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 20 Mar 2006 @ 01:56, by uncleremus. Philosophy
In an essay titled, Thinking Outside the Box: Considering Transparency, Anonymity, and Pseudonymity as Overall Solutions to the Problems of Information Privacy in the Internet Society [pdf file], Tal Z. Zarsky* analyzes various aspects of transparency, anonymity, and pseudonymity and envisions societies where our personal information is, respectively, out in the open, hidden in its entirety, or somewhat blurred due to the use of multiple identities. More >
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 5 Feb 2006 @ 19:59, by ming. Philosophy
Once in a while I wake up and notice something I haven't noticed for a long time. Some small thing. Like the contents of the stack of paper I have lying next to me on my desk. When I actually looked at it last month, I realized that it was mostly just some old papers I hadn't decided exactly where to file, some unopened letters that weren't important, and some notes on stuff I had to do on some particular day, last year. Nothing important, really. But, for several years, that stack has been lying there next to me, symbolizing that I had a lot of stuff to do, and that I was busy, and fairly disorganized.
And then, when one actually is present, things become very simple and obvious. That stack of paper disappeared in a half hour, and it becomes abundantly obvious that the right thing to do is deal with things when they happen, and not letting old unprocessed stuff lie around, cluttering things up. And, ok in this case, my desk has remained clear and organized since then. But that's usually not what happens. It is easy to stop noticing that which one noticed before. It is easy to forget being present.
I might suddenly remember something or someone or somewhere. Like, my home when I grew up, somebody I went to school with, or some particular thing I took great joy in earlier in my life. And I suddenly remember, and I also notice that I haven't thought of it for maybe 10 years. And I marvel at that. I rediscover something that has great meaning for me, and I really GET it, and I feel awake and alive. And at the same time I feel like a robot who's asleep most of the time. Because, it seems, there are certain things I will notice only once every 10 years. Things that are wonderful and important and meaningful to who I am. But I forget them again. Every 10 years, that would mean I'd think it another 3 or 4 times before I die. That's sort of depressing.
What I'm saying is that I'm doing most things on automatic. Some things I'm good at, some things I'm not, and I still keep doing them. And only once in a rare while do I actually pay attention. Meaning, I become present and conscious of what I'm doing. And I'm actually in a position to change it. You know, to change something, you have to at least be conscious of what is there. Once you see what is here, you might actually decide what else you'd like to be there, or where else you'd like to go.
It is something one is likely to do piecemeal. I.e. I might be quite present and aware of certain aspects of my life, and quite able to make good decisions about it, while other aspects are thoroughly forgotten. And at other times it changes, or various things pop up once in a while and suddenly, wow, I get it, why didn't I look at that before.
But the sum of that awareness, that presence, that consciousness, that clarity of mind, it doesn't really add up to a whole hell of a lot. Sort of like I might add it up over my life, and it is like I've only really been present for a few hours, or a few days. Seems like a waste, to go to all that trouble, and then not really pay attention.
Oh, it is not black and white. Of course I've been conscious enough to do many things, and of course I have to be partially present to write this here. But, truthfully, I can write inspiring philosophical essays while half asleep. I'm talking about something more.
What if you actually could be fully present here and now, fully conscious, keenly perceptive, and you could do that all the time?
OK, some people will wonder what the hell I'm talking about. Sounds like nonsense if you haven't particularly noticed any difference between being aware of BEING or not being aware of being. Sounds like just some new age mumbo jumbo if you haven't actually ever noticed that you exist. And, it is fascinating, but many people haven't really realized that they exist. Probably a majority of humanity is people who haven't ever been conscious of their own existence, of if they have, they've thoroughly forgotten.
The culprit is the mind. Both our strongest asset and our prison. We can think abstractly, which allows us to do amazing things. And it allows us to trap ourselves in stuff that isn't really there. It allows us to make abstract ideas as real or more real than what is really there.
The mind stores and processes incoming perceptions, and it stores and processes abstract representations of what things mean, and extrapolatons of what those abstract representations mean.
That allows you to learn about and influence circumstances way outside your local area of what you can directly perceive. For example, it allows you to be able to vote. That's a terribly abstract thing. You most likely haven't actually met any of the people involved, and you don't have any direct experience with any of the issues that are considered important. Your vote won't directly do anything either, but you can feel that you're part of something meaningful, and it does make a difference. Now, you could only do that because you have some fairly complex abstract models of cause and effect and connections and probabilities in your mind. Most likely they're ridiculously over-simplified, but you do have some structure there that tells you something.
But this abstract mental stuff easily gets to mean that you spend all your time doing stuff your mind tells you to do, and zero time actually looking for yourself.
Yes, I know, if you think that you ARE a mind, such a statement makes no sense. Even worse, if you think you're a brain, you've already locked yourself away and thrown away the key.
There's a certain circular reasoning thing which makes minds get out of hand. You prove abstract ideas only with other abstract ideas. That works some of the time. But if one has gotten so used to taking certain abstract ideas as The Truth, one forgets at some point that they're just ideas, and one no longer checks in with reality.
I'm saying we pretty much all do that, but you can see it most dramatically at the extremes, with people who're very religious or who're very scientifically, materialistically oriented. In the fundamentalist way. I.e. people who wouldn't recognize reality if it bit them in the nose, but who live inside a mental structure, and who deny the existence of anything that isn't situated and labeled within that structure.
But most people in the "civilized" world go around spending most of their energy on keeping up with abstract ideas. All your "shoulds". You should get up in the morning, get the kids to school, go to work, have meetings, file reports, do shopping, pay your bills, etc. Most of which you aren't doing because it is what is in front of you, but because of some mental structure you have in your mind. A structure that will predict the consequences of not doing some of those things, so you do the logical thing, and you do them.
But, back to my point. You're so busy being busy that you aren't even there most of the time. OK, maybe you are, so I'll speak for myself. I will frequently catch myself in not having been present for an extended period of time.
You know, how you find yourself in your driveway, having driven home, maybe from work, maybe something you do every day. And you notice that you weren't present the whole way, and you don't remember the trip at all. Maybe you were busy thinking about something, and that's where your awareness was. But you still drove the car perfectly fine, for a half hour, through rush hour traffic.
I'm talking about that in your life. Despite going through the motions somewhat successfully, you suddenly wake up and realize, where was I?
And, to get to the point, the ability of actually being fully present here and now is what we could call "enlightenment". Oh, I'm sure one could define it different ways, but I find that the most useful. You have somehow transcended your identification with the mind, plugged into a fundamental source of peace of mind, and you can comfortably be present here and now, without having to have anywhere else to go.
That's not necessarily any hocus pocus spiritual thing that you will attain after 33 years of chanting. Probably is a terribly simple and pragmatic thing. Just being present and not giving in to mental delusions. Noticing what is really going on, what is really there in front of you, and what is really there inside of you, and not obsessively overlaying a lot of opinions and filters and 'shoulds' on top of it.
Anyway, this is just a note to myself, to BE more of the time, and to not put up with being absent. To pursue enlightenment, although I strongly suspect it can't really be pursued. There's nowhere else to go to. It is right here, right now. No fancy technique or secret knowledge to learn. And that's a hard one. Would be so much easier if one could just go and take a class. No, one actually has to pay attention, really pay attention, be quiet and notice the obvious. More >
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21 Jan 2006 @ 04:24, by shreepal. Philosophy
Nature has three fundamental properties, viz., the conservation of energy, opposite and dual nature of matter or energy and the singularity of universal force and they originate from a single universal reality. This universal reality may be visualised as a partial projection of itself into dimensions of space and time that look like mirror images and produce the effect of undestruction of energy, counterbalancing symmetry in nature and singularity of prime force.
Dimension is a "projection". It is the projection of "reality" (and, not necessarily of matter). This projection of reality is not necessarily into space (and time). This projection may be conceived of as a process whereby a portion of reality is raised (by consuming energy) above its neutral state of existence and as result thereof an amount of additional energy is stored as potential energy in the new elevated (or projected) state. This process may be given a suitable name. It may be called a projection. It may also be called "acquiring of a colour" since colour is dependent on frequency (of electromagnetic radiation) and the amount of energy stored therein is directly proportional to the number of frequency. In its essence dimension is an instrument of storing reality. Properties (of reality) are associated with dimension as its integral part.
Reality can exist without being projected into dimensions and then it has no property. The moment reality is projected into dimensions, it acquires specific properties depending upon the dimensions it is projected into. One well-known example of this process is the projection of reality into spatiai dimensions whereupon reality gets the properties of mass, charge, spin and parity. Another example of the same is the projection of reality into time's dimension whereupon it gets the property of flow from past to future. Reality, without its projection into spatial dimensions, has no property of mass etc. And likewise, reality without its projection into time's dimension has no property of past, present and future (and this state may be conceived as eternal reality existing without mass and time).
Reality and its dimensions
Do dimensions exist without primary reality projected into them? Are dimensions co-existing with primary reaiity and therefore equivalent primary reality themselves? No. Dimensions are specific states or measures of the projection of primary reality and in that sense they exist independent of any projection into them of primary reality. However, these states are beyond detection by any means without primary reality being projected into them. Does time exist? Can we measure it? We choose a succession of events as the reference standard and then taking a part out of this succession label it as time. But the rate (of succession of events) can neither be measured in absolute terms with reference to a stationary frame (due to the wave-particle's dual nature of matter of which events are made) nor is it always the same with reference to a moving frame (due to the relativistic principle). In measuring time by this process the extent of our ability to do the same is not limited by this problem only. By this method we only count events and do not deal with the time at all. By counting events we tag them as time and by going backward or forward in the succession we refer it as past or future.
There is no way to directly deal with time. And, yet the time does exist as a certain measure of projection of primary reality to a certain height that stores specific amount of potential energy (of primary reality) creating the dimension known as time.
What is space? Can we measure it? We measure matter, and treating this measure as a reference, compare with it the spreadth of space. Again, the amount of matter (that is, its spatial properties) can neither be measured with reference to a stationary frame (on account of its wave-particle dual nature in accordance with quantum mechanics' principle) nor it is a singular amount with reference to a moving frame (in accordance with relativistic principle). Here, again, we are dealing with matter and not space. By any means, we can not directly deal with the space.
However, the space does exist as a measure of projection of prime reality to a certain potential height that takes the shape of spatial dimensions.
Cubes of space, time and consciousness
Spatial dimension has a cubic form; that is, it has three sides' projection of reality into length, width and height. Time's dimension also has the cubic form. The single dimensional time would simply exist but would not move forward or backward, that is, into the future or the past. With two dimensions, it would move in either of the directions but still it would not cover events (of matter that has not two but three projections). With two projections, a man would be able (if it were technologically possible) to go in the past or future but still would not see events associated with that past or future. To make it possible, one more, the third one, is needed. It is like depth of time. If one moves along this dimension, he would not move into past or future but would see all the events of universe at a single given moment.
Our inability to directly deal with time and space is not associated with the inherent properties of these dimensions. This inability demarcates the limits of human mind in understanding, rather knowing, the truth lying behind the appearance.
Reality existing without its projection into any dimensions whatsoever is "primary" reality. The "primary" reality is the "only" reality that exists and it may be conceptualised as a great ocean of unified field of energy and this ocean must include all that we know as existing as well as all that we do not know yet but (must) exist.
The primary reality observes the law of conservation of energy, that is, it can neither be created (and so, is eternal) nor destroyed (that is, unperishable). To meet the requirements of a unified field's mathematical equation, it is assumed that this ocean of primary reality, that is, unified field energy in modern scientific terminology, possesses the capacity of "self-excitation". The projection of unified field energy into dimensions is the work of manifestation and it requires "self-excitation", that is, an amount of force or "work". A certain quantified volume of (given) dimensions contain in them a certain quantified amount of unified field energy.
There are many planes of projected reality in the universe and an individual plane's specific dimensions determine its structure. All these planes are independently existing but interconnected with each other by a bridge-like formation that connects two sharply different planes with gradually receding-shades. In a plane, the very existence of projected, that is, dimensional, reality makes the plane a deformed structure and in this structure all movements of projected reality follow a path along the edges of the plane's dimensions. This strangely moving presence of projected reality makes the universe a string-like structure at every plane. Original dimensionless position occupied by the primary reality and dimensional position occupied by the projected reality may be viewed as a 'distance' and this distance, or ‘creation' needs a force that would make this creation not only possible but would also sustain this creation. And, this force would have to act and be present constantly.
Since we endow the Primary Realty with the attribute of consciousness, we may conceive the force that creates and sustains the creation as its 'will' and the creation as 'purposeful design of this will' of Primary Reality, or of 'Supreme Being.' Also we may conceive the creation as displacement of a part of this Primary Realty from its original groove, or as a distance of a part of this Realty from its original station. This distance (or potential force stored in stretched distance) not only needs a constant will to sustain it but also forms an elastic band between the primary reality and created things that is 'tauter when it is pulled'.
This potential force stored in stretched distance, or energy stored in the work of creation, has the tendency to compel created things to return back to their original position.
The quantum relativity concept is an efficient mental tool that enables mind (that is, human being) to understand (to the extent it is possible for mind to understand) the interrelations of different frames of reference moving in various planes of projected reality.
Projection of reality into space-time dimensions forms the material world. Projection of reality into dimensions of consciousness forms the worlds of mind, of desire-impulse and of physical (body) senses. There are many more dimensions into which reality is projected (bringing into existence their associated properties) that are not known to human being (being possessing mind). Moreover, human being with the aid of his best instrument – mind - cannot know reality existing in its neutral state without its projection into dimensions.
With this article we end the series of articles on Enlightenment. More >
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10 Jan 2006 @ 15:46, by shreepal. Philosophy
Instincts, impulses, desires and all sorts of cravings are the motive-force of creation. These are full of life-energy. Without them there is no reason for life to manifest in varied forms. Though the universe as a whole is an ordered apparatus, without these forces there was no scope for this ordered apparatus to come into being. All beauty, love, passion and urge to go ahead in life emanate from desires, and also all ugliness, hate and dark impulses have their origin in desires.
The raison d'être of the creation ranging from this universe to life in its highest form is desire. If there is no desire there is no reason for life to exist. In human beings, if all traces of desire are eradicated by persistant efforts, as various spiritual disciplines for gaining self-control and mastery over one-self prescribe, the man would not only die like a dry leaf comes off a branch of tree but he would not be born again.
But we find there is this universal creation and therefore there is a wish, a desire that made this creation possible. We associate desire with human being but this force of creation, the force of an urge, is not dependent on any human agency. Though this universal force of creation is received and identified in human beings as desire. This whole universe in its present ordered state is a creation (it is not the creation out of nothing but merely a transformation from one state to another in a cyclic manifestation) and therefore it is driven by desires. The whole Creation is a grand desire. Within this whole there are infinite numbers of self-sustaining and independent constituent parts of desires that are beautifully integrated into this whole. And, not only the grand desire but also these constituent desires that are integrated with this grand urge exist as a hard realty. These have their own world and own rules. These cravings are formed and transformed, and received and transmitted by living creatures, though the creatures themselves merely feel them a part of their own consciousness. Is it true to state that desires exist in universe independent of human beings who feel them? Also, as we have said earlier, is it true to state that thoughts exist in universe independent of human beings who are conscious of them? Let us give an analogy to understand the truth of the matter in this respect. We human beings perceive colours, beautiful and of various hues. Do these colours exist in universe independent of human beings? Yes, they exist. But they do not exist in the form of ‘colours’ as we perceive them. The colours are the corresponding sensations in the bain of human beings of particular frequencies of electromeganetic radiation. Colours exist in nature, though not as colours but a corresponding reality. Our universe is an apparatus that is full of order and logic, if there is a human being to search and sense these harmonious structure. Even if there is no human being there to sense and ‘certify’ this orderliness of universe, it still exists there as a hard reality. Our universe is a beautiful creation that is still continuing to grow. Our desires are its reflection in our consciousness and even if we are not there to feel them, they exist there.
The Desire body of human being is an independent formation and remains interwoven with the physical body during the life-time of human being. After his death, this body is released into a world of Desire-World. After this release, this Desire body remains emotionally attached to the dear ones of the dead person and does not wish to leave the company of these realatives. However, it is not always possible for this Desire body to get connected with the people living in the physical world. Under certain conditions, like receptivity and open willingness of the living dear ones, this body some times gets connected with them. Then, these persons are said to talk with the dead soul (but it is not soul, depending on the definition of soul). This body remains intact in its Desire World for a certain length of time, like we live for certain period in this physical world. Also, some time, this intact body is assimilated completely by a new born baby and then the child ‘remembers’ his past birth.
It is rebirth of desire body, that remained intact under suitable conditions, like strong desires, demands, revenge, love and innumerable other circumstances. The Desire bodies in the Desire-World, spend their appointed lives. Some times, they happen to come into contact with the physical world of human beings, under suitable conditions and they are perceived as ‘strange beings’ by human beings. These beings have real existence. Within ourselves, we all have our such beings. After death, our desire bodies are released into the world of these beings. On completion of its appointed period, the Desire body also gets disintegrated into its constituent elements. These disintegrated elements of desires are again absorbed by growing children in our physical world. Thus the cycle of transformation of desires goes on in nature.
In fact, we ‘receive’ desires, though we feel as if we are desiring. We human beings are meeting place of various forces, desires, thoughts etc. We not only receive desires from other sources, but also we generate and transmit them to others. It is a subject of complexity much more than the the problem of Grand Unifification of Fundamental forces of physical Nature. So far as it is relevant for human beings to understand and utilise their conclusions in day to day life, this subject has been beautifully dealt with by Lord Buddha and Lord Jesus Christ in their prescriptions.
Under certain conditions and in certain places, we sometimes get chocked with certain kind of desire, say desire of hate, or love, as we are simply receiving them as receivers.
As we possess desire body, the great persons (like Jesus Christ, Gautam Buddha etc.), have taught human beings to channelise desires in a particular direction to gain mastery over them and ultimately eradicate them (by dedicating them to certain ideal or other suitable means).
Like physical body, Desire Body also is an instrument of Eternal Element and exists only because there is this Eternal Element. The Desire body is never destroyed, it is simply disintegrated, recycled, absorbed, assimilated and transformed in cyclic manner. More >
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31 Dec 2005 @ 16:26, by shreepal. Philosophy
Does consciousness (of the kinds of mind, desires and bodily senses) exist? How do we know of the "apparent existence" of, say, mind (that is, reason)? What is reason? We human beings (like our inferior cousins, plants, microbes and animals) observe "objective" world around us. We act, being propelled by life (so-called instincts), and "go ahead" by preserving, dealing to dominating, adapting and procreating. This is evolving ourselves in relation to the objective world around us. This is life. But this is not enough to "reason". To be able to "reason" we have to rise a bit higher in the ladder of life. To "reason", we take a portion of the "objective" world around us and isolate this portion from the "unified whole" (of this world). This is separation.
We study the properties of this isolated part and then refit into the whole again. It is like breaking the whole into pieces creating jigsaw puzzle and solving the same by putting them back in different relations. This is unification. The reasoning follows the process of movement from unity to separation to unity again. Or, it may be put this way; we take a setof material objects (with their associated properties that may be likened to floating points of computer technology) and isolate this set from the remainder of the whole universe. It is an incongruous heap or, say, a jumbled world. The incongruity in their interrelation is a "problem" or, say, disorder. We reposition them again and again in their interrelation till congruity is established. Then, the incongruous heap turns into a congruous order of their interrelations. We call it a reason.
The reason is thought. And, this thought, when found to be in congruity with another neighbouring "assembled" thought, is elevated to the dignity of a principle, or even, law.
Here, we do not deal directly with material objects. It is not possible by any means. We deal "concepts" of material objects. Again, here also, neither these concepts contain in them all the (known and unknown) properties of material objects they represent nor they can be isolated from the remainder of the whole universe in their interrelation. Also, as in measuring time we count events and in measuring space we measure the spreadth of matter, in establishing congruity among material objects of nature we establish congruity within our mind. And, yet this congruity among objects of nature has an existence independent of our mind. This congruity, a thought, is a measure of projection of prime reality into a dimension we call consciousness of mind. But, even the thought is not a co-existing equivalent of prime reality. It is merely a projection of prime reality and, therefore, is secondary. Consciousness also has the cubic form of its dimension. Life, desires and mind form these three-pronged projections of reality. All the three remain dormant, like in a frozen state, in the matter, and emerge and manifest under appropriate evolutionary conditions. Being different (specific) measures of projection (of prime reality), time, space and consciousness are "qualitatively" different dimensions from each other. More >
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26 Dec 2005 @ 03:38, by shreepal. Philosophy
Man is exploring the universe. He is able to get out of earth and travel extraterrestrial places. He has touched moon with his hands and peeped into the interiors of universe. Everywhere man has found compounds made of atoms and atoms made of atomic particles. Basically, it is search of physical world and this physical world, so far as he has been able to know, is infinite.
However, he is not going beyond material world in his search. He has no tools to go beyond material world. He is not capable with his mind to go beyond matter. Nature has set a limit to the capacity of human mind, as his mind is not the supreme tool produced by her.
And, Nature has not yet finished her task of producing still better tools of knowledge and she is still at her work of evolution.
Beyond physical world, there are other worlds also and man knows the existence of some of these extraphysical worlds and makes attempts to study them. Behind atomic particles, there is a world of subatomic particles or waves and this world must be having its own shape, rules and place in the scheme of things. Also there is a gravitational world behind all material particles that must be having its own symmetrical structure and place in the universal scheme.
We know that water is a compound of Hydrogen and Oxygen but it is basically different from these two gases. You look at the snowy mountains and compare them with Hydrogen and Oxygen, and you find that they are qualitatively different from each other, though ice is made of these two gases. There is a barrier of quality between the two. One can never experience the reality of ice, by simply having these two gases. Though we know that ice is but a compound of these two gases, these two gases are in themselves nothing but a certain atomic structure of atomic particles. And though these atomic particles are likewise a definite structure of subatomic particles or waves, yet ice, gases, atoms and subatomic particles or waves exist with their separate individual identities.
One can go deep down into the microworld and find independent structures in hierarchy ad infinitum. There is a barrier of quality difference between any two of levels of this hierarchy. Likewise, one can go out in the macroworld and find similar independent structural hierarchy ad infinitum.
Once some scientists thought that with the discovery of atomic particles, the physics will see its end and there will be left nothing in the material science for scientists to discover. But Nature is not that simple. The beauty of Nature is its mystery. It is endless, in structure, in quality and in operation.
It is not only the material plane but also the planes that are beyond it that can be descended into by man, and they are ad infintum. Though none of them is primary, all have their independent identities.
There is a world of desires and impulses that is real with its individual shape, quality and rules.
Also there is a world of thoughts with similar attributes.
And, then there are many more worlds in the scheme of creation. Eastern wisdom accepts the existence of these subtle worlds and its leading lights, like Lord Buddha, Lord Jesus Christ, Milarepa, Nizammuddin, Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo and many countless others, vouschafe the truth of these worlds on the basis of their personal experiences.
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19 Dec 2005 @ 04:57, by shreepal. Philosophy
The apex of evolved life on our earth is manifested in human being and its bottom - the least evolved and primitive form - is found in virus. At the lowest rung of life- ladder, these microscopic organisms are sometimes found to exist and thriving in the extreme climate and difficult conditions. They are also found in human body. Sometimes disease causing viruses get entry through infection in human body. To kill them, doctors fill human body with virus-killiing drugs - antibiotics- in sufficient quantity and for sufficient duration. If the quantity or the duration is' not sufficient enough to kill them completely, then viruses mutate their genetic life-code to evolve themselves -sometimes even in hours - into a new form of life to become drug-resistant.
What takes millions of years for higher life-species like human beings or monkeys to mutate their life-code to evolve themselves in new forms to overcome Nature's hurdles on the path of life, it takes hours and days at the virus' level. Life in its properties at the apex and the bottom is essentially the same. In the kingdom of life man and virus share the same basic qualities.
We know that life has the capacity to meet and overcome challenges to its forward momentum. We may also discover the rule of this forward momentum that is seen in the Darwinian principle of the survival of the fitest and that is nothing but the process of mutation .
But the real question is not how, but why, does Life do so. How do we explain the life's basic urge to go ahead, to sense the hurdle, to find the direction and to evolve into new form to overcome difficulty on its path?
Let us take another phenomenon of nature.
Rivers flow from higher tolower level of ground. If you put boulders in the way of its flow, the water gets collected in the sufficient quantity to break the barrier created by the boulder. We may also discover the rules - action of gravity - explaining how it does so.
But the real question is not how it is done but why the water-flow does so.
Today we know that this is all done due to the universal force of gravity that pulls water from higher to lower level of ground, that is, towards the centre of gravity located within the centre of earth. If you put a boulder sufficiently high in the course of river’s water-flow, water’s flow gets stopped. But that does not mean that there is no force of gravity acting on it or there is no natural tendency of water to flow from the higher to the lower level. We also know today that there is potential gravitational energy stored in the accumulated water. If we weaken the boulder or add more water, the force of gravity would overcome the gravity-barrier and water would again start flowing.
Mountains, high rise buildings, stones put on the ground all have potential gravitational energy or tendency to fall to the centre of gravity within the earth and the moment we remove the intervening barriers between these objects and the acting force, all these objects would collapse to their centre of gravity.
All planets of our solar system - including our earth - and all solar systems within our galaxy have potential energy stored in them with a tendency to fall to their respective centres of gravity - our sun and Milky Way's black hole - but they do not collapse into their respective centres of gravity. It is so because there is an intervening barrier of centrifugal force of elliptical motion stopping them from crashing to their respective centres.
As we all know Black Hole is formed by the process of collapsing of the super dense matter it is made of into itself under the force of its own gravity. It has super gravitational force and acts on the surrounding galaxies by pulling them towards its centre of gravity and the galaxies do not fall into it because they are kept from collapsing by the centrifugal force of their elliptical motion.
Every particle in the universe has potential energy stored in it that tends to act but this movement-oriented tendency is obstructed from happening by natural barriers. The moment the potential energy stored in an object exceeds the counterbalancing force and the barrier is overcome by it, it starts moving towards its centre of gravity - its destination.
How this natural phenomenon is relevant to understand life and its emergence?
Again, let us look at the universal natural forces. There is a scientific dream of understanding the grand unified force acting in the universe. Einstein proposed that all the known forces - gravity, electromagnetic, two nuclear forces - are in fact only the one force manifesting differently in different conditions. Today some of these forces have been unified by understanding their inter relations but the dream of final grand single unified force is yet not achieved. It may be achieved tomorrow. How this unified universal force is relevant to understand life and its emergence?
It is possible for Mind today to conceive that there is life stored in the potential form in every particle of Matter in the universe but some counterbalancing barrier bars its emergence, its manifestation and its forward movement as Life. Wherever this barrier is removed by whatever means and for whatever reason, the life comes out of its potential state and starts moving towards its natural destination, towards its centre of gravity – that is not gravity but in the context acts like gavity calling all life-forms to meet this centre and we see this movement as evolution of life.
Then, further it is also possible to conceive that this just released life-energy has the tendency to march - because now it is not blind movement of matter but conscious march of life - towards her centre of gravity, or better still, towards her Destiny.
As we said, in our mental model the centre of gravity is a symbol of equivalence and has nothing to do with the natural force of gravity; likewise, neither is the stored potential life-energy an amount of stored force of gravity. It is something qualitatively different, of a different dimension, a different plane of existence and a different reality. But, nevertheless, it is a force in real sense of the word. This fundamental universal force is yet to be discovered, detected and harnessed by modern science.
Moreover, it is also possible for human mind to conceive that that centre of life-gravity or life's destination is nothing but part and parcel of the grand unified universal force and that the same is felt differently in different circumstances, inciuding as life under certain conditions.
Only what is required more is bestowing that universal force with the property of consciousness. It does not seem illogical, at least today. It also renders it possible that life may exist extra-terrestrially where barriers for life-emergence have been rendered surpassable by a suitable conditions of (life's) hospitable environment. With the help of this model for understanding Life, it is possible that it may be created artificially even in laboratory by the scientists.
Let modern science - Mind - make its toils and take its time to discover it in its own favourite way.
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16 Dec 2005 @ 13:22, by shreepal. Philosophy
Let's go further to find what we know and have an inkling of what lays ahead beyond our frontiers of knowledge.
Let us look at our universe. The most distant objects in universe we know are more than 13 billion light years away from Earth, that is, light take~ 13 billion years to reach them moving with its speed of about 300,000 kilometres per second. It is a huge distance. Astronomers have found that all galaxies, comprising stars and their associated orbiting planets, are running away from one another. This makes us to come to the conclusion that at some point of time in past they all were close together. How much close together were they? Physicists tell us that at the initial stage they all were converged on a single point in the form of a superdense clump of matter, a condition of matter that is named Black Hole. At that stage, this superdense clumped matter was contained within narrow radius. This combined matter of the whole universe, pulled by its own gravity, further squeezed into a very small space that is determined by the scientific principle known as the Chandrashekhar Limit. The mass of this matter produced a huge gravitational force that did not allow anything, not even light, to escape its surface, and hence it is named Black Hole. This collapsing of matter into itself under the force of its own gravity produced an internal pressure that tried to push Black Hole's matter outward. In this process, the first stage was when the gravitational force was more than the internal pressure, the second one was when both the forces became equal and balanced each other, and the third one was reached when the force of internal pressure exceeded the gravitational force. At that point there came a Big Bang exploding the massive clump. This happened in a split second, and with this our universe came into existence and its time began.
Since then, estimated by scientists to have taken place 15 billion years ago, clusters of chunks of matter, that we call galaxies of stars and planets, are rushing outward away from the centre of explosion. This is the model of expanding universe, which is familiarly explained as clusters of galaxies being dots on an expanding balloon.
Alexander Friedmann and Abbe Georges Lemaitre originally proposed this model of expanding universe in 1920s and George Gamow and colleagues developed its modern version in the 1940s. One of the current problems of Cosmogony being studied by scientists is the amount of matter in the universe. They have based their calculations on such things as the rate of the motion of galaxies and came to realise that there is some 90% more matter in the universe than can be seen. The matter that can be observed is termed as 'bright matter' and the other remaining 90% matter is termed as 'dark matter' by them. Whether or not this dark matter is of a kind different from the one of which our world is constituted, we do not know.
With the explosion of Big Bang, was the entire amount of matter contained in Black Hole was thrown out and set on an outward journey of expanding universe? Or was there some amount of matter still left, which, with the internal pressure now released and gone, was captured back by the left out remnants of the erstwhile Black Hole?
Let us come to our familiar model of expanding balloon with dots on its surface. In this balloon, there is an outward expansion of its surface, and of dots lying on this surface. If we observe these dots from the centre of the balloon, all of them are moving away not only from the centre but also from each other. If they go on expanding in this manner, they would be distancing forever from each other and be destined never to meet again. Suppose these dots are able to crawl towards each other on the surface of this expanding balloon (under the force of gravitational attraction) and, as they come cioser to each other, they rush to meet each other headlong with a velocity more than that of expansion. How would they look if observed from the centre of the balloon? To us they would still look running away from each other. And, how would they look if we change our location from the centre of the balloon to that of a dot and, while sitting inside it, observe the surrounding dots? Then, the nearby dots would be approaching us. However, in the case of a balloon we can change our position as we like, but in the case of universe we cannot do so. Obviously, the difference in results of our two observations has been caused by the change of our frame of reference.
Today, it is possible to conceive that Nature is an ocean of universal unifiedfield of fundamental energy wherein wave-particle structures are formed inside it as a result of some disturbance in its equilibrium state. This inside within the ocean is creation and this creation is self-contained world that may behave as the surface of a balloon. On the surface of this balloon, galaxies may seem running away from each other, if seen from somewhere in its centre and they may seem coming closer to each other, if seen from somewhere near the periphery of the balloon.
If such a thing exists there in the real Nature, how our universe would look like? Then, all the galaxies in universe, which are receding from each other from our point of view, would come together and meet at single point, though they would not descend back to the original point of Black Hole where Big Bang had occurred. Then, all the matter of universe coming together at some new point of space and time, a new Black Hole and new Big Bang would take place. Would it not look like planting a new seedling every time at a new place and time in universe, by the force that is? There is no repetition of anything here, the concept of eternity is raised to still higher level and freshness is imparted to the whole process. More >
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11 Dec 2005 @ 06:44, by shreepal. Philosophy
Mind is the sole light. Reason is the only test of right or wrong. Truth is the supreme object of search but it can only be revealed by reason. Mind searches around for truth of the existence and gives its judgement. With the development of science, we go on knowing more. Science is based on mind and reason. In its highest flight, mind gives light about itself. Mind tells that as we depend on body senses to get data of world around us and the human mind processes this data, what we get is the result of the mind's processing, and this result may have some part of the subjective adulteration of mind. There is an unbridgeable gap between the world as it actually exists in itself and the world, as we know of it as the result of our processing. There is no way to bridge this gap through mental means.
Reason & desires
Mind and science, which is dependent on it, observe and analyse the world around us. As a result we get that exists is matter and by analysis we get the laws of nature. These two things are the fundamental truths. Whatever contradicts these two things is false. It is legitimate and morally justified knowing the world in this manner by mind and act on its conclusions. By using mind, we know that exists is material. Material world is vast and to know its extent, nature, property it is necessary to explore the material world. To know the truth, we should explore outer space, interior of atom, look inside the genes, and penetrate the earth and oceans. Whatever knowledge we get out of this exploration, we should use in the cause of human beings comforts.
Our body is made up of not only the mind but also the sense organs. Body requires its demands to be met. It is morally justified to meet the demands of body. We know by analyzing by our mind that it is better alternative to co-exist by meeting demands of maximum numbers of people to the maximum extant than to meet all demand of a single person to the maximum and risk mutual conflict and destruction. So demands should be met within reasonable limit so as to avoid the conflict. If the conflict may be managed or averted, it is justified to meet the demands of a person or a group of persons to the maximum. To meet the bodily demands of human beings, it is necessary to produce the means of satisfaction of these demands. It is morally justified to produce the means of comfort to the maximum. For economic development it is necessary, as economic science tells us, to create more demands of people even by artificial methods like advertisements and then to meet such inflated demands by offering them items of comforts (manufactured goods). This creates an interdependent chain of cause and effect of consumption, lower cost of production by producing more, use of technologies so as to reduce dependence of human work-force, elimination of weaker manufacturer by resorting to competition so as to reduce cost of production and price etc. To create the climate of free demand, free supply, free production of the things needed, democracy is the most suitable political system. It is morally justified to consume more. It is morally justified to make people aware of their needs that were non-existent or lay dormant by advertisement and to maximise their consumption.
Consuming man: An Ideal Society
It is reasonable and moral to spread this model around the world so that maximum human being may get the benefit of this comfort-oriented model of way of life. It is reasonable that this model should be extended from local areas to national levels, from national to international level. All means should be used to ensure that this model defeats the alternative models, if found it contradicting in any part of the world. Therefore, it is reasonable and morally justified for the leaders of society to gear it towards consumerism.
In this pursuit, it is morally justified to resort technology to reduce dependence on human labour. Advertisement may be resorted to create needs of people that lay dormant. There is no wrong in elimination of weak by strong to make goods of comfort cheap. Since this is an ideal model of society, there is no wrong in the use of force against those who do not subscribe or conform to these ideals to make sure that this social model survives at the international level.
There is no moral wrong in pursuing a national and global system wherein entire world's natural resources may be used in sustainable manner to meet the inflated and unsatiatable desires of human beings. It is economic development of man. If in the process monopoly of natural resources in the hands of a few persons is created, and war among nations is fought in defence of this social order, there is nothing wrong in it so long as the troublesome things are planned and managed by mind. More >
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3 Dec 2005 @ 16:00, by shreepal. Philosophy
The innermost being of man is always thirsty for something that is yet unknown to him. This inner core of his existence always spurs him to move on in quest of the unknown. In his quest for the unknown, man is able to formulate and put straight questions to him, and seek answer to them. And more than that, he is able to wonder. This, his unique ability, alone has propelled humankind's civilizations on an ever higher trajectory and this has enabled it to reach dizzying height where it is today.
The very existence of world is a great wonder. Every thing in this world is wonderful and, among all these things, life is wonder of all wonders. And, the crown of life, human being, is the greatest of all these wonders.
All these things, when pondered over by man, raise serious questions about them. The more man becomes enlightened, the more questions arise for his attention. Why, and how, did he usurp the place of the sole leader of an earthly caravan of varied life forms? Why his caravan is solitary, as far as he knows, in an unfathomable universe? Where this earthly caravan of life's evolution is heading for? We put questions to ourselves to seek answer about all these things but still we do not put enough questions. We remain primarily and for most of our lifetime pre-occupied with ourselves, - making provisions for our food, cloths, pleasures and petty needs, and our thoughts remain centered on them and acts remain guided by these motives.
Putting question is the secret key for opening the gates of the unknown. Every question, howsoever insignificant it might be, if put with diligence and investigated with due earnestness for an answer, makes a discovery. For example, you ask why is the sun the way it is, always shining and spreading light all around? You search for the answer and you find the nuclear fusion. You ask, why do apples fall from tree down to the ground only and not go above and you make the discovery of gravity. The greatest quality of human mind is to experience wonder, wonder at things and at the way they are, and wonder at the mystery behind all that exist and at the amazing phenomena behind all this creation. Human mind is his sole powerhouse that propels his development, his civilisation and his evolution.
Man is at the apex of life-evolution on earth. He has mind capable of wondering and questioning. It is worthy of him to wonder, to question and to seek answers. A civilisation that encourages human being to seek pleasure in and remain satisfied with his self-indulgences is below the dignity and esteem of mankind, of the leader of life evolution on earth. Man has risen above animal and its kingdom's rules by his persistent struggle with himself. He has come out of his self-indulgent animal existence by evolving mind and putting questions. He has to go forward, and not backward, on life's evolutionary path. More >
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