"What I’m getting at is that, over the decades, the energy and momentum in the sciences has increasingly focused on questions of human nature, not just raw physical forces and particles. "Thanks for this -- I've thought this myself for a while (cognitive scientist here) but haven't seen this argument laid out clearly as you have done here.
Back in 2008 or, eminent Marine Biologist Les Kaufman, speaking at Boston University, noted that the most important crises facing humans, and the ones scientists are trying to solve, all have their solutions centered in human behavior. This woke me up since this was a biologist speaking, not a psychologist.
So, humans are no longer trying to figure out nature in order to control it and reap its benefits, we are trying to figure out human nature. Les Kaufman implies the goal is not simply plenty of low-hanging fruit exists. But, to minimize the human-caused damage, including damage to ourselves, given that human behavior is the main obstacle to human physical health, a new thing in human history.
"What I’m getting at is that, over the decades, the energy and momentum in the sciences has increasingly focused on questions of human nature, not just raw physical forces and particles. "Thanks for this -- I've thought this myself for a while (cognitive scientist here) but haven't seen this argument laid out clearly as you have done here.
Back in 2008 or, eminent Marine Biologist Les Kaufman, speaking at Boston University, noted that the most important crises facing humans, and the ones scientists are trying to solve, all have their solutions centered in human behavior. This woke me up since this was a biologist speaking, not a psychologist.
So, humans are no longer trying to figure out nature in order to control it and reap its benefits, we are trying to figure out human nature. Les Kaufman implies the goal is not simply plenty of low-hanging fruit exists. But, to minimize the human-caused damage, including damage to ourselves, given that human behavior is the main obstacle to human physical health, a new thing in human history.