The Scientific Point of View

J.B.S. Haldane (1892–1964) was a distinguished British-Indian scientist and gifted popular-science writer. In this essay he argues that the greatest gift of science is not its inventions but a new way of thinking, the scientific point of view, which every person should adopt in daily life.

Beyond inventions: the scientific mind

Haldane observes that science must go beyond merely providing practical applications such as motor-cars, medicine or weapons; it must reshape the way the human mind approaches daily life. He defines the 'scientific point of view' as an intellectually honest, objective and completely impartial approach to all natural phenomena.

The depth of scientific impartiality

Haldane contrasts legal impartiality with scientific impartiality. A good judge tries to be impartial only between two human beings, such as Mr. John Smith and Mr. Chang Sing. A scientist, however, must remain impartial between a human being, a tapeworm and the entire solar system.

To do this, the scientist must overcome natural human repulsion toward a tapeworm and study its biology with the same intellectual care they would give to a symphony, and must view the vast solar system without superstitious awe, recognising it as a group of bodies obeying simple, intelligible laws. This perspective produces a unique mixture of pride and humility.

The 'God's eye-view' and ethical neutrality

Because it places all natural phenomena on the same emotional level, the scientific point of view is often called the 'God's eye-view'. But Haldane stresses a crucial difference: science is strictly 'ethically neutral'. It cannot determine what is morally right or wrong, and should not try to.

A biochemist can point out that polluting a city's public water supply will kill thousands of people, but science itself cannot decide whether doing so is a moral sin or a heroic act. Science reveals consequences; it does not deliver moral verdicts.

Two failures of scientific thinking

To show how society fails to adopt the scientific point of view, Haldane gives two examples. First, racial prejudice in America: in the early 20th century many white Americans emotionally argued that Black Americans were biologically inferior and should be segregated. Biologists proved that skin differences are minor and that high death rates among Black communities were due to poverty, poor sanitation and disease, not natural inferiority.

Second, the attitude toward disease: the older, emotional view treated disease as a spiritual punishment sent by a deity for sin. Jesus combated this view, yet many still hold it. Science instead treats disease as a manifestation of natural laws to be understood and prevented through research. Haldane notes that although insulin keeps a diabetic alive, the general lack of scientific education prevents many diabetics from realising their bodies are systems obeying definite physical laws. He concludes that to conquer humanity's real enemies, bacteria, cyclones and poverty, we must adopt the scientific point of view.