The history of civilisations shows that every civilisation manifested its values and foundational beliefs through a comprehensive range of its cultural activities.

DEVELOPMENT experts observe that no matter how exciting future prospects of a greater well-being promised by science and technology may be, present patterns of behaviour do not seem to inspire much confidence in the processes of achieving such prospects.

Development agencies such as the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa as well as world summits such as Rio+20 last year are, for example, asking whether globalisation will unify humanity without the imposition of “universal uniformity” or will the bearer of prosperity be a mere expression of the interests of a privileged few?

It is clear today that spreading prosperity worldwide through the much touted ideals of sustainable development will not be met solely by the application of technology and the expansion of current systems and organisations. What is needed is a radical departure from the materialistic philosophies that have created today’s concurrence of abject poverty and wealth that is irresponsible.

Organisations such as the IDRC are saying that re-evaluating the field of development, its basic assumptions and its current strategies is a task that deserves immediate attention so that principles of oneness, of interconnectedness and of justice are made to operationalise more and more.

In the Malaysian context, this is what major policies such as Vision 2020, if properly understood and implemented, aims to achieve.

As it marches to the nation’s 56th birthday, surely it is targeting a civilisational condition that is of a higher order and of a quality that is of global significance?

The history of civilisations indeed show that every civilisation manifested its values/foundational beliefs through a comprehensive range of its cultural activities.

Couched in the worldview that feeds the soul and conscience of the civilisation in question, such values are also a description of how problems and needs of humans are dealt with, met or solved.

Similarly, how a society is managed, what principles guide and regulate its political system/structures, social institutions are all part and parcel of the civilisation’s worldview.

The Chinese civilisation of the past for example, was propelled by the Confucian worldview which was later developed by Mencius and Hsun Tzu.

This worldview gave prominence to the value of human relationships. One of its basic elements was/is Jen (humanity or perfect goodness) and Tao (harmony).

Jen became the symbol and foundation for the refinement of character, respect for the older generation and parents (filial piety or hsiau).

Ti (love between individuals who are related to one another) complements Jen. Jen also gave rise to Li, a code of rituals and behaviour in the ancient Chinese culture and civilisation.

Rational happiness in the Chinese worldview is the result of Jen which is accrued not via material wealth but the practice of good values.

According to Confucius, a wise and noble man is one who is free from ill thoughts and suspicions, possesses good morals, is devoid of self-centredness and is brave because he is free from fear.

Against this backdrop of values, it is not surprising perhaps that despite its significant achievements in science, Chinese science did not give rise to weapons of mass destruction.

Similarly, in the Islamic civilisation, science was never devoid of ethics and values.

To Ibn al-Haitham (Latin: Alhazen), an expert in physics, mathematics and theology, it is impossible to divorce science from ethics and religion.

He saw ethics as a practical issue and not merely a matter of philosophical reasoning and deliberation.

It is interesting to note, too, that for this originator of the camera obscura (precursor of the modern day camera) a system of the ethics for science (and perhaps for other fields of endeavour, too) should be based on three major fundamentals:

The perfection of morals is impossible without knowledge and the quest for it.

Truth, knowledge and awareness in a person relies on (a) clear understanding of the Quran and Hadith; (b) achieving the good through right and honourable practices/acts; (c) avoidance of evil thoughts and deeds.

The principle purpose of perfecting one’s morals is to enjoy an infinite or sustainable life of joy and peace in heaven/in the next life which is everlasting.

Such a value system was organically linked to all of al-Haitham’s scientific and non-scientific works.

The reason for highlighting the Chinese and Islamic examples is two-fold.

First is to show how different sciences and modernities can arise out of different value systems and worldviews.

In the history of science, the Chinese and Islamic civilisations were extremely rich in their scientific and technological content. Nevertheless, neither science became disentangled from its ethical and final purpose/meaning of life dimensions.

Such lessons from the history of science in various civilisations would be a good focus and raison d’etre for intercivilisational or even interreligious dialogues today.

Such a trend is in fact growing especially beginning with the UN declaration of 2001 as the year of dialogue of civilisations globally.

Yet, one of the issues that we have to deal with today is widespread conflicts due purportedly to religious/cultural differences.

Perhaps such a situation calls for a cultural literacy (CL) that is concerned with our capacity to learn about spiritual traditions/worldviews other than our own so that we can understand what can be seen to be commonalities for solving problems as well as the differences that set us apart.

The critical question: Is social behaviour enhanced by science and technology today leading us to a more humane world or could it be that science and technology alone cannot fulfil this aim unless its function and use are guided by values arising from worldviews and spirituality?

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