormal genes that appears to lead to certain diseases.

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There are essentially two forms of gene therapy. One of which is called somatic gene
therapy. Somatic gene therapy involves the manipulation of genes in cells that will be
helpful to the patient but not inherited to the next generation (Nimsergern, 1988).

The other form of gene therapy is called germ-line gene therapy which involves the
genetic modification of germ cells or the origin cells that will pass the change on to the
next generation (Your Genome, 2017).

Stem Cell Gene Therapy

Stem cells are mother cells that have the potential to become any type of cell in the
body. One of the main characteristics of stem cells is their ability to self-renew or
multiply while maintaining the potential to develop into other types of cells. Stem cells
can become cells of the blood, heart, bones, skin, muscles, brain, among others. There
are different sources of stem cells but all types of stem cells have the same capacity to
develop into multiple types of cells.

Stem cells are derived from different sources. Two of which are embryonic and somatic
stem cells.

The embryonic stem cells are derived from a four- or five-day-old human embryo that is
in the blastocyst phase of development. The embryos are usually extras that have been
created in IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics where several eggs are fertilized in a test
tube then implanted into a woman (Crosta, 2013).

The somatic stem cells are cells that exist throughout the body after embryonic
development and are found inside of different types of tissue. These stem cells have
been found in tissues such as the brain, bone marrow, blood, blood vessels, skeletal
muscles, skin, and the liver. They remain in a non-dividing state for years until activated
by disease or tissue injury. These stem cells can divide or self-renew indefinitely,
enabling them to generate a range of cell types from the originating organ or even
regenerates the entire original organ. It is generally thought that adult or Somatic stem
cells are limited in their ability to differentiate based on their tissue of origin, but there
is some evidence to suggest that they can differentiate to become other cell types
(Crosta, 2013).

The Bioethics of Gene Therapy

There are ethical issues involved in gene therapy. Some of the inquiries cited are
(Genetics Home Reference, 2017):

1. How can "good" and "bad" uses of gene therapy be distinguished?

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2. Who decides which traits are normal and which constitute a disability or disorder?

3. Will the high costs of gene therapy make it available only to the wealthy?

4. Could the widespread use of gene therapy make society less accepting of people who
are different?

5. Should people be allowed to use gene therapy to enhance basic human traits such as
height, intelligence, or athletic ability?

Another controversy involves the germline therapy. As discussed, germline therapy is

genetic modification of germ cells that will pass the change on to the next generation.
There are a lot of questions on the effects of the gene alteration to the unborn child
and the next generation, since the alteration can be passed on. In the United States,
the government does not fund researches on human germline gene therapy.

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Lesson 6: Climate Change

Introduction

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body that
evaluates climate change science, released its report on global climate change. The
report's important conclusions were the following: world's climate has changed
significantly over the past century the significant change has human influence; using
climate models and if the trend continues, the global mean surface temperature will
increase between 1'C and 3.5°C by 2100.

Why should a few degrees of warming be a cause for a concern? According to experts,
global climate change could have a greater potential to change life in our planet than
anything else except a nuclear war. These changes will also lead to a number of
potentially serious consequences.

But first, what is climate change? Climate change refers to the statistically significant
changes in climate for continuous period of time. Factors that contribute to climate
change can be natural internal process, external forces, and persistent anthropogenic
changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. It can also be due to
natural occurrences or contributed by acts of human beings.

This lesson will present the causes of climate change and its effects on the society.

Causes of Climate Change

 The causes of climate change could be natural or by human activities.

Natural Causes

Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanic eruptions are one of the natural causes of climate change. When volcanoes
erupt, it emits different natural aerosols like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxides, salt
crystals, volcanic ashes or dust, and even microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. The
volcanic eruption can cause a cooling effect to the lithosphere because its emitted
aerosol can block a certain percentage of solar radiation. This cooling effect can last for
one to two years.

What happens in violent volcanic eruptions is the release of ashh particles in the
stratosphere. The volcanic ashes which have sulfur dioxide combine with water vapor.

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It then forms to sulfuric acid and sulfurous aerosols. The sulfurous aerosols then are
transported by easterly or westerly winds. Volcanoes located near the equator are more
likely to cause global cooling because of the wind pattern. Volcanoes located near to
north or south poles are less likely to cause cooling because of pole wind pattern, the
sulfurous aerosols are confined in pole area.

There are several recorded major volcanic eruptions that cause climate change. Mount
Tambora of Indonesia erupted in 1816. It was considered as the largest known eruption
in human history. The eruption caused snowfall in the northeastern United States and
Canada. It affected their agricultural lands, losing crops that caused food shortage and
increased human mortality. The eruptions of Mount Krakatau of Indonesia in 1883 and
Mount Pinatubo of the Philippines in 1991 contributed, too, to the cold years of planet
Earth.

Orbital Changes

Earth's orbit can also cause climate change. This was proposed by the Milankovitch
theory. The Milankovitch theory states "that as the Earth travels through space around
the Sun, cyclical variations in three elements of Earth-Sun geometry combine to
produce variations in the amount of solar energy that reaches Earth (Academic
Emporia, 2017).

The three elements that have cyclic variations are eccentricity, obliquity, and
precession.

Eccentricity is a term used to describe the shape of Earth's orbit around the Sun. The
impact of the variation is a change in the amount of solar energy from perihelion
(around January 3) to aphelion (around July 4). The time frame for the cycle is
approximately 98,000 years (Academic Emporia, 2017). Currently Earth's eccentricity is
0.016 and there is about a 6.4% increase in insolation from July to January (Academic
Emporia, 2017). Academic Emporia (2017) states, The eccentricity influences seasonal
differences: when Earth is closest to the Sun, it gets more solar radiation. If the
perihelion occurs during the winter, the winter is less severe. If a hemisphere has its
summer while closest to the Sun, summers are relatively warm."

Obliquity is the variation of the tilt of Earth's axis away from the orbital plane. As this
tilt changes, the seasons become more exaggerated. The obliquity changes on a cycle
taking approximately 40,000 years. Academic Emporia (2017) states "the more tilt
means more severe seasons-warmer summers and colder winters; less tilt means less
severe seasons-cooler summers and milder winters."

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Precession is the change in orientation of Earth's rotational axis. The precession cycle
takes about 19,000 to 23,000 years. Precession is caused by two factors: a wobble of
Earth's axis and a turning around of the elliptical orbit of Earth itself (Academic
Emporia, 2017). Obliquity affected the tilt of Earth's axis, precession affects the
direction of Earth's axis. The change in the axis location changes the dates of perihelion
(closest distance from Sun) and aphelion (farthest distance from Sun), and this
increases the seasonal contrast in one hemisphere while decreasing it in the other
hemisphere (Academic Emporia, 2017). Currently, Earth is closest to the Sun in the
Northern Hemisphere winter, which makes the winters there less severe (Academic
Emporia, 2017). Another consequence of precession is a shift in the celestial poles, Five
thousand years ago, the North Star was Thuban in the constellation Draco. Currently,
the North Star is Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the theory fell into disrepute due to radiocarbon dating,
indicating a lag in cooling versus insolation and to a scale problem with high frequency
glacial advances (Academic Emporia, 2017). The theory was revived several times
throughout the late 1960s to the present (Academic Emporia, 2017).

The Carbon Dioxide Theory

Carbon dioxide (CO,) is added when power and heat are produced by burning coal, oil,
and other fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is transparent to sunshine but not invisible to
infrared (heat) radiation leaving the ground. Carbon dioxide absorbs part of the infrared
radiation in the air and returns it to the ground keeping the air near the surface warmer
than it would be if the carbon dioxide did not act like a blanket. Doubling the carbon
dioxide raises the temperature to 2'C to 3°C.

Human Activities

Human activities contribute-to climate change. The largest known contribution comes
from the burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases and aerosols affect climate by altering incoming solar radiation and
outgoing infrared (thermal) radiation that are part of Earth's energy balance. Changing
the atmospheric abundance or properties of these gases and particles can lead to a
warming or cooling of the climate system. Since the start of the industrial era (about
1750), the overall effect of human activities on climate has been a warming influence.
The human impact on climate during this era greatly exceeds that due to known
changes in natural processes, such as solar changes and volcanic eruptions. Human
activities result in emissions of four principal greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO,),
methane (CH), nitrous oxide (N,O) and the halocarbons (a group of gases containing

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fluorine, chlorine, and bromine). These gases accumulate in the atmosphere, causing
concentrations to increase with time

The greenhouse gases mentioned are natural gases. However, the high level of these
gases in the atmosphere contributes to the greenhouse effect. The increasing amount
of these gases is due to human activities. High level of carbon dioxide comes from fossil
fuel use in transportation; and the building, heating, cooling, and manufacture of
cement and other goods. Deforestation releases carbon dioxide and reduces its uptake
by plants. High methane emission is related to agriculture, natural gas distribution, and
landfills. High nitrous oxide is also emitted by human activities such as fertilizer use and
fossil fuel burning. Halocarbon gas concentrations have increased primarily due to
human activities. Principal halocarbons include the chlorofluorocarbons (e.g., CFC-1l
and CFC-12) which were used extensively as refrigeration agents and in other industrial
processes before their presence in the atmosphere were found to cause stratospheric
ozone depletion. The abundance of chlorofluorocarbon gases is decreasing as a result
of international regulations designed to protect the ozone layer (The Encyclopedia of
Earth, 2016).

Ozone is another greenhouse gas that is continually produced and destroyed in the
atmosphere by chemical reactions. In the troposphere, human activities have increased
ozone through the release of gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and
nitrogen oxide, which chemically react to produce ozone.

Halocarbons released by human activities destroy ozone in the stratosphere and have
caused the ozone hole over Antarctica. While water vapor is the most abundant and
important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, human activities have only a small direct
influence on the amount of atmospheric water vapor. Indirectly, humans have the
potential to affect water vapor substantially by changing climate. For example, a
warmer atmosphere contains more water vapor. Human activities also influence water
vapor through CH emissions, because CH, undergoes chemical destruction in the
stratosphere, producing a small amount of water vapor, and aerosols, the small
particles present in the atmosphere with widely varying size, concentration, and
chemical composition. Some aerosols are emitted directly into the atmosphere while
others are formed from emitted compounds. Aerosols contain both naturally occurring
compounds and those emitted as a result of human activities. Fossil fuel and biomass
burning have increased aerosols containing sulphur compounds, organic compounds,
and black carbon (soot). Human activities such as surface mining and industrial
processes have increased dust in the atmosphere (IPCC, 2007). On September 16,
1986, an international treaty was adapted. It is called the Montreal Protocol. The treaty

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aimed to regulate the production and use of chemicals that contribute to Ozone layer
depletion (Britannica, 2017).

Effects of Climate Change on Society

Climate change could cause severe affects to all life forms around our planet. It direct
affects the basic elements of people's lives like water, food, health, use of land, and the
environment.

With the average global temperature which is predicted to rise by 2 to 3°C within the
next fifty years, glaciers will continue to melt faster. Melting glaciers will increase flood
risks during the wet season and strongly reduce dry-season water supplies to one-sixth
of the world's population, predominantly in the Indian subcontinent, parts of China, and
the Andes in South America. Declining crop yields due to drought, especially in Africa,
are likely to leave hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or purchase
sufficient food. At mid to high latitudes, crop yields may increase for moderate
temperature rises (2 to 3'C), but then decline with greater amounts of warming. Ocean
edification, a direct result of rising carbon dioxide levels, will have major effects on
marine ecosystems, with possible adverse consequences on fish stocks (Stern, 2007).

Climate change will increase worldwide deaths from malnutrition and heat stress.
Vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever could become more
widespread if effective control measures are not in place. Rising sea levels may result in
more flooded areas each year with a warming of 3 or 4°C. There will be serious risks
and increasing pressures for coastal protection (Stern, 2007).

Ecosystems will be particularly vulnerable to climate change, with one study estimating
that around 1540% of species face extinction with 2'C of warming. The consequences
of climate change will become disproportionately more damaging with increased
warming. Higher Temperatures will increase the chance of triggering abrupt and large-
scale changes that lead to regional disruption, migration, and conflict. Warming may
induce sudden shifts in regional weather patterns like the monS001 or the El Niño. Such
changes would have severe consequences for water availability and flooding in tropical
regions and threaten the livelihood of billions. Melting or collapse of ice sheets would
raise sea levels and eventually threaten at least 4 million km2 of land, which today is
home to 5% of the world's population (Stern, 2007).

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References

 Janice Patria Serafica, Greg Tabios Pawilen, Bernardo Nicolas Caslib, Jr., Eden
Joy Pastor Alata (Science, Technology, and Society) OBE Outcome-Based
Education

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