Human ecology has much to contribute on the subjects of progress, personal freedom, aesthetics, private property, social welfare, population growth, national aspirations and the constructive pursuit of knowledge. We in the West have led the way in convincing the world that progress is action, progress is change. It has offered young people the promise of selfless service and a high calling in the search for Truth. The status of science, along with its language of mathematics, is preeminent in educational curricula. In this there lies a terrible danger.
Science is a cultural pursuit, meaning that it is rooted in our western philosophical tradition.
It both reflects and reinforces society's dominant values and goals. Its traditional agenda, hidden because unquestioned, is service to humanity no matter what the costs to the rest of creation. Its traditional goal is manipulation and control. Its methodology is intensely masculine, aggressive, competitive and non-affective. Science is instrumental, a means harnessed to human goals.