Losing my Identity

I type this as I fly above the Tyrrhenian sea, between Naples(Italy) & Porto(Portugal). The blueness of the skies and the ocean below are only separated by the thin clouds that are in suspended animation. The horizon is almost non-existent. The perfect uniformity outside the airplane is only broken by the mental reverberations and gyrations that causes it's own mini typhoons. 

   

Why does karma always work? All fame, riches or relationships that have been gained by the wrong means is always lost. Not once has ever anyone lived to see the personal zenith one would aspire to with such means. As an engineer, and more importantly as a rational person, this is beyond my cognition or reasoning. The non-quantitative aspects of such an unscientific phenomenon are beyond the scientific rigour of any laboratory.

Karma, beyond religions, has always worked; constantly churning it’s own predicaments and influencing life. Karma doesn't see gender, age or economic status but affects one and all. Despite all this humans go down paths or prefer choices that are detrimental to their own well-being or their loved ones.

Can a choice that looks right in the short term, be wrong in the long term? Does that mean that morality is based on the time window that it operates on? 

But what's right and what's wrong? Things look right or wrong only in retrospect. Laws cannot define such a clear boundary. Laws change as societies change. What was illegal a few years back will be legal in no time. So, laws do not give us the best scale for personal laws, nor do they establish the right precedence for morality. What is morality?

Why morality? Why does a society need moral laws? Why should kids be taught morals when they are in school? Does morality also change with the passage of time? A kid who has grown with thieves and cheats will know nothing else but to steal and cheat. In that case, there is no blame on the child but that of the context that the child grew under.  The apocryphal laws only disappoint me.

A man attaches himself to something only when he feels that the object under consideration is going to satisfy him and is going to fulfil his ambitions and dreams. According to him, this will lead him to his goal and will help him realize all his wants and desires; and probably the ability to differentiate between the two. He also perceives his association with an object as a means of furthering his own interests.

The belief that we possess the necessary intellectual wherewithal and the continuous commitment and efforts that he/she puts forth towards achieving the same is one of the fundamental powers that we human beings have.

Playing to Lose

Right from Swordfish wherein Gabriel(Johan Travolta) laments the lack of realism in portraying villains in movies to Rochester(Johnny Depp), in the Libertine, commencing the movie with his monologue and bluntly stating that he is  not a likeable character; why do certain characters stand out from the ordinary.

Why is it that all games have to have winners and losers? Why is winning important? Why is surviving/survival critical? Why do the primordial instincts kick in? Why do we float? 

What if you start playing to lose, just so that you get to see the other side win. You just want to watch your opponent win and beam with joy while you bask in your so called 'sacrifice'. Why has it to be a sacrifice? Letting the other win is a joyful thing, but goes against the tenets of the basic game theory. Leaving aside cooperative games, why is winning always celebrated; the limelight is far away from the losers.

What if you play to lose. What if you play to just understand the game and its different outcomes, and winning or losing was just part of it.

That is it. That is my prologue, nothing in rhyme, no protestations of modesty, you were not expecting that I hope. 

Love and Fear

Niccolò Machiavelli, in his seminal 'The Prince', CHAPTER XVII : "Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared" writes:

Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.  Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you.  And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.

[Sidenote: the book did not actually have a title when it was written by Machiavelli]

In Economics, we call this as a Matching Market. Love belongs to the Matching Market whereas Fear is not. In a Matching Market, there is a willingness to sell a service or good by a Seller, and a willingness on the side of the Buyer to buy the service or the good at the said terms. The transaction does not happen otherwise. Organ Trades, and others are examples of such Matching Markets.

Other examples of matching markets include Jobs, Organ Transplants, Room Allocations, Marriages, Loans etc.

In Love, this commonality of needs or wants is necessary. But Fear is a one way street. Fear is inculcated by the Perpetrator onto the victim. It can so happen that Victim need not fear the actions by the Perpetrator, and hence this equation is purely based on the magnitude of the actions by the Perpetrator. Fear is also a perception and is determinant on the Perceiver; what can be otherwise 'normal' actions by a do-er can cause fear in the minds of the Receiver/Victim.

But both Love and Fear, suffer from a serious handicap. Handicap of Impermanence; that is, the feeling of Love and Fear is temporary and can either fade or strengthen with the passage of time. You might Love something today, and something else tomorrow. Fear is similar; what you are afraid of today, need not make you cringe in fear the day after. Impermanence is a beautiful concept and is the underlying theory that causes more trouble in the hearts of Humans. We abhor Impermanence as we do not understand it. We are never taught of Impermanence in our education and hence most of Humanity(especially the Western World) fears Death.

In Bhaja Govindam, this is stated beautifully:

ma kuru dhana, jana , youvana garvam;
harathi nimeshat kalat sarvam

Do not be proud of your wealth, relationships or youth. Time can snatch them away from you in no time.

Thalesian Awareness

2500 years ago (624-547 BC), there lived Thales, in the Greek city of Miletus. Thales was a Greek Mathematician and Philosopher, who was often ridiculed and teased by his own people because of his penury. His humble existence was often questioned as his philosophy did not make him rich or bring him any wealth. Much of Thales's writings do not exist and we know of his existence purely due to Aristotle.

But Thales was a keen observer and thinker. Using his knowledge of Astronomy, Cosmology, Geography and Mathematics, he predicted a good harvest of Olives in the year ahead. To extract the oil from the Olives, one needed the Olive Presses. Thales stuck a deal with the oil-press owners(both in Miletus and also neighboring towns) to rent all their inventory of oil-presses in the future by paying them a nominal amount upfront, in return for the confirmed rental of the oil-presses at a discount. The olive-press owners silently laughed at the inherent naivety of Thales. It was a bumper harvest indeed, and by controlling all the oil-presses, Thales could effectively control the starting point of the olive oil production (a sheer monopoly) and became very rich.

Thales was probably the first Hedge Fund Manager who taught us Leverage and Forward Contracts, in the due course creating probably the first Monopoly for himself. Thales was the first to give us a financial derivative instrument - 'Futures' and 'Options'. He purchased the rights, but not the obligation to use the oil-presses. He would have lost the option-premium alone had the harvest been dismal.

Thales thus proved to the World that Decision Analysis and Systematic Reasoning when properly understood and applied, does indeed bring wealth; underscoring the Corporate Mantra that Knowledge when used can also bring profits. While crafting strategies, it is not always necessary that we restrict ourselves to the tried and tested models and frameworks. The much cliched 'thinking outside the box' is very much needed; and also keeps the grey matter engaged in the due course.

Thales observed his environment (context) with great detail and predicted with accuracy. He saw through things and extracted meanings that set him apart from his contemporaries. He was constantly watching and gathering insights that led him to his intellectual successes. He is said to have discovered Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) as a tool of navigation. He also theorized that the Earth is round, and not flat; along with many other fetes.

Thales's Analytic Thought Process coupled with Wisdom as a Profession made him one of the Seven Wise Men of the Ancient World.

Shame and Integrity

"Men cannot live without Shame. A sense of Shame is beginning of Integrity. "

- Mencius(Chinese Philosopher)

"The Downfall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden" by Michelangelo

I recently attended a course on Ethics conducted by a top bureaucrat with close to four decades of field-experience. Among many things that we expatiated on, we spoke about the behavior of Terrorists. 'How to deal with Terrorists' is a question that most Governments and bureaucrats grapple with. Terrorists have no sense of their own lives and are ready to give up their lives for some cause that they believe in (let us not get into the merits or demerits of the cause). When a person is not afraid of his own life, which means that the person would hardly be interested in money or anything else either, then dealing with that person is an extremely tough proposition. It is a negotiation nightmare. No wonder some countries have a strict no-negotiation-policy with terrorists and have a clear and well-defined tit-for-tat strategy!

Post the course I was intrigued by this brief conversation and drew some parallels to how some have to face other forms of challenges in the cities that we live in. In the comforts of our houses we hardly think about the changing societal structures and the values that are being espoused. The increasing attitude of shamelessness has caught my attention and it is incredible how this simple value of 'shame' has far-reaching consequences. 

Somewhere along our evolution and the society's progress we seem to have stumbled on a notion that being shameless is 'cool'. Off late, being shameless is conceived as the new 'cool' and the very thought of this sends the chill across my spine. 

'Shame' is a moral emotion. This is not hereditary (not passed on by genes), but an acquired emotion. You acquire these emotional values by looking around those who are close to you. Parents, friends, relatives, teachers, supervisors and culture - all are integral in building up this important virtue.

Parents, being closest to the children, hence have to espouse highest levels of integrity by inculcating good values and ethics in their children. If you lie and cheat in front of children, it is but natural that the child also sees the action, and grows with it. And it is invariably true that the child also forgets that he/she has a conscience and goes berserk on the society.

Shame and Guilt see the Self as an object of evaluation and makes the self conscious of its own actions. Both Shame and Guilt are extremely potent motivators and powerful inhibitors. These acquired emotions can make you do things that you were otherwise were not planning to do; and it can also make you think and not do certain acts for the repercussions of the act. Like the way fear and greed go hand in hand, Shame and Guilt go hand-in-hand with Integrity. For, a person with highest levels of Integrity will be extremely sensitive to shame and guilt and hence will not do any acts which will cause him/her a downfall. People with Shame and Guilt are extremely sensitive to their Conscience.

So, how does one deal with a person who has no concept of shame or guilt, and hence no Integrity? The best thing is not to deal with them. If they want to make you play their nasty game, do not play the game - walk away. Stay away from them at all costs and do not let them interfere with your lives. 

It is but natural that it is not easy as it sounds to not to play the game or ignore, for sometimes, one cannot easily walk away. In such cases, be nice and always nice to them.  Be compassionate; ignoring them is one of the best strategies and having enough safeguards in your life to not let the others affect your happiness -- is one of the most critical. Do not sacrifice your value-systems and ethics for the shameless and the cheats.

“My father had taught me to be nice first, because you can always be mean later, but once you've been mean to someone, they won't believe the nice anymore.
So be nice, be nice, until it's time to stop being nice, then destroy them.”

-- Laurell K. Hamilton, A Stroke of Midnight

Dance of the Atoms

"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai

I stand at the seashore, alone, and start to think. There are the rushing waves ... mountains of molecules, each stupidly minding its own business ... trillions apart ... yet forming white surf in unison.
Ages on ages ... before any eyes could see ... year after year ... thunderously pounding the shore as now. For whom, for what? ... on a dead planet, with no life to entertain.
Never at rest ... tortured by energy ... wasted prodigiously by the sun ... poured into space. A mite makes the sea roar.
Deep in the sea, all molecules repeat the patterns of one another till complex new ones are formed.
They make others like themselves ... and a new dance starts.
Growing in size and complexity ... living things, masses of atoms, DNA, protein ... dancing a pattern ever more intricate.
Out of the cradle onto the dry land ... here it is standing ... atoms with consciousness ... matter with curiosity.
Stands at the sea ... wonders at wondering ... I ... a universe of atoms ... an atom in the universe.

- Richard Feynman in The Value of Science

Dissent and The Law of Numbers

One of the problems with a democratic form of governance is that the dissenting opinion requires to be backed up by law of numbers. That is, if you are comprising of the minority and have an opinion, then the majority's opinion is thrust upon you.

"Death of Socrates", Oil on canvas painting by Jacques-Louis David (1787)

So what do you do when you dissent against the majority. Revolution and coups, though a solution, are not to be espoused, as any violence(be physical or psychological) removes the sanctity of the system and causes further degradation.

Rather, holding onto the dissent and working on establishing the dissent with valid evidences, prototypes or a fully-fledged working solution would be a constructive form. We often see that dissents are often restricted to opinions alone, and are not followed up with the scientific rigour to productize the opinion. If you are a change-seeking-agent or an activist, rather than cribbing, complaining, shouting or holding the placards, getting to the crowd and sowing the seeds for the change would be a constructive form.

And if you are still not heard, then use the placards to showcase the solution.

And if you are still not heard, move on.

Contrary to the idea of dissent in democratic forms, in some organizations, there is a general principle of HIPPO - i.e, Highly Paid Person's Opinion :)

Understanding Reality and Truth

How does one differentiate between Reality and Truth? But, before that, how does one even define the respective terms? My perpetual complaint with the English language is the lack of expressions and phrases that can be used to define or be expanded upon a term for a good definition for easier assimilation and understanding. Probably, this is one of the reasons as to why many groups prefer having the mother-tongue as the language of instruction and education. But, given the limited  resources at hand, let us try to understand using anecdotes.

In schools and also at home, we are taught that Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Now, our mind has been tuned to this thought process right from the school. We are rational beings, and with the passage of time, begin to understand language and science. We have also observed that Sun indeed rises in the East and sets in the West, almost everyday. But, during the due course of our education, we are also taught that Sun is always stationary and it is the Earth that rotates on it's own axis and also revolves around the Sun. The phenomenon is the same; one is Reality and the other - the Truth.

As we have seen, the observation of Sun rising and setting is the Reality as it is the one that we perceive and can explain easily, but the larger truth that is often forgotten is : though reality gives us the perception that the planet Earth is stationary, it is the Sun which does not move. And this exactly points to the larger realm - i.e, Truth.

So, what does this mean?

Whenever you observe things around you and form conclusions, you almost always are experiencing reality based on your learnings, assumptions, logic and rationality. You continue to assume things based on the priors "alone". This is Reality for you. Some try to escape away from this reality under the guise of 'Maya' and hush it under the carpet. Disappointment is the difference between your expectations and reality. Many restrict themselves behind the facade called 'Mythya' or 'Maya'. They do not try to understand or make efforts to explore and go and in search of - Truth. When something confounds and confuses you, you hardly make attempts to understand the meaning associated with it and the causality of the phenomenon. You are in limbo and try to come up with your own logic to explain the sequence of events. The journey of the seeker on this path is arduous and painful, but once he reaches the destination, the journey and the destination make a new Man of himselves.

It is Truth alone that liberates one from everything.  "Truth alone sets you free." These are not philosophical words but actual experiences that speak for themselves.

In the real world : We often form opinions about others based on their behavior or come to conclusions about certain actions based on the rationality that we have been endowed with since birth. Any normal or unusual occurrence of an event follows the same course of logic. We restrict our thought process to that alone. (Did someone call-out being 'judgemental'??) But the 'seeker' when he goes beyond the realms of the reality and understands the hidden truths(and lies), he *alone* knows what is happening. Knowing the "What" is followed up with the more rigorous "Why". But, the "What" itself clears many of the ambiguities present in the minds of the seeker. Truth makes the seeker understand the various actions and variables and then he indeed transcends the arena of confusion and misjudged logic.

We all are born rational, few use reasoning, but.

The seeker now knows what needs to be done based on the Truth alone and need not be restricted to limited frame of Reality.

http://dilbert.com/strip/1994-01-02