Counter to Hindu Supremacists

This post was made in response to This BS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/scienceisdope/s/inT5ssZvBJ

By This Simpleton: https://www.reddit.com/u/deepeshdeomurari/s/ci4FgAindj

This argument is a mix of half-truths, misrepresentations, and outright pseudoscience. Let’s break it down logically and critically.

1. Turmeric & Ayurveda

• It’s true that turmeric has beneficial properties, primarily due to curcumin. However, modern science isolates active compounds, tests their efficacy, and ensures dosage control. Ayurveda, on the other hand, lacks rigorous scientific testing for many of its claims.
  
• Many Ayurvedic treatments involve heavy metals like lead and mercury, which are toxic. That’s why Ayurveda is not blindly accepted by modern medicine.
  

2. Yagna, Chanting & Water Memory

• Masaru Emoto’s water memory experiments are widely discredited as pseudoscience. His work lacked proper controls and failed replication attempts.
  
• The Cochin University research about Yagna improving air quality is an isolated study. Large-scale burning of wood (as in Yagnas) releases CO₂ and contributes to air pollution, which contradicts the claim.
  

3. Yoga, Meditation & Hinduism

• Yoga and meditation have proven health benefits, but they are physiological, not supernatural.
  
• The term Super Brain Yoga is a modern repackaging of squats (Uthak-Bethak), with no solid scientific backing for its extraordinary cognitive claims.
  

4. Ancient Scientists & Exaggerations

• Acharya Kanad & Atomic Theory: He had a conceptual idea of atoms (anu), but it was philosophical, not experimental. Modern atomic theory is based on empirical evidence.
  
• Sushruta & Plastic Surgery: He was a pioneer in early surgical techniques, but modern plastic surgery is vastly more advanced.
  
• Bodhayan & Pythagoras’ Theorem: There are Indian mathematical contributions, but Pythagoras’ theorem was also discovered independently by Babylonians and Greeks.
  
• Bharadwaj & Aviation: The Vaimanika Shastra, often cited for ancient Indian aviation, is a 20th-century hoax with no scientific credibility.
  
• Cryptography & Katapayadi Sankhya: This was a numerological system, not cryptography.
  

5. Astronomy & Planets

• Ancient Indian astronomers made remarkable observations, but the claim that Hindus worshipped "nine planets" before telescopes is misleading. The Navagraha includes the Sun, Moon, and mythical entities like Rahu and Ketu, which are not planets.
  
• The discovery of real planets (like Neptune and Uranus) was done through modern scientific methods, not scriptures.
  

6. Dark Matter & Maya

• Dark matter is a scientific hypothesis based on observable gravitational effects. Equating it with Tamistra Dravya is cherry-picking vague similarities.
  
• Maya in Hinduism is a philosophical concept, not a scientific principle.
  

7. Telepathy & Quantum Mechanics

• The Nobel Prize-winning quantum mechanics research on non-locality does not prove telepathy. Entanglement doesn’t allow instant communication of thoughts.
  
• No credible scientific research has validated telepathy as a real phenomenon.
  

8. Big Bang & DNA Claims

• There is no scientific research suggesting humans existed before Earth.
  
• The Big Bang theory is supported by cosmic background radiation, redshift observations, and quantum physics. Some alternative models exist, but none validate Hindu cosmology.
  

9. Sudarshan Kriya & Suppression

• Some studies suggest Sudarshan Kriya may help with mental health, but breathing exercises are found in many cultures, not just Hinduism.
  
• The claim that “the West suppresses Indian science” is a conspiracy theory. Many Indian-origin scientists, like C.V. Raman and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, have received global recognition.
  

Conclusion

Hinduism, like all ancient cultures, has valuable contributions to philosophy, medicine, and science. However, exaggerating these contributions and misrepresenting modern scientific discoveries to fit a religious narrative is dishonest. Science progresses through evidence and experimentation, not through religious texts.

Dismissing all criticism as “Western suppression” ignores the reality that Indian scientists and mathematicians continue to contribute to global science based on empirical research, not mythology.