Mangalore: A much neglected and sidelined article in the constitution of India is the article 51 ah which states that it is the duty of every citizen to develop scientific temper, spirit of inquiry and humanism.In the age of misinformation and distorted reporting of events through media and the lack of critical thinking has led to a situation where the common citizen or even the so called educated ones are in a state of mind to accept the presentations broadcast through media and other rumor mills without question. The education system is confined to training studentsto answer and pass examination with the highest possible marks. In this situation, the remedy lies in developing this ability among people. Since the older ones have settled in their rut due to decades of unquestioning following of practices thrust upon them through ages there is hardly any point in trying to change them. But, the younger generation who are tech savvy are the ones who have a fresh mind and hence can be brought out the closed mind set up. Our one day workshop is a step in that direction. In this we present to them various aspects of critical thinking and also impress upon them a lot of information which they have missed or ignored in a very interactive, entertaining manner. We show them seemingly 'miraculous'items and explain the science behind them besides making themselves do it! We present them with mind boggling experiences of sleight of hand, mind reading and magic. The latest in the field of non science isdebunked through experiments. The psychology and pathology of mental diseases is clarified. The claims of charlatans who proclaim their panaceas can heal are explained and dissected thoroughly. The latest dietary fads and promotion of so called organic will be discussed. The various remedies available for redressal of such will be also discussed.The resource persons will be Dr.Madhav Rao, Dr.P.V.Bhandary, Dr.Sandeep Nayak, Narendra Nayak for the technical topics and Munawar Pasha will be demonstrating magic.Most important resource persons will be theparticipants who shall come prepared with the questions that they have about these topics. All are welcome though the preference will be for those of the younger generation and due to the participants coming from different groups the prepared presentations will in English and the language will be Kannada/English or a mixture of both depending on the audience.Date: 2nd February,2020 Time 10 am to 5 pm. venue: St.Aloysius College auditorium, L H Hill road, Mangalore
