May be Human is Divine!!

Tom Hanks was almost in a self induced trance, totally living the character of Robert, the Male protagonist in Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code'... I think that was the most terrific moment and definitely the catharsis of the novel turned into a Hollywood flick.
No this is not a critique of the film or the novel. It is about the fear...the fear that alienates God or the 'The Divine' from us humans, preserved in some holy urn at the inner sanctum of the Alter of the Cathedral. Or in the Holy verses of the Quraan. No it is not a religious bashing either. The precedence permeates across clans, creeds and faith in today's world.

In the Vedas, the Divine Consciousness is manifested through a non-duality of existence or Adwaitam. Today we have almost lost the essence or the sense to even realize what it means! Of course the Ism's from the modern theories of socialism helped the cause to a great extent! In the west we have seen the flourishing of Existentialism that distills human existence into a biological or a sense making organic residue in the name of 'Objectivity'. Or 'Scientology', the 'science' with a religious tinge that induces an artificial cult like hedonism into the beautiful definition of human connections with spirituality...the Universe and all else.

We are afraid of humanizing the scriptural icons, the reincarnations who had carried the divine message to the humanity. Is 'to be human' indignant to the definition of God? Is it not the same human, which some scriptures say, God created in reflection of Himself? Is it not the only creature in the whole domain of universe who is capable of praying to the The Absolute, wondering at the marvel of His beautiful creation?

The truth is we have lost that connection that lived through ages and societies through a spartan and virtuous way of life, where the Self was at the center and an inseparable part of the Supreme! 'Auham Brahmashmi'...'I am the Brahman' was the undertone of the life philosophies and human social values in the Vedic India. 'Wahdat-al-wujud' or the 'Unity in being' was recognized and propounded by the Great Chisti order of Sufis. We have forgotten what unbelievable power the 'I' can invoke! We have fallen from the pedestal of Humans!

The all pervading “One”!!

This is again a review of an Audiobook called ‘Sadhana’ by Rabindranath Tagore.

In this book, the great poet and philosopher Ravindranath has penned his reflections on a Vedic way of Life and the contrasted it with the western concept of ‘Existentialism’ – ‘I think therefore I am’ famously propounded by Jean Paul Sartre.

The poet had a very fortunate childhood in the company of his father – Sage Devendranath and experienced the Vedic philosophies and the ‘Brahman’ way of life as part of a very profound and spiritual upbringing. In his work he poses a rather intriguing perspective of the ancient spiritual world view, prevalent in the Indian subcontinent sometime during the Pre-Harappan era, where the whole world and the universe was perceived as an interplay of various manifestation of an omni-present whole – ‘the One’. He never actually equated this ‘One’ to any form of God. But in his writings the listener can feel an unmistakable resonance to the eternal supreme consciousness… an abstract yet certain definition of the meaning of existence. He comments, the deep divide that we face today between our internal and external universe, had started from the day we built walls… to build houses and cities… to demarcate physical areas that we could call our ‘own’.

You can download this Audiobook from the Librivox Classic collection from this link. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please post your comments after you have listened to this meditative masterpiece.

http://librivox.org/sadhana-by-rabindranath-tagore/

Yes! There is philosophy in Human Computer Interaction too..:-)

Recently I found this book review:

Coyne, Richard, Designing Information Technology in the Postmodern Age.

This book examines the design of computer systems from the perspective of several areas of postmodern philosophy. Coyne seeks to investigate and illuminate the role of computer technology in our lives and the processes by which it is created. This book is not a how-to book for computer software design, but a deep critique of the traditional paradigms of computer science. However, along the way the serious designer may find new perspectives which may lead to new modes of interacting with computer technology.

The field of computer science was originally rooted in the analytical and theoretical traditions of rationalism. Schools taught software design as an extension of mathematics and logic. Actual software design, on the other hand, progresses in ways better described by pragmatism, with its concerns on human action, the materiality of the world, and the interaction of the senses. In the first chapter, Coyne examines the pragmatism of Dewey and the pragmatic media studies of McLuhan, and concludes that computer designers would be better served by turning from theory to a concentration on praxis.

Coyne's book then explores the schools of critical theory, hermeneutics, and deconstruction for what each can say about the process of design. Coyne explains each of these schools with clarity and understanding. For instance, the critical theory of Marcuse is seen to describe the way information theory marginalizes the ethical,decontextualizes human experience, and promotes domination. Coyne decides that Marcuse raises serious moral concerns about our helplessness in the face of the spread of computer technology, but because of radical, global reform of his proposed solution it is of little use in guiding the concerned software designer.Throughout the entire discussion is the influence of Heidegger, whose book "Question Concerning Technology" is probably the most influential philosophical critique of technology. Heidegger's theory of the "technological mode of thought" which "enframes" the entire world and reduces all objects and people to a "standing reserve" is compared by Coyne with all the other thinkers, even those like Derrida who reject key elements of Heidegger's theory.

Coyne then moves on to consider cyberspace in light of Heidegger's distinction of being "in" a world versus involvement with the world. He also examines virtual reality technology and contrasts the traditional view of truth as correspondence used by most researchers with Heidegger's view of truth as disclosure. Coyne determines that the important thing about virtual reality is not the ever improving graphical technologies for mirroring reality, but the potential for showing alternate realities which can cause us to reflect on our own real world.

Finally, Coyne turns to the subject of metaphor. Metaphors have been seen by writers such as Lakoff and Johnson as fundamental to human thought. Coyne shows that metaphors can shape how we understand technology, decide what problems need technological solutions, and provide a basis for evaluating technologies. New metaphors provide software designers new way of thinking about the use of computer technology, for instance Apple's famous desktop metaphor, which can lead to new directions in software design.

Coyne concludes his book with a return to pragmatism. He concludes that attention to the practice of computer use combined with the power of metaphors to illuminate new ways of interacting with the technology can guide computer developers much better than analytic problem solving. This book is valuable for showing how recent philosophy can illuminate issues of new technology. It provides not much practical suggestions for designers, but a wealth of new perspectives and ideas which when applied by creative designers could be developed into new ways of interacting with technology.

The 'Pi' of Life...

Every schoolchild is told pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In other words, divide the distance around the edge of a circle by its diameter and you always get the same or "constant" number - pi.

The whole point about pi is it is both irrational and transcendental. Irrational because it cannot be written as a simple ratio of whole numbers and transcendental because pi is living proof you cannot square a circle. In a way it has an uncanny resemblance to the ultimate quest in life. Can you solve the equation of life into any rational factors? May be not... It always eludes you, keeps you guessing at the wrong end of the line. And you just keep going, hoping to reach that last digit that solves the mystery... Ok I think you got the point. Here is a little tribute to this feeling from the famous underground cartoonist 'Roburt Krumb'...

The Enemy of Morality

Well...let's face it....I am a die hard Nietzsche junkie.....so obviously he is once again quoted..... He made a very important statement in his 'The Gay Science (La Gaya Scienza)" about how important a little indiscipline in life is. It makes all the difference between the genius and mediocre. Remember in the 19th century, when Nietzsche was writing this, the word 'gay' did not yet have the homosexual connotation, it meant 'unconventional!!!'.

A couplet of the book says...

So here is a Nietzscheian erruption aginst the everyday social conformity - The revenge against the spirit and other ulterior motives of morality.

The revenge against the spirit and other ulterior motives of morality. " Morality "where do you suppose that it finds its most dangerous and insidious advocates? ... There is a human being who has turned out badly [ein missratener Mensch], who does not have enough spirit to be able to enjoy it but just enough education to realize this; he is bored, disgusted, and despises himself; having inherited some money, he is deprived even of the last comfort, "the blessings of work," self-forgetfulness in "daily labor"; such a person who is fundamentally ashamed of his existence "perhaps he also harbors a few little vices "and on the other hand cannot keep himself from becoming more and more spoiled and irritable by reading books to which he is not entitled or by associating with more spiritual company than he can digest: such a human being who has become poisoned through and through "for spirit becomes poison, education becomes poison, possessions become poison, solitude becomes poison for those who have turned out badly in this way "eventually ends up in a state of habitual revenge, will to revenge ... what do you suppose he finds necessary, absolutely necessary, to give himself in his own eyes the appearance of superiority over more spiritual people and to attain the pleasure of an accomplished revenge at least in his imagination? Always morality, you can bet on that, always big moral words, always the rub-a-dub of justice, wisdom, holiness, virtue, always the stoicism of gesture ( "how well stoicism conceals what one lacks!..), always the cloak of prudent silence, of affability, of mildness, and whatever may be the names of all the other idealistic cloaks in which incurable self-despisers, as well as the incurably vain, strut about. Do not misunderstand me: among such born enemies of the spirit there comes into being occasionally the rare piece of humanity that the common people revere, using such names as saint and sage; it is from among men of this sort that those monsters of morality come who make noise, who make history "St. Augustine is one of them. Fear of the spirit, revenge against the spirit "how often these propelling vices have become the roots of virtues! Even nothing less than virtues! " And, a confidential question, even the claim that they possessed wisdom, which has been made here and there on earth by philosophers, the maddest and most immodest of all claims "has it not always been to date, in India as well as in Greece, a screen above all? At times perhaps a screen chosen with pedagogical intent, which hallows so many lies; one has a tender regard for those still in the process of becoming, of growing, for disciples, who must often be defended against themselves by means of faith in a person (by means of an error) ... Much more often, however, it is a screen behind which the philosopher saves himself because he has become weary, old, cold, hard, as a premonition that the end is near, like the prudence animals have before they die "they go off by themselves, become still, choose solitude, hide in caves, become wise ... What? Wisdom as a screen behind which the philosopher hides from "spirit? "

So, are you a Possibilist or an Actualist?

Do you believe that the life form that we experience everyday, could have been the only possible outcome of the evolutionary process on earth....or the 'future' that is being perceived as 'present' today, could have been the only natural progression from a certain 'point in past'. Or in other words do you believe in the multiplicity of reality? Well not every one in the world thinks this way. Read on to find out which side of the fence do you belong.

Your truth....My truth...

Did President Clinton's defense of his testimony in the Lewinsky matter employ postmodern modes of interpretation?

We have all heard some variation of the phrase, "That may be true for you but not for me." We may hear it coming from multiculturalists, pro-choice advocates and members of other ideologically driven movements. Its use, however, is not limited to such circles. It has been adopted by the public at large and become perhaps the central moral principle of our age. The underlying philosophy beneath such ethical rhetoric is known as postmodernism.

Early modern philosophers differed from previous Christian thinkers in that they did not believe in revelation or an afterlife. These moderns shared a confidence in modern science to discover the truth, or at least verifiable certainty, about the natural and political world. Postmodern thinkers, on the other hand, replaced the professed objectivity of the moderns with radical subjectivity: truth is not discovered, but created. In short, postmodernism does not offer a new method of finding universal truths, but rather dismisses them altogether to usher in a whole new era of 'Constructivism' (you need to deconstruct it first though!).