Before we graduated from college, our electrical engineering professor (I think it was Dr SS Prabhu) told us, “As you graduate, it is not enough to be technically competent — you also need a value system, without which, you are no better than a highly trained dog.”
I agree with him, except for the ‘dog’ part since dogs are so loving and sweet!
Over the years, I have sadly come across many highly educated people steeped in bigotry, racism, and religious intolerance. I have seen IIT and Ivy League graduates openly rationalize riots, murders, and worse.
I have seen one very successful individual proclaim that the poor and uneducated should not be allowed to vote — he once even hinted that they should not be allowed to have kids (or at least, not too many).
Of course, we can dismiss these as ‘fringe’ and therefore, exceptions. We can also rationalize anything, typically using “whatabouttery.”
I am not writing this to denigrate anyone. After all, we have all held wrong views at various points in our life. But we can change. All it takes is empathy — feeling the other person’s pain.
Remember — with a little change in the lottery of birth and luck, you could have been the other person.
The other person is us — just in different circumstances.
– Rajan