As my scheduled flight to US is only 48 hours away, though its difficult to admit, I am feeling very much homesick. Though I was away for two years at Bangalore (managing only 3 trips to home in two years) and at Pune for two more years, I never really got that kinda feeling.
Home is where heart is!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
sigh !
I happen to know few "special" children, though not directly but through my family. A slight thought of them makes me highly uncomfortable and upset, which I am now.
Forget the lofty aims of understanding universe and ourselves, even if science succeeds in healing the agonies of such people I'd say it has done its bit.
sigh! :(
Forget the lofty aims of understanding universe and ourselves, even if science succeeds in healing the agonies of such people I'd say it has done its bit.
sigh! :(
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Brain and Consciousness
"Lofty questions about the mind are fascinating to ask - philosophers have been asking them for three millennia both in my native India and in the West - but it is only in the brain we can eventually hope to find the answers."
- VS Ramachandran, author of "A Brief Tour to Consciousness" and a neuroscientist by profession at UCSD.
Its a highly gripping book I read recently. It is neither deeply technical nor very philosophical. A very down-to-earth book connecting brain and consciousness through a series of anecdotes.
I am really glad that the book affirmed my views that abstract philosophical discussions are of very little use. You can also infer from the book that we should actually know about the things like pain, happiness, sorrow, emotions, desire and so on before we discuss them vehemently. A sentence like "desire is the root cause of all sorrow" doesn't mean much unless we know what desire and sorrow physically are and why they are what they are.
I am not denying spirituality or philosophy here. Any myth or spiritual philosophy is an honorable attempt of human beings to justify their lives with the limited information they have. But I think there comes a point when any branch of knowledge comes to a dead end. After that point, it can progress only after exchanging information with other branches of knowledge. And perhaps it is time for spiritual philosophy to exchange information with neuroscience. No use of engaging in word games.
I am glad of having developed a more than passive interest in neuroscience in past few months.
- VS Ramachandran, author of "A Brief Tour to Consciousness" and a neuroscientist by profession at UCSD.
Its a highly gripping book I read recently. It is neither deeply technical nor very philosophical. A very down-to-earth book connecting brain and consciousness through a series of anecdotes.
I am really glad that the book affirmed my views that abstract philosophical discussions are of very little use. You can also infer from the book that we should actually know about the things like pain, happiness, sorrow, emotions, desire and so on before we discuss them vehemently. A sentence like "desire is the root cause of all sorrow" doesn't mean much unless we know what desire and sorrow physically are and why they are what they are.
I am not denying spirituality or philosophy here. Any myth or spiritual philosophy is an honorable attempt of human beings to justify their lives with the limited information they have. But I think there comes a point when any branch of knowledge comes to a dead end. After that point, it can progress only after exchanging information with other branches of knowledge. And perhaps it is time for spiritual philosophy to exchange information with neuroscience. No use of engaging in word games.
I am glad of having developed a more than passive interest in neuroscience in past few months.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Lessons....
So this is a cliched idea for a blog post (but who cares?). I left my first job on 15th July after nearly spending two years. It was my first time to deal with "professional" world. And it indeed did teach me few things -
1. An hour for you everyday keeps you happy and if you really want to do it, you'll find time for you *anyway*.
2. At any moment of distress, remember "this moment will pass". Talk to your roommates and friends. They are the real stress-busters.
3. Its better to spend some of the "browsing breaks" on something else other than social-networks.
4. To err is human. Be little lenient to others. Who knows, you may go wrong some day.
5. Instead of having "I-am-concerned-with-only-my-work" attitude, discuss ideas with others and let others discuss their ideas with you.
6. Identify your most creative time of the day and try to make the most of it.
1. An hour for you everyday keeps you happy and if you really want to do it, you'll find time for you *anyway*.
2. At any moment of distress, remember "this moment will pass". Talk to your roommates and friends. They are the real stress-busters.
3. Its better to spend some of the "browsing breaks" on something else other than social-networks.
4. To err is human. Be little lenient to others. Who knows, you may go wrong some day.
5. Instead of having "I-am-concerned-with-only-my-work" attitude, discuss ideas with others and let others discuss their ideas with you.
6. Identify your most creative time of the day and try to make the most of it.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Did they miss the point?
Yesterday on google buzz I had posted a news from Times of India - 12 years boy raped an older girl in Delhi. I posted it saying that its a most depressing news I have ever read.
To my surprise, in addition to some frivolous comments, I was also asked what was so shocking in the news and why it was depressing.
To me it was shocking because its something far far beyond my wild expectations of what should happen in the world. Things will happen which I do not expect but this was far beyond the limit I was prepared for. But why was it depressing? Thats the point I'd like to make here.
Of course the world is almost always raw and cruel. But it does not mean we want it to be raw and cruel. We want to make it better. And the good people are putting their every bit of effort to make it better. It was depressing for me because it made me feel such efforts are falling terribly short. That was the point. Now some may say that one incidence does not reflect the fact. But sometimes more-than-bewildering incidents have a power to cause a huge emotional upset.
If even such a terrible news is not shocking (and/or depressing) to people, well, its their choice! To me, if such a news is shocking (and depressing) then it tells me that I am not yet emotionally dead.
To my surprise, in addition to some frivolous comments, I was also asked what was so shocking in the news and why it was depressing.
To me it was shocking because its something far far beyond my wild expectations of what should happen in the world. Things will happen which I do not expect but this was far beyond the limit I was prepared for. But why was it depressing? Thats the point I'd like to make here.
Of course the world is almost always raw and cruel. But it does not mean we want it to be raw and cruel. We want to make it better. And the good people are putting their every bit of effort to make it better. It was depressing for me because it made me feel such efforts are falling terribly short. That was the point. Now some may say that one incidence does not reflect the fact. But sometimes more-than-bewildering incidents have a power to cause a huge emotional upset.
If even such a terrible news is not shocking (and/or depressing) to people, well, its their choice! To me, if such a news is shocking (and depressing) then it tells me that I am not yet emotionally dead.
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