Related blog https://danasurdanu.blogspot.com/2021/07/quality-matters-in-science-thinking.html
I have been thinking about courtiers problems, many of us have been thinking. Some of us join RSS, some make donations, some tweet.
We have opinions and some of the frequently discussed suggestions are
1. Focus on technical Education
2. Focus on bringing right curriculum which teaches to make a patriot of a child. Problem is it is very difficult considering the grip leftists have on system.
3. Focus on economy, which has again many aspects.
4. Focus on poverty eradication.
5. Focus on legislations like common civil code, population control etc.
6. Focus on character building, main goal of RSS.
In every one of these Modi Ji must be trying his best. Trying to get more FDI etc.
I would personally try to encourage people to question, to feed their curiosity, educate and develop ability for critical thinking. Because we will need that to solve all other problems. And we will need many such people. India has serious scarcity of people who can think critically and responsibly. Our families and social circles are devoid of such people. We don't question on why and how. We think we know everything, and we mostly live a feeling driven life.
Mindset is very important. We see many kids born to wealthy parents don't get anywhere in the intelligence and education. Because they don't have the mindset. Only money cant solve all the problems.
Jews who immigrated to Israel from various parts of Europe, who make up half of population in Israel, they had a big chunk of people who were able to think. Mind is biggest resource, not the oil, minerals, rivers or fertile land.
It is hardest thing, becoming rational, thinking correct and thinking in detail in the right priority of things. But there is no alternative. All the wealth wont help unless we develop this capital. It is my biggest failure as a person.
It was biggest failure of past generations in India when we were Islamized. Our degradation had started before that. And we have been incredibly slow in learning science and critical thinking in the modern age.
Nalanda university had a nine story library, before it was burned by invaders from the middle east in 1199. Books kept smoldering for months. But if it was so, then why was it constrained in the walls of few universities in India? Why was it not in the hands and minds of educated people across India. A book in library or bookshop is as good as toilet paper. For the people who could assess the value of the book will also acquire it. And to accurately critique something one needs to read it. Nothing happens in isolation. If people read those books they won't be as ignorant as they were those days. If there was wisdom, people would have reorganized, rearmed, rebuilt. It doesn't happen that some invader burns the university and kills the people and it ends. Germany acquired France in ww2, people did not change in those periods, they rebuilt their life and culture after occupation ended. And if masses did not have wisdom in that time 1199 AD, a lot of what we feel might be blind man's description of the room.
The process of thinking, letting mind explore the subjects freely (and responsibly) has not occurred to we Hindus to the degree it happened to Vivekananda. We change everything into our shape. We see what we want to see, we only adopted bhakti of Vivekananda. So a senior manager of my first company in Mumbai asks me, "why do you have Vivekananda's pic on your desk? You believe in Vivekananda?" I said I don't believe in anything....she couldn't understand it, finally I said "yes I believe in Vivekananda.". She was ISKCON lady, counsellor at ISKCON Juhu. A friend from Seattle who is always perturbed by my questions and criticisms, says the same: "OK, so you like Vivekananda, so you should follow Vivekananda's teachings." It was beyond his comprehension that I read Vivekananda as I read Bertrand Russel. There is no faith into my mind, and I don't take him as a last arbiter on everything.
A parallel example I would give of Aligarh Muslim University. Sir Syed thought bringing critical thinking among Muslims is important for their good and their strength, but later on AMU became another madarsah which it is now. Muslims changed AMU into what they wanted to see it. They only study parts of Sir Syed's life which supports Islam. AMU was hub of Pakistan movement.
To a certain degree we Hindus have become followers of magic and we always want magic. So Vivekanada has been reduced to a figure of magic, another demigod.
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I was mailing to a friend, when discussing about Tagore:
"Like Naipaul his critique is very accurate. Very strong description of strengths of Indian civilization and faults which have accrued. The things which we think of now, he already saw them 100 years ago. Most of Indian writers write crap, lies, and deceptive fiction, twist facts to get money and accolades and to be politically correct. But Naipaul (only racially Indian) and Tagore were honest.
Feelings are contagious. Feelings spread among masses. Rigorous work, no matter how important, does not spread, because of its inability to generate passions among normal people. People remember and follow impassioned rituals.
Intensity of glory or rumor has no relation with knowledge of the work among masses. It largely depends on the confidence and passion people show in their feelings while evoking that glory and fidelity of mimicry or copying among masses depends on that. Or to say the ability of those stories of glory or rumor to arouse passionate feelings or conform to a person's existing biases. So what masses adopt is a twisted narrative which suits their bias. Nothing changes, their bias becomes even more strong.
Original works which are important and acts of genius like in the case of Tagore, Naipaul, and Vivekananda are forgotten. So Tagore and Vivekananda bring glory to Indians and especially Bengalis. It makes Bengalis very arrogant.
However most of them haven't read his critical works. And if read, not pondered."
Reason is not a western Christian phenomena. Reason in west came as a reaction to Christianity, against the Christianity. And foundation was laid by re-study of works of ancient Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle, Socrates, Cicero, who were idolaters like we Hindus.
Gandhi, Vivekananda, Tagore, Allama Iqbal, all of them were affected by west.
Allama Iqbal came as a Islamist, as his reaction to hurt ego in the west, went on to appeal for creation of Pakistan and superiority of Islamic faith over reason of west.
Gandhi became reactionary, when he was thrown out of train in South Africa. Although he called for non-violent means, he was hurt at the soul.
Tagore and Vivekanada did not let the hurt feelings damage their judgement and they were able to do the right diagnosis and accept the truth. But I feel masses liked Gandhi more than Tagore and Vivekananda, because Gandhi appealed to emotions of simple villager. Vivekanada being a spiritual master, was still very much a man who argued with reason. Gandhi being darling of pseudo-secularists, was full of dogma and superstition.
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