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Ali, Tazid
- How Certain is Science?
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1 Department of Mathematics, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786 004, IN
1 Department of Mathematics, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786 004, IN
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Current Science, Vol 111, No 10 (2016), Pagination: 1587-1588Abstract
What is truth? What is reality? How certain are we regarding any given fact? These are questions pondered upon by philosophers from time immemorial. This search for the nature of knowledge has culminated in different epistemic theories of truth. In this note I delve into this aspect in the field of science. Many people outside the field of science often confuse it with certainty. They think that what science says is infallible; its predictions are 100% accurate/reliable. This is perhaps due to the high precision and accuracy with which science predicts different future events like eclipses, time of sunrise and sunset, launching of spacecraft and rockets, etc. However, a close scrutiny will reveal that in the midst of these predictions there are errors and uncertainties involved.Full Text
References
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- In Praise of Agnosticism
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PDF Views:77
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Affiliations
1 Department o f Mathematics, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786 004, IN
1 Department o f Mathematics, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786 004, IN
Source
Current Science, Vol 115, No 8 (2018), Pagination: 1448-1450Abstract
The origin of the notion of God and religious beliefs can be attributed to the attempt of the primitive people to come in terms with the hostile environment they were exposed to. They could not comprehend and were awed at the different physical phenomena like alteration of day and night, lightning, thunder, flood, storm, eclipses, death, etc. They soon realized their helplessness and defencelessness against the forces of nature. They hypothesized that there must be some supreme power or deity/deities that controls all these happenings. They thought these deities need to be pleased to avoid incurring their wrath. So they imagined these deities in different forms, depending on the nature of the force they represent, and started worshiping them. Thus submission/surrender to the hypothesized Supreme Being is the foundation of all religions. With the progress of time and growth of knowledge our view of the universe has changed drastically, but fear of the unknown and search for reality continues. Sages and philosophers contemplated on this issue and thus there emerged the notion of divinely inspired or revealed knowledge resulting in what are called ‘dharma sashtras’ or religious scriptures.Full Text
References
- Dawkins, R., The God Delusion, Black Swan, 2006.
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- Ali, T., Curr. Sci., 2016, 111(10), 15871588.
- Hawking, S. and Mlodinow, L., The Grand Design, Bantam Press, Great Britain, 2010.
- Technical Efficiency Performance among Micro Enterprises in Dibrugarh District (Assam): A Stochastic Frontier Analysis
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Authors
Affiliations
1 Department of Economics, DHSK College, Dibrugarh 786001, Assam, IN
2 Department of Mathematics, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786001, Assam, IN
1 Department of Economics, DHSK College, Dibrugarh 786001, Assam, IN
2 Department of Mathematics, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786001, Assam, IN
Source
Artha Vijnana: Journal of The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Vol 62, No 3 (2020), Pagination: 225-238Abstract
This study analyses technical efficiency performance among micro enterprises in Dibrugarh; a developed and industrialised district in Assam using the Stochastic Production Frontier Model. It is based on cross sectional firm-level data collected through a field survey from 115 micro manufacturing enterprises. The results indicate the presence of a high degree of technical inefficiency in the production process. Output is more responsive to labour than capital, which points that higher productivity can be obtained by increasing labour and not by increasing mechanization. The enterprises are subject to decreasing returns to scale, suggesting that they are of supra-optimal size and need to adopt a policy of rational downsizing.
Further, an attempt has been made to identify firm-specific and entrepreneurial background variables responsible for inefficiency using Coelli’s Inefficiency Effects Model. It is found that skilled labour ratio, firm-age, gender and experience of the entrepreneur significantly affect technical efficiency in the firms. From policy perspective, the strong influence of skilled labour points to the needfor skill upgradation and training of the local labour force. The influence of age of firms is a pointer to the benefits of the principle of learning-by-doing and accumulated knowledge. Thus, along with the establishment of new enterprises, government support policies must focus on reorganization and rehabilitation of existing old firms. The empirical evidences also point to the need for industry–specific and gender-specific policy guidelines.
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