Language helps us communicate and express ourselves. We use words which help convey the meaning in the best way possible. But most of the times, as I have observed and as many others might also have, that words are not good enough to express oneself completely. We consciously or sub-consciously use body language, facial expressions, voice tone to convey ourselves in a better way. A smile may not always mean happiness or good feeling, it can also be a sarcastic one, which might mean something bitter!
The word "Pointless" is made of "Point" and "Less" but the role of "less" in "pointless" changes from reducing the effect to nullifying the effect... the meaning changed but what if we take it literally? (Hindi does it better here).
The interesting part here is,
what if we don't any choice of using body language, facial expression, tone of voice?
What if the only thing we have is our words and the knowledge of language to express ourselves?
Yes, that's right. I'm talking about going for literal meaning rather than intuitively judging the context and mood for learning the meaning completely.
Tough, aint' it? But more than that, I guess it would be irritating!
Our usage of language has been a careless one, wherein we use figurative things sometimes. Yesterday one of my batch-mate said that he could convert a C# code to a java code within a second. Of course he meant "figuratively" but then I took it literally (my sole purpose was to irritate him!) and said, "not possible". He tried to defend himself by saying that he has a software which directly does that work. I again said that software might also take more than 1 second. He started cursing me and abusing me but I was rather amused :D He said that one should use one's mind and intuition to judge the meaning rather than taking things literally...
Also, we keep some short phrases for conveying long messages which replaces the long messages over a period of time. Language evolves, but we still use it in an ambiguous manner!
We've really become careless with our usage of language. Mixing hindi and english and using hinglish is still fine, but not conveying the precise meaning is what makes it worse!
My friend could have used the phrase, "in a short period of time" instead of "within a second".
Anyways, all my views are my own, and I don't expect anyone to agree with it, just wanted to share in on the blogosphere. :)
P.S. - Poll of the day, "Which is deadlier, taking meaning literally or abusing/using bad words against someone?"
P.S. - The easiest way to generate P.J.s or A.J.s (Alternative Jokes) is by taking the usage of language "Literally!"
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Natural Machines Part I
Each living being can be conveniently called a 'natural machine'. Humans perhaps come under the category of those natural machines which has the maximum capability to think and act on it's own. Each living and even non-living beings follow some unknown yet existing "Laws of Nature", like we had "Laws of Jungle" in Jungle Book! These laws determine our action/reaction, behavior, and decisions, emotions etc.
Also, evolution has played a major role in making us and this world as we are and as it is today.
Some of these Laws of Nature have been discovered like "Laws of gravity", "Laws of motion" etc., yet much is left to be discovered.
The functioning of our being is governed by laws and things like bio-chemical reactions, metabolism, hormonal secretions, or some other body reactions are what runs our body and gives the reaction to stimuli. This can be directly compared to a machine/android.
Hence, our physical being can be compared to a machine and hence can be simulated. The tricky thing here are "emotions". While I believe that emotions are also a part of our brain and can be simulated, many of my friends don't agree to this point.
Another general belief is that brain and mind are different. I think that brain is a physical structure which enables us to think, make decisions and consciously or unconsciously control our body. Mind is something that is the working brain and also handles our emotions. Now, many other species have brain, but they may not have a mind, which means a brain which can feel and interpret things differently so that changes are made. The mind helps us think differently and make discoveries and improve our lives.
I think this mind works on a randomized model which leaves some scope of unexpectedness and innovation but it still follows the "Laws of Nature". This would also mean that emotions, which are a part of what our mind generates, can also be modeled. I think that's also possible, but we haven't done enough "out of box" thinking to come up with a different and appropriate model for simulating emotions.
Also, what I feel is that each and everything that a living being, especially human (the most complex living being) comprises, are interdependent on each other and hence simulating one thing in isolation would not have complete meaning and our intended purpose might not be met!
For example, if we have to simulate pain, then only simulating pain may not give us correct picture of how human perceives pain. If we add present state of a human mind, it's emotions etc. and the kind of person he/she is (afraid of pain maybe), then maybe we'd get a better simulation.
Also, evolution has played a major role in making us and this world as we are and as it is today.
Some of these Laws of Nature have been discovered like "Laws of gravity", "Laws of motion" etc., yet much is left to be discovered.
The functioning of our being is governed by laws and things like bio-chemical reactions, metabolism, hormonal secretions, or some other body reactions are what runs our body and gives the reaction to stimuli. This can be directly compared to a machine/android.
Hence, our physical being can be compared to a machine and hence can be simulated. The tricky thing here are "emotions". While I believe that emotions are also a part of our brain and can be simulated, many of my friends don't agree to this point.
Another general belief is that brain and mind are different. I think that brain is a physical structure which enables us to think, make decisions and consciously or unconsciously control our body. Mind is something that is the working brain and also handles our emotions. Now, many other species have brain, but they may not have a mind, which means a brain which can feel and interpret things differently so that changes are made. The mind helps us think differently and make discoveries and improve our lives.
I think this mind works on a randomized model which leaves some scope of unexpectedness and innovation but it still follows the "Laws of Nature". This would also mean that emotions, which are a part of what our mind generates, can also be modeled. I think that's also possible, but we haven't done enough "out of box" thinking to come up with a different and appropriate model for simulating emotions.
Also, what I feel is that each and everything that a living being, especially human (the most complex living being) comprises, are interdependent on each other and hence simulating one thing in isolation would not have complete meaning and our intended purpose might not be met!
For example, if we have to simulate pain, then only simulating pain may not give us correct picture of how human perceives pain. If we add present state of a human mind, it's emotions etc. and the kind of person he/she is (afraid of pain maybe), then maybe we'd get a better simulation.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
It's a wasted situation!
Forget the sciences, ignore the statistics...
because you don't need them in this case.
The only problem that EARTH faces at present is the mistakes that we make and then ignore! Later when these mistakes all combine and kick our ass, then we wake up to it and try to resolve it, but sometimes its too late...
One of the serious one is the problem of excessive wastage that we do since the time we wake up in the morning till the time we sleep at night.
Leaving taps open while getting ready in the morning, especially while brushing teeth, not using
"use-me"s and wasting food (one of the most common problem) etc.
All this sounds kiddish and trivial, but the fact is, problem of global warming, poverty, pollution... all this originates from our wasting resources and our reckless behavior...
I trust a normal human mind to be able to recognize that something is being wasted when it is being wasted, but we don't seem to care.
To be honest, making communities, going for rallies and discussing statistics and sciences don't always help, and sometimes become a waste of time, when some people are too stubborn or dumb to understand. So keeping it simple is better, i.e., the idea of not wasting things around.
That is why, the thing that we really need is self-awareness and knowing when we are being wasteful and stopping ourselves from doing so.
The best part is that everyone can help. A normal human mind always knows when wastage is being done, so we should shrug off our laziness and stop wasting (which doesn't mean using them
sparingly!) resources. Stopping wastage would promote hygiene and cleanliness.
Wastage is done for a lot of reasons, some of which are out of our control, for eg: industrial wastes, or wastage to earn profits etc. but if everyone stops wasting in his/her life, then I don't think anyone need be concerned what's happening outside their lives and EARTH would be able to bear our burden, even if we double in number.
Thank You for patiently reading it. :)
P.S. - I really respect the people who do the cleaning stuff... I can bet you it's the most difficult thing to do, to clean something that others can't tolerate the presence of, but wouldn't even get rid of, while it gets accumulated... :)
P.S. - I'm not a Jerk ! I'm trying to paint the correct picture, which people ignore and think,
"chalta hai" ! But I guess, NATURE doesn't think so. :)
P.S. - Ignore the informal slang language... that was just for fun :)
P.S. - Hyderabad Bloggers meet was on 1st March... had a good time.
http://lifeizlikethat.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/hyderabad-bloggers-meet/
because you don't need them in this case.
The only problem that EARTH faces at present is the mistakes that we make and then ignore! Later when these mistakes all combine and kick our ass, then we wake up to it and try to resolve it, but sometimes its too late...
One of the serious one is the problem of excessive wastage that we do since the time we wake up in the morning till the time we sleep at night.
Leaving taps open while getting ready in the morning, especially while brushing teeth, not using
"use-me"s and wasting food (one of the most common problem) etc.
All this sounds kiddish and trivial, but the fact is, problem of global warming, poverty, pollution... all this originates from our wasting resources and our reckless behavior...
I trust a normal human mind to be able to recognize that something is being wasted when it is being wasted, but we don't seem to care.
To be honest, making communities, going for rallies and discussing statistics and sciences don't always help, and sometimes become a waste of time, when some people are too stubborn or dumb to understand. So keeping it simple is better, i.e., the idea of not wasting things around.
That is why, the thing that we really need is self-awareness and knowing when we are being wasteful and stopping ourselves from doing so.
The best part is that everyone can help. A normal human mind always knows when wastage is being done, so we should shrug off our laziness and stop wasting (which doesn't mean using them
sparingly!) resources. Stopping wastage would promote hygiene and cleanliness.
Wastage is done for a lot of reasons, some of which are out of our control, for eg: industrial wastes, or wastage to earn profits etc. but if everyone stops wasting in his/her life, then I don't think anyone need be concerned what's happening outside their lives and EARTH would be able to bear our burden, even if we double in number.
Thank You for patiently reading it. :)
P.S. - I really respect the people who do the cleaning stuff... I can bet you it's the most difficult thing to do, to clean something that others can't tolerate the presence of, but wouldn't even get rid of, while it gets accumulated... :)
P.S. - I'm not a Jerk ! I'm trying to paint the correct picture, which people ignore and think,
"chalta hai" ! But I guess, NATURE doesn't think so. :)
P.S. - Ignore the informal slang language... that was just for fun :)
P.S. - Hyderabad Bloggers meet was on 1st March... had a good time.
http://lifeizlikethat.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/hyderabad-bloggers-meet/
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Future Prediction Paradox !
Suppose that you could predict the future.
If you could see your future, then you may or may not want to have that future.
If you do, then you'll follow the path that leads to that future, depriving yourself of choices to be made in life as the path to the future is decided. But then since you've already chosen the future that you want, making any further choices makes no sense till you reach that future.
If you don't, then you'd not follow the path that leads to that future and will follow an alternate path to reach an alternate future, hence making choices on the way. But in this case, since the predicted future is not the same as the future that you'd be living in, your prediction is wrong !
What say?
P.S. I'm totally confused about the whole thing !
If you could see your future, then you may or may not want to have that future.
If you do, then you'll follow the path that leads to that future, depriving yourself of choices to be made in life as the path to the future is decided. But then since you've already chosen the future that you want, making any further choices makes no sense till you reach that future.
If you don't, then you'd not follow the path that leads to that future and will follow an alternate path to reach an alternate future, hence making choices on the way. But in this case, since the predicted future is not the same as the future that you'd be living in, your prediction is wrong !
What say?
P.S. I'm totally confused about the whole thing !
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Humans, SuperHumans and God
I have a theory. I believe that human are capable of gaining supernatural qualities, which has been agreed upon by a lot of experts ! So it's nothing new.
We need only learn the way the nature works. By nature, I mean everything around us, the forces, energy fields etc. We even exert gravitational force on distant stars, but stars are too big to show any change.
I think some part of nature's laws/rules are encoded in our DNA, which is the instruction book of how we should function and behave etc. and our limitations and capabilities which we naturally seem to develop. The fact is that, if by genetical engineering, the instructions could be changed to make a big difference, then a lot can be done.
Telekinesis: If a person learns to control the force (gravity mainly) exerted by the molecules of his body, he can exert gravity or electrostatic forces or similar force to a distant object's molecules and make it move ! Code of DNA might have to be altered, though some people have achieved it on the basis of their power of concentration and meditation alone !
Flight: Like in telekinesis, if a person could create repulsive force, he/she could fly and if attractive force then he/she could fall back on ground, simple !
Mind Reading: The impulses and neurons in our brain traveling may be emitting some waves out of our brain, which if captured and converted into suitable form, the thoughts of that person can be studied. So, if I emit some waves and you seem to have trained your brain to catch those signals/waves and understand those waves then you could possibly read what's going on in my mind. Changing coding in DNA might help.
Time Traveling: Here DNA tempering has to be done ! The instructions might be changed and it'd be encoded/written that there exist more than 3 dimensions that we seem to perceive naturally. Time is one of those hidden dimension. If we learn to recognize time as any other dimension, then we can walk through time faster than other, both back and forth. The idea of slipstream is not clear to me, though.
Spontaneous Regeneration: Regenerative power of cells stronger than ordinary species, again to be encoded in DNA.
Moving through solids: To control your body's molecules so as to exert forces that would weaken the internal forces of solid so as to provide you a free pass through it. DNA coding required I guess.
Super Strength: Creating anti-gravity for lifting objects easily. To break/destroy other objects, tightening the intermolecular forces within one's body and weakening the intermolecular forces in the other bodies to be broken/destroyed.
X-Ray Vision: Ability to look through the gaps of the molecules of opaque objects like walls, other persons etc.
Power Absorption: Simply emulating what the superhuman do to make his/her powers work. Here the trick is that the molecules in the person learns about the other superhuman's molecules so that this person can also do things like that other superhuman.
Locating Distant Person: The impulses of neurons or waves emitted by our brain could propagate the message to other neighboring molecules so that the molecules which would be closer to the person to be located would recognize the person using the pattern of the face of the person who's image is in the mind of the superhuman, and the message of his/her location can be propagated back to the superhuman.
Controlling electronic stuffs: Propagating messages to the electronics/atoms by the electronic impulses of the brain.
Invisibility: Light which reflects back from a surface tells about that surface. If the surface from which light reflects back could change the way light reflects back so that it looks as if no object exists. Now if light doesn't reflect back, then the object is like a black hole. If light directly passes through an opaque object without reflecting back, then that opaque object becomes invisible. This could be done by allowing passage to light through the tiny spaces between the molecules/atoms of the object.
I believe in the theory of evolution and that man evolved from monkeys etc. Now when men lived close to nature and other creatures, then he could understand the laws of nature better and hence could use that knowledge to control things around him/her. If he/she absolutely learnt about nature and became efficient to take control of nature's activities, then they became God/Goddesses.
Sadly we can't be God/Goddess because we are too much into our own lives to recognize nature's laws and gain the knowledge.
In conclusion, this cosmos is a system and we are only mere creatures who live because favorable conditions for sustainment of life exists. If we absolutely understand this system, we can rule it else we end like any other creature who does what's encoded in its DNA and perishes one day.
P.S. The movie Matrix gives a very nice analogy of our world, that is, nothing is true but we are only made to believe that. If we could free our mind from the conventional thinking and think out of the box, then lots of new things that exist would come to light.
We need only learn the way the nature works. By nature, I mean everything around us, the forces, energy fields etc. We even exert gravitational force on distant stars, but stars are too big to show any change.
I think some part of nature's laws/rules are encoded in our DNA, which is the instruction book of how we should function and behave etc. and our limitations and capabilities which we naturally seem to develop. The fact is that, if by genetical engineering, the instructions could be changed to make a big difference, then a lot can be done.
Telekinesis: If a person learns to control the force (gravity mainly) exerted by the molecules of his body, he can exert gravity or electrostatic forces or similar force to a distant object's molecules and make it move ! Code of DNA might have to be altered, though some people have achieved it on the basis of their power of concentration and meditation alone !
Flight: Like in telekinesis, if a person could create repulsive force, he/she could fly and if attractive force then he/she could fall back on ground, simple !
Mind Reading: The impulses and neurons in our brain traveling may be emitting some waves out of our brain, which if captured and converted into suitable form, the thoughts of that person can be studied. So, if I emit some waves and you seem to have trained your brain to catch those signals/waves and understand those waves then you could possibly read what's going on in my mind. Changing coding in DNA might help.
Time Traveling: Here DNA tempering has to be done ! The instructions might be changed and it'd be encoded/written that there exist more than 3 dimensions that we seem to perceive naturally. Time is one of those hidden dimension. If we learn to recognize time as any other dimension, then we can walk through time faster than other, both back and forth. The idea of slipstream is not clear to me, though.
Spontaneous Regeneration: Regenerative power of cells stronger than ordinary species, again to be encoded in DNA.
Moving through solids: To control your body's molecules so as to exert forces that would weaken the internal forces of solid so as to provide you a free pass through it. DNA coding required I guess.
Super Strength: Creating anti-gravity for lifting objects easily. To break/destroy other objects, tightening the intermolecular forces within one's body and weakening the intermolecular forces in the other bodies to be broken/destroyed.
X-Ray Vision: Ability to look through the gaps of the molecules of opaque objects like walls, other persons etc.
Power Absorption: Simply emulating what the superhuman do to make his/her powers work. Here the trick is that the molecules in the person learns about the other superhuman's molecules so that this person can also do things like that other superhuman.
Locating Distant Person: The impulses of neurons or waves emitted by our brain could propagate the message to other neighboring molecules so that the molecules which would be closer to the person to be located would recognize the person using the pattern of the face of the person who's image is in the mind of the superhuman, and the message of his/her location can be propagated back to the superhuman.
Controlling electronic stuffs: Propagating messages to the electronics/atoms by the electronic impulses of the brain.
Invisibility: Light which reflects back from a surface tells about that surface. If the surface from which light reflects back could change the way light reflects back so that it looks as if no object exists. Now if light doesn't reflect back, then the object is like a black hole. If light directly passes through an opaque object without reflecting back, then that opaque object becomes invisible. This could be done by allowing passage to light through the tiny spaces between the molecules/atoms of the object.
I believe in the theory of evolution and that man evolved from monkeys etc. Now when men lived close to nature and other creatures, then he could understand the laws of nature better and hence could use that knowledge to control things around him/her. If he/she absolutely learnt about nature and became efficient to take control of nature's activities, then they became God/Goddesses.
Sadly we can't be God/Goddess because we are too much into our own lives to recognize nature's laws and gain the knowledge.
In conclusion, this cosmos is a system and we are only mere creatures who live because favorable conditions for sustainment of life exists. If we absolutely understand this system, we can rule it else we end like any other creature who does what's encoded in its DNA and perishes one day.
P.S. The movie Matrix gives a very nice analogy of our world, that is, nothing is true but we are only made to believe that. If we could free our mind from the conventional thinking and think out of the box, then lots of new things that exist would come to light.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Times spent with you.
Grateful for all the times spent with you,
it had a great feeling.
Thankful for all the time you'd been by my side,
it had a special feeling.
It makes me happy, it makes me smile,
to see you, to hear your voice.
When with you, I feel nothing can go wrong,
you give me energy, make me feel strong.
Now all I want to do is, hold your hand and hug you deep,
and to have you in my life as well as in my dreamy sleep.
it had a great feeling.
Thankful for all the time you'd been by my side,
it had a special feeling.
It makes me happy, it makes me smile,
to see you, to hear your voice.
When with you, I feel nothing can go wrong,
you give me energy, make me feel strong.
Now all I want to do is, hold your hand and hug you deep,
and to have you in my life as well as in my dreamy sleep.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It had to be, you and me.
It had to be, you and(for) me...
Looking at you, I felt it strong,
Meeting you confirmed it all,
Never before, I felt so sure,
that being with you
was all that I want to do
and my heart racing pacefully
It has to be, you and(for) me...
the day we met, you looked so nice,
I couldn't help but dumbly stare at you
When you started to leave,
my heart skipped a beat,
and the way you turned and smiled at me,
I felt blessed by the all mighty,
and my heart racing pacefully
It has to be, you and me...
and today I know you'd agree
It had to be, you and me...
Looking at you, I felt it strong,
Meeting you confirmed it all,
Never before, I felt so sure,
that being with you
was all that I want to do
and my heart racing pacefully
It has to be, you and(for) me...
the day we met, you looked so nice,
I couldn't help but dumbly stare at you
When you started to leave,
my heart skipped a beat,
and the way you turned and smiled at me,
I felt blessed by the all mighty,
and my heart racing pacefully
It has to be, you and me...
and today I know you'd agree
It had to be, you and me...
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