The portable Indian

 

I’ve just commented on a Cif article by Janet Soskice. She’s the reader in philosophical theology at the University of Cambridge and was talking about how she found God in the shower (I’m not kidding). As it is usual with those threads, it hit the hundred comments very quickly and, as it always happens, most of them were just tripe. There was one, however, that caught my attention, even though I’m still not sure whether it was for its being either yet another example of our contempt for Asian people or a sign of Western gullibility. A (I presume) girl whose monicker was bruceybaby wrote,

As Osho says: “In the Western tradition there’s the known and the unknown. One day the unknown will become known. In the Eastern tradition, there’s the known, the unknown and the unknowable”

What can I say? Osho was talking through his back side. It’s not as if skepticism and rationality are all Western and mysticism and credulity Eastern. In fact both exist everywhere, and more than anywhere else, in India. Osho knew that most Western “seekers” didn’t know that and had a romanticised idea about India’s spirituality… and he was bright enough to squeeze them a good buck.

There’s the known, there’s the unknown, and there’s the urge to know what is yet unknown. Pre-assuming the unknowable for any mysterious reason is just surrendering curiosity. It’s intellectually stultifying and I refuse to do that. I’m glad Eve decided to let herself be tempted to know by the serpent….

Elezioni europee

Oggi ho usato per la prima volta i miei diritti politici come cittadino d’uno degli stati dell’Unione Europea, cioè l’Italia. Ho dato il mio voto a Die Linke, la sinistra tedesca, nonostante non sia d’accordo con alcune delle sue politiche energetiche e con la sua opposizione irrazionale agli organismi geneticamente modificati. A differenza di altri partiti europei di sinistra, Die Linke è ancora una forza politicamente rilevante e non ha politiche razziste contro gli immigrati né si è venduta alle forze neoconservatrici come l’SPD.

Nel mezzo del cammin verso la scuola dove si votava, ho trovato una coppia di Kurdi cinquantenni che come me, andavano a votare. Sebbene si lamentassero della mancanza di democrazia nel Kurdistan, il loro entusiasmo per votare si contrasta con l’apatia di tantissimi europei che oggi hanno deciso di non esercitare i propri diritti. Mi venne in mente quel pensiero di Goethe che dice che la libertà solo la meritano quelli che la cercano ogni giorno. Pensavo quanto certo fosse che solo ci rendiamo conto del valore di quello di cui godiamo quando è troppo tardi per lamentarsi di averlo perduto.

Non sono un’illuso. So che l’Unione Europea è un elefante burocratico pieno di meccanismi antidemocratici. So che molti degli eurocrati di Bruxelles e Strasburgo sono dinosauri come Giscard d’Estaing, che non hanno vergogna di dire che se ne fregano della volontà popolare quando il popolo decide contro di loro. Ma il parlamento europeo è uno dei pochi ambiti democratici dove noi, cittadini europei, possiamo far valere la nostra opinione. Questo parlamento ha un potere che mai ha avuto qualsiasi altra istituzione europea oltre la Chiesa medievale per decidere sulla nostra vita quotidiana. Non bisogna dimenticarsi che la politica, come i Greci, ha paura del vuoto, e se noi non occupiamo il nostro posto, lo occupano gli altri. Che gli altri decidano sulla nostra vita senza almeno farci sentire mi sembra quasi suicida.

Perciò, oggi mi sono alzato presto e mi sono sbrigato ad andare a votare, perchè voglio almeno avere il diritto di lamentarmi della mancanza d’una democrazia alla qualle io non ho rinunziato quando avevo l’opportunità d’usarla. Perchè come dice sempre Nicoletta, la madre di Manolita, l’Unione Europea non è un ente metafisico che, come i dei d’Epicuro, solo esiste negli interstizzi del mondo. Come la storia, l’Unione Europea siamo noi.

Juan
Bielefeld, 7 Giunio 2009

Go Simon!

Simon Singh is a wonderful science writer. A Briton of Punjabi descent, after he got his PhD in particle physics, he decided that he could make a better contribution to science if he wrote books that explained how scientific ideas were developed in a way that was “plain and easy to be understanded” (Preface to The Book of Common Prayer, 1549). Both his Fermat’s Last Theorem and his account of the history of the science of the Big Bang are more thrilling than a suspense novel and at the same time scientifically rigorous. In collaboration with Edzard Ernst, he has also written Trick or Treatment, a wonderful book on alternative medicine, in which they debunked most myths surrounding the efficacy of quackery like homeopathy, aromatherapy or reflexology. The book is also a very well written history of modern medicine and the development of methods like double blind trials… as well as of medicine’s own limitations. As a follow-up of that book, he wrote a comment piece in the Guardian in which he said that the British Chiropractic Association’s (BCA) claims that their treatments were efficient to treat diseases such as colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections or asthma, could be labelled as bogus. 

As it is usually the case with “alternative” quacks, the BCA decided to counter Simon’s comment piece using their legal muscle rather than the power of their evidence (Dr Franz Frizelle dixit). They have sued Simon under the ridiculous English libel laws, which reverse the burden of the proof and have very often been used by banks, politicians and quacks to intimidate critics, stifle free speech and silence dissent, all of them so much needed in any society that sees itself as democratic. 

Most of the times, people who are sued for libel in England tend to back off in order to avoid a costly judicial process that can lead to huge amounts of stress, unbearable pressure and ultimately bankruptcy. Simon, however, has bravely decided to fight back and face the risks. Supporting Simon is critical for those who either were born in Britain or have chosen Britain as home, like myself. But that’s just part of it. Simon’s fight is also the fight of everyone of us who believe in the beneficial effects of free scientific enquiry, unhindered debate, free speech and democracy… and who think that “alternative” is a meaningless concept and an oxymoron if it is paired with medicine.  

A worldwide campaign has been launched to support Simon against the prophets of unreason. You can find more information about this case and also sign a statement against BCA’s bullying here. The Facebook group For Simon Singh and Free Speech already has more than 5,300 members and counting. If you care about science, freedom and democracy, join in and help this collective effort to give the bullies a bloody nose.  

Go Simon!