Category: Individual
The young people’s search for optimism and for hope
Even personal problems, if constantly ruminated on, can drown any person’s enthusiasm. The young people of our day have the chance to leverage historically unparalleled resources and make a real difference.
About creating art by going outside of contemplating the process
Creating anything is art. It is an act of art that goes through a process. Whether one is consciously and methodically following a method like Sherlock Holmes, the detective, or spontaneously giving rise to art, creating is a process. Creation lies in moving beyond the stage when one is about creating; one, then, moves outside…
An eye for potential vindicated through actions
The ability to perceive, and to look deeper than mere appearances is a truly wonderful gift. Deeper insight is in the very constitution of some from birth. For others, it can at best be a gained skill. While for the former it comes effortlessly and naturally, for the latter it comes as a labored, deliberate…
Discovering optimistic individuals and their contribution to our world
In this interconnected modern world, there are possibilities like never before. The possibility of discovering optimistic individuals who can contribute positively to our world is definitely there. It is with optimism for such a possibility that enormous efforts have been made. From a local level to the global, this possibility drives so much human communication.…
John Steinbeck about understanding people
John Steinbeck is a great writer, as the Nobel committee seemed to have suggested. He answered the recognition in his own way. It is a pleasure even reading his quotes. As he says, understanding other people – that would seem rather obvious to be the cornerstone of communal living, of individuals co-existing in society. While…
Creators’ Lives: The Need to Turn and Change
To the many creators among us, David J Rogers has these words of encouragement, coming from his experience and observation. He wants to encourage realization coming from within the creator’s mind itself. This ought to be recognized, and commended. I’ve met many quietly magnificently gifted people who frustrate me and whom I’ve felt like shaking…
Solitude to sustain and nourish “The self”
The self is one of the earliest realities a person becomes aware of. Right from the time a child is born, he becomes aware of his own self. He senses and responds to his environment. He feels hunger, pain, and also the pleasurable sensations of being held and fed. In all of this, the child…
The continued need for writing
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”— Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the…
Realization and changes
There is a lot in life that depends upon realization. We have the information before us a lot of the times. The judgments as to whether that information is correct or not are important but remain secondary. The more important factor is to move from interacting with the information and move on to the point…
Assumptions regarding the maturity of the self
Maturity isn’t a quality of only the mind. The simplicity of this understanding can have a transformative effect on an individual. It need not have any such effects on society. It might even be childish in itself to consider those ideas that can bind societies and lift them up. There have always been individuals in…
When attention is sustained, a small change can hold the potential for a major shift
Could it rightly be said that small things can hold the potential for a major shift? It is possible that you already understand the possibilities. It is possible, you have seen by way of observation, or experienced in your life when such a thing happens. A very simple, innocuous-seeming conversation, reading a passage in a…
Identity and self-expression; with some ideas from David Hume and Swami Vivekananda
The act of writing, as one does in one’s own journal or a personal diary, brings a person into a unique state of mind. It is the same state of mind as one has when one is talking to himself. These peculiar practices of writing to build a self-record and the talking to oneself are…
The experience of engaging with people – how a change in views is a fundamental need and also beneficial?
There isn’t a greater art and more of it needed at this time than of engaging with people. Engaging with people should be considered the end of all philosophy, systems of belief, or even the systems of society. When a person engages in thinking out solutions to issues or attempts to foresee the end of…
Peace is the slowing down of contradictions
It has been observed in recent times, how the more we discuss matters the more we move away from peace. This cannot possibly be created by any one person or group of persons. The masses of millions of people who take out a portion from their own time to engage in arguments and debates have…
When the creative meet the unrewarding world of social networking – a basis from Bertrand Russell
A [creative] boy will toil up hill with a toboggan for the sake of the few brief moments of bliss during the descent; no one has to urge him to be industrious, and however he may puff and pant he is still happy. But if instead of the immediate reward you promised him an old-age pension at…
The culture of self in societies that appear connected
A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It’s about feeling connected and responsible for what happens. Humanity is our ultimate community, and everyone plays a crucial role. ~ Yehuda Berg It is a particular trait among thinkers and of their thinking to…
How the diagnosis of bipolar disorder keeps a person psychologically trapped?
If you have had even a minimal contact with books on psychology and psychiatry, it is impossible that you have not heard of bipolar disorder. It was previously known by a more sinister name, manic-depressive illness. The words, bipolar disorder, evoke a vivid imagery; manic-depressive illness is even more evocative! The idea of a person…
The Guardian’s Cambridge Analytica & Facebook data story
The algorithm used in the Facebook data breach trawled through personal data for information on sexual orientation, race, gender – and even intelligence and childhood trauma Source: How Cambridge Analytica turned Facebook ‘likes’ into a lucrative political tool | Technology | The Guardian Public data has become a means of dispassionately looking at humanity for…
Why mentors and teachers are especially needed to counter extremism?
Mentors and teachers are a special gift to human society. These cannot simply be understood to be professions or titles, or some kind of a degree that is earned from an institution. Rather, these are linked to the personal qualities and concerns of the individual. Even more so, it is connected with how a person…
Finding belief in moderateness in the nuclear age
Nuclear technology is not bad in itself. We have understood the sun and the stars, and in a way, have harnessed the same power to a lesser extent. We have controlled fission, and are yet to understand ways to control fusion for peaceful purposes. The insistence on using solar energy to fulfill the requirements for electricity…
How compulsion and desperation are driving the conversation toward extremes
A conversation has the power to liberate a human being. It has the power to set free the mind from bondage. Even one exchange of ideas is able to give a new direction to the thinking of a person, or the chance of realization. Why would anyone want to do so? The real reason has…
Curiosity and a spirit of adventure for those who seek answers, not absolute certainty
While it is very desirable to be able to come to a point of certainty, it is not always possible. The rules we set, the goals we pursue, the desires we cherish could be examples of stable reasons for actions. However, these too can change with time. What appeared to be certain yesterday can appear…
How does a movie differ from real life? And why does present life seem like a movie?
Art follows life, or does life follow art? This question seems nowhere more relevant than in the case of movies. Movies are the depiction of life. The characters in some cases are so relatable, that people have seen themselves on the movie screen. They learn lessons, find out their own mistakes, and understand more about…
Man-made labels for social convenience and simplification
It is amazing to consider, that a human being would willingly accept a label to define his entire existence. There are many labels in existence. People label themselves based on education, profession, family, country, or religion. With an expanding knowledge, each of those labels proves insufficient and incomprehensive. So, in order to identify oneself, an…
Self-worth is not for society to determine
Even the strongest person cannot face an endless challenge. There are some challenges that are imposed upon a person. These can be due to health or family, for instance. On the other hand, there are challenges that are accepted by a person due to the way society is made up. These challenges are also imposed upon…
How attitude towards information affects individuals?
The individual is the focus of global changes. It seems so very easy to take for granted what mankind has achieved. We have achieved the possibility of limitless information. We have achieved the possibility of international communication. This is extremely specific to an individual, yet comprehensive for entire societies. The thought is overwhelming. Among billions…
How is hope the basis of a social movement?
So, really, it is not just the changing objectives but hope that is keeping the ideology of a movement in continuation. If there is a hope worthy of maintaining, the social movement will find regenerative power.
The book of human existence
There is the impossible task of asking society to offer solutions to problems that society itself has produced, tolerated, or silently witnessed for so long. When such a task is undertaken, there is the danger of quickly losing balance in any line of reasoning or with any argument. As soon as a statement can be…
Are your beliefs a response to external information?
Beliefs are one of the most fascinating, and some would say, the most significant component of the ideas that a human being holds. It wouldn’t be wrong to say, there is always some emotional connection to any idea that forms a part of the beliefs of any human being. When a wife believes her husband…
