Finding order in randomness. Finding randomness in order.

Humans developed language as a means of communicating with other tribe members. Language is one of the most important, if not THE most important, reason humans are so successful as a species. It enables us not only to communicate immediate information (e.g. there is a lion in that direction, don't go there) but also form and communicate intricate ideas (e.g. myths, religions). Yuval Hariri in his massively interesting book "Sapiens" talks about how what he calls "fiction" (i.e. stories we humans tell each other) enabled homo sapiens to co-operate in massive numbers (much more than the Dunbar limit of 150) and made us such a successful species. Language was critical in all of that.  I believe the advent of language was what gave the biggest boost to cultural evolution in humans. Humans are the only species that significantly evolve culturally as well as naturally. Cultural evolution is exponentially faster than natural evolution - we homo sapiens effectively ...

More and more I realise how much noise there is in the world. It permeates all aspects - science, philosophy, health, ideas, entertainment. Everything. And it reminds me that the world, and existence itself, is not fair. The best ideas don't necessarily get the attention they deserve. The best books aren't the most popular ones. The best movies are not necessarily seen by most people. I do understand that there is a bit of subjectivity to these things, but there is also a lot of objectivity as evidenced by history. And this is a bit sad, and does hold humanity back. I can also understand the reasons for this. It is because we are not rational beings, we didn't evolve to be rational. Our brains evolved to serve social functions more than anything. It's amazing when you think of it - the big powerful brain we have actually evolved to be so big and powerful solely so we could form relationships and work with other human beings. No wonder that relationships and social co...

Free Will is the idea that we are in conscious control of our actions. That there is something called "I" that decides. Sam Harris argues eloquently that there is no such thing as "I". This is not a new idea. This has been explored in India millennia ago. According to this idea, there is no "thinker of thoughts" that sits in the head. There are just thoughts. And there is consciousness - the pure experience of just being. There is no coherent, continuos being that is consistently there from moment to moment. That idea of "I" is actually an illusion. An elaborate and extremely convincing one. The idea of self that we all have is just a construct of our minds. It is not real. It is more like a summary movie that the mind plays in creating the illusion of continuity and coherence. I think memory plays a big role in creating this sense of self. Think of it this way - there are multiple processes running in the brain and they all share the same memo...

If life were a cupcake, I would kill myself since I don't do sugar and carbs. It's funny but not funny. Because this is exactly what we do to life. Life is indeed a cupcake, but we have all these rules and pre-conceived notions that prevent us from enjoying it. The essence of a cupcake is sugar and carbs, you can't change that. So why not accept it and enjoy it. After all you get only one cupcake. Sure, it feels guilty but it also tastes so damn good. And that is ok. There is no "catch" to a good life. I think this is what they mean when they say live life to the fullest. Easier said than done. As for me, I still don't do sugar and carbs. I am doomed I guess.

My yoga teacher, who knows a lot about me and my story, recently asked me "what do you like about yourself, what is your true essence?". I gave the usual answer that I have been giving myself for most of my life - that I am kind, generous, helpful etc. etc. That was not the answer he was looking for. He said those things are in relation to other people i.e. these traits are what I think other people perceive me as. But what is really MY true essence and what do I like about MYSELF. He gave me a week to think about it. That did get me thinking. I talked to some friends about it over the week. I realised how much of my self-perception is dictated by other people. And it has been like that all my life. What I think of myself is really what I think others think of me. Or what I want others to think of me. But if I take other people out of the equation, what am I? What is my true essence? The more I thought, the more I realised that my true essence is creativity. Looking back...

Sitting on the beach, with a drink in my hand the sound of the sea, the waves hitting the sand All my senses engaged, but my mind is adrift I want to be here, but the thoughts are swift Thoughts are the waves, I am the sea waves are not the sea, my thoughts are not me

The human brain is very complex, and some consider it perhaps the most complicated structure in the universe. I can understand why. It is an amazing piece of equipment. Barely a couple of kgs and capable of so much. However, it is not perfect. There is this idea that prevails even amongst smart and educated people that because something evolved to be a particular way it must be the best possible design. That is flawed thinking. Evolution does not work that way. Evolution is trial and error. Just because we evolved to walk upright doesn't mean that walking upright is the best thing. Just because our brain evolved to be the way it is now, doesn't mean that it is the best possible design for a brain. Evolution is always correcting. Billions of species of lifeforms have become extinct. They evolved in a certain direction and that didn't work out and they went bust. This flawed idea of evolution is very prevalent in the health sphere and the conclusions they draw are sometimes ...

I struggle with perfectionism. It causes me a lot of angst. I have this idea that to be happy i need to be perfect, things around me need to be perfect, my life needs to be perfect. But life isn't perfect, I am not perfect. Nothing is. I know this cognitively but this kind of thinking is not second nature to me - I tend to forget it at times and get drawn back into perfectionism. I have lot of defects, and that is ok. There is no point to life, it just is. There isn't even good and bad when it comes to life. I know it might sound controversial. But the result of any event in your life, the effects of it are happening over time for the rest of your life. So how can I judge something as good or bad if the results are not out yet? this is like the famous Toaist story . But we do that all the time. We judge events in our life as positive or negative. And if we perceive them as negative it causes us angst and suffering. If we judge them as positive it brings out joy and happine...