Slums, Science, and Solecism

As a teen seeking a direction in life, I remember stumbling upon Bertrand Russell’s version of the ten commandments in a school library. They changed my life forever. Naturally to the disdain of those around me, I became a bit more stubborn about discussions, and I at the risk of becoming an idealist, I found myself rooting out peoples’ fear of controversy.

Those commandments are as follows:

1. Do not feel certain of anything.
2. Do not feel it's worthwhile to hold on to a belief by concealing contrary evidence, for that evidence will surely come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.
4. Overcome opposition via argument, not force or authority. A victory based upon force is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there will always be counter-authorities.
6. Don't use force to suppress opinions which you think are dangerous, for if you do they will surely suppress you.
7. Don't fear being different and eccentric, for every mainstream idea was at one time eccentric and different.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent that in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even when the truth is inconvenient, for it is always more inconvenient when you try to conceal truth.
10. Don't feel envious of the happiness of those living in a fool's paradise, for only a fool would see it as true happiness.Likewise, in a New Statesmen interview with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens advised to “never be afraid of stridency” Combined, I sometimes find myself in situations which are tantamount to social rejection, even expulsion in some cases.  Verily, this is the worst of feelings, yet I feel an obligation to enlighten, despite the unwillingness to hear. 

Such was the case in Goa, India. This sand-laden state has been a hotbed of hippy activity for decades, and without knowing what I was getting into, I was invited to stay at a woman’s house in the north. A lovely and warm-hearted woman who dedicated her time to helping slum children, I found great difficulty in commenting on the various delusions she ascribed to. 

That said, her mistaken understanding of science and nature has the potential to cause great harm in India, with locals and foreigners alike. Namely, the ‘ancient Indian science’ of Ayurveda came into talks many times within the first day. As she swears by its ability to cure everything from aches to cancer, I had to inquire how she knew this. Listing various anecdotal and testimonial evidence, including her own recovery from deadly diseases, she invites me to experience the therapy for myself. Out of my price range, I had to settle for a little time surfing the web to read about the peer-reviewed studies detailing the efficacy of this treatment. 

Despite my interest in analyzing the pseudoscience, my host was not entertained. In fact, as soon as I saw she did not find it amusing, I laid off the subject. As well as hosting three other people at the same time, numerous other guests visited her apartment while I crashed there. And although my efforts at conversation were relatively tame, I found myself in a community of people not only apathetic about objective truth, but vehemently opposed to people with strong opinions. Minding my own, I tried reading instead, that is, until someone mentioned that evolution was phooey. 

And after decimating this idea, ensuring that an admission of ignorance was made, I merely pointed out that this line of thought, although it is advisable to be skeptical, undermines the people’s understanding of science and potentially education itself.  This did not further my position in the group. I took my leave the following day as I realized I might be giving a bad name to science myself.  In hindsight, I have never had this much of a reaction in India so far, yet it was inevitable to happen sometime, and of course, I should have expected it in Goa. 

Then again, lesson be learned here, don't expect much from those who are willing to break all ten of Russell's rules.

Skyward I went to learn

Amongst the central hills of Karnataka state, India’s majestic Hindu past lingers about as massive stone structures like a network of ant hills. Fifty meter Gopurams, deistic monoliths, and hilltop temples remain to remind us that social cohesion and civilization-wide efforts were vital to the success of the Maharajas.

As a traveler, I bask in the idea of these mega-structures, and their ability to stand more than 600 years. I am also in a position to absorb much history and culture from the locals, and yet as a skeptic, I choose to play along, open my mind, just to the point where I can gain an experience from a different perspective, regardless of the naiveté required. 

In this spirit, I have wonderful opportunities all the time, like today. While walking through some ruins in the area, I spotted a path leading up a nearby hill. Assuming a decent vantage point, I hiked skywards.

Nearing the top, voiced could be heard and caught sight of an ancient building at the peak. Recognizing the sound as chanting, I cautiously peeked through the window, when I heard a rumbling voice, croaking in an Indian accent. “Ah, a young man, come come!”

Rounding into the ‘courtyard’, I saw smoke billowing out of the door to the man’s room. Gleefully entering, I was greeted by four aged Yogis sitting around a small fire, wearing longyis, shawls, and covered in paint.

The elder Yogi spoke English well, the others seemingly not, and I was invited to sit down for tea and a round on the “enlightenment” pipe.  Such opportunities should never be passed up. 

As I took a seat on the floor next to them, I decided to not speak out of turn, not discuss, but simply to ask questions pertaining to the lifestyle, the ideals, and the philosophy of the Gurus of India. Now, most of the responses I got reminded me of similar philosophies or teachings elsewhere. 

“If you want to meditate, you should best do it at either sunrise, or sunset. The sun represents good, and the night, darkness. Meditating at this time allows you the balance to see all things.” So basically Taoism, in it’s dualistic nature. 

“By emptying the mind, you are able to become one with the universe and look upon all things.”  I expected this, but it reminded me of the study by Andrew Newberg about loss of blood flow in the parietal lobes, causing a lack of time and spacial awareness. 

For the rest of the talk, I heard regurgitated Deepak Chopra, mismatched stories in philosophy, and a constant belittlement because I have not aligned my higher chakras. I even heard a bit of Gnosticism in there, when he discussed how we desire to remove our evil physical bodies, and become entirely good metaphysical bodies. 

This went on and on, and finally he realized he had me hooked.  I was told if I made a small contribution, he would demonstrate meditation for me, and allow me to ask any questions I had about the cosmos or life. The contribution? A bag of grass! Best of all, he suggested I could record it and put it on the internet so to confirm his findings!

This seemed too good to be true. Of course I was enthused.  I asked for tips on how to be a better person. I was told to remove all desires and needs. To stop requiring my mobile phone, my fancy clothes, my material possessions.  Five minutes later, a phone rang, and the material-less Yogi reached under his cloths and pulled out a phone, and started to chatter away. 

Biting my tongue, I decided it better not to make snide comments. About twenty minutes later, security showed up and asked for what I presume to be written permission to be on a World Heritage site, making fires and smoking.  Evicted and disappointed, the Yogis started to pack.

Understandably, it seems the Yogis of yesteryear have little place in today’s society. Upon asking other locals, it seems there are not enough large temples to sustain the number of people who practice the lifestyle. They wander from town to town, taking food and supplies from locals, then moving on. It also seems Yogis are not universally respected. It was made to seem like a huge burden, a sacrifice for the rest of society to live away from family, to spend your days traveling and teaching.  

To become a Yogi, you should lead a normal life, then after getting married and having children you can leave and take care of only yourself.  Astonishing.  If I lived in a society that forced early marriage within one’s own caste, forced child bearing and hard labor, I would find the courage to leave my family as well, to live my life on hilltops smoking weed all day and hanging out with my friends. 

Needless to say, I will not have the opportunity to get the Yogi stoned off his ass, ask him questions and post it for the internet. Perhaps next time. 

On a related note, I can say that in cities of India, atheism is on the rise, and I would put the figure higher than the recent US figure of 5% confirmed atheist. I met a host of people in Bangalore who described themselves as “near-militant” atheists, who participate in daily life to dispel delusions. 

Incredible India, I have high hopes for you.

Sanal Edamaruku

The streets of Fort Cochin has a dramatic collision of the illustrious colonial history, with it’s Portuguese Manueline architecture, cathedrals, Dutch homes with hanging gardens on the windows, and the iconic English estates, clubhouses, and monumental feats of infrastructure.  The drama comes about when contrasted with the sprawling, unregulated slums overflowing to occupy every plot of land. This effect was compounded by the gross lack of awareness on behalf of Mohandas Gandhi, the disastrously poverty-stricken effects of Mother Theresa’s programs, and the gross misuse of power by Indira Gandhi. 

While wandering the streets, looking for the Indo-Portuguese museum , I was remarking how Christian this part of India is, finding symbols of the faith in every restaurant, shop, and street corner. The bible thumpers have been here.  Yes, Catholicism is rife here, and it turns out that the Museum I sought was an extension of the Bishopric house.  Waiting for lunch time to finish, I had the opportunity to sit and found myself in the company of many priests. As a group we had a wonderful discussion, and being invited to meet the bishop, I was obliged to say yes.  Oh how little they knew what they were getting into. 

I sat down with Bishop Joseph Kariyil for tea and engaged in a discussion of Aristotle, Indian habits, and education. It was when I brought up the subject of Sanal Edamaruku that things got a bit tense. For those of you who have not heard, Sanal is a skeptic, the founder of Rationalist International, who debunked a miracle Jesus statue which was claimed to drip holy water. Mr. Edamaruku demonstrated is was from a leaky sewage pipe.  Now the Catholic church and their police-for-hire have hunted him, threatening him with prison, until he sought refuge in Europe.  

“Leaders of two Catholic laity organizations have launched charges against me under Section 295A of the Indian penal code. This charges a person with "deliberately hurting religious feelings and attempting malicious acts intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class or community.” It is absurd to claim that I did anything of the sort.” According to a  www.slate.com interview.

Following this Interview, this report has said: “4 July 2012.This morning, officers of the Delhi Police reached Sanal Edamaruku’s house to arrest him. They came upon directions of a Delhi court to execute an arrest warrant issued by a Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate Court (second highest Criminal Court). If Sanal had been at home, he would be in jail now….

The officers were informed that Sanal is presently out of Delhi and traveling. They insisted on details of his whereabouts, addresses and contact numbers. Some hours later, they came again to press for information, to no avail.”

According to Wikipedia, “On July 31st 2012, it was reported that Edamaruku had fled to Finland, where he was staying with his friends.” However the link is in Finish, and I will have to rely on my Finish friend's translation.

Back to our friendly Bishop Joseph, he had nothing to say on the subject, and not surprisingly, I found that tea time was soon over. Browsing the museum, I found wonderfully meticulous collection of catholic artifacts, symbolizing the powerful affluence the church had since the 15^th century in India. Such a large private collection, I had to inquire where they received the funds. I found the curator of the museum, Shaji, a delightful conversationalist, to be immensely helpful answering questions. A seminary pupil himself once, he found more pleasure in the family life, and more fulfillment. As someone who is close the catholic hierarchy in India, he was eager to talk with an outsider. It was said there were ‘concerns’ about the sexual abstinence of the leadership, as well as rumors of a ‘misappropriation’ of funds. I love how Indians use the English vocabulary.

I did a bit of scrounging on the Google and found why the current Bishop is trying to remain out of the spotlight. Although I found nothing regarding financial issues, the previous bishop Cochin has been known as an eccentric one. According to indianexpress.com, the bishop adopted a young woman for, get this… “spiritual refreshment.”
And according to this source, said bishop blessed his house and other priests by sprinkling the woman’s blood around.

“Considered a black magic ritual and disapproved by the official church, the ‘bloody ceremony’ was conducted to bless the bishop’s residence itself. The bishop said he had his own interpretation of the Bible and it was purely personal.”

Can you imagine how different history would be if the Catholics had always allowed their own personal interpretations? Well nobody doubts Catholics have blood on their hands, but now they admit it.
Beautiful museum though…

For the sake of Sanal, please everyone go to this change.org petition, and to this Dawkins Foundation page which urges readers to write to the press and to the Vatican. This man is guilty of enlightening people, destroying myths, and debunking illusory claims. I support Sanal Edamaruku.

Subjectivism

Now, I have been putting off my trip to India for quite some time, primarily because I had been waiting for an Indian friend to get out of Harvard, but also because I thought it inopportune to make the jaunt without enough time. Six months is just going to have to do. I had, over the years, amassed a number of stories about the country, gathered from other backpackers. Vicariously traveling, naturally you start to make an image in your head. 

I promised myself I would not make any presumptions, and as much as possible, try to view the country ala tabula rasa. As a traveler, I have a propensity to draw attention, not because I desire it, but more due to my insatiable lust for debate. Discussions grow tedious when repeated, but as you travel, you get another local flavor of logic, usually regurgitated from similar sources, yet cooked in the each culture’s perspective.

So as an unpublished, unknown free thinker, I do not have the luxury of Sam Harris, Matt Dillahunty, or Hitchens to blow off the less-intelligent challengers. In fact, I employ the minions of god and hippy-spawn to hone those skills and references which I should keep fresh.  

So last week, I was invited by a charming Indian waiter, who felt he could not do Islam justice in conversation, as he was a Muslim by name only. Thus I was invited to go hang out with an Imam and a respected Muslim in the area. I was more than happy so long as they agreed to be cordial and honest. I typically refuse to start unless they would be willing to admit that they might be wrong, as I openly do. This sets the stage for a friendly conversation. 

Walking along the shore to our destination, with my newly-made T-shirt “There is no god” brazenly getting the message out there. I often have to clarify that it should read “there is probably no god” to be logically sound, but the letters were too expensive, and well, this is a far better conversation starter. 

It went through the typical stuff, basic philosophy, science, Al-Quran, but after five plus hours, I realized my company were being fundamentally dishonest, not only to me, but to themselves. No matter how many times I drilled the point in, and they subsequently agreed, they would go back to mantra it all up again. 

So this entry will be about what bothers me most about Asia, whether we discuss philosophy, religion, spiritualism, medicine, politics, or just about any subject asking you for an iota of thought. What I hate the most is the persistent subjectivism of this part of the world. Certainly I could gander at the causes. Perhaps the thousands of years of invasion after invasion kept the people’s minds at bay. Perhaps it was the oriental philosophies such as Siddhartha Gautama or Confucius. Perhaps it was the lack of western philosophies starting with the stoics and ending with the empiricists, which never made it past the Muhammadans. Perhaps the Monotheistic religions’ demands of this god and only this god, started the trend of accepting what our sensory perception gives us.  

Either way, that subjectivism is rooted in the minds of most on this continent.  This concept that all knowledge and moral values are based on a subjective rather than an objective truth or reality is poisonous to education, democracy, human rights, environmentalism and many more ideas. 

Taking people through the logical steps from subjectivism to solipsism seems to do little to sway the minds. Pleading for any knowledge which can be obtained this way, results in no more realization. The simple truth is, for millennia, people have been avoiding the problems of reality by shirking responsibility. You say that our problems are not your problems, you mention that you can solve any issue by inner clarity, or meditation, and you have not dealt with anything but your awareness of the issue. Recategorizing a problem as ‘solved’ in your mind does not help anyone else.  

While in a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar, I discussed at length with the monks what they hope to accomplish by meditating. In that case, the result is a majority of the population keeping their heads down in servitude while a few brave men and women desperately try to rally the people to democracy, while risking everything. 

In general, I feel it is safe to say, religion favors the poor, the simple-minded. Those in power often reap the prize of the humbled mind. Subjectivism, likewise, is the bond of the mind which disables any critical thinking or positive action. 

That said, the education systems in Asia are typically authoritarian, encouraging not participation, but results. This often does not expose methodology or thought patterns in school, and pupils are left to find their own way to solve problems. In education based on critical thinking, we see more participation, usually allowing students to correct logical errors or identify fallacies they make. 

Combine that with a society rife with superstition, unquestioned religion, and traditions and you have a brew of misapprehensions.  In my travels, most people are simply unaware they are making the most common of logical errors, but simply because no one had corrected them. 

So after a week in India, I am happy to report that the people show far more skepticism and rational thought than the foreigners who come looking for enlightenment. And I dare say, enlightenment never did Indians any good anyway, for they are the ones trying to get positions in western universities to learn.