GSIF THRIVE-2026 Summit: RSS Leader Dattatreya Hosabale Says Poor Education Fuels Superstition, Calls For Science-Led Curriculum Reform

Washington: RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Friday said superstitions take birth when the education systems, through their curriculum, fail to convey the scientific and technological advancements of a civilisation.

Participating in an interactive session organised by the Global Science Innovation Forum in San Francisco, Hosabale stressed on the need to revive and convey scientific inquiries of the past through the educational system.

“In our tradition, scientific inquiry and spirituality are not two separate things. They are deeply connected,” the RSS leader said.

Hosabale said there was a time in the world when religion and science were seen as being in conflict, but in Indian civilisational tradition, the same people and the same groups engaged in both scientific inquiry and spiritual practice.

“That intellectual tradition has been part of our civilizational wisdom for a long time,” he said, adding that governance too should reflect the same background.

Hosabale said the ancient system was both ethical and scientific, and it was concerned with security, livelihood, and the practical issues of everyday life.

“If we want to bring greater power and opportunity for humanity and for citizens, then these things must flow through education. When education stagnates, technology advances, societies can become more unequal. When parts of society lag behind in education or scientific advancement, inequality grows. Economic growth, education, and quality of life are all connected," the RSS leader said.

“That is why governments today must take this very seriously. On the one hand, we must address the inequalities, prejudices, and superstitions in society. On the other hand, we must continue to advance science and technology. If education does not convey that clearly, then the scientific inquiries of the past may be dismissed as superstition,” Hosabale said.

He said the challenge before education is to help people distinguish real scientific inquiry from superstition.

“Our society has faced this challenge for a long time, but there have also been many efforts to show clearly how the scientific inquiries of the past were incorporated into education and curriculum for centuries. That knowledge system must now be revived and the Indic knowledge system is at the forefront,” Hosabale said.

The GSIF THRIVE-2026 summit, organised at the Stanford Faculty Club, is a global convention where scientific innovation meets ancient wisdom in pursuit of a better world.

Also Watch:

The summit opened on Thursday evening with an interactive session with Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of SUN Microsystems and a venture capitalist, and is expected to see participation from thought leaders, including former US National Security Adviser H R McMaster.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)