Jacob Bronowski has a brilliant series of ‘personal views’ being repeated on the BBC called the Ascent of Man. His concluding episode made some interesting points about the relationships between science and the arts and the integrity of knowledge.
He stated that it is our duty to safeguard knowledge from corporate or government intrusion. His fear was that the western world was more interested in zen and less interested in pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
He was less worried that the east might overtake western science in its endeavours. There are plenty of examples in history where the hub of new thinking was located in the Middle East or Asia.
What matters is the importance of preserving the integrity of knowledge.
odespinner 