Knowledge and wisdom go hand in hand?

by Panchamee Hewavissenti

Modern man of the twentieth century has gained a tremendous advancement in the field of science. Of course, man thinks that it is a great achievement of his. Man has conquered earth as well as the universe.

Man has put his foot on the moon as well as other planets. Twentieth century man is indeed global, that it permeates and vitiates the whole fabric of human relations and human institution. It is a tremendous achievement which I can't explain in such a brief article like this.

Of course we have to accept that man is today at the pinnacle in the field of science and technology. As a result, civilisation has achieved unprecedented development.

Consequently the standard of man's life has become remarkably high. He governs the world; he has set up rules and regulations to govern his fellow human being; he is championing the cause of human rights and democratic system of government; He has imposed rules of law to establish peace in the world.

However the advancement of science and technology alone do not make up the world. The discovery of nuclear power caused the destruction of hundreds of thousands of human lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The same nuclear science is also capable of saving human lives and enhancing the quality of life of mankind throughout the globe.

The deep analysis and observations of some scholars and intellectuals about world predicament reveal that the modern man of the twentieth century is going to enter the third millennium is indeed in loss. The upheaval has broken up relationships and beliefs inherited from ancestors, without giving guidelines for the future.

Never in the history has mankind been faced with so many threats and dangers as the man of twentieth century is facing.

Though the man is in the technological era, there is no equilibrium in society. While people in developed countries are enjoying with delicious and ornamental food and various kind of luxury drinks, people in the Third World are starving to death. Some countries are suffering with never ending war.

The crisis continues and intensifies as one can observe in the social domain where alienation, crime, use of drugs, and many other social ills threaten the very fabric of modern society and in the destruction of environment where the very existence and day to day activities of the modern society threatens the balance of the natural environment and future of human life on earth.

The Parliament of the World Religions, which was held in Chicago in 1993, passed a resolution "Towards a Global Ethics". In its introduction , it said the world is suffering from a profound crisis. This crisis is so deep which now cannot be overlooked.

If the world community neglects this, then it can be equivalent to committing suicide. It is everyone's responsibility to realise that and work together to overcome it. This crisis is beyond the capacity of one single nation. Everybody has to work together to save mankind. Everybody is threatens by his neighbour. Thousands of unborn children are killed by their parents.

Modern man is not happy, he is not bothered to find the happiness either. He has not yet achieved a peaceful life free from psychological tensions. There are so many organisations, institutions governmental and non governmental which are working toward the development of people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual needs.

How many NGOs and INGOs are there in Sri Lanka alone? But all these seem to be failures.

Education

Bertrand Russell wrote in his book "The Scientific Outlook" published in 1993 that people need, along with the science and technology, higher wisdom which we lack at present.

He also wrote "A scientific civilisation is to be a good civilisation it is necessary that increase in knowledge, should be accompanied by increase in wisdom. I mean by wisdom a right conception of the ends of life.

This is something which science itself does not provide. Increase of science by itself, therefore, is not enough to guarantee any genuine progress, though it provides one of the ingredients which progress requires."

Developing a new human personality, a new kind of man , a man who has bold vision and is willing to make great sacrifices for the sake of the development and progress of human society, and who is capable of activating all the resources in his hand in order to upgrade the people's standard of life.

The tragedy is that today's education has failed to create this kind of personality. In brief present education has failed to build a stable society. It is unable to prepare the foundation of long -life- education. Everywhere in the world has the similar kind of education which produces the same kind of man. In USA some students carry pistols to school.

The recent cases of shooting by school children in American schools have completely shaken the educational system.

Religion

Though the people are aware of this tragedy they remain silent observers. The question I like to raise here is , can we be silent observers to these things? People have to aggravate this or should work against it. People have to work to stop this crisis and strengthen the civilisational development. As members of community, we all have to contribute in a positive way.

We have to seek help and guidance in whatever creed we are believing in. Because all the religions teach man to be good. We should think what religion contribute towards the healthy and balanced development of mankind. The mission of religion is to face all such problems and to offer a solution by showing mankind the true path he should follow to gain success here and in hereafter.

As modern man thinks and overlooks, the scientific and technological progress is not the first, not even the fundamental ingredient of life. With a mere advancement in science and technology alone is not sufficient for a man to establish a sound human life.

Undoubtedly modern man has to realise that he is lacking spiritual values and that is the main reason behind anxiety, confusion, madness, suicide, many other psychological and nervous disorders, and the feeling of perplexity and illusion among people, all of which constitute a threat to the security, peace and welfare of humanity, despite all the material progress achieved during the last two centuries. In other words man is in need of a guidance of religion.

Man needs guidance from religion for all aspects of his life. Man devoid of spiritual values which are inevitable for the betterment and development of mankind is indeed in loss. Religion provides no conflict between private and public life , no clash between material and spiritual life. Religion works as an integrated and comprehensive system of life which unites all aspects of mankind's life in to and integrated whole. Religion assures peace, prosperity, and development.

If modern man has realised that despite all his apparent grandeur and progress, he is virtually in great loss, it is wiser for him to seek the true guidance before he is too late.

(To be continued)

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