Overdependence on tech damaging city: Tully

The former bureau chief of BBC India, Sir Mark Tully, appealed to the scientists to strike a balance between science and religion to bring about harmony in the society.

“Be open to ideas and arguments,” he told a gathering of scientists at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Academy of Sciences here on Friday.

“Stretching things to extremes will lead to imbalance in the society like socialism did when the Indian government had to open up to globalisation and liberalisation. But recently, too much economy has led to the current crisis of recession. Hence one must be careful about striking a balance between two things,” Sir Tully advised.

Scientists generally have an attitude that science and technology have solutions for every problem. “Scientists usually descredit religion because they have misunderstood secularism. The late prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, defined secularism as equal space for all religion and not a condition of no-religion,” he said.

The Padma Bhushan winner reasoned that the scientists have developed such an attitude since they feel science has answers to all questions, and that anything beyond the purview of science is nonsense. “That is because scientists are lead by unexamined traditional wisdom, which prevents opening up of minds.” He appealed to the scientists “to be open-minded and respect what other people think.”

“Do not dismiss religion and believe in the traditional wisdom of science. We have to be weary of scienticism, which John Gray calls as unexamined dogma. For instance, scientists believe that the problems created by climate change can be solved. But if we only believe in science, it will lead to imbalance in the world,” he said.

Warning against excessive dependence on technology, Sir Tully said that it damages the society to a great extent. “Though we have to develop, we must be careful not to be led by development. Today, Bangalore roads have become highly mechanised due to  overdependence on technology. This is damaging the city,” he said.

The noted journalist and author also added that science limits perception. “Like you can have different perceptions on music and poetry, science should be open for different views,” he said.

He asked the gathering to initiate a constructive dialogue with religious leaders, rather than indulging in conflict.

“According to a Sri Lankan thinker, conflict is created between a scientist who is ignorant of religion and fundamentalist who sticks to his myths. There should be a balance between the two for harmony,” he concluded.