Essay Analysis Entry - Week 2

This week, I will discuss "Science, Politics, and Utopia in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four":

To begin the article, the author starts with an interesting quote. "As M. Keith Booker has rightly observed, science has played a major role in the history of utopian thinking, and especially in the modern turn from utopia to dystopia." The author explains that for centuries, a small group of people held the role of 'experts', such as ancient philosophers and modern-day scientists. These so called experts are seen as the producers of knowledge, meaning they are crucial in the progression of information as we know it. To some degree, this is extremely true. Without science and the people responsible for further evolution of intelligence, where would we be in our 21st century society? I assume it would be comparable to life in the time of Plato, which the author eloquently references. However, later in the piece, the author brings up a solid point: According to J.C. Davis says the author, utopian writers have an inclination to relate the idea of utopia with a perfect society. However, if science is supposed to keep further progressing society, how can a utopian society be improved through scientific advances? Surely, a perfect environment does not need to be further evolved. Science, however, is an ongoing phenomenon; so to say, a point where all knowledge has been attained can't be possible.
Sometimes, when these 2 worlds collide, consequences can be prevalent. For example, the elite class in European 17th century, in this case the Catholic church, clashed with Galileo once his invention of the telescope and his views on the galaxies layout began gaining traction, simply because his views rivaled those of the church. In this scenario, science and the 'producers of knowledge' had different opinions, and the real scientist was punished for having different views than those of the church, even though they were later proved correct. Furthermore, he had to recant his discovery and was subject to house imprisonment for the rest of his life.
Somehow, society must find a way to satisfy its thirst for scientific knowledge while still allowing for an elite group (i guess we'd call them modern-day scientists) to further progress its discoveries. If not, a dystopian twist can occur in our world, but for all our sake, lets hope it never comes to that!!