There are many things we think we know. We have theories and postulates and fact and fiction. There is belief and faith and hope and a prayer. And then there is the unthinkable. Unbelievable. Like the rape of young women amidst the society we live in. Children wiped out with gunfire that comes from a weapon we created. Immense tragedies that are done in the name of religion, faith, beliefs, chemically induced fantasia or extreme circumstance. What is that?
Unknown Unknowns is how I would like to qualify these.
We are good at labeling. Genocides, homicides, suicides, degrees of manslaughter (even if the perp is a woman), infanticides, pesticides, his side, my side and so on.
Then there are the hazards - fire, flood, poison, moral and other intangible kinds.
Yet events happen with increasing frequency that baffle even the most astute amongst us. We as a species continue to surprise ourselves daily. I mean look at - for example we are still around when a civilization thousands of years ago postulated that this joke was about to end this month. What happened?
Therefore to laugh at someone who says that anything is possible or conversely impossible might be laughable itself. You ain't seen nothin yet!
This line of thinking took shape in a non linear way as I embarked on a new book written by a geek (without an R) cosmologist called - A Universe from Nothing. Here he posits many ideas around how the BIG BANG was an actual event in time and how we have in the last 14 or so billion years formed from stardust. Yet what he does not write about but becomes intensely unclear at the end is how the same species with the same basic genetic makeup can react or perform things so differently than its neighbor.
I know that was not the thesis he set out to answer.
There are outstanding concepts around what constitutes the universe and what our place in the immense void is but provokes the thought (at least in me) to find meaning to the chain reaction that has been setup and continues to play out. There is a lot of man made noise in my opinion and it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine if there is indeed a prescription for success. The very definition of success might be outdated. Look at the fiscal and economic jokes that are being played out by almost every nation on the planet today.
Do you seriously think that any one of these deserves a Nobel for outstanding success?
Another interesting movie that jogged the brain further confusing it is called ARBITRAGE. With Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon it showcases a much believable scenario of how chasing wealth has become a religion and ego fulfilling dream for many and that dream in turn shapes the destiny of multitudes of people that contribute willingly and unwillingly for its success.
On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
We are actually not that different- from other animals.
ReplyDelete