Abhijit Naskar's Blog, page 103
September 6, 2017
Letter to the Tech Giants
When fame and abundance kiss somebody's feet before that person is wise enough, he or she is very likely to lose track of what's necessity and what's luxury. And modern society is filled with examples of such intelligent stupidity - stupidity that is carried out by apparently smart humans. Because being smart is not the same as being wise. The world has enough smartness, but not enough wisdom to bring that smartness into proper productive practice - and I mean productive practice not sophisticated practice - there is a difference. A person smart enough to visualize a Falcon rocket engine can easily pinpoint the locations of various organizations that spread terrorism, yet the person chooses to explore the space further instead of prioritizing the technological advantages to first fix real issues of the human society that inflict harm to the humans every walk of the way.
The world is a miserable place not because we have lack of resources, but because those who have an abundances of resources do not have the slightest idea of true human need. The resources needed for colonizing Mars if put to proper practice can fix the world's global warming issues - it can fix the world's climate change issues - it can fix the world's terrorism issues, yet people are more interested in the pompous idea of living in Mars for whatever reason, instead of paying attention to improving human condition on earth. I am not against technological advancement, for I am a scientist, but my soul aches when I see smart people are dumb enough to chase after illusory glory of doing something different and innovative instead of focusing the powers of their soul on cleaning up the misery business on earth. You can, yet you don't. Why?
Smartness without wisdom is stupidity. You are smart - yes indeed - but I am sorry - you are stupid at the same time. How can you dream of having a cheese burger on Mars when your own kind on Earth is suffering! How can you think of taking rich kids into the orbit just so they can admire the beauty of earth from the heavens, when that very earth is infested with the primordial evils of human character! Awaken the human within you my friend, and pay attention. Awaken the human within and let it consume all the miseries from the world that you live in. Say a member of your family falls ill, would you ignore his or her misery completely just because you want to make life more comfortable for others than it already is, or would you first try everything in your capacity in order to heal your loved one!
Be wise my friend, for it is not enough to be smart. You are smart - there is no doubt about that - so utilize that smartness for humanity and heal your own kind. Heal your kind with your capacity my friend. It is wailing for healers - not some delusional faith healers, but real tangible healers. Would you not do anything! Would you not give your soul to fix the broken soul of this world! Arise my friend, Awake my friend and work for humanity, not to make it sophisticated, but to make it peaceful first. Remember, humanity first, then everything else.
Peace first, sophistication later. Harmony first, luxury later.
Your Friend
Abhijit Naskar, Neuroscientist
The world is a miserable place not because we have lack of resources, but because those who have an abundances of resources do not have the slightest idea of true human need. The resources needed for colonizing Mars if put to proper practice can fix the world's global warming issues - it can fix the world's climate change issues - it can fix the world's terrorism issues, yet people are more interested in the pompous idea of living in Mars for whatever reason, instead of paying attention to improving human condition on earth. I am not against technological advancement, for I am a scientist, but my soul aches when I see smart people are dumb enough to chase after illusory glory of doing something different and innovative instead of focusing the powers of their soul on cleaning up the misery business on earth. You can, yet you don't. Why?
Smartness without wisdom is stupidity. You are smart - yes indeed - but I am sorry - you are stupid at the same time. How can you dream of having a cheese burger on Mars when your own kind on Earth is suffering! How can you think of taking rich kids into the orbit just so they can admire the beauty of earth from the heavens, when that very earth is infested with the primordial evils of human character! Awaken the human within you my friend, and pay attention. Awaken the human within and let it consume all the miseries from the world that you live in. Say a member of your family falls ill, would you ignore his or her misery completely just because you want to make life more comfortable for others than it already is, or would you first try everything in your capacity in order to heal your loved one!
Be wise my friend, for it is not enough to be smart. You are smart - there is no doubt about that - so utilize that smartness for humanity and heal your own kind. Heal your kind with your capacity my friend. It is wailing for healers - not some delusional faith healers, but real tangible healers. Would you not do anything! Would you not give your soul to fix the broken soul of this world! Arise my friend, Awake my friend and work for humanity, not to make it sophisticated, but to make it peaceful first. Remember, humanity first, then everything else.
Peace first, sophistication later. Harmony first, luxury later.
Your Friend
Abhijit Naskar, Neuroscientist
August 15, 2017
Science & Religion - Why the conflicts remain?
Science and Religion – why are there so many conflicts between these two? Why do these two distinct feats of the human mind has not yet been able to join hands in the name of harmony? The answer is simple. The conflicts between science and religion still remain in this day and age, because though most people understand what science means, they do not have a clue what religion means – and they do not even have a clue that they do not have a clue.
I do not expect anything from those in the side of religion, or to be specific, from those who hail themselves as “fundamentalists”, because they are incapable of bringing the faculty of reasoning into action when it comes to the authenticity of their doctrines. In simple terms, the fundamentalists are mentally ill people. So when you encounter such individual, wear a smile on your face and simply say to them – “get well soon.” This would probably not turn them instantly into some sort of sentient humans, but at least you would know that you did your part in the name of sweet harmony.
Now let’s turn to the other side – the side that I think you are on. Those on the side of science, i.e. on the side of rational thinking, are the ones I have the most expectations from. They can think for themselves, unlike the fundamentalist patients on the other side. You do not even know my friend, even you are on the side of true religion. Rational thinkers simply are not aware of this fact, because of the definition of religion that has been imposed on all of us by our deluded society. Even the atheists would start to see religion as a positive element of the human society once they recognize what true religion really means. So, let me give you the simplest definition of religion which I proposed in my treatise on religious fundamentalism entitled “Illusion of Religion”.
“Religion is the process of internal growth, not a lifeless bag of foolish words.”
So, far from what we all have been taught by our ancestors, that when you follow your cultural scripture, you are being religious, real religion has never really been attempted to understand by most of the human population. You are religious when you care about your fellow humans influenced by your own conscience, not due to obedience to your scripture. That’s why, the atheists and agnostics are the greatest religious people on earth. Remember this my friend, true religion has to do with humans, not with books. And that’s the religion I advocate, and indeed that’s the religion which most of the prophets of human history tried to spread. But due to the human craving for a messiah and secure doctrines, those prophets became divine figures and their teachings combined with later incorporation, ended up being divine irrefutable gospel.
So, you see, religion has nothing to do with scriptures. Religion is what your conscience constructs as your baseline behavior in your society. As I have said in “Illusion of Religion” –
“Whether you call yourself a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu or an Atheist, if you have kindness in your heart and compassion in your act, you are on the right path of religion.”
So my dear humans, the true reformation of religion lies in your hands. You are the most capable people to do so, because the fundamentalists on the other side, are too deluded to think anything productive and healthy, that concerns all humanity. Their illness makes them concerned only of the exclusive survival of their dearest scripture. Hence, the fate of humanity lies in the hands of civilized, conscientious and compassionate humans.
Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
[book; Principia Humanitas]
I do not expect anything from those in the side of religion, or to be specific, from those who hail themselves as “fundamentalists”, because they are incapable of bringing the faculty of reasoning into action when it comes to the authenticity of their doctrines. In simple terms, the fundamentalists are mentally ill people. So when you encounter such individual, wear a smile on your face and simply say to them – “get well soon.” This would probably not turn them instantly into some sort of sentient humans, but at least you would know that you did your part in the name of sweet harmony.
Now let’s turn to the other side – the side that I think you are on. Those on the side of science, i.e. on the side of rational thinking, are the ones I have the most expectations from. They can think for themselves, unlike the fundamentalist patients on the other side. You do not even know my friend, even you are on the side of true religion. Rational thinkers simply are not aware of this fact, because of the definition of religion that has been imposed on all of us by our deluded society. Even the atheists would start to see religion as a positive element of the human society once they recognize what true religion really means. So, let me give you the simplest definition of religion which I proposed in my treatise on religious fundamentalism entitled “Illusion of Religion”.
“Religion is the process of internal growth, not a lifeless bag of foolish words.”
So, far from what we all have been taught by our ancestors, that when you follow your cultural scripture, you are being religious, real religion has never really been attempted to understand by most of the human population. You are religious when you care about your fellow humans influenced by your own conscience, not due to obedience to your scripture. That’s why, the atheists and agnostics are the greatest religious people on earth. Remember this my friend, true religion has to do with humans, not with books. And that’s the religion I advocate, and indeed that’s the religion which most of the prophets of human history tried to spread. But due to the human craving for a messiah and secure doctrines, those prophets became divine figures and their teachings combined with later incorporation, ended up being divine irrefutable gospel.
So, you see, religion has nothing to do with scriptures. Religion is what your conscience constructs as your baseline behavior in your society. As I have said in “Illusion of Religion” –
“Whether you call yourself a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu or an Atheist, if you have kindness in your heart and compassion in your act, you are on the right path of religion.”
So my dear humans, the true reformation of religion lies in your hands. You are the most capable people to do so, because the fundamentalists on the other side, are too deluded to think anything productive and healthy, that concerns all humanity. Their illness makes them concerned only of the exclusive survival of their dearest scripture. Hence, the fate of humanity lies in the hands of civilized, conscientious and compassionate humans.
Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
[book; Principia Humanitas]
August 12, 2017
Mission of The Scientist
What is the purpose of a scientist? It is the search for truth of course. But is it all that a scientist is supposed to work for! The question that I shall be addressing in this article is what is the purpose of a humanist scientist? Now, here you may wonder, what the heck is a humanist scientist? Aren’t all scientists humanists?
A person can be a humanist in his or her personal life, but in professional life the sole identity of a scientist is a scientist. Now in this case, there is a small proportion of scientists, whom I call “humanist scientists”. The goal of a scientist is to dedicate himself or herself to the search of the raw, unfiltered, pure truth. Here comes the twist. The purpose of a humanist scientist is to discover the purest form of truth possible, and then apply it to the human society in a way that brings most positive outcome in the path of global progress.
For example, the idea of God which has been imposed on us by our society, has nothing to do with the reality. God is not an Supernatural Entity watching over earth and its inhabitants. God is exclusively a part of human consciousness. Without the humans there is no God. Without us, there is no God, that any living creature should be concerned of. However, I never attempt to take away people’s God from them, because that God is associated with a lot of human sentiments in the human psyche that act as fuel in daily survival. If you try to take away some hungry man’s stale bread, he would fight back, but if you give him something healthier and more substantial than the bread, then he would throw away the bread himself and accept your better food. The same is for God. So, instead of adamantly trying to demolish that God, I rather attempt to channel those sentiments associated with it in the human psyche towards something more productive and humane.
My mission is to make the external God of human society obsolete in front of humanity’s internal Godliness.
As a humanist scientist I focus on giving humanity something rejuvenating, healthy and productive, instead of wasting my energy on the negative elements of the man-made God. Remember, negativity cannot be destroyed with negativity. Fill the humans with positivity and the negative elements would eventually become powerless. Darkness cannot be repelled with darkness. It takes light to do that.
Being a scientist does not mean simply saying the hard truth. You can do that in your journal publications, for later scientists to have the raw data to scrutinize and then draw conclusions from. But other than that you have another important job, that is to represent the truth to people beyond the bounds of journal articles, in a way that brings most positive outcome in the society. And that’s where you turn from a run of the mill scientist into a glorious humanist scientist – a thinker by all means.
Humanism itself is the basic quality that defines us humans. And every human who gives humans preference over everything else is a humanist. And when a scientist turns this simple internal character into an important part of his or her work, that scientist becomes a humanist scientist. Then on, his work is no longer purely about the discovery of truth, but also to mould that truth in a proper fashion before presenting it to the humans. Mind you o brave scientist, your job may be to find the truth, but the purpose behind that finding is to take the human civilization a few steps forward. You are a scientist, which means, you have the most effective tool in the entire world, that can actually shape the world, both literally and metaphorically. So, use that tool called science wisely. Science is like religion – in the wrong hands, they both do more harm than good.
So, make sure that your hands are the right hands. The world is filled with scientists, yet it is suffering from the agonies caused by its people. It’s because the world lacks courageous humanist scientists. What the world needs today my friend, is not yet another researcher of science, but a conscientious scientific researcher of humanism. Now, my question to you is – are you that person whom the world is desperately searching for? Are you?
Remember, as long as you deem science and philosophy merely as your work, such work shall only be a drop in a giant unfathomable ocean. You need to make science and philosophy your life, and only then you shall give rise to a tsunami of humanistic progress. It is a tsunami waiting to happen. It’s only a matter of time that you realize the true purpose of your life and make that tsunami manifest, first within and then without. Become the tsunami of practical optimistic truth and wash away all the weaknesses and horrible stains of the human world.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost
A person can be a humanist in his or her personal life, but in professional life the sole identity of a scientist is a scientist. Now in this case, there is a small proportion of scientists, whom I call “humanist scientists”. The goal of a scientist is to dedicate himself or herself to the search of the raw, unfiltered, pure truth. Here comes the twist. The purpose of a humanist scientist is to discover the purest form of truth possible, and then apply it to the human society in a way that brings most positive outcome in the path of global progress.
For example, the idea of God which has been imposed on us by our society, has nothing to do with the reality. God is not an Supernatural Entity watching over earth and its inhabitants. God is exclusively a part of human consciousness. Without the humans there is no God. Without us, there is no God, that any living creature should be concerned of. However, I never attempt to take away people’s God from them, because that God is associated with a lot of human sentiments in the human psyche that act as fuel in daily survival. If you try to take away some hungry man’s stale bread, he would fight back, but if you give him something healthier and more substantial than the bread, then he would throw away the bread himself and accept your better food. The same is for God. So, instead of adamantly trying to demolish that God, I rather attempt to channel those sentiments associated with it in the human psyche towards something more productive and humane.
My mission is to make the external God of human society obsolete in front of humanity’s internal Godliness.
As a humanist scientist I focus on giving humanity something rejuvenating, healthy and productive, instead of wasting my energy on the negative elements of the man-made God. Remember, negativity cannot be destroyed with negativity. Fill the humans with positivity and the negative elements would eventually become powerless. Darkness cannot be repelled with darkness. It takes light to do that.
Being a scientist does not mean simply saying the hard truth. You can do that in your journal publications, for later scientists to have the raw data to scrutinize and then draw conclusions from. But other than that you have another important job, that is to represent the truth to people beyond the bounds of journal articles, in a way that brings most positive outcome in the society. And that’s where you turn from a run of the mill scientist into a glorious humanist scientist – a thinker by all means.
Humanism itself is the basic quality that defines us humans. And every human who gives humans preference over everything else is a humanist. And when a scientist turns this simple internal character into an important part of his or her work, that scientist becomes a humanist scientist. Then on, his work is no longer purely about the discovery of truth, but also to mould that truth in a proper fashion before presenting it to the humans. Mind you o brave scientist, your job may be to find the truth, but the purpose behind that finding is to take the human civilization a few steps forward. You are a scientist, which means, you have the most effective tool in the entire world, that can actually shape the world, both literally and metaphorically. So, use that tool called science wisely. Science is like religion – in the wrong hands, they both do more harm than good.
So, make sure that your hands are the right hands. The world is filled with scientists, yet it is suffering from the agonies caused by its people. It’s because the world lacks courageous humanist scientists. What the world needs today my friend, is not yet another researcher of science, but a conscientious scientific researcher of humanism. Now, my question to you is – are you that person whom the world is desperately searching for? Are you?
Remember, as long as you deem science and philosophy merely as your work, such work shall only be a drop in a giant unfathomable ocean. You need to make science and philosophy your life, and only then you shall give rise to a tsunami of humanistic progress. It is a tsunami waiting to happen. It’s only a matter of time that you realize the true purpose of your life and make that tsunami manifest, first within and then without. Become the tsunami of practical optimistic truth and wash away all the weaknesses and horrible stains of the human world.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost
June 24, 2017
Life is not beautiful, if there is no human
They say life is beautiful. I ask - are you sure? Say all the humans suddenly disappear from the face of earth. Will "life" still remain beautiful? In reality, life is not beautiful, it is ugly and wild. Life is not beautiful, if there is no human self to deem and glorify it as such. Take away the advanced faculties of the human mind, and there shall be only one core force left at the root of life - that force is the force of survival. This very force has given rise to the wide array of life-forms on our planet. Among those life forms, there is us, the humans. The world is beautiful, because we see it as such. The world is ugly because we see it as such. All the ascetic qualities the world has, are imposed by the humans on the mental imagery of the world inside the human mind. Turn off the human mind, and all that remains is, rough, ugly and wild survival need.
If we talk about life as a natural phenomenon, instead of seeing it as a human phenomenon, then it is all about survival. There is nothing else. It is the vanity of the human mind that adorns life with sophisticated qualities. It is the individual mind that determines the nature of life in its subjective reality. A person stuck in misery would see life as miserable. A person in the lap of luxury would see life as glorious and beautiful. The nature of life beyond the raw essentials of survival, purely depends on the internal realm of the human mind. A beautiful mind sees life as beautiful, whereas an ugly mind sees it as ugly. And throughout the lifetime of a human, the mind keeps evolving, hence, the qualities of life keep evolving. A teenager finds the beauty of life in the idea of finding true love, whereas, a parent finds the beauty of life in providing and being there, for his or her child. That's what life is all about, or to be more accurate, that's what human life is all about.
Think about the teenage version of yourself. What are the things that you wanted out of your life? Now think about the things that you want now? Are your wants now the same as they were when you were a teenager? Of course not! Why? Because your mind has grown. It has evolved into a more mature version of itself. It has grown new neural connections, while getting rid of many of the old ones. And this change is a relentless process. Which means, even right at this very moment, without being aware of it, your brain is going through various neurological shifts. Over time these shifts begin to show in your mental world, by transforming your needs, feelings, desires, passions, thoughts, beliefs and basically everything that makes you who you are. So, ten years from now, your needs and desires will be different, than they are now, just like, the needs and desires you have now are different from those you had as a teenager.
So, basically life is not about its true nature or anything like that, rather, it is all about your very personal subjective perception of life itself. Your perception can make life wonderful, and at the same time, your perception can make like pathetic. It is all in your mind. What you think, you see, and then, what you see, makes you think further. And the result is an ever-changing mesh of brain cells. Your brain determines who you are, what you are, and how your life is. Your brain creates your soul, and then gives a purely individualistic purpose to that soul. So, outside your brain, your life has no purpose. All the purposes in human life, that humans deem so valuable are all purely human creation. Without the humans, those purposes do not exist. Without the humans, life is merely about survival.
When a puppy dies in front of your eyes, you feel sad. But you feel a billion times more devastated if a human baby dies in front of you. That's because you, as a biological creature, are evolutionarily programmed to have more affection towards the members of your own species than towards the members of a foreign species, or to be more accurate, an inferior species. It has nothing to with being immoral or cruel. It is just how life works. However, because you have an advanced neural network replete with circuits of humane elements, especially a fascinating neurological system called the "Mirror Neuron System", you still feel bad at the agonies of other creatures. You can truly empathize with them. Now that's called being human. Nevertheless, many of us will still continue to eat meat, even though we would not willingly cause harm to another creature.
The point is, there is nothing ideal in the world, no matter how much we pretend otherwise. We are not ideal. Life is not ideal. Nature is not ideal. Yet, it is our pursuit to attain that ideal absolute - that pure perfection, that makes us the real masters of this planet. So, keep on attaining that perfection bit by bit, but keep in mind that you shall never attain it. Perfection is not to be attained, but to be pursued infinitely.
Further Reading
Neurosutra: The Abhijit Naskar Collection
What is Mind?
If we talk about life as a natural phenomenon, instead of seeing it as a human phenomenon, then it is all about survival. There is nothing else. It is the vanity of the human mind that adorns life with sophisticated qualities. It is the individual mind that determines the nature of life in its subjective reality. A person stuck in misery would see life as miserable. A person in the lap of luxury would see life as glorious and beautiful. The nature of life beyond the raw essentials of survival, purely depends on the internal realm of the human mind. A beautiful mind sees life as beautiful, whereas an ugly mind sees it as ugly. And throughout the lifetime of a human, the mind keeps evolving, hence, the qualities of life keep evolving. A teenager finds the beauty of life in the idea of finding true love, whereas, a parent finds the beauty of life in providing and being there, for his or her child. That's what life is all about, or to be more accurate, that's what human life is all about.
Think about the teenage version of yourself. What are the things that you wanted out of your life? Now think about the things that you want now? Are your wants now the same as they were when you were a teenager? Of course not! Why? Because your mind has grown. It has evolved into a more mature version of itself. It has grown new neural connections, while getting rid of many of the old ones. And this change is a relentless process. Which means, even right at this very moment, without being aware of it, your brain is going through various neurological shifts. Over time these shifts begin to show in your mental world, by transforming your needs, feelings, desires, passions, thoughts, beliefs and basically everything that makes you who you are. So, ten years from now, your needs and desires will be different, than they are now, just like, the needs and desires you have now are different from those you had as a teenager.
So, basically life is not about its true nature or anything like that, rather, it is all about your very personal subjective perception of life itself. Your perception can make life wonderful, and at the same time, your perception can make like pathetic. It is all in your mind. What you think, you see, and then, what you see, makes you think further. And the result is an ever-changing mesh of brain cells. Your brain determines who you are, what you are, and how your life is. Your brain creates your soul, and then gives a purely individualistic purpose to that soul. So, outside your brain, your life has no purpose. All the purposes in human life, that humans deem so valuable are all purely human creation. Without the humans, those purposes do not exist. Without the humans, life is merely about survival.
When a puppy dies in front of your eyes, you feel sad. But you feel a billion times more devastated if a human baby dies in front of you. That's because you, as a biological creature, are evolutionarily programmed to have more affection towards the members of your own species than towards the members of a foreign species, or to be more accurate, an inferior species. It has nothing to with being immoral or cruel. It is just how life works. However, because you have an advanced neural network replete with circuits of humane elements, especially a fascinating neurological system called the "Mirror Neuron System", you still feel bad at the agonies of other creatures. You can truly empathize with them. Now that's called being human. Nevertheless, many of us will still continue to eat meat, even though we would not willingly cause harm to another creature.
The point is, there is nothing ideal in the world, no matter how much we pretend otherwise. We are not ideal. Life is not ideal. Nature is not ideal. Yet, it is our pursuit to attain that ideal absolute - that pure perfection, that makes us the real masters of this planet. So, keep on attaining that perfection bit by bit, but keep in mind that you shall never attain it. Perfection is not to be attained, but to be pursued infinitely.
Further Reading
Neurosutra: The Abhijit Naskar Collection
What is Mind?
June 21, 2017
When you are Wise, Peace shall follow
Peace and War are two sides of the same coin. Where there is peace, there will be war - where there is war there will be peace. War is only the making of peace. This war does not necessarily have to be external. In most cases, the real war is internal, which means, it takes place within the human mind - within you. One way or another, war will keep on festering on this planet, until humanity becomes a real wise species. And we have a long to go till we actually achieve it, mostly because, we are still not an advanced species, no matter how much we boast about it. We just like to feel that we are advanced, for all the basic technological discoveries that we have made. But the point is, technological discoveries may make a species advanced, but they do not necessarily make a species wise. A wise species would be the one at peace with the self. Without the self there is no excellence. Without the self there is no advancement.
All creatures have it - the self, but the humans are the most advanced, because, they have the most complicated form of the self on this planet, thanks to the process of Evolution, which led to a uniquely intricate neural network inside our head. Other creatures just have the taste of it, because most of their brain power goes to managing the physical functioning of their body, and very little is left for mental faculties beyond the needs of survival. However, do not for a second think, that we are the best there shall ever be. Yes it is true, that in aspects of excellence, especially the ones that have to do with the faculties of the mind, we are indeed the best. But we still have a long way to go to become a real wise species, at least the way we hail ourselves to be in the very title "Sapiens".
To become real Sapiens, we need to act as sapiens. And even though some humans do act as true sapiens, or at the very least, they try to act that way, the unfortunate reality is, most humans don't. These humans often lose their basic faculty of reasoning to such an extent, that they adamantly vote for a narcissistic, human-looking, orange orangutan and make him the leader of a great nation. Such a scenario is only possible because a huge portion of the human society is still infested with superstitions, prejudices, sectarianism, mysticism and bigotry. And we the humans shall not be worthy of the title "sapiens", unless we do away with these primitive evils, that consistently drag the human civilization back to stone age.
Do away with prejudices - do away with separatism - do away with bigotry, and you shall witness the dawn of a new world- a world of real peace - real harmony - real acceptance. In that world, love and kindness shall run in the veins of humans, instead dogma-induced hatred. Such humans will be worthy of the title Sapiens. They shall be qualified, by all means, for the title "human". But the point is, it is not going to happen so easily. And more importantly, it is not going to happen, unless humanity learns to value humanity over everything else - and I mean everything else. No Bible, no Church, no Priest, no dogma of any kind, shall be above the humans - above basic human elements, such as love, compassion and reasoning. Human character should be judged only by the measure of these elements, not a book, a prophet, a messiah, or an institution. To quote from Principia Humanitas"
"Human you are, and your religion Humanism."
That's it. That's all there is. If you are a human, you have all the religions in you, if not, then no matter how many scriptures you hold dear, it will not make you worthy of the title "human", let alone the title "religious." As I have said in "Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism"
“Let your conscience be your scripture and your actions be your religion. Let the humans be your church and compassion be your worship. Let love be your gospel and acceptance be your revelation.”
When you are wise, peace shall follow, or we can also see it the other way round. When you are at peace with the self, you will be wise. And from that internal wisdom, shall emerge peace for the whole world - real peace - peace that will unite, not divide - peace that will be celebrated, not fought for. So, start working for that peace my friend. Let your child have a better world, than the one you were born in.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
All creatures have it - the self, but the humans are the most advanced, because, they have the most complicated form of the self on this planet, thanks to the process of Evolution, which led to a uniquely intricate neural network inside our head. Other creatures just have the taste of it, because most of their brain power goes to managing the physical functioning of their body, and very little is left for mental faculties beyond the needs of survival. However, do not for a second think, that we are the best there shall ever be. Yes it is true, that in aspects of excellence, especially the ones that have to do with the faculties of the mind, we are indeed the best. But we still have a long way to go to become a real wise species, at least the way we hail ourselves to be in the very title "Sapiens".
To become real Sapiens, we need to act as sapiens. And even though some humans do act as true sapiens, or at the very least, they try to act that way, the unfortunate reality is, most humans don't. These humans often lose their basic faculty of reasoning to such an extent, that they adamantly vote for a narcissistic, human-looking, orange orangutan and make him the leader of a great nation. Such a scenario is only possible because a huge portion of the human society is still infested with superstitions, prejudices, sectarianism, mysticism and bigotry. And we the humans shall not be worthy of the title "sapiens", unless we do away with these primitive evils, that consistently drag the human civilization back to stone age.
Do away with prejudices - do away with separatism - do away with bigotry, and you shall witness the dawn of a new world- a world of real peace - real harmony - real acceptance. In that world, love and kindness shall run in the veins of humans, instead dogma-induced hatred. Such humans will be worthy of the title Sapiens. They shall be qualified, by all means, for the title "human". But the point is, it is not going to happen so easily. And more importantly, it is not going to happen, unless humanity learns to value humanity over everything else - and I mean everything else. No Bible, no Church, no Priest, no dogma of any kind, shall be above the humans - above basic human elements, such as love, compassion and reasoning. Human character should be judged only by the measure of these elements, not a book, a prophet, a messiah, or an institution. To quote from Principia Humanitas"
"Human you are, and your religion Humanism."
That's it. That's all there is. If you are a human, you have all the religions in you, if not, then no matter how many scriptures you hold dear, it will not make you worthy of the title "human", let alone the title "religious." As I have said in "Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism"
“Let your conscience be your scripture and your actions be your religion. Let the humans be your church and compassion be your worship. Let love be your gospel and acceptance be your revelation.”
When you are wise, peace shall follow, or we can also see it the other way round. When you are at peace with the self, you will be wise. And from that internal wisdom, shall emerge peace for the whole world - real peace - peace that will unite, not divide - peace that will be celebrated, not fought for. So, start working for that peace my friend. Let your child have a better world, than the one you were born in.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
June 2, 2017
The Brain creates Morality, not the Bible
"Morality" - it is a fantastic term, so much so, that almost every single religious institution wants to claim its exclusive authority or rather copyright of this simple psychological element. The cave-men of the church keep claiming, "morality comes from the Bible", and so does every other mindless fundamentalist on earth no matter their religion. They truly believe that without their holy scripture there would be no morality on earth. They truly believe, without their doctrines to guide humanity in the moral path, we are destined to be punished in an imaginary hell. So let me tell those fundamentalists - You need to visit a psychiatrist, pal!
Here let me make something clear at the very beginning. Beliefs are a quintessential part of the human psyche, but they can be both healthy and harmful. And the beliefs of the fundamentalist Australopithecines are particularly harmful. These beliefs are what we call "delusions". Except unlike in a neuropsychological ailment, the delusion of the fundamentalists is not just harmful for the individuals suffering from it, but more importantly it is the greatest threat to peace, progress and wellbeing of the entire human species.
I am not going to go into the details of which scripture is more moral than others and which one is most immoral. It does not depend on the scripture itself, as much as it depends on the person reading the scripture. All human creations, including all sorts of literature are bound to have flaws, because it is the human mind that creates them. No literature, including the ones in the domain of religion, comes from some Imaginary Big Monkey, high up in the sky. They all rise from the human psyche. Hence the elements of the composer's mind gets distinctively imprinted into the content of the literature. So the morality depicted in a certain text is not the ultimate standpoint of moral characteristic of a species, it is merely the textual echo of the composer's internal moral compass. If a pedophile writes a book, he would probably deem abusing a nine year old as morally justified. On the other hand, if the book is written by, say Tolstoy, it would have a completely reformed depiction of morality, ethics and human principles. The depiction of morality by Tolstoy can be something that the human civilization can look up to and expect to march ahead towards becoming less primitive. But a pedophile's subjective morality would only drag the human civilization back to the days in the wilderness.
So, where does morality come from exactly? I will tell you where it comes from in a little while, but before that let me focus on where it does not come from. Morality does not come from the Bible. Morality does not come from the Quran. Morality does not come from the Torah. Morality does not come from the Vedas. This beautiful mental element which we call morality, does not come from any scripture, any institution or any God. Morality is born in the human brain, from the electrical impulses among the neurons. Morality like any other mental element, such as love, peace, orgasm, rage or hatred, is simply the expression of electrochemical impulses. These impulses in our brain define who we are, what we are, how we feel, how we think, how we behave and how we distinguish between right and wrong, and good and evil. In fact, we our the impulses within our brain. If you mess with even a tiny portion of the neural circuits constantly sharing electrochemical information among each other, it would radically alter your personality. It can alter your entire identity.
Part of that identity are your moral characteristics. These along with other analytical traits of your mind, are distinct creations of the frontal lobes of your brain. This is the region that is most responsible for making us a uniquely intelligent and wise species. This is the part that gives you the sense of an internal moral compass, based on all the available data. It is here that your innate primitive urges and instinctual responses born from the limbic system, are filtered according to the norms of the society as well as your internal ethical elements. Therefore, when a person thinks and behaves as a civilized human being, he or she is doing so because of the civilized elements within him or her, not because of some book, even though the book may have certain influence on that behavior. Burn all the scriptures in the world, still morality will remain intact. But mess with the frontal lobes, or to be specific the prefrontal cortex, of all the humans in the world, and you would inadvertantly jeopardize the intellectual faculties of the entire human species including morality.
To quote from my book "Either Civilized or Phobic: A Treatise on Homosexuality"
"Morality does not come to this mortal world from some imaginary paradise. It rises from the neurons of mortal humans to aid in the process of a healthy conduct in both personal and social life of the mortal humans. Hence, it is the existential responsibility of the humans to reconstruct the moral parameters of a time based on the advancements and achievements of that time."
All kinds of external information regardless of where they come from, do engage in the shaping of a person's neural network of moral characteristics as well as other mental features. The environment we live in, has a deep impact over our psyche, but for the human civilization to keep on moving forward in the path of progress all environmental information must be scrutinized by our internal civilized faculties. Nothing from the external world as well as the internal one, should be accepted to be true, good and healthy, unless it passes the test of reasoning.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Either Civilized or Phobic: A Treatise on Homosexuality
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Here let me make something clear at the very beginning. Beliefs are a quintessential part of the human psyche, but they can be both healthy and harmful. And the beliefs of the fundamentalist Australopithecines are particularly harmful. These beliefs are what we call "delusions". Except unlike in a neuropsychological ailment, the delusion of the fundamentalists is not just harmful for the individuals suffering from it, but more importantly it is the greatest threat to peace, progress and wellbeing of the entire human species.
I am not going to go into the details of which scripture is more moral than others and which one is most immoral. It does not depend on the scripture itself, as much as it depends on the person reading the scripture. All human creations, including all sorts of literature are bound to have flaws, because it is the human mind that creates them. No literature, including the ones in the domain of religion, comes from some Imaginary Big Monkey, high up in the sky. They all rise from the human psyche. Hence the elements of the composer's mind gets distinctively imprinted into the content of the literature. So the morality depicted in a certain text is not the ultimate standpoint of moral characteristic of a species, it is merely the textual echo of the composer's internal moral compass. If a pedophile writes a book, he would probably deem abusing a nine year old as morally justified. On the other hand, if the book is written by, say Tolstoy, it would have a completely reformed depiction of morality, ethics and human principles. The depiction of morality by Tolstoy can be something that the human civilization can look up to and expect to march ahead towards becoming less primitive. But a pedophile's subjective morality would only drag the human civilization back to the days in the wilderness.
So, where does morality come from exactly? I will tell you where it comes from in a little while, but before that let me focus on where it does not come from. Morality does not come from the Bible. Morality does not come from the Quran. Morality does not come from the Torah. Morality does not come from the Vedas. This beautiful mental element which we call morality, does not come from any scripture, any institution or any God. Morality is born in the human brain, from the electrical impulses among the neurons. Morality like any other mental element, such as love, peace, orgasm, rage or hatred, is simply the expression of electrochemical impulses. These impulses in our brain define who we are, what we are, how we feel, how we think, how we behave and how we distinguish between right and wrong, and good and evil. In fact, we our the impulses within our brain. If you mess with even a tiny portion of the neural circuits constantly sharing electrochemical information among each other, it would radically alter your personality. It can alter your entire identity.
Part of that identity are your moral characteristics. These along with other analytical traits of your mind, are distinct creations of the frontal lobes of your brain. This is the region that is most responsible for making us a uniquely intelligent and wise species. This is the part that gives you the sense of an internal moral compass, based on all the available data. It is here that your innate primitive urges and instinctual responses born from the limbic system, are filtered according to the norms of the society as well as your internal ethical elements. Therefore, when a person thinks and behaves as a civilized human being, he or she is doing so because of the civilized elements within him or her, not because of some book, even though the book may have certain influence on that behavior. Burn all the scriptures in the world, still morality will remain intact. But mess with the frontal lobes, or to be specific the prefrontal cortex, of all the humans in the world, and you would inadvertantly jeopardize the intellectual faculties of the entire human species including morality.
To quote from my book "Either Civilized or Phobic: A Treatise on Homosexuality"
"Morality does not come to this mortal world from some imaginary paradise. It rises from the neurons of mortal humans to aid in the process of a healthy conduct in both personal and social life of the mortal humans. Hence, it is the existential responsibility of the humans to reconstruct the moral parameters of a time based on the advancements and achievements of that time."
All kinds of external information regardless of where they come from, do engage in the shaping of a person's neural network of moral characteristics as well as other mental features. The environment we live in, has a deep impact over our psyche, but for the human civilization to keep on moving forward in the path of progress all environmental information must be scrutinized by our internal civilized faculties. Nothing from the external world as well as the internal one, should be accepted to be true, good and healthy, unless it passes the test of reasoning.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Either Civilized or Phobic: A Treatise on Homosexuality
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
May 14, 2017
Real Religion of Civilized Humanity
Today, religion gets beaten up in the world of rational thinkers because of what it has become. Religion has become a matter of blind faith upon doctrines, without the slightest bit of rational intervention. And that, my friend, is called religious orthodoxy, which, though being related to the term "religion", has, in reality, nothing to do with true religion. The religion that I advocate, and so did the mortal humans known as Jesus, Buddha and Nanak, is the religion of love, compassion and self-realization. I don't want to take away anybody's religion, but simply to make them see what religion really means.
You need to find the highest form of divinity within yourself, not in any book, creed or institution. That is the true essence of religion, which, unfortunately, we see nowhere in today's world. And from this standpoint of true religion, the atheists are a billion times more religious than all the blind "orthodogs". Religion, in the world of thinking humans should be compatible with reasoning and progress. Any religion that impedes in the progress and rational thinking of the human society, is no religion at all.
"Progress" sounds like a fascinating word to be proud of, yet it comes at a price. A price that most of the human society is often unwilling to pay. It is the price of all bigotry, prejudices and barbarian practices. Without sacrificing these primitive tenets of human character, there cannot be any true progress or any true religion. True progress begins with the recognition of your innate evil. Only after recognizing those evil elements of your mind, you can take action towards having a healthy conscientious control over them. It is this control that distinguishes a civilized human, from the primitive cave-people.
As I have said in my book We Are All Black: A Treatise on Racism
"Good and evil are both fundamental features of the human mind."
In a civilized human the good outweighs the evil, whereas in a primitive human, the evil outweighs the good. And one of the most disgraceful and evil tenets of the human mind is today's so-called religion - i.e. religious orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is the biggest obstacle in the path of peace, progress and wellbeing of the society. Take away religious orthodoxy and all the violence in the name of religion and God shall disappear for good. In the face of rigorous rational arguments, any man or woman who, out of blind faith, consistently keeps saying, his or her dear scripture has all the answers in the universe, is either suffering from delusional disorder or simply an idiot. A creature that does not have the basic mental faculty of reasoning, is not worth the title "human".
Here one may confuse orthodoxy with traditions. So, I must make it clear, that you should not confuse traditions with orthodoxy. Traditions can be both healthy and harmful. By choosing not to eliminate the traditions that over time tend to become a harmful impediment in the path of progress, one leans towards orthodoxy, that ultimately drives a people back to the stone-age. Various traditions of various cultures throughout the world make the human species filled with colors. But these traditions must keep evolving through adoption of new practices and elimination of the useless ones, based on the needs of the time. Either one evolves or gets extinct - this is the principal law of Mother Nature.
So, here one may wonder, how can we eliminate the evil tradition of religious orthodoxy, and turn religion into a progressive endeavor of the progressive society! It will not happen by engaging yourself in a worthless debate with the intellectual idiots of religious orthodoxy, as you may think. Because those idiots do not have the cognitive capacity to recognize any rational argument against their dear doctrines. The real answer lies in you - or to be specific, your children. The transformation from a primitive, orthodox society into a real civilized society, can only begin with your children. This means, that your children shall determine the fate of the human society. They shall determine whether religious orthodoxy will keep on prevailing throughout the world, or conscience triumphs over all evil. Hence, it is in your hands, to shape their minds to become real civilized humans of a progressive, loving and conscientious world. Teach your children - "there is no religion better than love, no color better than the color of happiness and no language better than the language of compassion" (quote from my memoir Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost). Once you do that, rest assured, the world will become free from all sorts of prejudices.
Orthodoxy, bigotry, prejudices - these primitive traits only lead to chaos and destruction of all humanity. Hence, it is your existential responsibility to raise your child as a human being above everything else - catholic, muslim, jew, asian, caucasian or whatever. These human beings shall determine the fate of humanity. Remember, orthodoxy has no place in a world of civilized humans. We are not medieval monsters any more, we are civilized beings, and as such our most priced possession is our rational thinking, not mindless orthodoxy.
No tradition is greater than the mental and physical progress of the human society. However, traditions do indeed add value to the survival of a culture, but they must be scrutinize by each generation of that culture in order to get rid of the useless and harmful elements. Traditions that advocate bigotry, misogyny, racism, and fundamentalism, must be thrown away at ones by the responsible, civilized and conscientious beings of a culture. Then only they shall be qualified to be deemed as humans. Remember, no being is a human unless it elicits a character of courage, conscience, compassion and reasoning.
Further Reading
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost
The Education Decree
We Are All Black: A Treatise on Racism
You need to find the highest form of divinity within yourself, not in any book, creed or institution. That is the true essence of religion, which, unfortunately, we see nowhere in today's world. And from this standpoint of true religion, the atheists are a billion times more religious than all the blind "orthodogs". Religion, in the world of thinking humans should be compatible with reasoning and progress. Any religion that impedes in the progress and rational thinking of the human society, is no religion at all.
"Progress" sounds like a fascinating word to be proud of, yet it comes at a price. A price that most of the human society is often unwilling to pay. It is the price of all bigotry, prejudices and barbarian practices. Without sacrificing these primitive tenets of human character, there cannot be any true progress or any true religion. True progress begins with the recognition of your innate evil. Only after recognizing those evil elements of your mind, you can take action towards having a healthy conscientious control over them. It is this control that distinguishes a civilized human, from the primitive cave-people.
As I have said in my book We Are All Black: A Treatise on Racism
"Good and evil are both fundamental features of the human mind."
In a civilized human the good outweighs the evil, whereas in a primitive human, the evil outweighs the good. And one of the most disgraceful and evil tenets of the human mind is today's so-called religion - i.e. religious orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is the biggest obstacle in the path of peace, progress and wellbeing of the society. Take away religious orthodoxy and all the violence in the name of religion and God shall disappear for good. In the face of rigorous rational arguments, any man or woman who, out of blind faith, consistently keeps saying, his or her dear scripture has all the answers in the universe, is either suffering from delusional disorder or simply an idiot. A creature that does not have the basic mental faculty of reasoning, is not worth the title "human".
Here one may confuse orthodoxy with traditions. So, I must make it clear, that you should not confuse traditions with orthodoxy. Traditions can be both healthy and harmful. By choosing not to eliminate the traditions that over time tend to become a harmful impediment in the path of progress, one leans towards orthodoxy, that ultimately drives a people back to the stone-age. Various traditions of various cultures throughout the world make the human species filled with colors. But these traditions must keep evolving through adoption of new practices and elimination of the useless ones, based on the needs of the time. Either one evolves or gets extinct - this is the principal law of Mother Nature.
So, here one may wonder, how can we eliminate the evil tradition of religious orthodoxy, and turn religion into a progressive endeavor of the progressive society! It will not happen by engaging yourself in a worthless debate with the intellectual idiots of religious orthodoxy, as you may think. Because those idiots do not have the cognitive capacity to recognize any rational argument against their dear doctrines. The real answer lies in you - or to be specific, your children. The transformation from a primitive, orthodox society into a real civilized society, can only begin with your children. This means, that your children shall determine the fate of the human society. They shall determine whether religious orthodoxy will keep on prevailing throughout the world, or conscience triumphs over all evil. Hence, it is in your hands, to shape their minds to become real civilized humans of a progressive, loving and conscientious world. Teach your children - "there is no religion better than love, no color better than the color of happiness and no language better than the language of compassion" (quote from my memoir Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost). Once you do that, rest assured, the world will become free from all sorts of prejudices.
Orthodoxy, bigotry, prejudices - these primitive traits only lead to chaos and destruction of all humanity. Hence, it is your existential responsibility to raise your child as a human being above everything else - catholic, muslim, jew, asian, caucasian or whatever. These human beings shall determine the fate of humanity. Remember, orthodoxy has no place in a world of civilized humans. We are not medieval monsters any more, we are civilized beings, and as such our most priced possession is our rational thinking, not mindless orthodoxy.
No tradition is greater than the mental and physical progress of the human society. However, traditions do indeed add value to the survival of a culture, but they must be scrutinize by each generation of that culture in order to get rid of the useless and harmful elements. Traditions that advocate bigotry, misogyny, racism, and fundamentalism, must be thrown away at ones by the responsible, civilized and conscientious beings of a culture. Then only they shall be qualified to be deemed as humans. Remember, no being is a human unless it elicits a character of courage, conscience, compassion and reasoning.
Further Reading
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost
The Education Decree
We Are All Black: A Treatise on Racism
May 3, 2017
Some Thoughts on Neuroscience & Science
It is the consensus of the general population that Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system. However, in reality, it is far more beautiful than just that. Saying Neuroscience is the field of studying the nervous system, is like saying the Hulk is a man who opens a tin can with his bare hands.
Neuroscience is the science that reveals every single element of the existential nature of human mind, or simply mind, in a broader aspect. And one who understands the mind becomes a better version of himself or herself. Neuroscience - the science of mind, reveals to us, who we are - what we are - why we are. It gives answers to questions that have haunted humanity since the days in the wildness. We neuroscientists discover the truths that take the human self closer to absolution.
To quote from my book "Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost"
"We gain from the new science of mind not only insights into ourselves - how we perceive, learn, remember, feel, believe and act - but also a new perspective of ourselves and our fellow human beings in the context of biological evolution.”
The most intriguingly unique feature of Neuroscience, is that here the mind attempts to study itself. Hence, Neural Science is the endeavor of the mind to understand itself.
However, like all other fields of scientific endeavor, it cannot work alone. To fully manifest its true potential, Neuroscience often joins hands with other sciences, especially other biological sciences such as evolutionary biology, molecular biology, genetics etc. Through this beautiful collaboration, we get a more complete and solid understanding of the mind. That is why for a scientist in any field, it is imperative to know by heart, that he or she cannot proceed a single step in the path of scientific research with the arrogant idea in the head that his or her own field is the greatest of all sciences.
To become a scientist, you must learn to be humble in front of other fields of science while defending the dignity of your own. A Physicist's insight of the universe would be much grander than a biologist, and at the same time, a biologist's insight of life would much grander than a physicist. No scientist in one field is greater than another scientist in another field. Each field of science offers us a unique and deeper perspective on a certain phenomenon of life and universe. Each field of science completes the other.
However, the harsh reality of today's society is that the Physicists get most of the attention from the general population. And behind this attention, or rather attraction, lies a deeper evolutionary reason. Modern Physics has a certain air of mystery and sophistication around it, which stimulates people's primeval affinity towards ignorance-driven mysticism. Which means, the less people understand a certain phenomenon, the more they are attracted to it. And that is why almost everybody on planet earth knows about Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, but very few people in the non-scholar population have heard of Leonhard Euler, Joseph Breuer and Gottfried Leibneiz.
Science is the human endeavor to elevate the self and the society from the darkness of ignorance into the light of wisdom. Sophistication is not science people, simplicity is. Science does not complicate things, rather it eases the predominant complications of the society. Science demystifies the mysticism that holds on to the psyche of the human society like a virus. Science is the most effective, efficient and magnificent path that leads towards the salvation of humankind.
Further Reading
Neurosutra: The Abhijit Naskar Collection
What is Mind?
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost
Neuroscience is the science that reveals every single element of the existential nature of human mind, or simply mind, in a broader aspect. And one who understands the mind becomes a better version of himself or herself. Neuroscience - the science of mind, reveals to us, who we are - what we are - why we are. It gives answers to questions that have haunted humanity since the days in the wildness. We neuroscientists discover the truths that take the human self closer to absolution.
To quote from my book "Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost"
"We gain from the new science of mind not only insights into ourselves - how we perceive, learn, remember, feel, believe and act - but also a new perspective of ourselves and our fellow human beings in the context of biological evolution.”
The most intriguingly unique feature of Neuroscience, is that here the mind attempts to study itself. Hence, Neural Science is the endeavor of the mind to understand itself.
However, like all other fields of scientific endeavor, it cannot work alone. To fully manifest its true potential, Neuroscience often joins hands with other sciences, especially other biological sciences such as evolutionary biology, molecular biology, genetics etc. Through this beautiful collaboration, we get a more complete and solid understanding of the mind. That is why for a scientist in any field, it is imperative to know by heart, that he or she cannot proceed a single step in the path of scientific research with the arrogant idea in the head that his or her own field is the greatest of all sciences.
To become a scientist, you must learn to be humble in front of other fields of science while defending the dignity of your own. A Physicist's insight of the universe would be much grander than a biologist, and at the same time, a biologist's insight of life would much grander than a physicist. No scientist in one field is greater than another scientist in another field. Each field of science offers us a unique and deeper perspective on a certain phenomenon of life and universe. Each field of science completes the other.
However, the harsh reality of today's society is that the Physicists get most of the attention from the general population. And behind this attention, or rather attraction, lies a deeper evolutionary reason. Modern Physics has a certain air of mystery and sophistication around it, which stimulates people's primeval affinity towards ignorance-driven mysticism. Which means, the less people understand a certain phenomenon, the more they are attracted to it. And that is why almost everybody on planet earth knows about Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, but very few people in the non-scholar population have heard of Leonhard Euler, Joseph Breuer and Gottfried Leibneiz.
Science is the human endeavor to elevate the self and the society from the darkness of ignorance into the light of wisdom. Sophistication is not science people, simplicity is. Science does not complicate things, rather it eases the predominant complications of the society. Science demystifies the mysticism that holds on to the psyche of the human society like a virus. Science is the most effective, efficient and magnificent path that leads towards the salvation of humankind.
Further Reading
Neurosutra: The Abhijit Naskar Collection
What is Mind?
Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting lost
April 29, 2017
I am Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu & Atheist
People often ask me, what my religion is. My answer to them is, I am a Christian to the Christian, a Jew to the Jew, a Muslim to the Muslim, a Hindu to the Hindu and an Atheist to the Atheist. There is nothing wrong or unscientific or primitive about being a religious person. In fact, we neuroscientists have shown with countless experiments that in daily life, religious rituals such as engaging prayers, aid in sustaining mental as well as physical health. But the problem with religion, in the way it is perceived in today's world, is that, it is more of a matter of theoretical indoctrination than actual realization of divinity within the self. And that's where religion becomes dangerous.
A religious individual may most gloriously carry out his or her own rituals, as a part of his or her cultural identity, but the moment, that person starts to build a wall of separation between the self and the rest of humanity, coaxed by the textual commands of a scripture, the healthy religiousness turns into dangerous fundamentalism, which is a threat to both the self and the society. That is why, I am a relative of both the religious and the atheist portions of the society, but the brightest nightmare to the fundamentalists. Fundamentalism has nothing to do with modern civilization. And indeed, it has nothing to do with religion. And if it does fester in any corner of the world, it is the responsibility of the conscientious people of that society to rise against such barbarianism and uproot it before it grabs onto the psyche of a broader audience.
Religious fundamentalism advocates homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, polygamy and many other primitive evils. Can you imagine, somebody telling you, your love for your dearly beloved is a sin! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, women are inferior to men, and are meant only serve the men! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, a man can have multiple wives, and yet be deemed civilized! Here that somebody is a fundamentalist - a theoretical pest from the stone-age, who somehow managed to survive even amidst all the rise of reasoning and intellect. Such a creature with no modern mental faculty whatsoever, knows nothing beyond the words of a book, written hundreds or thousands of years ago, when ignorance was the default mode of thinking in the society. It does not only believe every single word of a book to be literally true, but puts all its efforts to convince others to believe the same. This way, it would be an understatement to say, such is a worthless creature. In reality, such a creature can cause a catastrophic contagion in a society, especially if that society is already going through socio-political turmoil. In a society, where people most progressively practice rational thinking, no fundamentalist pest can infect their psyche. But if the people are already boiling with rage, then such minds are more vulnerable to fundamentalist contagion. Thus emerge Jihadis or Holy Warriors. Here let me quote from my book "The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance", to show you, what goes on inside the brain of a holy warrior.
“Inside a jihadi brain, the neuropsychological elements of aggression and rage run rampant, due to socio-political conditions. These overwhelming mental elements of young souls, when attached to the sacred texts of the Quran, by the authoritarian groups of fundamentalists, become weapons of mass destruction in the pursuit of the exclusive supremacy of one religion over the others.”
To get rid of religious terrorism, it is not enough to kill a bunch of Jihadis, even though it may be morally justified to do so, for saving humanity from their wrath. Jihad or Holy war would keep festering one way or another, until religious fundamentalism is eradicated from the human society. Until the whole humanity learns to scrutinize its most revered scriptures with the sharp tool of reasoning, Jihad will keep on striking over the world. If one does not have the basic conscientious capacity to refute the primitive textual verses of the scriptures that demand one to kill or torture another being for holding a different belief system than one's own, then that entity is no being of the civilized human society. No Quran, no Bible, no Gita, no Cow, is greater than the human self. There shall be hope for harmony and peace in the world, only when fundamentalism is destroyed forever. Harmony is not a luxury, it is an existential necessity of the species. And to achieve it, if a hundred Bibles have to be sacrificed, then be it. But for no Bible, Quran or Gita, can harmony be compromised.
The point is, being a Christian does not mean hating or belittling the non-Christians. Being a Muslim does not mean hating or belittling the non-Muslims. Being an Atheist does not mean hating or belittling the religious people. In a civilized society, diversity in religious orientation should be the reason for celebration, not the cause for hatred and differentiation. Some people like baseball, some soccer and some others like no sports at all. Their psychological orientation with sports doesn't make them any less or more human. The same is with religious orientation. The true Kingdom of God is within you, and it is defined by your behavior with other people, regardless of their religious affiliation. You are the God of your life, and your divinity lies in your actions. And once you realize this, it will dawn on you that, all religions are mere external echoes of humankind's internal divinity. Remember, divinity is goodness, and goodness is godliness. There is nothing higher than this. There is no greater religion than this.
Further Reading
In Search of Divinity: Journey to The Kingdom of Conscience
The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance
A religious individual may most gloriously carry out his or her own rituals, as a part of his or her cultural identity, but the moment, that person starts to build a wall of separation between the self and the rest of humanity, coaxed by the textual commands of a scripture, the healthy religiousness turns into dangerous fundamentalism, which is a threat to both the self and the society. That is why, I am a relative of both the religious and the atheist portions of the society, but the brightest nightmare to the fundamentalists. Fundamentalism has nothing to do with modern civilization. And indeed, it has nothing to do with religion. And if it does fester in any corner of the world, it is the responsibility of the conscientious people of that society to rise against such barbarianism and uproot it before it grabs onto the psyche of a broader audience.
Religious fundamentalism advocates homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, polygamy and many other primitive evils. Can you imagine, somebody telling you, your love for your dearly beloved is a sin! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, women are inferior to men, and are meant only serve the men! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, a man can have multiple wives, and yet be deemed civilized! Here that somebody is a fundamentalist - a theoretical pest from the stone-age, who somehow managed to survive even amidst all the rise of reasoning and intellect. Such a creature with no modern mental faculty whatsoever, knows nothing beyond the words of a book, written hundreds or thousands of years ago, when ignorance was the default mode of thinking in the society. It does not only believe every single word of a book to be literally true, but puts all its efforts to convince others to believe the same. This way, it would be an understatement to say, such is a worthless creature. In reality, such a creature can cause a catastrophic contagion in a society, especially if that society is already going through socio-political turmoil. In a society, where people most progressively practice rational thinking, no fundamentalist pest can infect their psyche. But if the people are already boiling with rage, then such minds are more vulnerable to fundamentalist contagion. Thus emerge Jihadis or Holy Warriors. Here let me quote from my book "The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance", to show you, what goes on inside the brain of a holy warrior.
“Inside a jihadi brain, the neuropsychological elements of aggression and rage run rampant, due to socio-political conditions. These overwhelming mental elements of young souls, when attached to the sacred texts of the Quran, by the authoritarian groups of fundamentalists, become weapons of mass destruction in the pursuit of the exclusive supremacy of one religion over the others.”
To get rid of religious terrorism, it is not enough to kill a bunch of Jihadis, even though it may be morally justified to do so, for saving humanity from their wrath. Jihad or Holy war would keep festering one way or another, until religious fundamentalism is eradicated from the human society. Until the whole humanity learns to scrutinize its most revered scriptures with the sharp tool of reasoning, Jihad will keep on striking over the world. If one does not have the basic conscientious capacity to refute the primitive textual verses of the scriptures that demand one to kill or torture another being for holding a different belief system than one's own, then that entity is no being of the civilized human society. No Quran, no Bible, no Gita, no Cow, is greater than the human self. There shall be hope for harmony and peace in the world, only when fundamentalism is destroyed forever. Harmony is not a luxury, it is an existential necessity of the species. And to achieve it, if a hundred Bibles have to be sacrificed, then be it. But for no Bible, Quran or Gita, can harmony be compromised.
The point is, being a Christian does not mean hating or belittling the non-Christians. Being a Muslim does not mean hating or belittling the non-Muslims. Being an Atheist does not mean hating or belittling the religious people. In a civilized society, diversity in religious orientation should be the reason for celebration, not the cause for hatred and differentiation. Some people like baseball, some soccer and some others like no sports at all. Their psychological orientation with sports doesn't make them any less or more human. The same is with religious orientation. The true Kingdom of God is within you, and it is defined by your behavior with other people, regardless of their religious affiliation. You are the God of your life, and your divinity lies in your actions. And once you realize this, it will dawn on you that, all religions are mere external echoes of humankind's internal divinity. Remember, divinity is goodness, and goodness is godliness. There is nothing higher than this. There is no greater religion than this.
Further Reading
In Search of Divinity: Journey to The Kingdom of Conscience
The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance
I am Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu & Atheist
People often ask me, what my religion is. My answer to them is, I am a Christian to the Christian, a Jew to the Jew, a Muslim to the Muslim, a Hindu to the Hindu and an Atheist to the Atheist. There is nothing wrong or unscientific or primitive about being a religious person. In fact, we neuroscientists have shown with countless experiments that in daily life, religious rituals such as engaging prayers, aid in sustaining mental as well as physical health. But the problem with religion, in the way it is perceived in today's world, is that, it is more of a matter of theoretical indoctrination than actual realization of divinity within the self. And that's where religion becomes dangerous.
A religious individual may most gloriously carry out his or her own rituals, as a part of his or her cultural identity, but the moment, that person starts to build a wall of separation between the self and the rest of humanity, coaxed by the textual commands of a scripture, the healthy religiousness turns into dangerous fundamentalism, which is a threat to both the self and the society. That is why, I am a relative of both the religious and the atheist portions of the society, but the brightest nightmare to the fundamentalists. Fundamentalism has nothing to do with modern civilization. And indeed, it has nothing to do with religion. And if it does fester in any corner of the world, it is the responsibility of the conscientious people of that society to rise against such barbarianism and uproot it before it grabs onto the psyche of a broader audience.
Religious fundamentalism advocates homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, polygamy and many other primitive evils. Can you imagine, somebody telling you, your love for your dearly beloved is a sin! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, women are inferior to men, and are meant only serve the men! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, a man can have multiple wives, and yet be deemed civilized! Here that somebody is a fundamentalist - a theoretical pest from the stone-age, who somehow managed to survive even amidst all the rise of reasoning and intellect. Such a creature with no modern mental faculty whatsoever, knows nothing beyond the words of a book, written hundreds or thousands of years ago, when ignorance was the default mode of thinking in the society. It does not only believe every single word of a book to be literally true, but puts all its efforts to convince others to believe the same. This way, it would be an understatement to say, such is a worthless creature. In reality, such a creature can cause a catastrophic contagion in a society, especially if that society is already going through socio-political turmoil. In a society, where people most progressively practice rational thinking, no fundamentalist pest can infect their psyche. But if the people are already boiling with rage, then such minds are more vulnerable to fundamentalist contagion. Thus emerge Jihadis or Holy Warriors. Here let me quote from my book "The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance", to show you, what goes on inside the brain of a holy warrior.
“Inside a jihadi brain, the neuropsychological elements of aggression and rage run rampant, due to socio-political conditions. These overwhelming mental elements of young souls, when attached to the sacred texts of the Quran, by the authoritarian groups of fundamentalists, become weapons of mass destruction in the pursuit of the exclusive supremacy of one religion over the others.”
To get rid of religious terrorism, it is not enough to kill a bunch of Jihadis, even though it may be morally justified to do so, for saving humanity from their wrath. Jihad or Holy war would keep festering one way or another, until religious fundamentalism is eradicated from the human society. Until the whole humanity learns to scrutinize its most revered scriptures with the sharp tool of reasoning, Jihad will keep on striking over the world. If one does not have the basic conscientious capacity to refute the primitive textual verses of the scriptures that demand one to kill or torture another being for holding a different belief system than one's own, then that entity is no being of the civilized human society. No Quran, no Bible, no Gita, no Cow, is greater than the human self. There shall be hope for harmony and peace in the world, only when fundamentalism is destroyed forever. Harmony is not a luxury, it is an existential necessity of the species. And to achieve it, if a hundred Bibles have to be sacrificed, then be it. But for no Bible, Quran or Gita, can harmony be compromised.
The point is, being a Christian does not mean hating or belittling the non-Christians. Being a Muslim does not mean hating or belittling the non-Muslims. Being an Atheist does not mean hating or belittling the religious people. In a civilized society, diversity in religious orientation should be the reason for celebration, not the cause for hatred and differentiation. Some people like baseball, some soccer and some others like no sports at all. Their psychological orientation with sports doesn't make them any less or more human. The same is with religious orientation. The true Kingdom of God is within you, and it is defined by your behavior with other people, regardless of their religious affiliation. You are the God of your life, and your divinity lies in your actions. And once you realize this, it will dawn on you that, all religions are mere external echoes of humankind's internal divinity. Remember, divinity is goodness, and goodness is godliness. There is nothing higher than this. There is no greater religion than this.
Further Reading
In Search of Divinity: Journey to The Kingdom of Conscience
The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance
A religious individual may most gloriously carry out his or her own rituals, as a part of his or her cultural identity, but the moment, that person starts to build a wall of separation between the self and the rest of humanity, coaxed by the textual commands of a scripture, the healthy religiousness turns into dangerous fundamentalism, which is a threat to both the self and the society. That is why, I am a relative of both the religious and the atheist portions of the society, but the brightest nightmare to the fundamentalists. Fundamentalism has nothing to do with modern civilization. And indeed, it has nothing to do with religion. And if it does fester in any corner of the world, it is the responsibility of the conscientious people of that society to rise against such barbarianism and uproot it before it grabs onto the psyche of a broader audience.
Religious fundamentalism advocates homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, polygamy and many other primitive evils. Can you imagine, somebody telling you, your love for your dearly beloved is a sin! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, women are inferior to men, and are meant only serve the men! Can you imagine, somebody telling you, a man can have multiple wives, and yet be deemed civilized! Here that somebody is a fundamentalist - a theoretical pest from the stone-age, who somehow managed to survive even amidst all the rise of reasoning and intellect. Such a creature with no modern mental faculty whatsoever, knows nothing beyond the words of a book, written hundreds or thousands of years ago, when ignorance was the default mode of thinking in the society. It does not only believe every single word of a book to be literally true, but puts all its efforts to convince others to believe the same. This way, it would be an understatement to say, such is a worthless creature. In reality, such a creature can cause a catastrophic contagion in a society, especially if that society is already going through socio-political turmoil. In a society, where people most progressively practice rational thinking, no fundamentalist pest can infect their psyche. But if the people are already boiling with rage, then such minds are more vulnerable to fundamentalist contagion. Thus emerge Jihadis or Holy Warriors. Here let me quote from my book "The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance", to show you, what goes on inside the brain of a holy warrior.
“Inside a jihadi brain, the neuropsychological elements of aggression and rage run rampant, due to socio-political conditions. These overwhelming mental elements of young souls, when attached to the sacred texts of the Quran, by the authoritarian groups of fundamentalists, become weapons of mass destruction in the pursuit of the exclusive supremacy of one religion over the others.”
To get rid of religious terrorism, it is not enough to kill a bunch of Jihadis, even though it may be morally justified to do so, for saving humanity from their wrath. Jihad or Holy war would keep festering one way or another, until religious fundamentalism is eradicated from the human society. Until the whole humanity learns to scrutinize its most revered scriptures with the sharp tool of reasoning, Jihad will keep on striking over the world. If one does not have the basic conscientious capacity to refute the primitive textual verses of the scriptures that demand one to kill or torture another being for holding a different belief system than one's own, then that entity is no being of the civilized human society. No Quran, no Bible, no Gita, no Cow, is greater than the human self. There shall be hope for harmony and peace in the world, only when fundamentalism is destroyed forever. Harmony is not a luxury, it is an existential necessity of the species. And to achieve it, if a hundred Bibles have to be sacrificed, then be it. But for no Bible, Quran or Gita, can harmony be compromised.
The point is, being a Christian does not mean hating or belittling the non-Christians. Being a Muslim does not mean hating or belittling the non-Muslims. Being an Atheist does not mean hating or belittling the religious people. In a civilized society, diversity in religious orientation should be the reason for celebration, not the cause for hatred and differentiation. Some people like baseball, some soccer and some others like no sports at all. Their psychological orientation with sports doesn't make them any less or more human. The same is with religious orientation. The true Kingdom of God is within you, and it is defined by your behavior with other people, regardless of their religious affiliation. You are the God of your life, and your divinity lies in your actions. And once you realize this, it will dawn on you that, all religions are mere external echoes of humankind's internal divinity. Remember, divinity is goodness, and goodness is godliness. There is nothing higher than this. There is no greater religion than this.
Further Reading
In Search of Divinity: Journey to The Kingdom of Conscience
The Islamophobic Civilization: Voyage of Acceptance
