The Benefits of Natural Science

• Helping Sciences
• Helping Countries
• Helping Individuals

Helping Other Sciences

The ancient Egyptians said: "The best and shortest road towards knowledge of truth is Nature."  Nature comes first, second and last, because we come from, live by and return to nature. We are temporary; Mother Nature is eternal; we are a small dot of an infinite universe.

Natural science is the leader of sciences, triggering effects on all aspects of life it naturally speeds up: politics, sociology, psychology, arts ... alongside logic and mathematics, all to reach our goal—happiness. In the Renaissance, science gradually pushed superstition aside, by the works of Copernicus, Galileo, Pascal, Newton, as well as da Vinci, Magellan, Columbus, etc. It heralded the Modern Ages, and, more importantly, the more empirical, influential, modern science.

Scientific breakthroughs mark the greatest leaps humanity has made, speeding up civilization more than any other factor (printing, electricity, silicon chip, satellites, etc.). Understanding Nature's laws of physics that govern our universe, life and destiny, facilitates understanding all other sciences.

• Arts improve by understanding our anatomy and response to the different color wavelengths/sound frequencies/shapes/motions/etc. Art gives pleasure and esp. helps mobile/audiovisual/young/slow learners. It temporarily compensates for the missing "knowledge, freedom & achievement," by searching inside for the unfound outside, accepting probabilities to fill the gap, until SCIENCE OFFERS FACTS.
• Psychology, cognitive science and education improve by better understanding of brain structure/chemistry, hormonal changes, etc. Psychology had started as a branch of philosophy, then as an independent theoretical science, then as a more physical one when we acquired enough chemistry/neurology/etc. facts on the human body, derived from the "real" world. Psychology superiorly, directly, albeit vaguely deals with emotions/well-being/giving meaning to life, while natural science only tells us that happiness is mere chemicals. However, such chemicals are meaningless without a "higher purpose" causing their release, where learning SCIENCE is the most superior pleasure to live "for and by," compared to any other instinct-driven, sensual or social pleasure. The pursuit of knowledge to change our world with, for us and others, is the most superior goal in life.
• Sociology is mostly collective psychology. It improves by neuroscience as well as IT influence on our thinking of the different social groups and similar patterns in the animal kingdom. Natural science is superior in influence to the other "less brainy" sciences (leading some to "physics envy"), yet the latter, e.g. social sciences, require equal attention too, to organize humans' coexistence together and provide environment for science and scientists, since science doesn't grow in a vacuum: it needs physical space to flourish. Social sciences are only "preparatory" for natural sciences, that superstitious societies are still stuck in such bottleneck stage without making tangible scientific achievements. It's not science's fault that some sociopaths, psychopaths, terrorists, etc. have scientific degrees; those are only "individuals" where science grew in the wrong environment. Meanwhile, a scientifically advanced society limits all the above, having less superstition or crime, and MORE scientific achievements, freedom and life satisfaction.
• Politics constantly transforms by technology: energy/water resources/communication/etc. Science and politics complete each other; yet (like "mind & body" or "knowledge & power") the former is superior, more qualified to give orders to the latter. Politicians cannot but execute the orders of scientists and their long-researched tested scientific data, else a politician's power is limited or illusionary. Science outweighs politics, until it eventually, nearly, but never fully, replaces politics, by a complete e-government (botocracy).
• Mathematics and natural science mutually need each other, as rules need examples. However, despite its sophistication, mathematics/logic/philosophy is only an abstract, lifeless medium. Natural science provides "illustration & motivation" to apply and improve mathematics; whereas mathematics provides maximum control and "accuracy" to science, where a slight error can be fatal (compared to humanities for example that may do with approximations). Mathematics saves, focuses and maximizes science's value too; otherwise science devolves into a mere handcraft relying on physical skill only.

Helping Countries

Spending more on natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, etc. that all other sciences inevitably derive from) allows even the poorest country to maximize the benefits gained from its limited resources, to become self-sufficient if not a rich country, where it imports less, exports more, and attracts foreign countries toward its advanced technologies, medical services, life quality, and cultural values inspiring others. Thus it grows into a fully-fledged regional power. If required, it also develops hi-tech security systems for itself and others, adjusting the same technology it uses for civil developmental purposes to suit defensive ones, keeping its internal and external stability, to protect individuals, properties, resources, and borders. 

Having a committed elite of "local scientists," knowing their country's needs and assets while living its daily problems, provides more economical, effective solutions than those of foreign/imported ones. A country's powerful elite can move the masses and entire country forward. For such masses, many governments in developing countries rightfully prioritize technical education (a more practical, less complex form of natural science), for men and "women" (else we have a "half-advanced" society), benefiting from its cheap unused labor force to boost industry, hence economy and "sustainable development," rather than relying on temporary resources. Statistically, learning a physical science increases one's chances of finding a job, compared to learning a theoretical or social one. We CHANGE our world/life, not just our perception of it.

Physical insecurities are the prime cause of public discontent, revolt and political instability (to Marx, politics is only an extension of economics). Some economic prosperity can provide environment for good science education that in turn leads to more prosperity, human rights protection and better quality of life. Prosperity is not to be confused with extravagance which cannot grant long-term prosperity, equality, or creativity. (Some poverty/tension is good for the mind.)

Even a "strong" regime that focuses most on stability must invest in human resources (brains) by spending most on science and education, to achieve long sustainable development. Gradually, when it's time for power transition to a more flexible rule and less power-grip, it happens smoothly. Citizens too can focus on science as an alternative to poor/restricted politics, for creativity, improving society, and even using science to direct politics, e.g. by IT to select, monitor, correct, expose, and PRESSURE governments.

Eventually, the more self-sufficient citizens become, the less politics they need, and the state's role diminishes, becoming mostly organizational and arbitrational, while interfering less in other aspects of life, personal and public, gradually letting citizens live independently like "microstates," by the power of knowledge each acquires to manage their own life. Science can push human-based politics fully aside and make it obsolete. Until then, politics is useless without science, achieving little, if not unnecessarily disrupting, complicating, and consuming human life.

Helping Individuals

For millennia, humanity has deviated from the natural path of civilization, ever since humans challenged Nature and refused to start from where animals ended. Once they became aware of death, they grew obsessed with it, treating their fantasies and recollections of their dead, stored in their highly-evolved brains, as FACTS to dwell on, and on ... while missing the real facts of life, without improving its quality for the living.

It's a pity to spend life without knowing the basics of our nearest everyday surroundings, that are only governed by natural science—in one's room, house, street, body ... when we eat, talk, move, work, play, and LIVE, that "popular science" esp. draws our attention to, seeing how science is most useful, available and enjoyable.

• When you stumble, hurt yourself, etc. then feel upset or angry, you should blame your ignorance/arrogance, not nature that you forget you are part of.
• While deeply thinking and theorizing, you may forget to connect with nature first, to which your brain belongs, for your theories to be valid. (Your gray matter is the most precious in nature!)
• Above all, when facing death, by a disease/accident/etc., some call it fate, while it's merely the laws of physics we live at the mercy of. Scientists like Einstein tell us the more we learn, the more we discover "what we know is a tiny fragment of 'the unknown' we don't." Yet we keep learning, gravitated toward that unknown, to live longest and happiest, in harmony with those laws we can never escape, and will never fully fathom.

• Natural science saves money, time, and energy. It solves one's daily problems, speeding up life and making it easier. Mastering self-help techniques helps one in difficult situations and environments to solve his/her problems as well as others'. One depends less on professionals/pseudo-professionals, esp. in emergencies while alone. No one "cares" about your problems more than you. Examples:

• maintaining/protecting your own body (against diseases/accidents/health decline);
• your house (its structure/plumbing/electricity/security/etc.);
• your possessions (car, electronic equipments, plants, foods, etc.);
• and those of people you live with.

All the above require you to have basic "scientific" knowledge, as it's almost impossible to find/afford/rely on all professionals in all those fields. It's why natural science occupies the largest portion of elementary education curricula everyone needs.

Learning how science develops (from journals, future studies, or even science fiction) helps us "predict & plan" properly for the future (future economy, health, security, etc.), ours and that of Earth and entire humanity, e.g. when deciding a future major study/career/project, or effects on health/environment, etc. It's a pleasure too, virtually traveling to an era we may/may never live with future people.

• Natural science improves logical thinking by the force of REALITY, that is always superior to fantasy, however a useful medium the latter is. In physical sciences a little "error" can cause disasters, where inaccuracy has a hefty price. There is less room for marginal errors, hypotheses, opinions, and generalizations as in sociology, psychology or arts. No wonder natural sciences heavily rely on mathematics, logic and laws to process them. Unlike theoretical sciences and experimenting with mere ideas, making a wrong "physical" move in natural science can be immediately, irreparably fatal, because there is no time to reconsider an idea, or place to escape one's actions.

Since we always, somehow, use during scientific experiments "our body & physical properties," which we can't RISK, we automatically grow cautious, skeptic, specific, decisive, practical, and creative, developing "scientific thinking" habits naturally.

• We gather enough data & count our chances of failure and success. 
• We become careful, observant & flexible during experiments.
• We grow more patient, knowing we must respect experiment time.
• We later analyze findings and define results, to keep in mind during future experiments.
• Above all, we become more creative. Unlike science detractors' claims, scientific thinking requires us to be imaginative, before, during and after experiments, to constantly visualize solutions our limited here-and-now physical world doesn't have. A true scientist/inventor/explorer ... knows that imagination is his sole companion when facing hardships and others' mockery: his prime tool of creation, even long before a work materializes into existence.

• Natural science gives pleasure. Learning about and changing our physical world is the greatest goal in life, giving meaning, satisfaction, and intellectual pleasure, compared to the other sensual and social pleasures that are driven by instinct like animals'. We help ourselves and other people most by improving "our environment and bodies," both belonging to natural science's realm, not by playing, traveling, chatting and eating together. Still, natural science has a sensual pleasure part too, as when doing experiments, exploring an environment, etc., that is, "interacting" with Mother Nature.

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