National Scientific Awareness Day: August 20

 

National Scientific Awareness Day: August 20

— Prof. Devaraja Maharaju

Amid the countless millions of living creatures around him, early man could not, for the longest time, figure out where his own life had come from. At first he thought it a deep mystery. Later, he came to believe that some extraordinary power beyond his imagination must have created this entire universe all at once, instantaneously, and that this was how it had turned out to be so wondrous. That is why every religion contains some account of "creation." The names of gods and religions differ, but across the world nearly everyone came to believe the same thing: "God is the creator of this vast universe!" That belief flourished for thousands of years. On the question of creation, whatever religion said became "truth" in those societies. Religious texts became the standard of authority. As a result, there was simply no one left to think against that belief. If anyone dared raise their voice in opposition, the punishment was often nothing less than death. That is why it took several centuries for a scientific outlook to draw its first breath. Foolishness stood as a great obstacle to wisdom. Meanwhile, the judgments of religious leaders and religious courts kept people trembling with fear. A degraded culture took hold in which the white man enslaved the black man, the wealthy enslaved the poor, the upper castes enslaved the lower, and men enslaved women. Those at the top influenced those below to such an extent that people innocently and mistakenly believed: "We are sinners, and that is why God — that Lord — created us to be slaves; everything that happens is by God's will; serving our masters is the only path to our redemption." In such conditions, there was simply no room for any other kind of thought to arise. But force can never rule forever, can it? Wouldn't people who carefully observed their place, their time, and the conditions around them eventually grow wiser, even if it took a while?

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno, Newton, Lyell, Darwin, and Hutton put forward new theories about the structure of the universe and the evolution of life. They posed powerful challenges to religious beliefs, and they stood firm in facing the backlash. They kept proving that the principles governing this universe could, upon careful examination, be found within the universe itself. This gave rise to two questions among the people. First: should one believe what religion says? Second: should one follow the path shown by science? These two questions sparked public debate. That debate did not end back then — even centuries later, it continues still. In the name of culture, tradition, and custom, a large share of the world's population remains mired in superstition, even as they fully enjoy the fruits of science and technology. "While enjoying, on one hand, every comfort that science has provided, why do people still cling, on the other hand, to useless ideologies that are three thousand years old?" — this is the question today's science activists ask. Shouldn't one be honest, at least, about the very thing one is benefiting from? What should we call those who live dishonest, false lives instead?

From around 1700 CE onward, scientists began identifying fossils in various layers of the earth. Gradually, they developed the skill to recognize which fossil belonged to which animal. Among these, they identified certain plants and animals that no longer existed in later periods. Research on this subject continues even today. Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), a French naturalist, proposed that certain creatures that had once lived had since gone extinct. It was through this that the concept of "extinction" came to light — and moreover, it became an important subject of study in its own right. James Hutton, a Scottish geologist, proposed the theory of the earth in 1788 — its essence being that the earth is made up of layer upon layer of strata. This was confirmed to be true, because plant and animal fossils were found within each layer, making it possible to calculate the periods during which they had lived.

The British geologist Charles Lyell (1797–1875) proposed, with supporting examples, that great catastrophes did not occur suddenly and all at once as religious texts described, but rather unfolded gradually over hundreds and thousands of years. Charles Lyell was the one who popularized James Hutton's theory of the earth. The research findings of these two proved useful to Charles Darwin, along with many other theories besides. Working in parallel with Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace also carried out research on the process of biological evolution. William Smith, the English geologist, was the first to publish geological maps of England and Wales.

People used to believe that this creation made by God would never change — that at the end of an age, everything would be destroyed, and new life forms would be born anew. In those days, since there were no means of travel, people had no way of seeing other regions. Observing only the plants and animals in their immediate surroundings, they believed that "living beings never change." The Industrial Revolution brought an increase in transport facilities. With transport came an increase in trade. With trade came an increase in travel. And as travel increased, people gained the opportunity to observe the biodiversity of different regions. Gradually, this opened the door to grasping new ideas and thinking in new ways.

Across the world, people kept observing their surroundings and circumstances, learning new things from nature. With each new discovery, they made human life more comfortable. They brought revolutionary changes across every field — agriculture, food, clothing, transport, medicine, education, welfare — and transformed their very way of life entirely. People now say: "Since we are human, we must love one another. Without distinctions of race, class, gender, or region, we must affirm that the human race is one." But some selfish and conspiratorial people are working to keep human beings divided rather than united. Everyone must stay alert to this. It is not the person who must be destroyed — it is the selfishness within the person; kill that, and selflessness will rise up on its own.

A falsehood believed by the majority never becomes the truth. The reasons people believe such falsehoods may be a lack of understanding, innocence, foolishness, or plain stupidity. A truth believed by only a few never becomes a falsehood. It becomes fact only when it proves itself through reason, offers valid grounds, and opens itself up to analysis and explanation. That is what constitutes proof of truth. The "truth-seeking" that dogmatists claim to practice is an entirely different thing, unrelated to this. Whatever teaches people to blindly believe convictions that cannot withstand any proof — whatever that may be — is a falsehood. As for truth, the number of people who believe it is irrelevant to us. Even when falsehoods have ruled the world, hasn't their hollowness kept being exposed, century after century? One cannot go on forever passing off falsehoods as truths by exploiting people's sentiments. At a stage when public wisdom is steadily increasing, trying to spread blind beliefs is simply foolish.

In any era, in any society, scientists and rationalists have always been few in number. Yet it is through them alone that change in the world has been made possible. They are the reason behind every change that has come to every field of daily life. There may be millions of people who drift along, carried by the current, without thinking — but no change in society has ever come from them. None will come from them in the future either. Weighed down by their own mental weaknesses, trapped in certain illusions, mistaking those illusions for reality, the majority go on wasting their lives clinging to divine powers, religions, and the texts tied to them. What are we to call those insensate souls who still cannot grasp the truth, even after devotion itself has become synonymous with fraud, business, and exploitation?

If one remains ever alert and aware, learning both the secrets of the universe and the secrets of life, one attains "the fulfillment of knowledge." If one comes to understand what one is, and what one's place is, in this universe, in this world, in this country, in this society — that is what constitutes true "self-realization." But those who teach with eyes and nostrils shut, chanting only of "soul" and "supreme soul," and those who listen to them, have never brought any benefit to this world — not then, not now, and not in the future either. To those who keep browbeating the public with claims of some "transcendent power" beyond the reach of science: let them use only that "transcendent power" of theirs for everything they do in life, and if they can then show the people some good results — only then should we even consider it. The essential condition for this test is simple: in their everyday lives, they must not use any scientific knowledge, any scientific instrument, or any scientific product whatsoever!

[Observing August 20 as National Scientific Awareness Day, in memory of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, who was martyred — killed for his work toward eradicating superstition.]

— A renowned literary figure and retired professor of biology