28 Feb 2005

What If?

Posted by Oblivion in General | 10:02pm


What if all this world is just an experiment? An experiment designed to fool one person, say Mr Z? What if the world maps, history, biographies, evolution theories, etc are all fiction, just to ensure that Z isn't troubled by the faintest signs of doubt? What if everything is created on the fly, just as the landscape is created in a virtual racing game as the car moves ahead? What if everything is meant to vanish the very next moment after the death of Z? What if all of Z's friends, relations, acquaintances, colleagues, strangers, and everyone else are merely actors who are told what to say and do? What if everybody and everything that Z has seen or known or imagined knows that their only function is to keep him in delusion? What if Bertrand Russell, Plato, JK, etc were never born and that their books, biographies and photographs are just manufactured to keep Z busy thinking and wondering? What if there was no such place as NY, and that WTC attack, Bin Laden, Bush, UN, Kofi Annan, War on Iraq, etc were just gimmicks of someone's imagination - again, to remind Z that there certainly is something out there? What if his friends never go abroad but just go to a retreat at some secret place, and make him believe that they are indeed in US/UK/Australia/etc? And, if Z likes to visit a place, what if it is created right at that very moment to make the impression of reality ever so stronger?

Yes, what if everything is just an experiment?

A fitting case for paranoia extremis, but a fantastic experiment to test the strength of delusions.

Freaky as it sounds, that it is not absolutely impossible makes the question 'What if?' linger...

(It reminds me of Russell's idea that the assumption of the world having been created just five minutes ago and the memory having been so programmed that it takes 'past' as a reality cannot be logically proved wrong, although it does not sound very convincing for logical consideration)



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23 Feb 2005

Michael Speaks

Posted by Oblivion in General | 5:37am


"Every piece of shit that every man eats on every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it is personal as hell."
- Mario Puzo, written for Michael Corleone

Some writers appear to me to be more intelligent than most philosophers. I have read as many naked facts, with profound insights, in the works of fiction as I did in many volumes of philosophy.

Some works of fiction I rate among the best:
Disgrace by Coetzee
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

These writers' brains, to my mind, have the optimum combination of the intellects of Freud and Russell.



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19 Feb 2005

Omerta

Posted by Oblivion in General | 3:24am


Omerta, the law of silence. [Ref: The Godfather, Mario Puzo]

Maybe the world would be a better place if this law were made an indispensable part of education. Or maybe it would not. Even then, it cannot be worse than the way it is now. So, either ways it is good. It would make people at least more patient, if not anything else.

Kudos to Puzo, no tough guy was ever more impressive than the old guy Corleone. 



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15 Feb 2005

Life, Redundant

Posted by Oblivion in General | 7:57am


While necessities are enough for survival and a healthy life, we, it appears to me, spend most part of our wakeful state occupying ourselves with redundancies. However, dividing redundancies as regards how beneficial or harmful they are, we have necessary redundancies - those that are more beneficial than harmful - and absolute redundancies - those that can be wholly dispensed with without affecting the status quo of the happiness in the world.

Absolute redundancies:
Fashion
Hope
Beliefs
Ideals
Religion
Nationality
Morality
'Self-help' section in bookstores
Politicians
Defence
Marriage
...more to be added.

Necessary redundancies:
Talking
Entertainment
Sports
Interior design
MBA
Law
Police
Mercedes
Psychoanalysis
...more to be added.

Feb 14th - Valentine's Day! All hype and fuss around. Seriously, what are we doing with ourselves? Where exactly have things gone wrong for Homo Sapiens?


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5 Feb 2005

Weekend Contemplation

Posted by Oblivion in General | 2:06am


What is the one event that, if ever happens, will disillusion me and shatter my faith in humanity, or love, or whatever I have been holding with significance?

Why does one believe that everything and everyone out there exist to fulfill his expectations? Everything and everyone have their own ways. Why cannot one settle with this absolute fact? Why does one carry such excess, redundant, and useless mental baggage? Why is one apprehensive of just walking on the road of life without knowing what lies ahead?

Contrary to what people believe, taking life as it comes, with no care for security, is not same as being insensitive. Licentiousness is not same as freedom. To be open to the fact that anything can happen is not same as giving up on life and conclude anything is right. Sensitivity hasn't got anything to do with a wholesome display of emotions. To be sensitive is to be completely aware of life, every moment. When one is so aware, one doesn't become arrogant so to attempt putting life in a straightjacket. To expect life to follow one's logic belies all understanding of life.

This, however, does not imply that one takes the gravity and gore of even war with an air of easiness or dismissiveness. It just means one is open to the uncertainty of life, that one follows every note of life as it is plays, and moves along with no conclusions or expectations.

Disillusionment is just a reaction; realization and insight are wholly different. 



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