Science versus Truth

Technology has blinded people in modern society so much that they can never believe that our science could be wrong. “If our science was wrong, how could we have so much technology? Computers, phones, internet etc by which the world is interacting today are all because of science. So how can we challenge science?” it is the usual argument that people make whenever someone challenges any scientific notion. But rational minds don’t fall prey to this technology trap. Firstly, development of technology and gadgets can’t be argued as a blanket proof for every scientific theory that our scientists have put forward, rather each theory need to be debated based on the pertaining evidence. One can’t argue that because science gave us computers and internet, we must accept everything that is endorsed by the scientists and comes with the label ‘science’. Secondly, building technology doesn’t always require a deeper understanding of Nature. Many of the technological innovations (eg. radio) actually happened well before our scientists have ‘understood’ the underlying science.

But how could people devise wonderful gadgets without actually knowing the underlying science? Well, a child can build marvelous towers and bridges using building blocks but it doesn’t mean that the child knows the physics and the engineering involved in that. The child simply does that by observing the environment and by doing some trial and error. Similarly a pot maker makes beautiful pots without knowing the physical laws that are at play. A farm worker grows fruits and grains, produces eggs from hens and hens from eggs etc and again all that doesn’t mean the farmer knows the biology or the laws of creation. To do that, the farmer only requires some superficial knowledge of the Nature and it is not necessary for him to know the deeper mechanisms or the processes involved. In fact in most scenarios, people will have a misunderstanding of the hidden processes though they make wonders in practice. For example, ancient people were able to exactly predict the occurrence of solar and lunar eclipses though they misunderstood how and why an eclipse occurred!

Same is the case with gadgets. It only requires some superficial knowledge to devise them and some trial and error to refine. For example, working of radios involves generating, broadcasting and receiving electromagnetic waves of specific frequency but scientists invented radio when they knew nothing about electromagnetic waves. How could they invent radio without knowing about electromagnetic radiation? Well they made use of some superficial observations and did some trial and error! And similarly weighing machines are devised making use of the phenomenon of gravity. But scientists still do not know the science of gravity i.e. they still don’t understand how and why earth attracts objects. Scientists just observed that objects fall to the ground and they noted that heavier objects fall with more force. These simple observations are utilized in devising a weighing machine. So invention of weighing machine isn’t a proof that our scientists understand about gravity or that their explanations of gravity are irrefutable.

Basically technology is built making use of the physical phenomena that we observe in Nature. But science is not about just observing the physical phenomena. The main goal of science is to unravel and explain the invisible mechanisms behind those observed phenomena e.g why an object falls to the ground or how earth attracts things etc. So technology and science are not one and the same, and our ability to build technology is not proof that we understand the hidden aspects of Nature correctly. In fact, as I have explained elsewhere, people who truly understand the deeper and hidden aspects of Nature don’t invent any gadgets. They realize that everything they need for happy and healthy living already exists in Nature and so they don’t see any reason to invent new stuff. Only people who don’t understand Nature will feel Nature is deficient and hence will invest their life and invent new things.

Enlightened minds realize that Nature has already endowed them the highest technology and resources to live happily. So why work hard and invent some inferior technology and burden ourselves or spoil our environment? Actually gadgets are the harmful byproducts or false fruits of scientific exploration that only mislead and distract people from the main path of wisdom by ‘bribing’ them with temporary pleasures and making them dependent. For people of modern society, life without gadgets feels miserable. And that is exactly how the alcohol addicts also feel. Without alcohol, they become jittery and agitated. They feel that they can’t live without alcohol. But those who haven’t fallen prey to the momentary happiness offered by alcohol know that life is much more joyous, peaceful and healthy without alcohol. Same is the case with gadgets and technology. We fall prey to the momentary comforts offered by them and in the process become dependent and addicted and we damage our health and also the environment.

At best, gadgets may occasionally help the disabled people for e.g. spectacles for the blind, wheel chairs for the handicapped, air conditioners for the recovery of sick people. Of course for the Enlightened minds, even that role becomes questionable as they can experience the world without the eyes, live happily without traveling etc. Wisdom helps overcome all the limitations that physical disabilities impose. And the enlightened minds wouldn’t be afraid of death, rather they would happily walk though the process of death. So recovery from illness makes little sense to them. To remove a thorn and alleviate the suffering caused by that, one needs to use another thorn. Similarly, to explain and rescue people from the evil effects of technology, I have resorted to the same technology.