Friday, May 31, 2013
more clues that prove evolution
in the NYtimes: Mountain Populations Offer Clues to Human Evolution.
In 2010, Dr. Nielsen and his colleagues found variants of certain genes that were much more common in Tibetans than in the Han, the major ethnic group in China, who have lived for thousands of years at lower altitudes. By a wide margin, the winner was a gene called EPAS1. People with different variants turned out to have different levels of hemoglobin, suggesting that the gene was important to adapting to life at high altitudes. Recently, Dr. Nielsen and another group of colleagues published a study on people who live in the highlands of Ethiopia. They found no evidence that EPAS1 had evolved there as it did in Tibet. Instead, a different gene, BHLHE41, appeared to have experienced natural selection.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Psych, a soft science
as we discussed in class, Psych is not a hard science.
The alarmed critics of the Ritalin disaster are now getting support from an entirely different side. The German weekly Der Spiegel quoted in its cover story on 2 February 2012 the US American psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg, born in 1922 as the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, who was the “scientific father of ADHD” and who said at the age of 87, seven months before his death in his last interview: “ADHD is a prime example of a fictitious disease”
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Dharma and Yajna
On Tuesday, (in passing), we touched upon the idea of dharma: Doing what must be done (not meaning acting like an automaton, which would be an example of "inaction"). One can think of dharma the way Epictetus defines as arete "doing the best I can at all times."
Some confuse dharma with anomie or passivity (expecting whatever comes). That's wrong. Dharma means pursuing our duty diligently, intensely. Which duty? The milieu we've inherited (family, commitments, our genes, etc).
One can see "doing" as sacrifice (yajna), that is, turning upside-down all received notions of economic exchange. We touched upon this idea in our Tuesday class when we discussed ascetism as a possible manifestation of self-control.
Yajna is a form of sovereignty. The old existentialist metaphor of devenir.
Why? In a way, we’re born again every time we choose ourselves. Self-rule is a sign of inner development. The idea of detaching oneself from the fruits of one’s action may seem a bit counterintuitive, particularly in the West.
Could I run a race and “win” it for its own sake? The received notion of victory is defined as he or she who gets to finish line first. Yet, Krishna admits that one can win no matter the outcome. This -according to the Gita- is true action. Surely it’s difficult. It takes discipline (techne). In our post-Capitalist epoch we’re often caught up in a means-to-ends cycle. Yet, with discipline, this idea of detachment is achievable.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Physics is the true genesis
Today I made this point in class: "physics is the true Genesis." Take a look at these interesting videos by NOVA featuring physicist Brian Greene, professor of Columbia University. They examine important topics of physics:
Quantum mechanics, with renowned professors from MIT, Stanford, Harvard, etc.
The Illusion of Time, a most see.
What is space?
Universe or multiverse? Which begins with a discussion of inflation.
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Keep in mind that our observable universe is very large, having a diameter of roughly 40 billion light years, and encompassing hundreds of billions of galaxies, each of which may contain billions of stars.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Gandhi's paralogical logic of ahimsa (a selection)
1- Ahimsa means a steady progress with discipline.
2- The power of the satyagrahi is greater than if he were violent.
3- There is no defeat in a-himsa.
4- In a-himsa the bravery consists in taking the brunt, not in killing.
5- The satyagrahi should never have any hatred toward his opponent... must be prepared to suffer until the end.
6- ...truth never jimsa a cause that is just.
7- A satyagrahi is never vindictive. He believes not in destruction but in conversion.
8- A-himsa presupposes the ability to strike.
9- ...injustice must be resisted. A-himsa is better, but where is does not come naturally jimsa is both necessary and honorable.
10- So long as one retains one's sword, one has not attain complete fearlessness.
11- A-himsa is impossible without self-purification.
12- A weak man is just by accident. A strong satyagrahi is unjust by accident.
13- A satyagrahi is dead to his body even before his enemy attempts to kill him, i.e. he is free from attachment to his body and only lives in the victory of his soul.
14- A non-violent revolution is not a program for a seizure of power, it's a program of transformation of relationships ending in a peaceful transfer of power.
15- No man has been able to describe God fully. The same goes for ahimsa.
16- Man as animal is violent but as spirit is non-violent. The moment he awakes to the spirit he cannot be violent.
17- It's better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts than to put the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. Violence is any day preferable to impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent. (impotent = no reaction)
18- If we remain non-violent, hatred will die, as everything does, from disuse.
19- Ahimsa cannot be preached. It needs to be practiced.
20- Ahimsa succeeds only if one has faith.
21- Ahimsa is the supreme law.
22- Ahimsa is the only true force in life.
23- If one has pride & egoism there is no ahimsa. Ahimsa is impossible without self-control.
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All excerpts taken from Ghandi on Non-Violence, New Directions Paper book (New York, 1965)
