Perspective

Does Advanced Knowledge give Power to Solve Human Problems?

To know oneself, the world, Nature, Universe and God, knowledge is needed. Thinking over them and understanding the truth behind them makes one's knowledge powerful. Thinking over the good and the bad aspects of one's knowledge and following the good ones in life would make one virtuous. Next knowledge only tells us what duty has to be done, how life has to be lived and what ambition should be had to achieve total freedom and happiness in life and after life. Therefore knowledge is most important and first needed more than anything else in this world.

Fear and Love

Fear is due to ignorance. Knowingly or unknowingly due to ignorance, fear and urgency people do a lot of mistakes, crimes and sin. To fight against fear and eliminate it, it is always the better way to love knowledge to know the truth. That is why knowledge is virtue; knowledge is power. So, only when one is virtuous and powerful by true knowledge one can really be free, frank and fearless.

So to say, fear and love are the two contradictory forces which rule the minds of men. We can be a slave of love but not fear. The force of fear only makes inhuman creatures like animals, etc., antisocial elements and ruthless, hardcore criminals obey to the laws of nature or man. In fact fear is the key that brings out the truth direct from the mouth of the incorrigible criminals. On the other hand, the force of love controls men of character, innocent people and children to do all works including sacrifices too i.e. to do anything and everything for nothing but for love only. Naturally the force of fear is animal in nature, whereas the force of love is divine in nature. However, of all the powers, love is the greatest power in the human world.

Acquisition of Knowledge

According to the developments of human knowledge the secrets of life, Nature, Universe and God are revealed to man. But how is knowledge gained by man? Through the five senses of man (like seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching) only besides the capacity of the mind to think it is possible for man to gain knowledge. Only because of the unique capacity of human mind to think, remember, imagine and rationalize in order to understand differences, similarities, qualities, etc. of everything man is far superior than all the living beings on the earth. Because of the mind only he got the knowledge that man is higher than the animals and the Universal Spirit activating everything everywhere is higher and infinitely superior than man and everything in the Universe.

Gods

Prior to the development of human knowledge mentally man was in total darkness and was living under the spell of fear. Fear of darkness, disease, death, lightning, thunder, storm, volcanic eruption, formidable animals and so on made him surrender to them and worship them for mercy and survival. Those objects of fear became Gods. In fact Gods and Temples are the products of fear only. According to the developments of knowledge, Gods too were created for worship. To safeguard themselves from the horrors of the spirits of the dead men and destructions of Nature, ancestral worship and Nature worship were in vogue. Then animal, human, natural and supernatural aspects were combined together in the forms of idols for worship besides personification of Nature for worship. Likewise Gods such as Sakti, Siva, Indira, Varuna, Mithra, Surya, Vishnu, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, etc. have come into the human world and many Religions as a consequence appeared in the world to rule the minds of men both for good and bad.

Developments by Knowledge and Intelligence

With the help of his knowledge and intelligence the primitive man made stone weapons to fight against enemies, formidable creatures, etc. Then he miraculously discovered the way to produce fire and used it for his protection in the night times and for cooking food. Afterwards he made wheels to move about using domestic animals and soon invented agriculture, cattle rearing and farming. His knowledge improved by doing inventive, creative works and he became a civilized being. However the limitations of the senses and the incomprehensibility of his mind to know about the secrets of life, Nature, Universe, God gave him the knowledge that he is incomplete and imperfect and that a thing called Spirit higher than the mind is there and by means of which perhaps all the secrets of the Universe can be known and all his problems can be solved.

Religion for Total Freedom

Moreover besides his fear of the forces beyond his control or power, he could not overcome death and achieve immortality. Being a finite being nothing was eternal and absolute and felt very much dissatisfied over his helplessness to overcome his limitations, incompleteness and imperfection. Somehow he wanted to overcome his limitations physically, mentally and spiritually and save himself from all threats, controls and dominations. On search he discovered that some force is controlling the affairs of men, Nature and the Universe. He felt perhaps if he communes with such a force or power he can solve all problems, save and lead himself to the state where he can be eternally free and happy. The result is the birth of his first encyclopaedia of knowledge called Religion came into existence mainly for the attainment of physical, mental and spiritual freedom in toto.

Branches of Knowledge

The expression of human knowledge based on experience, thoughts, feelings, imaginations, etc. appears in the form of paintings, dance, music, songs, some of the forms of Arts, Religion, Philosophy, Science and so on. Of the subjects of human knowledge Religion, Philosophy, Literature and Science are very, very important and vital because based on which only human life and activities go on since the dawn of civilization in the world.

Religion, Philosophy, Science, Art and Poetry

Then coming to Religion it can be said that Religion is all about the creative evolution of man meant for the general guidance of all with moral code of conduct to be followed for total salvation in life. It is a system of faith and worship of God. It shows the means to reach from the manhood to the divine hood and to solve all the problems on the way thereby. In short the functions of religion are to give peace, education and knowledge of life and the culture to achieve everything in order to make human life a complete one. Philosophy is all about the love of truth and wisdom. It is a no man's land where synthetic interpretation is possible when other branches of knowledge have not touched on the matter or failed to do anything with it. That is why philosophy is called as weltanschauung as intellectual construction of anything to a significant conclusion is possible. Science analyses matter by observation on the basis of experiments to infer or prove the truth minutely in parts. But the search or the discovery of truth by scientific analysis is possible only for the physical things and also experiments cannot be experienced.

In art from the inheritance, Nature it is possible to express, including metaphysical things by modifying from the known things using one's faculties, something lively, forceful and beautiful beyond oneself, supernatural, etc. thereby effacing one's personality to escape into the world of one's creation in order to transcend one's limitations to get satisfaction. In poetic literature religion, philosophy, science, arts and intellect are combined together in a unique way to express truths discovered through experience and exploration of the unknown, higher and supernatural things. That is in poetry only from the known matters it is possible to express unknown matters by exploring deeply and beyond intensively and extensively immanent and transcendental things.

Science

Modern world is scientific world. Science is becoming everything. Non-believers of God, soul, etc. and those interested only in materialism and the utilities of everything without bothering about human values and ideals totally rely upon science and scientific truths only in everything. First man was under the control of Nature. Now he almost controls Nature with the help of Science. He invented machines to reduce physical burden, save time, increase comforts in order to use his leisure for better thoughts and better works giving importance to human values, making the world a better place to live and exploring the Universe to enhance his knowledge and satisfying his curiosities. At first he was just monitoring the machines. But now machines monitor the affairs of men!

Science ' Analysis of Parts, and Philosophy
' Synthesis of Parts to know the Whole Truth

The theory and practice of science to discoveries or inventions or detections or diagnoses or remedies, etc. follow the method of experiment, observation and inference though logically the process may be inductive or deductive and express the results mathematically through formulae since mathematical truths are self evident absolute truths. This is possible only if the field of search is clear and well defined. Otherwise the methods of philosophy only are helpful to solve the problems. However science starts as philosophy and ends as art i.e. it begins with hypotheses and completes in achievements.

Therefore in this respect science is very easy, helpful and reliable for analyzing and solving many crises in the modern world as far as material or physical things are concerned. But science cannot even touch or solve the problems of good, evils, life, love, God, Soul, Spirit, etc. which are of great value, meaning and ideals for man. For science physically there should be something, then only it can be understood and something can be created or destroyed. In short as far as science is concerned microscopically and telescopically parts only can be explored to understand the whole truth, whereas the case is reverse for philosophy and arts.

Nature, Universe
' A great wonder to Poets, Philosophers and Scientists


Nature is a great fascination not only for the poets and the philosophers but also for the scientists and the intellectuals because of its hidden mystery. The Universe with all its twinkling Stars and planets is a great wonder and a puzzle that remains yet to be solved. Though there are natural laws to explain the phenomena of Nature yet many laws have to be discovered to explain the phenomena like Black Holes or Magnetic Balls, fast expansion of the Universe, etc. In fact the door of the Universe was first opened by Copernicus to explore and discover the secrets of Nature.

Yes, Copernicus first said to the world that the Earth is not the centre but the Sun is the centre of the Solar System! Then Kepler discovered that the planets are not revolving round the Sun in circular orbits but in elliptical orbits. After that Galileo established that Ptolemy's Geocentric theory is wrong and Copernicus's Heliocentric theory is correct by inventing the telescope to show to the world the position of planets and Stars of the Milky Way and shattered the old notion that man with the unmoving fixed Earth is the centre of the Universe. Then it was discovered that Sun is only the centre of the Solar System in the Milky Way or the Universe.

Then Industrial Revolution changed the world. Steam engine was invented. Aero plane was invented. And Rocket was also invented. Movements of the people increased along with speed. Speed increased on and on, but it was not enough for man to reach distant Stars and planets! The discovery of Space goes on and on and yet the curiosity to know the mystery of the Universe is not still satisfied or finished.

Discoveries and Inventions

After Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo successfully fought for truth and died as heroes achieving immortality and permanent places in the annals of science; superstitions and fear began to lose their ground permanently in the world. Brave new world was born and bold achievements were made by Newton, Michael Faraday, Max Planck, Heinrich Hertz, Thomson, Louis Pasteur, Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Einstein, etc. Without the progressive achievements of Electricity and Electronics perhaps mankind would have been blind and lame in a primitive world of the past even today!

Really what a progress the world has made! When we think about Gravitation we remember Newton, for Electricity Michael Faraday, for Electromagnetic Waves Heinrich Hertz, for Electron Thomson, for Quantum Theory or Photoelectric Emission Max Planck, for Theory of Relativity Einstein, etc. But whatever be our thoughts, words and deeds in the world, Nature, Universe, etc. everything is enclosed and bounded within Space and Time, beyond which nothing can escape. That is our position in this mysterious Universe.

Space, Time and Matter

Next what we have to see is what mystery, power, beauty, wonder behind this Universe is. What is this Universe? When has this started? How long has this been going on like this? How long will this go on so further? By thinking over these questions it is possible to say that the Universe is after all nothing but Space Time continuum only. The thing is we don't feel that a thing called Space with Time was existing in the past, is existing in the present and will be existing in the future too! This is because we think Space, Time and all kinds of Matter in it as separate entities and separately. But in fact Space, Time and Matter are related things. Even the Laws of Newton's Mechanical Physics or Classical Physics are based on the assumption that Space and Time are dual things in an inertial state. But the reality is otherwise! That is why Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Modern Theory of Physics has successfully come into vogue to explain various phenomena in Nature.

Energy = Matter

According to Classical Physics it was felt as said earlier that Matter and Energy are two distinct forms. While Energy was associated with Matter its nature was considered as distinctly different from matter. Albert Einstein found this dualism not only unnecessary but also quite absurd. He while developing his Theory of Relativity made the startling suggestion that Matter may be converted into Energy and vice versa and wrote down the famous Mass Energy equation, E= mc2, which became the secret formula for the Atomic Bomb! Indeed with the actual explosion of the Hydrogen bomb this equation was proved experimentally as well as really to be correct. With that the ideal dualism between Matter and Energy came to an end, which is a revolutionary development that totally changed the course of physics in the recent times.

Science for Construction and Destruction

The use of scientific knowledge in the constructive side i.e. in industries, agriculture, transport, health, etc. has done a lot of good for the whole of mankind. But in the destructive side scientific knowledge in the form of Nuclear Weapons, intoxicating drugs, electronic video tapes, CDs, DVDs and games of immoral nature, etc. has done and is doing a lot of harm beyond human imagination which has to be curbed at any cost. There are also works of knowledge having both good and bad effects which have to be balanced by education or otherwise for the healthy progress of society and development of the world as a whole.

First, Industrial Revolution changed the world. As a result Agricultural Activities reduced, mush rooming of harmful labor came up and environmental pollution appeared and is doing great havoc now. Second, Technological Developments have modernized the world but have resulted in cultural decay with change of human culture, in the creation of pollution in air, land and water, in the deforestation, the building of congested cities with unhygienic conditions, in the exploration of natural resources thereby creating long periods of droughts or bringing in flash floods during the times of cyclonic storms and untold destructions everywhere, etc. Third, Electronic Developments capturing all fields of human activities in the form of electronic devices such as calculators, Televisions, Computers, Robots, musical instruments, etc. have totally changed the face of the world and as a result, a lot of time is saved but man is made a slave of machines and if anything fails in the electronic system, nothing can be done.

Finally more than all these things the production of Atomic energy for good i.e. for power generation and the nuclear proliferation for bad use i.e. for the stock piling of Nuclear Weapons have brought the world either to the creation of One World State for solving all the problems of mankind by fulfilling the dream of the most welcome or expected Utopia or the destruction of the world civilization!

Fear

Fear is conquered by Knowledge but its destructive use Jeopardizes the world. In spite of the progress and the development of man and the world, the fear of man has not gone away and the threat to world peace is still in the critical stage and is more than ever before. Previously man was afraid of the forces of Nature, predators, strong men or brutes or giants, diseases and death. Then he gained knowledge about self, the world, Nature, diseases, God, etc. and also learned ways and means to utilize or harness the forces of Nature for beneficial works, found medicines to cure diseases and understood that death is a natural process and the spirit in the body is immortal, etc. Knowledge gave him confidence, courage, endurance and boldness and as a result he lost fear.

Afterwards Industrial Revolution came, industries grew everywhere and people losing interest in Agriculture migrated to towns. Labor Unions developed, socialism or communism as philosophy of politics gained popularity and corruption became rampant in communist or socialist countries ruled by dictators. Then World Wars did untold havoc to many societies of the world and as a result of which stock piling of Nuclear Weapons increased in many countries of the world both for defence and offence. Spy activities of the Super Powers interfered in the affairs of other smaller countries indirectly and changed the form of governments there. Increase of Extremism and Terrorism in various countries and remote control bombs in the hands of the terrorists threaten the very existence of the world now.

Fear due to Bombs and Terrorism

Therefore the fear of man has not entirely vanished but has shifted from one thing to another thing. Now the fear of man is on the dictators' or Super Powers' (or some other kind) stock piling of Atomic Bombs, the terrorists' threats of annihilation of trains, planes, important cities and VIPs, etc., rampant corruption everywhere and the money power dominating and controlling over the affairs of men. Therefore it seems civilization is giving way to barbarism. This means that history has started to repeat itself again as man's nature remains to be the same even after thousands of years of evolution.

Disintegration of Joint Family and Machine-Beast-Men

Controlled by fear of this kind or that kind man lives not like a human being but like a machine-beast-man forgetting the rich culture and the high civilization he has built so long that has enhanced the value of human life to the divine stature. Previously like the beautiful, gentle and peace loving elephants live in groups in the forest man was living a joint family life. Perhaps he might have got the knowledge of joint family life from the elephants. Then the joint families broke into nuclear families.

Now after all sorts of technological and electronic developments both husband and wife work separately to earn money in order to support a small family of one or two children. The children of such families could not get the opportunities to know anything about tradition, heritage and culture from their grand parents. Further they don't enjoy the care, love and affection of a joint family system that develops the wisdom more than the intelligence they get from the modern education which gives importance to specialization rather than all round development of the mind, body and spirit.

Due to such discrepancies children grow to be civilized youngsters rather than cultured or morally well developed citizens. All the members of the small family spend the time minding their individual works only without bothering about others' concerns, cares, problems and worries. In short they all work as machines and live like animals satisfying their timely needs by any available means without any rationality. If life goes on like this how can there be a family relationship or a good human relationship at all?

Retardation from Divinity to Animalism

This leads to mental sadness or illness which activates the individuals to indulge in sadistic pleasures that are manifesting in the forms of inhuman or horrible bomb blasts, rapes and destruction of innocent human beings here ad there. Not only this but also the working peoples who are members of these unions or those unions that are connected to various political parties having rivalries with one another fight for various causes without rhyme or reason and thereby losing human touch do greater harm to the nations than things of progress and developments for them. But the people of conscience though aware of all the bad aspects of these happenings, could not stop such things for the fear of going beyond the whip of their group or union or community.

If they come out of the circles and see the reason and kindness, they know what they have to do. But since they could not come out of the circles, they are living in fear and darkness in life. That is why culture and civilization have lost their hold and honor in the present society. Therefore instead of upgrading himself to be a divine, man degrades himself to be an animal losing all kinds of value of man or worse still to be a inhuman or indifferent materialistic machine or worst still to be a living dead body or matter of no worth or value!

Control of Population needed

Whatever be the progress and developments man has achieved by his wonderful knowledge the uncontrolled growth of population which has tilted the balance in its side, makes them inadequate and meaningless. Therefore by controlling the growth of population, the condition of the world can be stabilized and any meaningful and reasonable progress of the world can be made possible. Not only by the introduction of contraceptive devices, pills, condoms, etc. but also by creating awareness socially, psychologically, philosophically and religiously about peace, happiness, good health and better things that can be achieved by birth control, population growth can be contained successfully to a great extent.

But without food the survival of the world population is not possible and so according to the growth of the population, the production of food products should be increased by finding new scientific methods of cultivation for rapid growth and harvest of food items that are protein rich and having high nutrients along with the increased production of sea-foods, meat, etc. and also the vast area of the barren or waste lands should be scientifically recycled for agricultural use in order to produce grains or vegetables suitable for the consumption of the people. This is how the food resources have to be conserved or maintained for the survival of the world people in the future with the collective efforts of all the nations of the world which is easily possible by the creation of One World Government.

Resource Crunch in the Future

Indeed without the application of human knowledge the world could not have progressed to the present position. Exploitation of natural resources for good or bad whatever they are and wherever they are available is mainly due to the use of human knowledge only.

Wood, coal, oil, uranium, thorium, etc. are got from natural resources for the production of energy, without which nothing will go on both in the home and in the industries. Iron, copper, brass, aluminium, carbon, sulphur, silicon, etc. got from the natural resources are consumed in the industries in large quantities as raw materials for the manufacture of materials in the form of appliances, vehicles, equipments necessary for home, office and hospital for work, entertainment, health and transport. Then rice, wheat, barley, oats, vegetables, fruits, etc. produced in the agricultural fields, mutton, beef, pork, meat, etc. of cattle, sheep, pigs, chicken, etc. from the villages and fish, prawns, crabs, etc. caught from the sea are consumed as food by the people.

Hence it seems energy, raw materials and food available from the natural resources consumed by the industries and home in the quantities as at present may last only for a few more hundred years or thousand years. So, the detailed description of delicious foods in the books cannot practically serve to satisfy human hunger!

Not Competition but Cooperation needed

With the increase of knowledge intelligence developed and due to ambition competition in the field of industries increased exploiting natural resources for energy and raw materials and causing environmental pollution by the dumping of industrial wastes everywhere and by the emission of exhaust smokes that has not only polluted the air we breathe but also are reducing the ozone layer in the atmosphere and creating holes in it in such a way that the ultraviolet rays come directly from the Sun to the Earth and affect the eyes and skin of the people with various kinds of diseases. Further due to the increase of industries, towns and population the agricultural lands which are producing food products are getting reduced.

As a result of the enormous growth of industries and world population energy, raw material and food resources are dwindling everyday to an alarming proportion which is not good for the world's future. Analyzing over these facts we unfortunately come to the conclusion that the causes for this sorry state of affairs are intelligence and competition. Hence it is true as wisely said by Einstein that imagination is more important than intelligence; and now what is needed for peace and unity of the world as suggested by Russell is that cooperation is more important than competition. Therefore to overcome the difficulty of resource crunch in the future imagination of the future is needed; and more than that cooperation from all sections of the world people is very much needed to materialize that imagination or dream we all like.    

19-Nov-2006

More by :  T. A. Ramesh

Top | Perspective

Views: 3429      Comments: 2



Comment
Poets are Unacknowledged World Leaders for Peace!

Real leaders inspire and lead the people to peace and progress;
Power hungry lords are for wars to dominate all in the world;
True leaders discover truth and say to people to serve better;
Poets are in this respect are unacknowledged leaders guiding all!

Poetry is the brain child of Poets creating and delivering by love;
Poets are clear in philosophy unlike in the past that never reach all;
Modern philosophy lies in common sense, mathematical reasoning,
Scientific analysis and logical inference that filers and produces pure truth!

For that, Poets come out of all circles and see from far above all
To see everything as they really are to say and guide people ever!
Philosophic Poetry is the need of the hour to lead world people to peace;
Sans peace is restored, prosperity and progress all long for will be a dream only!

World Poets by their universal love towards all and broad approach reach all
More clearly than all political preaching via their simple and true ideas for humanity!

T A Ramesh
12-Jul-2022 00:45 AM

Comment This article is very resourceful,impactful and eye opening truths are brought to us.If everyone who reads this article thinks in the ideal perspective of life and tries to change his life to lead in peace ,then we may see a peaceful land with happiness spread everywhere instead of the dissatisfied pressured lives that we are leading today .

Eswar Gokul Voolla
08-Oct-2015 16:08 PM




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