There were very serious presentations in an atmosphere that permitted critical debate. It was one of the more stimulating academic meetings I've attended. Ayurvedic medicine is tied up with the whole anti-British movement in the 20th century, which revived it. It was not full-blown all through Indian history. It was an ancient system the nationalists returned to in opposition to British dominance.
People view the two systems as complementary.
Shweder said the goal of the meetings was not research. This wasn't a research enterprise. People on the American delegation were talking about the way research is done here. There were presentations on their classifications of plants, presentations on how research is done, on Ayurvedic analysis and therapy, and its degrees of effectiveness. The conference also underscored the diversity of approaches to medicine and healing-a diversity that this country may just be beginning to understand.