tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post7708987746686873325..comments2023-10-20T21:52:36.752+05:30Comments on Cross Connections: Attn: Mukesbhai Ambani urf ShahjehanFarzana Verseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06891229615361937135noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-28621826217853362602010-12-03T03:08:55.879+05:302010-12-03T03:08:55.879+05:30" The problem is you can’t hide beneath the s..." The problem is you can’t hide beneath the sky. Well, what’s inside our heads is of course unlikely to leak!"<br /><br />This is not about hiding behind anything, but the opposite -- this is about facing this vast universe without fear. <br /><br /> I suppose everyone here thinks we humans (or a set of individuals) are fricking awesome. I doubt if anyone will say such a thing if they actually comprehend the vastness of the night sky. Words like googol and googolplex exist to describe that vastness (Google is derived from Googol). Distances between stars and the number of astronomical entities in existence are in the order of Googolplex. <br /><br />So if one thinks our Milky way is the best Galaxy ever out of the billions of galaxies that exist, and earth the bestest planet ever to exist, please contact me for a really low-priced bridge in Manhattan that I just placed on the market. <br /><br />The Human race is nothing more than a speck of dust in the Sahara Desert as far as this universe is concerned, though we all like to pretend otherwise. <br /><br />Tomorrow, If we all cease to exist, we will all be missed like that speck of dust in the desert. This realization "does wonders" (in a bad way)0 to one's ego if one is brave enough to internalize it, and few people are. But once internalized, you do not fear everything as much because you realize that everything is futile in the big picture, but you cannot let that thought lead you to doom and gloom, which is what happens to most people. It is a lot easier to believe that someone divine will come and save my ass whenever I want.<br /><br /><br />AlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-21787961196539563852010-12-03T03:04:51.655+05:302010-12-03T03:04:51.655+05:30Farzana, As for cultures being legitimized, legiti...Farzana, As for cultures being legitimized, legitimization will not work if any one (or more) culture(s) want to dominate, and that is what will happen as a first step (like today).<br /><br />Then there will conflict and violence, followed by an acceptance that it was all not a very good idea....and then those lessons will be lost in a few generations and it will all start over again. We monkeys have really short memories, it seems.<br /><br /><br />So far, Humans manage destroy themselves after they reach the limits of their collective competence to organize themselves -- Peter's Principle recast. All the civilizations now dead and gone are a testament to it.<br /><br />" Building motels isn’t a cultural shift, although how aliens are included in this would denote some cultural osmosis :)"<br /><br />I was being facetious -- the point is that scientific advancement and religious bullshit are incompatible in the long term. Look at the populace of the USA today -- what a sad degeneration from the stalwarts that went to the moon and did some incredible stuff. Why did it happen? Because the politicians in the Right think that their country is great because of their religion and culture, not because of scientific competence....so what you have is a regressive culture today that wants to rollback the teaching of Evolution in Class. The entire society will pay a big price because of this regressive behaviour -- but you gets what you work for.<br /><br />" The problem is you can’t hide beneath the sky. Well, what’s inside our heads is of course unlikely to leak!"<br /><br />This is not about hiding behind anything, but the opposite -- this is about facing this vast universe without fear. <br /><br /> I suppose everyone here thinks we humans (or a set of individuals) are fricking awesome. I doubt if anyone will say such a thing if they actually comprehend the vastness of the night sky. Words like googol and googolplex exist to describe that vastness (Google is derived from Googol). Distances between stars and the number of astronomical entities in existence are in the order of Googolplex. <br /><br />So if one thinks our Milky way is the best Galaxy ever out of the billions of galaxies that exist, and earth the bestest planet ever to exist, please contact me for a really low-priced bridge in Manhattan that I just placed on the market. The Human race is nothing more than a speck of dust in the Sahara Desert, though we all like to pretend otherwise, and if we all cease to exist, we will all be missed like that speck of dust in the desert. This realization does wonders to one's ego if one is brave enough to internalize it, and few people are.<br /><br /><br />AlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-26792361607704644852010-12-03T03:02:14.919+05:302010-12-03T03:02:14.919+05:30Farzana, Let me explain what I meant by my earlier...Farzana, Let me explain what I meant by my earlier post which was partly facetious and maybe misleading...so sue me. :-)<br /><br /> Civilization and civilization are all words to describe the average behaviour of large groups of people -- the point is to shift the average towards progressive thought rather than regressive thought, so see-sawing between progressive and regressive under the excuse of culture and civilization is going to leave us where we are now. I don't care what happens to this planet after I am dead. Really.<br /><br /><br />"If we abrogate the drawing of lines to some, then we are not influenced by cultures but influence them. "<br /><br /><br />Both of it happens at the same time, but the opportunity for such cross-cultural influences has never been more than it is now, which means we will see the effects of this in the coming decades. As is usually the case, all sides will be influenced in different ways over time, but there are many cultures today that pride themselves on their insularity and would like to spread their "message" such as it is. <br /><br /><br />"Are you talking about Guantanamo Bay and the O.J.Simpson paradigm? "<br /><br />I am talking about the Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clark, Larry Niven Paradigm. Existence based on scientific living with no illusions about anything.<br /><br />AlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-29059407517599474382010-12-02T00:06:15.937+05:302010-12-02T00:06:15.937+05:30Al:
Beneath all the 'ishes' there was a m...Al:<br /><br />Beneath all the 'ishes' there was a message-ish, too. I did not go all out wiht the Gujju bit because some thigns had to be stated more comprehensibly. As much as is possible from me :)<br /><br />PS: Will respond to some of your other comments later...my toes are aching!FVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-10143935269211682612010-12-01T03:45:43.964+05:302010-12-01T03:45:43.964+05:30Farzana, that was not Tanglish, it was Mallish. ...Farzana, that was not Tanglish, it was Mallish. yuvar lowbying for Shahjehan kenfoose me as Mallish. <br /><br />I did not recognize Gujlish and thought it was Mallish, and you thought it was tanglish, and responded appropriately. Anyway, here is some Kanglish to complete the confusion. :-)<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/35omd3d<br /><br />In other news, the aliens have landed...sorta...I thought it was time for me to crack open my 12 pack of spandex attire that I'd purchased for the odd alien vacation, but no such luck.<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/26mcsfu<br /><br />AlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-101698349401530292010-11-30T18:56:45.120+05:302010-11-30T18:56:45.120+05:30Whyfor you are mistaking Gujju for Tamil? It is se...Whyfor you are mistaking Gujju for Tamil? It is seenmplee whunderrphool...FVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16761020.post-47862744605884560672010-11-28T19:48:03.307+05:302010-11-28T19:48:03.307+05:30:-D Simbly venderful, Molay.
Al:-D Simbly venderful, Molay.<br />AlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com