How Societal Pressures Effect Scientific Discoveries

Could you ever separate what society wants from the scientific discoveries we have made? The answer is no. All scientific discoveries, from gravity to putting a man on the moon, have been moved forwards by society. However, there is a dark side to this pressure from the people. Societal pressures both help and hinder the scientific discoveries we make.

Organisations provide one thing that scientific discoveries cannot be made without: money.However, this is donated only to the research which the corporations are behind. This both helps and hinders, helping research for things that many people are behind, such as cures and better treatments for cancer and other widespread diseases, and new ‘green’ technology, though it hinders discoveries that not so relevant to people at the moment. I myself, when reading an article about research done by scientists regarding the beginning of human generosity,wondered why they were curious about such things and why they bothered putting money into it when there is so much else that could be researched.

                Nuclear war is much feared in the world, and so after the discovery of how build nuclear bombs by America and several other countries, the method and research was kept from other countries which are not that far along. Since scientists often depend upon and build off of the research of other scientists, these countries are being hindered in their discoveries by the political and societal desire of countries like the United States to not have a nuclear war somewhere in the future.

Religious beliefs, political ideologies as well as human ethics are hindering parts of the field of stem cell research. Very much could be discovered about stem cells and treatments for cancer, Parkinson’s disease and much more could be developed, however, there is currently much controversy concerning embryonic stem cell research. These cells can become any other type of cell and therefore could be a huge advance in treatments. In order for any research to be done though, it would require the creation, treatment and destruction of human embryos. This is a huge problem, but because of the hindrance scientists are being pushed to discover ways to collect these cells without harming the embryo, and actually are beginning to find them. 

In conclusion,societal pressures both help and hinder scientific discoveries. Without them,there would be no funding for research, though the research in that case is selected by the people who donate. The discovery of the atomic bomb by other countries has been hindered by political desire to keep such a destructive weapon from being at the hands of potential enemies. Research regarding embryonic stem cells has been much hindered, but thanks to the pressure of ethics, there are safe ways to get stem cells from embryos being discovered.Despite the hindrances, societal pressures also push forwards scientific discoveries.