Hi readers don’t be surprised. It is possible through misuse by the hardcore (a small group of people within a larger group, who strongly believe in the group’s principles and usually have a lot of power in it) of equally hardcore discipline “Esotericism”.
Esotericism! What it is and is not?
(Please remember “Hard core and Esotericism” if you want to enjoy this blog)
Have you ever heard about esoteric research? No? Ok. What would you think is the biggest challenge of the 21st century? Difficult, isn’t it? For me as well. But I went through:
“The Meaning of the 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future” (https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/predictions/17_Great_Challenges.pdf)
and found many including “Esotericism” mentioned by Lucy Jones from United State Geological survey. She says, “Esotericism” is a term under which, scholars have categorized a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements which signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs. Jones considered funding and supporting esoteric research:
a great job of a society but what is bad about it is the “interface” between that esoteric research and how people can use the information?
She explains it through an example that “if there is an earthquake, it will be followed by pressure on the scientists for prediction about the next one which is difficult to comply not only for scientists but researchers as well due to lengthy scientific procedure not possible to explain to general public
Thus, it is a communication gap that people at large do not understand and therefore are discouraged some time vehemently.
Better “keep it secret” is the philosophy that both scientists and researchers usually adopt to avoid this awkward situation.
Esotericism or doctrine of esoteric knowledge is specialized in nature and is available only to very few “enlightened” and “highly educated” people who can introduce new subject into the existing knowledge including the secret or unfamiliar knowledge as well.
Esoteric knowledge is usually kept secret not by the intention, but by its very nature and made accessible only to those who possesses proper intellectual background.
Hence, it may sound strange to many that esotericism largely involves admission into a secret or obscure society or group as a requirement, so that the person entering esotericism can be tested for his/her capabilities before learning the higher truth.
Currently however, “esoteric knowledge” does not necessarily mean “Esotericism” per se, but it informally means “any knowledge that is difficult to understand or remember” such as theoretical physics, or knowledge which requires trivial details of the subject.
For an agricultural scientists “Biotechnology” and/or “Genetic engineering” is the one that requires trivial details but even that is not unfamiliar as it has been practiced even in the developing countries where education is not of high standard and its rate is extremely low. Under such circumstances, some lucky ones who, by chance get good schooling and get (by whatever means) master’s or Ph.D., degrees are selected for biotechnology/genetic engineering and the rest remained largely deprived which has created a perception that:
“The holder of these degrees are highly educated people whereas in reality, vast majority of such people are not really educated as some of them cannot write even an abstract of their master’s or Ph.D., thesis.
As a scientist, I have spent 37 years in active science and have been listening and debating upon the challenges mentioned in “The Meaning of the 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future” but was impressed by esoteric research. I have worked upon some of the challenges mentioned by many and have seen others working for such areas along with some high-tech (the so called esoteric) research funded very heavily by national and international funding agencies
But the outcome was introduction to the scientific community of certain highly sophisticated scientific terms (not fully understood by 99% of the scientists including those who used them frequently), and establishment of:
- High technology laboratories loaded with state-of-the-art equipment often lacked operational as well as working software,
- Career of some very special blue eyed,
- Highly specialized offices equipped with all sorts of modern gadgets, fancy computers, expensive furniture, office boys and other essentials, and
- Getting scores of young obedient scientists mostly interested in salary, learning scientific shortcuts, and finding a reasonable partner to marry and get settle, etc.
At the end of the day, funding vanished, equipment rotten, manpower migrated to other countries and those who initiated such fancy and high-tech program reached superannuation and the country left with the borrowed capital to be returned with interest and scientific trash not to be used anywhere.
Strangely, everybody has anticipated this scenario, but nobody acted upon timely or intervened to see what is going on which created the perception (right or wrong) that these “selected” worked not for the country but for others. The result was heavy debt, crumbling economy, reduced GDP and export and historical low cotton production in the country (I am talking about 1990s, any analogy with current situation would be a coincidence and/or your own analyses dear readers).
This is a classical story of cotton destruction in Pakistan and a true to type example of the so called “Esoteric Research”. How have we reached there is an interesting and eye-opening story.
A country with 10-14 million bales of cotton production (USDA figures, and unofficial local figure, respectively) embarked on development of cotton leaf curl virus resistant varieties through “genetic engineering” using 10 million US dollar loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1990. At that time, virus was a problem but not alarmingly serious that warrant a loan (with markup) to start research for finding “resistance” in the local cotton germplasm or to import resistant gene(s) from multinational companies for incorporation into local cotton varieties.
The whole idea explained to those who matter was that “Cotton leaf curl virus resistant Bt., gene” will be identified in locally adopted/identified bacterium, purified, characterized, and engineered into the local cotton germplasm susceptible to virus: a very comprehensive scientific exercise that was largely beyond the capabilities of those who proposed the idea.
Getting resistant Bt., gene from multinational company was not easy without paying royalty hence, a short cut was adopted through which a cotton plant non-native to Pakistan but engineered with virus resistant Bt., gene available in public domain was brought to Pakistan.
This engineered cotton plant was then crossed with local Pakistani cotton varieties in the field and selections were made for plants showing variable morphology. DNA from these plants was extracted and amplified in PCR machine using DNA probe specific for cotton leaf curl virus gene (much like the way we are getting PCR test for COVID-19) cloned in plant brought to Pakistan. The positive results were shown to the authorities claiming that Pakistani cotton varieties have been successfully engineered for Bt. (sheer lie: used to justify or hide scientific fraud/terrorism or fake science).
The whole action was replayed many a times with same predictable results but on different cotton varieties obtained from sister Institutions tempted to get their varieties “genetically engineered” so that they can also made their name in the field. They fooled the whole nation and the scientific community and never disclosed to others that it was a routine breeding and selection program which all the breeders and even uneducated people (daily wagers and field workers) do in the field routinely.
If this was to be done, why to initiate a “fancy and so-called innovative research program on “genetic engineering” with heavy loan from Asian Development Bank?
The most serious aspect of this criminality was that most of the local cotton germplasm was contaminated with engineered gene including “desi cotton” (Gossypium arborium) which exhibited immunity against cotton leaf curl virus.
I am not sure if the country has been able to pay back the ADB loan but Pakistan’s cotton output till to-date has remained historically low (5.3 million bales in 2021 which is 18% higher (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pakistans-cotton-production-seen-rising-18-202122-usda-subhan-idrees/?trk=articles_directory) compared to the initial estimates of 2020-2021. Since most of the native germplasm has been contaminated due to crossing with non-native cotton variety, I am skeptical if the wild type of these crossed varieties is yet available but what has been explained here is a necked reality.
I asked myself a question, how are these fraternal groups selected? Just being the elite one? The answer is “No”
Are they really have been admitted into a secret society as a requirement to be tested before learning the higher truth? The answer may again be a big “No”.
In my view these are groups who possess similar qualities and pursue common academic interests that can be explained by “Dunning-Kruger effect” which is named after researchers “David Dunning” and “Justin Kruger”: the two social psychologists who first described it and I will explain it in the next blog.
Albert Einstein says:
“The essentials of being persons of my type lies precisely in what they think? and how they think? But not in what they do? and how they do? Your thoughts shape you”
Think about that and I will see you next time with
The credibility of the beholder of Esotericism
Bye.
