Dear Sohail,

I'm taking the bait :)

It's a good line, I give you that much. But allegories and metaphors are meant to explain something. They cannot be a replacement for arguments yet in some circles, metaphors are taken as arguments. In this metaphor, where mind all logical is depicted is like a knife all blade, I would argue that if there were such knife, it will only be used by a mind with no logic. A logical person would wrap something over the blade before using it or just pick another knife from the drawer. This line argues nothing and proves nothing.

The tendency to draw conclusions from metaphors is a very dangerous tendency. I did read and appreciate your article on selling spirituality. You would know that the line you quoted from Tagore is very similar to the language used by the people who sell spirituality. The Deepak Chopra types use these very allegories to sell things like "Quantum Healing". The next step on this crusade of condemning and belittling rationality and logic is an attack on science and that is why I said that this tendency is dangerous. The times have changed. Today's Galileos can not be silenced so they are made irrelevant by saying things like "science is good but pure science has stripped humanity of it's purpose". Catchy phrase but what purpose? The statement pre-supposes a purpose that is not stated. The institutes of logic, rationality and science are charged to be "soul-less". I don't know what that means but I know that it's somewhat of an insult. All I would say is that these soul-less , cold and emotionally detached institutes save hundreds of thousands of lives daily thru medical procedures. These institutes are responsible for transmission of soul-less packets of electronic signals traveling thru cables on speed of light that have brought humans closer to each other. Logic and rationality have a deeper and more profound effect on our lives today than any other institutes and that is why I feel that they need to be passionately defended against forces that are threatened by their influence.

Regards,

Rafi