SV: Semitic origin of Hindu Vijayadashamee

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

>thing we expect of engineers, physicists, mathematicians etc. with an
>Indological itch is to do their homework. That is, read the relevant

No quarrel with that.

>lashes out at seasoned scientists for not seeing what has become obvious to
>him. Like: electrons are not what you think they are, they are quite to the
>contrary...

Sometimes, this works in science, but one has to be an Einstein
to pull it off. Engineers do have to do a humanities requirement
to graduate, so they read a little more than the equivalent of
the "XYZ for Dummies" books that are popular nowadays. My feeling
is that the problem is not so much the lack of required homework
reading as with the expectation that theories in the humanities
and social sciences should be scientific.


>I am sorry for the parody, but this is precisely the impression some
>engineers etc. create on this list. I am afraid that even sensible
>engineers etc. get lumped together with the all-too-imaginative-and-naive,
>but there it is: this is the mechanism behind all prejudice.

Maybe so, but the prejudice does not look very good, when worn
with pride on one's sleeves, on the Internet and in public print
media. Besides, when a respected Indologist's prejudice extends
to some of his own colleagues, it hampers objectivity, as I
showed in at least one case.

Best wishes,
Vidyasankar

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