Mahendra's Musings - Part 3

Mahendra’s musings - Part 3.

“We all like explanations and we all look for answers”

We all want answers. Why? How? When we were kids, simple explanations would do. Most of these appeared plausible to us. “Why should I wash my hands before eating?” Because you may swallow a bug and become ill. “What is a bug?” It is a tiny creature so tiny that you cannot see it but it makes you ill when it enters your body. And away you run, fully satisfied and perfectly happy to wash your hands!

As you grow older, you want a bit more. You don’t really ask for evidence but you come close to it. Why should I study so much? Because if you don’t study and gain knowledge, you won’t be able to answer the questions in the examination paper. But Tom doesn’t study that much and he passes exams. That is because Tom has above average memory power but if you look at all your friends who do well, you will find that most of the ones who pass have studied very hard. A touch of probability and statistics!

And so it was with our Ancestors. What is thunder? What is lightning? Why is the sea so rough? What is a tornado and why do we get them? The scientific knowledge we now have was non-existent at that time. An easy explanation was to attribute these to Supernatural forces. Almost every ancient civilisation believed in some form of God or Gods. And He had to be powerful and strong to do all the things he did. Bacteria and other microorganisms were unknown and diseases were thought to be caused by demons; the germ theory of disease is very recent in human history. It was therefore perfectly natural to invent Gods of all kinds to explain things. And as God was “good”, the Devil had to be invented to explain Evil. In a way, it is surprising that even now, people do not question the explanations offered for some phenomena as the explanation often invokes something which in turn requires a further explanation. How did the Solar system start? It was created by God. I see, where did God come from then? That does not seem to matter for a lot of people. The Greeks believed that the sky containing the stars and Earth was held up by Atlas on his shoulders. This was a punishment given to him by Zeus for siding with the Titans. But who holds up Atlas? And how was the sky held up before Atlas arrived on the scene? Ancient Chinese and Hindus said that the Earth was held up by 4 elephants and the elephants stood on a giant tortoise. At this point, the obvious question should be what is the tortoise sitting on? But for some strange reason, this was apparently unquestioned, although some records state that this question was indeed asked, with the response that it is “turtles all the way down”.

We now try to answer questions by means of the scientific method. This implies forming a theory (hypothesis) and then seeking evidence to support it. If the evidence is strong, then we accept it. If the evidence does not support it, we reject it or if the evidence is equivocal, we remain open minded till further evidence becomes available. This I believe is the only logical and sensible way to come to conclusions.

I believe in Evolution and the evidence for it is so strong that it is no longer a theory but a fact. Natural selection, random mutations and survival of the fittest is the basis of Evolution. But how does morality fit into this model? In a geophysical system, it is not easy to see a reason for any sort of morality to exist. “Good” and “bad” are moral constructs by Humans, or are they? Do animals display behaviour of a moral kind? Some species appear to do so as shown through ingenious experiments. There is a chimp (A) in a cage with another cage next to it containing another chimp(B). When A is offered a berry of a certain kind, he accepts it. He then sees B being offered a more attractive berry. When he is now offered the original berry, he is angry and throws it at the person offering it. When offered the more attractive berry, he readily accepts it. In the next experiment, a mouse in a cage is offered an item of food. Every time he accepts it he is offered more food, but this time of 2 kinds of equal attraction. If he accepts item A from the mix of A and B, the mouse next door is also offered food. If he picks up B, the other mouse is not offered anything and the mouse can see this happening. With repeated offerings, he chooses to pick A rather than B. When the experiment is repeated with item B being the one where the neighbour is offered, he now picks B. In some way, the mouse appears to get more satisfaction when his neighbour also gets the berry. This is quite extraordinary.

As already touched upon, we know that evolution occurs through two main strategies. Firstly through Random mutations which produce variations in a species and we now know that epigenetic mechanisms (influencing genes through environmental changes) and secondly, through natural selection which ensures the survival of the fittest. In this way, new species emerge and inefficient ones tail off and disappear. It is estimated that only 4% of all known species on Earth have persisted to this day.

Survival of the fittest (of genes) has been named “The selfish gene” by Richard Dawkins. It must be emphasised that only the gene is selfish in seeking survival at any cost. When it comes to animals that have evolved to be more complex, it appears that in an almost paradoxical way, they must be less selfish in the interests of the whole group of species. For example, by social strategies such as cooperation, altruism, not only the species but individuals within it have greater chances of survival. Thus began Tribes and Communities. But in order to have robust methods of cooperative behaviour extending to all members within a community, fresh strategies were required. One method is through punishment for deviations from accepted behaviour so that a deterrent is thereby introduced. The more powerful and “self-policing” method could be by inventing Religion. Fear of being “caught” with dire consequences by a Power which although unseen is able to see, would be a powerful incentive to toe the line. In order for this to be most effective, a view that death is not the end and that life continues in some form had to be introduced so that there is no escape from punishment with death. This would help in providing a more suitable environment for the species to survive. But as evolution progressed, Man became more and more questioning and demanded proof before accepting such concepts. But Religion has a powerful hold on people as humans are frail at times of stress and look for support to help them through these periods. Belief in an all-loving God would supply this comfort. The concept of an all-loving merciful God is very comforting, but only if you are willing to truly believe it and accept it. I compare this to a man undertaking an arduous journey of several hundred miles through a totally unpopulated desert in a car which he knows is roadworthy and equipped with safety measures and reserves. He is still a bit anxious about the possibility that things may go wrong. But if he is told that there will be a helicopter accompanying him throughout the journey hovering above him although he cannot see it, but will come to his rescue immediately if he gets into trouble, he will feel much more relaxed and happy, but only if believes it. It does not matter if a helicopter is there or not. What matters is his belief that it is there, his faith in other words. In the case of the God theory when situations do arise where the “helicopter” fails to turn up, believers still say that “God is there and although it appears as if he did not care for me, He has a plan which will be for my benefit as I know he loves me. “I don’t see his plan right now, but I know I shall be fine in the end”. This explains why two mothers of equal good moral standing and behaviour who pray to God to save their respective child affected by a disease with a high mortality, get two opposite results and they are still happy. One child lives and the mother thanks God profusely for his kindness but quite amazingly, the mother of the child who died doesn’t get angry with God for not listening to her but says that God always knows best. She is happy because she is convinced that her little daughter is in Heaven in the arms of the loving God and that someday in the future, she will be reunited with her daughter. You can’t lose!

On the other hand, some mothers may say that they cannot accept that such a loving God exists after this experience and reject belief in a God.

There is another aspect to Religion. Those who are in the Organisational side of them wield immense power. The Catholic Church is one of the richest and most powerful organisations in the World. They are financially very well off and have the power to interfere and intervene in politics, government policy, and have done so many times.

The other aspect of religious belief is that ruthless politicians will exploit religion for their own ends. They may not have a personal belief in religion although they will portray themselves as believers in order to pursue their nefarious goals. The use of Religion as a Trojan Horse fills pages and pages of human history.

The final and most dangerous aspect is how Religion is interpreted by the followers. A literal interpretation of the Quran and Old Testament has led to Wars and human misery of terrible proportions. A belief that the End justifies the means is dangerous. For Evangelists, evangelism is the desirable end and hence whatever means used in its pursuit is perfectly acceptable. The suicide bomber could be one who genuinely believes that he is doing something good in the eyes of his God and appears to be totally unaffected by the slaughter of innocents it involves. He may also be motivated by the promise of an afterlife filled with mouth-watering comforts.

Religion thus can be a force for good but it could also be one of the most damaging and dangerous driving forces.