I believe in the free market of ideas. Even if some of these ideas are ludicrous, the ‘magic of the marketplace’ will discredit them over time. Or so I hope.
Nonetheless, often it seems that my faith in humans is misplaced. Rationality is trumped a human being’s desire to believe irrational thoughts, mostly because these thoughts provide hope.
Hope is the foundation for so many positives in so many lives. Hope helps us achieve in ways which cannot be quantified. And how can I begrudge anyone who provides Hope (with a capital ‘H’)?
Sometimes, though, hope plays to the frailty of the human spirit. Hope often makes us believe things which fly in the face of logic.
Sometimes that’s good but other times it’s bad. It’s good to believe we all can achieve our dreams during our lifetime. But how about believing illnesses like diabetes can be cured through prayer?
Hmmm ... I am a little sceptical. Maybe the Scientific Revolution is so much a part of our modern lifestyle that it is difficult to fathom the miracles Faith (with a capital ‘F’) can wrought upon us?
So how does a person who believes in freedom of thought square the circle of allowing free thought but yet controlling harmful thought? Not easily, if at all! Squares, after all, cannot also be circles.
The only Hope (there’s that word again!) lies in education.
The Scientific Method – teach people to be rational and we won’t be fooled again! Unfortunately, at times even education fails us ... so we are left with other harsher methods such as censorship through a criminal code. There again, someone has to play God and define morality?
So perhaps it is best to let people attempt to cure diabetes through miraculous prayer ... and let them figure out the truth for themselves!
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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors and the Deodar Diagnostic, Imran improves profits of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.
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