8/18/2014 Orientalthane - Institude for Oriental Study, Thane

...
Aug 18, 2002

Home - Calender - Speeches - Seminars - Publications - Membership - Links - Guest Book - Contacts

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Dr Vijay Bedekar

Paper presented in UNESCO - Common Wealth Conference

on Science, Technology & Mathmatics Education for Human Development
at Goa, India.
February 20 - 23, 2001.

Man, the Homo sapiens has existed and even flourished for millions of years and it is
largely believed that he civilizationally advanced from a food-gathering jungleman to
e-commercial urban man of today. However, the emphasis on science and technology,
almost to the oblivion of human spiritual values, leading to the identification of
science and technology to that of the past 300 years - the period of Enlightenment
and Industrialization of the Western Society - needs to be corrected. Due to this,
Science and Technology is invariably taken as synonymous with and an inseparable
part of Human development. This approach hides the undesirable, ugly and darker side
of Science, Technology and growth achieved in the Western world. UNESCO states
this explicitly in the Preamble of Declaration on Science and the use of Scientific
Knowledge, (1)

In addition to their demonstrable benefits the applications of scientific advances and

the development and expansion of human activity have also led to environmental
degradation and technological disasters, and have contributed to social imbalance or
exclusion. As one example, scientific progress has made it possible to manufacture
sophisticated weapons, including conventional weapons and weapons of mass
destruction. There is now an opportunity to call for a reduction in the resources
allocated to the development and manufacture of new weapons and to encourage the
conversion, at least partially, of military production and research facilities to civilian
use. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the year 2000 as
International Year for the Culture of Peace and the year 2001 as United Nations Year
of Dialogue among Civilizations as steps towards a lasting peace; the scientific
community, together with other sectors of society, can and should play an essential
role in this process.

The correction should first come from the admission of the injustice of offsetting of
millions of years of human existence with the last 300 years, which latter has also
generated a linear model and mindset of human - even technological - progress.
Unconsciously, because of this mind-set, we have come to use phraseology,
conceptualizations and parameters of science, technology and human progress and
development as derived from the period of last 300 years of Western Science. Earlier
Cultures and non-Western Civilizations were equally creative in evolving their Science
and Technology to suit their basic needs. Claude Levi-Strauss' words would be worth
remembering, (2)

When we speak of world civilization, we have in mind no single period, no single group
of men: we are employing an abstract conception, to which we attribute a moral or
logical significance -moral, if we are thinking of an aim to be pursued by existing
societies; logical, if we are using the one term to cover the common features which
analysis may reveal in the different cultures. In both cases, we must not shut our
eyes to the fact that the concept of world civilization is very sketchy and imperfect,
and that its intellectual and emotional content is tenuous. To attempt to assess
cultural contributions with all the weight of countless centuries behind them, rich with

http://www.orientalthane.com/speeches/speech_12.htm 1/6
8/18/2014 Orientalthane - Institude for Oriental Study, Thane
the thoughts and sorrows, hopes and toil of the men and women who brought them
into being, by reference to the sole yard-stick of a world civilization which is still a
hollow shell, would be greatly to impoverish them, draining away their life-blood and
leaving nothing but the bare bones behind. The true contribution of a culture
consists, not in the list of inventions, which it has personally produced, but in its
difference from others. The sense of gratitude and respect which each single member
of a given culture can and should feel towards all others can only be based on the
conviction that the other cultures differ from his own in countless ways, even if the
ultimate essence of these differences eludes him or if, in spite of his best efforts, he
can reach no more than an imperfect understanding of them. The notion of world
civilization can only be accepted therefore, as a sort of limiting concept or as an
epitome of a highly complex process. There is not, and can never be, a world
civilization in the absolute sense in which that term is often used, since civilization
implies, and indeed consists in, the coexistence of cultures exhibiting the maximum
possible diversities. A world civilization could, in fact, represent no more than a
worldwide coalition of cultures, each of which would preserve its own originality.

Such societies existed and survived happily for centuries in the non-European world
without damaging the environment in which they lived. Science, Technology and the
Human Development brought by it do not function in vacuum. Nor can the human
beings exist isolated in the society. They interact and depend on each other for
smooth functioning of life. These earlier civilizations built houses, cooked food, built
ships, observed planets, solved mathematical equations and even had highly creative
fine and performing arts. They also had their own Medicine, Surgery and science of
Language. They learnt this by their successes and failures. Science and Technology
evolved through this process was appropriate to their needs. This also gave birth to
their social and cultural institutions and belief - systems. Collectively we call this
human activity as Culture or distinctive Life style of these respective peoples or
Civilizations. Popularly they are called as Indigenous Peoples and their Culture as
Indigenous Cultures. On the time scale, these Civilizations precede the present
Civilization. They became past and we became present. They became old and we
became new. They became backward and we became modern. Thus modern means
something new, useful, good, viable and progressive as against past or old becomes,
primitive, useless, ossified and backward- incapable of progress. Linear, sequential
and anthropomorphic model strengthens this viewpoint. Period of past became the
period of infancy. So development or growth became synonymous with modernity and
modernity means westernization. S.N.Eisenstadt, a modernization theorist has put it
bluntly (3)

" Historically, modernization is the process of change toward those types of social,
economic, and political systems that have developed in Western Europe and North
America from seventeenth century to the nineteenth"

This not only gives superior states to Western cultures and Science and Technology
but a license to civilize non-Western cultures branding them backward or
undeveloped. Many colonial administrators in the past and renowned Western
scientists even today believed in this premise. Sir Henry Main, a colonial officer, in
India (19th century), writes, (4)

" Native thought and literature is elaborately inaccurate; it is supremely and

deliberately careless of all precision in magnitude, number and time. The Indian
intellect stood in need, beyond and everything else, of stricter criteria of truth. It
required a treatment to harden and brace it, and scientific teaching was exactly the
tonic, which its infirmities called for. "

Lord George Curzon, another British administrator in India says, (5)

" We are trying to graft the science of the West on to an Eastern stem.. We have
raised entire sections of the community from torpor to life, and have lifted India on a
higher moral plane. In proportion as we teach the masses, so we shall make their lot
happier, and in proportion as they are happier so they will become more useful
members of the body politic. "

Even Florence Nightingale believed that creation of a public health department for

http://www.orientalthane.com/speeches/speech_12.htm 2/6
8/18/2014 Orientalthane - Institude for Oriental Study, Thane
India is a part of a mission to ` bring a higher civilization into India `. (6)

Coming to the recent times no less an authority than Thomas Kuhn in the last chapter
of his book Structure of Scientific Revolution writes, (7)

" Every civilization of which we have records has possessed a technology, an art, a
religion, a political system, laws, and so on. In many cases those facets of civilization
have been as developed as our own. But only the civilizations that descended from
Hellenic Greece have possessed more than the most rudimentary science. The bulk of
scientific knowledge is a product of Europe in the last four centuries. No other place
and time has supported the very special communities from which scientific
productivity comes. "

There seems very little difference between colonial masters and modern scientists'
mind - set when they have to comment on non-European Cultures and their sciences.
This created many a mischievous myth e.g. that the non-western societies were
riddled with superstition, that they had little or no science and technology, that they
had negligible scientific literature. While diagnosing the " backwardness " of the non-
western world, it has become fashionable to posit that the later inherently lacks '
scientific temper ' and so lags behind in ' development ' and that it will be better if it
inculcates this scientific temper. Surprisingly, the champions of this false notion of
the scientific temper now are not our erstwhile colonial masters but our own kith and
kin. (8) It pains me to note, in this connection, the opinion of no less a personality
than Pt. Jawaharlal Neharu the father of science and technology institutions in India.
In a letter written to Mahatma Gandhi in the year 1945, he had this to say about our
village-folk, about whose human development we are talking here, (9)

"A village, normally speaking, is backward intellectually and culturally and no

progress can be made from a backward environment. Narrow-minded people are much
more likely to be untruthful and violent."

The above mention myths have gained such currency, prestige and credibility that
everything non-western is condemned and dismissed as lacking in rationality and
scientific temper. All non-western and non-scientific history of mankind was governed
by nothing else but superstition, that it lacked logical thinking that it stood in
opposition to science. As in commercial cinema the hero is painted all white and villain
all black, similarly all that western science stands for is the ' only ' knowledge and all
that had gone before was ' ignorance '. The so-called scientific temper is credited
with having acquired this scientific knowledge. The arrogance of the protagonist of
this scientific temper leads them to branches of knowledge, the elements whereof are
non-quantifiable such as religion, politics, ethics etc. There are hundreds of examples
of great scientist, Newton and Einstein not excluded who did not have THIS scientific
temper and yet they " did " the highest of science. This scientific temper has less
respect for pure science and knowledge for more of an abject obeisance to the
colonialists' disdain for their enslaved colonies. . How can the Blacks and Browns and
Yellows have the White man's scientific temper? What temper do we attribute to the
builders of Pyramids, Bamian Buddha and many South Indian temples that compete
with modern day high-rises and do not succumb to a slight tectonic tremor? Lot of
mathematics, planning, engineering, technology must have gone into the building of
these monuments, in the absence of modern machinery and equipment. Will it not be
more rational and scientific to admit that the builders of these wonders had a temper
conducive to this and methods effective of this? The protagonist of the so-called
scientific temper if they have any honest respect for truth, should examine their
basics and premises and jettison their borrowed opinions and biases.

So, obviously, it is taken as a given fact that all that has gone before this short
period of human history belongs to a non-scientific, illogical, superstitious dark age.
And this is patently not true. It will be quite difficult for us to surmount this obstacle
in thinking - a colossal bias - created by this dichotomous model of Dark Age Vs
Enlightened Age. Modern Science - since Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and others -
grow in opposition to the Christian religious dogma, so the protagonists of Modern
Science and technology placed other societies and cultures on equal footing with pre-
modern Western Society dominated by a tyrannical organized religion. The biggest

http://www.orientalthane.com/speeches/speech_12.htm 3/6
8/18/2014 Orientalthane - Institude for Oriental Study, Thane
casualties of this way of thinking were the Indian, Chinese, South American and
African, in short, non-western cultures. As Cultures do not evolve overnight,
accidentally or by mutation, talk of Science, Technology and Human Development
without reference and respect to this time scale will lead to erroneous conclusions. It
was sincerely believed that post-industrial Western Europe was the source of light
that gradually spread on the dark continents, and certainly it was for the benefit of
the latter. So colonization of these parts and imposition of Western Social institutions
was not a political-commercial necessity but a cultural-moral obligation on the part of
Europeans- the British, the Spanish, the French et al.. Fortunately there are signs of
change in this mind set which is reflected in the two recent Documents of UNESCO
related to Science, Culture and Human Development (1), (2)
One more such very pernicious myth is that literacy - mere ability to read and write -
is a measure of science and technology and even of Human Development. I challenge
this. It has been universally believed that "literacy and education help in inculcating
the higher values of life, they build national character and develop truth, patriotism,
non-violence and freedom". These are the precise words of our Vice-President
Krishnakant employed while delivering a lecture at the International Literacy Day
Celebration organized by the National Literacy Mission and UNESCO in New Delhi on
Sept. 8, 2000. (10) This is a gross travesty of truth. Most of the Nobel Laureates in
science are from the U.S.A., a highly scientifically oriented and technologically
advanced society. And what value of non-violence have they cultivated? Theirs is the
most destructive chemical, biological, nuclear arsenal and that country is the biggest
supplier of military hardware to all warring factions across continents. Is this science
and derivative technology human development? The producers and dispensers of this
destructive war-machine are highly literate and educated people! Their prosperity is
soundly based on the gigantic profits they make by aiding and abetting genocides all
around. What is true of the U.S.A. is also true of Great Britain and France in Europe.
So, how are we to correlate all this with development of human values which formal
education and literacy are credited with inculcating? Our basic premise, therefore,
needs radical re-thinking because it has failed in logical, philosophical, human terms.
Do we have courage to do this or do we want to continue with high-sounding hollow
platitudes? Even in the department of Literacy it may come as a shocking revelation
to many that Apararka (12th Century AD), while explaining a verse from Yajnavalkya-
Smriti extolling Brahmadana and Vidyadana, quotes several authorities such as Yama,
Brihaspati, Bhavisyottarapuran, Matsyapuran and Nandipuran. They praise gifts by
thousand of pens, inkpots, boxes for keeping writing material and ink. This is a clear-
cut literary and paleographical evidence of Literacy in India for many centuries. (11)
So there is no wonder that even Colonial Administrators like William Adam (1835-8),
G.W.Leitner (1850) and T.B.Jervis (1823-4) in their respective reports covering entire
India, speak of thousand and lakhs of schools.

India and African countries had a higher rate of the current notion of illiteracy and yet
they were never aggressive, they never sowed the seeds of enmity in other societies
supplying them with arms to conduct genocidal wars. And these are the very
countries labeled as un-developed, under-developed or developing countries. What a
travesty of truth! The merchants of destruction are developed and Pacific Societies
are not developed! Something is rotten in the state of our thought processes! This
gives rise to the notion that Development means Economic Development. And leading
economists have started rethinking - trying to develop 'Economics as if man
mattered'.

Does literacy lead to happiness and contentment? Emphatically, not! Perhaps more
people in India and Bangaladesh are below poverty line and below literacy line than
the entire population of the U.S.A. And yet, as surveys show they are more happy
and contented and peace loving. Indians have contributed immensely to the culture
of entire East Asia, not by conquest and massacre. Can that not have a lesson for
the thinkers of the scientific and technological realms? Before a man becomes a
scientist, a technologist, he has to be literate, how very beneficial will it be if he
inculcates human values even before that or alongside? We must think in terms of
developing social institutions that will promote this. And these institutions need not
have direct relation with mere literacy. Equating literacy with culture and illiteracy
with lack of culture is a dangerous notion. Human behavior does not depend only upon
literacy.

http://www.orientalthane.com/speeches/speech_12.htm 4/6
8/18/2014 Orientalthane - Institude for Oriental Study, Thane
Scientific discoveries gave birth to innovative technologies. They claim to make life
easier and comfortable. The resources and infrastructures used for manufacturing
such goods come from nature. One of the growth indices of human development is
the per capital consumption of these resources and manufactured goods, like tin, iron,
cars etc. It is known now that consumption of such products in the life style is
responsible for ecological imbalance. Obviously, the developed countries with higher
indices of this growth are directly responsible for this, more than the under-developed
world. But they suffer and will suffer equally, e.g. by global warming to which they
have contributed the least and the developed world has contributed enormously. How
are we going to reconcile science and technology with human growth and welfare?

Health is a perennial concern of humanity and we see some of the excellent non-
invasive nature friendly therapies developed and practiced in the indigenous
civilizations. Look at the irony, especially in India. Ayurveda, the science of life was
practiced for thousands of years and it should have, legitimately, been the
mainstream medicine. But it is dubbed as alternative or complementary, Allopathic
usurping the position of the mainstream therapy. This development is taken to
connote that Ayurveda is unscientific. This is the precise view reflected in the recent
sixth report of the House of Lords' Select Committee on Science and Technology
dismissing Ayurveda as ' unscientific.' (12)

I am proud to say here that, in India, the vehicle of knowledge, man, was sought to
be more refined and matured, through inculcation of Dharma (the complex of
obligations and duties), so that he became more conscientious and accountable, even
while pursuing truth or knowledge of the realms- physical and non-physical. Man
respected man and his environment. That is why complete freedom of thought and
expression prevailed in all fields of life in India. Aryabhatta (495 AD) could propound
his theory of rotation and attractive power (gravitation) of the earth and
Brahmagupta (598 AD) could criticize him on the basis of his observations, whoever
ultimately proved right or wrong. Vatsyayana could write his Kamasutra (100 AD), an
excellent treatise on the science of sex, without any fear and we find him not
criticized by any Shankarachary then or now. There are no religious arbitrators here
to take side and mete out punishments. That should be the real scientific temper. It
was practiced in India. It stemmed from deeper spiritual roots that recognize many-
faceted ness of truth and man's freedom to pursue it in his own way as per his own
psychological make up emotional equipment and physical capabilities. Are we prepared
to grasp these parameters of human development and fulfillment and evolved indices
to measure real human development? That is the real task before us.

REFERANCES AND NOTES

1) 3,of the Preamble of Declaration on Science and the use of Scientific Knowledge,
Text adopted by the World Conference on Science (organized by UNESCO at
Budapest, Hungary), 1 July 1999, Definitive version <Back>
2) Quotation from Introduction-The World Commission on Culture and Development,
Our Creative Diversity (Culture and UNESCO).
http://www.unesco.org/culture/development/wccd/chapters/html_eng/indes_en.htm
<Back>
3) Eisenstadt, S. N. (1966) Modernization, Protest, and Change, Modernization of
Traditional Societies series, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. <Back>
4) Cited in Richard Strachey, 1911:297 <Back>
5) India Office Library and Records, Curzon Papers, IOLR, Mss. Eur. F111/559:
(xi&xvi); IOLR Mss.Eur. F111/248 (b). <Back>
6) Quoted in E. Cook, The Life of Florence Nightingale, II, London, 1914,p.1. <Back>
7) Thomas.S.Kuhn (1963) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, p.166-67, The
University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London <Back>
8) Kindly see a small booklet A Statement on Scientific Temper brought out by Neharu
Center, Mumbai (July 1981) and signed by some top scientist, technologist and
intellectuals of that time. For an excellent analysis of this document, scholars can see
' The " Statement on Scientific Temper " : The Educators in Need of Education ' in
Readings from PPST Bulletin, Technology Foundation, No 18, Sri Ram Nagar Main Road,
Chennai 600 113. <Back>
9) Cited in ' What is Development: Recalling an Old Debate ' from Readings from PPST
bulletin p. 9. <Back>

http://www.orientalthane.com/speeches/speech_12.htm 5/6
8/18/2014 Orientalthane - Institude for Oriental Study, Thane
10) UNESCO Newsletter (New Delhi Office), Vol. 9 No. 4 (December 2000). <Back>
11) P. K. Gode, (1956) ' Some Puranic Extracts quoted by Apararka (c. AD 1125) and
their bearing on the History of Indian Paleography and Education ' in Studies in Indian
Literary History ,Vol. III, Published by: Prof. Gode Collected Works Publication
Committee, Pune-4. <Back>
12) See Indian Express dated February 15, 2001 for news titled ' UK diagnosis of
Ayurveda leaves India with hiccups ' by Sanchita Sharma. <Back>

Dr. Bedeker's Hospital,

M.Karve Path, Shivshakti,
Naupada, Thane
INDIA 400602

Phone: (91) (022) 542 1438

Fax: (91) (022) 544 2525
E-mail: vbedekar@bom3.vsnl.net.in

home | calendar | seminars | speeches | publications

membership | links | guestbook | contact
"Shivshakti" Dr Bedekar's Hospital, Naupada, Thane 400 602.
info@orientalthane.com
Site Powered by Digikraf

http://www.orientalthane.com/speeches/speech_12.htm 6/6