Briefly, we can state the puzzle as: “Why does Western Social Science Claim to be UNIVERSAL, when it is based on analysis of European historical experience?” Many authors have recognized this problem, which manifests itself in many different ways. Most explicit recognition is expressed in the following quotes: Timothy Mitchell: “The possibility of social science is based upon taking certain historical experiences of the West as the template for a universal knowledge.” According to Foucault : “modern human sciences (biological, psychological, social) purport to offer universal scientific truths about human nature that are, in fact, often mere expressions of ethical and political commitments of a particular society.” Other authors who have recognized that Western Social Sciences is founded on European historical experience, and requires radical reconstruction are: Immanuel Wallerstein, Karl Polanyi, RH Tawney, Peter Winch, Brian Epstein, Peter Manicas, and more. To restate the puzzle: Western Social Science is built on a (False, Unrecognized) claim of UNIVERSAL truth. WHY? Social Science is study of human experience. Can we generalize from the European experience to universal laws about mankind? Can the tragic European experience of brutal religious warfare between Protestants and Catholics be generalized to all humanity and all religions? Does it hold for the Amish, Buddhists, and Confucians? What were the patterns of war and peace within the Islamic Civilization, The Chinese, African, and South American Empired? Without any study or discussion, can we assume the European experiences will also be replicated in these societies? We have strong reasons to believe otherwise. Universal Laws must be: Blind to Diversity & Evolution. As a very specific example, consider the evolution in notions of property, as it was shaped by historical circumstances in Europe. In 16th Century England, Property was held to be a Trust, subject to rights of public. The owner could not destroy or damage it, nor withhold rights of access or passage to others, when it served the public interest. However, frequent battles for power among landed Nobility, frequently led to expropriation of properties of losers.This led to the emergence of the notion of property as inviolable right, not subject to authority of current ruling powers. Other societies have, in accordance with their own historical and geographical contexts, evolved other conceptions of property. For example: The Cherokee Constitution of 1839 states: “The lands of the Cherokee Nation shall remain common property”. Western Social Science abstracts from specific of European historical experience to create Universal Laws. However, these laws cannot pick out special features of time, space, geography which affect societies. No laws of social science can explain specific events like the two world wars, which depend on details of personalities and power politics of those times.To understand this issue better, let us transpose this question to a smaller scale. Let us look at my personal life. Suppose I am choosing a career, choosing who to marry, or making other major life-decisions. Are there UNIVERSAL LAWS – based on past human experience which can guide me? Can I rely on past experiences of others to help me decide whether I should be an artist, engineer, mountain-climber, or philosopher? During the space-race with Russia, NASA was hiring physicists in huge numbers, in an all out effort to win. The market responded by producing large numbers of physicists. After the lunar landing, NASA declared victory and dramatically down-scaled the space program. As a result, physics Ph.D.’s were driving taxicabs in the streets of New York. Past experience did not serve well as a guide to the future due to specific historical events which cannot be crystallized into universal laws. Even though truth often lies in the middle, focusing on the polar extremes in a binary opposition helps to clarify thought. Accordingly, let us meditate on uniqueness as the polar opposite of Laws based on patterns of past experience. Meditation on Uniqueness: I am unique; there has never been any person like me in the past, or among my contemporaries. My current position, geographical and historical context, are unique. My network of social relationships is unique. Any LAW based on past experience can ONLY provide general guidance – to be taken with a LARGE grain of salt. What if past experience is MISLEADING? This moment of time never occurred in the past. The Opportunities, Threats, Choices of this moment which I am living in NEVER existed in the past. Use of experience would BLIND me to these!!Questions which face those in touch with their uniqueness are rather different from those who would rely on general human experience, or rational decision theory. How to act when past experiences, and laws based on them are a handicap? How can revolutionaries acquire the courage to think thoughts which have never been thought before?? Reach of human Intuition – the EUREKA moment! Is outside the realm of past experience & science. We can translate these lessons from our meditation on uniqueness to back to the Western Social Sciences. What if lessons of European experience DO NOT apply to the Islamic Civilization? What if European experience is UNIQUE and DISTINCT and the rest of world CANNOT use it? As a simple example, no one can embark on a program of global conquest and colonization as a path to progress today.
Lessons from historical experiences of one society may not apply to other societies. This being BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS, why does Western Social Science, based on European historical experiences, make the CONTRARY claims?
Some specific of the European historical experience are neither possible nor desirable as models to replicate for all humanity. Karl Polanyi in The Great Transformation, and RH Tawney in Religion & Rise of Capitalism, document the UNIQUENESS of European Society in several dimensions. Religious warfare in Europe led to the emergence of a secular society, where the vision of a society as a “body”, an organic whole acting together for common goals, was lost. In a secular society, all collective action is left to government, while individuals strive for their own personal goals. Instead of cut-throat competition governed by survival of the fittest, all traditional societies were built on cooperation, generosity, and social responsibility. The market society is unique in requiring the poor to EARN, in order to pay for essential needs. All traditional societies view providing education, health, housing, social welfare as the COLLECTIVE responsibility of entire population (not the government). Social bonds suffice to achieve these goals, so that anthropologists tell us that no one would starve in subsistence societies, because everyone took care of the needs of others.
Concluding Remarks: Evolution and Change in Society means that lessons of past may not apply to present. Consider the Global Financial Crisis for example. Lessons from historical experiences of one society may not apply to other societies. This being BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS, why does Western Social Science, based on European historical experiences, make the CONTRARY claims? For instance, why does Economics claim general applicability to all present societies? This post is meant to clarify and articulate the central puzzle and mystery of usage of the name “social science” for lessons derived from European historical experience. We hope to address and offer tentative resolutions of this puzzle in later posts.
(The author is a freelancer. Views are his own)
Smartphones: A major reason for pediatric vision problems
Dr Pradeep Sharma
Taking utmost care of your eyes is essential as they are the most delicate and important organs of the body. But the rising menace of electronic gadgets in personal and office life is turning everyone into gadget addicts. It is important to know that gadgets do not emit any harmful rays or radiations (monochrome or color), The causes of the trouble are constantly gazing at a near distance and decreased rate of blinking. “Kids now a days are highly susceptible to digital eye strain, and hence it is the duty of the parents at utmost priority to ensure keeping them away from being addicted to digital screens. It is almost impractical to separate children and technology, be it for educational purpose, or fun time, staring at digital devices like smart phones, tablets, LED screens and computers are trending. Kids may feel eye fatigue, pain in the eyes, loss of concentration, disturb in sleep, headaches, forehead pains, irritability in eye. It may aggravate myopia in pre disposed children. Childhood blindness is one of the priority targets of Vision 2020—Right To Sight due to its impact on the psychological and social growth of the child. Global estimates on childhood blindness show that there are around 1.42 million and 17.52 million children suffering from blindness and moderate to severe visual impairment, respectively. It has been observed that unlike adult blindness that is 80% avoidable (either preventable or treatable), in children, less than 50% of the causes are avoidable. One unique aspect of how children use computers may make them more susceptible than adults to the development of vision problems. Because of the limited degree of self-awareness of children, most of them keep performing an enjoyable task (e.g. playing video games) with great concentration, for many hours, until exhaustion, with few, if any, breaks, leading to accommodative problems and eye irritation.
The addiction! Often parents provide their mobile phones to kids for entertainment and keep them occupied, assuming that they gain knowledge listening to the rhymes and informative videos. But it may not be completely true, as in the process of digital learning, kids often get addicted to the digital screens, be it mobile phone, smart TV’s or computer. Average age at which children start using screens has fallen over past decade from 3-5 years to 12-18 months. Study revealed around 70% Indian parents were worried about impact of screen time on children’s eyes. Parents should know that a developing child around the age of 2-3 years still has their retina developing and prolonged usage of such devices with bright light has 70% chances of affecting their vision (by damaging a part of the retina). Depending on the age bracket of kids, parents should ensure that they (kids) spend minimum time in front of digital screens. A 2-3-year-old kid is highly attracted towards videos and activities online be it on the big screen or mobile phone. Parents are required to minimize that time period in order to protect their vision.
A regular visit to the ophthalmologist is must for kids of any age after 5 years of age. It is in the hands of the parents as to how to take care of their kids. Timely detection of poor vision at early age can help in better treatment.
Taking precautions amid the Digital schooling
While the pandemic has forced the schools to learn the digital way, it is necessary to take safety measures in the usage of digital devices for online learning, which has become a necessary part now.
1. The posture of sitting, and neck bending should be proper.
2. The devices should be kept at a reasonable distance depending on it being a mobile, I-pad or laptop. TV monitors at about 7 times the diagonal distance are the safest.
3. Children should follow the simple 20-20-20 rule: Look every 20 minutes at an object at 20 feet for at least 20 seconds to relax the accommodation and convergence muscles.
4. Use lubricant eyedrops as children forget to blink their eyes and constant state caused dryness of eyes.
Signs that a child may have vision problems include:
Constant eye rubbing
Extreme light sensitivity
Poor focusing
Poor visual tracking (following an object)
Abnormal alignment or movement of the eyes (after 6 months of age)
Chronic redness and tearing of the eye
A white pupil instead of black
It’s important for parents to watch their child for signs of poor vision or crossed eyes and get their child examined right away so that the problem doesn’t become permanent. If caught early, eye conditions often can be corrected.
Safe time with digital Screen: While there is no safe time limit for screen time especially among kids under the age of 5 years, it is strictly advised to keep them away from gadgets in order to protect them from developing any predisposed eye ailment. Kids under 5 years of age having any kind of vision problems should be examined properly at the right time. This problem can be managed by maintaining visual hygiene, less screen times, screen distance should be proper and eye exercise. School going kids can have a screen time of around 1 hour daily be it for educational purpose or relaxation and the time can be extended to upto two hours during holidays. Once the kid is over 12 years, various apps and video games have started consuming their valuable time as well as eye health. Restricting their time spent on digital games, parents should encourage their kids for physical activities and outdoor sports. In India, it is estimated that there are 0.8 blind for 1000 children. Whole globe lesions, corneal scarring, retinal pathology and afflictions of the lens are important anatomical sites in children. Early detection and prompt management are critical for the success of programs targeting avoidable blindness in children. A regular visit to the ophthalmologist is must for kids of any age after 5 years of age. It is in the hands of the parents as to how to take care of their kids. Timely detection of poor vision at early age can help in better treatment.
(The author is Director – Paediatric Ophthalmology at the Centre For Sight, New Delhi. Views are his own) [email protected]