At the start of the Scientific Revolution, European scientists and conquerors both has the idea that knew knowledge, which in this case is referring to science, along with new territories on which empires can be built, would make these men able to conquer the universe. This idea has three main parts that work together. The first is capitalism, along with the way it uses credit amd trust in growth to leverage the future. This allowed for those who were continuing to search for new knowledge to bring science into the equation. The science delivers the growth that the capitalists trusted would occur. Thirdly, the empire that is built by this protects the growth that is needed for any of this to work. This relationship gave way to the Scientific Revolution and changed our world. One example of that is used in the text is the invention of the steam engine. At first people were promised an easier life when improving the textile industry but really this gave birth to capitalist greed.
Harari states that “As science began to solve one unsolvable problem after another, many became convinced that humankind could overcome any and every problem by acquiring and applying new knowledge”(Harari 264). This search for new knowledge leads right into the capitalist loop I talked about in my previous paragraph. To me, his argument seems fairly logical in the idea that the reach for greater knowledge and discovery has pushed out scientific successes. I do not full agree that capitalism and fiscal greed drove the search for new knowledge. It is safe to assume that many just wanted to improve their lives as well as learn more about the world they were living in.
I agree with your statement that capitalism and greed didn’t fully drive the search for scientific discovery and new knowledge. I believe it did play a crucial role in progress and how fast we have advanced as a society. But deep down I believe we are naturally curious and desire to learn more about things unknown to us. We wouldn’t however, be where we are today with just curiosity alone. Thinking of progress and how far we have come in such a short time it does make me wonder about the consequences. I believe progress can only go so far with a finite amount of resources. What happens when the resources we need to survive have been used up in a quest to search for an easier this, or a faster that…? Humans will not be able to use money or credit to solve their problems.