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Article  A dangerous trend to decolonize the scientific method (political remaking of science)

#1
C C Offline
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2023/05/ri...ic-method/

EXCERPTS: In India, traditionalists are challenging the scientific method as a Western construct. This objection stems from the fact that Eastern methods of acquiring knowledge are not dependent on observational phenomena but rather on the methods involving the mind as indicated in ancient Vedic literature. Attacks on existing scientific methods frequently leads to infamous nationalistic statements akin to the one made by a minister of Ayush (the government agency responsible for the propagation of traditional health methods), Shripad Yesso Naik, depicting all physicians prescribing non-ayurvedic medications as anti-nationals.

[...] We are faced with a movement that champions decoloniality over postmodernity. Decoloniality relates to delinking the source of knowledge from the ones laid down by colonizers. The work of prominent sociologists Walter D. Mignolo and Aníbal Quijano linking rationality and modernity with “coloniality”—the indoctrination of the indigenous mind with the principles of their colonial masters—provides the inspiration for this decolonization movement. From an Indian perspective, the aim seems to rid ourselves of the principles of modernity and rationality emerging out of the European Renaissance.

Several terminologies were introduced to indicate the direction that needs to be followed to achieve this decolonization. The recovery of geographical and political space from the colonizers do not immediately lead to a state of complete freedom. Rather it is a state of “post coloniality,” whereby the colonial mindset is still prevalent.

Hence, the final step to complete freedom is freeing the mindset from the Western construct, defined as decoloniality. Although we have freed ourselves from our Middle Eastern and European colonizers, we have not been able to get rid of the mentality ingrained in the Indian system of administration and education.

While there are merits to some of the issues raised by the proponents of decoloniality, there has always been a fear of missing out on the actual benefits and falling into the trap of hyper nationalism. The modernization of the education system, infrastructure, and medical and legal framework were some of the positive developments encountered in the colonial periods. How does decolonization reconcile with these benefits?

This conflict is particularly visible in the field of medicine in India. Do we integrate our indigenous values into the prevalent system, which is global in nature, or do we dismantle all that is considered modern, rational, and progressive by the global definition and introduce a new system based on the cultural traditions dating back thousands of years?

The latter strategy has the propensity to lead to nationalism as evidenced by the statement of Acharya Shri Balkrishna (a prominent figure spearheading the Ayurvedic movement in India): “Amongst all the cultures of the world, Indian culture is not only the oldest of all, but it is also the best and incomparable”. This mixture of culture, nationalism, and medicine can be seen in the introduction of ayurvedic clinics and hospitals independently, as well as integrated into the existing hospital system by the current government.... (MORE - missing details)
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#2
Yazata Offline
I have no objection to "post-colonial" science in India or even "creation science" here in the US. Though I might have objections to the state funding it or activists forcing it onto university curricula.

I still expect that these Indian 'Vedic' scientists will still choose to fly on airplanes engineered around the physics produced by the "Western construct". I'm very sure the Indian military will when they choose new jet aircraft or nuclear submarines. Modern science is global and universal in that sense, and most intelligent people around the world recognize that.

If people choose alternative medical practitioners and treatments, whether ayurvedic or not, I expect that many of them will likely suffer painfully or die of treatable ailments, unlike their neighbors who choose Western medical treatments that are based on biological science. That happens a lot here in the United States and I think that adults should have the right to do it. It's their lives and their choice.

(Though Western medicine often over-promises the help it can provide in cases in which no effective treatments exist. I see no harm in supplementing Western medicine with alternative treatments in those cases, provided the alternative treatments aren't causing harm.)

If they want to be the equals of the science produced by the "Western construct", what these 'alternative' sciences (a class that includes parapsychology and the like) need to do is actually produce testable predictions that can support new innovative kinds of medicine or engineering. Their new sciences need to actually work.

If they ever get to that point, more power to them. But until they do, I'll dismiss them as sometimes interesting crankery, no matter how "woke" their motivation purports to be.
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