On 30 June 2010 02:34, Santosh Helekar <chimbel...@yahoo.com> wrote: > But I am sure most readers of the article have > more sense than to believe any aspect of the > cartoonish picture sketched by it. Contributions to human > civilization involve much more than military > prowess and scoring goals - indeed, much more > than even technological advancement. There is > language, art, music, dance, literature, > sculpture, architecture, cuisine, philosophy and > numerous other areas of human endeavor that
The contribution of traditional societies to "modern" knowledge remains understudied and not adequately acknowledged. Just came across a journal which proposes to do this, Vigyan Bharati Pradeepika "dedicated to identify and rediscover the original Indian science and technology in a modern context". (rof Sureshwar Sharma, Udayachal, 1881, Gupteshwar, Jabalpur 482001 MP). Quite some time ago, I attended (as a correspondent) a couple of "traditional science congresses". These were held at the IIT-Bombay and, if I recall right, the Anna University in Chennai. While there was an element of mumbo-jumbo and unsubstantiated claims being made, there were many amazing facts coming to light there too. Nonetheless, whatever the achievements of the remote and recent past, I feel we should always retain a critical element, and be willing to accept criticism or counterviews. If it's true, then we need to face up to it; if not, we can ignore it. At the very least, a challenge to one's position is a kind of reality check. FN
