The value of research in Pakistani society

Dawn, September 4, 2005
The value of research in Pakistani society
By Dr Tariq Rahman

IN the medieval ages the European learned men, all incidentally associated with the Christian Church, discussed hypothetical questions arising from their religious studies. One of these questions was: ‘How many angels can stand on the sharp end of a needle?’ They sought for details about the appearances of angels in the Bible and in the lives of saints and solemnly measured the apertures through which these angels must have appeared and so on.

The Muslims counterparts of these medieval scholars carried out similar exercises. They argued about what kind of water could be used for ablution? Whether there were seven skies or more? Whether the Holy Quran was created or uncreated (the Mutazilite controversy was based upon this question)? And so on.

Even in the nineteenth century, when science was fast becoming the fashion in studies, there were scholars who argued hypothetical questions like: ‘How many children did Lady Macbeth have?’ Now if we remember that Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare’s famous play ‘Macbeth’, the question seems superfluous. Yet people spent a lot of mental effort and blackened many a page trying to answer it.

So, what is the validity of such hypothetical debates? Should they be encouraged? Should taxpayers’ money be spent to fund people who indulge in such debates? These are very important questions and demand answers.

The answer which bureaucrats give is emphatically negative. They are clear that public money is not to be squandered away on such mental gymnastics. For them research must be, at least indirectly if not directly, in the national interest. The military is even more intolerant of pure research of any kind which appears to only gratify the intellectual curiosity of the researcher or a small group to which he or she belongs. The corporate sector feels that research should have practical applications which should help ‘sell’ the products made by the sector. In short, everyone seems to think that the best research is that which enables the generation of the greatest amount of profit.

Ordinary people, who are also the taxpayers, are against research anyway. But to be asked to fork out money to support research which does not have practical applications does not make an ordinary person’s life any better, it rather makes them indignant (to see his taxes being wasted on such a needless endeavour). Students are against such research because they might have to read about it and that is an extra burden. Teachers are also averse to it because they have to teach it and they have enough crosses to bear. So, who is for research?

For one, I am. And I am sure there are many others like me. Indeed, all genuine scholars and scientists, most of whom are employed by the best universities of the world, are all great champions of pure research; all kind of research; all kinds of intellectual debates be they hypothetical and without any practical application or otherwise. This attitude is quite contrary to how the rest of Pakistani society feels and it needs some explanation.

Like all human activities, research can be increased by the efforts of governments, institutions like universities, corporate sector think-tanks, armed forces (which can provide grants for defence-related research and so on) and social activists (environmentalists, human rights activists and so on). However, such kind of research deals with whatever is required by a particular community or society at a point in time.

Governments are interested in questions of foreign and economic policy or in questions of public welfare. The armed forces are interested in weapons research, logistics and psychological warfare. Social activists have their own agenda which is connected with reducing the causes of human unhappiness or prolonging the life of the earth and those living on it. In all such cases the aim is something else and research is the means to that end. For the genuine or pure researcher, the end in itself is the acquisition of knowledge, the gratification of curiosity, and not necessarily what the research effort might necessarily lead to.

I am not arguing whether such an attitude is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, all I am saying is that it forms the basis of all genuine, fundamental research. If it comes to an end or is not encouraged, the spirit of inquiry dies. And when that happens a culture stops asking questions whether they (the questions) are about the application of research or of a more fundamental kind.

To enjoy asking questions, to enjoy the process of satisfying one’s curiosity, to enjoy research as an end in itself — these are the character traits of all real scholars and scientists. If one looks at the biographies of such people one finds that they are so delighted with the process of asking questions and seeking answers that they are ready to sacrifice the desire for power, wealth and even recognition to be allowed the pleasure of doing research. Einstein even declined to be the president of Israel because be did not want to leave physics at Princeton University. And, indeed, one of the reasons why highly intelligent people with very high university qualifications — the kind of people who could find lucrative jobs in the corporate sector and powerful ones in the government — join the universities (especially in Western countries) at relatively lower salaries is because they have the time and the resources to pursue their intellectual interests.

Unfortunately, Pakistani culture does not value intellectual curiosity nor is asking questions encouraged. The family discourages it because questions undermine the power of the elders in it. The interpreters and teachers of religion discourage it because their interpretations and institutional power is weakened.

The culture itself is mostly conservative and discourages it because any genuine probing would expose its unequal, unjust and cruel values. The workplace -including the universities — discourage it because originality and excellence threaten mediocrity which thrive in and rule over such places. In short, for cultural, economic and religious reasons people are discouraged to ask questions and seek answers in Pakistani society.

That being the case, we need to emphasize that all kind of questions and all kinds of research are valuable and not necessarily or only those which appear to have practical applications or relevance of any kind. In other words, if someone is intellectually curious about a question which appears absurd (such as ‘How many angels... ?’), then that curiosity should be encouraged. And how does one encourage curiosity?This is a difficult question. Intellectual curiosity and the capability of creating new explanations (hypotheses) born and nourished in a democratic, liberal, freedom-loving culture. Authoritarian governments, theocracies and lack of freedom are its enemies. Countries that lack freedom and do not guarantee their citizens the right to think, speak and write what one considers the truth, never create new ideas. Besides, in such a culture one needs to have strong institutions which can promote and facilitate create research. For instance, in Pakistan, if the university adopts a policy of paying for every research proposal, it may well be an unaffordable venture.

However, it may be possible to pay a research allowance for five years without putting any restriction on what one is working on. After that, if one does not publish the allowance may be reduced till it becomes nil. Anyone who wants a specific research proposal to be funded will have to forego the allowance but, of course, the funds for the project will be much higher than the research allowance. Anyone whose project gets funded but yields no publications in prestigious, indexed journals with an international reputation should be barred from submitting any more research proposals. These are some of the ways in which research could be encouraged by Pakistani universities.

There are other ways too, such as employing prestigious scholars and scientists in prestigious positions (for example, as head of the Federal Public Service Commission, as vice-chancellors and chancellors of universities and heads of think-tanks, etc.) and allowing them to continue serving in the universities till they old enough to do so. These individuals should be given positions in the government and corporate sectors and in the media where they can give independent advice and thus act as counterweights to the professional civil service.

To maintain their independence they must be assured of intellectual freedom and given financial independence as well. These are not very difficult or costly things to do and they will bear fruit by making Pakistan a country which produces new ideas. The question then is how to convince this country’s bureaucracy and military, as well as its NGO and corporate sector, of supporting a culture of research? Well, that could be done by arguing that doing so will strengthen the country and make its people happier — that is, social welfare will be increased as a result of such research.

However, my own feeling remains that no matter what the consequences of research, it should be encouraged for the pleasure it gives to those who do it. This is the best one can do to encourage research and promote the habit of creative thinking.n

The writer is National Distinguished Professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Pakistan. He recently returned to Pakistan after spending a year at the University of California at Berkeley as a visiting professor. Email: drt_rahman@yahoo.com