Liberalism is a Natural culmination of Human Existence

Progress is natural. Water will make way from top to bottom - it is natural. Yes it may get stuck for sometime due to a bolder or rock but as the water accumulates it will find it's way down.

Human progress is natural, in fact that is the only natural culmination of human existence. There are many outlets from Religions to Science to Philosophy ... which more or less come to the conclusion that there is no real purpose of existence of Humans. Earth itself is going to have an end pretty soon (1000 years) as per Mr Stephen Hawking. But if you look at the data of the entire human existence you see that 'progressive values' 'liberalism' is the only natural common factor running through the entire human chain of events. Not to be confused with politics of 'Liberalism' which includes size and role of government, which is just suggested methods to achieve the means and is not the goal. Not to be confused with politics - look at it this way - every generation is more liberal than their predecessors, due to challenges they faced (and answers were - go liberal) not because earlier generation was not smart.

There was never a time in human history when new ideas did not pop up and were not resisted. Resistance is also natural for people who see new ideas with fear. In the end the new ideas are only way of survival. I remember in one of the old Mahabharata TV serial (1990s)- Bhishma (one of the main characters in the epic) says the entire reason of future coming into present and present going into past is - that the present cannot sustain anymore so it becomes past and future comes into present. If past was ever sustaining future would not be a concept and present will remain as is.

It can be argued that humans have not developed much as far as internal philosophy is concerned but no one can deny that the progress has happened continuously when it comes to social justice and broadening of human values.

Generally there are 2 sides to the human behavior beliefs, Conservative and Liberal, though generalizing it is tough and some issues may not have such clear distinctions. The fact that no way of living has been constant is proved by looking at what you believe versus what used to be believed by your parents or grand parents. Today's Conservative is a liberal in eyes of earlier generation. There is no generation which does not have a different way of living as compared to the past generations, mainly because of new challenges and knowledge. So conservative view point itself keeps evolving from liberal view point. Conservative view point is a losing cause because world keeps changing and reacts to newer liberal values said Steven Colbert once during an interview with Conservative TV host Bill O Reilly.

 

Both the sides though feel anger and frustration at change, liberals can't believe the slow pace of change and conservatives can't believe there is change at all.

In the end if you believe God is directing human life and we are being empowered to become better humans then it is easy to see that Liberalism is a cause of god and probably the only natural outcome of generations and generations of evolution. If you object to God and like to substitute it with 'Nature' or 'Science' or 'it' - it's your call, but the conclusion still remains that liberalism and conservatism are 2 parts of the same train, front end can't believe we are going slow and rear end can't believe the train is moving! The train has no destination but the journey is directed by the tracks of Liberalism and Progressive agenda. 

 

Chaos Theory - Theory of Life

I coined this term (chaos Theory) long back (in my 20s) thinking this is only me who is making it up. Later I realized that this is a universally accepted one. Either way this theory probably is as complete as a simple theory can be.

There are few assumptions that need to be made. This philosophy does not bother to address biggest questions of other philosophies, the universal questions of life - who am I?, What is the point of the world?, Where does this come from?, What happens when I die?

This is the ultimate 'User Friendly' Philosophy! If you think about it, most religions, atheist and scientific debate is on things that don't really matter on a day to day basis. So this Philosophy can work if the above question's answer is - I don't care.

It's basic tenet is - Life is a chaos, and delves strictly within the boundaries of after birth to death. You are in midst of a chaos so don't try to look for patterns. Or in more poetic and filmy words - जो जो जब जब होता है, वो वो तब तब होता है।  (whatever happens ... just happens). This relieves you of any burden of finding patterns or trying to figure out meaning when there is none.

Later when I googled it I found chaos theory is a real theory in mathematics with similar findings - there are so many variables acting on the result of one thing, that if you slightly change one thing the effect may or may not come out to be completely different which can never be predicted.

If you see your life as in midst of a chaos the best thing that happens is for you to stop looking for patterns - if I do good - good will come to me. If I work very hard - I will win. If I do bad - I will be looked down upon, if someone is rich he must be smart, all this instead of making a person feel good, makes them depressed because when the perceived result does not happen it create resentment and confusion. This simplification of life makes life harder.

Let's take an example - you are driving everyday. There are random people driving around you, you may or may not make good decisions and still reach your destination. If someone crashes into you, it is because at that point of time that's what happened.

Now you can be wondering this is the most simplistic theory which probably everyone knows, then what's the big deal! That exactly is the big deal, in philosophy and mathematic they say - simpler the better, answer is right if it is simple. If there was no theory superimposed on you in childhood probably you will device this theory for yourself, that whatever is happening is just happening, there is no one to blame, nor do I need to blame myself.

For every moment of your life, there are millions of forces enacting on that moment, which one will superimpose the other, we don't know. You try exercising the 2-3 forces that are in your control, that doesn't mean they will be the superior force at that time. This philosophy does not completely negate the cause and effect phenomenon, but admits that the cause and effect is so complicated that it might as well be considered to have no effect.

Though this theory probably seems more aligned to Atheist philosophy, but I think all philosophy's basic tenet is this, religions or no religions all they want is people to be prepared for - things that don't make sense, because there is no sense to be made! But they try to explain it away by some feel good stuff around this basic skeleton of chaos. For Example - In Gita when Lord Krishna says - keep doing work, don't worry about the result, he basically is giving nod to this theory, he admits that the cause and effect if true is so complicated that it makes no sense to worry about it, find joy in the journey itself!

I lived with this philosophy for couple of decades and this was water tight and fine in most circumstances. I know it is pretty boring but it works!

Don't ask PhD level question in an Elementary School.

People have strong opinions because they find their argument water tight against an inadequate opponent who cannot withstand your scrutiny. By product of all this is -This results in most people finding most people complete 'idiots'. Conservatives Vs Liberals, Atheist Vs Religious, Religion Vs Religion, Political views, Societal rules discussions, Parenting, Sports... whatever it is. We all find lot of people's completely foolish point of view to our superior one.

When you find an opinion not even worth your respect and consideration, think again! Maybe you are asking a PhD level question at Elementary School level. This means you just reached a level of discussion where you need to seek the 'next level' of answer on the subject which you find 'ridiculous' or 'stupid'.

Most of the strong opinions are very strong because the opponent has been weak, that does not mean the idea of the opponent is weak. It's just that the opponent is not into understanding the entire subject he has decided to believe in! But he does believe it with a passion because he trusts the 'source' he got the 'opinion' from. That source most times than not, has a higher understanding and deeper philosophy on the subject.

For example - We say sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Perfectly good and logical point of view for most people in the world. Now one day you suddenly get mad that this a completely stupid view because nor does sun rise and neither it sets. People are such idiots!. The fact is - you just asked a question beyond the level of a regular kindergarten kid. Go ask the question to someone who has read about this subject more and he will tell you - why we say that Sun rises in the east - because of convenience and world functions better that way, and what the facts are and how it makes sense to say sun rises in east. Now even if you don't like the argument, you still can't call the people stupid to follow this ritual of saying sun rises in the east! You asked a higher level question to someone who could answer you at that level. Similarly - if you find someone's religion dumb, or someone's gun control position untenable, or someone's idea completely 'stupid' - all you need is find the higher level answer to human behavior and beliefs.

Let's take another examples - An Atheist has easy logic to display how idiot a Theist is, this is because 'Theist' is in elementary class of theism, he does not have time, energy or interest to delve deep into answering all the questions thrown at him. Instead he has decided to leave it to a few 'PhD' levels to decide for him. Every human has to do it - we have 99% issues we believe in - but we are in elementary school on those subjects. We cannot be PhD in all aspects.

Many of us believe anything that starts with - a study has found...., scientist say a coffee a day will keep cancer away... etc... we can't go read each study in details and find exactly what it really means. We may look dumb to others, who may ask a higher level question which we may not be interested in answering. We have left frequency of drinking coffee to higher authority - a scientist (whoever that is and however twisted his logic was to make those eye catching head lines).

Most ideas are based on a philosophy which has some merit, how distorted the real idea became is your opinion, but the basis of all long standing ideas in the world is pretty robust. So next time when you think you can't believe how 'stupid' people are - Just think may be you are asking a PhD level question to Elementary level masses. Go seek the answer that makes you satisfied about why people look so stupid, not for them, but for your own peace of mind.

You are Angry because you are a Loser! and won't accept it.

I joined my first job as a RCG. I had not seen so many 'angry' people in my life before. At job generally people are miserable in comparison to when they are off work. There is always lot of pressure in manufacturing environment and all successful companies have an inbuilt pressure to squeeze most out of  their employees. I would see people get mad and I tried to ape my own 'avatar' of anger, but then I saw one Engineer a few years senior to me. The most unassuming engineer on the floor, who was always joking and having fun with everyone on the shop floor. I admired his patience and spirit. One day when I was taking my every day walk from our RCG hostel to canteen I met him on my way. I asked him how come you are never angry? He said - "भाऊ। ... अगर गुस्सा आया तो समझ जा अपने में ही कुछ खोट है। ....... बहार कुछ नहीं है." (Bro... if you are angry it is because of your failings not because of anyone outside of you)

I felt happy instantly it felt like a great line to say, but it also stuck with me for ever. I kept on testing this philosophy, how is it possible? You get mad because of the situation or mean people or people doing things wrong, but I knew he has figured it out! he demonstrated it everyday!

When you are single you generally feel invincible and not that angry, then Job, Marriage and Kids happens and you need to keep finding a new level of patience. Anger keeps growing with passing years unless you find an anecdote for it. This philosophy is it. Your anger is directly proportional to your ego. Same situation can evoke completely different reaction from you. Your kids can do same exact thing and every time the reaction they see may be completely different. So it is very clear same thing done by same people may evoke different reaction from you. One day you may be angry and the other you may laugh at exact same situation. Anger in angry people is also respected a lot, Anger in general is thought to be something good, directed towards evil or something bad. But if there was just something evil that always evokes anger it was easy, but it is not. It is your state of mind, your guilt, your energy level and your own biases that evoke the reaction to any situation and not the situation itself. This amalgamation of your own jumbled energy, mind, views, guilt, failures, and successes produces anger.

Simple way to figure it out is - the moment you feel anger, it changes your pulse and heart beat, you tighten up, there are many signs that can be called pre-anger symptoms. With a trained mind, these can be identified. Once identified you need to disconnect from the situation and interview yourself. Exactly why are you getting angry? You have to assume that it is not the subject's problem it is yours. The answer will be - it is your own weakness you are mad at. Either because of your personal faults in that situation, or really you are mad that someone thinks differently than you and you don't want to accept life the way it is, or you are scared and the reaction is anger because you feel not in control, or you are just plain tired, or your mood is not right because your favorite team just lost and so you took it out on another situation.

No matter what your personal failing - it is definitely yours and no one else's.

Freedom from heirarchy is Freedom

Heirarchy is everywhere and rules everyone, its been here forever. It is found in animals and humans, unless you relieve yourself of this self inflicted problem you will never be free. There are many forms of freedom an individual enjoys depending on his/her situation in life but freedom from heirarchy is something which you have to just flip a switch in your head and there it is - a whole new world opens up. Once you have your basic freedom, ie - relatively free of the need for basics (Food, Clothing, and Place to live) the next thing to do is to get free of hierarchy. I think this freedom frees you from many things which weigh on your brain. This is the single most important freedom which brings equality in your mind and makes you a happier and effective human.

How can you be free from heirarchy when you know it exists! Simple... just by not acknowledging it in your own head. Where is hierarchy the most prominent and institutionalized? At place of work. You work in a hierarchy you take commands and act on them or may give some commands of your own. Your ego is directly connected to your place in hierarchy. You are perpetually looking up trying to get to the next level and then next.

Understanding that every person is equal is the first step to freedom. If your ego wants to prove that you are better than others then it has to accept that you are also worse than others. But as a human we are equals. We all have similar things to deal with in Life. No matter your place in hierarchy you react similarly to various gamut of emotions and situations we are put through. It is shaped by our nature, but not by our place in hierarchy. You can be the bottom or top of totem pole and may have exactly similar personalities. As described in last blog - Here (Personality does not dictate Discipline). At a basic level we all are same. How we reached at a place in hierarchy has nothing to do with your human traits.

Once you believe that the person on top is not "better" than you and person below is not "worse" than you, it is simple to forget their hierarchy and react to them as humans. There is no way to worship hierarchy AND be fair in your dealing in life. Going on an elevator if you are treating the CEO and the Janitor differently then their is something wrong with freedom. If you are not sucking up to the CEO only then will you not be disdainful of the Janitor.

If you are expected to behave a certain way to keep your job, do by all means, but not in your head just in your outward appearance. Hierarchy is a game, play it but keep your heart out of it. Freedom of your heart is so much more important than any hierarchy you are stuck in. Experience freedom by experiencing hierarchy less world.