False historical claims make us look like idiots

Is it possible to take pride in your history without fabricating a glorious past, to celebrate your culture’s achievements and still retain healthy scepticism?

Professor Mayank Vahia thinks it is. He’s a scientist with the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and this evening, he’ll talk on ‘Negating the Genuine: Exaggerated Claims On The Past’.

“Two years ago, when the Indian Science Congress was held in Mumbai, there were people presenting papers about how planes were being flown in the Vedic period, and how there is evidence of kings from ancient India having travelled to Mars,” says Vahia. Having spent 30 years making telescopes, which studied high energy particles reaching the Earth, for space missions launched by the US, Russia and India, he finds it annoying to know that unscientific claims are being passed off as having the backing of science.

“I am very proud of my Indian heritage. I have the greatest respect for what Aryabhatta, Charaka, and many others accomplished at their time,” says Vahia. “They made some phenomenal scientific and philosophical contributions. When we have so many spectacular achievements to celebrate, why should we make false claims? In fact, such claims make Indian scientists look like idiots. And even genuine work gets negated because of these baseless ideas.”

Vahia’s article titled, ‘Evaluating the claims of ancient Indian achievements in science’, in the June 2015 issue of the journal Current Science, speaks in a similar vein. “Clearly, the very fact that irrational ideas hold sway over such a large group is a major failure of our educational system,” he writes. “When a medical doctor specialising in sex change operations quotes the example of Shikhandi, a transgender in the Mahabharata, as an example of sex change operations in that period, it raises questions about the scientific temper of the Indian psyche.”

Vahia says Indians have a lot to cherish in terms of scientific advancements credited to their ancestors; for instance, the Nyaya-Vaisheshika school of thought, Varahamihira’s work in astronomy, the complex knowledge systems of yoga and Ayurveda, the Kerala school of Mathematics, and much else. However, he maintains it is futile to claim that quantum mechanics and aerodynamics originated in India because the steps required to lead up to them had not been attained.

confuzzled dude wrote:

Is it possible to take pride in your history without fabricating a glorious past, to celebrate your culture’s achievements and still retain healthy scepticism?

Professor Mayank Vahia thinks it is. He’s a scientist with the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and this evening, he’ll talk on ‘Negating the Genuine: Exaggerated Claims On The Past’.

“Two years ago, when the Indian Science Congress was held in Mumbai, there were people presenting papers about how planes were being flown in the Vedic period, and how there is evidence of kings from ancient India having travelled to Mars,” says Vahia. Having spent 30 years making telescopes, which studied high energy particles reaching the Earth, for space missions launched by the US, Russia and India, he finds it annoying to know that unscientific claims are being passed off as having the backing of science.

“I am very proud of my Indian heritage. I have the greatest respect for what Aryabhatta, Charaka, and many others accomplished at their time,” says Vahia. “They made some phenomenal scientific and philosophical contributions. When we have so many spectacular achievements to celebrate, why should we make false claims? In fact, such claims make Indian scientists look like idiots. And even genuine work gets negated because of these baseless ideas.”

Vahia’s article titled, ‘Evaluating the claims of ancient Indian achievements in science’, in the June 2015 issue of the journal Current Science, speaks in a similar vein. “Clearly, the very fact that irrational ideas hold sway over such a large group is a major failure of our educational system,” he writes. “When a medical doctor specialising in sex change operations quotes the example of Shikhandi, a transgender in the Mahabharata, as an example of sex change operations in that period, it raises questions about the scientific temper of the Indian psyche.”

Vahia says Indians have a lot to cherish in terms of scientific advancements credited to their ancestors; for instance, the Nyaya-Vaisheshika school of thought, Varahamihira’s work in astronomy, the complex knowledge systems of yoga and Ayurveda, the Kerala school of Mathematics, and much else. However, he maintains it is futile to claim that quantum mechanics and aerodynamics originated in India because the steps required to lead up to them had not been attained.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/false-historical-claims-make-us-look-like-idiots/article8317649.ece?homepage=true

Similarly, chaddi-gang exaggerates themselves as ultra-patriots while clueless about patriotism.