A Myth in Creation

We live in Cranky times.

Hara-kiri by M. Awais Aftab Dedicated to Mayhem . To disembowel To drive oneself to the heart's last beat To cease to be! But why? Does ex-cease-tence need a reason. Madness. Mania. Desperation. Depression. Folly. Frenzy. Grief. Greed. Honor. Houri. Pain. Penance. But the Archangel of them all... Arrogance. To think, to believe Nay To know That one deserves better than this world This life That is the secret Behind that final slice of knife From left to right.

What happens when two friends go crazy... Enter the Code: You have to be amidst the chosen few to read this post

Aati: I just want it to 'be', you know? Like the sky. But people don't get that, which is why i feel i can't really tell them. Except for you. You let things 'be' in just the right way. Indifferent yet concerned. Me: Lolz. That makes me an odd friend. Aati: But you fit me perfectly! Two odds making an alright.

Children and conservatives, please do not read. This is an actual text conversation and hence ideas are presented in their raw form and would require further analysis to be refined . Me: Nude art seems to somehow "cleanse" the nudity, makes it beautiful even. Real nudity in contrast can often be "Ewww". Aati: Real nudity: Depends on who's nude. ;) Me: True. Hollywood flashy skins have distorted our perception of nudity. Aati: Hollywood and plenty of other things that seek to define nude body as a single type -- and in certain cases, including art, are tempted to hide 'imperfections'. Me: My point actually was that we are exposed to so much nudity that is glossy and beautiful, we tend to imagine that all nudity would be like that. Aati: To me, each unique 'ordinary' body is a testimony to itself, a sketch of the life it's lived. Which is fascinating. Aati: That's something often lacking in nude art, at least the nude art I've seen.

The Paradox Salad What came first? The chicken or the egg? By M. Awais Aftab Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Was it the egg that got laid first or was it the chicken [pun intended]? The question, however, was not hatched for mere a musement. It is not just a question about chickens and eggs; it is also a question about how life and universe began. Such philosophical problems are often phrased in comical paradoxes: Can Achilles overtake the tortoise in a race? Are all Cretans liars? Can the barber shave himself? As baffling as it may seem, these are the questions which the great minds of humanity have been

What are the different possible answers to the issue of relationship of perception and external world? Let's ditch all the confusing the epistemological labels, and use simply lay-man terminology. Broadly speaking, I think all the positions can be grouped as: The Common Sense View: The world as we perceive it actually exists and is more or less similar to what we perceive it to be. The Refined Common Sense View: An external world exists independent of human mind, and that external world is not the same as we perceive it to be, but what we perceive corresponds in some way to what actually exists. External World Skeptic View: An external world may exist but we can know nothing about it and we have no reason to suppose that external reality corresponds in any way with our perceptions. World as an Illusion View: This refers to all the various possible scenarios like my brain is placed in a vat and connected by wires to a computer which sends my brains the same impulses which a norm

"We believe that we know something about the things themselves when we speak of trees, colors, snow, and flowers; and yet we possess nothing but metaphors for things — metaphors which correspond in no way to the original entities." Friedrich Nietzsche , On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense "We may given the name 'data' to all the things of which we are aware without inference. They include all our observed sensations - visual, auditory, tactile etc. Common sense sees reason to attribute many of our sensations to causes outside our bodies. It does not believe that the room in which it is sitting ceases to exist when it shuts its eyes or goes to sleep... In all this we may agree with common sense; but where it goes wrong is in supposing that inanimate objects resemble in their intrinsic qualities, the perceptions which they cause. To believe this is as groundless as it would be to suppose that a gramophone record resembles the music that it causes.... Suppose tha

Read this excellent article by Tom Rees on Epiphenom explaining the results of a study which indicates that people’s view of what God wants is actually a projection of their own beliefs and opinions: What you want, god wants

Love cannot be reduced rationally. Love requires a mystery, that magical feeling that makes your body and soul tick. It is its essence. Attempts at analysis can determine the components of love but can't determine the glue that holds them together, because the moment you think that you have determined that, love evaporates. Love thrives on being inexplicable. To love is to give in to mystery and magic. To love is to stop trying to define it.