Nobel Prize Winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Calls Homeopathy And Astrology Bogus

"It is a pleasure to be back in Chandigarh," these were the opening words of Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan's speech at Panjab University on Tuesday.

He delivered the first Har Gobind Khorana lecture on "On Nobody's Word: Evidence and Modern Science" at PU law auditorium.

Starting on a light note, he said he could not converse in Hindi as he was a "Madrasi" and advised students if they want to learn science, they would have to learn English as well.

Talking on what distinguishes science from other fields, he referred to a news report of an international daily whose coverage on India's Mars mission was not about the launch but about a number of superstitions surrounding it.

He added the article concluded despite significant scientific achievements, many Indians were guided by superstitions, which, he said, sometimes was reflected in poor decision-making.

Ramakrishnan explained looking for patterns was important for survival. "Once you look for patterns, it leads to general speculation. Astrology came out of looking for patterns in the movement of stars and so on," he said. "Alchemy and astrology had existed for centuries and their transformation into proper scientific areas required the advent of the scientific method," he said, adding while astrology was stuck in the past, modern astronomy has made huge existing discoveries like black holes and evidence for the big bang theory.

Placebo effect

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Venkatraman Ramakrishnan said even the thought of taking a pill and going to the doctor makes a patient feel better. He explained about double blinding and randomizing, the two trials that fall under the implementation of placebo effect. He added placebos can induce real biochemical changes, for example trial for Parkinson's disease, which is due to dopamine problems, placebo pills could induce dopamine release in the brain just like real pills.

Homeopathy and astrology

The Nobel laureate said homeopathy was dependent on system of beliefs that have no basis in our understanding of chemistry or biology. "Homeopathy was invented by a German physician and has nothing to do with India. It is practiced in India like in other countries of the world. In fact, in my country, Prince Charles is a big fan of homeopathy," he said.

A lot of Indians believe in astrology. "There is no basis for how movements of stars or planets can influence our fate. Moreover, there is no reason why the time of birth should influence something decades later. This is complete nonsense," he said. Ramakrishnan added that a culture based on superstition would always do worse than a culture based on scientific knowledge.

"Europe was backward for centuries and it is only when it became rational, it became advanced. We now see east Asia, like in Japan and Singapore, those societies are advancing. India is the only country where Constitution says that it should promote scientific temper," he said.

Polio could return

India should be very proud that it has essentially eradicated polio but it is in some pockets of neighbouring countries, so there is a danger of it coming back, said Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. "Over centuries, life expectancy did not change but in last century, it has doubled. Earlier, it was more dangerous to go to a doctor than not to go to one. This only changed in modern times, because when medicine became scientific and evidence-based, it made a dramatic progress."