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To:
letters@nytimes.com |
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Dear
Sir/Madam,
"Scientists
should be . .
. . mindful of
their own
motivation and
the larger
goal of what
they do: the
betterment of
humanity",
writes the
Dalai Lama in
Saturday's op-eds ("Our
Faith in
Science"),
thus revealing
his failure to
understand the
implications
of what Darwin
is supposed to
have taught
us about man's
animal
origins.
Millions of
years of
evolution
adapted human
behaviour to
serve the
survival and
advantage of
individuals
and family
groups in the
natural
environment.
The same
behavioural
programming now
operates in
the artificial
socio-economic
environment,
where it is
exploited by
an economy
that has
developed and
been honed to
do just that.
Like the rest
of us, beneath
the thin
veneer of
rationalisations,
a scientist's
main concern
is about
securing or
improving the
niche which
provides him
and his family
with social
status and
power (money)
in the
socio-economic
environment
- not with the
"betterment of
humanity".
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