Some Times

Sometimes I feel time is accelerating. The earlier years of my life were slower. Then they got fast, faster, more faster (now don’t crib about the grammatical error) and even more faster. This might be since I have a lot more do these days when compared to earlier days.
Is it just me or is it something the whole human race is going through?



The last two years of my life were happening ones. We were all warned it will be so. We were also told the two years will the most unforgettable too. Well, time will tell if that claim is true.
Yes, the 22 months were fast. Why was it so? Well when you have a lot to do and you get to meet a lot of people, time flies. Yes, it does.



At times, one might try to slow down things. Not talking to people, not doing projects and shutting oneself up in the room. Well, he/she ends up regretting more. For the next night in the mess, you meet passionate people talking about that guest lecture you missed, that learning at the consulting competition or the fun at the weekend workshop.
Having learnt the lesson, one ends up taking part in anything and everything. For you never know where you stand until you take part in the race.

To be named, been there done that
One likes to be photographed and tagged
One arrives at the month end party exquisitely dressed
Embrace the lady and high-five for him
Photographing the peacocks and the benches
Seeking 59 likes and 34 wow-comments
My brethren in high spirits and their sisters sloshed.

At the end of it all one is left with the contact details of about 500 people who are necessarily highly-motivated, sometimes hard-working and would probably compromise-on-anything-for-success.
Oh yes success. Whether you measure it by your monthly paycheck or the attractiveness/intellect of your life partner, you better earn that. For the world will respect you then and only then. And sometimes one feels, quoting a premium, success is overvalued in a B-school.
But if you are lucky you will end up making a dozen or so good friends, you will learn a little bit about yourself, a bit more about others and to please others by lying and name it being polite.

I consider myself lucky.

Always have been.

Having decided that my previous work was inconsequential I decided to take part in this race. When I started I didn’t know it was a race. As I finish now you can’t ask me where I stand. Well, my fellow students taught me everything in this human birth is a race. An eternal one.
So the race is still on. And the roads are aplenty.



After a hundred movies on my laptop, which includes 20 Malayalam flicks, a score more on the cable; 6 seasons of Friends; 3 seasons of That’s 70s Show; a dozen or so books; tens of hours of chatting and cribbing on GTalk the 70 day vacation is nearing its end.

To Mumbai!

P.S. The pics were clicked at the Palaghat Fort. And if you are touring Kerala
someday you wouldn’t want to miss The Rock Gardens at Malampuzha. Of which I have pics but am lazy to upload.

Thought Makes Character

We are living in interesting times. Atleast I am. :)

Having learnt that economics and political sciences are based on the axiom that economic and political decision makers are motivated by self-interest the objectivist in me is tickled.

Philosophy as a study

Philosophy is nothing but man’s relationship to existence, how he should live his life. Philosophy as a study has five branches – 2 basic branches, 1 central branch and 2 derivative branches

1. Metaphysics – Nature of the universe as a whole. What is real? Are there more than one reality?
2. Epistemology – Theory of knowledge. How do you know you know? :)
3. Ethics/Morality – Code of values to guide human choices and action. What should be the goal of my life?
4. Politics – Nature of society and proper role of government. Should government spend on military?
5. Aesthetics – Philosophy of art. What makes an art work good or bad?

You cannot escape from philosophy. You may do so consciously but your subconscious will pick up from the world around you. All men/women have a view on all these aspects of philosophy. These views shape our life and character.

The collective views of all men and women on these aspects shape human history. And this is why philosophy is important. And that is why I study philosophy J.

Objectivism as a philosophy

Though I have blogged about objectivism long ago, I have not done justice to my favorite philosophy (though I don't have clarity on politics). Plato’s philosophy was almost diagonal to objectivism while Aristotle’s was pretty close in many angles.

I have tried to capture objectivism as a philosophy

1. Metaphysics – Reality: Everything that you can sense exists. The collective of all that exists is reality. Things are what they are. If you broke your leg playing football, however unhappy you are about it, you broke your leg. You can wish, desire believe that your leg is fine. But reality is your leg is broken. Thus human conscious cannot change reality. Nor can any supernatural power. Thus the rejection of Subjectivism and God hypothesis respectively. The natural world operates by cause and effect. One type of cause is human will.

2. Epistemology – Reason: Logic rules. No non-sensory means of knowledge like mysticism, ESP etc. We also reject skepticism (belief that there are no absolutes). Reason has 3 central elements –

1. Observation: Reason starts with the evidence of senses
2. Concepts/Abstractions: Our way of organizing sensory data logical
3. Logic: The method of reason. Nothing can be A and non-A at the same time. There are no contradictions

Every truth is an absolute, but we have to use reason to arrive at it.
Emotions follow from your convictions. Man should enjoy them as much as he can. But they are not means of knowledge.

3. Ethics – Rational Self-Interest: Each man lives by his own mind and for his own sake.From epistemology we learn that ethics can’t be based on whim. So let us reason it out.What gives raise to ethics? Man is a living being who needs to be selfish to keep him alive. You might ask then what the difference between man and animals is. Why does man need ethics while animals don’t? Animals don’t need ethics as they have no choice. They are programmed to support and keep themselves alive. But man can kill, commit suicide, etc. The primary virtue of objectivism is Rationality. Man survives by the use of reason. It’s a basic necessity. All progress that man has made is due to man’s ability to think. Other virtues are

• Independence: of If you are not thinking independently you are not thinking!
• Integrity: Acting according to what you think. Otherwise why think? J
• Productivity: Using your mind to create physical wealth

You don’t sacrifice your life for others and don’t expect others (or coerce, force, kill) to sacrifice themselves for you.
If you practice this ethics there won’t be a dilemma between should I be moral or should I be practical. The only way to be practical is to be moral. The moral way to lead you life is to be practical.

4. Politics – Capitalism: Separation of government and economy. Foundation of the system is individual rights of life, liberty, property, pursuit of happiness. Not the right of job, free education, social security, m etc. What a man earns by his own effort is his. No one can snatch his belongings. Also the government offers him nothing. No subsidies and price controls. Pure market determined prices. The government has 3 functions and only 3 functions

• Police – To protect life and property from domestic criminals
• Military – To protect from foreign aggression
• Judiciary – To resolve disputes among citizens in a civilized rational manner

Government controls will take something from one person (group) and give it to other(s). This is against our ethics.

5. Art – Value Oriented: Art should present world as it could be and as it should be. As it could be as we want to stand with reality. As it should be as art gives man inspiration to fight through life and lead a better. Art what gives you values, elevates and idealizes the human spirit, gives you inspiration is called romanticism. This form of art is timeless.

One of the most debated aspects of objectivism is Self-Interest, often misunderstood as selfishness. Questions I have often faced are

• Why do you help a guy who just fell from his bike?
• Doesn’t a man love his wife? Where is the self-Interest here?

And we objectivists have rational answers!

Man lives by his thoughts and ideas. And philosophy is one of his basic ideas.

Drown

Whom will I tell all my sorrows?

I want to drown them.

Who can I ask all my doubts?

I am pestered by so many.

Where do I wash all my dirt?
For the sink is clogged.

Poor Manager

Finance Prof. says, "maximize shareholder's wealth"

Marketing Prof. says, "maximize customer satisfaction"

Human Resource Prof. says, "maximize employee satisfaction"

Operations Prof. says, "maximize firms efficiency"

When will a manager get to live his life?
He is always concerned about others.

When will he . . . ?

I need a copy of Atlas Shrugged!

Big time.

The Ayn Rand Philosophy

"...man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
Ayn Rand.
I am very influenced by the book - Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
The characters and the philosophies that she has discussed in the book is just great. I don't have words to explain the satisfaction that I got from reading this great book. This is what I felt like writing after reading this brilliant work.

I live for Myself and not for anyone else.
You live for yourself and not for anyone else.
What makes me, is my work.
What makes you, is your work.
Not what others think of our work.

Work for other's recognition
Then you don't live by yourself
You live through others


u have no individuality........

Atheism Means Moral Freedom

God is in your mind. I am sure of this.

Whenever I write "God" I use a capital G since I respect your opinion and I would expect you to return that favor. Thank you.

Nothing exists but matter. Humankind is on its own. You are the way you are today not because you prayed or you didn't. But because of your actions and thoughts till now. Your bliss is within yourself. You have to search for happiness within yourself first and try to make earth a good place to live.

There is nothing other than the physical nature that you see. There are no supreme forces or unknown entities. Yes, science hasn't yet explained everything around you, but that day is not far.

Instead of building a church, mosque or a temple why don’t you go and build a hospital. Your work is required here and now.

God taught man neither the sciences nor the arts. Then what did God teach you? Morality? Well, take my word for it, for a person to be ethical he needs no faith in unscientific beliefs.

God created Man?
Man created God?
The prime difference between Man and animals, as we all know the former "Thinks". Through experience man found that he is happier when his mind is clear, when his thought process is pure, when he thinks of good things (the morality that I discussed comes here). So to be happy he has to control his mind. Controlling the mind is a very difficult exercise. It needs a lot of training. Thus man invented prayer, a set of requests to a particular person named God.
Thus man created God. Proved.

Then he went on thinking about his God. He started writing books, epics. He built large structures. If only all that time, energy and resources were put aside for human welfare, hmmm, I can’t imagine how much better place this world could have been.

There so much destruction in this world just because of religion. All the communal riots going on around the world wouldn't have been there if there had been no God and His other believes.
How nice a place this world would have been.....


God is in your mind. I am sure of this.

Beauty of Symmetry

Beauty is symmetry and exactness. Symmetry has been inherently attractive to the human eye. Moreover,in the human body, symmetry is probably a good indicator of general health and strength.

To gauge how beautiful and appealing a work of art is we can use two parameters - complexity and order (or symmetry). If something is complex, it will be more appealing if it is less symmetrical. Else, if something is highly-symmetrical, it is better if it is less complex.

Symmetry has several variants, but the basic symmetrical operations are Translation, Rotation, and Reflection.

However, I think beauty is highly subjective. Whatever triggers your aesthetic sense should be defined as beauty.

Money ?

I always wonder how a world wothout money would be like. Am I being communist ? No! This is just another viewpoint. But then how will we do business would be a probable question. But then in this hypothetical world there is no business at all. You work somewhere and you get your food. The whole society lives together. Wow, it feels good at times..
But somebody has to manage all these processes. Government ?

January 23, 2008
I think I got the answers for all the above questions I asked myself

"So you think that money is the root of all evil? … Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?

When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears nor all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor—your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money. Is this what you consider evil?

Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions—and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.

But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made—before it can be looted or mooched—made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced."

Atlas Shrugged