When SRF members are asked about the Yugas, and if it is mentioned that this concept doesn’t fit with a scientific or historical perspective, these are some of the common responses:

1. We are still in “Dwapara Yuga”, so science isn’t advanced enough yet and hasn’t yet discovered the evidence for the higher ages (See India’s Golden Age).

This statement is a Circular Argument, which is a logical fallacy. Essentially what they are saying is that the Yugas are true because the Yugas are true. See this article on Circular Reasoning for more info.

2. Brother Chidananda – “Chronological Snobbery”

In the video below, Brother Chidananda says the following about the mainstream view of history:

“there’s this tendency in modern thought in modern culture to think that the further you go back in time the more primitive things were and I call that chronological snobbery”

The term “Chronological Snobbery” was first used by C.S. Lewis and Owen Barfield, who were referring to the assumption that contemporary thinking is inherently superior to past thinking simply because it’s more recent.

Lewis defines this chronological snobbery as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.” https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/c-s-lewis-on-chronological-snobbery/

“there’s this tendency in modern thought in modern culture to think that the further you go back in time the more primitive things were“

In this section of his statement, Brother Chidananda seems to be using a “straw man fallacy”. He is misrepresenting the reasons why people believe in a linear, progressive model of history (the commonly accepted view). Most people believe this because there is an overwhelming amount of supporting evidence. The fact that he is vaguely arguing against an unknown or hypothetical person makes it easier for him to contradict those ideas. If you misrepresent the arguments of the other party, and only ever argue with yourself, of course you will always come out as the winner.

3. The “Linear view” of history is Western and the “Cyclical View” of history is Eastern – I believe this might be a false binary, or false dichotomy fallacy. Here are some problems with this statement:

• It ignores “Eastern” scientists, historians, and archeologists who have contributed to our global knowledge of history. Such statements may also be actively hurting the work of modern day scientists in India and elsewhere.
• It ignores Western civilizations of the past who believed in a different, but also cyclical interpretation of history (Ancient Greece, Mayans…)
• If referring to India, the statement might be attempting to imply that scientific and historical thinking is strictly a western colonial imposition. It ignores Indian historians and scientists from earlier time periods.