The Function of Science Is to Reassure; the Purpose of Art Is to Upset. Therein Lies the Value of Each

Are the function and purpose of science and art only to reassure and upset? Are there values so distinctly different from each other as the speaker stated? In my opinion, however, the function of science is not always to reassure, and the purpose of art goes far beyond upsetting.

Admittedly, science plays a crucial role in that it aims to seek the internal orders of things and reveal the laws of nature, which reassure people and diminish our anxieties in front of the unknowable things and mysterious phenomena in nature. In the ancient age, our ancestors were always puzzled and frightened by lightning, rain, snow and even wind, which seemed terrible and stronger than people. It was science that told people how and where these enchanting phenomena generated and derived from, and meanwhile, enlightened them to search for the potential orders and to utilize the strength of nature in various methods rather than crouching behind of them. In this era of the increasing development, we are usually confused by our world, which is becoming more complicated and intricate, even more dangerous. Several years ago, a piece of news that "Comet is coming" drove millions of people into a scare that the earth would be crashed just in few days. Fortunately, modern astronomy appeased the whole world by precise calculating data and the forecast that there were no possibilities for that collision.

On the other hand, the discovery of science are not always make people comfort, instead, sometimes science would find the back side of prosperities of our lives; the unexpected truth could make us upset and anxious. For example, fast food, maybe the best choice for office workers to save time, recently was proved by the modern medicine to be harmful to people's health for the reason that there are too much fat and carbohydrate. Besides, the recent scientific research indicated that the more and more deterioration of greenhouse effect would bring out a tragedy for human beings, which...