Thursday, December 11, 2008

Geeky Abstract Thinking

(What's engaging my mind...please don't hate me)

Have you considered the colors you see might not be the ones the next guy does? Blue might be green and green red. Color is just the processing of wavelengths of light by the mind, with no chance of knowing differences between individuals anytime in life.

I don't understand why astronomers search for 'earth-like' planets for chance of life. Life is just universe complexity gone berserk, it might need carbon(for the complex structures), but otherwise temperature and chemicals on earth shouldn't have much significance. Consider, if earth had no floral population, would we have ever imagined life in the form of a tree? (By definition, life is something which has the ability to reproduce)
This would lead on to the consideration how rare 'intelligent' life would be even among lifeforms.

Language has a profound, too profound an effect on our thinking. Analysis of an object is mightily facilitated just by giving it a name. Else, much of the thought process is limited. Indians are surrounded by relatives, hence have developed an assortment of different names to cope with every shade of it. Eskimos similarly, have many names for snow.

Why is there technological advancement? Its obvious technology does not result in greater happiness. Happiness relates to not our convenience, affluence, but to our expectations. If telephone was never invented, we would be just as happy without a cell phone in our pockets. Exploration and achievement, looks more like a basic ingrained requirement of the human mind, driving our science forward.

Why does science follow mathematical laws? Why can an equation represent a trajectory of an object? The shape of a curve? Maybe human intuition(==maths), is itself shaped by the continual observation of these phenomenon. Hence what we call logic, is itself the basic playground of nature.

A really geeky one. A charged object moving in a magnetic force needs to have a force applied to keep it in uniform speed. While the magnetic force may be just permanent magnets with no expenditure of energy. See the absurdity? It could have been the other way.

How can two objects, inanimate, kept at a distance, exactly apply forces on each other??(Gravitation, electromagnetic) One of the fundamental things teaching children at a too young an age keeps them from seeing the wonder of. How can waves travel in space, void? I can understand the equations, the E and M fields dancing, enforcing one another, but that's it. Qualitatively its a mystery.

If you could develop an exact clone of yourself, complete with all experiences, memories and your sense of self, would you leave him in your place when you die? You could be immortal this way, but you yourself, would be dead.

Family is a concept, one of the oldest and most ingrained concepts in animals. Marriage is a concept.

'Friend', 'Internet', 'Success' are just words, a collection of alphabets. Its amazing how feelings and ideas have become interwined with such constructs. Its an interesting experience to think of the concept without the associated lingo, what it represents.


....maybe I will detail on some of these later.....