A faculty member at one of the engineering institutes in AP asked me three questions. Here is one of them:
Do you think it is important to study the past?
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it' - George Santayana
Though it is intuitive to think that knowledge of history or past helps us, but it is not clear in what way it helps us. It is even more difficult when particulars of the history are disputable and arguable. Therefore, it is important to draw a line to what we have to know from the past and what can be fairly ignored.
India is not only one of the oldest but also surviving civilization. It is survived not just because of its fertile land or varied environment. History of India tells us that this land is most tolerant to various cultural and religious practices. It is the land of one of the ancient, liberal and scientific religion which allowed group of people to practice the customs and religion that suits them. India incorporated or adopted other religions and cultures and created new cultures. Differences and constructive debates gave birth to new religions or practices like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikh. Poetic language Urdu was a result of amalgamation of Indian languages including Sanskrit and Arabic languages.
Similarly, confluence of various cultures and knowledge resulted in new music, arts and science. Therefore, what we learn from the history of languages, cultures, religions, arts and science of the past of India is that tolerance and mutual respect is the way forward in the present world which witnessed many religious wars and conflicts. Ignoring the practice of multiculturalism can result in unfortunate events such as 1984 Sikh and 2002 Gujarat riots.
India invented zero and contributed immensely to science, astronomy and mathematics. Knowledge of historic inventions and discoveries is the pride of the present society. It gives confidence to the present society that they can solve most difficult and impossible problems of the present. For instance progress in modern mathematics and physics could have been impossible without invention of zero in ancient India. Similarly, present day satellites and rockets are developed based the knowledge of missiles developed in medieval India. These facts motivates the present generation to pursue science and compete with others at world stage.
However, mythology should not be mixed with genuine science developed during the past. For instance, it is unfair to claim that ancient people used airplanes and that they know modern day plastic surgery in ancient times without any scientific evidence. It is huge challenge to the present society to correctly understand the ancient literature. For example, incorrect interpretation of Quran resulted in terrorism that claimed many thousands of lives.
About 80 countries have got Independence along with India in 1940s. But only very few countries survived; India is one of them and also largest democracy in the world. Such achievement should not have been possible without our knowledge of the past. Hence, knowledge of history or past is as important as science to understand the present day issues and provide solutions to the most complex problems.
Do you think it is important to study the past?
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it' - George Santayana
Though it is intuitive to think that knowledge of history or past helps us, but it is not clear in what way it helps us. It is even more difficult when particulars of the history are disputable and arguable. Therefore, it is important to draw a line to what we have to know from the past and what can be fairly ignored.
India is not only one of the oldest but also surviving civilization. It is survived not just because of its fertile land or varied environment. History of India tells us that this land is most tolerant to various cultural and religious practices. It is the land of one of the ancient, liberal and scientific religion which allowed group of people to practice the customs and religion that suits them. India incorporated or adopted other religions and cultures and created new cultures. Differences and constructive debates gave birth to new religions or practices like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikh. Poetic language Urdu was a result of amalgamation of Indian languages including Sanskrit and Arabic languages.
Similarly, confluence of various cultures and knowledge resulted in new music, arts and science. Therefore, what we learn from the history of languages, cultures, religions, arts and science of the past of India is that tolerance and mutual respect is the way forward in the present world which witnessed many religious wars and conflicts. Ignoring the practice of multiculturalism can result in unfortunate events such as 1984 Sikh and 2002 Gujarat riots.
India invented zero and contributed immensely to science, astronomy and mathematics. Knowledge of historic inventions and discoveries is the pride of the present society. It gives confidence to the present society that they can solve most difficult and impossible problems of the present. For instance progress in modern mathematics and physics could have been impossible without invention of zero in ancient India. Similarly, present day satellites and rockets are developed based the knowledge of missiles developed in medieval India. These facts motivates the present generation to pursue science and compete with others at world stage.
However, mythology should not be mixed with genuine science developed during the past. For instance, it is unfair to claim that ancient people used airplanes and that they know modern day plastic surgery in ancient times without any scientific evidence. It is huge challenge to the present society to correctly understand the ancient literature. For example, incorrect interpretation of Quran resulted in terrorism that claimed many thousands of lives.
About 80 countries have got Independence along with India in 1940s. But only very few countries survived; India is one of them and also largest democracy in the world. Such achievement should not have been possible without our knowledge of the past. Hence, knowledge of history or past is as important as science to understand the present day issues and provide solutions to the most complex problems.
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