Adam and Eve and Avian Flu

The discovery of a new and terribly virulent strain of Avian Flu Virus has led to a discussion in the New York Times of the relationship between science and human progress:  Is Confidence in Science as a Source of Progress Based on Faith or Fact?

This is not a repeat of the red herring about science vs. religion. This is a discussion about whether we can place our faith in science to make the world a better place.

It brings back memories of my ninth grade science class with Mr. Shapiro. Our textbook outlined the various factors that went into the "scientific method."

Among them was (I am quoting from 50 years of memory) "a sincere concern for ethical standards and for the improvement of the human condition." Alfred Nobel did not invent dynamite to increase the destructiveness of war but to help build roads.

One of Judaism's oldest stories helps illuminate how we think about the question. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, in his essay "A Lonely Man of Faith," shows the two poles of this argument between faith and science to be a dialectical aspect of human existence. 

The two stories of in Genesis 1 and 2 reflect two sources of human dignity--the striving for knowledge and control of the universe (Adam 1, who was created equally with Eve and told to "Be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth") and the response of awe and retreat at the vastness of the universe (Adam 2, who was diminished to have a partner and then put in the garden to be its keeper).

Adam 1 asks how things work. Adam 2 asks why things work. Adam 1 becomes a microbiologist or a space explorer. Adam 2 grows organic vegetables in Vermont.

Both reflect human moral striving. If we devote our lives exclusively to one then we deny the other half of our moral heritage.

A fully human life lives in the dialectic between these two postures--the striving for knowledge and control alternating with a retreat to assess just why we are here and how we ought to live.

Should the discovery of this new avian flu virus be censored? The honest research of the scientists who discovered this new strain--more deadly than ever because it is airborne--could lead to disaster. It might fall into the hands of terrorists or be spread as the result of a terrible accident.

It is now time for these to retreat for the mandate of Adam 1 and listen to the sometimes fainter urgings of Adam 2. They need to step back and decide what exactly is the purpose of their new knowledge.