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

Qs people asked me on science and my replies to them - part 169

Q: Why do most Indians believe in nonsense myths and don't hunt for real science or logic behind it?

Krishna: When I read the answers posted here for this Q, except for one, all the other ones provided proof for what ‘s said in this very Q!

Why do people believe in myths instead of science?

Because they can’t differentiate between a myth and reality. When that myth ‘s handed down for generations from your ancestors, you feel more proud to just blindly believe it instead of questioning it.

Russel’s Tea Pot :

Image source: Google images

And afraid that people would go out of their control, elders, gurus, religious leaders discourage people from questioning things. They create psychological fear.

Only a critical mind can come out of this mess. But Critical Thinking minds are extremely rare. Even in people of science.

There are several reasons for what you mentioned …

Blame it on people who want to control others, blame it on people who just cannot come out of the holes they live in, blame it on fear factors, blame it on confusion, blame it on lack of right thinking capabilities, blame it on Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia, blame it on Cognitive dissonance - Wikipedia, blame it on …

How many people can overcome so many obstacles?

I am not at all surprised. We remain scientifically backward.

When a myth is presented to people, there can be different scenarios. The result depends on the person’s ability to Think critically .

If the person is a critical thinker, he can clearly differentiate between mythology and science and trust and follow only evidence based facts.

If he cannot think at the highest level, he tries to authenticate his belief in mythology by using science creating pseudo-science in the process.

If he cannot think properly at all he follows the second type of people and think all that pseudoscience is true.

The person with the least type of thinking refuses to see evidence and facts at all, consider them at all, thinks they are ‘conspiracy theories’ to harm him and his beliefs and totally refuses them.

Now decide which category you belong to. I don’t think I need to tell about mine.

Q: Which has to be believed more: Science or spirituality

Krishna: Each person gives different answer to this question based on his or her perception. And perceptions don’t give correct assessment of a situation.

If I say science is also a spiritual quest? But the right one?

Science in itself is a spiritual journey. Unraveling the mysteries of the universe and trying to know the truth and meaning of our existence.. .

You shouldn't reason backward from belief to evidence because that will subject you to numerous cognitive biases and you risk fooling yourself about the nature of reality.

All of us are subject to the psychological forces at play when it comes to choosing between facts and beliefs when they do not mesh. In the long run, it is better to understand the way the world really is rather than how we would like it to be. That is where science helps us … how?

Find out : Science and Spirituality

After going through the article, come to your own conclusion.

Q: Is the Corona virus an example of the result of bad karma done by the affected people?

Krishna: Oh, come on. Take a ‘saint with all the good karma’ to the Wuhan region and see if he or she doesn’t get affected.

Science’s rules don’t get bent for anybody or anything. Good or bad people will all equally get affected if you don’t take precautions. Period.

All people, without any exceptions, can get infected and only people whose biology can overcome the infection can survive.

I am a microbiologist and I can vouch for that. Stop living in ancient times.

Q: What makes science science and not pseudo-science?

Krishna: Strictly following ‘scientific method’. That is the best in present circumstances to keep science genuine.

Q: Why, even when given the full choice, a few women will still choose to pursue ' manly' careers like science and engineering?

Krishna: Manly? Oh, come on. Science and engineering are not manly. People simply put a ‘manly’ stamp on them. This is the main reason why they stay that way.

I contest the words, ‘even when given the full choice’.

Who gave a full choice to whom? For centuries women were made to sit at home. Then how can new circuits form in the brain to deal with ‘new things’?

In many regions of the world, girls are still not allowed to get education. According to global statistics, just 39 percent of rural girls attend secondary school. This is far fewer than rural boys (45 percent), urban girls (59 percent) and urban boys (60 percent).

Facts & Figures

60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and girls. (Source: WFP Gender Policy and Strategy.). How can you study without food?

Almost 70 percent of employed women in South Asia work in agriculture as labourers, as do more than 60 percent of employed women in sub-Saharan Africa. Women in sub-Saharan Africa collectively spend about 40 billion hours a year collecting water. When do they get time to study?

Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate people.

While progress has been made in reducing the gender gap in urban primary school enrolment, data from 42 countries shows that rural girls are twice as likely as urban girls to be out of school.
In South Asia a half-kilometre increase in the distance to school will decrease girls' enrolment by 20 percent. Because it is not safe and sound for them to travel such long distances.
In Cambodia, 48 percent of rural women are illiterate compared to 14 percent of rural men.

A large gender gap remains in women's access to decision-making. Women make up fewer elected representatives in most rural and urban councils.They will have to listen to the male members of their families. Who gives choices to girls and women?

Even if some women manage to get higher education in science, Women are also less likely to be cited in science papers written by men. They get less grants, awards, prizes than men. The Matilda effect is a theory that addresses sexist discrimination in the world of science.

https://exploringyourmind.com/

the-matilda-effect-women-

science-and-discrimination/

Each day girls/women face a slow death. People killing her and her interest in science from bottom to top since birth.

Okay, I am an exception but exceptions are rare.

Very few girls can overcome so many obstacles at each step. No wonder they fall behind.

Given full opportunities and real choices, women too can excel. Who says they can’t?

Don’t try to create a pseudo-world of ‘equal opportunities’ when nothing like that exists in reality and ask a question that shifts the blame to the women. That is toxic patriarchy.

Oh by the way this space on quora Science Communication is being administered by a woman. Any objections following it? :)

Q- based on the above:

What do you make of the following:

'A gender equality paradox': Countries with more gender equality ha...

Krishna: While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in ‘every part of the world’. UN says this.

Gender equality and women's empowerment

There are controversies around credibility of the index of gender equality., stemmed mostly from misunderstandings. On 2014, for example, JTBC News Channel in South Korea described the reason why South Korea had such a low rank. According to the news, some of the raw data used to calculate the index do not reflect the country's unique situation accurately, and that partially accounts for their rank. This conclusion is, while not entirely wrong, somewhat misleading. Since the final index is calculated by weighted averages of fourteen ratios, tweaking one or two ratios to be a little bit higher does not affect the result much.The index is designed to "measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries rather than the actual levels of the available resources and opportunities in those countries.". It is not necessarily true that highly developed countries should have higher scores.

The US still can’t elect a woman president, whereas India did despite what some people claim! :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gl...

Yes, the constitution and law give it in some countries. But on the ground, it is rarely seen. Although the law says gender equality has been achieved in some countries, the ground situation tells a different story. Women still complain . Just because a few parameters say the equality has been achieved, there are several others that show a deplorable situation in the same countries. In reality it is an illusion.

Moreover, the so called ‘gender equality’ is a recent advance in some countries. As soon as you achieve something, if you want to see changes in every thing related to it, it is expecting too much. Let ground realities too change. Let psychology of people change. Give women time to cope with new changes. Let new circuits form in their brains so that they can deal with new subjects ( to women) with efficiency.

The Gender-Equality Paradox in Science, Technology, Engineering, an...

Women in less developed countries have to fight several things more than their counterparts in developed countries. So their adversities make them more strong and resilient and therefore they might accept challenges ( if they are allowed to) without complaining much.

These are the reasons I think for the things mentioned in the article whose link you gave.

But after listening to thousands of women in STEM fields ( I am a member of several of these groups) from all parts of the world, I have my own reservations about the things mentioned. The ground realities are quite different, women say.

SO?!

Reply from the person who asked this Q: Fantastic! I don’t even know where to start praising it. Thanks so much, especially the links.

Q: What is the science behind Hindu practices and ebelifs?

Krishna: I answered several similar questions on this topic . But still people keep asking the same question over and over again.

There is no science behind Hindu practices or for that matter any religious practices.

Only tradition and culture guide them, not science. If you try to link them with science, that becomes pseudo-science, not genuine science. Get that right.

And if anybody says, science exist behind them, they are not telling the truth but are only trying to authenticate their beliefs using science and creating junk science in the process.

So you will never get a correct answer to this question.

Q: What are some of the greatest examples of art help science to discover/ invent?

Krishna: Discover and invent are big words.

However some karigami and origami designs helped scientists in designing things.

Kirigami designs hold thousands of times their own weight

I wrote on how art can sometimes help scientists. find out here how:

Nature painters, you can help scientists!

Q: What is the similarity of science and nature?

Krishna: Nature is science (scientific principle) based and science-run. Nature collapses without these principles guiding it all the while.

Q: What is teh science behind Agnihotra?

Krishna: Agnihotra (IAST: Agnihotra, Devanagari: अग्निहोत्र) refers to the twice-daily heated milk offering made by those in the Śrauta tradition. This tradition dates back to the Vedic age; the Brahmans perform the Agnihotra ritual chanting the verses from the Rigveda. The tradition is now practiced in many parts of South Asia in the Indian sub-continent, including primarily India and most particularly in Nepal. The Brahman who performs Agnihotra ritual is called Agnihotri. The history of Agnihotra ritual — the casting of cow milk (or ghee) into the fire, at every sunset and at every sunrise — has been traced from a common Indo-Iranian fire-worship ritual including Zoroastrian Yasna Haptaŋhāiti ritual mentioned in the Old Avestan. This was already popular in India with Upaniṣads as religious performance.

Agnihotra - Wikipedia

Contrary to what people think, burning anything would consume oxygen rather than producing it. It is a misconception that burning ghee with cow dung produces Oxygen that came out of ignorance. The havan process itself produces much more carbon monoxide than it takes out of the air.

Can Yagna or havan bring rains and purify the air or is it pseudo-s...

Q: Who is an expert in science?

Krishna: A person who gained genuine scientific knowledge at the highest level by following science’s real rules and can use this knowledge creatively and systematically to solve problems the world is facing.