Dawkins vs. Dawkins

My rationalism keeps flitting between Agnosticism and Deism. Today is one of my "A-days". Rolling around in my bed last night, I had the usual debate of 'God vs. No God' running in my mind and once again, I've reached an agnostic position, fortunately or unfortunately. This post will argue for and against God.

AGAINST: With due respect to the theory of evolution, shining in all its glory with sufficient evidences to exemplify the following statements, I shall be obliged to point out that evolution asserts the fact that the first step involved in it, namely mutations, is random in nature. Dubious over the knowledge if all randomness is utilized, in which case my argument would be futile, I would asseverate that there are many a possibilities that could emerge from the mere stretch of my imagination. Assuming that the process is completely random and yet, only a few possibilities emerge, the notion that the creator, if one exists, does not know what could result seems to belie the very nature of GOD. It might seem that I've jumped to a hypothesis of an evolution uncontrolled by the creator but the wide diversity of flora and fauna apart from one of my Deistic impressions that GOD doesn't play with the physical universe, once the laws have been constituted, tend to serve my assumption. My Deistic judgment stems from my observation that GOD doesn't intervene in the day to day affairs of any of the lifeforms. Noticeable in the statement is the fact that I've stepped on yet another assumption that the physical world and after-death world ( if exists ) are unlinked. Indeed, karmic law also doesn't seem to work in "one" life though it might be spread over "various reincarnations". At this point, I would like to stress that all these statements are just statements from my repository of thoughts, feelings and beliefs. However, I request you to ponder over them and then establish your conclusion.

The question of free will is yet another puzzling one. I remember my friend arguing that GOD knows everything of every time. If we humans are indeed endowed with free will, which I believe we do, then the very notion of an All-knowing GOD is shattered.

I understand the weight of each of the assumptions made above, possibly owing to my limited imagination. However, this looks like the only strand of thought that makes sense to my knowledge of the world.

FOR: For a second, try to describe the colour RED. If you start stomping me with your notion of a photon of a certain frequency, I will be very disappointed. For I cannot make a blind man/woman comprehend the entirety of the colour with this obscure definition. Another interesting thing that I would like to emphasize here is from the documentary "Is Seeing Believing". The documentary claims that the colours we see out there are not actually out there but in fact, they reside inside our wonderful heads. What this means is that the photon of blah blah frequency doesn't have any colour at all until it reaches our brain. Our brain interprets the colour whenever it falls in the visible range. Interesting, isn't it? It might even lead us to consider the Law of attraction. That aside, what about smells or sounds or tastes or what about NUMBERS? We know what 1 is. But can we give a definition for it? As ironic as it may sound, we've built up a whole series of courses and stuff basing it on mathematics but doesn't all this stem from our so called- understanding of numbers? Now, how does any of this support a GOD centered regime? All I'm trying to point out is that we feel certain things, which cannot be described or given evidence for. At least, we haven't evolved to that stage. May be a spiritual connection is just one of those "to be felt" things. I agree that almost all of us have access to the previous feelings. But what about GOD? Are we to believe in those few people like Acharyas, Brahma Kumaris, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Jesus, Mahavir, Mother Teresa who claim that GOD does exist? Are we supposed to explore and feel a higher power?

I sure had a long night. However, the questioning in itself gave me some comfort because we humans are curious creatures and curiosity may kill the cat but it also heightens our self worth as creatures which can reason. To conclude, I would like to indulge my curiosity again in knowing what you think about the above topics. I'm sure that many of you will find a flaw with my assumptions and I would be very interested to conceive what the neurons firing in your brain have to say.

By the way, the title is just an indication of atheism fighting against the very core element of feelings in any human being.

Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon!???

I'm just back from dinner. However, one thing constantly stung me while I was away. This feeling was generated when I was reading Jeffrey Archer's "First Among Equals" ' first chapter. Before going for dinner, I put an alarm for myself of 15 minutes to take some time out and read at least one chapter. By the end of it, I stood with a sense of fascination wiping out little tear drops that dripped down equally compensating the feeling of 'betrayal by this society'. My friend Jerry once remarked what a beautiful story teller Archer was. However, I had not paid heed to those words. Today the lightning of illumination hit my ignorance. However, something more deep hit me from inside. When I read the three accounts of Charles Gurney Hampton, Simon Kerslake and Ray Gould, I was moved. A deep feeling of dissatisfaction hit me. I asked myself 'How many people do I know around me, who aspire to become a Prime Minister?'. I felt sad for myself that I had such little respect for politics. This thought haunted me during dinner where I had a conversation with my friend Satish, who is an 'all happens for the good' type. However, this deep seated imbalance within me did not sway. I felt the urge to jot this feeling down and here I am. What upsets me the most is that in the present day world around me, I don't see people who dream of becoming the Prime Minister because the word 'politics' has become so synonymous with corruption. What people think is required to be a politician is some genetic stuff or a dogmatic (in a negative sense) influential candidate ( or rather rowdy in comprehensible terms). And I would not beg to defer, for this is my opinion too. It's just sad when you view people in the assemblies fighting like barbarians solely motivated by self interests. In fact, professions like cinema industry, fashion industry and such are expected to be filled with majority of people who have little integrity. Even when I look at the current generation, I see so many of them being pushed into engineering against their interest. I don't really think that this is wrong because which parent would after all want their children to have dreams of working in film industry or politics? I don't really know how the characters in the novel will shape out, but at this moment all I feel is that I want to live in the fantasy world where people are rated for their talent irrespective of other blah blah discriminations. Wouldn't it be so nice to see so many people around you with hopes and dreams and most of all will-power to do something different? When will we reach utopia where all professions will fun, talent rewarding and most of all unbiased and fair?

I would like to conclude this post by quoting a few lines from the book that touched me the most:
"
He stared at the two thousand expectant faces but showed no sign of apprehension, partly because he found it difficult to see beyond the third row. When he announced the title of the essay, some of the younger children began to snigger, causing Ray to stumble through his first few lines. But by the time he had reached the last page the packed hall was still, and after he had completed the final paragraph he received his first standing ovation of the career.
Twelve year old Ray Gould left the stage to rejoin his parents at his seats. His mother's head was bowed but he could still see tears trickling down her cheeks. His father was trying not to look too proud. Even when Ray was seated, the applause continued, so he, too, lowered his head to stare at the title of his prize winning essay: "The First Changes I Will Make When I Become Prime Minister"
"

The External Locus Of Identity

This post is inspired by the TV series 'The Big Bang Theory Episode-The maternal capacitance'. Beverly Hofstader, one of the most impressive women on the TV show shoots off a dialogue towards Penny which goes as follows " There are many studies that suggest that people who go into the performing arts suffer from an external locus of identity." i.e. they seek approval from others about themselves, typically due to unmet childhood emotional needs. This was a very thought provoking statement. I looked at myself and thought whether I had an external locus of Identity and then I was shocked that there was a part of me which actually did. But, then, a more shocking part lay ahead. When I looked around me, I realized that there are many many people who suffer from not being themselves just to impress others. Isn't it satirical? We allay our ambitions, desires and convert them to our own fears just to get along with the radically changing society. Call it Darwnism? I disagree! We have the capacity to stop this and lead a more satisfying life. Do you think you are in control of your life? Well, ask yourselves. Is everything you do something you really want to do and enjoy? How many times a day have you done something just because you want to project 'this whatever image' on others? We all tend to think that the industry of fashion is boring because it sets new trends daily and people who wear designer labels do it for the sake of being this someone that everyone thinks is outgoing and social. But the bitter fact is that many of the things we do in our daily life are actually directing towards 'the want to be accepted by the society around us'. What do you think of while making any decision- what he/she thinks or what you want? Is your life turning out the way you want it to be? I truly hope this post reaches out to many many of you out there and be of some good use to you. We are all something we like to think as 'people with free-will' but apparently it doesn't seem so. There's another force operating which pulls the threads and is deciding our actions. We can get rid of it by just looking at the fact that we are being manipulated by that thread. May be, we'd get to see true freedom then!

The super woman!

There are many factors that are guiding towards this prevailing attitude these days. Since I've decided to keep my posts short, may be it will have to come some other time. Comments, suggestions and criticism are always welcome.

767*039737463687

Here's a fun experiment ( which I realized it was one after it was over! or did I? :P). Basically, I had texted 16 people just before leaving my institute with the message as follows " Heya...me leaving insti ...have a great summer and intern...ciaooo:) " and the responses were as follows:

1) Mr. 'Let's get things right' replied as " Hey... Tata ... Have fun.. Have a nice summer .. Do your intern well :) :) ..Goodbye :) " Why do so many people use ... or smileys? (Including me :(:(:P)

2) Mr. Jovial- "Ta ta:)" Tata vs Bye -any comments?

3) Mr. bulb "Oye enjoy :)" I find naivety in this message. The 'oye' part. Comments?

4) Mr. 'I've got work to do!!'-- "Thank You and same to you ... C ya ... I hope you will be available in this no , in case i wanna talk to you later... " Woa. This one has a comma, a few ... (lemme(?) call it dots), a C ya. Comments?

5) Mr. Confused " I am doing project dude...tnx and wish u the same..." Only the tnx in sms lingo?

6) Mr. laughing gas " Bye dude..." Short but not sweet! NO 'thank you same to you? '??:P

7) Mr. Political " You could have told bye in person. have a good time. the ani boy....:) c u " Mr. Political as expressed. LOL

8) Mr.'Do I have any work with you?'-- "Bye" Straight forward and upto the point? What do you think?

9) Mr.'Perfect?' "Have a great summer and intern. All the best.see you.bye." What do you think of this message? NO smileys or dots. Interesting isn't it?

10) Mr. 'Emoticon' :"Happy Journey!!!Best Wishes!:):(:):( Omg lol XD :(" I tend to see his mockery of the usual "Happy journey" quote which is typical of him.

11) Mr 'mentalist': "K. You too profile your company members and make a report. :)" The typical K response! Well the second part was a part was a reply to something else but why do some people think the 'K' is not annoying? Why does an 'okay' sound much better than a 'K'?

12) Mr. 'evangelical' replied "Ok bro... Have fun... Bye..." though I was expecting a Bible excerpt :P. Again the usage of ... here. What do you think of this message? 'Written from the heart'?

13) Mr. 'P.S.eud' : "have a gR8 time ani. see you afteR hols and njoy uR inteRn. ctRl" Notice the usage of R. What does it signify? A style signature?

Mr. busy (I have a million assignments to do!), Mr. absent minded (must have left his phone in some other room), Mr.I dont care (who cares da?) dint reply though.

Which message from the above do you think is the most interesting? Why? Also tell me about my message (;;) ). Also you can try identifying the people based on the message they sent above. Think of someone we both know of. That'd be more interesting. Do post your opinions on the messages, on my message, on my post and my joblessness (not really if you thought so!! ) :P.

Wzlwwhu VXA....ARAR

Well, if you haven't figured the title yet, go through the post.



TWITTER!!! Huh, where do I start with Twitter? Well, get ready for a couple of lines of bashing and thrashing because that is all Twitter deserves. This is the most boring and pathetic social networking site I know ( yeah even horrible than orkut ). If you wants to poke your nose in and interrupt by saying "Wait. It's a micro-blogging site too." , I just have one thing to say to you "FYI : You seriously need to GO Get a life!"

All Twitter has to offer is a bunch of irrelevant status messages(mostly PJ's) which could be accommodated in gtalk or Facebook. With the advent of Google Wave, I don't know if Twitter will still stand for those users who use it for "social networking". I don't understand why another website has to explicitly use this idea under its banner. IMO Twitter is a total hype. Just because the celebrities intend to join it, it has become popular overnight among people. It is like one of those 'have you see this movie' ( no matter how pathetic the movie is! ) or 'this dress is so cool' ( yeah we all see the tag behind it ).

When I go through the tweets, I experience this phenomenon of dreaming in which someone is stuck in some other parallel universe is trying to tell me something and has no one to share his/her feeling there. The situation is not similar to a gtalk status message mind you! In gtalk I can only see the status when the person is online and hence communicate with that person about whats the cause of the status but Twitter is just getting updated yourself with the latest local "country" gossip. Suits gossip girl but not me! No wonder she's so jobless. All she's gotta do is pry over the 'Elite' in Manhattan, grab and spill all their dirty details and insert an 'xoxo' at the end which is merely a ' You're dumb. OOPS...no offence'.

Anyway the worst part is that some people come online just to update their tweets which would be full of personal life trauma and every second and this is like they're sharing some sort of a relationship with the online world. The main purpose of a social networking site is to build interactions but sticking behind a computer all day is no way to interact. The interface between any two users or comments to a tweet is also completely shadowed off.

Plus the looks aren't really awesome( probably trying to show us its simplicity). If you don't have a twitter account I would suggest you not to make one! And believe me I even get tweets like 'sleeping' and 'doing laundry'. It is a micro blogging site( my foot! doesnt even let you type more than 140 characters. Pains you in the neck if you want to post a link).

And guess what there are a bunch of such similar sites another one of which I know is identi.ca and believe me I get a request daily( humpph...cool factor? :P ). I don't know who these people are but they just keep on pouring in to read your updates status messages.


Now the title should be evident I guess. Yeah "TWITTER SUX...XOXO"!