— Hu Jiaqi, The Founder of SHAO, Replied Nobel Prize Winner
In November 2021, Hu Jiaqi, the founder and director of SHAO sent The 6th Open Letter to Leaders of Mankind. In the letter, he put forward a serious issue－the irrational development of science and technology will bring about human extinction. Meanwhile, he appealed for all the countries in the world to constrain the frantic development of technologies for the sake of mankind’s existence and safety. His letter has received active responses from people of all walks of life. In particular, Professor Jacques Dubochet, the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, replied to Hu’s letter.
The letter from this world-renowned scientist is of great significance because the viewpoint of “constraining the development of science and technology” is highly approved. Hu Jiaqi paid high attention to this letter and replied immediately.
This Swiss scientist expressed his view on science and technology crisis in his letter: “The problem is not about knowledge but what we do with it. Unfortunately, we are not doing well. Your proposal is to restrict technology. Fundamentally, I agree. We should.”
Professor Jacques Dubochet proposed the idea that UNO should be in charge of the supervision of all technologies for their development and their use. He also pointed out: “It would be the end of all patents. Nobody could exploit knowledge for exclusive right or financial interest. The only criteria would be the well being of all people.” Besides, he is against any profit gained from the frenetic development of technology. For example, he held that Elon Musk would not be allowed to send tourists in space or to colonize Mars.
Concerning the details about how to restrict the development of science and technology, Professor Jacques Dubochet expressed his interest in getting Hu Jiaqi’s reply. Mr. Hu replied earnestly that mankind could never use science and technology in a perfect manner. This conclusion was drawn from his 40-year study on human issues. There are mainly two reasons:
First and foremost, we can not fully grasp the functions of science and technology correctly. Science and technology has its uncertainties, and what we think the best is always the worst. Meanwhile, the higher the technology becomes, the more difficult for us to judge its safety. For example, the use of freon leads to the destruction of ozonosphere and the use of DDT exerts a negative impact on biodiversity. At the beginning, we use these tech-products with good intention, but there is no good return.
Second, it is impossible for us to use the products of science and technology with absolutely good intention. Mankind is a specific species, and even the best moral value and legal system can only play an effective role in restricting the entire society. The extremely bad things may happen anytime and may be committed by anyone, including scientists. Therefore, the hope that science and technology can be well used is an extravagant one.
Therefore, under the condition that we can neither predict the safety of all science and technologies nor use each of them well, we have only one choice, that is, we should not allow science and technology to develop to such a level as to exterminate mankind, which means the restriction of scientific and technological development.
Basically, Mr. Hu’s attitude towards science and technology is that we should restrict it firstly, and use it well secondly. The so-called “restriction” means that science and technology can not develop to a higher level. A lot of technologies may bring extreme danger to mankind if they continue to develop. Enough time must be left for us to avoid the extermination. The so-called “use well” means that we should scrutinize science and technology carefully and spread all the existing mature and safe scientific and technological achievements of different countries to the whole world. By doing so, we can have enough food and clothing.
As for the proposal of monitoring the development of science and technology with the help of UNO, Hu Jiaqi said that would not be applicable. The reason is that UN is just an organization coordinating different countries and can not control countries, especially major countries. The only way to achieve this goal is the unification of our mankind and the use of the power of a universal government to control science and technology. In this way, nobody could exploit knowledge for exclusive right or financial interest.
In addition, Professor Jacques Dubochet’s query about how to constrain the development of science and technology is echoed by quite a few people. They basically agree with this point of view but with no solutions in mind yet. The reply from Hu Jiaqi is progressive and assertive. A clear and logical answer was proposed at the end of the letter: the only possible way out lies in the unification of mankind. The direction is clear but the road is rough ahead, which calls for long-term and unremitting endeavors of all human beings.
The overall existence of mankind is above everything, as is often said by Hu Jiaqi. In the “great current” of saving humanity, he and SHAO (Save Human Action Organization) hope to be the droplet that strives the hardest!
