Read the poems at your leisure

Buy the e-book version of the best of my poetry from Amazon.com on the following link and read the poetry you like, whenever you want.

http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B013ZJB8BC

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Are we blind observers?

So yeah here I am .. again . :)

This post explores the education around us on a more philosophical plane.( Might be because I have started reading Paulo Coelho books recently. Although I dont think much of them).

So yeah.. here it goes.

I often think why people say "Experience comes with time and not with learning." Is it necessary that we grow old learning new things when we cant/wont be able to make use of them but rather just pass it on to the next generation who will disregard them and "experience" stuff themselves? Do we really make use of the experience of the elders?

But thats a difference topic altogether. What I was coming at was that.. Do we really pay attention to what others have to tell us?DO we listen to other people, observe the going ons around us or even take lessons from animals and inanimate objects? Or are we always so independent that we think we can do better than them all? 

Even simple inanimate objects and animals have so much to tell us. 

Trees tell us to always keep growing. TO give back fruits, shade, wood and leaves to the people who have nurtured you and looked after you. In short you should always give what you have and help selflessly.

The birds tell us that its a way of life to leave ur nest and go around in search of your true self. You should wander and see things and find urself and be free.In short it tells us to venture out of the safety of our warm cocoons and to face the world alone.

A simple chair tells us that unless the foundations on which you sit is strong and the pillars of support are all there , there is no way you can sit still.In short it tells us that we should never progress on the basis of lies and deceit and never to underestimate the people who supported you to bring you there.Because they have the power to pull you down too.( same problem with the coalition government)

A pen tells us that nothing is done on its own. It needs some force behind it to make everything work. Therefore we should always pursue something we want to have rather than sit and hope that the pen would write by itself.

Water tells us that we should be flexible enough to adapt to any environment that we get and to shape ourselves according to that situation.

Sand and hence desert tells us that although each individual may be not that powerful but a collection of individuals can overcome any obstacle or make a challenging obstacle.

A shadow tells us that although we may be in the dark there is light somewhere. That is we shouldnt loose hope but keep exploring for the ray of light 

And so on... but do we take heed of these lessons? Or are we so enamoured by our hectic lives that we dont have a moment to stop in fear that others would overtake us. Why cannot we stop for a while.. after all life is meaningless without pauses the same way as a sentence is meaningless with spaces.(This line is taken from the Witch Of Portebello). Shouldnt we stop and analyse ourselves sometimes and see where we are going rather than just rushing and hoping we would end up at our destination or that the sentences would make sense without the spaces?

We see but do not observe? We have eyes but no vision? We understand but do not contemplate?

Are we the so called Blind Observers?

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Virtuality-Where one ends and another begins

So yeah.. hello again. 

And this is my 4th article here. As you have probably guessed the meaning of the title its about our web presence(Virtual + Reality=Virtuality)

I have often wondered what this whole era of Web Presence and social networking sites and online profiles and avatars have done to the sense of oneself. 

Has it made us more open about our feelings, longings, attitude, virtues and changed an introvert to an extrovert?

NOTE: I am not saying all people are like that. Only that such people exists is quite a large number.

A sulking figure having no friends no a figure having 300+ friends on a site?

When I think about it, I dont get the same answer as above but what nags my mind is something more obscure...I feel that....

We like the Anonymity the web provides.

A whole new person. A person that you have made yourself rather than one you are in your real life. Everyone likes to play GOD. We love to create things. Then how can we not but give in to the temptation of creating ourselves as we would have liked ourselves?

Its not a shock to hear that many people have fake profiles of themselves. Writing about themselves as a person they are not in their real life by a long shot.

A person who cant sing would portray himself/herself as a rock star.

A person cant dance to save his/her life will show themselves as a dancer etc..

They do this so live a life they would have liked to live. And the Web gives them the platform to achieve it . This is as close as they would get to their ideal life .

Is this a good thing? or a Bad thing?

I dont really know. I am not here to condemn it or support it. I just got thinking on it and wanted to share it.

One one hand it gives us moments of pleasure to live a life we have created for ourselves

On the other it is a misleading life we are leading.

We always have a tendency to do something that we enjoying doing. Playing games, reading, living....

Which life would we enjoy? One given to us? or one we have tailored for ourselves? definately the custom made one right?

So that means that we spend more and more time living our lives on the net rather than in real life. In many cases we forget who we really are and the life we Really live to the life we Virtually live. And this has caused a lot of problem.

I donot have to prove my point since the same topic was raised many places before here. In newspapers, online forums and all..The fact is that we are more and more dependent on the web. Somuchso that we forget we live in a real world. People often spend as much as 17 hrs on the net. That means living a whole day on it???

Where is this taking us? Already many of us have forgotten the line where we exist as a person and where we exist as an avatar.

So are we all having MPD(multiple personality disorder)???

Where should the line between real and imaginary life should be drawn? 

Where do we exist and where do we cease to exist?

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Is Science For Science's sake a good thing?

Well being a Computer Science student I have always wondered if the science that we are creating/exploring/inventing will someday be our downfall that has been so widely publicized in movies and books.

Before I go forward with put this sliver of thought into the pensieve, I would like the readers to go and see these videos and they would help you to relate better with what I have to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxvonRGWP4c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfd7V8P75GM

So now lets classify the technologies into 2 kinds.

One that would help us->Centurions

One that would replace us->Cyborgs/Robots/AI etc

My questions/musings/thoughts on this is that are we able to differentiate the science and technology that we are creating into the above catergory? or are we just mining into the depth of science and then making it a product? 

Are we having a disciplines approach to science or is that science itself is an unknown area?

Assuming you have seen the above videos, which kind of technology would u prefer? the sixth sense kind or the I, Robot kind? 

I am not saying that AI will not have its uses...it most certainly will... But how can we be sure that developing such technology would only be used or good or can be controlled?

There are enough unemployed humans on the planet that could be employed in place of computers itself? 

Isnt it like hitting our own foot with an axe we ourselves are holding? We know that the technologies that we are creating could replace humans? then why are we still pursuing them? I know people who are really in AI and computer/machine learning. I ask myself? Whats the use? what would we gain by giving machines power to think? 

Then what would be the difference between a man and a machine? 

The Sixth Sense Technologies and the Surface Technology are the kinds of technologies that we require. They help us make ourselves powerful. They help us become centurions. They in themselves are useless. They require humans to use them.Would you rather have these technologies at ur disposal than have a robot that can think for itself? Whom would u trust?

The very defination of machine is "Something that makes the work of the man easier"

there is no mention of replacing him. Why then are we pursuing the technologies like the one displayed in the Matrix, I Robot, and other movies? 

Has the quest for knowledge blinded us? Have we become so dependent on machine rather than our own facilities that helped us create these machine? I too like them. But only when they help me. Not overshadow me. 

You may retaliate that thats just science fiction I am basing my ideas on.

Assuming you have retaliated like that......

Wasnt computers a science fiction? wasnt space travel a science fiction? wasnt LHC a science fiction? Yet they have come into the real world and are much in hype.

The fact that these ideas have come to the human mind is enough to guarantee that something like this will be developed in the future? 

Would you support these sciences? 

Would you rather rely on your own mental power that created machine? or would you become a slave of your very own creation?

Individuality-the Endangered Virtue?

Well ...here is my first serious blog that has been on my mind for some time now.

In this globalised world, what do you think would happen to the inherent uniqueness of the humans? All humans are unique and thats what make them different and the world a place of adventure, differences and exploration.

Can we for one moment imagine what the world would have been had it not been for this sense of individuality? What if all people wore the same clothes, ate the same food, thought the same thoughts and lived life in the same way as every other person on Earth? Boring.. right.?

But it seems that thats where we are heading in real life. Education system in my country bases more importance of written text rather than practical learning. I like to call Experience the teachings of the World and at the end of the day thats what would matter anyway.  

Why are we made to learn books when the only thing we require is to understand the concepts. Why are we made to learn the sentences, definations and answers when we have our own mind that can think. We just need to understand. Then why is it that even for vernacular subjects , the teachers give us pre-defined answers to write and get Marks? Is marks more important that our own thinking?

Are we trying to Kill Individuality By Overshadowing it with Mass Mentality?

Right from school onwards and till graduation, I experienced the guiding force of the teachers? But then why did I feel as if i was being dragged along the same trodden path and not allowed to choose one myself? Is it necessary that we have to go along with the Flow? Is it necessary that we should blindly follow the leader? It is not in my opinion. But what would be the consequences of treading a path few have travelled?

We talk of brain drain of the indian minds in the west.But what about the same think closer to home? Right from the beginning we have been told what to do and many times how to do it? Then from where do we develop our own reasoning skills? In school? In College? From where? Everywhere I turn a find a set of rules and regulations, that must be adhered to or you will be termed an outcast. Is being an outcast really a bad thing if it gets you thinking for yourself and not being dictated what to do by someone else the whole life?

There incidents in my life where I wanted to do certain things one way which was as good as the one that had traditionally been followed. But I was told to stick to the traditions as that would see me through the test? Is the idea of the present generation just to pass tests? Get good marks? Get a good Job? Is that it? Or is it worth to be something different? SOmeone who can rely on his own instincts and can take failure ans success in his stride? Is living a protected life all thats matters to most people? Or is the fact that one is not afraid to take a bold step not knowing if its a failure or success what matters? 

Has the present generation accepted to be one among the thousand tomdickandharry? 

And there are times when your individuality dies because you are a lone voice among a sea of people who have a mob mentality? Shouldnt those lone voices be taken heed of??

You like to take some new topic for something,something different, something radical, something not yet tested or something difficult? But the people around you decide thats too much of a risk and decide to go on the well trodden path laid down by the predecessors. Where do you go then? You have nowhere to go but to follow them? Is this what one is destined to do in one's life?

Is this Life as you term it? Would you rather live life thats dictated to you by others( by that i mean the Mass Mentaility) or would you rather be an Individual?

Life

Well ppl.. I am new to blogging and dont know the nuances of blogging at all.. So i will start it in my own way and continue as i learn the ropes of it...

Someone told me blogging was like putting ur hand in a bucket of water and when u lift it up the beads of water that flow from the fingers ... let them be ur thoughts and the way u blog them...

So i guess i will follow the person's advice and continue on that.. My first blog is more of a poetic one where i want to share with u a poem i have written and i like it a lot. i hope to get ur comments on it. good or bad ... both are equally welcome...

so here it is...LIFE----------------->

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM

FLOWING DOWN THE STREAM


SOMETIMES GLITTERING IN THE LIGHT
SOMETIMES NOT A LIGHT IN SIGHT
SOMETIMES CALM AND SEDENTARY
SOMETIMES CHARGING LIKE A CAVALRY

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
FLOWING DOWN THE STREAM

THERE ARE UPS AND DOWNS
THERE ARE TWISTS AND TURNS
THERE ARE SMILES AND FROWNS
AND EVERY POINT, A POINT OF NO RETURN

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
FLOWING DOWN THE STREAM

THERE IS NO TURNING BACK
THERE IS BUT FORWARD
THERE ARE A FEW STOPS SCATTERED BY
TO OFFLOAD COWARDS

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
FLOWING DOWN THE STREAM

BUT HE WHO HAD TRAVELLED IT ALL
WHO HAD BEEN THORUGH FLOOD AND CALM
WHO JOURNEYED AHEAD WHILE OTHERS DROPPED BY
HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS REALLY LIVED A LIFE

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
FLOWING DOWN THE STREAM