in search of the truth...




THIS PAGE HAS MY WRITINGS TILL MARCH,2005.
MY WRITINGS SINCE THEN ARE POSTED AT:

Letters to a friend...- http://ayanletters.blogspot.com/

Monday, February 28, 2005

the ACs are on again

-
The ACs are on again, the wheel is completing its circle.

It's becoming more and more a hollow drudgery within the framework,
but I'm discovering/devising/finding more and more things related to/outside/beyond it,
things that I truly love doing.
Just got to ensure that I stay above the hygiene level within the framework.

If there's one sentence that crystallises the overall experience then that's,

Cut the globe
Get the funda
:-)

aafreen aafreen

-
Ankhen neechee huyee to HAYA baan gayeen
Ankhen oonchee huyee to DUA baan gayeen
Ankhen uth kar jhukeen to ADA baan gayeen
Ankhen jhuk kar utheen to QADAA baan gayeen
Ankhen jin main hain qaid asmaan o zameeeeen
Nargasee Nargaseee, surmayee surmayee.

beautiful play of words -
from
Aafreen, Aafreen by Nusrat Fateh Ali

A fractal model of governance

-
With the individual aspirations as the self similarities at the most magnified level,

Each corresponding higher level of organisation can be derived from the individual aspirations mathematically,

The highest level of organisation will simply be the overall fractal figure which will get updated continually as individual aspirations change.

Is this science fiction? No, sir. It can be done, for a start, with small groups. It will not immediately eliminate the need for a physical government but the leaders will atleast know how much of an approximation they are, currently, of the ideal.

Sunday, February 27, 2005

pati, patni aur Woh

-
After 15 years, "woh" has a chance of freedom from the pati and patni, but will it make her life any better.
With so many rapacious eyes fixated on her...
Let's see what unfolds in the days to come...
Hoping that her dignity is restored.
-
"If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Martin Luther King Jr., at a speech in Detroit, June 23, 1963

Have heard it many times before, but today when on AXN, Blaine (the master illusionist) quoted this phrase when asked why he does these death defying/inviting feats (he had just come out after 62 hrs in an ice cube), once again it struck a chord.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Call of the wild

-
The sprawling wild, in its full bridal finery,
A sight to behold, a breathtaking scenery.
Crescent moon above, the lighting ephemeral,
Impish stars winking at her, the effect transcendental.


But who are you to wed, to the wilds I indiscreetly muttered,
Shuffling of feet did I hear, yet not a word was uttered.
And the night progressed, resplendence replete,
The hyenas' calls, nuptial melody complete.


Surreptitiously the morning crept, the moon but winked an eye,
My befuddlement was complete, yet somewhere I discerned a bye.
And then I smelt it, the guards had struck the fire,
Naive, naive me! they...they had dressed her for the pyre.

The heavenly wilds, cremated for these gardens they assiduously landscape,
Wild, unstructured flow of brilliance, you have nowhere, nowhere to
escape!

Friday, February 25, 2005

depths

-
You cannot appreciate the beauty of a subject if you dabble on its surface...you might make good ppts, get those marks, and win contracts by your superficial talk...but falling in love with the subject, sorry :-).

People find it amazing that I did "Sangeet Visharadh" (that's graduation equivalent from Telugu University) in music to just understand classical music, but guess that's the way I develop my love...scan the depths, appreciate the depths...the surface is irrelevant.
-
Omnis ars naturae imitatio est.
(All arts is but imitation of nature.)

- Seneca

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Uncertainty Principle in Finance

-
"One can never know both the ownership of an asset and its value."

( If one knows who owns it then he does not know its value. One only knows its value at the time of sale, i.e. when it is between owners.)

Money cannot be seen, but can only be traced by its effects. Cash flows are just financial probability waves.

yippee!

-
They're checking all the comps in the CC for the p'ments, now all comps in the CC will work or hopefully so...when you don't have a computer in your room you have to keep hoping quite often :-).

Kandukondaen Kandukondaen

-
Those wonderful months in Trivandrum. That afternoon at Cochin, the deserted railway station, reading JK, and then in the evening before the train was to arrive...this song. How strong certain associations are, the song is wonderful (though I don't understand one word of the lyrics), even more because of the associated thought process it initiates:


kaNNaamoochchi aenadaa en kaNNaa
kaNNaamoochchi aenadaa en kaNNaa naan kaNNaadip poruL poaladaa (2)
andha nadhiyin karaiyai naan kaettaen andhak kaatRai niRuththiyum kaettaen (2)
vaan veLiyaik kaettaen vidaiyae illai (2)
iRudhiyil unnaik kaNdaen irudhayap poovil kaNdaen (2)
and it goes on....

Film: Kandukondaen Kandukondaen
Music: A R Rahman

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Narharpur...so near yet so far

-
Visited Narharpur village after class today, just 20-25 mins by cycle...so near yet so far. Thanks to Pradhanmantri gram sarak yojna, there's a pucca road from the campus gate to the village. Beautiful terrain...the village school, the open fields, the people...got to go out more often.

As to that ticklish question, which feels better, as usual, I really don't know :-)

Think differently

-
Love these Apple guys, they gave me Feynman's "think differently" poster and now this little wordplay on their site:

Think differently, Here's to the crazy ones!

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels

The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.

buzzing in my head!

-
Two other songs buzzing in my head right since mid term,

------
Rabbi Shergill's 'Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun'

A rough english translation I got on the net:

Bulla Ki Jaana Maen Kaun
Says Bulla,who knows who I am!
I am not in the mosque of the believer,
Nor in false rites.
I am not in the pure or the impure.

Neither Moses nor Pharaoh.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!
I am not in the vedas or holy books,
Not in drug or wine.
Not in the drunkards wasted intoxication,
Not in wakefulness or sleep.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I am not in sorrow nor in joy,
Neither in clean nor unclean.
I am not water, I am not earth,
I am not fire, I am not air.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I am not from Arabia or Lahore,
Nor from India or Nagaur.
Neither a hindu or muslim from Peshawar,
Nor do I live in Nadaun.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I cannot be unearthed in the mysteries of religion.
I was not born of Adam and Eve.
I am not the name I assume.
I am not in stillness, not in movement.
Finally, I only know myself.I cannot know any other.
Who could be wiser than I?
Bulla asks, who then, stands here?
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!
-----------------

The second one's Papa Roach's

Cut my life into pieces
This is my last resort
SuffocationNo breathing
Don’t give a -- if I cut my arm bleeding
This is my last resort

Cut my life into pieces
I’ve reached my last resort
SuffocationNo breathing
Don’t give a -- if I cut my arm bleeding
Do you even care if I die bleeding
Would it be wrong
Would it be rightIf I took my life tonight
Chances are that I might
Mutilation outta sight
And I’m contemplating suicide

Cuz I’m losing my sight
Losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I’m fine

Losing my sight
Losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I’m fine

I never realized I was spread too thin
Till it was too late
And I was empty within
Hungry
Feeding on chaos
And living in sin
Downward spiral where do I begin
It all started when I lost my mother
No love for myself
And no love for another
Searching to find a love up on a higher level
Finding nothing but questions and devils

Cuz I’m losing my sight
Losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
Losing my sight
Losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I’m fine
Nothing’s alright Nothing is fine
I’m running and
I’m crying I’m crying I’m crying I’m crying I’m crying
I can’t go on living this way

Cut my life into pieces (and repeat of the entire thing)
---------------

ami chini go chini

-
Have been humming this Rabindra shongeet for quite sometime, don't have the casette here or ma to sing it :-(

Ami chini go chini tomare ogo bideshini
Tumi thako shindhu tore ogo bideshini

Tomay dekhechi shorode prate
Tomay dekhechi madhabi rate
Tomay dekhechi...
Hridi majhare
Ogo bideshini.

Ami akashe pathiya kaan
Shunechi shunechi tomari gaan
Ami tomare shopechi praan
Ogo bideshini.

Bhubano bhromiya sheshe
Ami eshechi nutano deshe
Ami otithi tomari daare
Ogo bideshini.




Tuesday, February 22, 2005

wokay :-)

-
wokay, enuff of this stuff...
...now i'm comin back to life :-)

-----
I wonder why I wonder why.
I wonder why I wonder.
I wonder why I wonder why I wonder why I wonder!


- crazy guy, Richard P. Feynman :-)

Coming back to life!!!

-
Almost shot off a draft of this that day to Prof. Chakraborty, wonder what would have happended then :-)

-------------------

...we reject tyranny and wrong at every stage, now what is tyranny or what is wrong, isn't it authority without reason; isn't it an action for which you do not know the explanation, hence you regard it as wrong; or isn't it an action for which you have a different explanation.

I reject the law of cause and effect. Because being limited by any law makes me a machine and I shall not accept being a machine. Working industriously and practicing day and night, anybody would do well. But what has he done? He has given another proof of his being an obedient machine, an obedient servant of the law. And look around, you will find all these doctrines and philosophies that even rationalize this pernicious attitude. Seers keep saying that we must work without expecting the result. And what does it express? A rationalizing of something which we have foolishly assumed we cannot change. Anyway, since I do not have control over the result, I create a philosophy to keep me happy with putting in the effort - doesn't it sound similar to the intelligent tricks used by the Westerners to justify slavery to their countrymen.

What I do not understand in people is simply this. Most seem to have an ego and prestige, and rightly so, and feel hurt and rebel when it is rubbed the wrong way. Now in case of these so-called LAWS of nature, these same men and women voluntarily accept being a machine, in fact being a machine is glorified. Just because everything is subtle and invisible, people seem to either not understand or voluntarily stay oblivious.

Isn't this what you call living, like Pavlov's dog experiment or any other lab experiment involving rats. You shall be provided food only if you jump three times and I ring the bell. You shall succeed in the test only if you work hard day and night. Don't these two sermons sound the same? And will you give credit to the dog that jumps three times or to another which can boldly reject these foolish tricks. The same is the case with all of us, this is how we've all been brought up and conditioned, and it is these qualities of dumb machines, which we praise and want to cultivate. We're worse off than those dogs in the experiments probably.

And this is where I reject the so-called great men. You meditate or practice and realize something, but that is again following THE LAW, being a super machine. After meditating and practicing for years probably you become a perfect machine capable of being deluded into believing anything which is indoctrinated into you for years.The same effect can be obtained by drugs. But we intelligent humans reject drugs as bad for health and praise this voluntary meditational or practice induced drugging. If it was truth that they realized, it would happen at once, then and there, and would not require the delusion of years of practice.

Am I a beggar to wait for the understanding for years till THE LAW decides I have worked hard enough to deserve it? And what would you do if forced to live in a company of baboons and monkeys. Suppose the law of that particular jungle said, the more baboon like you behave, the better chance you have of becoming the baboon king. Would you then become a super baboon so as to change the baboon society when you became king? Would you have the moral authority to ask people to change the same clauses that you have cleverly manipulated to rise? You cannot change the society unless you have the position; but if and only if I can rise without using any of the devices which I shall in the future reject, can such a rise be accepted.

And now again, all these conclusions are based on certain assumptions and premises of the world around me, if these assumptions were to change then, in effect, many of the conclusions would change too. Thus it is necessary to be doubly sure of these assumptions. Hence my interest in studying various subjects and fields from sociology to quantum physics and my frequent digressions, perceived sometimes as volatile aspirations. I am always looking for something specific in a specific subject and I neither have the time nor energy for these titled courses or grades at which super-machines excel.

All of us need to change, the faster we change the better it is till we find our goal. I do not claim to have found the truth, hence I am moving as fast as I can, nor have most of the 6+ billion men and women, thus they too need to change, if only they realise it. All that I claim to comprehend are some basic fallacies in the way we are, which we all need to undertand and if convinced, immediately reject.

Oblivious, or nearly so!

-
The incessant chatter, pointless patter,
Stripped of any matter;

As I sit oblivious, or nearly so...

Beneath the veneer, concepts unclear,
Yet a seer;

As I sit oblivious, or nearly so...

Learning for the grade, despite what's hypocritically said,
Ehics, long buried and dead;

As I sit oblivious, or nearly so...

One hell of a joke, sessions going up in smoke,
Surviving the bloke;

As I sit oblivious, or nearly so...

I don't care, for these role-models they prepare,
Yet a thought, cannot help spare,
writing,
As I sit oblivious, or nearly so.

Complex Reality

Most enquiries into reality, rather expositions of such, suffer from a common flaw. The thoroughly esoteric garb in which these expositions are ensconced make them unintelligible to most, ironically the class which these expositions seeks to elevate. By expositions are referred not only philosophic treatises, but tomes on science as well - the expressions in advanced texts of science are so Hebrew like in their first appearance that this important field of human endeavour is confined to a few brave hearted. The religious texts have developed over the centuries, a certain distinct style of communicating to the masses - through analogies. But the drawback, in fact the most damning result of this development is that all religious texts in common circulation have now been reduced to a body of analogies. Analogies were developed initially, as a bridge; the bridge before the mind is ready to receive more complex precepts. Yet over time, the bridge became the destination. On the other hand, science still retains a certain core, yet too esoteric for common apprehension. Our only brush with this science is through technology or rather the applications of technology. Thus, just as religion has reduced to customs and blind beliefs, science has reduced to technology and applications of technology. The core of both science and religion remains beyond the reach of uninitiated majority.

The immediate pertinent enquiry which follows is that why is science or religion so complex, so as to defy ordinary comprehension. It this question that shall be briefly dealt with in this article.

Firstly, there is unanimous affirmation that the world we live in is complex beyond ordinary comprehension; modern society's labyrinthine growth defies easy understanding. Now what in its basic core is science or religion - an attempt to explain, in simplified form, this complex rebus in which we find ourselves. And this sentence succinctly summarises the entire problem.
Any simplification is necessarily an approximation. But the more we try to eliminate approximation - the endeavour of modern science - the closer the theory is to complex reality. The ultimate or final theory is reality itself. The entire movement of science is analogous to the following example.

Suppose I want to comprehend the working of a tree. The first step might be to draw a pencil figure. But this is the brutest of models; most predictions on this model are bound to fail. So, the movement to the next sophisticated model, say a computer-simulated model of the tree. Notice that the model is much closer to reality, consequently it is much more complex involves features beyond ordinary comprehension. Let this progression continue...where does it end? At the real tree itself, the final theory is no model or simulation, it is reality itself. The entire movement is like in a circle which begins and ends at the real object. Consequently the entire movement of science is from incomprehensible complexity to extreme simplicity and gradually back to that same complexity. It is a circle.

Scientists will argue that once a principle or law is known - the rest are only manifestations of that law. Our goal, they say, is to discover this corpus of laws, no doubt within the limits permissible under the Principle of Uncertainty. But here again is another basic flaw, I believe, in the approach of the men of science, a flaw which science itself is realising through the discovery of the theory of chaos. Within the broadest approximations exist the most general laws.....the more the approximations are eliminated, the more specific become the laws.....the law which explains everything is reality. An example would help clarify this proposition. Suppose our currency were only rupees and paisas did not exist. In such a case, 1.1 would be the same as 1.2 which would be the same as 1.112 and so on. All goods priced within 1 and 2 would be either 1 or 2. This is an approximation, but when I'm dealing with millions of rupees these trifles (paisas) hardly matter. So my satisfactory theory would deal with only rupees. Now suppose, I deal in goods in the price range of 1 to 2. It becomes necessary to introduce paisas. Again in the next stage, if I deal in goods between 1 to 1.01, it becomes necessary to introduce a further denomination........this process goes on. To get the actual price of the good, I need a system that incorporates infinite divisions, that is reality.

In the early mechanical world we were dealing in rupees, Newton's theories was the denomination. The discovery of light was like the move to deal with goods between rupees 1 and 2. And Einstein's theory was the next progression and after nearly a century of relativity, we have started dealing with goods in the range of 1 to 1.1 and we have the beginnings of the chaos theory. This progression shall go on till the ultimate theory - reality.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Silence...they don't understand, do they?

When with the best of friends or no friends at all,
you are my refuge, Silence;
they don't understand, do they?

When lost in thoughts or in no thought at all,
you are my refuge, Silence;
they don't understand, do they?

When laughing in joy or crying alone,
you are my refuge, Silence;
they don't understand, do they?

When flying in triumph or lost in defeat,
you are my refuge, Silence;
they don't understand, do they?

You are my refuge, Silence;
they don't understand, do they?

Another excerpt from my paper...

Another excerpt form my paper titled
"THE INEVITABLE DEMISE OF DEMOCRACY AND THE ULTIMATE FORM OF GOVERNMENT"

In this excerpt, I try to arrive at the ultimate form of government by developing a 'theory of forced associations'.
Many people have confused ultimate alternative as the best alternative possible in the current scenario, but that's not what I meant when I used the term. Ultimate here means the form of government for man in his final stage of evolution whenever that happens, and that need not necessarily happen millions of years henceforth; in small closets and isolated occasions, it has existed right since our evolution, just that the effect seems to be snowballing in recent times.

Why search for the ideal solution now? My belief - only when I know the ideal solution will I realise at which level of approximation I currently stand and thus choose logically from among the various roads available.

-------------------start of the excerpt------------------------------------

THE ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVE

Just because a system has been doing reasonably well for sometime, does not mean that credible alternatives do not exist. If the ultimate goal is understood or at least logically proved, it can always help select the correct alternative with proper perspective.

Humans are a constantly evolving species. Humans have been evolving both physically and mentally over time. A form of organization that was good for primal humans might not work today, similarly today’s form might be inadequate tomorrow as humans continue to evolve.


Instinct and Association
One relationship common to all evolved species is the mother-child relationship. Especially, the mother to child affection represents an ideal bond - the absence of any competition, recognition coupled with unconditional love, and absence of any deceit. Such a relationship does not require an arbiter, since one individual respects and recognizes the other. Also, the more evolved the species the more evolved is the mother-child relationship.

The mother to child bonding has been a defining feature of the Homo sapiens ever since it evolved as a distinct species. This love and affection can be attributed to two causes, the first is ‘instinct and hormone’ and the second is ‘forced association’.

Probably during child bearing and later, certain special hormones in mothers create that unconditional love and affection for the child, in common parlance, the maternal instinct.

But there is another reason for this maternal instinct, one that is more relevant to the development of the current hypothesis. A mother is forced to bear her child for nine months; she is forced to take care of her toddler for the first few years of its life till it can stand on its own. During this period of close association, the mother recognizes the qualities and frailties in her child and this develops her love for her child. If an opportunity beckons, she knows when the child must be encouraged and when it must be shielded. On the other hand, in many cases the child does not develop the same kind of affection for the mother since, during the period of forced association, it is not mature enough to recognize her qualities.

Whether such a close association in turn causes the secretion of certain special hormones has to be further researched and is open to debate. Whatever the cause, in most cases, a close association leads to recognition and a perfect relationship, making any authority or external arbitrator redundant.


Theory of Associations
As man has evolved over thousands of years, the number of possible close associations he has/can have over his lifetime has increased steadily and continues to do so. While in primordial man this opportunity was confined to mates or mother-child, the creation of clans and tribes led to a wider circle. Establishment of communities, settlements, city states, kingdoms and nations are all leading to multiple associations among people, inconceivable in an earlier era.

Assuming the mother to child relationship as perfect, these associations are all approximations of that perfect relationship. And the perfect relationship is characterized by the redundancy of any external control or guidance. Even if it is assumed that close association leads to a certain special physical condition (for e.g. secretion of special hormones etc) then such a condition which was true for only mother-child or mates in primal humans is true for a much wider group associated with an individual today.

Our trajectory of evolution and growth has ensured the proliferation of forced close associations. And even assuming a low rate of success, this process is slowly but surely leading to more and more perfect relationships where authority or government is redundant.

A logical extrapolation makes it clear that for humans in their final stage of evolution, this circle of close association will extend to the entire mankind, and any form of government will be redundant and unnecessary. The ultimate form of is no government at all.

Many characterize this possibility, of the absence of a government, as either a fantasy or a dangerous precedent that will destroy organized society. While this is very true of mankind in its current stage of evolution, the proposition is not outrageous for a fully evolved mankind. We are constantly evolving and the number of forced closed associations of an individual during his lifetime is increasing steadily with generations. When all relationships shall approximate perfection, and when the entire mankind is involved in the relationship, any form of government is bound to be redundant.

While increasing associations seems to be Nature’s own way of gently prodding us to the goal, if we could somehow create the effect without the cause, i.e. a perfect relationship from every individual to every other individual on this planet today, all authority and government would instantly become superfluous.

After thousands of years of evolution we see a visible increase in the number of these associations and relationships. Ideal families are institutions, where many individuals exist in harmony. Joint families, as prevalent in Eastern nations have generations of people living in perfect harmony. And many businesses too promote such organization where authority or government is redundant. The information age with its tools like the Internet augur a quantum jump in possible associations.

------this is followed by a discussion of possible roads to the goal-----------

Excerpt from the Conclusion

-------------start of the excerpt from the conclusion----------------------

....But what one must not lose sight of, are the two inevitabilities; that democracy is very gradually but surely self- destructing itself and the society around, and that we are very gradually but surely, being pushed towards a society where any government will be redundant and superfluous. Any attempt to create a bridge between these two states, saving mankind the aeons that Nature has ordained for this evolution through the piecemeal process of forced associations, shall be a welcome development.

------------ end of the excerpt------------------------------------------

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Excerpt from my paper

Selected excerpts from one of my earliest papers titled

"THE INEVITABLE DEMISE OF DEMOCRACY AND THE ULTIMATE FORM OF GOVERNMENT"
written during a college sem-break

Couldn't help recall the hypothesis formulated in it, especially as newer validations unfold every passing day...

.............start of the excerpt...........

The Real Culprit
Democracy reflects the opinion of the majority.
This single sentence summarizes the greatest strength as well as shortcoming of democracy.

While it reflects the opinion of the majority it does not reflect the entire opinion. A democracy does what most of its members think right; in some cases this may be a 51% opinion or a 67% opinion or any such value, which is rarely 100. The logical fallout of this is that the remaining 49% or 33% is constantly striving to create a society where they are in a majority. This is the reason for the friction and fragmentation in societies all round the world. And it this phenomenon that is driving men to discover newer identities - civilizations, cultures or religions are just the means used to establish this elusive majority.

And there is no reason to believe that this break-up of society shall end at the civilization stage, it is just a phase in the process. As soon as a society is established on the basis of a certain common identity, there is a minority whose opinion is trampled upon. This minority in turn will try to create another new identity to obtain that elusive majority. This is a recurring and never ending process. And this shall continue up to the stage of the individual, because no two humans can think alike on all issues and democracy can reflect the opinion of only the majority.

And there is material evidence of this phenomenon everywhere. Indians, united as a civilization have developed new fault lines along every conceivable identity from religion to language to caste to place of origin etc. As soon as Afghanistan obtained freedom from the Taliban regime, there appeared fissures among the various clans and sub-clans. Similar is the case with Iraq or in fact any democratic society in the world, as these democratic societies continue to shrink in size as newer common identities are discovered regularly by the disregarded minorities.


Democracy Promotes Mediocrity
Any idea ahead of its time is seldom understood by the majority who benefit in the long run from the idea. In a democracy such ideas are inevitably outvoted at the first conceivable opportunity. But without these strokes of genius, any society is destined to moribundity. On the other hand, these are strokes of genius only because most men cannot easily conceive these ideas. The dichotomy is evident. Any pure democracy is destined to doom as its creative visions are constantly outvoted by the majority.

Any variation to the above hypothesis, and in fact most of the so-called high points of democracy, have been clever circumventions of democracy. Mahatma Gandhi used his personal popularity to push through far-reaching concepts like Satyagraha etc. which, if open to vote would never see the light of the day. Hitler too circumvented democracy but for diabolic purposes. Though the purposes were different, both represent the clever ingenuity of far-sighted individuals in manipulating democracies. An unadulterated democracy, as is the pronounced goal, is bound to stagnate and degenerate.

Thus, the continual fragmentation along with mediocrity, which is inbuilt in the definition of democracy, guarantee the slow but sure degeneration and ruin of any purely democratic society or organization.

.............continues with my formulation of the ultimate form of govt............

predicting

to be able to predict on a longer time scale the corrugations of the shorter term, i.e. for eg. to predict what will happen in a particular week a year in advance, what will happen in a year a century in advance - effectively, to be able to mimic the uncertainties of a shorter time frame in a longer time frame;

what's the entire point if I feed in the uncertainties of the hour into the equation and it predicts an hour ahead, but can't the short term uncertainties be clubbed to give me a long term statistic, just that another dimension increases :-);

trend lines->inherent assumption that long term effect are an aggregation of short term effects, i.e. what remains after the positives cancel the negatives gives the trend, but in most cases isn't the long term cause totally different;

fractal, an interesting step ahead, but why the self similar replication, inherent in nature or just that when you self replicate to levels so many, the differences ought to come down, that's a trick rather than a solution;

what then is the solution...let's see...atleast something intellectually challenging to work on :-)

perfect

in the midst of din, the perfect silence;
in the midst of cacaphony, the perfect song;
in the midst of friends, the perfect isolation;
in the midst of wisdom, the perfect ignorance;
in the midst of certainty, the perfect confusion;
in the midst of mirth, the perfect solitude;
in the midst of inebriation, the perfect sobriety;
in the midst of vigour, the perfect lassitude;
in the midst of failure, the perfect success;
in the midst of sleep, the perfect awakening;
in the midst of ruin, the perfect beginning;
in the midst of life, the perfect death.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

ely ing

receptively receiving,
perceptively perceiving,
ah! for that moment...
...so deceptively deceiving!

A Plea

- Ayan Bhattacharya

O Lord, dear Father, O Mighty Supreme,
Lend thy ears to this earnest plea,
Bequeath me, O Consciousness these oft underestimated qualities,
Lift the veil that makes me ignorant of thee.

Diligence, sincerity, fortitude, my pillars of growth,
Shield me from buccaneers and effrontery,
Steadfast to my ideals, dedicated to my principles,
Let me not for a moment waver in my search for thee.

Let not success cause a Nero’s creation,
Neither failure make a Frankenstein of me,
Both my feet placed firmly on earth,
Guide me on the path of effulgence - the path of awareness leading to thee.

Exhilaration from work, not the fruits thereby,
Be my inspiration as I negotiate this torrential sea,
Emphasis on the means, never the ends,
May I never resort to subterfuge, shielded from bigotry.

Stunt my growth if superciliousness foments,
For loftiness I seldom desire,
What is life if not lived for others,
A chance to perceive, to fathom thee before lighting of the pyre.

Stripped of pride, bereft of obduracy,
The stoic soul is for what I crave,
O Creator, create a seeker, the true yogi,
Before the inevitable, before my grave.

Friday, February 18, 2005

The Method of Science

(written May 2004)

The modern method of science is most profound in its simplicity; in fact the beauty of this simplicity is the foundation of its profoundness. Yet is this the most optimal method available to mankind in its quest to unravel nature?

The method of science can be briefly summarised as follows:

1. There is a “reality” whose comprehension has necessitated the creation of sciences, in fact all branches of human knowledge. The “Reality” is fundamental and independent.

2. Then there is a “perceived reality”, the reality as apprehended by the observer. Perceived reality is dependent on the instrument of observation of the observer and is liable to change. In the ideal scenario, as the perfection of observation improves, the “perceived reality” better approximates “reality”, the limiting case is when the observation is perfect and the “perceived reality” is “reality”. At any stage, there is no way for the observer to directly apprehend beyond the “perceived reality”.

3. And finally there are “theories” that are proposed to explain the “reality”. A “theory” is accepted as valid if and only if it explains correctly “perceived reality”. (Thus though theories are proposed to explain “reality”, they are benchmarked against “perceived reality” since at any given time there is no direct contrivance for apprehending beyond it.) Any theory that fails this test is in error.

4. This benchmarking – checking a theory against the “perceived reality” it purports to explain – is the “experiment”, another crucial bedrock of the method of modern science.

Thus, since the yardstick - “perceived reality”- is constantly changing, it is very possible that theories, which were decided as inaccurate or erroneous, might, in time, be proved right and vice-versa. Thus, the measure of the success of a “theory” is its ability to survive improvements and upgrades in the “perceived reality”.

Newton’s ‘Universal Theory of Gravitation’ is a case that helps illuminate the above method. For more than two centuries, the theory was accepted as supreme, since it explained accurately the “perceived reality” of the time. Yet, with time, as the range and perfection of the “perceived reality” improved – the world of the atoms was discovered and extremely accurate celestial data became available – the failings in the theory were exposed. Thus two separate theories – Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the theory of quantum mechanics – replaced Newton’s theories as the de-facto standards explaining the “perceived reality”. The motion of the planets was and will remain the same, it is simply that two centuries ago our measurement of that motion was approximate, so an approximate theory was fine. Who knows, with time, as our capabilities of measurement improve further, what will happen?

wasticious jingles

utterly butterly wasticious,
classes.
(po-m)
:-)

jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh! how dour it is to ride when willing dotards hold the sway.
:-)

Thursday, February 17, 2005

joke

The joke called life, you know it's a joke, you know you're being laughed at, yet and yet...

Be a joker and use the joke to get beyond.

The entire human enterprise for that one spark of comprehesion, for that understanding; what can be so illustrious that an experiment so grand be designed; that millions live to just pass on their comprehensions to the generation next forewarning them of the pitfalls; the end result of this great motion, of this gradual sense of perfection in minute steps that we achieve; what be their purpose, the motive that millions live and die and another million come to sing and dance, love and hate, and go on and go on and go on; the musicians entertain, the singers sing, the poets get inspired, we have an entire system to serve the system to serve the system to serve the system and on it goes till maybe you don't know which system you serve; but maybe this is the way, is the way to that comprehension or maybe it is not; the helplessness of not knowing, of having a deadline for your game, death what else but this; and what is the experiment for which we so assiduously serve or no experiment at all; yet then why not clear it is to the millions that what is it for which they drudge, a blinkered memory is a simplistic delusion into which we delude ourselves; yet beautiful it is, the feelings and emotions; can't through these capers the way be found; the simple beauty of understanding, the thrill of understanding, the joy of understanding...as I move on...move on in search of the truth.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

art or science...inspiration's the same

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
-Einstein

hmmm the clock's ticking

I was not born knowing and have only some more time left to change things here and there...

hate exams

HATE Exams coz you can't experiment (or can, and get into trouble :-))

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

clarity

Friday, February 04, 2005

tat twam asi

monkey man

I'm a monkey man in the monkey crowd...yeh heh!


Thursday, February 03, 2005

Ah the Genius!

"There are two types of genius. Ordinary geniuses do great things, but they leave you room to believe that you could do the same if only you worked hard enough. Then there are magicians, and you can have no idea how they do it."
~ Hans Bethe

Ah! for that magician....

aansoon

aansuon ka kya hai, kya batati kahani,
samjho tho sab kuch, na samjho tho pani.


Wednesday, February 02, 2005

globe n fundas

Cut the globe
Get the funda
:-)