Technological Advances and How They Relate to Society

I came across the following article online the other day, and it fascinated me. Not only is this a massive advancement in the field of medicine, but it caused me to reflect on our discussions in socratic regarding society.

Through our discussions, we seem to have come up many times with the statement that there can be no such thing as a perfect society. I agree with this, to the extent that humans, by nature, are not perfect. However, I believe that it is possible to strive for that idea of “perfectness”.

This statement, of course refers back to the principle that everyone has a differing opinion on what the idea of “perfectness” is. Each of us has a set of guidelines and morals which govern our behaviors, and as a result two individuals might come up with conflicting ideas of what is perfect. This also refers back to the statement that everything that we do is based on one driving moral, which for most is based of a selfish desire (whether it be self-preservation, self-satisfaction, etc.) So referring back to the article, did the scientists who created this new advancement do it for selfish purposes (self gain) or for the betterment of society? Of course we cannot know the thoughts and motivations behind the decisions of others but it is evident that even if they were based off a selfish motive, the application of the product can serve to better others.

So is everything that an individual does based off of a selfish desire? I would say absolutely not. Although many times we are able to link actions that are seemingly selfless to a selfish desire, I believe that this is not always the case. For example, some would argue that people complete acts of service so they can get the “warm fuzzies” that come from doing it. Although this can be true, I think that there will always be people who find that getting those good feelings are only a signifier that they have done something beneficial rather then serving only for that purpose.

So although society seems to be on an ever lowering standard of selfishness, I believe that there will always be those who are able to be above that standard.

What are your thoughts?

Article:

" A snakebite antivenom has been developed that is more powerful than conventional antidotes and works even when it is unclear exactly what species of snake has bitten the victim.
Snakebites kill tens of thousands of people each year, yet supplies of traditional antivenom are drying up. The inventors of the new antidote hope it will be taken up in the poor countries where it is most needed.
Snake venom contains a complex tail of tissue-destroying enzymes. The only antidote till now has been the antibody-rich serum extracted from the of horses after they have been injected with venom milked from snakes.
In recent years, big companies have stopped making antivenom as it is increasingly unprofitable: the serum needs to be purified to meet stringent safety standards, animal rights activists object because the horses suffer, and most of the people who need the product can't afford it. Serum against African snakes is now especially scarce.

Simon Wagstaff and colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK have now made a serum without using snake venom. Instead, they started with the DNA of the carpet viper, which is responsible for the majority of snakebite s in west Africa, and looked for the genes that are active when the snake is refilling its venom sacs.
A dozen of these genes code for metalloprotease enzymes that destroy vessels and cause haemorrhaging. From these genes they created a “consensus” sequence that resembles as closely as possible all the different genes.
From this generic gene they took seven DNA stretches that code for parts of the outside of the protein molecules and should therefore elicit antibody responses in the body, and joined these together to make a single strand.
Sure enough, when they injected this synthetic DNA into mice, the animals made antibodies to these parts of the protein. When serum extracted from these animals was tested on other mice it was more powerful than classic serum against carpet viper venom, but also against other west African vipers, and even a viper from north Africa."