When we know that our senses are defective and that Big Pharma can be manipulative, how can we work in or with science without cognitive dissonance
Question: If devotees work in scientific or medical fields, does this lead to cognitive dissonance? As devotees, we often distrust many aspects of materialistic society, and we know that human beings possess four defects, implying that knowledge gained through these defective senses will also be flawed.
Answer: Within Krishna consciousness, there are central, immutable principles and then there are supplementary conceptions, on which a variety of stances and opinions can exist among devotees.
Regarding the specifics of knowledge acquired by human beings with four defects: yes, we do not consider such knowledge to be ultimately authoritative. However, the primary purpose of highlighting these defects is to emphasize that they prevent us from attaining knowledge about ultimate reality. For that, we must turn to scriptural sources.
Yet, while functioning in this world, we also adhere to the principle that the Supreme Lord is perfect, and whatever emanates from Him is also perfect and complete for its intended purpose. Our bodies, senses, and brains are extraordinarily complex and function remarkably to provide us with perception. They are designed to allow us to perceive what is necessary for our survival and interaction in the world.
Consider traditional medicine, such as Ayurveda, a part of the Vedic body of knowledge. Ayurveda developed through rigorous research, experimentation, and application on patients over generations. An Ayurvedic doctor today, when diagnosing a patient by taking their pulse, for example, does not distrust their senses. Not all Ayurvedic doctors are devotees, and even if they were, that wouldn’t necessarily remove their four defects.
Srila Prabhupada himself extensively underwent Ayurvedic treatment and at times even took allopathic (Western) treatment. Furthermore, Prabhupada was professionally involved in pharmaceuticals. If he harbored an absolute distrust of pharmaceutical medicines, why would he engage in such a business? If he believed the pharmaceutical business merely cheated people without genuinely healing them, why would he have been involved?
Whether we examine Prabhupada’s acceptance of treatment, his engagement in business, or indeed, the actions of characters in our epics, it’s clear that no one functions with absolute distrust in their senses during their daily lives. When the Vanaras in the Ramayana searched for Sita, they used their eyes and intelligence. Hanuman in Lanka had no shabda-pramana (scriptural authority) to specifically guide him to Sita’s location; he relied on his senses and intelligence. Similarly, in the Mahabharata, Arjuna used his senses, eyes, and hands to fight in the Kurukshetra war, fulfilling his Dharma. While his life’s purpose was determined by scriptural wisdom, the process by which he fulfilled that purpose in this world was through the effective use of his senses. Thus, an absolute distrust of the senses is certainly not demonstrated by the scriptures or by the lives of their exponents.
Regarding “Big Pharma”: yes, the commercialization of any endeavor on a mega-level can introduce layers of corruption that are difficult to counter in normal situations. However, why should Big Pharma be an exception? Big Tech, in the form of Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook, also operates with similar motivations, yet we don’t cease using them. We use them with due caution. The principle is to use our intelligence to evaluate whether particular knowledge or a particular process is reliable and effective. This same principle applies to Big Pharma. Instead of viewing it as an amorphous, exploitative entity, we can see it as composed of individuals.
Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita 15.15, “I am the source of knowledge, remembrance, and forgetfulness.” Devotee scientists like Sadaputa Dasa (Dr. Richard L. Thompson) have used this verse to explain the divine source of inspiration. Extraordinary breakthroughs in any field often occur not through purely rational, step-by-step reasoning, but through sudden, inspired leaps of insight. These inspired insights can reasonably be argued to come from a source beyond the human. We can thus understand that breakthroughs, even in medicine or any other field, are a result of divine grace—inspiration granted to dedicated individuals working in those areas.
Therefore, while cognitive dissonance is possible, it is by no means an inevitable consequence of devotees working in scientific fields or utilizing the products of science. Overall harmonization can be achieved by understanding that:
- We rely exclusively on scripture for understanding life’s ultimate purpose and the nature of ultimate reality.
- For functioning effectively in this world, we adopt appropriate processes, using our intelligence and discretion, to fulfill our responsibilities, make contributions, and navigate our progress.
The Isopanishad states that we need knowledge of both transcendence and this world. It is the knowledge of this world that helps us navigate it effectively, as Srila Prabhupada explains. We navigate this mortal world by possessing adequate knowledge of how the material world functions, and we attain the eternal world by possessing knowledge of ultimate reality. Thus, as devotees, we utilize whatever knowledge is available to function as effectively as possible. We use technology, including products from Big Pharma, according to the principle of yukta-vairagya: we don’t become attached to them, but we judiciously utilize them for the protection of our bodies. We don’t consider them ultimately definitive, but we do consider them circumstantially useful, valuable, and even essential.
Consider a concluding example: we are communicating in English. Most languages spoken today are not considered “revealed” languages like Sanskrit, and even Sanskrit has evolved significantly. Languages are developed by people with four defects, and we learn them with our own defects. Yet, we use these languages, despite knowing that communication can be inadequate or incorrect due to linguistic ambiguities and fallibilities, even when we are expert and clear in our intentions. Still, we use language with care.
Rather than simply rejecting things in this world because they are products of “four defects,” we can view them positively in multiple ways: as manifestations of the completeness of the Lord’s creation, as manifestations of the intelligence and inspiration bestowed by the Lord, and as essential resources for us to function in this world.
By maintaining a proper balanced understanding, we avoid uncritically rejecting or perpetually suspecting all material knowledge. Some devotees may hold such knowledge in greater suspicion, and some in lesser, depending on their personal study and experience with it. There is room for variability in devotees’ attitudes towards this knowledge, while all devotees agree on and rely upon scriptural knowledge regarding the nature of ultimate reality.
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so that we will be able to get the right amount of dissipation. We cause them cognitive dissonance because as devotees we distrust many things in materialistic society and especially we know that people have four defects.
So, knowledge got by these defective senses is also going to be defective. Answer, there are central principles in Krishna consciousness and then there are supplementary conceptions. And in those supplementary conceptions, there can be a variety of stands.
So, devotees can have many different opinions on the secondary issues. So, as far as specifics of the knowledge acquired by human beings who have four defects. Yes, we don’t consider that knowledge to be ultimately authoritative.
However, usually when we consider the discussion about the four defects, the overall point or purpose is to highlight how these cannot give us knowledge about ultimate reality. And that is why we need to turn toward scriptural sources for knowing about ultimate reality. But while functioning in this world, we also have the principle that om poornam adhah poornam idam poornat poornam udachyate The material that the Supreme Lord is perfect and whatever emanates from him is also perfect.
It’s also complete and perfect. So, it’s complete and perfect for the purpose that it is meant. So, our bodies, our senses, our brains are extraordinarily complicated.
And the way they function to give us perception is itself remarkable. And they’re designed in a way by which we can perceive what we need for our survival in the world. If we consider medicine in the traditional context, Ayurveda, which is a part of the Vedic body of medicine, developed with research and experimentation, application on patients.
And thus there are traditions of Ayurveda, which quote source texts, but which also have vibrant generations and development over the generations. So, an Ayurvedic doctor today when providing medicine doesn’t distrust their senses. Say, for example, when they are taking the pulse to diagnose what’s wrong with the patient.
So, not all Ayurvedic doctors are devotees. And even if they were, that doesn’t necessarily remove the four defects from them. Indiraj Prabhupada himself took Ayurvedic treatment extensively.
There are times when he even took allopathic treatment. Prabhupada himself was engaged in a profession as a pharmaceutical. If Prabhupada had an absolute distrust in pharmaceutical medicines, then why would he engage in such a business? If he considered that pharmaceutical business was completely cheating people, without actually healing them at all, why would he have engaged in it? So, whether we look at Prabhupada’s taking treatment or engaging in business, or for that matter, we look in the epics.
When people go about their normal lives, nobody functions with absolute distrust in their senses. When the Manaras in the Ramayana are searching for Sita, they use their eyes. And of course, their intelligence.
But they use their eyes to look for Sita. When Hanuman is in Lanka, he has no Shabda Pramana over there, to guide him specifically about where to search and how to find Sita. So, the same applies to the Pandavas in the Mahabharata.
When Arjuna is fighting in the Kurukshetra war, he is using his senses, his eyes and his hands to shoot arrows at those who are fighting against Dharma, and to bring them down. His life’s purpose is determined by a source that is beyond the senses, by scriptural wisdom. But the process by which he is fulfilling that purpose in this world is determined by the use of the senses.
So, an absolute distrust of senses is definitely not what the Vedic scriptures demonstrate, or even the exponents of those scriptures demonstrate through their lives. Now, specifically about Big Pharma. Yes, the commercialization of things at a mega level can bring in levels of corruption that may be difficult in normal situations to counter.
Still, why should we consider Big Pharma an exception? Big Tech is there in the form of Google and Amazon and Twitter and other things, and Facebook and even though they might also be similarly motivated, we don’t stop using them, we use them with due caution. So, using our intelligence to evaluate whether a particular knowledge is reliable, whether a particular process is effective, is something that we all need to do. And the same principle can be applied to Big Pharma.
Rather than thinking of it simply as some amorphous, exploitative entity, we see it as made of individuals. And Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita states that mattah smrtir jnanam apoh hanam chen 15.15 He is the source of knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness. Devotee scientists like Sadaput Prabhu, Dr. H. R. L. Thomson have used this verse as the basis for explaining that the phenomena of inspiration has a divine source.
So, whenever any extraordinary breakthroughs happen in any field, they happen not usually through rational step-by-step reasoning, but sudden inspired leaps in insight. And those inspired leaps in insight, it can be reasonably argued, come from a source beyond the human. So, we could say that the breakthroughs that are happening, even in medicine, like in any other field, are a result of divine grace, of inspiration that has come to people who are working in those fields with dedication.
So, cognitive dissonance is possible, but it is by no means inevitable consequence of working as devotees in a scientific field or even by using the products of a scientific field. Overall, the harmonization can be done by understanding that we turn towards scripture and we rely exclusively on scripture for understanding life’s ultimate purpose or understanding what the ultimate reality is. And then specifically, for functioning in this world, we need to adopt the appropriate process and we adopt that process with using due intelligence and discretion so that we can do our responsibilities or make our contributions and progress through this world.
So, Aishopanishad says that we need to know, have knowledge of transcendence and also knowledge of this world. So, it is knowledge of this world that will help us to navigate this world. As Sri Prabhupada explains, So, we will navigate through this mortal world by having adequate knowledge of how the material world functions.
We will attain the eternal world by having knowledge of the ultimate reality. So, therefore, as devotees, we use whatever knowledge is available for us to function as effectively as possible. And we use technology, including the products of Big Pharma with the principle of Yukta Vairagya.
We don’t get attached to them, but we utilize them for protecting our bodies. We don’t consider them to be ultimately definitive, but we do consider them circumstantially useful, valuable, maybe even essential. One concluding example, we are communicating in a particular language, English.
Most of the languages spoken in the world today are not considered revealed languages in terms of that they are not Sanskrit. And even Sanskrit has evolved over the centuries. If at all people speak Sanskrit today, what they speak is significantly different from the Vedic or the Puranic Sanskrit.
So, when we are speaking in languages, these languages have been developed by people with the defects, and they have been taught to us and we have learned them with our defects. And yet, we use these languages. We know there are times when our communication can be inadequate or can go out incorrect because of the ambiguities and fallibilities of the language we are speaking in.
Even when we are expert and clear about what we want to say. So, still we use the languages with care. So, rather than simply seeing the things in this world as to be rejected because they are products of the four defects, we can also see them on a positive level in multiple ways.
One is as manifestations of the completeness of the Lord’s creation, as manifestations of the intelligence and inspiration given by the Lord, as the sources that are essential for us to function in this world. So, if we have a proper balanced understanding, then we won’t uncritically reject or even suspect all material knowledge. Now, some devotees may hold it in far greater suspicion and some in lesser suspicion.
And that may depend on also how much they have worked with and studied that knowledge. So, with respect to the specific attitude towards this knowledge, there is a room for variability for devotees with respect to their opinions, while devotees rely on and agree about the nature of ultimate reality, which they learn from scripture.