The Future is not a place where I'd like to live in

Many a times, I become paranoid when I think about the future of humanity. A few of the reasons are

a.) Reckless consumption of Energy
Today, our lives are extremely energy intensive and it is highly unlikely that we will be able to sustain this for thirty years from now. Our lives are totally dependent on the availability of oil for transportation. No food item that I consume is grown withing a radius of 20Km from my house. Living in a city, this is to be expected. But what happens when the world runs out of oil? Even the politicians agree that it likely to happen in the next 50 years. Many experts say, we will start feeling the pinch in another 20. How will the worlds cities survive then? Ho will I get food to eat? The idea that 'scientists will do something' seems too naive and panglossian.

b.) Heavy duty screwing of nature
Today, we humans, screw up the earth like never before. We consume resources like hell. We pollute every possible natural resource in every conceiveable fashion like there is no tomorrow. All our rivers are polluted. Fertile land is contaminated with chemicals. Ozone layer is getting punctured more and more. And the list is endless. We consider ourselves to be the masters of nature whilst we are nothing but a spec in this vast expanse. Cant even imagine what would happen in India when the Ganges becomes a seasonal river.

c.) Wars
We humans have somehow lost the gene that prevents a species from killing its own kind. India and Pakistan trying to destroy each other. Israel and Palestine form another great pair. No need to talk about US and Iran/North Korea. Such rivalries in history have invariably lead to great blood shed. History repeats itself and only fools will ignore it. So, the next major war could just be around the corner. The only difference between the previous wars in history and the current scenario is that one wrong decision by some stupid politician sitting somewhere in the globe, could easily mean total annihilation.

d.) Exploitation
We exploit others to the extent that we have totally become blind to the atrocities that are committed every day in front of our very eyes. Poverty, illiteracy, child mortality are all mere words and statistics without any feelings and emotions. The more a section is exploited, the more violent will their upheaval be. Millions in India and in other third world countries are deprived of basic sanitation, potable water, primary health care etc... How long can this exploitation continue?

Thinking of these makes me paranoid. There is a major catastrophe awaiting us humans in the coming years. With great power, comes great responsibility. Nature gave humans great power, but we have failed miserably in excercising that power. I dont feel very comfortable thinking of all these. The future of human kind appears extremely bleak and it certainly does not appear to be a place where I'd like to live in.

Enna Tag pannitaanga pa
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I am Thinking

• Why should people endlessly haggle for a few rupees with people who are far far economically down troden than them

I said...

• I dont want to say anything

I want to...

• Become an expert in Tamil and Sanskrit
• Possess a mind that is as patient and tolerant as nature

I wonder

• If extra-terrestrial intelligence is on earth and they dont think that we are living beings like we think that water and air are non-living

I need

• I need the mind to make me say I dont need anything

I regret

• That there are people in this world who think they can reach god / be happy by killing other life forms

I dance

• When I am jobless
  

I sing

• When I am jobless

I cry

• When I think about the future of mankind and find that it is absolutely hopeless

I write

• Bullshit

I know

• Nothing that god wanted humans to know

I am

• Tat Tvam Asi :D

On the side of reason
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Many a times, you are asked this question - 'Which side do you belong to?'. May be not explicitly, but definitely implicitly. May be not by your peers but definitely your mind does it. The range of topics on which you have to take sides is bewildering. Never mind if your football knowledge is only as good as that of my moms', you need to take sides when it comes to whether Rooneys sending off is correct or not. Never mind if you you are no expert in higher education management and politics, you need to take sides on the reservation issue. Never mind if you are no Sun Tzu in war strategies, you need to take sides in the war against terror.

This taking sides thing, is more of an internal urge than peer pressure. Peer pressure can always be shrugged off but this internal urge to judge and take sides is not so easy to shrug off. I guess, it is a basic human instinct to judge and take sides. Atleast, to enable one to debate about it with peers. Obviously, judging a situation is absolutely necessary but the way we take sides this days and argue about it leaves a lot to be desired.

Most often than not, a debate is a contest to decide who is better at gabbing. People seldom argue on the strength of their convictions. Instead, they argue on the strength on their abilities to keep gabbing. Of course there are glorious exceptions, but exceptions are not examples. So, such debates rapidly degenerate into a contest of one upmanship and it starts resembling a court room where the aim is to proove that the other person is wrong and not to proove that you are right. I've seen this sometimes even with some of my best friends whom I consider to be amongst the best debaters and who make a conscious attempt to argue on the strength of their convictions. With the not so talented debaters, their debating will degenerate further from that of a court room to that of the parliament where it doesnt matter whether the other party is listening or not, you simply shout whatever you want to. This leads us nowhere. Such a debate is an absolute waste of time.

THE AIM OF AN ARGUMENT SHOULD BE PROGRESS. Only then, is there any point in arguing about something. There is absolutely no non-trivial issue where one side is 100% correct and the other side is 100% wrong. So, if we argue on the strength of our conviction and with ovreall progress in mind, our eyes will open to new perspectives that we have not thought about. This will eventually lead the arguing parties to understand why the other person is saying what he is saying. This will undoubtedly result in progress. If this happens, people will agree to some extent that there can be no generalized solution possible for most non-trivial issues. As a result of this, people will take a holistic look at any situation, think about pros and cons from all perspectives and take a decision on a case by case basis. It might not be practically feasible to take a decision on a case by case basis in some situations. Even in such cases, thinking from all perspectives will definitely help. This will eventually lead us to being on the side of reason and will enable us to take the middle path. Instead, if we were to blind our eyes to the most justified arguments of the other person and simply keep repeating our points, no matter how justified, we can neither claim to be on the side of reason nor can we take the middle path. Following the middle path is absolutely vital for the just and fair handling of any situation and this virtue has been extolled by many a saint. Thirumoolar quotes the following in this magnum opus Thirumandiram

Nadunin raarkuandri gyaanamum illai - Persons other than those who follow the middle path do not possess great wisdom
Nadunin raarkunaragamum illai - Hell will never befall persons who follow the middle path
Nadunin raarnalla thevarum aavar - Persons who follow the middle path will become gods
Nadunin raarvazhi naanum ninrene - I too follow the path of people who follow the middle path

Nadunin raarsilar gyanigal aavar - Persons who follow the middle path become great sages
Nadunin raarsilar thevarum aavar - Persons who follow the middle path will become gods
Nadunin raarsilar nambanum aavar - Persons who follow the middle path will make great friends (Doubtful translation)
Nadunin raarodu naanum ninrene - I too stand alonside those who follow the middle path

(DISCLAIMER: I am no expert in tamil and these translations might be wrong from an academic perspective but the spirit of the verses in Tamil have been captured correctly in the translation to the best of my knowledge)

Lets consider the debate on reservation as a small example.

a1.) Says the anti-reservationist... Why should ones birth tilt the odds in favour or against a person? Why should I be denied a chance to study in a college I want to even when I have more brains that the one who actually gets the seat?
a2.) Says the pro-reservationist... Why is it that the majority of the top posts in India are occupied only by the upper caste people? Why is that you dont find any upper caste people cleaning sewages and sweeping the streets? The odds are terribly in favour of the upper caste and reservation only slightly corrects it.

b1.) Says the anti-reservationist... We have been having reservation for the past 50 years and if there is no significant improvement in the status of the so called lower castes, what is the proof that it will improve the situation now?
b2.) Says the pro-reservationist... Yes, it has improved to some extent. The only reason why you see many SC/ST IAS/IPS officers these days is due to the helping hand of reservation.

c1.) Says the anti-reservationist... But what happens to merit? Why should an intelligent boy suffer for no reason of his?
c2.) Says the pro-reservationist... What makes you think people from lower castes are less intelligent? It is precisely this opinion of people like you that has resulted in the social ostracization of huge sections of the society.

d1.) Says the anti-reservationist... Look at the western nations. They too have inequalities. They tackle it at the level of the primary education. Dont get belied by the statements of these politicians. They are not trying to help you be reserving seats for you. They are simply trying to divide and rule.
d2.) Says the pro-reservationist... No. Though the politicans are in general bastards, this is the only time in the history of India where they are trying to do the correct thing. Dont even dare to belie this.

and the debate continues with no end in sight. Each one simply rephrases the same point in different words and keeps on shouting without actually trying to make sense of what the other person says. This will only lead to total chaos and absolutely no progress will be possible.

Another great problem with arguing is that of context. When a person A says something, there is a HUGE amount of unstated contextual information behind this. Unless one really makes a sincere effort to understand that, we can never get, forget the exact meaning, even the approximate meaning of what was said. If we do not get a clear understanding of what the other person says then there is absolutely no point in replying to him. Its like two people A and B arguing where the only language A knows is Sanskrit and the only language B knows is Latin. There is absolutely no point in continuing with such an excercise. In the debates that I have seen so far, I've almost never found a case where two debaters genuinely try to understand each others context. So, to make alteast some progress in any non-trivial argument, the two guys involved in it should be prepared for the long haul. They need to argue patiently, genuinely and with progress in mind. If this happens, the two guys concerned can understand each others' concerns and will be able to decide the right path towards progress.

I've personally NEVER been a great debater myself. Main reasons would be the lack of sufficient fluency in spoken english, inability to keep gabbing at will and an inconscious mind that always tries to take the middle path. So, when I argue, if my opponent says a valid point in his support and if it is something that I have not thought about, I go back to my drawing table to think again about my ideas and thoughts. As a result, Ill stop talking and that kills the debate. I've been doing this unconsciously for a long time and have started to do this consciously off late, even at the risk of being projected as indecisive. I do believe that taking the middle path in this fashion, even at the risk of being labelled indecisive, is always the right thing to do and hope against hope that atleast a few amongst the powers that be also think along similar lines. Also, can we, the general public, ingrain this ability of taking the middle path into our daily activities. If atleast a small minority succeed in doing it, the quality of our society will increase manifold.