A few days ago, I once again got my hands on the book - Anne Frank's Diary. Having forgotten the exact words of a quote which had touched me very deeply, I had been desiring to obtain this book for quiet some time. At last, I got it from a friend who had come down from Hyderabad, and I could have it for only one night. Though I was thoroughly tired that day, I spent quiet some time that night reading extracts from various parts of that book.
I count this book as one of the best I have ever read considering that it was written by girl about 14 years old! The utter simplicity and the simple yet obvious rationale of many observations she makes, which seemingly are missed by many adults (both now and then), is amusing, surprising and satirical. There is an excellent sense of satirical humour throughout. Also, at many places, she makes some simple statements which actually goes very deep into some of the very rare truths, and which digs out some deep human psychology. Also, she has absolute honesty in her writings and an educated acceptance of her true self, which are very rare and appreciable qualities, and which draws respect from me, myself knowing how hard both of these are from my own experiences, and also how rare.
I wonder about the writings she would have produced had she grown up and lived. I'm sure they would have contributed to the literary world - I kind of miss them.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Monday, October 10, 2005
Patchwork For Last Post
Disclaimer: This attempt to write is for no reasons at all, except to put some better and (hopefully) more coherent materials at the top of my blog, rather than the last posting which now reads like a badly written disconnected meaningless text. I guess I'm loosing my writing skills day by day. My spoken skills being below the adequate mark, I took console over my written skills, but will those too be gone now?? Hope not. I Hope its just a temporary affair:
"I pray to god that it wont be long..." (courtesy: Madonna).
Ok, so I have been listening to lot of Madonna songs lately, and have been influenced by some of her lyrics. But at least, she has got some lyrics. Most of the others these days just shout out rubbish at the top of their voices. They sound like frustrated bunch of guys bitten by dogs yelling back at the (poor) dogs. I wonder how they would sound without the special audio effects, enhancements and instrumentals!
That's enough of text to serve my current purpose - patching my blog. Lets hope this text reads ok after maybe a day when I come back and go through this!!
"I pray to god that it wont be long..." (courtesy: Madonna).
Ok, so I have been listening to lot of Madonna songs lately, and have been influenced by some of her lyrics. But at least, she has got some lyrics. Most of the others these days just shout out rubbish at the top of their voices. They sound like frustrated bunch of guys bitten by dogs yelling back at the (poor) dogs. I wonder how they would sound without the special audio effects, enhancements and instrumentals!
That's enough of text to serve my current purpose - patching my blog. Lets hope this text reads ok after maybe a day when I come back and go through this!!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Scribbles: 6th October, 2005
"Candle in the Wind". Princess Diana. Elton John thought so. He expressed it beautifully in his song "Candle in the Wind". He called princess Diana, England's Rose, a Candle in the Wind. She lived her life like one.
Everyone, at some point I guess, gets touched by a flame or finds the beauty and scent of a rose.
The flame is beautiful. It gives you warmth and lights the life around it. But its selfish - it devours whatever tries to touch it. All it leaves are the charred remains of your former self. And it consumes mercilessly the very same fuel which keeps it burning.
The rose is also beautiful. It has a lovely scent. Its beautiful to look at. But its best left alone - whoever would try to pluck it is welcomed with thorns. You bleed.
You are so consumed with how much you get (courtesy: Madonna).
All the world is a stage where every man must play a part. And what is mine - I'm still trying to find out. (Apologies if I didn't get the words correct in that quotation.)
Everyone, at some point I guess, gets touched by a flame or finds the beauty and scent of a rose.
The flame is beautiful. It gives you warmth and lights the life around it. But its selfish - it devours whatever tries to touch it. All it leaves are the charred remains of your former self. And it consumes mercilessly the very same fuel which keeps it burning.
The rose is also beautiful. It has a lovely scent. Its beautiful to look at. But its best left alone - whoever would try to pluck it is welcomed with thorns. You bleed.
You are so consumed with how much you get (courtesy: Madonna).
All the world is a stage where every man must play a part. And what is mine - I'm still trying to find out. (Apologies if I didn't get the words correct in that quotation.)
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Of Mind and Reality: Part 2
Firstly, as I stand today, before venturing into any further speculative theories of any kind, I must apologise for the most parts of my previous post, especially the latter parts where I tried to logic out how everything is pre-determined. Reading over that piece of article today again (and also having done so many times after the day when I actually posted that), after having chanced upon some authoritative texts on this area in the meantime, I clearly see the utter superficiality of most of what I have written. It appears like some adamant schoolboy trying to get his word about everything. As I write this today, I am aware that this attempt today to continue that topic might again end up as another such text, but I'll try to be as prudent, careful and short as possible. The topic being of such an abstract and complex nature, which have been mystifying the elite minds through the ages, I humbly realise and acknowledge that whatever I write is likely to be a very naive and amateurish stuff again. Nevertheless, I shall write, primarily in attempt to conclude this since I had ended the original post with an anticipation of a sequel. And also since I feel to write a bit today.
In my last extract on this topic, I stated two main theories. First was about human nature - that often what a man says does not express his true feelings and of which true feelings he might not himself be aware of. Second was a theory on destiny, astrology and the similar, where I mentioned that all things 'happening' or all that we see existing are results of precise reactions between different 'forms' (of matter and energy) and hence everything is predictable - consequently, there is nothing as free-will or freedom or choices as such in the absolute sense.
Also, I'll repeat what I stated at the foremost in the last post before venturing into any speculations - and this is of utmost importance - that I believe only what I see, and what I can reason with logic. Anything beyond that, I neither believe, nor disbelieve. It may, or may not be, but unless its proved with reason, mathematics and logic, unless its deciphered and predictable, I wont make my decisions based on those.
Let me now review some stuff, actually the loopholes, from the reasoning in my previous post about how all things are pre-determined. I stated that everything is made up of particles. How do we know that its true - the only thing we know is that all we have come up so far are particles. While writing that, from what I was thinking then, I should have written that all our science have come up so far are these particles. But there is probably nothing to suggest anything further. And what are these "particles" anyways, if some kind of them do form the smallest units? Besides, now I state that its not the particles either which make up things. Further researches have brought forward the likes of "string" and "superstring" theories, which state that it's not particles, but strings, which make up everything. Again, what are these "strings" and what are they made of?
And directly challenging the 'pre-determined' theory, I ask, what is there to prove that everything is not just random? We don't have any concrete evidence against that either. So, everything might very well be absolute random stuff. Everything happening might be actually totally random and accidental, getting determined just at the moment of happening. That is, everything is actually absolute free-will, and at every instant things to happen get determined then and there.
Well, I'll end this discussion with that. Currently, I am reading Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" and it's an excellent stimulating book. It is taking time to read. Also, I have chanced up some good psychology atricles (www.guidetopsychology.com). All these are probably amalgamating possible new stuff in my existing theories (which I confess, are themselves rather in a mess). So, presently, I conclude this topic and post.
In my last extract on this topic, I stated two main theories. First was about human nature - that often what a man says does not express his true feelings and of which true feelings he might not himself be aware of. Second was a theory on destiny, astrology and the similar, where I mentioned that all things 'happening' or all that we see existing are results of precise reactions between different 'forms' (of matter and energy) and hence everything is predictable - consequently, there is nothing as free-will or freedom or choices as such in the absolute sense.
Also, I'll repeat what I stated at the foremost in the last post before venturing into any speculations - and this is of utmost importance - that I believe only what I see, and what I can reason with logic. Anything beyond that, I neither believe, nor disbelieve. It may, or may not be, but unless its proved with reason, mathematics and logic, unless its deciphered and predictable, I wont make my decisions based on those.
Let me now review some stuff, actually the loopholes, from the reasoning in my previous post about how all things are pre-determined. I stated that everything is made up of particles. How do we know that its true - the only thing we know is that all we have come up so far are particles. While writing that, from what I was thinking then, I should have written that all our science have come up so far are these particles. But there is probably nothing to suggest anything further. And what are these "particles" anyways, if some kind of them do form the smallest units? Besides, now I state that its not the particles either which make up things. Further researches have brought forward the likes of "string" and "superstring" theories, which state that it's not particles, but strings, which make up everything. Again, what are these "strings" and what are they made of?
And directly challenging the 'pre-determined' theory, I ask, what is there to prove that everything is not just random? We don't have any concrete evidence against that either. So, everything might very well be absolute random stuff. Everything happening might be actually totally random and accidental, getting determined just at the moment of happening. That is, everything is actually absolute free-will, and at every instant things to happen get determined then and there.
Well, I'll end this discussion with that. Currently, I am reading Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" and it's an excellent stimulating book. It is taking time to read. Also, I have chanced up some good psychology atricles (www.guidetopsychology.com). All these are probably amalgamating possible new stuff in my existing theories (which I confess, are themselves rather in a mess). So, presently, I conclude this topic and post.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Quotations I loved: Part 1
I love quotations. Here I'll post some of the quotations I liked most. I obtained these from various sites at various times.
FREEDOM:
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
-Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
Patterning your life around other's opinions is nothing more than slavery.
-Lawana Blackwell
She gave me more than just a sweater vest that night. She gave me all this. Nothing. She gave me nothing. That's what I need. No phone book, no Game Boy, no pasta maker, TV Guide. Nowhere to go, nothing to do.
-Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
While the State exists, there can be no freedom. When there is freedom there will be no State.
-Lenin
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
-William Hazlitt
GENIUS:
Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.
-Edgard Varese
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
-Elbert Hubbard
There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.
-Oscar Levant
The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.
-Oscar Wilde
He was a genius - that is to say, a man who does superlatively and without obvious effort something that most people cannot do by the uttermost exertion of their abilities.
-Robertson Davies
Men of genius do not excel in any profession because they labor in it, but they labor in it because they excel.
-William Hazlitt
HATE:
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
-Andre Gide
If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
-Hermann Hesse
Let them hate, so long as they fear.
-Lucius Accius
Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.
-Richard M. Nixon
LIFE:
You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act.
-Barbara Hall
The purpose of life is to fight maturity.
-Dick Werthimer
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-John Lennon
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
-Sir Winston Churchill
"Some people weave burlap into the fabric of our lives, and some weave gold thread. Both contribute to make the whole picture beautiful and unique."
-Anon.
"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
-E. M. Forster
"Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
-Mahatma Gandhi
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
-W. M. Lewis
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
LOVE:
Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.
-Anton Chekhov
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do…?
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
-Iris Murdoch
All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon sand.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I cannot think well of a man who sports with any woman's feelings; and there may often be a great deal more suffered than a stander-by can judge of.
-Jane Austen
True love brings up everything - you're allowing a mirror to be held up to you daily.
-Jennifer Aniston
Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock.
-John Barrymore
How we treasure (and admire) the people who acknowledge us!
-Julie Morgenstern
Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience.
-M. Scott Peck
To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don't want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt.
-Madonna
Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.
-Rabbi Julius Gordon
I don’t think anyone can DO anything that would make him worthy of love. Love is a gift and cannot be earned. It can only be given.
-Real Live Preacher
You can't love anyone until you understand that you can't love everyone.
-Real Live Preacher
Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.
-Toni Morrison
Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
-Victor Hugo
A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account.
-W. Somerset Maugham
The important thing was to love rather than to be loved.
-W. Somerset Maugham
There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.
-W. Somerset Maugham
"If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."
-Anon.
"We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together."
-La Bruyere
"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain."
-Leo Buscaglia
"Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great."
-Comte DeBussy-Rabutin
"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."
-Henry Drummond
"Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so."
-David Grayson
"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
-Victor Hugo
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage."
-Lao-Tzu
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
-Mother Theresa
"There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not."
-La Rochefoucauld
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
-Erich Segal
(to be continiued........)
FREEDOM:
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
-Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
Patterning your life around other's opinions is nothing more than slavery.
-Lawana Blackwell
She gave me more than just a sweater vest that night. She gave me all this. Nothing. She gave me nothing. That's what I need. No phone book, no Game Boy, no pasta maker, TV Guide. Nowhere to go, nothing to do.
-Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
While the State exists, there can be no freedom. When there is freedom there will be no State.
-Lenin
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
-William Hazlitt
GENIUS:
Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.
-Edgard Varese
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
-Elbert Hubbard
There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.
-Oscar Levant
The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.
-Oscar Wilde
He was a genius - that is to say, a man who does superlatively and without obvious effort something that most people cannot do by the uttermost exertion of their abilities.
-Robertson Davies
Men of genius do not excel in any profession because they labor in it, but they labor in it because they excel.
-William Hazlitt
HATE:
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
-Andre Gide
If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
-Hermann Hesse
Let them hate, so long as they fear.
-Lucius Accius
Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.
-Richard M. Nixon
LIFE:
You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act.
-Barbara Hall
The purpose of life is to fight maturity.
-Dick Werthimer
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-John Lennon
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
-Sir Winston Churchill
"Some people weave burlap into the fabric of our lives, and some weave gold thread. Both contribute to make the whole picture beautiful and unique."
-Anon.
"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
-E. M. Forster
"Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
-Mahatma Gandhi
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
-W. M. Lewis
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
LOVE:
Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.
-Anton Chekhov
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do…?
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
-Iris Murdoch
All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon sand.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I cannot think well of a man who sports with any woman's feelings; and there may often be a great deal more suffered than a stander-by can judge of.
-Jane Austen
True love brings up everything - you're allowing a mirror to be held up to you daily.
-Jennifer Aniston
Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock.
-John Barrymore
How we treasure (and admire) the people who acknowledge us!
-Julie Morgenstern
Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience.
-M. Scott Peck
To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don't want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt.
-Madonna
Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.
-Rabbi Julius Gordon
I don’t think anyone can DO anything that would make him worthy of love. Love is a gift and cannot be earned. It can only be given.
-Real Live Preacher
You can't love anyone until you understand that you can't love everyone.
-Real Live Preacher
Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.
-Toni Morrison
Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
-Victor Hugo
A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account.
-W. Somerset Maugham
The important thing was to love rather than to be loved.
-W. Somerset Maugham
There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.
-W. Somerset Maugham
"If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."
-Anon.
"We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together."
-La Bruyere
"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain."
-Leo Buscaglia
"Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great."
-Comte DeBussy-Rabutin
"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."
-Henry Drummond
"Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so."
-David Grayson
"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."
-Victor Hugo
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage."
-Lao-Tzu
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
-Mother Theresa
"There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not."
-La Rochefoucauld
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
-Erich Segal
(to be continiued........)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Of Mind and Reality: Part 1
Its been a long time. But today I feel to write. And so shall I.
My mind is presently once again entangled into the realms of the everlasting topic of free-will, destiny and choices. I had just decided to have a look at the Conversations With God site, from where I was rolled to the CWG forums, where I chanced into this topic, and the inevitable happened - I got entangled.
I went through some posts - where various people have posted their thoughts. From a wide age group. Interesting things - a man in 50s pondering on this, along with people just into their youths, all moved by the CWG books, same questions, ..... They were talking about Karma, astrology, will, destiny and even afterlife.
Do we make choices? Do we know what we want? Do we have free-will at all?
Before I state anything else, let me specify that I believe only what I see, and what I can reason with logic. Anything beyond that, I neither believe, nor disbelieve. It may, or may not be, but unless its proved with reason, mathematics and logic, unless its deciphered and predictable, I wont make my decisions based on those.
Well, I think I am trapped or enjoying one of the most interesting positions anyone can have on speculating on this matter. On one hand, I'm totally a science believer - studying computer science subjects with topics like Artificial Intelligence which aims not only to decipher the mind, but also to re-create it, while on the other hand, I've always ardently followed books about metaphysical concepts and theories, self-inspection books, 'moral reasoning' books and the likes. I absolutely love the feeling of philosophy where you revel in the realms of unknown (where I have lately come to think that it might be very well the desire of having unknown that leads to such speculations - i.e., you enjoy the 'creating' of more questions and an imaginary world where you can refuge, your present tense not being intellectually satisfying enough for you). I love the imagination of a unexplained 'other' world, the mysteries of the mind from the literary point of view, I revel in plunging into the abysmal depths of complexity of human emotions from the poet's viewpoint, and other similar things. But again, whenever I hear an opinion, I always get intrigued with one other odd question - I find myself asking why the person who is expressing something, feeling the way he does, and expressing the way he is doing. That is, what situation(s) made his brain to act like that? This puts me in a strange position where I'm not only faced with the reasoning of his expressed theory, but also questioning the validity and reason of that very expression being 'true' or 'false' (i.e. his true feelings, or just a self-deceptive manifestation) stemming from the speculations about what conditions made him express that. If there would have been a different expression by altering some situations, that makes everything about the expressed theory very superfluous. This takes the validity of the theory deeper down than what can be reasoned by just harping only on the theory expressed by the individual - in order to get a more real insight, one has to take in consideration a much greater timescale and social scenario and also biology, trying to decipher what exactly made the person express that theory.
This is in simple words, finding out which fraction of what a man expresses is really 'true' coming from his inner soul, and which part is just a manifestation of the conditioning effects he has been having from birth. The later are not his true feelings - upon close self-inspection and unbiased thinking, the person would have discovered that these later kind of expressions are not in harmony with his true feelings. So, when reasoning a topic in the quest of some greater truth or seeking some clarification, I find myself faced with this enormous task of first trying to seek out what the person really feels about this (a true culmination of all his physical and psychic experiences), and not what he states from his 'socially reasoning' mind. Even what a man thinks he really believes is sometimes just an illusion - the effect of repeatedly telling his mind something, thereby creating an effect of self-hypnotism.
Well, I'll again touch the original question of free will. Are what we do pre-mediated, or are these random. In this case, I again feel inclined to speculate on this topic on a very hardcore 'scientific' view. EVERYTHING all around are made up of extremely smaller particles (starting with atoms and electrons, etc, and then finding out still smaller constituent particles) and quantum of energy, which are interchangeable. That is, I'll talk of mass and energy as the same thing. And we also know the effect any two 'elements' (not the chemistry term, used in general meaning) will have on each other can always be calculated by studying the nature of the sub-particles making up these elements. That is, all reactions are predictable. Now, this is exactly what is the foundation of this present speculation - that everything occurring is a result of continuous reactions and hence everything is predictable. These reactions, as relatively perceived by the what we call the 'human mind' will go on 'eternally' (time and its measurement are relative) in a manner of chain reactions. Everything around here is just mass or energy (same thing) changing forms/states/locations. Even my writing this at this very instant is due to a set of chemical reactions in my brain. The feeling of 'solid', 'liquid' or 'gas' is just a set of molecules/atoms/sub-atomic particles exerting different amount of pressures on other molecules/atoms/sub-atomic particles. And In reality, the 'mass' is a very minute fraction - the largest amount is space all around us, even in our body. The feeling of any sensation (say heat) is just a set of particles in some specific state having some specific effect on other set of particles (say our hand), which in turn excites some other particles (say our nervous system). When we get stuck in a wall, its again a set of particles of the first set (the wall) exerting opposing force on another set (our body), not letting the formation of the other set (our body) mingle with the formation of the first set of particles (the wall). So, we cant 'move into' a wall. The word 'particles' or 'mass' in the above sentences can be changed with 'energy' to have same meaning.
So, I think everything is always predictable - if we take a 'snapshot' of the entire universe at any moment of time, we should be able to predict its state after a span of time. Its all a matter of time until human being discovers that empirical formula. Maybe, the time required to come to that is too long for human civilization, but I believe that formula exists. And its that formula that I like to call 'God' in literal meaning of the 'all-powerful and all-knowing' entity.
Well, it is past 3:45 am already. And got to wake up early tomorrow for college. So, I'll end this writing for the time being, hoping to continue it later on. With that thought I use the 'Part 1' in the title.
The links to some of the pages which I read today:
http://www.friendsofcwg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6826&highlight=free
http://www.friendsofcwg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8983
http://www.meaningoflife.i12.com/Freewill.htm
And the CWG forum:
http://www.friendsofcwg.com/forum/index.php
So far guys!!!
My mind is presently once again entangled into the realms of the everlasting topic of free-will, destiny and choices. I had just decided to have a look at the Conversations With God site, from where I was rolled to the CWG forums, where I chanced into this topic, and the inevitable happened - I got entangled.
I went through some posts - where various people have posted their thoughts. From a wide age group. Interesting things - a man in 50s pondering on this, along with people just into their youths, all moved by the CWG books, same questions, ..... They were talking about Karma, astrology, will, destiny and even afterlife.
Do we make choices? Do we know what we want? Do we have free-will at all?
Before I state anything else, let me specify that I believe only what I see, and what I can reason with logic. Anything beyond that, I neither believe, nor disbelieve. It may, or may not be, but unless its proved with reason, mathematics and logic, unless its deciphered and predictable, I wont make my decisions based on those.
Well, I think I am trapped or enjoying one of the most interesting positions anyone can have on speculating on this matter. On one hand, I'm totally a science believer - studying computer science subjects with topics like Artificial Intelligence which aims not only to decipher the mind, but also to re-create it, while on the other hand, I've always ardently followed books about metaphysical concepts and theories, self-inspection books, 'moral reasoning' books and the likes. I absolutely love the feeling of philosophy where you revel in the realms of unknown (where I have lately come to think that it might be very well the desire of having unknown that leads to such speculations - i.e., you enjoy the 'creating' of more questions and an imaginary world where you can refuge, your present tense not being intellectually satisfying enough for you). I love the imagination of a unexplained 'other' world, the mysteries of the mind from the literary point of view, I revel in plunging into the abysmal depths of complexity of human emotions from the poet's viewpoint, and other similar things. But again, whenever I hear an opinion, I always get intrigued with one other odd question - I find myself asking why the person who is expressing something, feeling the way he does, and expressing the way he is doing. That is, what situation(s) made his brain to act like that? This puts me in a strange position where I'm not only faced with the reasoning of his expressed theory, but also questioning the validity and reason of that very expression being 'true' or 'false' (i.e. his true feelings, or just a self-deceptive manifestation) stemming from the speculations about what conditions made him express that. If there would have been a different expression by altering some situations, that makes everything about the expressed theory very superfluous. This takes the validity of the theory deeper down than what can be reasoned by just harping only on the theory expressed by the individual - in order to get a more real insight, one has to take in consideration a much greater timescale and social scenario and also biology, trying to decipher what exactly made the person express that theory.
This is in simple words, finding out which fraction of what a man expresses is really 'true' coming from his inner soul, and which part is just a manifestation of the conditioning effects he has been having from birth. The later are not his true feelings - upon close self-inspection and unbiased thinking, the person would have discovered that these later kind of expressions are not in harmony with his true feelings. So, when reasoning a topic in the quest of some greater truth or seeking some clarification, I find myself faced with this enormous task of first trying to seek out what the person really feels about this (a true culmination of all his physical and psychic experiences), and not what he states from his 'socially reasoning' mind. Even what a man thinks he really believes is sometimes just an illusion - the effect of repeatedly telling his mind something, thereby creating an effect of self-hypnotism.
Well, I'll again touch the original question of free will. Are what we do pre-mediated, or are these random. In this case, I again feel inclined to speculate on this topic on a very hardcore 'scientific' view. EVERYTHING all around are made up of extremely smaller particles (starting with atoms and electrons, etc, and then finding out still smaller constituent particles) and quantum of energy, which are interchangeable. That is, I'll talk of mass and energy as the same thing. And we also know the effect any two 'elements' (not the chemistry term, used in general meaning) will have on each other can always be calculated by studying the nature of the sub-particles making up these elements. That is, all reactions are predictable. Now, this is exactly what is the foundation of this present speculation - that everything occurring is a result of continuous reactions and hence everything is predictable. These reactions, as relatively perceived by the what we call the 'human mind' will go on 'eternally' (time and its measurement are relative) in a manner of chain reactions. Everything around here is just mass or energy (same thing) changing forms/states/locations. Even my writing this at this very instant is due to a set of chemical reactions in my brain. The feeling of 'solid', 'liquid' or 'gas' is just a set of molecules/atoms/sub-atomic particles exerting different amount of pressures on other molecules/atoms/sub-atomic particles. And In reality, the 'mass' is a very minute fraction - the largest amount is space all around us, even in our body. The feeling of any sensation (say heat) is just a set of particles in some specific state having some specific effect on other set of particles (say our hand), which in turn excites some other particles (say our nervous system). When we get stuck in a wall, its again a set of particles of the first set (the wall) exerting opposing force on another set (our body), not letting the formation of the other set (our body) mingle with the formation of the first set of particles (the wall). So, we cant 'move into' a wall. The word 'particles' or 'mass' in the above sentences can be changed with 'energy' to have same meaning.
So, I think everything is always predictable - if we take a 'snapshot' of the entire universe at any moment of time, we should be able to predict its state after a span of time. Its all a matter of time until human being discovers that empirical formula. Maybe, the time required to come to that is too long for human civilization, but I believe that formula exists. And its that formula that I like to call 'God' in literal meaning of the 'all-powerful and all-knowing' entity.
Well, it is past 3:45 am already. And got to wake up early tomorrow for college. So, I'll end this writing for the time being, hoping to continue it later on. With that thought I use the 'Part 1' in the title.
The links to some of the pages which I read today:
http://www.friendsofcwg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6826&highlight=free
http://www.friendsofcwg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8983
http://www.meaningoflife.i12.com/Freewill.htm
And the CWG forum:
http://www.friendsofcwg.com/forum/index.php
So far guys!!!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Scribbles: 25th May, 2005
Exams, assignments, projects, works and lots of other such stupid stuffs are protruding their jealous and over-zealous fangs into the just and due freedom of the individual....
"I shall overcome some day...."
"I shall overcome some day...."
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