Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "philosophy-of-science"

People often assume that science is only about empirical research - that it's merely about facts and figures, which happens to be nowhere near the truth. Facts are the fundamental building blocks of science, but bringing those facts together to have an insight of a certain phenomenon requires a rational, conscientious and creative mind. It's only through rigorous analysis and observation, as well as, creative contemplation, of the empirical evidence, i.e. facts, discovered through decades of research, that we can understand a certain phenomenon. Science cannot exist without empirical evidence, but evidence alone can't take science ahead and upwards, for that, we need some rather naïve and conscientious minds who can pierce through the evidence in order to have a practical insight of the big picture of a certain phenomenon. In short, there's more to science than facts and figures. Think of facts and figures as bricks and cement, and science or scientific understanding as a building. Without the vision of the architect, it's impossible to construct the building no matter how much bricks and cement you have.

Science means nothing,
Unless we use it to lift the society.
Philosophy means nothing,
Unless it empowers humanity.
Religion means nothing,
Unless it advocates for inclusion.
Technology means nothing,
Unless it aids in collective ascension.
Tastes are plenty in our world,
So are the paths that humans take.
But if those paths hold no humanity,
Fabric of civilization will soon break.
Placing on humanity our prime attention,
Together we’ll attain true emancipation.

Science and Religion have no feud,
Both are expressions of naturalism.
The real feud has been between,
Intellectualism and fundamentalism.
Facts help us take the world forward,
Reason helps us treat primitiveness.
But facts and reason alone won't do,
Without warmth all matter is lifeless.
Of course there are flaws in religion,
In science too there's greed and bigotry.
If in religion we have extremist nuts,
We also have plenty of scientific bully.
Instead of picking on each other's mistake,
Let us be human across intellect and faith.

Science is but a bridge of time, it can,
Either take us forward or dump us in prehistory.
Science alone does not ensure our advancement,
Unless it's practiced with warmth and accountability.
Sheer reason without any sentiment is,
As dangerous as sheer sentiment without any reason.
In order to forge a world fit for humans,
We must break the ice between reason and emotion.
Problem is that we like picking sides,
Either we are too emotional or too rational.
A civilized human ought to be none of that,
A civilized human acts upon the need of the situation.
So I say o mighty human, be not an intellectual moron.
Science is a means of service, not intellectual gratification.

Art is a mirror of time that shows,
What's been, is and could be.
Science is a bridge of time,
That helps us build the future to be.
Philosophy is a spank on the tank,
That makes us cautious of mistakes.
Faith is but an imaginary friend,
That fills in when the sky darkens.
Education is a liaison to social lanes,
That arms us to engineer new lanes.
Medicine is a keeper of health,
That helps us overcome sickness.
Each social field has a noble cause,
Whether they fulfill it depends on action of ours.

Mess with a police officer,
You may end up in prison.
And you may end up dead,
If you mess with a politician.
Mess with a bureaucrat,
You may end up exploited.
Mess with a programmer,
You may end up humiliated.
If you offend a teacher,
Your children might suffer.
If you offend a preacher,
You'll be deemed a blasphemer.
But mess with a scientist, that’s your ticket to hell.
Neither dead nor alive, you'll dangle in the middle.

True genius is the one of the heart, not of intellect. Because intellect-less heart, though exploited a lot, still does good, whereas heartless intellect, with or without the awareness of it, ends up only exploiting others.

But here’s the thing, even true genius of intellect is not without its fair sense of responsibility towards the society. It’s only the genius of halfbaked intellect that has absolutely no sense of service towards society – the only sense they have towards society, is that of domination or control.

That is why one of the guardians of nuclear physics, Albert Einstein though initially encouraged the US government in a letter, to develop a nuclear weapon of our own against the Nazi nuclear program, ended up being an outspoken activist of nuclear-disarmament, and called his letter to Roosevelt “one great mistake of life”.

That is why the mother of radioactivity, Marie Curie never made a dime out of her discovery of radium, because to her, even amidst obscurity, science was service, unlike most so-called scientists of the modern world.

That is why the man who literally electrified the world with his invention of alternating current, Nikola Tesla embraced happily other people stealing his inventions, and died a poor man in his apartment.

You see, it’s easy to make billions out of other people’s pioneering work, the sign of true genius is an uncorrupted sense of service.

Woman empowered is civilization empowered.
Dream empowered is progress empowered.
Parents empowered is children empowered.
Teachers empowered is future empowered.
Don’t defund the police, use those funds,
To send the officers to behavioral therapy.
To have an understanding of justice and order,
We must have a grip over our impulses and biases.
Discrimination don’t disappear if we shut our eyes,
Each of us must live as an antidote to discrimination.
Ignorance doesn’t become knowledge when peddled by scripture,
Better burn all scriptures if they peddle hate and division.
To conquer our biases and stereotypes is to conquer inhumanity.
To expand our heart beyond assumption is to empower humanity.

I am a scientist but,
I don’t care about science.
I am a monk but,
I don’t care about enlightenment.
I am a philosopher but,
I don’t care about philosophy.
I am a theologian but,
I don’t care about theology.
I may use a lot of tools,
But that’s what they are – tools.
They are meant to serve society,
Not look down on people as fools.
When the tool rules, user turns a tool.
Human above all else – lo the supreme rule.

Doing God’s work and doing God’s propaganda are two different things. And the world has enough propaganda as it is – what the world needs is God’s work – what this world needs is service – service not to the idea of God, but to the helpless and destitute – service to those who have nowhere to turn to. This, my friend, is called practical divinity.

“My First Love (The Sonnet)

My first love was not science,
My first love was theology.
Then what got me hooked on science,
Was the spark of electronic circuitry.

Eventually through happy and sad accidents,
Everything fell into its proper place.
Science, theology, and much more
got mixed up, and I ended up pioneering
the empire of humanitarian science.

I am a better scientist because of theology,
I am a better theologian because of science.
Hand in hand they found fulfillment,
When with poetry I built a heartfelt alliance.

I have no gift, it’s just that, expansion is my lifeblood.
In a world run by narrowness, the smallest act
of expansion seems like an act of God.”