Why did not this idiot complain when George Bush prayed to GOD before he started bombing Iraq?

by Rishi Mon Nov 11, 2013 6:27 pm

And yet, shortly before the launch of one of the most complex scientific projects undertaken by humanity, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan thought it necessary to take miniature replicas of the rocket and the Mars orbiter spacecraft to the feet of a deity and conference with supernatural forces. The chairman engaged in pooja at the Tirumala shrine at Tirupathi ahead of the historic moment of launch and asked for “a little divine intervention.”

Even in today’s world, our species possessing well-developed brains, complex technologies and centuries of scientific progress, remains fearful and superstitious, and such unfounded paranormal beliefs hold an extraordinary sway in our daily lives. Superstition is an epidemic that persuades us to run away from reality.

How is a sneeze or two while leaving the house supposed to influence your performance at an exam? Can the position of constellations thousands of trillions of kilometres away somehow determine the state of one’s marriage? And are the ISRO Chairman’s actions any different from these?

Moreover, such irrational behaviour from the head of the Indian government’s primary space agency is unbelievably senseless. Pascal’s wager is a poor excuse for anyone to think that two events with no observable process linking them in any way can somehow influence each other. This is not just ignoring the spirit of enquiry, but outright denying and denouncing the scientific method. How does taking on such an ambitious project even make a difference in our technological prowess, if praying to our imaginary friends in space is seen as a reasonable precaution? When the agency which is supposed to be a temple of science and uphold the search for truth and new knowledge, is worshiping a Hindu deity in such a public manner, are we making any progress at all? We should all be thankful that a black cat did not cross the scientist’s path; otherwise the mission could very well have been postponed in want of a more auspicious mahurat and a poojan for Mangaladevata.

This also goes on to show how we have grown used to this strange form of cognitive dissonance which allows such an epidemic of mystical belief to remain. It is ironic that astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar, who visited Pune’s science park just last week stressed on exhibits on eradication of superstitions. While he and others such as Shivaprasad Khened (director of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai) and astrophysicist Prakash Tupe plan to open planetariums and encourage kids to adopt a mindset free of religious dogma, aren’t the ISRO chairman’s actions undoing all this and making a mockery of the hard work and efforts put in by the hundreds of researchers and technologists involved with the institution.

http://www.newsyaps.com/jai-vigyan/69876/