From Rajeev

[Rajeev Manikoth <rmanikoth@yahoo.com>]

To the IPI debate

I do not believe that we can base our policy decisions purely based on
"scientific data" What exactly is this body of "scientific data" ?
Collected by whom ?  By the "scientific" community who cannot
recognise and accept the greys inbetween the Black and white. In a
nation such as ours we have tremendous bodies of wisdom and knowledge
that we fail to recognise. Knowledge that Western minds just cannot
comprehend. We have such low self esteem that we grant recognition
only when Western media or "icons" talk about it. India cannot change
unless we can recognise the positive aspects and build on it without
deriding everthing with a blanket statement.

I had stated earlier that we must grant Sanskrit a very important
status because there is a wealth of knowledge that we just cannot
understand unless we can learn to interpret it. ( In fact I would
strongly support that it eventually claims its position as a national
language, the North & South can put in equal efforts )

BTW, a lot of my earlier mail has not been circulated and thus I have
not had feedback. I hope that the moderators do not tuck away
uncomfortable issues ! )

I don't really care for "names" or how great an academic they are, or
how many journals they are published in, but for what it's worth, part
of this is consonance with Hayeks' document "The use of knowledge in
Society" submitted by Sanjeev ...

<< .. the statisticians seem occasionally to be inclined to do - by
the "law of large numbers" ..

... and the answer to our question will therefore largely turn on the
relative importance of the different kinds of knowledge; those more
likely to be at the disposal of particular individuals and those which
we should with greater confidence expect to find in the possession of
an authority made up of suitably chosen experts, If it is today so
widely assumed that the latter will be in a better position, this is
because one kind of knowledge, namely, scientific knowledge, occupies
now so prominent a place in public imagination that we tend to forget
that it is not the only kind that is relevant..

... But a little reflection will show that there is beyond question a
body of very important but unorganised knowledge which cannot possibly
be called scientific in the sense of knowledge of general rules :  the
knowledge of particular circumstances of time and place.

.. or the arbitageur who gains from local differences of commodity
prices, are all performing eminently useful functions based on special
knowledge of circumstances of the fleeting moment not known to others.

It is a curious fact that this sort of knowledge should today be
generally regarded with a kind of contempt, and that anyone who by
such knowledge gains an advantage over somebody better equipped with
theoritical or technical knowledge is thought to have acted almost
disreputably. To gain an advantage from better knowledge of facilities
of communication or transport is sometimes regarded as almost
dishonest, although it is quite as important that society make use of
the best opportunities in this respect as in using the latest
scientific discoveries. >>


Regards

Rajeev


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