Issue41 【米国有米】小组 第九次作业

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题目
41"Such no mainstream areas of inquiry as astrology, fortune-telling, and psychic and paranormal pursuits play a vital role in society by satisfying human needs that are not addressed by mainstream science."

提纲
Topic：（有保留地反对）在科学的思想方法尚未发展起来的时候，非主流领域确实起到了一定的作用。但是，随着科学的发展，人们也其作用也越来越小。
View1: 占星、算命以及通灵和超自然探索这样的非主流学科都曾经满足过人类都种程度的需要。
A在古代，人类虽积累的知识以及对这个世界的认识非常有限，许多的自然现象都无法解释，因此超自然学科被用来解释一切的问题，从为什么人会死到为什么会下雨。满足人们的好奇心
B一定程度上抚慰了焦虑不安。比如，有些人在一段时间内受很多挫折，情绪低落，他会去占卜，因为占卜的结果一般是模棱两可、故弄玄虚的，所以当他看到一点点好的字眼时就会充满希望。
View2：随着科学技术的不断发展，人们能够使用科学解释越来越多的问题，非主流科学的作用已经过时了。
View3：强调既定的命运，这可能导致人们失去奋斗的动力，或是失去责任意识

正文
The speaker asserts that since non-mainstream science satisfy some human needs which mainstream sciences can not, such non-mainstream science plays an important role in society. I concede that non-mainstream science indeed satisfied certain human needs when scientific technology has not yet been fully developed. However, with the development of scientific technology the potential harm of non-mainstream science to individual and society becomes more and more obvious, and the drawbacks of such areas far outweigh its benefits.

To support the statement the speaker might point out the two ostensible functions of non-mainstream sciences. First, non-mainstream science helped satisfied certain amount of human curiousness in the primitive stage of human history, when the consciousness of scientific study or systematic research had not yet come into human minds. At that time, it was only through non-mainstream science that the ancient people may find some answers to various natural phenomena which were far beyond their levels of understanding. For example, non-mainstream science explained the phenomena of rain, thunder, and flash as the anger of deity. This explanation can satisfy people's curiousness for a while. Secondly, non-mainstream science to some extent helped to relieve people's anxiety about the future. For instance, a person who believes in astrology might have an augur foretell his future when he is depressed. The augur might tell something that is vague and deliberately mystifying, with some good sign in it, as we know. These so-called good sign would help to pacify the anxiety of uncertainty about future, and even make the person who believes in the power of deity to renerve himself as a result.

However, along with the development of mainstream science, more and more questions are explained in a scientific way, and the two ostensible functions become demoded. The first function is questioned for the reason that non-mainstream science based on so-called mystic things, whose existence cannot be ensured at the first place, let alone the dependability. And the job of satisfying human’s curiousness is better accomplished by modern scientific technology, which explains the natural phenomena by providing objective evidence. For example, people begin to know that the natural phenomena, rain, thunder, flash, which were mentioned above is a physical transformation between vapor and water, and the motion of clouds, but not due to the rage of deity. Consider another example, the non-mainstream science used to believe that eclipse is a bad omen of future. This view is disproved by the observation of modern people using the telescope, which provide more objective and credible evidence.

The second function of non-mainstream science is the one we must be vary wary of. Since non-mainstream science holds the view that everyone's fate is fixed at the moment he was born, this view may lead people to believe that their effort is of little use in changing their life, or that no matter what kind of choice they make, things will surely go on in their predeterminated ways.  As a result, they might stop fighting for their future, or taking responsibility for their own actions. Accordingly, it is obviously that the disadvantages of non-mainstream science far outweigh their advantages.

In sum, non-mainstream science indeed had contributed to satisfy the human needs in the ancient time. Nevertheless, there is a tendency that the role of non-mainstream science is less and less important for its lack of objective evidence and encouragement to believe in fate.