Video Information: 24.01.23, DU-Law College, Greater Noida
Context:
~ Is astrology scientific?
~ Is spirituality pseudo-science?
~ Are horoscopes real?
~ Can astrology reveal my future?
~ Can one's Zodiac sign tell about his or her personality?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
#acharyaprashant
Context:
~ Is astrology scientific?
~ Is spirituality pseudo-science?
~ Are horoscopes real?
~ Can astrology reveal my future?
~ Can one's Zodiac sign tell about his or her personality?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
#acharyaprashant
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Warm greetings to one and all present in the session. Today, we are lucky to have with
00:07us Acharya Prashant Sir, who has been kind enough to accept our invitation for the second
00:12time. Thank you, sir. Acharya Prashant Sir needs no introduction. From being an acclaimed
00:22Vedanta exegete to a national bestselling author of over 100 books, he is a powerful
00:27voice of social spiritual awakening in today's world. Today, tens of millions of people,
00:33especially the youth, get inspired daily by Acharya Prashant Sir through his direct contact
00:39with people and through various online channels. He continues to bring clarity to all. Sir,
00:45it's an honour to welcome you to address us lost students of TU. On behalf of all of us,
00:52we thank you for accepting our invitation. I welcome everybody in the session and hope
00:59we'll have a warm, open, direct interaction. Sir, my question is very blatant. My question
01:08is what is your opinion about astrology? Because a large chunk of people with a rational attitude
01:15with even rational mindset, they also believe in astrology. Do you believe in it personally?
01:22If yes, why and why not? If no, why not? Why must one give importance to believing in the
01:32first place? Do we live in the Stone Age? Why do we need to rely upon belief? Today,
01:50is it sensible at all to rely on belief when you can assess, evaluate, check, validate?
02:10Why do you need to talk of beliefs? Since you have asked it directly, so here is the
02:25point-blank answer. Anybody who believes in astrology cannot be a rational person.
02:31Yes, sir, of course. Let there be a thesis, let there be a set of propositions that are
02:45available to examination and then I'll be very happy to accept the conclusions that
03:00astrologers etc. propound. First of all, there has to be a set of principles, verifiable principles.
03:12A narrative cannot be termed as a science. I come up with a story and I say this story is science.
03:24No, the story is not science. Science is based on verifiable and falsifiable experiments. Show
03:36me that it works, display it right in front of me and I'll be very happy to accept and nothing
03:45can ever be displayed in this field. All you have is a set of beliefs, belief that this thing will
03:53happen. Why to believe it? Because some person has been talking of these things, so you too
04:00should believe. If you don't believe, maybe you'll meet some harm, so it's safer for you that you
04:06just believe. There's no sense in this. There's just fear and insecurity. I have nothing against
04:27things that emerge freshly and invalidate the pre-existing knowledge, but there has to be
04:43authenticity, right? There has to be verifiability and an experiment should hold demonstrative value.
05:00If you conduct an experiment two times under the same conditions, the result must be the same. These
05:11are some basic prerequisites, right? Before you can call anything as science, else how do you
05:17term it a science? Take the basic Newton's laws of motion. By the Newton's laws, if I pick this
05:33thing up and I drop it from here, it should take a certain time hitting this table. If I start at
05:48zero velocity, it would attain a certain velocity as it hits the table and those laws are expressed
05:58in basic equations such as the final velocity will be equal to the initial velocity plus gravity
06:06times the time elapsed. V is equal to u plus at. You can calculate the time taken. If I do it 100
06:26times, the result will be the same. Assuming that this is a vacuum, assuming there is no air
06:32resistance. I may perform this experiment with objects of any shape, any size. The result will
06:40be the same assuming there is no air drag. Demonstrate that to me in astrology and I'll
06:48be very happy to accept it as a science. Else it's a myth. It's a bundle of unverified beliefs.
06:55And in that, we all are entitled to believe as we want. Nobody will jail you for your beliefs.
07:08You want to believe in something and continue to believe in it but don't term it as logical
07:14or rational or scientific. There is no logic. There is a story. You may love a story. Fine,
07:23that's your subjective choice but don't call it a science. It's a story and quite an entertaining
07:33story. Also quite a profit-yielding story if I look at the size of the astrology industry today
07:44and the number of astrology apps that are available on play stores etc. So it's a story
07:53that is making big money for a lot of storytellers. It's between them and their clients.
08:02If the clients choose to pay just to hear stories, who am I to object?
08:12And I'm not trying to offend the religious feelings of people. All I am saying is,
08:36whatsoever is postulated there is just that, a postulate.
08:45You are supposing something. You are positing something. It is not available to verification.
08:55And since it is not available to verification, to me it is a story.
08:59Sir, I am following up with that. Sir, merely rejecting something as a fact of pseudoscience.
09:14But sir, if someone is believing a different side of pseudoscience and the other party is
09:26believing a different philosophy of pseudoscience, so aren't both are on the same page.
09:36Like I am not a passionate believer of astrology and I also think it's a myth. But I believe
09:44some different pseudoscience. So aren't both are on the same page.
09:50Obviously.
09:51And also spirituality is also not scientific. So sir, how come as a propagator of spirituality,
10:03one must look into science.
10:06Spirituality is not supposed to be scientific. What is spirituality?
10:12What is the very definition of spirituality?
10:15Tell me, please.
10:22Sir, spirituality starts from the beginning. It says that it is not related to science.
10:29What is the definition of spirituality? You are defining spirituality with respect to science.
10:34You are saying spirituality is that which is not science. I am saying what is spirituality?
10:38Give me a positive definition.
10:40Sir, spirituality, right now, I am not aware.
10:44Then how did you make the claim that spirituality is not scientific if you don't know about
10:49spirituality?
10:51But sir, how can spirituality be scientific?
10:55So what is spirituality? What are we talking of? I am not claiming spirituality is scientific.
11:00I am asking you. You are using science. You are using science.
11:04So what is spirituality? What are we talking of? I am not claiming spirituality is scientific.
11:08I am asking you. You are using a term, spirituality. What is that term about?
11:14Sir, as of now, currently, I may not have the exact idea of what is the positive
11:19definition of spirituality is.
11:21So please listen. Please understand. The definitions are very clear and mutually exclusive.
11:30Science is the study of the objects. Spirituality is the study of the subject.
11:39Full stop.
11:41So looking for science in spirituality is as weird as looking for spirituality in science.
11:52Do you ever go to science and confront it and ask, why are you not spiritual?
12:00Science is not supposed to be spiritual because science is the study of
12:07objects, the objective world, the material universe. That's what science is supposed to study.
12:13So science is not supposed to be spiritual.
12:16Same way, spirituality is supposed to study the subject. Who is the subject?
12:22Sir, we are the people, us.
12:25Yes, you are the subject. Science is not supposed to study you, the one who says I.
12:32Spirituality studies that.
12:38So before you use words like pseudoscience and all,
12:41also think of using words like pseudo-spirituality and all.
12:45So before you use words like pseudoscience and all,
12:49also think of using words like pseudo-spirituality. Science is pseudo-spirituality.
12:53How does that sound? Absurd.
12:57Equally absurd is to say that spirituality is pseudoscience.
13:04And we say all these things because we don't know the basic definitions,
13:07and yet we are too eager to talk with confidence.
13:15No, sir. Nothing like that. How can I be confident in front of you?
13:24I don't mean to offend.
13:27Do you think you can?
13:30No, sir. Of course not. You are taking me otherwise.
13:35This is called confidence.
13:38Sir, I'm glad you think so. It's an honor to talk to you like that.
13:51It's not about smart quips. It's about seeing that at the center of the mind is sitting someone
13:59who just believes and is insecure about the beliefs.
14:07When you ask the question that just as it is unscientific to believe in spirituality,
14:16how is it not unscientific to believe in spirituality?
14:19Do you see what you are very confident of? Please tell me, objectively.
14:23Your question was, sir, you just demolished astrology.
14:29Astrology is pseudoscientific, but then how can one kind of pseudoscience be superior to
14:35another kind of pseudoscience and the other kind of pseudoscience is spirituality?
14:40So do you see what you are very confident about?
14:44Sir, I was not confident. I was curious only.
14:47I was not curious.
14:48Sir, I was not confident. I was curious only.
14:52I'm just quoting what you said. I'm just quoting what you said.
14:57So you are confident that spirituality is pseudoscience?
15:02No, sir. Now I have a different view since I was only curious. That's why I asked.
15:08Curiosity does not take assumptions as its foundation.
15:17To be curious is to not assume anything.
15:23And it's a huge assumption to begin with.
15:26And if you begin with that assumption, you will not always get somebody like me
15:32who has the time, the energy and the care to challenge the very assumption.
15:39If you base your entire thesis, your proposition on an assumption, mostly you will get
15:50what you began from.
15:52You will get somebody who either validates your assumption or somebody who invalidates
15:58your assumption.
16:00But very few people will come and tell you, son, all you have is an assumption.
16:06You know, the question then becomes something like this.
16:15You meet someone and you ask him, so did you emerge from the jail today or yesterday?
16:23Is it curiosity or an allegation?
16:30You said you were just being curious and very curiously, I ask you, did you emerge
16:35from the jail today or yesterday?
16:37Is it curiosity or an allegation?
16:41Do you see the huge assumption involved here?
16:45What is the huge assumption?
16:50Be with me.
16:50Be with me.
16:51That you went to jail.
16:53So the huge assumption that you had was spirituality is definitely a pseudoscience and based on
16:59that assumption, then you raised another kind of curiosity.
17:02The curiosity was not whether spirituality is pseudoscience.
17:06The curiosity was, is one pseudoscience better than another pseudoscience?
17:10That was the curiosity.
17:12Similarly, my curiosity is, were you released from jail yesterday or today?
17:15The answer could be, yes, I was released yesterday.
17:19The answer could be, I was released today.
17:21In either case, what remains certain is that you indeed went to jail.
17:28So, the question is, did you emerge from the jail today or yesterday?
17:31And the answer could be, yes, I was released yesterday.
17:34And the answer could be, yes, I was released yesterday.
17:36And the answer could be, yes, I was released yesterday.
17:38And the answer could be, yes, I was released today.
17:40So, in either case, what remains certain is that you indeed went to jail and that assumption
17:48you are taking as a fact.
17:50That's where we all lose it.
17:54Yes, sir.
17:55Correct.
17:56So, please avoid.