Abhilasha: This is not utopia, a blog by Sujay Rao Mandavilli : Weaponizing the “intellectual revolutions in developing countries” narrative: Using ethnography driven data for purpose of driving sociocultural change

Weaponizing the “intellectual revolutions in developing countries” narrative: Using ethnography driven data for purpose of driving sociocultural change

Sujay Rao Mandavilli

SSRN, June 2025

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to show convincingly and unequivocally why intellectual and scientific revolutions are indeed required in many parts of the developing world. We begin this paper by describing and reviewing what science is and overviewing its history in brief. This naturally includes an overview of the scientific and the industrial revolutions of the West, renaissances and enlightenments included. We then lay the contours of intellectualism and twenty-first century intellectualism, and lay bare the limitations of present-day approaches. We then present the importance of ethnographic data driven approaches and show from our case studies, how ignorant and myopic many people in many non-western cultures are. This is of course in addition to the fact that much of western intellectualism is glaringly western-centric, and therefore has many structural limitations. We then delve into the nature of intellectual revolutions and lay down twenty of its most important characteristics. We eventually wrap up this paper by providing workable solutions to vexatious barriers to progress by drawing from our previously published works and publications to make it a good and compelling read.

Introduction

What is science?

It is difficult to put forward a straightforward and an all-encompassing definition of science because although the principles of science are universal, and its histories intertwined, science cannot be alienated from a cultural context, and therefore may not have a permanent or a universal meaning. Because modern scientific practices have different histories, some mutually interdependent, and some birthed in their unique cultural contexts, they may vary from context to context while retaining a universal core. The west did not always dominate is science; even the Islamic world has produced great scientists, examples being Ibn Sina, and Ibn al Haytham, and there was a time when Islamic science was dominant. However, other societies may have had other approaches to science such as the observation of phenomena in their natural contexts over a protracted span of time, or no controlled approaches at all. These are sometimes brushed off as traditional or indigenous knowledge. Thus, in 1913, J. McKeen Cattell, the Vice President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was skeptical or the ability of non-white cultures to produce great scientists; even the otherwise brilliant American Biologist and Geologist Louis Agassiz thought non-whites to be unfit for scientific work. but this may only be partly true, and applicable to the situation in the USA then.

The application of scientific method and its duties in relation to society may also change from time to time, and as scientific awareness improves, its role may change from that of countering pre-scientific beliefs (from all directions, examples being myths legends in traditional cultures to scientific racism in the west) to facilitating intellectual development and progress. Thus, one of the pillars of a modern society is a scientific culture and many researchers of sciences such as Kandor (1957) see science to be a major factor of production. Science continues to evolve, and the science of the future encompassing methods and principles, may be a vast improvement from the science of the present, given the opportunities now available for dialogue, discussion and cross-cultural comprehension. The scientific framework includes the people, institutions and techniques involved in creating and disseminating a scientific temper, and these would play a major role in determining scientific outcomes and the pace and direction of scientific research. (Dear, 2006). Science therefore not only encompasses scientific method, but is also an art because it involves an understanding of culture, culture specific constructs and involves a thorough understanding of the human psyche. This is particularly true of the social sciences.^{^[1]}

The term Science is derived from the Latin word scientia, meaning knowledge or the state of knowing, and is a systematic endeavour that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of facts, principles, testable explanations and predictions about different phenomena by studying and observing them based on evidence, and reassesses them from time to time based on changing evidence. Thus, science may be defined as a “A systematic method of continuing investigation that uses observation, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, logical argument and theory-building to lead to more adequate explanations of natural phenomena.” According to the Science Council, “Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.” It is a systematic hunt for pertinent knowledge on a topic acquired with a certain goal or end. It is also a body of certified knowledge comprising empirical methods and valid deductions. Scientific methodology includes several components such as objective observation, quest for objectivity and accuracy, empirical measurement and data, multiple routes of evidence, systematic approaches, experiment and observation, reasoning and critical analysis, hypothesis creation and verification, establishment of general rules or conclusions, verification and testing, peer review and assessment, as well as communication of scientific findings to the masses. (Kuhn, 1962) Science also encompasses research which D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences define as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art.” William Emory, on the other hand, defines Research as "an organized enquiry designed and carried out to provide information for solving a problem". It often comprises of defining and redefining problems, formulating hypotheses, and providing solutions to problems. Thus, research, is often central to scientific endeavour, as it extends the body of scientific knowledge systematically. On the other hand, for sociologists like Robert K. Merton, science may be defined in terms of what scientists do and produce, and scientific output in relation to society, and for its betterment.

Thus, scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence, and helps us understand the natural world, but provides only a limited understanding of other aspects of culture such as art, philosophy, or religion. These may however be attempted to be understood through unique frameworks in social sciences as these evolve and become robust in their own right. Scientific methods are to some extent still subjective and subject to the vagaries of human nature, given that science is still and will be a human endeavour, but a gradual transition to higher states of objectivity will result if scientific methods become more robust, fool proof and trust worthy. This can happen only if empirical data is gathered from all parts of the world. Many sociologists such as Ian Robertson, William P. Scott, and W F Ogburn consider Social sciences to be bona fide sciences, but these must prove their mettle in the days to come. Science also includes pure research which is carried on regardless of practical application (It is driven by sheer curiosity or inquisitiveness, and often provides explanations to natural phenomena), as well as applied research which ties scientific research to real-world outcomes. A related concept is the emergent discipline of the philosophy of science (with its natural corollary, the philosophy of social sciences) which encompasses all the assumptions, methods, processes and frameworks of science particularly in relation to their social contexts, though the utility of this field of study, is greatly disputed. This field emerged in the twentieth century, is still nascent, and greatly overlaps with the Sociology of Science, a field that may be in need of a reorientation. Scientific method therefore, often overlaps with fields with scientific epistemology, or an epistemological approach to knowledge, ontology or the study of entities, and metaphysics as well, to achieve overarching frameworks. The philosophy of science must also encompass the search for, and definition of philosophical worldviews and ideologies, both hidden and manifest, as these may impact scientific output. It may, in most cases, also call for the elimination of undesirable philosophies of science. (Guba 1990) ^{^[2]}^{^[3]}^{^[4]}

History of science

Science has made a huge impact on human lives particularly since the Nineteenth Century, and its impact can be felt on virtually every facet of human life. Thus, the Industrial Revolution which began in Europe, changed the relationship between humans and nature greatly, and initiated a natural resource consumption driven economic growth. While standards of living have improved greatly, this has raised concerns about dwindling natural resources and sustainable development, and in recent years, has led to a call for radically new approaches to science and economic development. Since the end of colonization, countries in Asia have also made gigantic strides in economic development, but have barely begun to challenge Eurocentric paradigms, or analyse the cultural contexts that produced many paradigms in science. ^{^[5]}

Science is not however, a recent phenomenon, nor was its development limited to the West, as it is often fallaciously assumed. Some researchers such as Lucretius, Vedel Simonsen, Svel Nelsen, Montfaucon and Mahudel have traced the origin of science in human pre-history, long before the emergence of writing. John Frere and Boucher de Perthes discovered early pre-historic stone implements in France, and these put in motion more sophisticated tools in the periods to follow in different parts of the world such as blades, flake tools and harpoons. However, the cradle of tool-making was Africa, and not Europe. Tool making also led to a better control over wild animals, natural elements, an increasing diversity in diet and specialization of labour, corresponding to a greater complexity and sophistication in society. This also initiated downstream changes such as early clothing, a diversification of habitats and better dwellings. According to Richard Wrangham and Frances D. Burton, the discovery of fire a was another important development in human evolution because it paved the way for other complex discoveries. It led to cooking and helped chase away wild animals leading to a better control over nature. The earliest boats were used one hundred thousand years ago and these emerged in different parts of the world, making them the earliest form of transport, long before the invention of the wheel, the bullock cart and the chariot. These were typically made of hollow barks or reeds, and enabled people to travel long distances over rivers, and stillwater.

However, the development of writing which is considered to be a pre-requisite of civilization was a long-drawn process, was preceded by proto-writing and non-linguistic symbols which equates to proto-history. Agriculture and the domestication of animals, associated with the Neolithic revolution first began in the Levant with developments elsewhere. This led to a transformation from hunter-gatherer societies to a more settled way of life, bringing about other changes in turn. Pottery is another early human invention, at the earliest pottery is dated to 15000 BC. Weaving of textiles began in the Neolithic Age, with cotton and wool being used in textile production. Housing also improved in the Neolithic Age, and the first villages also began to appear in this age.

The invention of the wheel is another milestone in human history, and is believed to have taken place around 6000 BC. This later came to play a major role in the popularization of wheeled transport, and the earliest bullock carts were used in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC from where they quickly spread to Egypt and the Indus Valley where they were the sole form of inland transport. The domestication of the horse began in Central Asia in 3000 BC according to the Kurgan hypothesis. The use of horses is carts was perhaps a much later invention and probably began in Western Asia after 2200 BC, from where it spread to Egypt, and later the Ganges Valley, where it was associated with the ruling class. The Chalcolithic age is characterized by the use of metals, and this period is also known as the early metal age. The first metal to be used was Copper, and tin was later added to Copper to make Bronze. The former is also known as the Copper Age, while the latter is known as the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age also coincided with the development of writing, which led to the emergence of the first civilizations.

Metallurgical skills greatly improved in Old World Civilizations and a wide variety of metals were manufactured and used. The most important Old World Civilizations were Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Precious metals and other precious stones were also in use in this period, and a wide variety of goods such as Lapis lazuli and steatite were manufactured. This period also saw an emergence of major urban centers and architectures. People of Old World Civilizations pioneered knowledge in mathematics, astronomy and medicine. The Mesopotamians developed a calendar and a sexagesimal numeral system. Geometry was developed by the Mesopotamians and the Harappans, and put to widespread practical use. The Harappans also used a very accurate weighing system, and could measure lengths accurately. Ancient Egyptians too possessed a knowledge of science. They not only invented papyrus, but Egyptian priests such as Imhotep possessed a knowledge of medicine. The Greeks were also exposed to Mesopotamian ideas through trade, but took science to altogether new heights, and developed the local reasoning, rationalism, and deductive approaches which are still in use today. Thus, a new golden age of science emerged in the Hellenic world after 600 BC, and Greek scholars laid the foundations for philosophy and metaphysics. Notable Greek scholars included Aristotle, Ptolemy, Pythagoras, Thales, Empedocles, Anaximander and Plato, and their contributions in diverse fields are remembered even to this day, even though their conclusions were often highly erroneous. The Romans had great respect for Greek scholars and there was a continuity of tradition from the Greek period to the Roman period, even though the contributions of the latter were inferior, and the decline of Greek tradition led to a decline in scientific traditions as well . Egyptian works had also likewise influenced the Romans, but to a much smaller extent. The Romans also excelled in the application of science and attempted a more practical use of scientific knowledge. Post-Harappan India also saw remarkable advances in Mathematics and Geometry forming a part of Indian esoteric traditions.

Early Indian mathematicians were Baudhayana and others. Sushruta was an early Indian physician who lived around 600 BC. Aryabhatta was a great Indian mathematician and made many contributions to Mathematics and Astronomy. Science in Ancient China was also advanced and developed independently from influences elsewhere in the world. Chinese medical systems were advanced and included acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Other Chinese technological advances included gunpowder, counting machines, time-measuring devices, paper, compasses, printing, porcelain and alchemy most of which developed independently. Science in the Medieval Islamic world flourished between 800 AD and 1400 AD, and is referred to as the Islamic Golden Age of Science. This included advances in various fields of Mathematics such as Algebra, Calculus, Trigonometry, and Geometry. Major advances were made in the fields of Astronomy, physics, geography, medicine, botany and zoology too. Alchemy was developed the Arab world to transmute materials, and this evolved into Modern Chemistry. In addition, Ibn-al-Haytham made many contributions to scientific method, and is regarded by many as an important scientist.

The Middle Ages or Medieval Period in European history is the period from the 5th to the 15th centuries. The trigger for the start of the Middle Ages was the collapse of the Western Roman empire, while the Renaissance and the Age of discovery marked the end of the Middle Ages. The medieval period is sometimes further sub-classified into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire survived into the Early Middle ages and remained a major power with its capital as Constantinople till its sacking in 1453. During the Byzantine Empire, much of ancient scientific knowledge was retained, and further refined and developed. After 1000 AD, in the High Middle ages, there was an upsurge in technological innovation in Europe, including developments in fields such as theology and philosophy. The Crusades, first launched in 1095 AD, were military conquests by the Christians aiming to take back control of the Holy Land from Muslims. This period was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that blended faith with reason, and the earliest cathedral schools and universities which imparted religious education were founded during this period. There was also a study of law during this period, including both secular and ecclesiastical law. The earliest windmills and mechanical clocks were also developed during this period as also technologies to manufacture gunpowder. New technologies in Agriculture were also developed during this period. The Late Middle Ages however, was marked by famine, plague, and war, which killed millions; between 1347 and 1350, the Bubonic Plague and the Black Death killed twenty million people, according to one estimate. One of the more important intellectuals of this period was William of Ockham who developed the Occam’s Razor which impacted scientific method. This approach calls for parsimony, and states that entities should not be multiplied beyond what is necessary. Literary output in Vernacular languages (languages other than Latin) increased in this era, and the earliest literature in the old English Language dates to this period.

This period is also known as the intellectual dark ages, and for the excesses of the Church as characterized by the burning of Giordano Bruno on the stake for his ideas of cosmic pluralism, then equated to heresy. The Middle Ages were succeeded by the renaissance which lasted from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries. The renaissance began in Italy, around the Florence region, and later spread to the rest of Europe. The fall of Constantinople led to a rediscovery of new texts. Greek philosophy was also revived and adapted for the new age, leading to the philosophy of Humanism which emphasized human thought and action. There was also a new emphasis on education, intellectualism, and learning. In science, observation, and inductive reasoning was encouraged. The German Renaissance saw advances in arts, architecture, sciences, and the Protestant reformation. The French renaissance is associated with arts, literature, architecture, science and exploration.

The English renaissance saw the emergence of important writers such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and this age was succeeded by the Industrial Revolution. Exploration also began in this age. Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Magellan were some of the great explorers of this era, and discovered the new world. This exposed shortcomings of old conceptions of geography. Science was seen as being against religion, however, and new knowledge was often not seen kindly. Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake in the year 1600 for heresy and blasphemy. Nicholas Copernicus, who was preceded by Tycho Brahe, promoted a Heliocentric model of the Universe overturning Ptolemy’s model, and revolutionized Astronomy; he was opposed for his ideas even though they gradually gained acceptance. Tycho Brahe was a Danish Astronomer who made accurate planetary observations, and showed that the moon orbited the Earth and the planets orbited the sun. However, he wrongly concluded that the Sun orbited the Earth instead of the other way around. Johannes Kepler developed the three laws of planetary motion which led to Isaac Newton’s theory of Universal Gravitation.

Galileo Galilei invented the telescope based on earlier work by Hans Lippershey and promoted the idea of Heliocentrism; for which he was labeled as a heretic and put under house arrest. Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity, was one of the greatest scientists of all time. Great progress was made in other sciences too. In the thirteenth century, the printing press had brought about a revolution in knowledge by disseminating ideas quickly. Francis Bacon developed the idea of empiricism which stated that progress could only depend on real world observations. Rene Descartes searched for the underlying principles of nature. Helmont discovered Carbon dioxide, and William Harvey of England researched the process of blood circulation. Valerius Cordus obtained ether from Sulphuric Acid and Alcohol. One of the events leading to the renaissance was the invention of the printing press which resulted in a spread of knowledge.

Philosophers such as Peter Abelard and Roger Bacon emphasized reason and empiricism over blind faith, and this triggered an increase in knowledge too. The Colonial Period began in the Fifteenth Century when European powers established their earliest colonies across Asia and Africa. Although there were some benefits associated with colonialism such as the spread of new technologies to new territories, the effects of colonialism were mostly negative, as this led to economic stagnation and oppression of knowledge in colonies (as colonialism was driven by vested interests). The Colonial age ended when colonies won their economic and political freedom in the 1950’s. The Enlightenment, or ‘The Age of the Enlightenment’ and ‘The Age of Reason’ followed the renaissance. This is referred to the Scientific Renaissance by Marie Boas Hall, and others. The Enlightenment began with the Scientific Revolution through the works of scholars such as John Locke, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Leibniz and others, and strove for progress and the triumph of secular values. Enlightenment ideals also spread through the works of scholars such as John Miller, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Immanuel Kant, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others. One of the more important works of this era was the first encyclopedia which was published between 1751 and 1772 by Denis Diderot.

Rene Descartes was an important philosopher whose doctrine of rationalism also influenced the course of the Enlightenment, and greatly impacted modern science. Montesquieu’s ‘Spirit of the Laws’ and Rousseau’s ‘Discourse on Inequality’ were other important works of this age. The Enlightenment also led to the decline in the power of the Church, and loosened its control on people’s lives. There was a revolt against tradition, and traditional beliefs in this age, as scientific progress and new inventions enabled people to see the world in a new perspective and re-examine their old ways of thinking. The Eighteenth Century Italian scholar Giambattista Vico was also one of the earliest scientists to explore the relationship between science and society. However, some scholars argue that subjects like political science and history were given undue importance, and the natural sciences neglected. They also argue that intuition and emotion were given undue importance, and logic and reasoning neglected. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant argued in this book, ‘Critique of pure reason’, that experiences were highly subjective, and these had to be counterbalanced with logic and reasoning. His work later led to new fields of study such as interpretivism and phenomenology. The latter is also related to the idea of structuralism proposed by Claude Levi Strauss, and others.

The Industrial Revolution led to the adoption of new technologies and manufacturing processes and improved productivity. The First Industrial Revolution led to Steam Locomotives, Steamships, the Telegraph, besides other machinery. The Second Industrial Revolution began in 1870, and this led to widespread adoption of existing technologies impacting daily lives, besides development of new technologies such as electricity and telephones. The rise of technology and consumerism marked the Twentieth century: this included new technologies such as the automobile, the radio, the aeroplane and the television. Karl Marx rebelled against the inequities associated with capitalism, and proposed the idea of communism, though his legacy remains controversial and questionable. The German philosopher Max Weber was one of the important pioneers of sociology and social science ,and his work was extended by Alfred Schutz and others. There were also notable philosophers of science like Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend, Bertrand Russell and Aldous Huxley. Albert Einstein overturned many concepts of Newtonian physics, and the foundations were laid for quantum mechanics as well. The century ended with the great internet boom which triggered globalization, and is leading to a better cross-cultural understanding of cultures. Scientific method continues to evolve, and some question the need for a scientific method itself. Extreme versions of this approach encompass Epistemological anarchism and epistemological individualism. The axis of economic and political power is now gradually shifting away from the West to other parts of the world, and most developing nations are now trying to showcase their technical, military and economic might. The renewable energy revolution and the ‘Globalization of Science’ are bound to transform the world further, and in turn produce new scientific advances. However, scientific paradigms particularly in the social sciences continue to be Eurocentric, and science communication to the masses remains to be poor despite remarkable advances in education. Due to this, scientific progress continues to be erratic, and dependent on event driven scientific revolutions; this may change if scientific methods in the social sciences which already comprise action research, field research, participant observation, ethnography, questionnaires and surveys, among others are greatly improved by social scientists across the world, are geared towards bringing systemic social change in diverse contexts. We believe these will be the two pillars of scientific progress in the 21^st century and every advance must be evaluated against this yardstick. ^{^[6]}^{^[7]}^{^[8]}^{^[9]}^{^[10]}^{^[11]}

Twenty-first century intellectualism

An intellectual is an individual who engages in activities relating to the intellect or the understanding of complex issues that a layperson cannot even understand or is not commonly interested in engaging in, or analyzing in the normal course of events. An intellectual therefore, exercises and employs his mental faculties and his critical thinking power much more than other individuals do. An intellectual is also an individual who possesses an intellect or intellectual abilities to a very high degree: and is engaged in or given to learning and thinking. He is also an individual who thinks differently from other individuals, and is engaged in different and non-trivial or non-mundane pursuits. The term “intellectual” is usually traced to a Latin origin, though in a modern sense has been reinterpreted and recast by Bertrand Russell, Arthur C. Clarke and other modern critical thinkers.

The term “intellectual” was first used in the English language in the year 1813. The term also began to be used in other European languages at around the same time. According to the Greek philosopher Socrates, who provided a very interesting definition of the term, intellectualism allowed "one will do what is right or what is best, just as soon as one truly understands what is right or best". According to Thomas Sowell, an intellectual was an individual whose primary occupation was to deal with ideas. This is their primary pursuit and occupation as opposed to other individuals like teachers, doctors and lawyers who also employ some creative thought. According to him, an intellectual had to be highly educated and erudite. He had to be productive in order to create cultural capital for society. He had to be artistic to a certain degree too, and possess creative abilities. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, intellectualism is,“ The power of knowing as distinguished from the power to feel and to will; the capacity for knowledge; it is the capacity for rational, intelligent, complex and erudite thought. The power of intellectualism to a great degree manifests itself in a person with great intellectual powers.” Thus, intellectuals must be “public intellectuals” to a certain degree. They must not live in self-imposed exile on the margins and fringes of society, but actively participate in it. The term “man of letters” was sometimes used (as also the term “literati”) to describe intellectuals, though these terms have now more or less fallen into disuse. The term intelligentsia in another term that is widely in use even today to describe intellectuals. Intellectual history, and the history of ideas have also been widely studied for some one hundred and fifty years; Voltaire and Sir Francis Bacon were pioneers in this regard.

Intellectualism must also be measured in relation to output, and must not be hidden, unexercised, unmanifested or latent. It must also ideally be of some use to science and to society, and must reflect the active powers of the mind and intellect. In sum, intellectualism is a blanket, omnibus and an umbrella term for all kinds of intellectual activity and creative thought. The eminent thinker Vitaly Tepikin emphasized the importance of creativity, output, and service and utility to society as important criteria of productive and useful intellectualism. Intellectualism is also often guided by epistemology, which is the branch, theory, and a science of knowledge, which promotes what is known as “justified true belief”, (as opposed to personal unfounded opinions or blind, unjustified and irrational beliefs) rationality and the employment and use of a clear, and an undiluted stream of reason.

Intellectuals usually comprise of a small elitist group within a society, and the percentage of intellectuals in relation to the total society is typically very small. More evolved and scientifically aware and literate societies may also have a larger percentage of individuals, who may also be heterogeneous in nature; in contrast, the number of intellectuals in less developed societies may be small. Intellectuals are also freethinkers, and may shun the imposition of values, norms and diktats by force of authority. As such, they may be anti-establishment and anti-authority, (and in extreme cases rebellious and revolutionary) though this may not always be the case. They often possess superior observation power, and the ability to process thoughts and ideas effectively, efficiently, and often in unique ways including different types of knowledge such as knowledge-how, knowledge-where, knowledge-when, knowledge-which and knowledge-that. Intellectualism may often have a negative connotation, and may be associated with nerdism, aloofness, impracticality, or lack of an emotional quotient, empathy and social skills. Intellectualism is often tied to Intelligence quotient tests, though this is not necessarily a reliable yardstick, parameter or indicator. Intellectuals are said to possess a higher IQ or an intelligence quotient and a lower EQ, or an emotional quotient, and lower social skills or lower social adaptability. This is a general observation, and has been observed in the case of many intellectuals like John Forbes Nash, Karl Popper and Albert Einstein, though it is not a rigid rule.[12] [13]

From our perspective, intellectualism would also be related to mind-orientation, (which can be changed in due course) and this is one type of mind-orientation we had proposed in our papers. Intellectualism may be fairly simple in most cases, or may be complex, sophisticated, and variegated in a few cases, and may pertain to the processing of highly complex thoughts and ideas. Intellectualism always requires critical thinking skills, vision, clarity, logical analysis, depth of thinking, breadth of though, and ability to mentally process large tomes of complex information. Intellectualism is also therefore the science of the gestation of ideas. Intellectualism is however still weak in general, particularly in developing countries, particularly owing to the following factors:

1. There is extremely poor quality intellectualism, and scholarship is often extremely sloppy and shoddy.

2. Intellectuals are mostly leftist in orientation, or follow some other rival counter-ideology, which may be either reactionary, or non-reactionary.

3. Marxist intellectualism is inherently weak since it mostly grapples with a limited set of issues, and has limited perspectives to offer.

4. Intellectualism is mostly based in advanced nations such as the USA, and countries such as India have yet to mature and evolve in this area.

5. The thrust areas for intellectualism are still extremely narrow; hence, we had proposed an “Intellectualism by objectives” approach.

6. Intellectuals are mostly nerdist, geeky, and are social misfits. They lack a real-world knowledge of practical problems facing society.

7. Intellectuals rarely follow cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary approaches; they do not have knowledge of different fields and branches of the social sciences, research tools or techniques, and a knowledge of other fields of the sciences.

8. There is no general long-term orientation in intellectualism, and there are too many rival camps in operation.

Therefore, in twenty-first century intellectualism, and all fields of activity in various fields in the social sciences, including theorization and conceptualization, the following must be followed, and must be present at all times:

1. A desire for scientific, cultural and socioeconomic progress must always be at the heart of scientific activity and intellectualism. People must always be at the heart of all meaningful research activity.

2. Our concepts and theories such as the theories of socio cultural change, structured apperception techniques, cultural frame of references, ethnography of enculturation, mind-orientation, cultural orientation, mindspace, identity theory, etc, must always be borne in mind, and used whenever necessary.

3. Truly globalized teams must be used in research- refer our paper on cross cultural research design for a more comprehensive overview.

4. Inductive approaches must be followed wherever applicable as discussed in our papers with grounded theory and exceptionism.

5. Field work driven approaches must be followed wherever applicable with a collection and analysis of raw data.

6. We must guard against excessive over theorization under any circumstances, especially where they do not make any sense.

7. Real-world utility and practicality of theories, frameworks and paradigms must be ensured at all times.

8. Universal applicability of theories, frameworks and paradigms must also be ensured at all times.

9. Unnecessary careerism and rivalry must be eschewed at all times. There must be institutional coherentism at all times.

10. Eschewing intellectual nerdism and ivory-tower approaches is a must for meaningful and sustainable progress.

11. Desire to do good to science and to society or individuals must be present at all times. This must be applied meaningfully and productively at a universal level, level of a culture, or the level of an individual.

12. Scientific methodologies, tools and techniques must always be followed including qualitative and quantitative social science research techniques such as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, focus group discussions, panel studies, cohort studies, and quantification techniques, and these must be put to practical use to solve real-world problems, and provide practical and workable solutions

13. Integration between all fields of social science, and different branches of the social sciences and the non-social sciences must also always be carried out by means of the adoption of trans-disciplinary approaches.

14. Proper science communication must be carried out to the masses using simple and easy to understand language. The principle of “Irreducible simplicity” and “Continuous zero-based reassessment of assumptions, hypotheses and methods” must be borne in mind at all times. Jargon must be avoided wherever possible, and culture specific requirements must be borne in mind at all times.

15. Prioritization and according importance to those aspects and facets of research that are important to solve societal problems.

These aspects are however, mostly sorely lacking in present-day research. Social sciences have also yet to fully mature and change with the times; they are largely based on Eurocentric paradigms – unlike most fields of the physical sciences – most fields of the social sciences are culture-based, and culture dependant. These determine and are determined by the subjective and personal experiences and mind-orientation of both the object (the researcher) and the subject, both of which may be birthed in cultural contexts. Hence, they cannot be carried forward or applied in toto to other non-western contexts. This realization dawned upon us very early in our research, and is perhaps applicable to various fields in the social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, economics, psychology, historiography, and philosophy albeit to varying degrees. This observation would hold good to most subfields of these scientific disciplines. We have had schools of thought in the social sciences such as functionalism, neo-functionalism, structuralism, post-structuralism, Marxism, feminism, and intersectional analysis, but most have not solved the problems of the larger and wider world adequately or satisfactorily. We also have had post-colonial schools of thought and post-colonial theory, but these have widely been criticized as being highly reactionary and mostly lacking in comprehensive, wide-ranging and qualitative substance. We cannot call ourselves post-post-colonial, and we will therefore still prefer to call ourselves post-colonial. However, the contours and dynamics of post-colonialism must change. We are not blindly anti-west or blindly anti-anything. On the other hand, we respect the west, and all the contributions it has made to science. We had preferred to call our institute, “The institute for the study of the globalization of science.” (ISGOS) We had also founded a think tank “Scholars and intellectuals for mankind”. (SCHIMA). We hope that these two names would say a great deal.

We therefore emphasize the need for building robust intellectualism and scientific prowess in India and other developing countries such that their own causes and interests are advanced. This is somewhat lacking at the present day and time and the kind of intellectuals revolutions, renaissances and enlightenments that the Western world has witnessed several centuries ago, have not replicated themselves in the rest of the world. Sometimes, concepts and ideas are borrowed from the first world slavishly, and without any modification, adaptation or reconsideration for local conditions. Therefore intellectualism is still widely driven by Eurocentric considerations and interests. All these factors have apparently therefore stymied economic, social, and cultural progress in various other parts of the world, and in some cases, prevented these regions from regaining their past glory. The concepts, ideas and ideals presented in this paper would overlap with those in our previously published papers, and other scholars and researchers must also drive this process forward; they must also collaborate with other developing countries through horizontal collaboration, though vertical collaboration must also be pursued and followed wherever required. Globalized science activity will also naturally benefit science in general. It is also allow for fundamentally better science to be birthed and gestated. This is yet another reason why we call for an “Indian enlightenment”, and enlightenments in other developing countries. This must be molded in line with older European renaissances and enlightenments, but must also always take into account and consideration, the unique requirements and realities of the region.

We still have some more way to go. For example, in India, universal literacy has just been achieved, and the quality of education is still sometimes poor, there is still an observed general pre-scientific temperament, as people are steeped in religion and old myths, with religious-driven and religious-inspired morals and ethics rule the roost, outdated pedagogical methods are mostly followed, learning by rote is still emphasized over understanding concepts, and practical application of concepts, or the difference between science and pseudo-science is still not fully and properly understood by the masses; there is an immaturity and lack of awareness on the part of policymakers and educational planners. We have ideologies galore, and warped intellectualism, there is an inadequate spend on R&D, a poor reward and recognition mechanism for scientists and intellectuals in India, etc. All these factors must be overridden and overcome, before we can hope to make any meaningful progress.

Of course, the very nature and dynamics of various fields in the social sciences must also change for the better; this is what this paper is all about. Intellectuals must also strive to make the world a better place; currently, this is far from happening. We are not even moving in that direction. We do hope and except that someone one day will come up with a test like the Turing test to assess whether or not, social sciences are aligned to social and cultural needs. One simple and acid test could be this: paradigms must make sense to, and work for peoples in all parts of the world. All the points presented in the introduction of this book must also be constantly benchmarked against to see if they are adhered too. There are a lot of people not only in India, but both in the developing and developed world who cannot distinguish science from pseudo-science. But if standards of science are to be improved, and superstition and blind faith fought, scientists, particularly social scientists, must produce science that is of a fundamentally higher quality. This is possible only if scientists are committed to serving society, and all the principles of this paper are followed.

We also believe this would produce intellectual revolutions of sorts particularly in the developing world. The first intellectual revolution from our perspective was writing, and its spread in old world civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. The second intellectual revolution would refer to the flourishing of science in Ancient Greece, and its stellar contribution to the whole of human civilization. The third intellectual revolution followed the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1436, when knowledge could be widely disseminated. The fourth intellectual revolution coincided with the renaissance in Europe, while the fifth coincided with the European enlightenment. The sixth intellectual revolution coincided with the second industrial revolution of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, when people had plenty of time at their disposal. The seventh intellectual revolution occurred when decolonialization occurred, and this set the stage for new and creative intellectual thought in developing countries, though this would unfortunately be marred by dictatorship and socialism. The eighth intellectual revolution occurred due to globalization, the collapse of the Soviet bloc, and the rise of the internet. The ninth intellectual revolution would be attributed to the rise of smart phones and artificial intelligence, while the tenth we believe could be driven by the globalization of science the way we see it, and the emergence of intellectualism and enlightenments in underrepresented parts of the world. Is anyone willing to take the bait?

Data driven approach

From the following, we can easily show that there is a lot of work required by way of cultural amelioration, and that will still have a very long way to day. Even highly educated people lack the innate ability to sift science from myth, and that a comprehensive scientific evolution is required. This will put paid beliefs of those who wish to argue that everything is hunky dory here. This narrative is from the point of view of India; other scholars may work out suitable and similar scenarios for their own regions where change may or may not be required to occur. People will however, unanimously tend to agree that the scientific or intellectual output of most non-western cultures has lagged badly behind the west, and some soul searching is definitely required.

Likewise, all traditions subscribing to creationism which are clearly anti-science, must be castigated in textbooks, and their origin, and fundamental flaws must be clearly explained. For example, many devout Christians believe the earth was created on 23 October 4004 BC based on work by Archibishop James Ussher tracing this date from Biblical events (John Lightfoot of Cambridge University added the time of 9 AM), while Hindus subscribe to a mélange of theories under the umbrella of Hindu creationism. While the belief in the former has largely diminished, Hindu creation myths still have a large following among religious Hindus, even though enlightened Hindus may be more scientifically minded. Likewise, many Hindu scholars still present conjectural dates for several events basing them on concepts such as archeoastronomy, and these are eagerly lapped up by the laity.

Hinduism comprises many viewpoints about the origin of life, and evolution. There are many views on creation in Hinduism, due to its diversity, and these are derived from different sources like the Vedas, the Brahmanas, and the Puranas. According to the archaic Rigveda, the Hiranyagarbha or golden womb is the source of the creation of the Universe, and this is similar to the egg story found in the creation myths of elsewhere in the world. Some Hindu creation myths, have also been traced to other Indo-European sources as well. On the other hand, texts such as the NasadiyaSukta, hold that Gods were created much after the creation of the Universe, and this represents an agnostic view. In the Puranic texts, the creator god Brahma is described as having created the Universe; He is also known as Svayambhu, and Vasiga, and the four Vedas are believed to have emanated from his mouth. Many Hindu texts also mention the cycle of creation and destruction.

The Shatapatha Brahmana states that the current human generation descends from Manu, as the sole survivor of great deluge This legend is similar to the other flood legends, such as the story of the Noah's Ark mentioned in the Bible and the Quran. Other Hindu creationists believe in devolution in accordance to one’s Karma where higher species can devolve into lower. Others believe in an ancient universe with humans having existed for billions of years. Some creation myths such as the Dashavathara and those involving Prajapathi are also found. Thus, different approaches such as groundsup or practical needs approach (practical needs of society as starting point), counterbalance approach (science is used as a countervailing force to negate the negative effects associated with religious derived constructs and dogma), complementary approach (This approach seeks to complement popular tradition wherever learnings and takeaways from such tradition are inadequate or insufficient)and supplementary approaches (In this approach, Religious inspired approaches (or other approaches inimical to science) are stopped completely and replaced by scientific approaches) )can be adopted for presentation of concepts and ideas to students as discussed in our paper on Anthropological Historiography.

Religion has seldom been studied with absolute detachment in mainstream academia, and there have been biases towards and against different religions in different parts of the world. These have often been influenced by beliefs in mainstream cultural milieus, but are extremely hard to hold in today’s world, as people can see through therm. Anti-Hindu sentiment, also known as Hinduphobia, is a negative perception, of Hindus and Hinduism. Hinduphobia has been highlighted in Hindutva circles in the recent past particularly with Hindutva proponents such as David Frawley, and Koenraad Elst, many of whom trace it to the policy of Macaulayism in India which led to the introduction of English language education, and replaced traditional Indian education system as well. It is also traceable to the writings of Indian Marxist historians who equate Hinduism with the caste system and see Buddhism and Islam as being closer to their cherished ideals. This may have led to a reactionary Hinduphilia which can be seen in the writings of Koenraad Elst, David Frawley, Stephen Knapp, and these are often associated with the rise of the Hindutva movement in the 1990’s. This has come under control now, though it may rear its ugly head again; While western centric research paradigms have their own inherent limitations, some Hindutva proponents resort to devious tactics such as polemics, sophistry, and conspiracy theories. This is something we need to be aware of.

Similarly, extreme Islamophobia can be found in several western circles, and this has increased manifold since the early part of the Twenty-first century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word Islamophobia means "An intense dislike or fear of Islam, esp. as a political force; and a hostility or prejudice towards Muslims". Attitudes towards Islam have always been mixed in the West, with more and more scholars nowadays seeing it in negative light and as a threat to world peace. However, this has not always been the case, and there have been many admirers of Mohammed in the West, including the likes of Edward Gibbon, Simon Ocklay, Reverend Bosworth Smith, James A. Michener and others. On the other hand, critics of Islam have included Robert Spencer, Brigitte Gabriel, Pat Robertson, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins besides apostates such as Nonie Darwish, Ali Sina, Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Taslima Nasrin. This may also be because a thorough and an objective research on the origin of Islam is lacking, and because most scholars examine it on the basis of its impact on their respective regions. An example of this is a paranoid fear of large scale Muslim immigration or takeover, and a fear of cultural marginalization especially of Christian and Hindu values. In the years to come, such views must be replaced by more responsible views based on a global outlook. However, all religions are not equal, and criticism must still be based on a hermeneutical and a historical analysis, as well as a phenomenological study of various religious worldviews. This analysis must form the basis of a cultural remediation effort which must also then be integrated into pedagogical technique.

Hinduism for example, presents a worldview completely alien to Christianity and leads to worldviews different from Western thinking which were derived partly from Christian values. It is difficult for any Westerner to understand Hindu worldview without any meaningful sociological training, and a prolonged exposure to different aspects of Hindu culture and its subcultures. Upper caste Hindu worldviews are also different from lower caste ones (the latter represent resistance identities) and it is for this reason that Christian missionaries have been successful among Dalits, and have successfully converted them. Brahminical Hindus have been antagonistic towards Christian missionaries for this very reason, and because their viewpoints are hard to reconcile. Islamic worldviews on the other hand, are derived from the Qu’ran where profession of faith (shahada), prayer (salat), alms (zakat), fasting (sawm) and pilgrimage (hajj) are given importance. Religious worldviews also emphasize certain core ideals (often in an exaggerated fashion) but may pay scant attention to other important ones. It is for this reason that religion shapes worldviews and behaviour, and these can be remediated only through the remediation of carefully thought through techniques. Needless to say, we may have moved one step towards our goal with the emergence of globalization, and half the battle may already have been won. ^{^[14]}^{^[15]}^{^[16]}^{^[17]}

Christian creationism is by no means the only school of creationist thought, and there have been several etiological explanations for the creation of the Universe in different parts of the world. According to an ancient Chinese myth, Phan Ku, a giant creator emerged from an egg, and shaped the world with a chisel, along with all the heavenly bodies, dying soon after completing his work. The Taoist view on creation states that Tao was the principal force behind creation, giving rise to yin, yang and everything else. According to the myth of Pangu, God resided in a cosmic egg, and the egg broke into two halves forming the sky and the earth. According to the Korean CheonjiwangBonpuri creation myth adhered to by mudangs or shamans, the Earth and sky were born as an empty void. Then, a gap formed in the void, and the lighter elements moved up to form the sky and the heavier elements came down to form the Earth. According to the Icelandic epic myth Prose Edda, creation began with a contrast in the realms of Muspell and Niflheim, until the heat of Muspell melted the snow and ice of Niflheim, creating life in the form of Imir the giant. According to a legend believed in by the Krachi people of Togo, a giant, the vast blue God Wulbari, lay just above the earth, and a woman poked him till he awoke. Gradually, Wulbari moved higher and higher till he was out of reach of humans. According to a legend believed in by the Yoruba people of West Africa, Olorun owned the sky. He asked another diving being to take a snail shell down to earth which was then a marsh. The shell contained a pigeon, a hen, and some soil. The soil was then sprinkled on the marshes, with the pigeon and the hen scratching on it, until it formed solid ground. All pre-scientific myths indeed!

SNo	Observation	Additional notes	Remediation
1	Some Indian religious beliefs: Dinosaurs never lived in India	Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles belonging to the clade Dinosauria, and represent by a bewildering mosaic of shapes and sizes. They first appeared to have emerged during the Triassic period, around 240 million years ago, with possible minor variations in timeframes. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event which may have occurred circa 2000 million years ago, and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods with new varieties popping up at irregular intervals. A large number of different types of dinosaurs have been found in India, including Rajasaurus, Titanosauras, Isisauras etc. These have been validated through fossil finds, though the complete list of Indian dinosaurs is much, much larger. Fossils are being found at irregular intervals, thus causing the list to be continuously expanded.	Such beliefs are held by many highly educated people in India, some Ph.D’s, and this shows that we have a long way to go. The Marxist technique of suppression will also not obviously work, as it can be fraught and ridden with catastrophic consequences. Even highly educated people in India do not appear to know that the earth is 4500 million years old, and the big bang is dated to circa 13.8 billion years ago or so.
2	Some Indian religious beliefs: The Dasha avatars of Vishnu needed to be taken literally	The Dashavatara of Vishnu, meaning "ten avatars," are the ten major incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu. They are as follows: Matsya avatar, Kurma avatar, Varaha avatar, Narasimha avatar, Vamana avatar, Parashurama avatar, Rama avatar, Krishna avatar, Buddha avatar, and Kalki avatar. Each avatar is believed to have a unique purpose and significance in restoring the cosmic order and preserving the universe. Almost no one would take this literally, though some religious inspired persons still do.	- Do-
3	The Gangetic plains were the epicenter of all mankind’s achievement	Mesopotamia is generally seen as the cradle of civilization. But this is only because Mesopotamia is at the epicenter of all world civilizations.	- Do-
4	All Indian epics need to be interpreted verbatim	The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are two of the most important Indian epics, though final versions are dated to between 200 BC and 200 AD, with several references to previous eras and epochs.	- Do-
5	The Vedas originated from Bramha’s mouth	In Hinduism a relatively recent umbrella term with concepts stretching back to hoary antiquity, the concept of the four Vedas emerging from Brahma's four mouths is a important symbolic representation. It signifies Brahma's role as the creator of the universe or the cosmos, and the divine source of all knowledge, with each mouth representing a specific Veda. Brahma, is sometimes depicted with four heads, each having a mouth, the origin of each of the Vedas. However, this cannot be taken literally, as this is likely to be a relatively later construct. ·	- Do -
6	Rishis taking off in rockets to space in Ancient India	This is another popular myth and a fallacy popular even among some educated youth. This is eerily and bizarrely similar to Erich von Daniken’s chariots of the Gods. The rot lies everywhere, greed being the primary driver and culprit. But who will bell the cat?	- Do -
7	All of Hinduism is Vedic	This is utterly absurd. There are a large number of Gods of Non-Aryan origin in Hinduism.	- Do -
8	Rakshasas or monsters really existed in Ancient India	In Hindu mythology, both Rakshasas and Asuras are demonic or supernatural beings, but with distinct characteristics and origins. Rakshasas are described as fierce, man-eating demons, associated with nocturnal activity and forests, while Asuras are a more general term for beings that are opposed to the Devas (gods) and the natural order of the universe. As recently discovered by the Author recently, many Ph.D’d believe in this.	- Do -
9	Brahmins were divinely empowered to deliver God-given knowledge to the masses, and other castes are genetically inferior	Ambedkar seems to have shattered this myth as he spoke about the annihilation of caste. He famously led the Mahad satyagraha in 1927, and the priests had to purify the water afterward.	- Do-
10	The IVC is Vedic, and all other evidence must be discounted or ignored (Indus Valley Civilization)	This is popular among most Hindu nationalists. We had demolished this myth multiple times previously. This epitomizes the “Everything began right next to my home fallacy”; and the nature of research would be determined by the ethnic origins of the researcher in question.	- Do-
11	The IVC is Dravidian and all other evidence must be discounted or ignored	This is popular among some Dravidian nationalists. We had demolished this myth multiple times previously. This epitomizes the “Everything began right next to my home fallacy”; and the nature of research would be determined by the ethnic origins of the researcher in question.	- Do-
12	Doubting Darwinian evolution, and proposing counter narratives instead	Darwinian evolution, more commonly known as the theory of evolution by natural selection, is a scientific explanation for how life on Earth evolved over aeons. It posits that species evolve through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that leads to the gradual accumulation of traits within a population, resulting in macromutations, speciations, the diversification of life.	- Do-
13	Pushpak Vimanas	According to Indian legend and myth, Pushpaka was first built by Vishvakarma for Brahma, the Hindu god of creation; later Brahma gave it to Kubera, the God of wealth; but it was ultimately stolen by Ravana. There are also depictions of winged chariots in Ancient Egypt, but these may never have taken flight. Leornado da Vinci’s flights may also have never taken off.	- Do-
14	Believing in personages such as Swami Nityananada and others- cults and godmen	There are a large number of such personages in today’s world, drawing an unsavoury fan following among the educated.	- Do-
15	Appeal to authority	I.e. Something occurred or can be postulated to have taken place if a greater man said so. We also have the bandwagon fallacy, appeal to ignorance fallacy, false dichotomy fallacy, and the false equivocation fallacy routinely used by the far right to vindicate their claims and belief systems.	- Do-
16	Indian Muslims do not know the basics of their history	We have collected ethnographic data here: Some Muslims who studied till grade twelve did not know how old Islam was, or even the brief history of their own faith. They do not know how Islam spread through the various caliphs. They do not appear to understand the Islam was invented to suit the requirements of one man.	- Do-
17	Absence of basic knowledge of scientific method	This includes the inability to distinguish between science and pseudoscience, between history and myth, identify scientific fallacies as they occur. The list is vast and undoubtedly large, and we have been writing about this off and on over several years now.	- Do-
18	The fallacy and the myth that Islam does not require reform	There is a growing body of researchers calling for reform in Islam, though conservative clerics and preachers want to bury all such talk conveniently under the carpet.	- Do-
19	The age of the universe according to the Vedas	According to Vedic scriptures, the universe is about 155.52 trillion years old, with a total lifespan of 311.04 trillion years. This is equivalent to 100 years of Brahma, the creator deity, and is calculated based on cosmic time cycles of Yugas and Kalpas. However, the underlying epistemology is required before any theory can be evaluated. Proponents of such theories must furnsh a sound methodology under any circumstances.	- - Do-
20	Saraswathi divine origin of language theory	In ancient Hindu mythology, Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom, learning, and speech. Saraswathi is also credited with creating the Sanskrit language the sacred language of Hinduism and the language of the Vedas. While this theory is obviously untenable on scientific grounds, mainstream researchers must come up with better theories just as we have done – we had proposed the epochal polygenesis theory on the origin of language in 2016. We need an acceleration of meaningful effort from all sides before myths can be debunked.	- - Do-

Nature of intellectual revolutions

A scientific revolution in simple terms is said to take place when people no longer accept information at face value just because it emanated from a position of authority, or even from tradition (blind belief in tradition or implicit belief in authority) but critically evaluate everything for themselves. It is also associated with a state where logic and reasoning take precedence over everything else.. and reasoning faculties and scientific method are fully developed, along with a liberal dose of critical thinking skills all backed up by knowledge, competence, and the necessary and the relevant expertise. All sections of society are usually able to take advantage of this new scenario, and the quality of education is also generally universally and uniformally high. This inevitably and invariably leads to an enhanced level or state of scientific activity in due course. The following are the general attributes and characteristics of intellectual revolutions, regardless of where they may have occurred or where they might occur. These have already been ratified by experiences in Europe where renaissances and enlightenments are already said to have taken place.

1. High quality education and inclusive education for all sections of society in a manner that will suit intellectual upliftment and fulfillment. There is also minimum and minimal scope for dogmas, myths, and all forms of aberrations to enter the education system. The science of pedagogy is itself in dire need for a foundational overhaul, as we have written multiple time previously. AI may also be used in education eventually, at least as far as practically possible.

2. Human resources are fairly well optimized and potential for human development is greatly realized. The quality and diversity of human resources also need to be taken into account and consideration here.

3. No social and cultural barriers to development are present, and even if these are present, can be easily overcome.

4. Presence of a scientific temper, which is formally taught and demonstrated through the educated system in a structured and not a random or an ad hoc fashion.

5. Ability to distinguish science from pseudoscience which is formally taught and demonstrated through the educated system in a structured and not a random or an ad hoc fashion.

6. High level of critical thinking skills which is formally taught and demonstrated through the educated system in a structured and not a random or an ad hoc fashion.

7. High level of reasoning skills among public which is formally taught and demonstrated through the educated system in a structured and not a random or an ad hoc fashion.

8. Knowledge of scientific method which is formally taught and demonstrated through the educated system in a structured and not a random or an ad hoc fashion.

9. High quantum of scientific output which is achieved through due diligence and conscious effort.

10. People or at least a reasonably large cross-section of them, are familiar with the latest research and advances in science and technology.

11. No dogma among people for the most part, and this is overcome through the use of apposite training techniques.

12. No ideologies among people for the most part, and people think fairly, freely and fearlessly.

13. People no longer accept information at face value just because it emanates from a position of authority, but critically evaluate everything for themselves as far as possible, from scratch.

14. Presence of creative and intellectual classes in society, who guide the rest of society in due turn.

15. High degree of presence of scientific institutions, and those whose primary duty and mission is to promote science.

16. Minimal variations between different groups of people in academic and intellectual performance, and equality of opportunity is largely present.

17. Separation of religion and state is enforced and strictly maintained.

18. Minimum role played by religious orthodoxy in national affairs.

19. Freedom in matters pertaining to religion and personal beliefs, and people have a great say to choose their faith or possible adherence to non-faith as well.

20. No discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender in any walks of life.

Solutions to such vexed issues are as follows

We now propose the following solutions in this regard, i.e. to work around, or significantly surmount current challenges, though more can be added by other researchers in due course: As such, this could be construed to constitute a crude, initial, first list, and one that can be expanded upon through further research.

Say no to ideology

The word “Ideology” owes its existence to the French word “idéologie” which was coined at the time of the French Revolution, when it was introduced by a philosopher, A.-L.-C. Destutt de Tracy, as a short name for what he called his “science of ideas”. Crudely, explained, it may be referred to a collection of beliefs that are usually not fully tested or lack universal applicability. David W. Minar describes six different ways in which the word "ideology" has been used in different periods in time, these being: 1. As a collection of ideas with rigid content, usually normative, prescriptive and non-changing; 2. As the form or internal logical structure that ideas have within a set and may not be compatible with external principles; 3. By the role in which ideas play in human-social interaction; 4. By the role that ideas play in the structure of an organization without currency outside the organization; 5. As meaning, whose purpose is persuasion; and As the locus of social interaction. According to Willard A. Mullins an ideology is composed of four basic characteristics: 1. It must have power over cognition and must seek to control or influence individuals 2. It must be capable of guiding and altering one's evaluations and patterns of thinking 3. It must provide guidance towards action or goad people towards committing actions; and 4. It must be comprised of logically coherent beliefs that hold within an entity. Terry Eagleton provides some further definitions of ideology as follows:

1. A body of ideas characteristic of a particular social group or class; 2. Ideas which help to legitimate a dominant political power; 3. False ideas which help to legitimate a dominant political power; 4. Systematically distorted communication; 5. That which offers a position for a subject; 6. Forms of thought motivated by social interests; 7. Identity thinking; 8. Socially necessary illusion; 9. The conjuncture of discourse and power; 10. The medium in which conscious social actors make sense of their world; 11. Action-oriented sets of beliefs; 12. The confusion of linguistic and phenomenal reality; 13. Semiotic closure; 14. The indispensable medium in which individuals live out their relations to a social structure; 15. The process whereby social life is converted to a natural reality.

In 2024, we launched the "Open, transparent, high-quality and ideology-free science movement" (MOTHIS) to discuss how ideology could be done away with in science. Our findings were published in the paper “Developing methods, tools and techniques to identify and isolate ideologies: Why this is an essential pre-requisite of twenty-first century science and non-science”, published towards the end of that year. In this paper, we had also discussed the term scientific ideology. The term scientific ideology refers to an idea where a non-precise or a non-logical ideology shapes scientific thought, and moulds and directs scientific activity, leading to an altered quantum or quality of scientific output. the concept of scientific ideology was first developed by Georges Canguilhem, a French philosopher historian, and then extended by several others . Scientific ideology may include making loose and careless statements, typically what has not yet been proven, and what cannot be proven by scientific research, resorting to conspiracy theories, arguing that the history of science contains large and gross errors of commission and judgment, and non-scientific theories – as done by Hindutva proponents. Scientific ideology can create epistemological obstacles or hurdles and can stymie further progress, create new pseudoscientific disciplines, produce error ridden science, etc. Of course, there could be many more unanticipated and unsavoury after effects of scientific ideologies such as introducing non-scientific agendas and debates into the mix. Other types of ideologies also include epistemological ideologies and ethical ideologies. Epistemological ideologies overlap with scientific method while ethical ideologies deal with moral and ethical values. James J. Gibson and George Lakoff have written briefly about such ideologies.

Ideologies we proposed, could be identified by absence of vitality and dynamism, absence of practicalism, pragmatism and dynamism, presence of vested interests, promotion of self-interest, promoting the interests of a small, restricted or a closed group, dogma and rigidity of thought – intransigence of thought, excessively normative and prescriptive, association with personality and charisma, unnatural and unnecessary cult following, brainwashing and mental persuasion, making tall, unsubstantiated and grandiose claims, goading people towards an action or a goal, dealing only with a limited set of issues, works by cutting off flow of information, against human nature, excessive weightage to opinion, lack of epistemic coherentism, conflict with human rights, conflict with universal human values, conflict with scientific method, conflict with truth, not based on balance and harmony, conflicts with international peace and harmony, associated only with a culture or a group of people, promotion of a political agenda, promotion of a linguistic agenda, promotion of a religious agenda, identification of ideologies based on their downstream implications, absence of constructive criticism, use of personal attacks, use of dubious claims, conspiracy theories, appeals to authority, use of other forms of pseudoscience, use of behavioural analysis, use of discourse analysis, etc. Readers are requested to read the aforesaid paper in its entirely.

Say no to dogma

Dogma, in its broadest and most commonly or most widely used sense, is any belief that is held definitively and incontrovertibly to be true, and without the possibility of alteration, modification, change in status quo, or reform. Dogma is associated with a doctrine known as dogmatism. Dogmas are inherent in most principles or tenets of a religion, which forms a system of beliefs that is not fully tested, or lacks complete epistemic coherence or validity. Examples of religions include religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, Christian Catholicism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Jainism or Islam. Dogma also usually resides to some degree in political systems such as fascism, liberalism, anarchism, socialism, progressivism, Marxism, dictatorship, and conservatism as proponents of such belief systems may not be willing to change with the times, or as new evidence presents itself in the normal course of events. Dogmatists also shun an open discussion of their beliefs, and may not be willing to discuss them rationally. Some dogma – whether religious induced or otherwise – is present in many societies- they retard progress and dynamism.

Pedagogy

The science of pedagogy, is taken to be a sum total of techniques and methods encompassing learning and teaching, and refers also to the theory and practice of both teaching and learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. We believe that large chunks of the science of pedagogy are utterly and badly outdated and obsolete, and have written exhaustively of pedagogy to boot, including functionalism in pedagogy, theories of pedagogical content, automation of teaching through artiifical intelligence, etc. Proper pedagogical techniques can also help modulate the role of religion in society, and can help foster and inculcate a scientific temper. We also believe scientific method must mature, evolve, and must be taught to students at all levels. Students must be taught to distinguish between science and pseudo science , and fallacies in science. There must be less emphasis on rote learning, and interdisciplinarity must be promoted. Concepts and applications must also be emphasized, along with critical thinking skills. Students must be also taught to challenge everything, and not accept anything at face value. For automation of teaching through AI to be successful, however, we need infrastructure, including reliable power supply, and the human touch can never be ignored. [18] [19]

Higher quality science

We also need higher quality science immediately and now. That is why we had launched a movement called MOTHIS- Movement for transparent, high quality, and ideology free science. High quality science can only come from objectivity in mindset. It can also only come about from an ideology-free approach to science, and cross-cultural research design as far as possible. It can also come about only from intellectual multipolarity, and ethnographic data collected from all parts of the world. Interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and multidisciplinarity is also necessary. Scholars, researchers, intellectuals and thinkers must keep in mind the welfare or well-being of science, society and the education system at all times. That is why we had launched a movement called Scholars and intellectuals for mankind several years ago (SCHIMA). Researchers must also as far as practically possible engage in practical matters, and must not dabble in esoteric pursuits. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Jayant Narlikar was an Indian astrophysicist who performed research on alternative cosmology. He was also an author who wrote textbooks on cosmology, popular science books, and science fiction novels and short stories. He challenged then big bang theory, but counter theories must not be proposed just for the sake of proposing them. Sometimes, this is the basic anchor point of careerism which is still rampant today. A case in point is the Kurgan hypothesis, and the Anatolian hypotheses, though we would clearly throw our weight behind the former. There must be institutional coherentism at all times, and researchers and scholars must be acutely and keenly aware of the impact of science on society, and the education system at all times. This will cause them to behave responsibly and carry the weight of social responsibility more carefully on their shoulders.

We must also leverage the power of the social sciences. This has not been attempted to a great degree thus far, given the fact that most sub disciplines of the social sciences are stuck in an archaic western mold. We must also understand the theory of cultural lag for example, and understand that humans will always be humans. We must snuff out all forms of cognitive dissonance, a concept that we had probed in exhaustive detail in our previously published papers. We must also develop robust techniques to test paranormal claims such as astrology, telepathy, ESP or extrasensory perception, clairvoyance, etc. The importance of this in promoting a scientific temper must not be discounted because there are many different kinds of people on earth from widely varying cultural backgrounds, and with different mind and cultural orientations.

Better science communication

Science communication is a fairly comprehensive concept that includes the practice of informing, raising awareness of science, scientific issues, and science-related topics, and also getting involved with participants and audiences that must also include, people from the general public, i.e. outside the science community. Important though this may be, the entire process must be meshed and interfaced with other concepts in social science such as emic perspectives, the ethnography of enculturation, cross-cultural frame of reference, etc. Also read our papers “Unleashing the potential of the ‘Sociology of Science’: Capitalizing on the power of science to usher in social, cultural and intellectual revolutions across the world, and lay the foundations of twenty-first century pedagogy” and “Introducing Anthropological Pedagogy as a Core Component of Twenty-first Century Anthropology: The Role of Anthropological Pedagogy in the fulfilment of Anthropological and Sociological objectives”, where more case studies are presented. Therefore, as a part of this general exercise, counselling and public education: Seminars, symposiums, webinars, etc must be orchestrated and executed.

Historiography

Marxist approach for suppression is flawed; Marxists regardless of whatever sphere or real they deal in, appears to be badly fossilized in a time warp. Marxist historiography is also additionally, and rather unfortunately so teleological and deterministic in that is posits an origin in history at the start of the revolution of the proletariat. There is however, a diversity in interpretation of ideas and concepts even within the legitimate realm of Marxist discourse, and no two Marxist historians, intellectuals and scholars are exactly alike. However Marxist historiography is tragically marred by the fact that it pays scant attention and regard to cultural and some other non-material causes. This is not only inherently dangerous, but also highly self-defeating. However, KM Shrimali appears to have paid a great deal of importance to religion in his magnum opus, “The religious enterprise: Study in early Indian religions”. This is the way to go; humans are living and sentient beings, and live and breathe culture. It is only a objective and an interdisciplinary method that can slowly move people away from organized religion, not suppression, obfuscation of information, or distortion of facts. Anything else would be anthemia, and inimical and antithetical to the pursuit of dispassionate objectivity, and would even throw up unfortunate counter-reactions such as the ultimate triumph of right-wing forces. As we have always said, one kind of bias legitimizes every other kind of bias. All these things are of extreme and paramount importance if an intellectual revolution is to occur, and people are to be gradually moved away from traditional forms of organized religion. We have authored five papers on historiography already, and these include the following. Some of these approaches may hold us in very good stead:

· Historiography by Objectives: A new approach for the study of history within the framework of the proposed Twenty-First Century School of Historiography

· Enunciating the Core principles of Twenty- first Century Historiography: Some additional extrapolations and inferences from

· Introducing Anthropological Historiography as an integral component of Twenty-first Century Historiography: The role played by Anthropological Historiography in the attainment of long-term Anthropological goals and objectives

· Presenting the art and the science of Qualified Historiography: Anchoring history- writing in the event of uncertainty and unreliability of narratives

· Propositioning Investigative Historiography as a niche subfield within Twenty-first Century Historiography: Making a case for Investigative historiography in Twenty-first Century Social Sciences

Cultural remediation strategies

In general and in common, every day parlance, a bottleneck refers to the neck or mouth of a bottle. In other words, it refers to a constriction. At times, it may also refer to a narrow section of road or a junction that impedes smooth or fast flow of traffic. Therefore, in the context of a process, either a manufacturing process, or a non-manufacturing one, a bottleneck is a situation that prevents or stops a process or activity from progressing to its logical conclusion or next higher level. Alternatively put, and alternatively explained, a stage in a process receives more material than it can handle. Therefore, in such cases, the throughput of the system is typically very slow. Bottlenecks are caused due to several factors including insufficient capacity, inefficient processes, resource shortages, communication breakdowns: There are also sometimes issues with communication between teams, the prevalence or persistence of outdated systems using obsolete technologies, approval delays, etc. Bottlenecks can also be classified into either short-term or long-term, and long-term bottlenecks typically take much longer to resolve. To identify bottlenecks, the process is first thoroughly mapped, and the causes for low performance identified. This can be performed through the use of root cause analysis, fishbone diagram, Ishikawa diagrams and cause and effect analysis. The appropriate software may also be used for the purpose. Another technique that is now becoming popular all over the world is the “Theory of Constraints” (often abbreviated as TOC). This is a management methodology that helps identify, address, and remediate or mitigate the most crucial, critical or otherwise important constraints that prevent a process from achieving its optimum performance. This technique was developed by the Israel Management guru Eliyahu S. Goldratt in the 1980’s, and is carried out in a continuous chain or loop till the process is optimized. From the point of view of this paper, cultural bottlenecks are the most important. Cultural bottlenecks impede cultural development, and prevent a culture from moving to the next higher level. Cultural bottlenecks can be remediated through the tools and techniques proposed in this paper, and indeed, this is what this paper is all about.

We must also naturally and inevitably talk about cultural remediation here. This is because cultural remediation is the next logical step in the process after cultural bottlenecks are identified. The major and the most vital stumbling block to the process and to the technique of “Cultural Remediation” emanates from the absence of a suitable yardstick for cultural benchmarking, and indeed even a satisfactory definition of the term ‘ideal culture’. An inspiration may however come from the English word and the term “Utopia” which was coined by Sir Thomas More in his 1516 book “Utopia” and describes an imaginary, an unreal or a made-up community or society of individuals that possesses highly desirable, perfect or nearly perfect attributes and qualities and meets the needs and aspirations of all its citizens in every conceivable way. Such societies of course do not exist in the real-world, and are purely imaginary; nonetheless and nevertheless, cultural remediation is indeed possible, and if implemented, will take societies and cultures to their next logical level, and to a higher level of performance. The term utopia is contrasted with dystopia; the latter represents a culture in its pits; in a rudimentary and a barbaric state. Also read our paper, “ Identifying tools and techniques for picking out cultural bottlenecks: Another crucial component of the symbiotic approach to socio-cultural change” published by us in IJISRT, in October 2024 for further details and clarity. [24]

Conclusion

The objective of this paper was to show convincingly and unequivocally why intellectual and scientific revolutions are indeed required in many parts of the developing world. We began this paper by describing and reviewing what science is and overviewing its history in brief. This naturally included an overview of the scientific and the industrial revolutions of the West, renaissances and enlightenments included. We then laid the contours of intellectualism and twenty-first century intellectualism, by referencing our previously published works, and laid bare the limitations of present-day approaches. We then presented the importance of ethnographic data driven approaches and showed from our case studies, how ignorant and myopic many people in many non-western cultures are. This is of course in addition to the fact that much of western intellectualism is glaringly western-centric with resultant structural limitations. We then delved into the nature of intellectual revolutions and laid down twenty of its most important characteristics. We eventually wrapped up this paper by providing workable solutions to vexatious barriers to progress by drawing from our previously published works and publications to make it a good and compelling read.

[1] Teaching science in the 21^st century, Jack Rhoton, Patricia Shane, 2006

[2] Research Methodology C R Kothari, New Age International (P) Ltd, 2004

[3] Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches, John W. Creswell, Sage Publications, 2014

[4] Research Methodology, Ranjit Kumar, Sage Publication, 3^rd edition, 2011

[5] THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN INTELLECTUAL FORMATION JEAN-MICHEL MALDAMÉ

[6] THE SHORT HISTORY OF SCIENCE – or the long path to the union of metaphysics and empiricism TUOMO SUNTOLA Third Edition

[7] Evolution: The remarkable history of a scientific theory, Edward J. Larson,, 2004

[8] The story of philosophy, Will Durant, Pocket books, 1926

[9] Darwin, the indelible stamp, edited with commentary by James D. Watson, Running press, 2005

[10] River out of Eden, Richard Dawkins, Phoenix, 1995

[11] Presenting the ‘Structured and Annotated Participant driven Appraisal’ technique in Ethnography: Towards the universal realization of Multivocality in Ethnographic studies Sujay Rao Mandavilli ELK's International Journal of Social Science Vol 4, Number 4, 2018

[12] Critical Thinking: Intellectual Standards Essential to Reasoning Well Within Every Domain of Human Thought, Part Two By Richard Paul and Linda Elder

[13] A Practical Guide to Intellectualism Yuri Cath, 2008

[14] Creation: The origin of life Adam Rutherford Viking, 2013

[15] The vital question: Why is life the way it is, Nick Lane, 2015

[16] The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra, Flamingo, 1976

[17] Religion and Science: Historical and contemporary issues, Ian G. Barbour, Harper Collins, 1943

[18] Pedersen, S., & Liu, M. (2003). Teachers' beliefs about issues in the implementation of a student-centered learning environment. Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(2), 57–76

[19] Rogers, C. R. (1983). Freedom to Learn for the '80s. New York: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, A Bell & Howell Company

[20] Nola, Robert; Irzik, Gürol (2005). Philosophy, science, education and culture. Science & technology education library. Vol. 28. Springer. pp. 207–230

[21] Enunciating the Core principles of Twenty-first Century Historiography: Some additional extrapolations and inferences from our studies and observations on Historiography Sujay Rao Mandavilli ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Social Science (ISSN: 2394-9392) in Volume 2, Issue 4 July to September 2016

[22] Redefining Intellectualism for a post-globalized world: Why present-day intellectualism is obsolete and why a comprehensive reassessment of intellectualism is required, Sujay Rao Mandavilli, IJISRT, August 2023

[23] Introducing Anthropological Pedagogy as a Core Component of Twenty-first Century Anthropology: The Role of Anthropological Pedagogy in the fulfilment of Anthropological and Sociological objectives, Sujay Rao Mandavilli, International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology(IJISRT) Volume 3, Issue 7, 2018 (Summary published in Indian Education and Research Journal Volume 4 No 7, 2018)

[24] Identifying tools and techniques for picking out cultural bottlenecks: Another crucial component of the symbiotic approach to socio-cultural change IJISRT, October 2024 Sujay Rao Mandavilli

Labels: Abhilasha: This is not utopia, Sujay Rao Mandavilli

Abhilasha: This is not utopia, a blog by Sujay Rao Mandavilli

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Weaponizing the “intellectual revolutions in developing countries” narrative: Using ethnography driven data for purpose of driving sociocultural change

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