Developing a scientific temper

Though we hold science on a very high ground, we fail to apply it in our daily lives

Growing up in India, we hear a concoction of ideas that shape the people around us. However, if there is one thing that at some point all of us are told is that science is superior to anything you will ever study. As much as this theory is flawed, I have also come to realise how simply it highlights the hypocrisy our society promotes. I have always believed that India is a country of faith. Hope is something we are all taught early on. Our beliefs make us feel less lonely. The irony, however, lies in the fact that this habit tends to push us into the direction where we believe without questioning anything. As a people we hold science on a very high ground, but we fail to apply it in our daily lives. For us, science is our appliances, our phones and a way of making money. The reality is far from it. Developing a scientific temper is a fundamental duty under the Constitution. The term was held dear by our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who used it in his book The Discovery Of India. He described the implications scientific behaviour will have on our country as a whole.