We may never know the truth

We all need some basic ideas to build our principles and values. We strongly believe that our values and ideals are based on the truth and we base our entire value system on that perceived truth. In reality, the truth can change, and new evidence can counter or even prove them wrong, what is considered true today may not be true tomorrow in light of new evidence. This has happened in the past and may happen in the future too. Only religion can afford to have this rigid attitude and survive, most religions propagate things as eternal truths, things that cannot be questioned, and people believe them without any evidence. The interesting part is that people always want religions other than the one they follow to demonstrate their belief system with evidence but don't expect the same from their own religion. Another funny thing is that all religions claim that they are based on scientific facts without even providing any verifiable evidence about them. However, no matter what any religion says or what our belief system is, we should appreciate the fact that we may never know the real truth. We can only base our judgment on all the evidence and data we have today and be ready to accept new evidence if it counters our current set of values. This approach is what scientists take when they are performing their research, there is a hypothesis, but it may or may not be true based on the data collected after performing related experiments. Rigidity with our values causes polarization, hurt sentiments, and even communal riots. Why? Just because someone feels my belief system is better than someone else's, people kill each other just because of a difference of opinion. Humans are supposed to be intelligent and thinking creatures, and such acts challenge this notion. Whoever claims to know everything is the most ignorant person, no book on this planet has answers to all questions, there are many great books and many more will come, but they all are books, written by some human expressing their ideas or opinions, nothing more. Therefore, please accept the fact that we may never know the truth and be humble and kind. Be amenable to the fact that what we believe so passionately today may be proven wrong. This will be our greatest contribution towards preserving humanity and evolving our species one more step ahead of animals.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

©Vinay Thakur,  Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

I did not choose science, science chose me

For more than a decade, I enjoyed working as a research scientist in academia as well as in industry.  It was a very rewarding and educational experience. Science became an integral part of my life in 11th grade, and it will remain an integral part of the rest of my life as well. It shaped my thinking, cleared many of my doubts, taught me to be curious and not settle for vague or unverifiable answers, and many more things. But I did not choose science because I loved it or it was my dream since my childhood to become a scientist or anything like that. It was decided by my transcripts and social trends of that time. It sounds very dry and dispassionate, but in the end, it resulted in a very impassionate relationship between me and science.

In India, students have to decide which discipline they want to study very early in their student life when most of them have no clue what they want to do. I needed to make that selection after my 10th grade (even before finishing the highschool as far as the US education system goes). I needed to decide if I wanted to pursue my education in science, arts, or commerce. I decided to enroll in science, not because I loved science or I was passionate about research, there was no romanticism or love at first sight, or that I was best in science compared to other subjects, rather I scored highest in history. It was the merit list that made that decision for me. I got enough marks to be on a merit list for science discipline and that's how I began my journey towards the wonderland of science. Back then I had no clue where this journey would take me. I had no plans, no roadmap, no guide, and no mentor. My only aim was to finish college and get a decent job. I did not even know what was research and what was Ph.D. and why anyone would study beyond a B.Sc. (undergrad degree in India). But I am glad that science chose me and guided me. Initially, it was a struggle because of the language difference. I studied until my 10th grade in a Marathi medium and suddenly in 11th grade, everything was in English. For the first few months, I had no clue what was going on in class, but slowly I adjusted to this new reality and started enjoying the exciting subject matters from various disciplines of science.

One of the reasons I continued my education after my B.Sc. degree was that I really enjoyed what I was learning and it was helping me to find answers to many questions about which no one around me had any clue. It helped me to understand the source of various problems, helped me to come out of many superstitions and discriminatory rituals, trained me to ask questions, and also not to expect readymade answers but to go and find answers on my own. This all helped me personally, there were not many people who could guide me but libraries and books filled that void. Science did not inculcate the reading habit in me but it taught me not to read just for the sake of pleasure or entertainment. It made me think over what I read, analyze it, and then apply those things in my life. It made me open to new ideas, and challenge my own beliefs and prejudices. This approach has helped me tremendously in my life. Many times we face problems or situations about which we have no clue and people around us also are not able to help much, but there is a huge ocean of knowledge locked in many books, and if we know how to access that knowledge we can solve most of our problems using that knowledge. The truth is that almost every problem we face in our lives someone has faced before and they write about it, and that record can be a very useful source of information for us.

Science also taught me to live with the uncertainty in life. Science teaches you that you cannot know everything. Research is a never-ending process, there is no beginning and end to the knowledge. The process of conducting research is often more rewarding than the end result. Of course, the end result matters, but that itself is not everything. We cannot predict the future, and that is the reality, we need to live in the present and try to do our best with the hope that things will work as we plan there is nothing more in our hands. It also taught me how to deal with failures. Every scientist has to deal with failures. Negative results are an integral part of every scientist's life, but most scientists do not get discouraged by them. Yes, scientists also do get frustrated or feel sad about failed experiments, but just for that particular moment, because the next day they need to plan their next experiment with more excitement, rigor, and dedication because this is the only way to move forward. Science and scientists cannot afford to get stuck in the past, as there is always a next challenge waiting for them, something more complicated and exciting. Yesterday's success doesn't guarantee tomorrow's success and the same is true for failure. Many of the lessons which I learned from science have helped me in other aspects of my life and this is why I am glad that even though I did not choose science, science chose me.

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

Be aware of your personal blind spots

We are taught to be aware of the blind spot during driving lessons. In the normal course of driving, it's not easy to check what's there in the area of a blind spot, and depending on what it is, it can be really dangerous for the driver or the thing that is in the blind spot. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that we have some way to make sure that there is nothing in the blind spot area before we change our lanes or direction while driving. We try to use various techniques or different rearview mirrors to look for the vehicles and objects in the blind spot range to avoid accidents and to be safe. But we are not that careful to look for blind spots in our minds in our day-to-day lives which is equally important to avoid unnecessary clashes and terrible mistakes due to our ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Why do we need to be aware that there are blind spots when we drive our thought process? Very simple, because then only we will make some efforts to eliminate them. If we are not aware of our personal blind spots, we are not going to make any efforts to overcome this problem, and then the problem will become chronic. Ignorance or lack of knowledge can be cured by learning and acquiring knowledge. In today's era, we have so many resources available literally at our fingertips. Yes, I am talking about the world of the internet, which we can access from our phones or any stationary or mobile device connected to the internet connection. The internet has created a level field by allowing access to a variety of websites where you can learn about many things and gain useful information. One can access diverse resources to collect vast amounts of information to learn about almost anything. We can self-educate ourselves. Please spend some quality time learning about the issues that affect you, and about the things that you care about before getting into a debate with anyone. This will not only help you to get well-informed but also help the next person to have a very informative and constructive discussion. Being well-informed is also necessary for being a responsible citizen of any country. It helps to form a well-informed public opinion. So, take the first step and start by taking some positive steps in a direction to eliminate the personal blind spots of your thinking. All the very best.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

Be curious, it is immensely rewarding

Curiosity is one of the reasons why humans managed to advance so much compared to any other species on this planet. It is built into our minds, if our surroundings don't curb it, we can remain curious throughout our lives, but in reality, rarely this happens. Many things contribute to diminishing our curious nature as we grow older. Children are way more curious compared to adults, and many times the curious nature of adults is labeled as being childish. Maybe adults think that they know it all and there is no need to be curious anymore. I am fortunate enough not to fall into that group. I am gifted with a permanent curiosity, my curiosity remained fairly constant since my childhood, and this has played great dividends for me. I remember my kids used to watch a TV show "Curious George," a story of a curious monkey who used to land in various troubles due to his hyper-curious nature. I loved that show as I am also a curious person. My curiosity might have landed me in trouble on a few occasions, but by far it has benefited me way more than it put me in trouble. 

Curiosity helps me to remain active. I get interested in different things, some interests remain forever, and some wane with time and new interests replace them. This continuous flow of curiosity keeps me away from chronic boredom. It helps me to find something to read, watch, or do where I can learn something new, helps me to explore ideas or things that I have never done before. It helps me to study various issues including the opinions that I don't support or agree with. I can do all this because I am curious about many things including why people believe in certain ideologies, why they need religion, how science can help to solve our problems, what is the role of the law in our society, and many more things. My curiosity led me to read many different books, listen to many seminars, and research many topics. In this process, I got to know many amazing personalities, either through books, seminars, or personal interactions. I would not have known these people without my curiosity, many of them taught me things that I value a lot, and I credit my curiosity for all this. 

I encourage my kids to remain curious about various things and try to find answers on their own. I encourage them to make efforts to gather information before forming any opinion about any issue. We should not follow any path blindly, don't be a Hindu just because your parents were Hindu, don't be a Republican (in the USA) or Congress supporter (in India) just because your parents used to support that party. Do your own research, analyze things on your own, and then decide for yourself. This is a time-consuming process and a difficult route, but this is what I did, and this process has taught me many valuable lessons. The rewards of this process outweigh the difficulties associated with it. Remember, there is no substitute for hard work, readymade answers are easy to get, but they are not the product of your own mind. If you want to churn out something from your own mind, then you need to go through the repetitive process of collecting and processing vast amounts of information on your own, and without being curious one cannot perform this task enthusiastically. One of the lessons that I learned was that there can be many right answers for social and political issues, and there is no single ideology that can provide solutions for all the problems. This also taught me the importance of diversity of opinion, the importance of appreciating disagreement, and encouraging debate. One cannot appreciate or understand diverse opinions without being curious about them. One can allow counter opinions to exist by being tolerant, but to really benefit from the diversity of opinions and ideas one needs to be curious about the views and ideas that are not our own. 

My curiosity has taken to me new areas and exposed me to ideas and views to which I may not have been exposed if I had remained complacent. It prompted me to take risks and challenge my traditional surroundings and my own beliefs It encouraged me to charter a different path than what most people chose to follow. I am not claiming that everyone's curiosity will produce the same result, but if it makes you remain active and enthusiastic about life, why not give it a try? Be curious and be happy.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

How authentic are the scriptures?

Many people ask this question and there are various theories and opinions about this topic. All scriptures are very old books, some going back thousands of years, we don't even know when they were compiled for the first time. I think it's a waste of time to argue about their authenticity, we don't have enough data about it. I think whatever scriptures we have, are very useful and are full of knowledge and lessons about life (Bible, Qur'an, Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Upanishads, and many more). They cover almost each and every aspect of life, discussions in them cover topics about most of the problems we face in day-to-day life and also offer possible solutions. Most of the time the messages in these scriptures are delivered through many stories with a lot of interesting characters and themes. It's very easy to deliver a complicated message via an interesting story, people understand it in a much better way and also remember the message because of that story, our ancestors realized it and that's why most of these books contain a lot of interesting stories. We still use this technique of storytelling to teach our kids, we tell them a lot of bedtime stories that have some lesson embedded in them, the same way these scriptures try to convey their message to us.

People debate whether the incidents mentioned in the scriptures really happened or not. Is this debate going to make their content better or worse? These books are the source of knowledge and if we don’t want to take any lessons from them then it's better to just ignore them. These things (scriptures from all religions) are gifts to us from our ancestors, and we must value them, one can definitely raise questions and argue about theories and philosophies mentioned in them. It's necessary to validate and test any information we receive, we should not believe anything blindly. This process of analysis will surely help us to realize how wonderful these texts are, they teach us so much but only if we are willing to learn. Mostly these scriptures are concerned with spiritual knowledge, some of them do talk about many scientific things but mostly they are about spirituality and the meaning or aim of human life. If someone is not interested in things discussed in these books they are useless for them and it's a simple fact to understand for both those who believe in them as well as those who don't believe. It’s like if you are not interested in movies or engineering or chemistry then anything related to that subject will not appeal to you or rather will sound very boring and complicated and it’s quite natural to feel like this, nothing wrong in it.

All these books have been there for centuries, and there are also different versions of them. As these books are very old, there are some doubts about the authenticity of their contents and many of these questions are reasonable. There are also many theories about who wrote these books, whether the original contents were modified or not, and if modified, then to what extent. I think all these questions are interesting from a historical perspective and archeological research, there is a lot of research done in this area. The results of that research are very interesting and are published in various journals and books. Naturally, not all devotees agree with these findings as it hurts their feelings and also many think that as these books are sacred they should not be criticized or analyzed. I personally think they should not be disturbed by these findings because they do not reduce the importance or significance of these books. We should study them and if possible also (many people did that in the past but for some reason, this process was discontinued). Because of the sacred status of these books, it's almost impossible to challenge anything written in them or edit anything (even if it's outdated or wrong). All these books were written in certain eras and many things written in them were according to that era and socioeconomic conditions. When people or devotees insist on following everything in these books as it is, it creates problems as some of the things are not relevant in today's world. If people who claim these books as their property (by associating them with a particular religion or sect) want to preserve good messages and teachings mentioned in these books then they need to show some flexibility and broadmindedness. Knowledge is not stationary, it's always evolving, and every day new information is generated, it's a continuous process.

Many people also argue about whether Ramayan, Mahabharat, or people like Ram, Krishna really happen?  Devotees who believe in God reject these doubts altogether and want to stick to their beliefs. This is expected from devotees. In this process of argument, both sides miss the actual benefit that one can get from these books. One side considers these characters and books as sacred and worships them blindly without trying to understand the true meaning of their messages and the other side rejects them just because of some technical gaps. Arguments like whether Jesus was God or not or Krishna was real or not are endless, it’s not these people who are important but their teachings are. If you don’t agree with their teachings then they don’t exist for you, it’s as simple as that. For me personally, the question of their authenticity doesn't matter, I don't worry about it. I consider these books and these people as sources of knowledge and useful information, I read all these books like many other books I read. I don't associate any of these books with any particular religion for me they are all the same. I take from them whatever I feel is relevant to my situation or whatever appeals to me and leave the rest. If I find anything in them that sounds somewhat wrong I don't hesitate to raise a question about it or even criticize it. I share my beliefs and whatever I understand from these books and people who hear or read it are free to agree or disagree with it. I have my opinions and beliefs (and they can change over time) and people can have theirs, there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is not with anyone's beliefs but when they become really aggressive about their beliefs (almost dictatorial) and start projecting them as 'facts' and are not willing to listen other side of the story. I think that our society has evolved enough to understand that there can be more than one truth, more than one way to reach the same destination, and also realize that many religions, and beliefs can coexist together peacefully.

Thanks for reading and your comments are always welcome.

Reference:

1. Interesting read for some information about Bhagavad Gita and historical facts about it, http://www.vvshirvaikar.de/Dnyaneshwari/PROLOGUE.html 

2. http://www.biblica.com/bibles/faq/3/

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Quran

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing at vvt1974@gmail.com)

Science and Religion

Do science and religion go together?

For me the answer is ‘Yes, very much’ rather they are made for or made from each other. There was no difference between science and religion when humanity started, they were one and the same. According to me, Vedas are the first and oldest science journals or scientific societies formed. They used to get updated and debated, and people from all sections of society used to contribute their ideas and views during those debates and discussions.  Humans needed this process of generation of knowledge to explain and understand many things around us which used to confuse people in those times and science does the same thing today. But somehow this was discontinued at some stage for some reason.

Every society or culture from time to time benefits from the presence of very intelligent personalities who become sources of fresh, new ideas and knowledge. Their message acts like fresh air and inspires many people who then become their followers. Some of the groups of these followers decided to make their own exclusive societies (which in many cases get converted in new religions) to preach the teachings of their teacher (or guru or messenger) and they converted those teachings into a set of rigid rules, complicated structure of dos and don’ts. I don’t think the original person delivering this knowledge even desired to have something like this (the religions that we have today). When we declare particular knowledge sacred and ultimate truth then there is no scope for debate. This made science and religion part their ways and they became separate fields. Science is all-inclusive in its approach; nothing is sacred or holy there, it can’t be rigid or static, everything can be challenged, it encourages asking questions, performing new experiments, and new theories, and keeps on adding new knowledge. 

Knowledge is a continuous process and it changes over time as new discoveries are made and it gets updated regularly. Science corrects itself, something which seems to be true today may not be true tomorrow as new technologies come and new theories also come. There is nothing wrong or insulting to prove old theories wrong or find some error in them and correct them. Those scientists who discovered old theories are still considered great scientists with phenomenal minds as they could achieve that feat with such limited technology and resources available at that time. Scientists have disagreements all the time but scientists don't kill each other over scientific disagreement. However, the same cannot be said about religion, history shows us numerous occasions where people kill each other because of religious differences even though all religions claim to teach love and peace. 

Followers of all religions closed doors for any new knowledge believing that all knowledge has been already delivered and everything to be said is already said. Eventually, they started finding it difficult to accept or cope with the new knowledge that was pouring in. Knowledge is a continuous process it won’t stop as long as the human race or living beings exist on this planet, we will keep on learning new things every day. Religion became a separate, sacred entity that then became stationary as nothing was allowed to change (even the wrong assumptions or concepts), and nothing was allowed to be added (not even clearly proven facts). At this point, science and religion started confronting each other more than often. Nowadays science is used to criticize religion and vice versa. Even after not adopting any scientific aptitude, different religious groups try to claim that their religious texts include many scientific facts, but there is no close relationship between these two fields. 

We need to understand that for the welfare of human beings science and religion may have to go together then only both can perform their duties otherwise this unnecessary confrontation will continue like this. We should be ready to correct many rules or concepts that are outdated in many religions, accept new ideas, and move forward. This approach won’t hurt any religion or reduce its dignity. Whenever people will understand this, this whole debate of science vs religion will become meaningless. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)