The work of scientists today reaches far, because they stand on the shoulders of giants.

The original quote I was referring to above was one by Newton who said – “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” He was referring to the work of scientists before him, and this is the most commonly used source of the metaphor. However, I was recently at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres, and came to know that the original quote on this is by a theologian from Chartres – Bernard of Chartres, which in turn was recorded by John of Salisbury, the bishop of Chartres. Looks like the metaphor itself has been passed on through many giants.

It is interesting to see how the concept of god was being questioned that early on

Yes, the strains of atheism run throughout Indian philosophy, though often cleverly concealed. One of my favorite poems comes from the earliest of Indian holy books – the Rig Veda. I quote from the song of creation, which deals with the creation of the universe:

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterward, with the creation of the universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen – perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not – the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows – or perhaps he does not know.

There is a sense of wonder and mystery here, but also fearlessness, and a thirst for knowledge without dogma. There is courage to look God in the eye, and not blink. Where was this lost, where did it go? I do not know.

In a similar vein, a yogi visiting India where it all began, makes sense to me.

The general population that he comes across tell him all sorts of weird things, like yogis and rishees having super powers and living up to 400 years or more in some part of Himalayas/Tibet. People that the author meets tell him things that sound quite unreal and yet people say it like facts. That is what the author refers to as the oriental mindset.

This is exactly the kind of dangerous juxtaposition that I was talking about in my post. We’re talking about a trained analytical mind in conversation with superstitious lay people, and from that unequal conversation, extrapolating about the larger cultures that spawned them – a completely unjustified comparison. It would be like Amartya Sen conversing with some Bible-literalists from the American Bible belt and then saying on that basis that the ‘American mindset’ tends to overblown religiosity while the ‘Indian mindset’ is one of dispassionate analysis.

I take your point about the lack of Indian scientific contribution in the recent past. Certainly, since the Renaissance, the West has been the center of scientific advancement, but we need to put that in historical context. Simplistic notions of the Eastern and Western mindset merely muddy the waters.

But, somewhere down the time line, something must have happened in India. India did not contribute much in the last 10 centuries.

India is referred as people with the oriental mindset in the book that I am reading right now. It is called “A search in secret India”. This book was written in 1931 and the author is an English man. The general population that he comes across tell him all sorts of weird things, like yogis and rishees having super powers and living up to 400 years or more in some part of Himalayas/Tibet. People that the author meets tell him things that sound quite unreal and yet people say it like facts. That is what the author refers to as the oriental mindset.