Captain Gopinath and Cow Dung — Science and Scientism
Captain Gopinath, well-known entrepreneur who later had a brief stay in the Aam Aadmi Party, has written in The Hindu on Modi, science and pseudo-science. His article is titled “A seesaw of science and pseudoscience”.
The good captain’s article will be discussed, but here is the picture The Hindu used with the article, that of a few people who have applied cow dung all over them (over which Captain Gopinath probably has no control). This is an apt picture, but not for the logic that The Hindu chose it. We’ll come to the story of this picture later.
Image credit: Reuters
Captain Calumny
Captain Gopinath accuses Modi of ‘plumping for pseudoscience’. Then he goes onto say Modi asked people ‘to beat gongs and blow conches at auspicious hours based on ancient numerology’. Where did Captain Gopinath get that logic from? Thin air.
Because, here is Modi’s speech from March 2020. Where exactly is numerology, auspicious hours or cosmic energy to drive out the virus?
Is lying in the face of evidence to the contrary ‘scientific’?
Captain Gopinath also says Modi did not pull up his Cabinet colleagues for launching a drug which has not gone through clinical trials and quotes IMA’s condemnation of that drug. Yes, the same IMA led by Dr JA Jayalal who believes in the scientifically-proven resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Then comes the ‘Ganesha-plastic-surgery’ jibe against Modi. Fine, let’s just accept that cannot exactly be called a scientifically proven fact. However, since Captain Gopinath says Modi used this example to claim plastic surgery existed in India long before the West, suffice to say that forms of plastic surgery did exist in India long before Dr JA Jayalal may think true religion began.
Here’s what the NHS (UK) website says, since the white man’s seal is what some people consider science.
Plastic surgery had to wait until the late 18th century for the next significant advance in the history of plastic surgery — the skin graft. And ironically the breakthrough came from rediscovering a procedure developed in ancient India.
The severe-looking skin graft procedure was rediscovered in an ancient book called the ‘Sushruta Samhita’ — dating back to 8th century BC. Lurking in a corner of the book’s 184 chapters was a technique using a leaf-shaped flap from the forehead to reconstruct the nose.
The technique (shown below) was published in the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine of Calcutta’ in October 1794 and it soon became widely used; known as the ‘Indian Method’.
Whatever the personal beliefs of Narendra Modi, what matters is whether his government is disregarding evidence and sound scientific advice. Captain Gopinath, in 1000 plus word article has not been able to offer one single policy, of the Modi government that seriously disregards scientific evidence in favour of some atavistic flight of fancy.
Because there is overwhelming evidence, especially in the context of the pandemic, that the government was guided by the advice of scientists.
Consider a few facts here:
- India was among the first to introduce Rapid Antigen Tests along with RT-PCR tests. After the initial criticism, this became globally accepted.
- When India didn’t even have 50 cases, in March 2020, Modi said he would not attend any Holi events since experts had advised reduction of mass gatherings.
- Masks were mandatory in most parts of India in April itself, and Modi led the way in masking up. This was long before WHO recommended masking up.
- This is important because masks have been a highly controversial topic in the West with some leaders refusing to mask up, while no such politicization happened in India.
- Even now, Modi and his party are at the lead of asking people to get vaccinated while it is the liberal and secular parties that are spreading vaccine hesitancy.
There is very little evidence of Modi government being dismissive of science. But there is clearly a concerted attempt to build him up as a caricature somewhere between Trump and Bolsonaro, even if evidence doesn’t support it. Very scientific indeed.
Scientism Bares its Fangs
The rest of Captain Gopinath’s article is less about science and more about signaling, or, ‘scientism’ as it is called. Rather than define scientism, let us learn what it is and how to spot it.
Susan Haack, British philosopher, had come out with six signs of scientism. Here is what she outlines:
1. Using the words “science,” “scientific,” “scientifically,” “scientist” etc., honorifically, as generic terms of epistemic praise.
2. Adopting the manners, the trappings, the technical terminology, etc., of the sciences, irrespective of their real usefulness.
3. A preoccupation with demarcation, i.e., with drawing a sharp line between genuine science, the real thing, and “pseudo-scientific” imposters.
4. A corresponding preoccupation with identifying the “scientific method,” presumed to explain how the sciences have been so successful.
5. Looking to the sciences for answers to questions beyond their scope.
6. Denying or denigrating the legitimacy or the worth of other kinds of inquiry besides the scientific, or the value of human activities other than inquiry, such as poetry or art.
Captain Gopinath’s article ticks many of these classic signs of scientism.
When he says Modi’s “mystic symbolism and mythic metaphors are incongruous with the image of a leader in a hurry to propel India to a technologically advanced nation”, he is guilty of indulging in sign number 6, by denigrating the power of mystic symbolism and mythical metaphors as ways of looking at the world around us.
When he asks Modi to “steer the nation back on to the path of science”, he could be guilty of showing sign number 1.
The article’s premise of science vs pseudo-science is clearly in tune with sign number 4.
While scientism may be a part of Captain Gopinath’s motivations, going by his earlier articles, political and ideological tendentiousness, hardly driven by any evidence and as religious in their motivations as any believer’s, seem to be the prime motivations.
Journalism in a Heap of Dung
Here’s that picture again.
Image credit: Reuters
This image is by Reuters and appeared in one of their articles titled “Indian doctors warn against cow dung as COVID cure”. The headline would give you the impression that thousands, if not millions, of Indians are going for cow dung as a cure for the Wuhan virus.
Be that as it may, the article says ‘doctors’ are warning against using cow dung as a cure. Perhaps they quoted 2 or 3 doctors? No, they quoted a grand total of one doctor. Below is the relevant part:
“There is no concrete scientific evidence that cow dung or urine work to boost immunity against COVID-19, it is based entirely on belief,” said Dr JA Jayalal, national president at the Indian Medical Association.
“There are also health risks involved in smearing or consuming these products — other diseases can spread from the animal to humans.”
Dr JA Jayalal is a national president of an NGO called Indian Medical Association. He says the use of cow dung or urine ‘is based entirely on belief’. Perhaps it is.
But let us get a taste of Dr JA Jayalal’s beliefs, from a now-deleted interview (which can be accessed in archives here)
Installed as president of the Indian Medical Association last December, Dr. Jayalal sees it all as a platform to share the love of Jesus Christ.
“I deeply desire to be a living witness to God and encourage young medical students and doctors to receive Jesus as their personal savior. I aim to be a witness for God in the secular organization I serve.”
There was an even starker insight into the motivations of ‘Doctor’ Jayalal from the same article.
But the confusion, fear, and desperation of the pandemic gave Dr. Jayalal and his colleagues the opportunity to share the Gospel in a new way to more people.
“This virus has created a fear and understanding among the public that there is Someone more powerful than all of what we have. When leprosy, cholera, and other pandemics devastated the world, it was Christian doctors and churches who stood against it, showing Christian compassion. And the urgent need of the proclamation of the Gospel to people who are suffering from the virus has allowed us to share the Gospel even in secular institutions.”
We all know what this means, don’t we?
So, Reuters was essentially quoting an evangelist who said he was using a secular organization to benefit his religion, to talk down to some people who were harming nobody else by applying cow dung over themselves.
The truth was, by the time this article was published by Reuters, about 170 million vaccine doses had been administered in India. Most of these 170 million doses were administered to people who consider the cow as sacred. But that does not pander to Reuters’ biases.
Compared with this, what would have been the number of people using cow dung — 170?
So, what exactly was the point of the Reuters article if not to appeal to racist instincts and bigoted stereotypes that would make the West feel good about ‘stupid brown heathens’?
