Monthly Archives: May, 2010
A thoughtful American: “Western Culture has initiated and is leading a global assault on the biosphere.”
I do empathize with this feeling, shared by many people all over the world. However, I think we should not equate Western culture with just one aspect of Western/global civilization. Yes, modern science first emerged in Western Christian Europe. And from it grew a civilization rooted in modern technology which has given rise to serious …
America: Global Science Educator
News item: “A bill has now been introduced in the House of Representatives, co-sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican that wants to provide grants for scientific research to universities, businesses, and institutes in the Muslim world.” Another well-meaning and misguided gesture: like spreading democracy, averting communism, and educating the world about American values. It …
The Facebook Fracas
On the offensive cartoon day So humanity has come down to this level: we are engaging in insulting internet exchanges on what millions regard as sacred. To taunt and deprecate the religious symbols of others is as vile an offense as to terrorize those who think differently about God and Holy Books. As one who …
News: ” Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell.”
The big, very big news from Science (both the journal and the enterprise) is that a large genome has been synthesized in the lab, using a computer. First a DNA was synthesized, and then it was transplanted into a host cell. I am reminded of a very similar achievement more than 180 years who: Friedrich …
Does a fine-tuned universe prove the existence of God?
God has existed in the hearts and minds of human beings in a variety of forms and modes since time immemorial. His/Her existence has also be rejected as fantasy and concoction by many minds, ancient and modern. To a handful of people the existence of God has been/has to be “proved,” preferably through the results …
On Lorne Ladner’s “The Lost Art of Compassion: Discovering the Practice of Happiness in the Meeting of Buddhism and Psychology.”
Lorne Ladner, Ph.D., The Lost Art of Compassion: Discovering the Practice of Happiness in the Meeting of Buddhism and Psychology, 2004. Harper San Francisco, U.S.$ 15.95. We live in an extraordinary age of wonderful scientific breakthroughs and marvelous technological achievements. Possibilities for cure of pernicious diseases and for health and longevity keep increasing. But ours …
Variety in Religion
5.IIb SPECIFIC RELIGIONS 1. The Judaic faith has this to say: They’re true to God who His laws obey! 2. The message of Christ is short indeed: Be kind and helpful to those in need. 3. They call themselves devout Jains Whose faith feels for all creatures’ pains. 4. The Buddha’s wisdom may be seen …
Athropocentrism
Paul Davies: “By general agreement, mathematics is the common language of the universe. “Eleven is a prime number” is just as true for the proverbial little green men as it is for humans. The laws of physics are universal, and any alien able to communicate by radio, for example, would be conversant with those laws. …
On miracles
A friend asked, “What about the miracle of birth?” I would say: And growth and death? And the wings of butterflies and the trunks of elephants? My friend, I am sure you will agree that if we use the word miracle to describe the birth of a baby – which, for sure is a wondrous …
Rhymed Reflections
On couplets: Couplets are a common form of poetry. Always in two lines, they are also governed by the usual rules of prosody. I was first attracted to couplets as a teen upon reading Tirukkural: an amazing collection of two lined wisdom that adorns Tamil literature. Later in life I came to know about the …
