Richard Leslie Thompson, also known as Sadaputa Dasa
(; February 4, 1947 – September 18, 2008), was an American mathematician,
[. Readable online a]
Worldwisdom.com
/ref> author and Gaudiya Vaishnava
Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal, with Vaishnavism meanin ...
religious figure. Historian Meera Nanda
Meera Nanda (born 1954) is an Indian writer and historian of science, who has authored several works critiquing the influence of Hindutva, postcolonialism and postmodernism on science, and the flourishing of pseudoscience and vedic science. Sh ...
described him as a driving intellectual force of ' Vedic creationism' as co-author (with Michael Cremo
Michael A. Cremo (born July 15, 1948), also known by his devotional name Drutakarmā dāsa, is an American freelance researcher who describes himself as a Vedic creationist and an "alternative archeologist." He argues that humans have lived ...
) of '' Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race'' (1993), a work that has attracted significant criticism from the scientific community. Thompson also published several books and articles on the relationship between religion and science
The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern u ...
, Hindu cosmology
Hindu cosmology is the description of the universe and its states of matter, cycles within time, physical structure, and effects on living entities according to Hindu texts. Hindu cosmology is also intertwined with the idea of a creator who allo ...
and astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
. He was a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism, Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was found ...
(popularly known as the ''Hare Krishna movement'' or ''ISKCON'') and a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, the branch of ISKCON dedicated to examining the relationship of modern scientific theories to the Vaishnava
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
worldview.[ In the 'science and religion' community he was known for his articulation of ISKCON's view of science.] Danish historian of religion Mikael Rothstein
Mikael Rothstein (born 8 May 1961) is an associate professor of religious history at the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rothstein earned his PhD in 1993 and became a Lector at the University of Copenhagen in 2001.Bente Clausen ...
described Thompson as "the single dominating writer on science" in ISKCON whom ISKCON has chosen to "cover the field of science more or less on his own". C. Mackenzie Brown, professor of religion at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, described him as "the leading figure" in ISKCON's critique of modern science.[
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Biography
Richard L. Thompson was born in Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, in 1947. In 1974 he received a Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in mathematics from Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
.[ In the same year he formally became a member of ISKCON, receiving spiritual initiation from ISKCON's founder, ]A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami (; 1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava guru who founded ISKCON, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna movement". Members of ISKCON view Bhaktivedanta Swami as a repr ...
, and adopting the spiritual name Sadaputa Dasa.[ Thompson carried out research in the fields of ]statistical mechanics
In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...
, probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set o ...
, and mathematical biology
Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development a ...
.[ He published scholarly articles in refereed journals and series, such as ''Journal of the International Association for Mathematical Geology'', ''Remote Sensing of Environment'', ''Biosystems'', and ''International Review of Cytology''.][ In 1976 he became a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, the scientific branch of ISKCON dedicated to examining the relationship of modern scientific theories to Swami Prabhupada’s ]Vaishnava
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
worldview.[ Soon after joining ISKCON, Thompson became "ISKCON's dominating figure in science" and "established himself as the leading figure in the movement's critique of modern science in the light of ]Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
spiritual (or 'higher-dimensional') science." He formulated ISKCON's view on the concept of "higher-dimensional science" and wrote extensively on scientific subjects from this perspective.[ In support of ISKCON's theology, he made research and analysis of the relation between the Vaishnava theological worldview and modern science.]
Thompson died of a heart attack on September 18, 2008.
''Forbidden Archeology''
The coauthor Michael Cremo writes in the Preface to the first edition, that the work's central claim, that anomalous paleontological evidence dating in many hundreds of thousands of years with examples such as the Laetoli footprints
Laetoli is a pre-historic site located in Enduleni ward of Ngorongoro District in Arusha Region, Tanzania. The site is dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its Hominina footprints, preserved in volcanic ash. The site of the Laetoli footp ...
(generally considered by paleontologists to have been made by bipedal hominins) potentially stretching possibilities toward the low millions, suggests that modern human beings "perhaps ... coexisted with more apelike creatures," and that the scientific establishment, influenced by confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring ...
, has suppressed fossil evidence of extreme human antiquity. This argument has been criticised by mainstream scholars from a variety of disciplines.[
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* Wodak, J. and Oldroyd, D. (1996) ‘Vedic creationism’: a further twist to the evolution debate. Social Studies of Science, 26: 192–213 (quoted passages, p. 196, 206-207)
* Morrow, Tom]
Review of Forbidden Archeology's Impact by Michael A Cremo
RNCSE 19 (3): 14–17
Selected bibliography
Books
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Papers and other professional works
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See also
*Hindu views on evolution
Darwin's theory of evolution was influenced by interpretations of Hindu philosophy, especially reincarnation and human development. Hindus have found support for, or ideas foreshadowing evolutionary ideas, in scriptures, such as the mytheme of Da ...
*Quantum mysticism
Quantum mysticism, sometimes referred pejoratively to as quantum quackery or quantum woo, is a set of metaphysical beliefs and associated practices that seek to relate consciousness, intelligence, spirituality, or mystical worldviews to the ideas ...
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
Biography from an official website associated with the Bhaktivedanta Institute
Richard L.Thompson Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Richard L.
1947 births
2008 deaths
20th-century American writers
21st-century American writers
American Hare Krishnas
American Hindus
Converts to Hinduism
Cornell University alumni
Hindu creationists
International Society for Krishna Consciousness religious figures
People from Binghamton, New York
Proponents of alternative chronologies