Thursday 24 October 2013
Friday 18 October 2013
some thoughts on God
All issues related to spirituality boils down to one question: whether there is God or not . Answers are many- yes, no, there are many, may be, probably yes, probably no, we need god, i don't know, i don't care. Well, I too don't have any answer, I only have more and more questions.
Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? Do you believe everything happen according to a plan? Or do things just happen, they don't need any specific reason? Just like the 'dog-chasing-cars philosophy' of the Joker in the film 'The Dark knight'? Does meaning exist only in people's minds, and there is no purpose as such to creation? Many people believe that if life has to have a meaning, they should live for something, for a reason, for a motive. The better the reason, the more meaningful the life becomes.
To many, science is the final word of man. It may not have found a complete answer to life, but it is definitely on track. These are some most probable arguments about the genesis of world: The Sun broke into fragments. One of the fragments formed the Earth. Earth got transformed over millions of years And when conditions became ripe, life appeared on earth in the from organic molecules. Single celled organisms formed, from them multi-cellular organisms formed, simplest creatures formed in water, and life started getting more and more complex. It spread to land, and fins of aquatic animals gave way to limbs. Various animals arrived, in various forms and shapes. Then life started progressing in various branches, each branch evolving in a different way. Many animals came, through various stages. Many species progressed, many species perished. And last, about 2.5 million years ago, came predecessors of modern humans. This is the most reliable explanation about earth and life mankind has produced.
Let me ask you an irrelevant question: do you believe you can become US president? Yous odds of becoming a US president are one in ten million. The odds of you dying in a lightning strike are 1 in 134,906. Now let us look at the odds of a life molecule forming by random chance.
According to Richard Peacock,"the calculation which supports the creationist argument begins with the probability of a 300-molecule-long protein forming by total random chance. This would be approximately 1 chance in 10390."
In percentage, it becomes 0.0000000000000000...(387 zeroes)1. When rounded, it approximates to 0%.
So if one says God created man, you have no grounds to refute them.
Some people say they believe in God, but not in god-men. God-men are only impostors; they are either frauds or just some eccentric people who just believe they are special. People who follow them are all fools. Let me ask something: aren't there special people? Some people play cricket better than anyone else. Some have unparalleled leadership skills, some have great IQ, some can take their bodies to unbelievable extends. Some have unique mental abilities. Then why can't one have superlative spiritual abilities? History has shown that man can grow most in spiritual abilities rather than in other means. Just consider the most powerful names in human history : Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius .. you can spot many spiritual names among them. Don't get me wrong: I am not saying that they are all perfect or I personally uphold their ideas completely. But they show us that human achievements can reach greater heights.
Many people may not agree that there is such a thing called spirituality. There is no thing as soul. There is only mind and brain. If there is a soul, where can you locate it in the body? Well, a simple answer that can be provided is that spirituality may be the answer for 'why you live'.
Freud has explained the journey of mankind from the time of its appearance on earth to the present day as a slight growth of spirit from dominant id to dominant ego(in his terms). Now, it may be speculated that this journey may continue till the spirit of man evolves to a new species of superman.
Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? Do you believe everything happen according to a plan? Or do things just happen, they don't need any specific reason? Just like the 'dog-chasing-cars philosophy' of the Joker in the film 'The Dark knight'? Does meaning exist only in people's minds, and there is no purpose as such to creation? Many people believe that if life has to have a meaning, they should live for something, for a reason, for a motive. The better the reason, the more meaningful the life becomes.
To many, science is the final word of man. It may not have found a complete answer to life, but it is definitely on track. These are some most probable arguments about the genesis of world: The Sun broke into fragments. One of the fragments formed the Earth. Earth got transformed over millions of years And when conditions became ripe, life appeared on earth in the from organic molecules. Single celled organisms formed, from them multi-cellular organisms formed, simplest creatures formed in water, and life started getting more and more complex. It spread to land, and fins of aquatic animals gave way to limbs. Various animals arrived, in various forms and shapes. Then life started progressing in various branches, each branch evolving in a different way. Many animals came, through various stages. Many species progressed, many species perished. And last, about 2.5 million years ago, came predecessors of modern humans. This is the most reliable explanation about earth and life mankind has produced.
Let me ask you an irrelevant question: do you believe you can become US president? Yous odds of becoming a US president are one in ten million. The odds of you dying in a lightning strike are 1 in 134,906. Now let us look at the odds of a life molecule forming by random chance.
According to Richard Peacock,"the calculation which supports the creationist argument begins with the probability of a 300-molecule-long protein forming by total random chance. This would be approximately 1 chance in 10390."
In percentage, it becomes 0.0000000000000000...(387 zeroes)1. When rounded, it approximates to 0%.
So if one says God created man, you have no grounds to refute them.
Some people say they believe in God, but not in god-men. God-men are only impostors; they are either frauds or just some eccentric people who just believe they are special. People who follow them are all fools. Let me ask something: aren't there special people? Some people play cricket better than anyone else. Some have unparalleled leadership skills, some have great IQ, some can take their bodies to unbelievable extends. Some have unique mental abilities. Then why can't one have superlative spiritual abilities? History has shown that man can grow most in spiritual abilities rather than in other means. Just consider the most powerful names in human history : Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius .. you can spot many spiritual names among them. Don't get me wrong: I am not saying that they are all perfect or I personally uphold their ideas completely. But they show us that human achievements can reach greater heights.
Many people may not agree that there is such a thing called spirituality. There is no thing as soul. There is only mind and brain. If there is a soul, where can you locate it in the body? Well, a simple answer that can be provided is that spirituality may be the answer for 'why you live'.
Freud has explained the journey of mankind from the time of its appearance on earth to the present day as a slight growth of spirit from dominant id to dominant ego(in his terms). Now, it may be speculated that this journey may continue till the spirit of man evolves to a new species of superman.
Saturday 5 October 2013
skin deep
Two days before,a child was born to my sister and her husband. I went there to visit the new-comer. It was a baby-girl, and a beautiful one. My sister and her husband were having all sorts of discussions- ranging from how to lay the baby in bed and how to design the cradle, to setting her educational qualifications and even searching for her bride-groom! And then my sister said: "Thank god she is not black like my grandfather. I had a fear about that." A much debated unresolved question re-surfaced from the depths of my racial mind. A question regarding our racial hypocrisy. We are black. But we hate to admit that we are black. We admire being white(specifically, fair). We use a lot of cosmetics to become fairer. As little children, we do not care whether we are dark or fair(or do we?). From our childhood, we are fed by the idea that being fair is beautiful, and dark is ugly. Films, stories reinforce this thought very often. Many films involve situations in which dark-skinniness is used for evoking laughter. Dark students are ridiculed in school. Parents advise children: "Don't be out in the sun, it will darken you." We have fair heroes and heroines. To be more exact, fairness has to be combined with other features: long nose, thin lips, tall physique, straight wavy-swavy hair: such are our conceptions of beauty. Our girls like fair boys, our boys like fair girls. Is this the admiration of a slave for his master? A friend of mine told that many Asian girls in Europe fall cheaply for a European boyfriend, and they don't have an esteem for their own race. Is the case same here too?
Even before the coming of Europeans, when the hold of caste system was stronger here, we had a coloured mind. Is the present prejudice an extension of our past self? It is likely that it is a combination of both and other factors. There is a malayalam saying which goes like :"forgetting to march when you see a sahib(Britisher)". (Sayippine kanumbo kavathu marakkuka.) This is a common attitude of Asians and Africans. Many Indians brag about having European friends, like it is a privilege. This can be a danger, making us lose our self esteem and pride. Cant we be dark skinned and happy?
Even before the coming of Europeans, when the hold of caste system was stronger here, we had a coloured mind. Is the present prejudice an extension of our past self? It is likely that it is a combination of both and other factors. There is a malayalam saying which goes like :"forgetting to march when you see a sahib(Britisher)". (Sayippine kanumbo kavathu marakkuka.) This is a common attitude of Asians and Africans. Many Indians brag about having European friends, like it is a privilege. This can be a danger, making us lose our self esteem and pride. Cant we be dark skinned and happy?
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