Faith, Intelligence and Experience

Meditation is a healthy practice.
You analyze literature on meditation, and infer that meditation is a healthy practice.
You meditate, and understand that meditation is a healthy practice.

Love is wonderful.
You analyze stories of millions in love, and infer that love is wonderful.
You fall in love, and understand that love is wonderful.

Smoking is terrible.
You analyze repercussions of smoking, and infer that smoking is terrible.
You get lung cancer, and understand that smoking is bad.

Gambling is an addiction.
You analyze lives of gamblers, and infer that gambling is an addiction.
You become a gambler, and understand that gambling is an addiction.

Losing a dear one is painful.
You analyze people's feelings after losing a dear one, and infer that losing a dear one is painful.
You lose a dear one, and understand that losing a dear one is painful to say the least.


Every statement is a wise statement but has a significantly different conviction level. Above triplets are arranged in the order of Faith, Intelligence and Experience.

Faith can be defined as a strongly held belief or theory. Its like an axiom - you do not question it. When life tests your Faith, it is extremely difficult to stay true to it as you have no basis to believe it to be absolutely true. It is easy to lose your faith and part ways with it in distressed times.

Intelligence can be defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. When you indulge in analysis, you develop a better understanding of causality and patterns associated with beliefs (Faith). Based on your inferences, you distinguish Faith as right/wrong and try to pursue the right Faith. When life tests your Intelligence, it is easier to stay true to it compared to Faith. But, it is still a daunting task. Primarily because the data you used for analysis was external to you. You might be tempted to believe that situation can be different for you (as your analysis is based on aggregates).

Experience can be defined as a practical contact with and observation of facts and events. It is only when you are involved in a situation and can objectively analyze it, that it is possible to answer questions that were faced by naked Faith and Intelligence. If you develop understanding at this level, your conviction in an idea sky rockets.

To conclude, Faith, Intelligence and Experience are different levels of wisdom. They manifest themselves via different levels of convictions in ideas. Experience is a superset that contains both, Faith and Intelligence.

System of Higher Beings

Have you ever wondered about the size and role of Red Blood Cells (RBC)? To give you a sense, it would take ~1 quadrillion (10e15) RBCs to make up for the volume of one human-being. There are ~20-30 trillion RBCs in your body doing their task as you read. To put it into perspective, that is 4,000 times more than the human population (~7.5bn). What purpose do RBCs serve in your body? They collect oxygen from pick up points (lungs) and deliver it to the destination (tissues). Now that we know a little about size, number and function of RBCs - lets be clear that the purpose of this article is not to ponder upon the biological role of RBCs. Intriguing question is whether RBCs are cognizant of their role.

Do RBCs know where they are located, what purpose they serve or are they even aware of the things they are doing? But isn't thinking a part of a conscious existence? What do you (conscious being) think about RBC's consciousness? Does it have one? If yes, till what degree is it conscious? Before we attempt to answer these questions (which we won't), let us talk about "Panpsychism". What is Panpsychism? It is one of the oldest philosophical theories and has been attributed to the likes of Plato, Spinoza, Leibniz and many more. It can also be seen in the texts of Stoicism, Taoism, Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism. What it states is simple - Panpsychism views consciousness, mind or soul as a universal property. Which is to say that every entity in this universe (living or non-living) has something that we refer to as consciousness/mind. Hence, within the realms of Panpsychism, as I understand, RBCs will have consciousness.

In a thought experiment, if you were a conscious RBC, you would know for certain that you exist. You would probably wish to live long as well (Darwin's evolution?). Experiences of gazillions of your ancestors would have may be led RBC community to believe that to live longer, RBCs need to be exceptionally good at oxygen delivery to specific destinations which they would probably not know the importance of. But would even a single RBC know why delivering oxygen is essential to live longer? More importantly, why does it matter that they live longer? Would there be an RBC who would know of your existence? Can those trillions of RBCs in billions of us, ever figure out who they are serving and why? Stepping out of the RBC role, and becoming human once again - human being's knowledge of RBCs is not only attributed to consciousness but also to extensive scientific experimentation. In that thought experiment, I have an opinion that as of today, our RBCs would not know of us as another human-being might know us. You might be for them their incomprehensible universe interacting with similar other universes; a mystery, that generations and generations of RBCs might have spent lives on decoding.

Continuing the thought experiment - what if all this was for real and we were RBC equivalents in a system of Higher Beings? Can we possibly understand that system of Higher Beings? Does humanity have an equivalent task to RBC's oxygen delivery that would ensure the longevity of our Higher Being so that it can perform its own oxygen delivery equivalent task? Is it longevity built on longevity built on longevity - every level of species working toward an ultimate "end"? If this is the case, then we better hope that humanity is performing the oxygen delivery equivalent task phenomenally well. Furthermore, new questions keep coming to mind as you think more about it -

• What are the most important values that we need to develop to excel in our oxygen delivery task? Is it Scientific curiosity, Art, Love, Trust, Justice, Mercy, etc.?
• Is there a 'beginning' or an 'end' to this? Does 'beginning' or 'end' as a concept make any sense in the grand scheme?
• How can we relate to or potentially understand the system of Higher Beings, and consequently the grand scheme? Is it even necessary?
• Is it like a nested neural network? Are we at each layer, from sub-atomic particles, to atoms, to RBCs, to humans and beyond consistently progressing from narrow meaning of existence to a higher meaning of existence? Are we in the process of finding that ever elusive higher purpose?

Co-existence of Perspectives

A perspective is an observer’s mental framework. An observer develops a perspective on a subject matter after analyzing an information set pertaining to it. Each observer has a unique information set. Information set is a collection of facts, rumors, expectations and goals. It is neither exhaustive nor an objective description of reality. It is reflective of an observer’s life experiences and ambitions. Subject matter is an issue which demands attention from an observer. It is essentially a topic on which a perspective is formed.

We should bear in mind that each perspective, as described above, is specific to an information set. It is the best possible conclusion that an observer can reach at after a rational analysis of the information set. Perspective formation process can be compared to an input-output model where our perspective, an output, is only as good as the information set, an input. Rational analysis is an assumption. As a result, applicability of a single perspective is constrained in nature – with boundaries defined by the information set.

Majority of the observers get married to a perspective after they form one, and defend it regardless of the questions that are asked. It is irrational to defend a perspective against questions which are outside the realm of the information set. Ideal response, I believe, is to acknowledge a new element’s existence in perspective formation process and analyze it accordingly. This process of inclusion of new elements not only enhances the existing information set but also leads to a more robust perspective, a perspective which encompasses additional scenarios.

This constant readiness to update an existing perspective is a tedious activity, but nevertheless, it is an enriching exercise. It keeps one humble, encourages learning and fosters understanding of differences that exist in our society. Once we become cognizant, at an individual level, that widespread divergence on various subject matters in our society, is a result of people dealing with different information sets, we can address those differences effectively. We then strive to develop the most efficient information set by combining different information sets and analyze it thereafter.

Vision, Talent and Traffic Jams

In today’s world, good (not extra-ordinary) talent is ample. Hence, gone are the days when people could afford to act pricy because of a rare skill-set they possessed – which might have been inculcated during their education or maybe it was hereditary. Without working in an appropriate fashion, a gifted individual can literally squander his life. As a result, today, we understand the importance of hard-work for staying competent, more than ever before.

Now, let’s come to another crucial point. We are cognizant of the fact that a talented and a hard-working person has the ability and the capability to walk that extra mile – that extra mile which, in Zig Ziglar’s words has no traffic jams. But, there is not just one path, instead, there are multiple paths. Neither hard-work nor talent can help you choose the path. They’d help you succeed once you choose the path, not a horribly wrong one though. Or else, you’d be that fish who was considered stupid because it couldn’t climb a tree, and never realized that it was not supposed to.

Going forward, because of such a huge competition in most of the fields and also because of mind-boggling diversity of these fields, people spend more time in analyzing choices today than ever before. They make a choice that in expectation would involve maximum application of their skills and will lead to a proportional reward, in monetary terms and as well as from the perspective of job satisfaction. Once they choose the path, they shift gears and go full-throttle. There is a high chance that good talent and hard-work will lead you to a good life. But, does the story end here?

You just chose the start of the path. Where did the path lead? How did you wish your journey to be? How receptive were you to the choices that came your way in forms of intersection with other paths or opportunities to create new paths? It makes a lot of difference eventually. Nurturing a vision is irreplaceable, and it cannot be compensated with just good talent and hard-work. You should be a prospective thinker. If you can envision your journey in space and time, and the impact of your choices, culmination can be pleasantly surprising and different from a mediocre outlier, i.e. an outlier among outliers – a true outlier.

Clock

Time ticks fast

Time ticks slow

It's a state of mind

That makes you think so.

Yesterday had 24 hours

Today will have the same

Morrow would not get more

Though you may think so.

Have I turned the last stone?

X is my passion, my ambition. I love X. I am at peace with X. I find solace in X. X defines me to myself. X has pervaded my dreams and my thoughts. One day, I met ABC. He said that I cannot achieve X, I cannot be with X. I asked why. He gave a reason. Obviously, the reason seemed stupid to me. I ignored his warnings and his words of dissuasion. I continued marching, in the hope to unite with X someday soon.

On my way, I met DEF. He argued that I am overly attached to X. I reasoned that they taught me to pursue what I felt strongly about. He agreed, but added, “Not blindly! Apply logic, calculate the odds and if the numbers are favorable, only then give it a shot!”  I replied, “My calculations look fine. Why do you doubt them?” He said because you are not supposed to have X. I asked why I am not supposed to have X, again. He mocked. Then he ignored. And he walked, away! I sighed. But I was energetic and passionate as before. He could not hurt my spirit. I was happy.

I kept fighting. Pointless to say, I hit rocks more often than not. I felt depressed at times for not uniting with X until now. I recalculated. The faith, the feel and the love, all were genuine. My rationale and my instincts were with me. I continued my struggle. I read pages. I read experiences of people. All success stories had been tough. I doubt they gave me inspiration, but yeah they were good enough to keep my hopes alive.

Today, I am still fighting. They say I am a rational guy. I know I am a rational guy. But today, they are questioning my rationality. They always taught me to be relentless for my dreams, for my love, for my passion. Today, the same people are telling me to change my course. They say I am crazy. They say I do not wish to face the reality. They say I am a coward. I have shut my mouth. I have shut my mind to their criticism. I am still fighting. It is because, the faith, the feel and the love, are all genuine.

I will keep on fighting until I am sure that I have turned the last stone. After that, I will accept my fate.

In 2011

1-Jan

15-Jan

2-Feb

22-Mar

5-Jun

13-Jul

22-Jul

26-Jul

31-Jul

7-Aug

Aug 13 - Aug 17

21-Aug

30-Aug

Sep 26 - 28, 30

17-Oct

3-Nov 3-Dec

24-Dec

Dec  28, 29, 30

31-Dec

Irreversible choices

I grew up in a modest middle class Indian family. Mowgli, Arabian Nights, Sunday morning Ramayana, MS-DOS, Pac-man and Road rash, 1996 Cricket World Cup Semifinal, Sharjah Cup, DDLJ, Long queues in phone booths, Craze for getting hands on a computer with Windows95 OS and hardly 64MB RAM are fresh in my memory and shall remain so. I am from the generation that was in its infancy when India accepted trade liberalization. According to me, it not only facilitated exchange of goods and services but also played an important role in accelerating exchange of culture and ideas. This blog superficially discusses the irreversible and cascading nature of compromises that one makes.

In the mid-1990s, life was predominantly occupied by academics, cricket and close-knit friend circle. Relationships with everyone were agreeable. But, no sooner did we enter high school than the clashes of thoughts began. Not that they were major hassles but were strong indicators of the future divergence. Well, it shall definitely be attributed to youth – youth by nature is rebellious. Disproportionate focus on academics, lack of focus on practical application, narrow barometers for comparison, choosing safer option at every step, compromising passion for a livelihood were certain aspects that were prevalent under the pretext of being practical. Revulsion to such practicality must have provoked many of us to not compromise our lives, passion, and broad-mindedness as we entered the 21^st century.

As we entered colleges, many chose engineering over painting, medical over dancing, something over something and so on. Choice of an option was ironically; less influenced by interest and was more dependent on monetary returns that the option promised. Obvious reason cited for such an inane behavior was - painting, dancing and other non-academic activities can be practiced alongside. At a sub-conscious level, this compromise might have given birth to a desire of pursuing the forgone activity sometime in future. Soon the 3-5 years of graduation passed by. We enjoyed life, friends and college. But, hardly did anyone find time to pursue their core interests or search for one if they had not figured it out till now. Mind you – the desire in sub-conscious shall not die. It’ll only strengthen (an assumption).

Graduation complete – Where’s the money my son? JOB is the key. Again, what one is good at is less critical but which job pays more is of prime importance. Another compromise. Earning a few grand more becomes more important than pursuing one’s interest. The desire in the sub-conscious strengthens its presence. This compromise leads to more compromises. Innumerable compromises follow. All under similar pretexts – practically not viable, socially unacceptable, life is not so simple and so on. It’s nothing but a Domino effect. Do not let the 1^st domino fall – implies shy away from the 1^st compromise. Deep down everyone knows that one does not have enough courage to face the truth of one’s ugly compromises.

I apologize for such a simplistic approach but this is how I thought it can begin and can be worked upon. I have apparently restricted myself to professional choices. But non-professional choices can be plugged in equally well. Point that I wish to drive home is the fact that compromising today shall ask for more efforts tomorrow to undo the compromise and it’s highly likely that this greater effort will not come easily and you’ll find yourself compromising again soon. But the worst thing is that the sub-conscious (pardon the technical ignorance) will not let you go. It will not let you sleep. It knows if you have screwed. And consequentially, one fine day – when the road to go back does not exist, you will find yourself company in the form of a naïve question. “Sab to pa liya, ab hai kya kami?” – Swades.

Hence, if possible, Stop – Reflect – Confirm that you are doing what you wished to – If Yes, perfect – If no, change course as tomorrow it’ll be harder than today.

Connecting the dots?

In principle, is a life equivalent to connecting the dots? If yes, must it be a pattern that necessarily concludes and is comprehensible only when one dies? If not, can we understand a design in formation – a forward extrapolation of events or for that matter, can one appreciate occurrence of events in life since birth till the present moment? Had that been the case, planet Earth would not have witnessed lamenting of billions of human-beings because everyone would have an answer of why events are unfolding the way they are. Had forward extrapolation been possible at an individual scale, I assume there would definitely be a way of understanding the event patterns of various cities, states, countries, continents and mankind as a whole. And what kind of consequences that would lead to, I dare not write. Thus, forward extrapolation is definitely not happening.

And by the virtue of absence of forward extrapolation of dots and unknown of the future destiny, you cannot extrapolate backwards and reason out the events that happened. And if death marks a satisfactory end to a process of connecting the dots, then for whom are the dots being connected if the person himself is not available to appreciate the pattern. And not everyone has the luxury to ponder upon one’s life before the arrival of death – bomb blasts, accidents and natural disasters are among prominent examples that kill people in a blink of an eye.

Events happen. They have their respective probabilities. Some are calculable, many are not. Why is it mandatory for an event to accompany itself with a purpose? How does one come up with a plausible explanation for events such as diseases, rapes, murders, economic losses and wars! Are the protagonists comfortable with the idea of pitiful ending of numerous lives and accept those as the best patterns those individuals could have carved out in their life? Similar reasoning can be extended to positive outcomes. Let me put it this way. Assume that we have a chart of significant events (debatable in itself, but let’s not go deep into it at present) v/s time, of a random individual’s life. Now, just tweak a segment at your own will. Will it not be a complete different story and a total different mapping? To cite an example, my siblings left Kabootar Khana, Mumbai five minutes before the blasts. They are alive today.

If the concept of connecting the dots asserts that the end result is the same and given distortion will readjust itself along the new path, then this is too ambitious an assertion to make, as there is no way to verify the claim. Next, if all paths of an individual led to the same conclusion then what is in particular unique about the life that the person lived, compared to innumerable alternate lives that he could have lived? Nothing except for the journey! But what kind of journey is the journey that has its fate pre-decided and why was that journey specifically chosen. And the worst consequence of a convergent ending for divergent paths is the nullification of the concept of a free-will. It ends up being a delusion which constantly motivates an individual and develops an impression in his mind that he can alter the end that is looming.

All great men are great because of their efforts and other qualities that require commitment from them. And if one toils in the heat and endures the hardships that come along, naturally, the probability of a favorable event occurring in one’s life climbs significantly. One can control the input and try to maximize the probability of a favorable output, but can hardly ensure it. Bhagvad Gita 2.47 rightly says, “You have the right to action but no entitlement to its fruits. They may or may not come. And, this must not lead you to detachment from action.” Why waste time connecting the dots! Let’s do some worthwhile work.

Two most popular models: Science and Religion

Modeling is essentially an exercise that involves a few parameters and certain definite relations between these parameters. For a specific set of input parameters, a model generates a specific output. Model is intangible. It is non-existent. One cannot see a model. One cannot touch or smell a model. Modeling is a technique that one uses to explain real life happenings in an understandable way. It is employed with objectives of simplifying one’s life and increasing faith in one’s ability to understand the hitherto inexplicable events.

I believe Science and Religion are the two most popular models ever conceived. Both of them are an integral part of my life and have provided me with an invaluable guidance. Every one, at some point of time in one’s life would have been involved or at least, witnessed a debate pertaining to the better of the two: Science or Religion. I feel it’s unwise to compare Science and Religion. As I see, they are essentially, two distinct models having absolutely different objectives to attain. I shall summarize my understandings of Science and Religion in a tabular format. It will enable me to simultaneously compare both of them and reason out why they should not be confused as opponents of each other.

Science	Religion
Objective of Science is to engineer reason for everything that happens around us. Science aspires to map all the events in a causal relationship.	Objective of Religion is to guide human behavior in a way that fosters peace and harmony. It aspires to promote an effective way of living.
Neither does Science talk about loving your neighbor nor does Religion take an onus of explaining the events of nature. It probably makes a God for each event who takes care of its happenings.
Logic is the fuel of any scientific inquiry.	Faith is the fuel of any religious sermon.
You must not demand Logic in any religious sermon as it never claimed to be logical and you must not dare to take even a single step in any scientific inquiry on the basis of faith because Science does not keep its fingers crossed and await an outcome (Quantum Mechanics is a separate thing, it’s no guesswork as I know of it, I wish readers to appreciate the difference between guess and probability).
After experimentation, a scientist probably manages to find relations between various physical entities but needs to use his/her imagination to insert intangible entities for developing a model. To cite examples, Electric field, Magnetic Field, Gravitational Field are the most common. I know nobody who claims that he/she has seen/ heard/ touched one of the above mentioned fields. But, according to scientists they exist, they are there. It is an axiom, not to be questioned.	After experience, humans probably understood statistical outcomes of various human behaviors. They might have realized that desirable behaviors are contrary to basic human nature. Hence, they created intangible Gods, Heaven and Hell. These concepts fed upon human emotion of Fear and subordination/ reverence to higher authority (like a Circus Lion). No one has ever seen God/ Heaven/ Hell. But, according to Religion, they are there. It is an axiom, not to be questioned.
Intangible entities bring semblance to otherwise haphazard relationships among various physical entities. It reduces uncertainty in the occurrences of natural events. It helps humans to progress materialistically.	Intangible Gods bring semblance to otherwise random human behavior and guide them in a particular direction. It significantly reduces hostility among people and encourages them to lead a happier and peaceful life.

But, the growing acceptance of Science as a model and increasing reliance of human-beings on Science cannot be denied. Probably, it is one of the major reasons that fuel the debate of Science v/s Religion. An advantage with Science is that it continuously evolves and discards theories as soon as they are contradicted. Another major plus is that it is quantifiable. In an educated world, Science turns out to be an attractive model, as education inculcates a spirit of Logic. Religion is deprived of both the advantages. As far as I know, it neither updates itself nor is it quantifiable. The ideas of updating and quantifying a Religion seem absurd in the current setting of the world.

I think of opinions mentioned in the table as the essence of Science and Religion. And to an individual, both the aspects are equally important. Hence, choosing Science over Religion or vice-versa might not be a wise decision. One has to be very certain of not mixing the two things; logic and faith. They can be easily misinterpreted and erroneously applied in different scenarios. Tweaking intangible entities is an option that is always available to one, till a point one is not altering the implications of theories/sermons by one’s imaginary inventions.

Love - A Sweet Journey

If in life your paths cross with a belle;
 An embodiment of imaginary ideal lover
If she is irresistible and seductive, and
 At the first sight you have fallen for her

If your vision fails to see anyone, but her
 You sketch her body with your eyes, in air
If thoughts of her, front-run all others and
 Eternal bliss is here to stay you swear

If the phone rings, you wish it to be hers
 Oh God! How elated you are when it's hers!
If you smile, talk and blush when alone
 And think of this state as perfectly normal

If rains have become romantic this season
 Breeze caress your lock of hair with affection
If you start caring for her more than your life
 And her happiness is the only relevant criterion

If her hug relieves you of all trauma, pain
 And her smile brings a smile on your face
If you wish to color her heart and soul as

 She colored yours with every ecstatic shade

If you envision her as your alter ego
 And dream of having children with her
If idea of love-making is dominated by
 Purity of intent and not lustful desire

If none of these phenomena are short-lived
 And all gain strength with each passing day
Then my friend, you must know one thing

  You are in love with your beautiful belle.

If now, tomorrow she comes close to you 

 Holds your hands, looks deep into your eyes
Says you that you are not the one she loves
 You, I know, will be shocked and paralyzed

In that state of shock you will have two options
 Let your girl go or fight for her possession
Choose the tougher one my friend, stick to memories
 As sticking to her is not a sustainable solution.

Love is a journey, make it memorable.

Is Illumination an Illusion?

In the darkest of the jungles, I found myself

Caught unaware, like a butcher's turkey.

Scathing darkness, hostile companionship

Everything seemed to play a havoc on me.

Unafraid, I trudged along, with an unflinching belief

Of finding a route, and out of this obnoxious scheming.

Antagonized as I hit dead ends, thought of nothing but

Of starting all over again, not withstanding any suffering.

Contours I trod on, met unfavorable ends incessantly

My immortal faith was being conquered by disillusion.

Futility of the efforts, stood naked and stared in my face

Success I thought, was a figment of my imagination.

Drained I was! Submission to fate - an only option left

When suddenly, shimmer at a distance caught my eye.

Rejuvenated I felt, I pounced enthusiastically towards it.

I shrieked, "Ah! It was an illusion", I saw the light die.

I wish I was a baby!

Our minds were malleable and empty as babies. There were no ethics, principles, ego, responsibilities, concern for reputation, philosophies that we were forced to live with. We were naked. Naked in thought. It was probably the naivest definition of freedom known to us.

As babies we followed our id - our basic desires. We peed wherever we liked. We laughed, we cried at our own whim. We never scrutinized our actions under the lens of ethics or morality. We never worried about any impairment of our reputation if we cried/ peed incessantly. We were not punished for sleeping late and for being disobedient. People loved us and kissed us for being naughty. We had no responsibilities, but we were the bosses. We were the most privileged member of our family. We never perplexed ourselves with abstract questions about nature and God. At best, we were just interested in knowing how far the stars and Moon are and who lives there. Back then, money had no significance, struggle for money was stupid. Studying was difficult, it seemed like an inconsequential activity we engaged ourselves in, killing our play time and TV time. Academic degrees were waste. Sports was the way to go. All were friends, no enemies.

We grew older. We reached high school. We were naked before. It was somehow shameful to be naked at this age. We clothed ourselves with some amounts of ethics, principles. We started talking in terms of ethical and unethical. Ethical was good, unethical was bad. Gods were ethical, demons were unethical. Politicians were ethical, criminals were unethical. We wanted to be ethical. We also developed principles. Family, friends and schools were among our limited sources. We must be punctual. We must respect elders. We must be disciplined. We must be kind and humble. All these principles had a great fan following. Undoubtedly, we wanted to be principled. This stage provided us a skeleton for distinguishing between entities and activities in future. We were being prepared for the future.

Slowly and steadily time ticked by. We crossed stages after stages. One day we found ourselves to be adults.  Adult life is a challenge. We find ourselves clothed with responsibilities, concerns and philosophies. We have families to look after. Companies to take care of. Stress levels have risen. Parties have become infrequent. Solitude is what one starts craving for. Life has become more demanding. It seems to be a cyclical loop till you take a retirement. We have started pondering on the basic meaning of life more than ever before. We more often than not think about the futility of our actions. We let out a sigh,"I wish I could be a child again!"

But we must understand that life is not just about our desires. It is not as simple as an individual's desire. On a Venn diagram if you plot more than 7 billion sets than the intersection is what one must aim at. Well, primary question that comes to the mind is whether intersection actually exists? Life is about survival and progress at the same time. Survival is impossible without innovation. So is progress. I wish to lead a happy life but so does the entire mankind. In such a case, rules and regulations are very essential. Fair distribution of opportunities and rewards is essential. A framework is required to which we must adhere to with a goal of maximizing our own happiness. This framework has to be firmly rooted in ethics, principles, ego, responsibilities, concern for reputation and philosophies. They form the cornerstones of such a framework.

Adults have the necessary knowledge and discipline to drive human progress. They have the responsibility of the entire mankind. They are the torch-bearers. What you give today is what your posterity will receive tomorrow! We are here because someone in the past did it for us. You were not expected to turn into a crybaby when your turn comes to deliver. At best, we can term that desire to be just a wishful thinking.

Few important tenets

 LIVE LIFE, STOP EXISTING

Unexpected events will happen, try to reduce your vulnerability.

Love family, don't neglect it.

Stay healthy, mentally and physically.

Treasure best friends, they are hard to come by.

  
 Have aims, have ambitions. Eat, drink and sleep with them.

Stay away from regrets.

Don't dare to lose ever in life: trust.

Read. Read about you and me of past to appreciate present and anticipate future,

Becoming productive is one of the best ways of becoming charitable.

Play a sport.

Have a wish list and a bucket list and strive to complete it.

  

DEATH ENDS THIS LIFE, NO IFS AND NO BUTS

Theory of Alternative Paths and Hard-work

In Physics, work done in moving an object from State 1 to State 2 is equivalent to the energy spent in the process. It is represented by W. Mathematically; work done is the integral of dot product between force vector and displacement vector along the path from State 1 to State 2. This is a path independent function in conservative field. In a non-conservative field, work done in moving an object from State 1 to State 2 is a path-dependent function.


Every state is defined by a certain number of parameters. We can assign fixed values to parameters and allow a tolerance level for each parameter. Hence, a State 1 will be generated. We select all individuals that approximately fit into it. We repeat the procedure for another state and name it as State 2. We select individuals that fit into this State 2. For this article’s purpose we assume that State 2 is generally perceived to be better than State 1 and everyone works in order to travel from State 1 to State 2.


If an individual’s course of life (biography/autobiography) is considered as a representative path we will have cluster of paths converging at and diverging from various states. Now we trace those paths that selected individuals take in their displacement from State 1 to State 2. Some will be short and smooth. Others will be long and spiked.


I make an assumption here. I assume that with time, humans realize the differences in probability of each path; probability of ending up at State 2. They identify and accept paths that, if followed, have very high probability to reach State 2 and discard numerous others. This leads me to an assumption of normal/Gaussian distribution of paths.

Now although there are accepted paths of transition between these 2 states, not all can afford to walk on them. Various hindrances come in the selection of an ideal path.

·   It is impractical to hope to take correct decision at every point.

·   Some tragedies may force an individual to alter one’s course substantially.

·   Plain luck (Probability in a sophisticated language)

·   Criterion requirement

·   Mindset/ Thought process

·   Management of other parameters in life

·   Many others can be added

Let’s talk about the qualitative aspect of hard work in life. It’s importance in life, inclusive role in luck/ favorable probability. 

I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. 

- Thomas Jefferson

If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it. 

– James Garfield

There is no substitute for hard work. 

– Thomas Alva Edison

The question is whether all the people who travel from State 1 to State 2 work equally hard? Or is it a function of path chosen? Well, answer to that I might not know. But, one thing I think is at any point making a correction in your path is possible. It will come at a higher cost as you get farther from your desired state. But, if you drift along, shake-off your inertia and get back to work. Have clear aims and ambitions. Your environment might not be supportive but play along, don’t quit. There is a high probability you will find a way to make it to end. Because there always were, are and will always be outliers. But, it took a great deal for each one of them to be an OUTLIER.