Of gossip, sceptics and scepticism

There is not a single day when I do not receive a few dozen e-mails that may be considered thrash or unsubstantiated material.

They are mostly ‘e-mail forwards’ with catchy titles sent to me by friends, that often do not define its origin or source.

Since I know who forwards them to me, I take the trouble to open and read them.

Otherwise, I let them end up in my junk mail folder to be deleted on my next log off, categorising them as unsolicited thrash.

These days the forwards I receive on Sri Lanka are mostly, those from sceptics that predominantly question the government’s claims on the status of the economy, resettlement of the IDPs, development of the North and the East, the ability of this nation to seek unity within its diversity and Presidential elections.

Scientists are calling for urgent action to curb pollution

On the global front, the majority of the sceptics are currently focussing on antics of Sarah Palin, policies on healthcare, the economy and action re Guantanamo inmates, visit to Asia and the Afghan war of Barrack Obama and on the Climate Change catastrophe.

Own judgment

I like to think that I have an inquiring mind.

I also welcome rational and constructive criticism of others on issues that matter, so I could expand the horizon of my understanding and appreciation of these issues.

In my quest for information and knowledge, I desist and sieve-off some of the ploys of organised ‘PR’ or public relations outfits of political, religious and /or ideological groups.

I also wish to form my own judgment and opinion of them, gaining access to as much facts and substantiated information on each of them.

Code of life

The Buddha’s teachings tell us of ‘Majjima Patipadda’ or the middle way and of the concept of ‘Upekka’ or equanimity for rightful living and inquiry.

According to the Prajnaparamitha Suttra, practising the immeasurable mind of equanimity helps extinguish hatred, aversion and attachment in the hearts of all living beings.

In Hinduism, as we know it, the concept of Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect of Hinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open to all.

Ancestors of today’s Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic laws and these truths are accessible to anyone who seeks them. While this is rationality in its ideal state, what happens around us in reality, is indeed far from the ideal.

The rationalist philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” Given the happenings around us today, it astonishes me as to how right Russell has been, and how much of turning away most of us do, from rationality and sensible inquiry.

Creature of habit

Perhaps this is because, as psychologist Stanley Hall claimed ‘Man is largely a creature of habit, and many of his activities are more or less automatic reflexes from the stimuli of his environment’. This perhaps is a rational explanation of why we are comfortable with ideas and thoughts that are presented to us on a platter, be they by those we trust and depend on; in the print or electronic media or simply by word of mouth and/or by duplicity. The latter form is now identified by public relations professionals as ‘rumour mongering campaigns’.

It is almost unbelievable as to how many of us fall victim to these campaigns and believe what has been laid before us without inquiry or validation.

Then there are also organizations and entities that have taken on the task of propagating the continued existence of dominant ideologies and thinking, supporting them with funding aimed at different strata of the social web, within regions, nations and communities.

Climate change sceptics

Let us take the case of the climate change debate.

It is a fact that more than 1,500 scientists from all over the world have researched and presented information, data and evidence through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to substantiate the thesis that life on planet earth will, within the next decade, face unbearable environmental conditions, threatening our very existence.

Leading to the next round of climate change action agenda coming up in December in Copenhagen, they call for urgent corrective action, if we are to reverse this trend.

According to their findings, this time around it not a cyclical phenomenon where the ice ages followed periods of warming and new states of equilibrium was found by the ecological systems. They have pointed out that within the past 350,000 years of earth’s known geological history, the past 16 years to have had the hottest five years, following an exponential trend of the heating of the surface of the earth. The claim they make, is that we, through our uncaring and greedy lifestyles, have emitted too much CO2 into the atmosphere and broken the natural cycle of green house gas based protection we have had, in keeping the Sun’s rays falling on the earth, under tolerable control.

The point made here is that what we hear, what we read and what we are told may not always be what it seems.

Whether it is an overtly innocent looking e-mail critical of governance and government, media or other reports claiming to be presenting independent views, government’s own propaganda, religious and ideological presentations or hearsay statements made by people we trust, will all have to be sieved through intelligent inquiry before we come to conclusive decisions on their validity for acceptance.