Freedom to think and will to doubt

By Prof. Kirthi Tennakone

We imagine, dream and think all the time. Mentally pose questions and ponder doubtfully. Thinking is a fundamental human right, not stoppable by force, rules and regulations or law, but influenced by experience and education.

We also divulge our thoughts as opinions or remarks. This is freedom of expression, a cherished principle protected as a human right.

Democratic nations follow constitutionally incorporated enactments to safeguard freedom of expression, either by speech, writing or symbolic display. It is also the right most feared by offenders and the corrupt, and therefore frequently infringed or misinterpreted. Human advancement in all spheres of activity is a direct consequence of free thought and its expression.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaims: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Freedom of expression is vast but sometimes restrictive for reasons of decency, discrimination and intentional social disharmony. Objectionable expressions of thought happen. The prudent way to deal with such instances, when there is no harmful action, would be to allow social dialogue to dilute the issue. Rarely, judicial decisions need to be sought to impose punishments. Unfortunately, those who hide heinous crimes under the carpet often jump to propose legal action.

Some governments, while honoring freedom of thought and expression in their constitutions, also enlist things that are restricted or make amendments to that effect; their ambiguity leaves room for misinterpretation to suppress dissent.

An aspect of dissent is casting doubt in the absence of evidence and logic. We are accustomed to believing without questioning and taking things for granted. Concepts and stories in religion, tradition, culture or statements perpetuated by politicians are entertained and believed without argument. Many resort to political ideologies, either leftist or rightist, when both have no rationality. Established beliefs are rarely doubted and those who deviate are suppressed, ridiculed or punished.

Around seventy years ago, in my ancestral village, there lived a religiously inclined, inquisitive woman named Maie, who read a lot, although her schooling was not beyond the fifth standard. One day after a sermon in the temple, Maie questioned the priest saying, “How can there be a supreme comfort in nirvana without life and she prefers to be reborn?” Other listeners were furious or some laughed, telling she has not understood dharma. The priest called it blasphemy and advised her not repeat such utterances. The talk of the village for weeks was Maie’s question. However, unlike today, there were no calls for her arrest. I consider Maie a free thinker.

Buddhism does not forbid skepticism. Although there are different interpretations of the Kalama Sutra. Buddha clearly told Kalama’s that it is entirely proper to doubt and question religious teachings. Western thinkers later emphasised doubt as the path to the advancement of knowledge.

French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes said: “Doubt leads to wisdom and helps the acquisition of knowledge. And a real seeker of truth should, at least once in his life, doubt as far as possible all possible things.”

Francis Bacon said: “If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties”

In his essay “The Will to Doubt”, the British philosopher and logician, Bertrand Russel says: “None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error. The methods of increasing the degree of truth in our beliefs are well known; they consist in hearing all sides, trying to ascertain all the relevant facts, controlling our own bias by discussion with people who have opposite bias, and cultivating a readiness to disregard any hypothesis which has proved inadequate. In religion and politics, on the contrary, though there is as yet nothing approaching scientific knowledge, everybody considers it de rigueur to have dogmatic opinion, to be backed by inflicting starvation, prison and war, and to be carefully guarded from argumentative competition with any different opinion.”

Russell also commented that if people did not blindly resort to unfounded beliefs, nine-tenths of the evils in the world would be cured. Perhaps what he said is more relevant to Sri Lanka than any other nation in the world. Corruption, crime and sinister political manipulations are at their extremes and society remains largely indifferent. No critical mass exists to voice justice and demand fairness.

We are poor in novelties owing to the rarity of free thinking. A culture that adheres to ideas for which there is no evidence or logic would not be conducive to innovation. The ‘educated’ elite subscribe to superstition and occultism. If parents, teachers in schools and dons in universities are dogmatic and consider education only as an avenue to gain skills, can we expect creativity?

We pretend to be the greatest Buddhist nation. Might be by declaration, propaganda and blind ritualism, but probably the most indifferent when it comes to following the teachings of Buddha. Cruelties to fellow human beings and animals go unheard, but trivial incongruences in faith are lambasted as ‘blasphemy’. And so many preaching and giving alms. Are they to grasp ethics and follow them and humanitarianism or mere ritualistic affairs to be forgotten later?

All religions have served humanity unprecedently by inculcating ethical values in society. The politics of religion brought forth dogmatism, discouraging the will to doubt. Currently and historically, rulers have come forward as the saviors of religion to cover-up their deeds against the very principles of that religion!

The Greeks were the first to hint at free inquiry and because of their influence, the West advanced and overtaking the East. Communism, as it originated in the West, promised to eliminate religious and superstitious dogmatism through science, but its ideologically biased approach, suppressed freedom of expression. Socialist political parties in Sri Lanka, at the beginning, stood against religious superstition. Brewing nationalism in Sri Lanka after independence seems to have wrongly considered traditional dogmatic views as an integral part of our culture which needed to be enshrined and accepted. Rabindranath Tagore vehemently opposed similar trends in India after independence

Dogmatism hinders all human endeavors. It can be relieved only by encouraging freedom of thought and expression, respecting the will to doubt and dissent and realising that the purpose of education is not entirely to acquire information and skills. If one single reason can be identified as the cause of our incapacity, it is the dominance of irrationality in thought at all levels.

Author can be reached via
email: ktenna@yahoo.co.uk