Saturday, November 13, 2010

Full Circle

PROBLEM:
You have existential questions that keep coming back to you and bother you and you yearn for clarity to settle this dilemma once and for all so you can lead a life anchored in sound rationale. But, you know you are 'finite' in more ways than one and you realize you only have partial and imperfect knowledge about ‘stuff’, as a result philosophies/religious thoughts seem too narrow for your logic and you have a difficulty in blind acceptance of such ideologies. You wonder, is there a natural, organic, human philosophy that you can come up with that satisfies your brain so you can get on with life?

OBSERVATION:
You come to terms with the fact that Absolute Knowledge is Utopia. The chances of enlightenment or a mystical halo around your head are pretty slim to none. You want to figure out a solution right here and now, with what you know.

FRAMEWORK:
This is the best ‘philosophy’ my brain can come up with:
Equality: Every thing in Existence is equal by virtue of its existence. There is a reason for every thing's existence. Be fair and respectful, to every thing.
Creativity: Every moment is a new creation. Creativity is a domino effect of everything in existence interacting with everything else. Anything creative as long as it does not decry the principle of Equality should be welcomed and celebrated in this world. Be adventurous and explore out of the box.
Causality: Causality is making mathematical sense of the world around you. You have a causal model, if you can predict future. Make good and humane use of causal models and keep making the models better.



SOLUTION:
Dismiss existential questions; spending energy on them may not be worth your while. Instead respect animate (people, flora and fauna) and inanimate things (water bodies, natural resources).
If you are a creative person; be creative and entertain people with your art, humor, literature and music.
If you are scientifically inclined; do fundamental research, engineer, invent drugs and technologies.
If you a genius (creative+scientifically inclined), you know what to do, just do it.

[It is still a challenge to know ways and means to treat non-humans with respect, think about ways to do that. (Examples may be: Treatment of animals before they become meat, not littering in the woods, not putting chemical waste in water bodies etc).]

IMPLICATION:
If you can be mindful and remember to live a life using the principles above, then you will pass Earth leaving a positive effect on beings and things around you. Some might say, you lived a meaningful life. Simple, but effective; that you were kind to things around you, contributed to the society and had jolly good time doing it.

MANTRA:
Respect everything, Contribute every day, Have fun along the way.

SUMMARY:
Does this philosophy solve the dilemma of existential questions in your head? If it did, it is a successful philosophy. Remind yourself of the mantra as and when needed and continue leading a positive life. If the dilemma comes back to you in a few months and the mantra doesn't help, this philosophy is not for you, search for your own mantra.

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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Attitude - Focus and Progress

Philosophy:
Flow of Existence.
Knowledge and Ignorance about the Flow.
Intuition and Mathematical models are Knowledge.
Prediction is the yardstick of knowledge.
Causal nature of the Flow is apparent from Knowledge and Prediction or vice versa.

Implication:
Understand, if not, Accept the past.
Desire a future.
Act in the present.

Guide (a conscious, personal decision):
Civic focus: Fairness, Service, Science, Work
Personal focus: Sleep, Health, Relationships
Entertainment focus: Arts, Sport, Nature

Attitude:
Make progress

(Incidentally, a study from Harvard today reported that a focused mind is a happy mind.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/645790.html)

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