[Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Taraprakash

"Such activities" in this case constitutes simply research on subjects which
will not have any significant impact on the lives of people, the
significance being measured in terms of well-being of the people. Some part
of this significance is measurable in terms of health care available,
literacy rates, infant mortality rate and so on. Some part of it is related
to happiness, which can be varying for different people. I do agree that
certain people may say that if the existence of Krishna was proved, people
may be happy, but happiness can't be the sole evaluative measure of
well-being. Moreover, there are so many poor who are happy and take their
life with all the struggles in the best way they can, so again it can't be
the sole source, though in some quantity is important.

But again, the measure of happiness is something which depends upon
individuals, and I believe for most of the individuals it would hardly be a
concern whether Krishna existed or not. Of course, you are free to refuse to
accept it.

Regarding public funds, what I meant is that public funds should be spent
based on a public discussion and understanding the costs and benefits
associated with such research, also including costs of not spending the
money on other areas as well. It's like an economist's method of calculating
costs, not an accountant's method.

I am not sure it has been used or not uptil now. What I mean to say is that
I believe it shouldn't be used at a personal level, but if say a choice
comes, let there be public discussion on the subject with arguments from all
sides before making an 'informed' decision.

Regards

Rakesh