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Showing posts from October, 2008

How to make use of imagination – taking decompartmentalization to the next level

I have talked about decompartmentalization in one of my earlier posts – read it here . I want to talk about it a little more here and take the concept to the next level. However I will start with a brief review of decompartmentalization: Decompartmentalization is viewing the world or reality as a singularity i.e. instead of viewing life in the various compartments in which we are generally accustomed to seeing such as: 1.My life at work 2.My life with family 3.My life with friends 4.My life with children 5.My life in my trip to England/Iran/etc 6.My life in my previous job; Decompartmentalization then is to view reality not in terms of these many compartments each of which helps us live in our comfort zones but to in fact to view it all as a singularity – a single reality. The way to do that is to analyze experiences and those compartments, find the similarities and interpret the differences and try to move experiences from one compartment to the other until one’s understanding reache

Moral virtue vs. Intellectual virtue and the Victim turned Victimizer debate

Some parents work very hard to develop the sense of right in their children others don’t work that hard. Some times are more turbulent then other times, some societies more developed then others and some families more righteous then others. In each case a person grows up with a different training and therefore a different degree to which he feels strongly about certain values. Virtue developed from habit from upbringing is what I call moral virtue. Another kind of virtue is intellectual virtue and this is the reason that a person no matter how a dire circumstance in which he is raised, once is able to decide for himself, is held accountable by law. This is because when he reaches a certain age and maturity he knows that a certain habit however ‘familiar’ it maybe, is wrong – he knows that out of an intellectual process – and therefore is in a position where he can choose to change. Thus the virtue that develops out of the mental process is what I call intellectual virtue. Therefore the

How to remember the dead

People we are with who have been good to us and/or have taught us something should be held in respect and high esteem at least in proportion to their contribution to us. We are not always in the presence of such people in fact we may meet some of them only once in our lives but we remember them, not necessarily for their person but also for the ideas or the good that they represent. We therefore remember them so that we can do good or apply the lesson they have taught us. Some people have contributed to us, like they have contributed to the whole of humanity, without us ever having met them. These would include people such as the prophets, the saints, scientists such as Einstein, war heroes, etc. I feel there is merit in remembering them, at least remembering them as the person that represents the ideas that they have given to us. There are different ways of remembering such people, for example by making monuments or naming streets after them, by making the homes of such people into a

Abusive relationships and the Mile high club

It is amazing how taken for granted people take their own actions at times. Principles are principles, but it is supremely important to understand them in order to be stead-fast to them and thus not take one’s own actions for granted. Children are raised to believe, innocent and dependent as they are to believe their parents always mean good for them…but remember the two sentences I’ve just written, its not always that simple. But what can children do? I think at times these children grow up with mixed values and perpetuate these to their next generation. And then there are those who understand the principles and break the cycle. And it is thus that I feel knowledge is so close to divinity. The post How to beat Girls and Women by an author who tells us from experience of how abuse of women is institutionalized: It started with a lecture which you listened to in a search of the spots you might massage to prevent an escalation to beating - was he tired? Could you make a long explanation

Batman - The Dark Knight - Lessons for us

The latest Batman movie – The Dark Knight is a heavy roller coaster ride, a pretty heavy movie I would think. It has a number of characters playing their distinctive roles. But the two principle roles are played by the Joker – an agent of Chaos, an ideal bad; and Batman – an agent of Good , a proposed ideal of good. Joker is evil because he thinks it is fun. There is no other rationale to it other then to keep himself from getting bored. He thus not only murders people in the most ruthless ways but steals the money of all the mafia bosses from the city of Gotham and sets them on fire, simply because having outsmarted everybody and gotten all the money he couldn’t enjoy anything more then to set it all on fire. Sounds a bit like the concept of fun some teenagers have and I am sure some adults too. But this is not Joker’s achievement. In order to win the game with Batman in the battle between good and evil he does two other things: 1) He does a social experiment in which he loads two fer

My best description of Reality/Haqiqat

One of the classic questions out there I think is: “What is reality? Or What is Haqiqat? (urdu)” I don’t think I can define it but I will try to describe it as best I am able. One description of Haqiqat: I was being taught a course by an accomplished teacher where I landed with bad grades for the first few exams only to do better in the finals. The sense I made of things that enabled me to get a grip on the course eventually was the fact that the answer written in the exam, that the teacher checked, was only as smart as the understanding that I carried with me. In a sense 'cracking the paper' or thinking smart while working the hours that I put in would get me the grade I wanted. So if I were to study the subject just a few times, slowly, one chapter at a time, make notes and finally make an “abstract” model of the chapter in my mind which I would carry with me, I would then be able to use that chapter best to my benefit. This is what I understand by the Haqiqat of the chapter.

Conversation with a friend from Poland

Faraz: is this correct? Friend-AB: meanings of what? Friend-AB: linguistics? Faraz: english philology Faraz: *philology Friend-AB: so that must be it ;) Friend-AB: but it sounds damn complitated ;) Friend-AB: complicated lol Faraz: haha Faraz: but i am very curious AB... Friend-AB: about what? Faraz: how does one manage to get doen with their MA in E.P. and not be analytical? Faraz: b/c i have this notion... Faraz: that the study of any subject leads you to be analytical Friend-AB: well I guess you've got to be a very unusual person you know ;) Faraz: why's that though ? :) Friend-AB: because I had to be unusual to be in the top of the class and WITHOUT being analytical ;OD Faraz: that is most amazing AB, most amazing indeed Friend-AB: hehe ;) Friend-AB: I know Faraz: i am obviously missing something from the equation :) Friend-AB: well you are Friend-AB: you're missing me as you can't see me Faraz: it'll take some more time to see you...time and effort are all that