Surviving Omniscience

This is somewhat in continuation to my earlier article on agnosticism... I am in a strange state of being right now... We all have our down days (where we question everything including, our existence and pretty much despise ourselves) and then there are those wonderful up days (when we seem to have a Midas touch, everything we do is right)... I am typing this post in the middle of an up day....

I feel like making a rather bold (and to some extent, blasphemous) statement..... I feel like an Omniscient.... the all knowing wise one..... this term is usually associated with God... but he has generously agreed to lend that title to me on a short lease (I'm the one with the Midas touch today, remember?)

I claim that I know everything that is worth knowing.... and the things which I don't know, are not worth knowing anyway!... Now the question remains, how do I decide if the thing is worth knowing or not?... simple.... as I am the Omniscient, I know.....

After that faint smile on your face fades away.... think about my statement again.... as per my logic, aren't we all Omniscient?.... In all the days of all our lives, we decide, rather randomly, as to what we want to know and what we don't... we are all selectively permeable towards the external stimuli... Something that we don't know, doesn't concern us... the rising crude oil price means nothing as long as our petrol doesn't become dearer... Gold prices don't mean much till there is a wedding at home... tension in an adjacent country or a state is always someone else's problem, or is at best, just a passing remark or an opportunity to start a new discussion....

We all live in our private omniscience.... a private world of knowledge and ignorance... we never give much credit to what we know, we don't give a damn for what we don't.... In the truest sense of the word, we live a dangerous life... just imagine, the summation of our combined knowledge as a race, is so minuscule in comparison to the vast tracts of ignorance lying beyond the realms... Let us understand what we know so that we realize what we don't... but till then, its all about surviving this omniscience.

a comment on agnosticism

Please do not be dismayed.. I neither have the time nor the inclination to start a debate on whether God exists or not.. I have long believed that "for those who believe, no proof is needed. For those who don't, no proof is enough" (thank you, David Blaine)... My reason (or excuse, depends on how you look at it) for writing this post is the sickening trend of agnosticism .. It seems as if God has been relegated to the same group as System or the State.. Whatever happens, Blame it on God...

Someone once said that we laugh at old customs but religiously follow the new ones.. We seem to have enough reasons to question the existence of God, but not enough proof to support our case.. Why do we ask him (or, her) to prove his/her existence when we take for granted, so many things in life... We spend a vast majority of life believing in molecular science and astronomy while a vast majority of us never really see an actual electron or fly in space, for that matter... My point is that when we believe in science through all its inferential proofs then why do we demand exactitude when it comes to theology..

At the risk of being branded blasphemous, I'd go to the extent of saying that Atheism is better than Agnosticism.. At least we are not asking question to someone who cannot (or will not) answer... and we are not asking for an answer which we will never believe anyway... If one still chooses to be an agnostic then so be it... my advice would be, when you question the creator, you'll have to question the creations too... think about it...

That extra mile

I saw a rather rare streak of energy in my mannerism today (or yesterday, if you are really serious about technical details).... Since past some years, I'd started assuming that I can spread happiness even passively.... somewhat like diffusion where the the ink drop spreads through the width and depth water... Today I realize that by trying a little harder... I can go an extra mile....

At an intensely abstruce yet an unconscious level, I wanted the day and the occasion to be the happiest... or even happier than a normal day... This eventually led to a laugh where a smile would have done.... and a smile where there were none.... A statement that need not have been necessary.... a temporary disregard towards bothering to determine what is necessary and what is not.... it was like an emotional high.... a point where you have an out of body experience... where you go somewhere between the heaven and earth and see yourself down below... that way you can control (or as in my case, let go) of oneself in a better way..... I loved myself today... Makes me wonder.... where I was all these years??.... did I go an extra mile today.... or was I travelling less all these while?...... I would love to be what I was today..... dont we all want a certain part of our lives freeze framed?... a perfect moment when everything was where it is supposed to be and everyone who were there, had to be there at that point in time....

Average

We live in a house which is too small to be called a "Bungalow" and too well kept to be called a tenement (which I just learnt that it means 'A run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards'. Thank you WordWeb). When my father decided to increase the living area by an additional floor, One of the criteria that he had had in mind was, how big is the house adjoining ours? Because, it'd be senile to undertake a construction which is smaller than the one nearby and it would be a blasphemy to increase the scale way beyond the others in the 'society'.. Going just one additional floor would be friendly competition.... but going beyond that would mean the invocation of anti-trust laws!

Over a period of time, everyone constructed.... and more or less, everyone had this underlying criteria in their blueprints... so we ended up in a society of clones... each house sickeningly similar to the one nearby.... Thus, proving true the law of averages...

Fundamentally, Humans are a confused lot... we never seem to know what we have, but we know for sure that its not enough!... If the human race were to be plotted on a graph then probably it would show normal distribution curve.

a vast majority of us will be concentrated in the middle of this bell shaped curve... on the left would be the unfortunate few in the society who never got a level playing field... and on the right will be the privileged few who dared to escape from the concentration camp in the middle.. We look at disdain on those who are on the left and want to come in... and we look with an equal disdain on those willing to break out... At one level, we want to be that someone who managed to stand out in the crowd... but at a larger level, we console our wounded conciousness by stating that we are happy with what we have, that we have an average life which, although not spectacular; is still better than the lives of all those on the left..

I dont mean to be judgemental and altruistic by preaching that we commit a sin by being average... we all have our reason... and some, have excuses.... I just want the world to realize that no matter where they stand... there is always some space left above... and in case, you dont want to take the risk... Please let the way in for those who do....

Black and White...

David Ogilvy would have hated my blog.... The great advertiser was of the view that the matter layout should always be black letters on a white background, rather than what you see right now... But the purpose of my blog is impress myself, to supress myself and to express myself... Taking care of Mr. Ogilvy's ground rules doesn't figure in my scheme of things...

I started this blog with a very basic post and a very basic idea that I wish to share my interpretation of life with all those who care to read... somewhere down the line, my life has started mimicking my blog rather than the other way around.... The present layout of this blog defines the present status of my life....

I experimented with colors... I chose some which really didn't define me.... and gave them an opportunity to do so.... they disappointed.... a color that you dont wish to see on yourself is a stain.... so the only option left with me was Black or white.... Here on, it was just a matter of cancelling the non-viable options (something, I used extensively in my MBA entrances)... so I've decided to opt for black because I know that I dont want to opt for white.... for me, white signifies tameness, defeat, rigidity, lameness and all the similar words that you may find for the ones already mentioned, in the thesaurus... Black is infinite, enigmatic, curious..... I love the way black makes your eyes strain in order to make these words legible... I love the concept of infinite black.... no beginning, no end, enveloping everything, yet so empty.... revealing nothing yet explaining so much.... One more thing about black is that it never surprises... one doesn't expect much from black so there is not much expectation to live up to.... when all the colors have disappointed in one way or the other, I thought that it was the apt time to embrace black...

If you have any comments, let me know.... I really dont know if I'd care... but I'd still like to know....