The role of Non-Western Science and Technology Essay Example

to challenge intellectual traditional perceptions.

The second thesis is to debate one of the aspect related to the relationship between non-Western and Western technology and science. One of the aspects of non-Western science and technology is medicine. For instance, medicine in China is deeply rooted in Chinese traditional culture while Western medicine entails contemporary empirical science. For the last 5,000 years, people in China have relied on Chinese medication to heal diseases and to prevent themselves from epidemics. As a result, Chinese medication has greatly contributed to growth in population throughout history. Over 300 traditional medicines in the world, Chinese medicine is becoming increasingly popular (Needham & Wang, 2008).

The majority of people in China rely on Chinese medicine since it is set on practical skills of their daily lives that target all diseases. Usually, Western medicine aims in eliminaating symptoms through direct methods. However, Chinese medicine lays emphasis on a dialectical analysis of the whole human body, whereby it gets viewed as an interrelated or interconnected system collection. Therefore, Chinese medicine possesses more ability in treating the majority of complex diseases like Aids, cancer and Alzheimer's. Chinese medicine reveals its power in handling sub-health problems by examining all body conditions, as well as symptoms derivative analysis (Sawyer, 2006).

The third thesis is to elaborate the reason for the long existence of Chinese technology and science in medicine. The people of China cherish Chinese medicine since it has an aspect of their culture. It manifests Chinese traditional culture matters related to their health. Chinese medication believes in acupuncture points and energy channels existence. However, in the contemporary world, Chinese medicine essence has vanished. What people learn

is merely prescriptions and recipes. Furthermore, Chinese students of medicine who train Western medicine fail to be taught the backbone and essence of their culture (Needham & Wang, 2008).

Chinese medicine is much more than a trivial activity that can be referred to the country’s past. However, it is the key aspect in the country’s system of health care in regard to the uptake and supply of services, expenditure, and in regard to meeting the populations’ expectations (Sawyer, 2006).