"Fostering Scientific Temperament in Effacing Superstitious Belief"

   FOSTERING SCIENTIFIC TEMPERAMENT IN EFFACING SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF

“Scientific Temper” describes an attitude which involves the application of logic and not having blind beliefs. It is an antidote for superstitious beliefs prevalent in our society. It has been reflected in policy initiatives starting from the Science Policy Resolution 1958 to Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, 2013.  Fostering scientific temper is one of our Fundamental Duties enshrined in our constitution. On the other hand, superstitious beliefs are deeply rooted in our society which we witness in everyday life. Time and again scholars have suggested promotion of scientific temper for ‘logical thinking and reasoning’.

Reasoning is a part of ‘scientific temper’ is not new to Indians, at least methodologically, however we are not free from superstitious beliefs; hence, they clash with one another. The word ‘scientific temper’ was first used by Jawaharlal Nehru in his autobiography, Discovery of India in 1946. For him scientific temper was the temper of free man and ‘should be a way of life, a process of thinking, and method of acting and associating with fellowmen’. The fundamental feature of scientific temper was ‘the spirit of enquiry and acceptance of the right to question and to be questioned’. In a boarder framework, scientific temper should be the basis of our knowledge gathering. The scientific policy resolution (SPR) of the government of India, adopted be both the Houses of Parliament in 1958, reflected the national aspiration based on Nehru’s concept of scientific temper. Scientific Policy Resolution is an expression of Indian political leaders’ faith in science and the role technology could play in national development.

Superstition is based on belief systems and belief systems are structures of norms that are interrelated and vary primarily in the degree on which they are systematic. What is systemic in the belief system is the interrelation between several beliefs. Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of reality. Superstition in India can be categorized in many ways varying from luck, auspiciousness, ghosts, supernatural beings, animals, witchcraft, sexuality, and reproduction. They often destroy our social fabric and create hurdles in development. There are superstitious prevalent in India. To see an elephant before a journey is considered to be auspicious. Breaking of glass is bad omen. People do not have a shave, haircut or cut their nails on Thursday, Tuesday and Saturday believing it brings bad omen. In Indian culture, one rupee note or coin is considered auspicious; on any auspicious occasion a one rupees note or coin is additionally given with bigger note like rupees50, 100 and 500. Furthermore, this country has witnessed the growth of numerous self- styled fake god men or charismatic leader.

The nature of superstitions in age-old society was different from today’s modern society. In earlier society, superstitions existed because of lack of knowledge about our surrounding environment, now it exists because of our ignorance and lack of critical thinking. There were many mysteries that were beyond common sense. So people started following superstitions to overcome puzzles and ambiguity in life. As knowledge grew overtime, human beings solved the puzzles of life, but superstitious beliefs are still dominant in our modern society. Our traditional culture is also responsible for promoting superstitions in our society. There have been elements of orthodoxy which forbid our society to question our traditional culture, belief and knowledge. This is the biggest fault of our society that it continues to propagate with the younger generation.

Superstitions are born out of ignorance of how Nature functions. Science is devoted to the unravelling of the mysteries of Nature. As one particular mystery is solved, we should expect the superstition based on it to vanish. But, this has not happened in practice because of lack of scientific outlook in the typical human being. While we live in a scientific age, there should be evidence of scientific temper in the people, community, and society as a whole.

It has been argued that such knowledge helps in protection of our environment and promotes awareness of climate change as it widens the scope for conservation and protection through knowledge of the environment. For instance, in some societies, there is a superstitious belief of ‘tree-worship’. However, if necessity arises people do not hesitate to chop it down. In such cases, scientific temper will act like an agent that encourages critical thinking which will help in conservation of nature. Even scientists who practice science do not necessarily have scientific temper. Scientific temper does not lead to liberalism or liberal intellectualism but it helps a person to train oneself with the tools required for liberal thinking. The most important of this tool is having an open mind and unbiased point of view.

In recent past, Raja Rammohan Roy contributed significantly towards India’s transition to modernity. Roy’s social reforms in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries narrowed the gap in attitude towards science and technology between India and Europe. Roy paved the way for creating the need for a rational outlook on several occasions through his social reforms. Likewise, Rajendra Mitra the first modern Ideologist of Indian origin and a key figure in the Bengal Renaissance, took on the baton for promoting social reforms through rational thought.

After Nehru, there has been a consistent approach to foster scientific temper in our society. The Nehru Centre, Bombay issued a document titled ‘A Statement of Scientific Temper’ on 19^th July 1981 with an aim to generate a nationwide discussion and to create a movement for the much needed second renaissance in the country. In 2011, an attempt was made to revisit the 1981 statement of Scientific Temper.

Scientific temper offers solutions and counter arguments which should be promoted in our society. This would bring about rationality and critical thinking. Recommendations for promotion of scientific temper should be a part of our school curriculum syllabus. From the nascent stage, if school children are taught to embrace the rational approach in their lives then it will definitely encourage critical thinking in them. The educated parents should encourage their children to think critically. They should not impose their superstitious beliefs on their children. Parents should provide their children an environment for free expression, questioning and democratic atmosphere at home. There is a need to ask for evidence or proof so as to develop a critical mindset and encounter superstitious beliefs.

This may not be a concern for many people whether or not ‘superstitious belief’ is a product of Indian culture. However, narration of mythical stories has been the part of our culture, but there has been little or no prevalence of stories that promote scientific reasoning, critical thinking and counter superstitious beliefs. Hence, stories that promote rationality or at least creation of spaces for dialogues should be encouraged. Those who think ‘blind – beliefs’ should be eradicated must know that spread of education and knowledge is one of the ways to untangle the puzzled events.

Scientific temper develops analytical ability, reasoning and aptitudes. It encourages scientific explanation and validation of truth. There are many facets of education, for many of us getting jobs is considered as the ultimate goal of education and thus where the problem lies. Perhaps this is the reason why dogmatic beliefs are held even by educated people. The spirit of inquiry should be encouraged as questioning catalyzes critical thinking, and critical thinking leads to innovation and problem solving ability.