Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

Where can we learn the right lessons?

Q: Our elders say there is no need to read books. Life can teach lots of lessons - more than books and schools. Your analysis please.

Krishna: No doubt life teaches you lots of lessons.

Books (non-academic) can teach you others' experiences and their interpretations of it which need not always be correct.

Research papers and Academic texts, especially science related ones, teach you facts.

But whether they are life's teachings or book-read, or school -oriented ultimately how you analyse and interpret the lessons is more important.

To interpret things and analyse them correctly, you need facts, evidence based ones and the ability to think critically.

Let me explain.

Recently a young person died of cancer. His parents and grandparents interpreted it as God's will. They even blamed God for taking the life of a young man. It seems he never smoked, never ate paan masala, gutka, and never drank. But still he faced such a deadly disease.

Some others interpreted it as karma ( Karma is a concept from Indian philosophy that refers to the idea that a person's actions determine their future consequences. The word "karma" comes from the Sanskrit word kर्म which means "action" or "work"). Because the parents and the young man did bad things, they said, he faced such a fate.

Different people and different ways of analysis and understanding a tragedy.

Right.

But the doctors confirmed, after reading the case history and speaking to the young man before his death, that he used to get outside food in a very hot condition packed in plastic bags.

He used to drink from plastic bottles. He drank tea and coffee from plastic cups 5-6 times per day.

Autopsy reports confirmed that his body is filled with plastic chemicals.

That 's the cause of his cancer!

Okay, several people do this. But genetically predisposed persons, and those who are vulnerable face the consequences more.

That is how those who studied academically arrive at the correct conclusion.

Others might just speculate things and these need not be correct.

To arrive at the right conclusion is absolutely necessary in life to take steps so that we and others don't suffer the same fate as this young man.

That is the advantage of evidence based facts and reading research papers and academic books/ articles by experts based on them.

People who don't have this advantage of reading and learning from the right sources cannot take the necessary steps to stop tragedies from happening in their lives.

However, even if you read the right books if you don't learn how to use the information correctly, you are as good as the uneducated. Education without critical thinking abilities is of no use!

So the conclusion is 'getting educated from the right sources' and 'learning critical thinking to use the information correctly' are both essential in life.

Where can we learn the right lessons?

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