The Happenings of 2010

1. 22 hours nonstop.
2. 2 good midsems and 1 impulsive call.
3. The InsIghT Job
4. In the line of duty - Public enemies.
5. The good life @ Bangalore and the Chennai Connection
6. The 5 friend (?) bitchy group therapy session and the aftermath.
7. The Scrabble Kid
8. 55!
9. Ghosts of recent past never let go!
10. 15000 at wIIT's end!
11. No SPI for old men!
12. Return of the consults: The usual suspects!
13. UT - Rekindling the old flame
14. MI Confidential - Inglourious Basterds!
15. Gone with the christmas wind
16. The useless sympathy wave!

Religion - The Most Ingenious Invention Ever !!!

Ah! This is one touchy topic I am flirting with. Soon theists all over the world might be issuing 'fatwas', in my name and on my head. But this is one cheap publicity stunt I should be able to pull off considering much more scandalous stuff is being pulled off by Saif and Kareena! But as someone said (don't know if he was a theist or atheist) "No Risk No Gain". I need some publicity for my under-performing blog before it starts earning me some bread for my breakfast. And why should not I be able to achieve what I want, considering BJP could win a whole election on a simple religious concept as 'Hindutva'? The more demeaning I am, the greater would be the publicity. Who gives a damn if it is negative in nature? There's no negative or positive in publicity - it's plain and simple publicity.

But on a more serious note, to me it's all blasphemy - the pretext of an intelligent superhuman being's existence who created the world and also planted all the evidence about natural evolution so that we may never be able to prove his existence. Hindu mythology though more rich is more illogical with all its myths and with the tales of humans having existed for millions of years when overwhelming evidence exists suggesting that humans did not evolve until much later. Parody religions exist all over the world which make fun of this concept. One of the interesting ones is The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. They worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster and their system of beliefs is called 'Pastafarianism'. The religion was founded in 2005 by Bobby Henderson to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. In an open letter sent to the education board, Henderson parodies the concept of an intelligent designer by professing belief in a supernatural creator called the Flying Spaghetti Monster which resembles spaghetti and meatballs. He furthermore calls for the "Pastafarian" theory of creation to be taught in science classrooms. Because intelligent design implies the existence of an intelligent, but not necessarily omnipotent or omniscient designer, some, like Henderson, argued that this designer could, in fact, be anything imaginable. I agree with Henderson's views on religion but at the same time feel that religion is the most important invention of mankind ever and cannot be done away with. Why do I feel so will be something I will get back to after a word on the beliefs of Pastafarians. ;)


The central belief is that there is an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster, who created the entire universe "after drinking heavily." The Monster's intoxication was supposedly the cause for a flawed earth. All evidence for evolution was planted by the Flying Spaghetti Monster, in an effort to test Pastafarians' faith — a form of the Omphalos hypothesis. When scientific measurements, such as radiocarbon dating, are made, the Flying Spaghetti Monster "is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage." The Pastafarian belief of heaven stresses that it contains beer volcanoes and a stripper factory. Hell is similar, except that the beer is stale, and the strippers have VD.

However the importance of religion and faith is not just because a sizable population of the world employ themselves through religious activities or because faith is the only thing many people have. These are some very important contributions of religion to this world. But its a thing of psychology. Had religion not existed we would not have felt its absence despite the above two reasons. But we cannot ignore the fact that religion is The Most Important And Powerful Law And Order Enforcing Authority In The World. It does the work of police and is better at it. With concepts such as heaven and hell and an omnipotent, omnipresent authority who judges each individual's actions in afterlife, religion gives rise to morals and conscience. And it is these morals that serve as an individual's book of laws while conscience is each individual's law enforcing authority. Without these the world would have been a chaotic mess. None of us would feel even the slightest tinge of guilt on hurting anyone or stealing anything. And so even though religion gives birth to communalism it is perhaps one of the most ingenious concepts in the history of mankind. Without it civilization might not have been possible!!!

Think about it. And do post a comment on your views about this.

Waiting to hear from you,
As always,
Nikunj.


"Touched by His Noodly Appendage"

* Source: http://www.venganza.org/touched.htm
* Artist: Niklas Jansson

GAIA : Is It the Perfect Human Society ???

Let me first explain the concept of GAIA to those who are unaware and might well be fighting off the urge to scratch their head. The GAIA I am talking about is a planet mentioned in Isaac Asimov's book Foundation's Edge (1982). Asimov describes GAIA as a super-organism comprising of the whole planet and all its parts living or non-living, with a common planetary conscioussness. All objects, even inanimate ones take part in the planetary consciousness although the extent of their participation varies. Its like all different individuals in this world are united by a single brain. As a result, Gaians are united by a common destiny. There are creatures and humans on it, but damage to any one of them is a damage to whole super-organism and hence to everyone present on that planet and attached to the conscioussness of the planet. So like a giant family they work together and maintain perfect peace, harmony and ecological balance on the planet. They lead their individual lives but at all times their actions are governed by the requirement to protect and prevent decay or damage of each and every part of their planet. The concept in itself is revolutionary and beautiful. GAIA is a world free of crimes, evil, treachery and selfishness unlike our world. Hence it is labelled as the perfect society and ecosystem - the stuff of dreams.


Over the years, the word Gaia has become synonymous with the perfect ecological system. Environmental organisations existing around the world use this term frequently to describe an Earth free from environmental problems - something they strive for. In fact, the company Sanyo's brand vision is : "Think GAIA" representing its commitment to deliver eco-friendly products. But is it really something we should strive for??? I will get back to it in a minute.


Evolution and adaptation to changing climatic and environmental conditions, as we very well know, are essential for our survival. Over millions of years, intelligent life has eveolved on Earth and continues to evolve further. Suppose evolution ceases. So gradually we will struggle to exist with the changing environment as Earth gets older and hotter, sun ceases to shine, universe gets cooler etc. Well a society like GAIA will cease to evolve further as there is no need for it to evolve. It will strive to maintain the perfect eco-system for its inhabitants defying the changing universe. Slowly and slowly as universe will continue to decay, it will become more and more difficult for GAIA to maintain its ecological balance. It would have stopped its technological development ages ago and it will begin to perish having been stunted in its growth by the achievement of a unified planetary consciousness.


Let me explain that a bit further. The feeling of individuality is essential for technological, social and mental advancement of the human race. The greatest human achievements, in whatever field they may be, have been possible only because of strongly motivated individuals driven by ambition. Its something that is common to all - the sense of personal achievement. Isn't it something that we all work for? Can you think of anyone who has worked and strived for anything but one or the other kind of personal achievement. In a way, our individuality and the need to compete with others lead to our mental, physical, social and technological advancement - the survival of the fittest. However, in a society like GAIA the individuality is lost and hence the sense of personal achievement is lost. As a result the advancement of the race ceases and it takes a slow but sure path to doom.

This is what I think. Egoistic nature of humans is a necessary evil. But I will surely like to hear your views on it. Even if you have nothing to add I would like to hear a mere yes or no from you. So do post a comment.

Eagerly awaiting your response...

Nikunj.

Reference link for the second image used with the permission of the owner :
http://fantasyartdesign.com/free-wallpapers/digital-art.php?u_i=1&i_i=5

Hello World !!

HI there. If you are a thinker yourself, bless the new kid on the block. If you are here just for leisure reading, I am sure you will find some interesting and different stuff here, not necessarily to your taste though !! If you are just curious then you will be able to amuse yourself. If you are bored then you may not find this stuff funny but you will surely find some food for thought in the stuff I post here.

Well I would like to describe my blog as:

Philosophical Dissertations Of An Introspective and Inquisitive Mind !!!

Basically I will be presenting the stuff I see around myself, the things I read, the things I hear in a whole new light. If there's one thing I can assure you about my blog is you will certainly look at things from a VERY DIFFERENT perspective through my eyes. I have learned to be weird and hence think weirdly.

I don't know yet to what extent, but in due course my analysis of my surroundings would turn to IIT and its society because well...I live there...and because I find it fascinating. However normal we may look from outside our society has a lot different dynamics. These differences will not be noticeable to outsiders. Hell even insiders wouldn't notice many of these discrepancies. they just adjust to it. But look carefully and there are a lot of things that are different here. You will probably realize what I mean, when I turn to highlighting those characteristics of our society along with the possible reasons for their existence.

A small word about why I chose this topic for my blog. Well, I write many kind of articles and stories. I am into writing science-fiction short stories, humorous stories, articles on all sort of topics as required and even funny short notes. But I guess when writing a blog I am writing it more for myself than for anyone else. Sure I want you guys to have a good time. But I thought random articles wouldn't be too good for a blog and also I wouldn't enjoy that. Instead, I am using it to document my thoughts at the same time taking care that you guys find interesting stuff here.

That's all for now !!!

watch out for my posts...

If you've come this far I guess it wouldn't harm you to post a comment. I would appreciate that a lot...

Thank You for Visiting...


Nikunj.