What can Covid vaccines & Electric cars teach us about human wellbeing?

The Nobel prize winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan, in his latest book, makes an interesting observation:

“the most recent discoveries in any area of science often do not hold up to scrutiny and have to be revised or discarded”

Think about the controversy that now surrounds the Covid vaccines which were hastily made to meet an emergency situation using a new technology called mRNA. A strongly vocal group of people including many doctors have started to say that these vaccines have done more harm than good

Also, think of a narrative emerging in Electric Vehicles. There is a new view that electricity might not be the appropriate power source for vehicles and other options like Hydrogen might be. The CEO of Toyota is famously an EV sceptic. Once again, a new discovery/ invention of science is being questioned and there is a chance of a revision in thinking

So, Venki Ramakrishnan is clearly right in saying that many new scientific discoveries (or inventions) have a short shelf-life before being revised or discarded

What does all this tell us in relation to our own wellbeing? It tells us that we must be careful of blindly adopting new knowledge or technologies for our wellbeing simply because they “are the latest”; we should probably allow for all such new stuff to prove itself over time, especially given the potential of negative consequences for a person over the many decades of their life. Obviously one is not making the case that all recent discoveries relevant for our wellbeing should be ignored; the point being made is that all such recent discoveries and inventions require careful consideration of pros and cons before enthusiastic adoption

Which is where ancient & continuous knowledge comes into its own. When it comes to human wellbeing, there are probably very few bodies of knowledge that have stood the test of time as much as Indic Knowledge has - at least 3000 years! It is time for us to stop being dazzled only by the new and turn our attention equally to the timeless wisdom that is so easily available if we just look for it

(ps. Venky Ramakrishnan's latest book, "Why We Die : The new science of ageing and the quest for immortality" is a brilliant read. I am in the middle of it & will give a quick review of it here sometime in the next few weeks)