Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic - Arthur C. Clarke .
When you watch a movie , even though it is just a seamless integration of the red, blue and green color pixels of different textures, we will perceive them with the characters of the movie and feel the emotions of the characters. The characters in the movies think and act rationally, emotionally still nothing of that was actual reality.
Now take the same and apply it to the reality ,when I first read that Idea I thought it was a crazy and stupid Idea But after reading the following research from the Newscientist ( http://www.mindpowernews.com/Hologram.htm or http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126911.300-our-world-may-be-a-giant-hologram.html (which needs subscription) ) now I think its only a crazy idea and may be not as stupid idea as i think it was. This research tells actually we may be some kind of projected holographic images which seems absurd .
I first read this theory in different forms in Scott adams books, Douglas adams books and to some extent in Inception and matrix movies.Even though it looks impossible to believe , think if we are in 1500's and someone tells us that the earth is revolving around sun and we are attached to it by a fevicol called gravitational force we may think it as a stupid idea but it turned out to be truth , So I am just giving a benefit of doubt to this theory.
After reading this I felt that reality it self is much more complicated than the inceptions shown in Inception or Matrix.
Friday 31 December 2010
Saturday 18 December 2010
Democracy - Unplugged
Read the following blog carefully as it will save a lot of time for you in the future especially when you are involved in any arguments..
Success of Democracy mainly depends on the people collectivity making right choice as well as correcting the mistakes that were made. But when people have a wrong perception(ideology) about anything which is not based on facts . You expect them to change their mind when you bring on the facts to their notice . This is the main point for any of us having a discussions with others.But the studies suggest that whenever you say any fact which contradicts the ideology of others, instead of changing their mind on that issue, it simply reinforces the belief they already have(which is wrong and contradicting to the fact you said) . I personally know so many people who believes Obama is a muslim and I can see that number of people who believe that is increasing even the facts suggest otherwise.now go through the following link, which explains the studies done on the same.http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080924-does-ideology-trump-facts-studies-say-it-often-does.html (Uffff I strengthened the belief of the people who think Obama is muslim by contradicting their views:().So next time when some one says the things which are rubbish, save your time by not arguing and reinforcing their beliefs.
Second study is also on the same lines. As I explained in one of my previous blog human beings take decision first and then try to find a reason for supporting the same.So they randomly choose to vote for someone ( or support something) and then try to find a reason for the same . Once the people programmed to think in a particular way its almost impossible to change their thinking no matter how much irrational they are and how many facts you give to support your argument. Every day we see a lot of debates in news channels and even we involve in many discussions but I rarely see any of the participant agreeing to the opponents view. You may think the watchers may be benefiting from this but you will be disappointed even from that as mostly the audience take only the things to reinforce the beliefs they already have(communist will read only communist literature and capitalist will read only capitalist literature etc or take the parts which are useful to them). So if any of you think that discussions on NEWS channels are useful (apart from making money to the the channel) for the country and watchers may be need to rethink. Also I think we can help ourself by saving time on watching the discussions.Now go through the link below http://www.salon.com/env/mind_reader/2008/09/22/voter_choice/index.html?site_design=grapenuts
These studies conducted in US which is having better informed people so the results in India would have been much worse.
( The original blog from which, I inspired (ok copied :)) this is hidden some where in the blog find it to have more fun.)
Success of Democracy mainly depends on the people collectivity making right choice as well as correcting the mistakes that were made. But when people have a wrong perception(ideology) about anything which is not based on facts . You expect them to change their mind when you bring on the facts to their notice . This is the main point for any of us having a discussions with others.But the studies suggest that whenever you say any fact which contradicts the ideology of others, instead of changing their mind on that issue, it simply reinforces the belief they already have(which is wrong and contradicting to the fact you said) . I personally know so many people who believes Obama is a muslim and I can see that number of people who believe that is increasing even the facts suggest otherwise.now go through the following link, which explains the studies done on the same.http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080924-does-ideology-trump-facts-studies-say-it-often-does.html (Uffff I strengthened the belief of the people who think Obama is muslim by contradicting their views:().So next time when some one says the things which are rubbish, save your time by not arguing and reinforcing their beliefs.
Second study is also on the same lines. As I explained in one of my previous blog human beings take decision first and then try to find a reason for supporting the same.So they randomly choose to vote for someone ( or support something) and then try to find a reason for the same . Once the people programmed to think in a particular way its almost impossible to change their thinking no matter how much irrational they are and how many facts you give to support your argument. Every day we see a lot of debates in news channels and even we involve in many discussions but I rarely see any of the participant agreeing to the opponents view. You may think the watchers may be benefiting from this but you will be disappointed even from that as mostly the audience take only the things to reinforce the beliefs they already have(communist will read only communist literature and capitalist will read only capitalist literature etc or take the parts which are useful to them). So if any of you think that discussions on NEWS channels are useful (apart from making money to the the channel) for the country and watchers may be need to rethink. Also I think we can help ourself by saving time on watching the discussions.Now go through the link below http://www.salon.com/env/mind_reader/2008/09/22/voter_choice/index.html?site_design=grapenuts
These studies conducted in US which is having better informed people so the results in India would have been much worse.
( The original blog from which, I inspired (ok copied :)) this is hidden some where in the blog find it to have more fun.)
Saturday 11 December 2010
Inflation - The Zimbabwe way
Think that you worked hard for 10 years and saved some Lacs of money and unfortunately you got a stupid government (say like CPI which cant be ruled out completely ) and the inflation touched 11,200,000% as it did in Zimbabwe in 2008 (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/08/19/zimbabwe.inflation/index.html) all our life savings will be sufficient to buy say 20-30 kgs of rice. If you imagine someone who started saving money in Zimbabwe around 1990's and didn't have proper financial intelligence (or did not have a intelligent friend like me) would have been in a terrible state in 2007-08.Even if we did everything right from our side our Government can screw us big time by deflating the value of the currency.So I just want to give a basic knowledge on inflation in this blog.
Generally all the central banks encourage moderate inflation (5-10%) by various tools so that people will circulate money by spending or investing which will create employment.So if you take 10 years from now almost all the prices will be more than double as that was the primary job of the RBI.So if you keep money in banks or insurance policies most probably you will become poorer(may be not as poor as in Zimbabwe :)) compared to what you are today.
The currency note is just a paper with some ink markings ,what it can buy (read value) completely depends on our economy and and our government So instead of blindly believing on the government we should try to de-riskify our-self by creating assets(like equity or real-estate) which can offset the inflation or we should follow this to slove our problem http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-09-16/
Friday 10 December 2010
Programed souls
(I loved the following blog from rgvzoomin.com and want to share with you all)
The French philosopher Baruch Spinoza said “If you throw a stone into the air and if the stone has consciousness it will think it’s flying as per its own wish”.
It’s incredible how many of us are so programmed to feel an emotion so strongly even without ever understanding the fundamental basics of why we feel that emotion. The first time I took notice of this is when me and a friend of mine went to watch a film and in the newsreel which came before the film started, as was the practice during those days, a shot of Subash Chandra Bose came. My friend immediately got up and clapped loudly and whistled. He told me that his hair rises when he sees Subash Chandra Bose. I asked him what he knew about Subash Chandra Bose and he said he is a freedom fighter who in opposition to Gandhi, believed in violent action. I asked him what fights did actually Mr.Bose fight? He didn’t know. Then I asked him what he thought of Hitler? To which he said Hitler is a Bastard. Then I asked if it would surprise him to know that Mr.Bose was trying to become an ally of Hitler as the British who were ruling us at that time were an enemy of Hitler. He was thoroughly confused and I was sure that the next time he sees Mr.Bose his hair will not rise as much.
Here the point is not about what Mr.Bose’s contribution was which I myself am ignorant of but it’s about how my friend could be programmed to feel that emotion so strongly without him knowing an iota about Mr.Bose and worse he didn’t even bother about knowing.
Now that I put a doubt in his mind, instead of trying to understand what exactly his idol Mr.Bose is about, he just started following me in whatever I say and just wanted to be programmed by me, meaning listening to and believing in whatever I say thereby making me his idol… Thanks.
On another occasion I was speaking to a guy who is so compassionate about every living being. He could not stop talking about kindness towards animals. I asked him what if he was given an offer, that if he kills a dog he will be given a lakh of rupees. He said “No way”. I said what if it is 10 lakhs. He said “No”. Then I asked him if he would be willing to kill a guy who is willing to kill the dog for a lakh of rupees. After some hesitation he said “No, because the man is a living being too”. I asked him if he meant he just loves them for having life and it does not matter what they are doing with their life. He said yes. In other words does he love both Gandhi and Hitler equally to which he got confused and I said that in case he will not kill the man in spite of him doing what he is doing then does it mean that he has no disparity between living beings irrespective of the actions of what he or she or it is doing in life and if that is not the case then he should naturally choose to kill the man who is killing the dog, because the dog is innocent and the man is the killer.
Grudgingly after some thought he said yes he will kill the man. Then I asked him what if the man who is killing the dog for that 1 lakh actually needs the money for the treatment of his dying child. Then would he kill the child to save the dog or let the dog be killed to save the child or will he kill the man and let the child die, and if he will opt to let the man kill the dog to save the child, then how is it justified for him to claim that he has the same compassion for all living beings? And what if he has prior knowledge somehow that the child would grow up to be a really bad guy and the dog would be very good and faithful. Then how does he make the choice?
As my questioning was going on and on and on his anger kept growing and growing and at one time I felt he will leave the child, the man and the dog and kill me instead. So I abandoned my de-programming project and left him in haste.
The reason he and lots of others would not see logic and understand an analysis is that if they really got the point of what I am saying it will almost erase their identity and whatever they have built up till then in their lives and they would be left with a vacant mind which they cannot afford. So they start defending their beliefs violently shutting off all sanity and that’s how radicals are born.
In another instance to a guy who was claiming to be very patriotic and who hates Pakistan and who keeps saying that he is ready to die for the country, I asked him what if a very reliable survey gives findings that all Pakistani’s are very nice guys and all Indian’s are very selfish Bastards, what would he do then? I asked him, “When you say you love India what do you love exactly? If it’s the people you love, can you tell me the names of just 50 people in this country who you love so very much and for whom you are ready to die for? Or is it that you love the dirty roads or the corrupt system which you keep bitching about all the time? If you do not want to die for any one single man in particular or any one single element in India, do you even begin to understand consciously what you mean when you say you will die for INDIA? And if in a War, if India takes over Pakistan and joins it in India will you then love Pakistan too? In actuality how many Pakistani’s do you know to hate them?” By the end of this barrage of questions he took a long long pause and asked me hesitantly if I didn’t love India. I gave up.
I believe that we all are constantly programmed to feel a certain emotion, feel righteous, feel guilty, feel committed, feel grateful etc for a certain intended social and religious objective. We don’t even question the intention of the objective and blindly respond to it and due to that constantly get victimized by the negative effects of that programming. But I believe that if we question and re-question the feelings that are generated in us we can still follow the set rules of society but without getting programed in the head.
The French philosopher Baruch Spinoza said “If you throw a stone into the air and if the stone has consciousness it will think it’s flying as per its own wish”.
It’s incredible how many of us are so programmed to feel an emotion so strongly even without ever understanding the fundamental basics of why we feel that emotion. The first time I took notice of this is when me and a friend of mine went to watch a film and in the newsreel which came before the film started, as was the practice during those days, a shot of Subash Chandra Bose came. My friend immediately got up and clapped loudly and whistled. He told me that his hair rises when he sees Subash Chandra Bose. I asked him what he knew about Subash Chandra Bose and he said he is a freedom fighter who in opposition to Gandhi, believed in violent action. I asked him what fights did actually Mr.Bose fight? He didn’t know. Then I asked him what he thought of Hitler? To which he said Hitler is a Bastard. Then I asked if it would surprise him to know that Mr.Bose was trying to become an ally of Hitler as the British who were ruling us at that time were an enemy of Hitler. He was thoroughly confused and I was sure that the next time he sees Mr.Bose his hair will not rise as much.
Here the point is not about what Mr.Bose’s contribution was which I myself am ignorant of but it’s about how my friend could be programmed to feel that emotion so strongly without him knowing an iota about Mr.Bose and worse he didn’t even bother about knowing.
Now that I put a doubt in his mind, instead of trying to understand what exactly his idol Mr.Bose is about, he just started following me in whatever I say and just wanted to be programmed by me, meaning listening to and believing in whatever I say thereby making me his idol… Thanks.
On another occasion I was speaking to a guy who is so compassionate about every living being. He could not stop talking about kindness towards animals. I asked him what if he was given an offer, that if he kills a dog he will be given a lakh of rupees. He said “No way”. I said what if it is 10 lakhs. He said “No”. Then I asked him if he would be willing to kill a guy who is willing to kill the dog for a lakh of rupees. After some hesitation he said “No, because the man is a living being too”. I asked him if he meant he just loves them for having life and it does not matter what they are doing with their life. He said yes. In other words does he love both Gandhi and Hitler equally to which he got confused and I said that in case he will not kill the man in spite of him doing what he is doing then does it mean that he has no disparity between living beings irrespective of the actions of what he or she or it is doing in life and if that is not the case then he should naturally choose to kill the man who is killing the dog, because the dog is innocent and the man is the killer.
Grudgingly after some thought he said yes he will kill the man. Then I asked him what if the man who is killing the dog for that 1 lakh actually needs the money for the treatment of his dying child. Then would he kill the child to save the dog or let the dog be killed to save the child or will he kill the man and let the child die, and if he will opt to let the man kill the dog to save the child, then how is it justified for him to claim that he has the same compassion for all living beings? And what if he has prior knowledge somehow that the child would grow up to be a really bad guy and the dog would be very good and faithful. Then how does he make the choice?
As my questioning was going on and on and on his anger kept growing and growing and at one time I felt he will leave the child, the man and the dog and kill me instead. So I abandoned my de-programming project and left him in haste.
The reason he and lots of others would not see logic and understand an analysis is that if they really got the point of what I am saying it will almost erase their identity and whatever they have built up till then in their lives and they would be left with a vacant mind which they cannot afford. So they start defending their beliefs violently shutting off all sanity and that’s how radicals are born.
In another instance to a guy who was claiming to be very patriotic and who hates Pakistan and who keeps saying that he is ready to die for the country, I asked him what if a very reliable survey gives findings that all Pakistani’s are very nice guys and all Indian’s are very selfish Bastards, what would he do then? I asked him, “When you say you love India what do you love exactly? If it’s the people you love, can you tell me the names of just 50 people in this country who you love so very much and for whom you are ready to die for? Or is it that you love the dirty roads or the corrupt system which you keep bitching about all the time? If you do not want to die for any one single man in particular or any one single element in India, do you even begin to understand consciously what you mean when you say you will die for INDIA? And if in a War, if India takes over Pakistan and joins it in India will you then love Pakistan too? In actuality how many Pakistani’s do you know to hate them?” By the end of this barrage of questions he took a long long pause and asked me hesitantly if I didn’t love India. I gave up.
I believe that we all are constantly programmed to feel a certain emotion, feel righteous, feel guilty, feel committed, feel grateful etc for a certain intended social and religious objective. We don’t even question the intention of the objective and blindly respond to it and due to that constantly get victimized by the negative effects of that programming. But I believe that if we question and re-question the feelings that are generated in us we can still follow the set rules of society but without getting programed in the head.
Sunday 5 December 2010
Serendipity - II
(In my previous blog I thought of writing something else and as always carried away to something else.So I want to continue it here.)
After attending the session at BSE I formed a theory that some times we should do the things which looks no good at all, as occasionally we may experience the serendipity of discovering some thing interesting.
Before joining Infosys I thought I cant stay more than a year in it as I personally don't like companies which restricts employees attire or anything else. But my stay in Infy was really a pleasant surprise ,it probably is the best part in my career in many ways. In the same way most of the time when I plan perfectly and try to do that it may end up as a disaster.So the better thing would be to try as many things as possible and continue what ever works the best. And also whenever you find something is not working we should be able to stop doing that instead of emotionally getting attached to it.
Because of this theory many times I will commit to do things which i don't like to do and many times they turn out exactly as expected :( but when they work it usually pay off for the things which didn't work
After attending the session at BSE I formed a theory that some times we should do the things which looks no good at all, as occasionally we may experience the serendipity of discovering some thing interesting.
Before joining Infosys I thought I cant stay more than a year in it as I personally don't like companies which restricts employees attire or anything else. But my stay in Infy was really a pleasant surprise ,it probably is the best part in my career in many ways. In the same way most of the time when I plan perfectly and try to do that it may end up as a disaster.So the better thing would be to try as many things as possible and continue what ever works the best. And also whenever you find something is not working we should be able to stop doing that instead of emotionally getting attached to it.
Because of this theory many times I will commit to do things which i don't like to do and many times they turn out exactly as expected :( but when they work it usually pay off for the things which didn't work
Saturday 4 December 2010
Serendipity
“ Since all human actions obey laws, as fixed as those of geometry, psychology should be studied in geometrical form, and with mathematical objectivity”-Spinoza
In one of the session at BSE the instructor told that 'when I look at 2+2=4 I wont feel neither happy nor sad ,I wont wish that it should be more or something else'. As I was not interested in the subject he was telling (Technical analysis) I tried to take the impression to him and whatever he was telling . I tried to hate and dismiss it but I was not able to leave that thought for 2-3 days .Then it stuck me as a pleasant surprise. That thought taught me about looking at the things objectively more that any thing else and I think that was the best lesson I learnt from the whole course .
Everybody criticize and abuse politicians and bureaucrats for taking bribes but if our relative works in income tax, revenue or railways we will consider all that money as a legitimate earnings ( which is evident from the huge devories they get).Most of the people accept that terrorism is evil but if you take in south tamilnadu many people support LTTE and in many states many people support naxalites and extremists when it is useful for them.
If I say ' mera bharat mahan' is a stupid slogan and India is not great in any way, say compared to America many people instead of objectively thinking on what basis we can call India is great , FEEL bad about it and try to take false pride on the saying it.In the same way if someone say most of the sharukh movies are dumb all sharukh fans will feel bad and others feel happy instead of thinking about the fact objectively.
So Whenever we face any problem or take decision we should think objectively ,statistically and mathematically towards solution , instead of mixing feeling's with it.
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