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“The man who has won millions at the cost of
his conscience is a failure” says B.C. Forbes. In a world excessively haunted
by materialism and consumerism, the words of Forbes appear to be very relevant.
“Conscience is a man’s compass” says Vincent Van Gogh. From time immemorial,
the debate on the relevance of conscience to the humans’ social dynamics has
been an on-going one. The battle between the ego and the conscience, the former
trying to dominate the world through powers of all kinds and the later trying
to apply the brakes to ensure that the righteousness prevails over everything,
has been a part of every aspect of history. For centuries, every human action including
those relating to survival were always tested on the cornerstones of
conscience. It was the ultimate mirror of the truth of the individual or the
ethical profile of the person. Conscience was considered the call of the divine
in every living being to be fair to the self, with no harm, hurt or injuries to
the physical, mental, emotional or the spiritual health of any other individual
or for that matter, to any existential design. “There is no witness so
terrible, no accuser so powerful as the conscience which dwells within us” said
Sophocles in early fourth century B.C. Hence, the processes and practices that were
in place for centuries with regard to the upliftment of the individuals,
through education, addressed to nurturing the conscience, to keep it sensitive,
responsive and clear free from all sub-systems so that the sovereignty of the
conscience was celebrated.
The conscience of any individual has never been
silent. It doesn’t sleep. It doesn’t lie. It never ditches the one who listens.
But the voice of the conscience sometimes become so weak that either the
arrogance of the ego or the power or the authority tames it to lie low. It is
not the cowardice of the conscience, but a state of ‘learned helplessness’. It
accepts that I am not being listened to. Yet, it goes on sending its messages.
Says Mahatma Gandhi “The human voice can never reach the distance that is
covered by the still small voice of conscience.” Oftentimes, the continuous
call of the conscience forces an individual to review, reconsider the opinion,
the decision and the path in which he travels. He faces the crisis of
conscience – the fight between the right and the wrong. The weak person
succumbs to the power of authority, the power of ego and the power of external
self. Here raises the question, whether education could help to counter this
situation?
The question has always remained -whether one’s
conscience can ever be educated?
Defining Conscience, the Encyclopedia Britannica says “Conscience, a
personal sense of the moral content of one’s own conduct, intentions, or
character with regard to a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.
Conscience, usually informed by acculturation and instruction, is thus
generally understood to give intuitively authoritative judgments regarding the
moral quality of single actions.” Being the personal moral content of one’s own
conduct, it always comes in conflict with those of others, however taming
itself to finetune on many fronts to evolve into a social conscience. At times of conflict, it does raise a
question, as it happened to Martin Luther King Jr. who asked himself the
question: “But, conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a
time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor
popular, but one must take it because it is right.”
The concept of righteousness, as advocated in
Indian Philosophy through the chronicles of “Dharma” has been a part of study
and practice, both at the informal and formal platforms of learning – either
individually or collectively. The strong belief that the practice of Dharma is
the sheet-anchor against any type of evil assault was integral to the Indian
psyche. The idea “धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः” (The dharma protects the
one, who protects dharma) was a part of the deep learning exercise of all
Indian knowledge outfits. Adherence to Dharma, was therefore deemed as
adherence to the social conscience.
In the last few decades of social transformation, the excessive focus on
information, its retrieval, management, its economic value has shifted the
paradigms of learning to a more materialistic and consumeristic style. The
goal, objectives, purposes and processes address to building economic brands and
that too at the earliest time. Excessive consumption even at the cost of
negating what is due to others has become a display of sophistication. Concepts
of equity, fairness, equality has given way to self-branding, marketing,
advertisement and TRP requirements. Value propositions have been redefined to
make life ‘worthy’ of living through attainment of standards rather than
quality. Setting aside our conscience, we have played with the balance we have
with our environment, mercilessly exploiting every aspect of it to demonstrate
the human superiority and made several species extinct. All these tendencies
have created conflicts with conscience both for the individual and society as a
whole. Righteousness and the call of conscience is being sacrificed to make
‘bigger’ or to seek ‘brighter’ prospects. Cutting-edge competitions for
performances which can be demonstrated, proven, tangible or visible force
sacrifice or mute the call of the conscience. Education, thus nurturing
information appears to have defeated the purity of the intellect, insight and the inner self. The
‘joy of defeating others’ is celebrated over the pain of seeing others in sorrow
and suffering. The human mind is willing to sacrifice the relationship with any other individual or groups of people just
for the pleasure of celebrating the self. “Pleasure” finds better abodes and avenue, than “Peace.” The
conscience is suppressed and muted whenever it makes a clarion call. There is,
thus, a crisis of conscience both at the individual level as well as at the
societal level.
Conscience is subjective in that it is about
one reflecting inwards on how one might “feel” about certain things. Unfortunately,
this need to ‘feel’ is considered the last priority, thus closing down the
portals of empathy in the human heart. Humans, worldwide, are becoming less
sensitive to community needs as well as global needs. “Survival” for today is
considered more important than the “Possibilities” of tomorrow. The world is
becoming poorer in human relationships and engagements, thanks to technology. One
doesn’t know whether Mr. Information – is a friend or a foe? The question before
educators is – Are global education systems failing to resolve these conflicts
of conscience?
“There is a higher court than all courts of
justice; that is the court of conscience.” Said Mahatma Gandhi. It is important
for the world to rediscover itself in terms of its faith, conviction and need
for righteousness. Righteousness is possibly the gateway to conscience. “There
is no pillow as soft as the conscience.’ Says a French proverb. History is
evidence to the fact from ancient times that in all battles where conscience
was defeated, humans and societies have got defeated themselves.
But, the moot question is – have we come too
far? Have we reached a stage of no return? Can the educators world wide put
their heads and hearts to address this issue? Will the poltical, religious,
social and economic leaders desire a
change or will let others bring about it? No one knows. We all live only in
hope.
How do we address this issue? I am no pessimist. Lessons are always learnt
by the individuals, societies, communities and nations – thanks to the Master
Teacher, Nature – which has the power to shake the conscience of the people?
But, should we wait?
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