Love Affair

"The trick in life isn't getting what you want, my dear, it's wanting it after you get it." - Ginny (Katharine Hepburn in Love Affair)

God In The Realm of Physics

The Wall Street Journal published this article on a subject that has been deliberated on by men probably for as long as we have been self-aware - the subject of God. The article by Richard Hawkins, author of The God Delusion (need I say which side he's arguing for?), is particularly provoking. (I was affected enough to write this after a long hiatus.)

He basically argues first that everything "mysterious" about life is logical in the context of physics. "What is so special about life? It never violates the laws of physics. Nothing does (if anything did, physicists would just have to formulate new laws—it's happened often enough in the history of science)." Therefore, according to him, "God is not dead. He was never alive in the first place."

Natural sciences has certainly come a long way. It has explained away most of the distorted propositions about the world insisted on by long-standing religious movements. (Many of these ideas should not have been taken literally in the first place according to modern interpreters of these movements. Unfortunately, they usually declare notions as "symbolical" rather than factual after being refuted and, many times, not before a witch hunt or two. It'll be nice if a religion corrects an interpretation or admits to error before being contested for a change.)

I am surprised however by Hawkins' confident declaration that ". . .(God) was never alive in the first place." One of the fundamental laws of physics is that everything in motion must have been set in motion by forces in one form or another. Therefore, even the process of evolution must have been caused to move along by a force that has yet to be explained by the natural sciences - a Prime Mover. He fails to raise this part which is ironic for someone who is supposed to advocate objectivity.

I wonder if Hawkins addressed this issue in his best-selling book on the matter. If he did not, then I am sure that our social sciences have a rational explanation for how books written with flawed logic sell.

Edmond Dantes on Death

"According as we have lived, death is either a friend who rocks as gently as a nurse, or an enemy who violently tears the soul from the body." - Alexandre Dumas in The Count of Monte Cristo

Incentive for the Worse

The US government is taking many measures to thwart the usage of carbon-based fuel. Unfortunately, some of these measures have unintended detrimental side-effects. In this Bloomberg article, one such measure with unintended counter-productive effects is elaborated on.

What A Theme

I do not know about the cinematography (contrary to the opinion of some "experts", I thought it was ok) but the theme of the Watchmen movie blew me away. I guess the credit goes to Alan Moore - writer of the comic book series on which the movie was based on. I believe that this has got to be one of the most intelligent movies of all time.

Is it moral to sacrifice the lives of a mostly innocent few for the lives of the majority? If you missed it, this is the dilemma that is at the heart of the story. It is a theme which has been deliberated on by the greatest philosophical minds in history (read on utilitarianism, teleological ethics, and deontological ethics) and I've never seen it portrayed in a movie with such force.

Apart from the main theme, my philosophical side was stirred by a rather subtle exchange between Adrian Veidt and Dr. Manhattan. "But you said you've regained interest in the human life," said Adrian. Dr. Manhattan replied, "yes, I have. I think perhaps I'll create some."

Isn't it possible that, contrary to what monotheists think, there is not just one "God"? Isn't it possible that there could be many of them and that they are of different ranks?

For Aspiring Athletes

If you are an aspiring athlete, then you might want to read this and this. All that glitter may not be gold afterall. . .

What The World Runs On

For the benefit of those who are not aware, the charts below show the share of each of the world's electricity source.

*Source: www.iea.org

According to this article, the world's dependence on coal for electricity production will not abate anytime soon.

Useless Stuff of The Month

I'm fond of surfing the net for random things that might interest me. While browsing through one of my regular sites, I came across this grappling hook! How about that?!

One Trillion

Can you imagine what one trillion dollars looks like? Well, here it is!