Introspection

There is a beautiful article in this fortnight's Frontline (LINK) about the state of affairs of 'conventional medicine' (more specifically, Ayurveda) in India. The article is written with a touch of disdain, but I think the author shows ample justification for her viewpoint. The issue she raises about the need for more research into Ayurveda is a really important one, given the blind faith (it is usually blind faith, or the opposite -absolute disbelief - sadly, neither view is based in scientific fact.) that people have shown in it. In commenting on Ayurveda, she (I feel) challenges many other traditional beliefs, and our way of thinking about things like 'old is necessarily good', 'the ancients knew a lot more than we did'. I think as a modern generation, we should rethink our view towards all these beliefs - not necessarily to conclude with 'old is bad' and 'old is stupid', but to base our judgments in scientifc fact, not in folklore.

Final word: It is a long article, but it's an excellent one.