“Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently.”
-Wernher von Braun
I ponder upon this quote after my visit in Peenemunde. Peenemunde was the most modern technological facility between 1936-1945, a Nazi military test site that launched the first missile into space on October 1942. A military test site that revolutionized technology and war. A military test site that kept slave laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war under inhumane labors conditions.
Peenemunde augmented my view of science and technology. Sure, technology has dramatically improved our life conditions by curing diseases, increasing food production, reducing human labor and in general humans live a longer and better life as a result of it. On the other hand, Peenemunde has reminded me of the exhaustion of natural resources, the undeniable truth of Global Warming, and the obsessive ideology of consumerism.
I realize though, the problem is not science or technology, but the direction we choose to give it. It is up to us to create and act upon social consciousness. Although “science may not have a moral dimension”, humanity does. We must control technology for the benefit of all, for losing control of technology harms us all. Peenemunde reminded me of the brutal reality of mankind’s boundless cruelty. However it also reminded me of the power behind a person’s desires and most profound wishes. For since Wernher von Braun was a little boy, he desired nothing more fervently than to reach space.
As a psychology major I relate it to the power of the situation. Being under specific conditions can lead a person to believe and make choices they under normal circumstances would never accept or enact upon. I believe having all this historical knowledge can aid us in preventing such conditions and guide us to confront similar ones in the future. We only have one world and technology is not to blame for our destruction of it. Lets take responsibility and learn to respect human beings and Mother Nature, let’s create a Global Conscious.
V-2: A replica of the first missile launched into space, the V-2. Referred by the Nazi propaganda as the “Vengeance Weapon 2”. Made possible by Vernher von Braun, numerous scientists, and countless slave laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war.
Peenemunde: A Nazi military test site founded for the purpose of obtaining military supremacy through advanced technology. Wernher von Braun oversaw the facility; he was responsible for the deadly Nazi V-2 and later on NASA’s Saturn V.