Tag: Society
The Architects of Civilization: How Creators and Manufacturers Drive Progress
The Role of Creators in Civilization Throughout history, creators—encompassing artists, inventors, and philosophers—have been fundamental in shaping the trajectory of civilization. Their contributions have not only redefined cultural paradigms but have also driven intellectual progress and innovation. By leveraging imagination, creators have often paved the way for significant societal changes, introducing new ideas and practices…
Does having knowledge of evil cause a person to commit evil?
One thing, though, is the repeated attempt toward good and the desire for such. Yes, one does think of finally having arrived at a place, to a state of solution from which evil no longer rises. Philosophers have wanted that; religious texts speak of it. Both of these in the ideas of Utopia, of Paradise,…
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.
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…
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…
Keeping some confidence in other human beings
It is difficult to communicate with others if you do not have any confidence in them. One of the things that make being a human special is the ability to communicate. It is the ability to put thoughts into words that make us unique. It is also, thus, reasonable to conclude that we alone are…
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…
Remembering what my father said about belief
I remember my father as a wise man. He acquired a wisdom that comes from doing work with his own hands, tinkering with any machine for hours and finding a fix when many others would simply give up. And he had the gift of interacting with people face-to-face with an uncommon familiarity. I don’t know…
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…
Bipolar disorder – the inner conflicts arising from trying to reconcile the Old and New Testament writings
Bipolar disorder has become the accepted name given to the manifest inner conflicts of disturbed individuals. While there are questions and concerns over the diagnosis of bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) itself, there are special considerations that arise as a person’s beliefs are considered. The source of those beliefs also invariably comes into question. Aside from…
How to compete without being enemies?
It seems the most common of tendencies, and almost instinctive for us to compare ourselves with another. We are competing in appearances, in words, in wealth, education, nation, or some other reason that human society has developed to put a division in the family. Our comparisons produce envy and jealousy, but also the aspiring to…
Does social networking encourage jumping to conclusions?
What is Jumping to conclusions? Jumping to conclusions (officially the jumping conclusion bias, often abbreviated as JTC, and also referred to as the inference-observation confusion[1]) is a psychological term referring to a communication obstacle where one “judge[s] or decide[s] something without having all the facts; to reach unwarranted conclusions”.[2][3] In other words, “when I fail to distinguish between what I…
What is one to do when confronted by stories of evil?
I understand that so many of us would like to find a place of security and comfort, away from all the evil done in our world today. And who are the doers of great evil? Not the wild animals or some predatory birds; it is the people who live right among us, people who look and…
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…
The conflicts and infighting of humans will end
To look upon the conflicts of mankind is an experience of great dismay. Yes, there are those who have firmly come to the conclusion that to be in a state of perpetual conflict and infighting is human destiny. For we seem to have evolved from the lower state of existence through our struggles, developed into…
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…
The exclusive focus on physical things will create an imbalance
There has been a noticeable insistence on physical things in recent times. It has been very deliberate, systematic, and evident of great intelligence. Who are its proponents is not the most important thing. One could, of course, examine the sayings of modern, atheist thinkers like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins. Listening to such intelligent men…
Why is moderation the answer to extremism? (A principle for peace.)
To be moderate in thought is the way to peace. Even in the great accomplishment of lasting worth, we seek moderation to be the desired state of human existence. In one of the posts some time back, some thought was put into considering the growth of extremism and the possibility of some remedy. Extremism is…
Why our predictions must move away from utter doom to continuity?
The idea of terminal decline is pulling the power of prediction like a black hole pulls light into it. This phenomenon is not new. It has happened again and again throughout history. It has also had its reasons. It is sufficient to say that people desire achievement and progress. However, when the price, the sacrifices,…
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…
What kind of conversations can truly produce change in society?
Conversations are the most powerful tool to bring change in society. In a civil society, it is the only acceptable tool. It is true, we have to make an assumption about a society being civil in the first place. Aside from a limited personal experience and association, a very cursory reflection on the whole of…
It’s okay to be superstitious right now
Why would anyone knowingly want to be superstitious! There is enough trouble in life without being such. Yes, it is not wrong to reach this conclusion. However, when you look at the lack of reason in human society, it does give one cause for wonder. One wonders specifically in this way: We have today, a…
The value of having a fluid mind to interact with a diversity of people
Is peace a valid goal to have? In the short term, it may not seem so. In the long term, it is one of the ultimate desires. The end of a war, the start of a conversation – it will all make sense if there is peace at the end of it. If peace is…
Why is it that so much conversation fails to produce change in society?
Conversation is so uniquely human. Even in the stories we write, one of the fascinating capabilities a writer can give to his imagined beast is to talk like humans. A bird, a dragon, a serpent, or some other ferocious beast takes on a new life as soon as it talks like humans do. From there,…
