tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post2755873214811739832..comments2024-03-25T14:25:25.102+00:00Comments on Poetry as Socio-proctology: Is Sanjeev Sanyal stupider than Amartya Sen?windwheelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-42866650616352751112016-06-26T13:42:43.261+01:002016-06-26T13:42:43.261+01:00Our religion celebrates our reciprocal 'vatsal...Our religion celebrates our reciprocal 'vatsalya' even with the Creator of all!<br /><br />In Surdas's bhajan, Lord Krishna tried to feed his own baby reflection in the mirror! Becoming a father, I saw my own baby son to whom I was feeding grapes would put his little hand to try to feed me grapes- though I only consume that item once it is properly turned into wine. <br />Still, what to do, babies are very insistent. I started eating fruit and my desire to die the death of a proper alcoholic- like Devdas- was frustrated.<br /><br />This is why the Lord is also called 'Madhusudhana'- slayer of Wine by creating willingness to eat grapes.<br /><br />May God bless you, Sir, for your question which is full of Shraddha. You may be a younger person. Remember this- horrible people aren't always as bad as they appear. <br />It is good to have some horrible people around- maybe they scare off mischief makers- anyway, babies can always tame them so Dharma will always be 'Sanaatan' even for worthless shitheads like me!windwheelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-63785739800176586662016-06-26T13:42:32.095+01:002016-06-26T13:42:32.095+01:00b) I was staying at a Jain Ashram and translating ...b) I was staying at a Jain Ashram and translating a book by one of their great Upadhyays. I was amazed by the progressive outlook and superb explanations. <br />Still, because I had 'eaten their salt', I wanted to become a Jain zealot and said 'in my place in South India, we Saivites crucified thousands of your Jain monks thus causing decline of your religion.'<br />I wish you could have been there to hear the properly reasoned answer that I received!<br /><br />Shramanic Religion can only burgeon on the basis of the aptness for renunciation of the generation. It waxes and wanes on the basis of the relevant 'aashrav'. <br />Brahmanic Religion requires great sacrifice on the part of families. Fathers have to be ruthless to sons and Mothers to daughters, so that through Poverty, Spiritual Values and pure Transmission of Scripture prevails.<br /><br />Sanaatan Dharma embraces both these paths and many others as well- including 'invaders' and 'cowards' (Ranchod) who flee the battle and emigrate to Greencard Holder pastures!<br /><br />At present, our older generation of 'intellectuals' are still in a phase of 'Ranchod'. However, now we have a genuine 'Ghanchi'- i.e. one able to extract the oil from the seed and make it available to all at an affordable price- as P.M there is no need for intellectual cowardice- i.e. lack of creativity.<br /><br />Of course, Brahmins and Shramans, properly so called, must be granted recognition irrespective of birth so that the same process can operate in every field of endeavor sans worthless Credentials created by the Ponzi scheme that is Higher Education in the soi disant 'Humanities'. <br /><br />The big problem we face in India is that we think our people are stupid and backward. They are not.<br /><br />I recall, when I came back to India with an LSE degree and 'phoren' wife (whose elder sister had married into a family close to Soniaji's) , I was offered a plum contract to write worthless shite about the 'irrational' Indian peasant and thus the need to extend our crazy, rent-seeking, system of Public procurement.<br />Like a fool, I actually went out into rural districts and talked to people. Unfortunately, despite having an Italian wife, my complexion was very black and moreover I am tall and look like I grew up drinking buffalo milk straight from the teat. <br />Once the ordinary people knew I was 'Madrasi'- they no doubt looked down on me a little but fed me more and then, once it was clear I had a real low I.Q and was as stupid as shit, they told me the truth.<br /><br />That is the truth of 'Sanaatan Dharma'. It is that, to quote a supposed hadith 'Zallat al aa'lim, zallat al aalaam'- the darkened minds of the 'savants' darkens the spirituality of the age.<br /><br />I remember, my Dad told me not to take any Govt. money thru 'pull' because we have never done so for generations. He himself was ready to give me anything I wanted- because his belief was that it was his 'pleasure' which caused me to be. <br />I reject this view. Only God gives us our parents- not their mutual pleasure for which they have to pay all the rest of their lives. Parents should let their children look after them because Brahma Sutra 3.3.37 says there is reciprocity even between the Divine and the Devotee!<br />Anyway, by God's grace, I did not disgrace my ancestors by taking Govt. money for a fell purpose.<br />However, it was only due to intervention of my father who loved me very much and was 'non judgmental'.<br />Mum, who didn't know Economics, would have been happy that I was working for Planning Commission and getting paid a lot more than my sister, newly inducted into IFS. But, writing worthless shite which shows that ordinary Indians are less human and rational than fucking amoebae is NOT PART OF SANAATAN DHARMA.<br /><br />windwheelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-14839993854085465622016-06-26T13:41:19.383+01:002016-06-26T13:41:19.383+01:00Dear Sir, your question shows shraddha and this al...<br />Dear Sir, your question shows shraddha and this alone raises what you have written above anything I wrote previously or can write in reply.<br />a) there are two aspects to 'Islamic and Christian onslaught'- one is the ego-centered and the other is the 'Atma-motivated'. The ego-centered 'Missionary' or 'Tablighi' counts success by boasting of thousands or millions converted. However, because this 'ego' is 'Mosha Dharma' (prehension not comprehension) and delusive to the votary, the Lord- who takes all forms to succor his diverse creatures- it becomes sublated such that the core of Sanatan Dharma enters all those thus engaged who are not hypocritical or mercenary simply. <br />No doubt, Economically, Socially, Politically, the Dharmic people suffered and are suffering onslaughts because material conditions breed a type of materialistic cunning which disguises itself as concern for the 'bhahiskrit'- however, if you ever have misfortune to become ill or lose your social standing, then you will find out for yourself that this is all just hypocrisy and hot air!<br />I'm from South India- look at Fr. Raimundo Pannikar. You may be from Bengal- look at, Vivekandanda's colleague, Fr. Brahmabhandav Upadhyay. Maybe you are a fair skinned Garwhali- in that case I would mention Samuel Stokes, Himachal's Johhny Appleseed- though I must admit, he- being American- converted to Hinduism though he had come as a Missionary. He was from a top family in the U.S. He married an Indian Christian lady but joined Freedom Struggle, went to Jail etc.<br />As far as Islam goes- there are ten thousand such examples from every District or even village in, leave aside India, even PAKISTAN- and that tradition remained vibrant even though Zia tried to uproot it. <br /><br />Boss, I am a horrible person. Parents prayed for me and by God's Grace I have rejected such views as will destroy Humanity utterly. Still, I can never forget that Muslim Pakistanis put me on the path. Why? How? They also needed our support. Since I can read Sanskrit they would ask me 'our Pir said such and such' please could you verify. In other words, the Supreme Lord, to whom they were devoted was using them to help me and vice versa. <br />That is what makes Sanaatan Dharma both Human and Immortal, propagated by the fallible and mutable yet itself infallible unmutable, etc. To appear Scientific we may speak of a 'Red Queen Race'- but that applies to the conservation of any evolved characteristic.<br />There is something more.<br />I do respect Brahmins, not because of their birth- I'm a 'Brahminbandhu' myself and heartily despise those who claim to be Brahmins while spouting anti-National, Rent-seeking, shite- but because they have selflessly preserved the pure Revelation. <br />I become humbled by them. I'm a very dark, uncultured, and thuggish looking Tamil, not wearing 'janeo' (yagynyopavita). <br />In small backward places in Bihar, the old purohits showed the true spirit of Sanataan Dharma to me.<br />This Brahmanism was the exact complement of Shramanism. Patanjali was wrong. Brahmin and Shraman are not as snake and mongoose to each other. Rather they are like Tigers and the Forest. If the Tigers are killed, the Forest will disappear.<br />My ancestors welcomed Jesuit priests into their agraharams. Did they do wrong? Were they stupid? No! Sanaatan Dharma came into Europe by means of a Tamil or Mannipravalay 'Purana' written by those Jesuits which accidentally got re-translated into French and thus affected Voltaire!<br /><br />windwheelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-73889202857466713212016-06-26T11:55:59.426+01:002016-06-26T11:55:59.426+01:00If it is indeed true that Sanatan Dharma may not b...If it is indeed true that Sanatan Dharma may not be exceptional vis a vis other world religious systems, then how is that<br />a: SD survived islamic and Christian onslaught for a 1000 years<br />b: prior to the onslaught, SD was able to empower its followers to create greatest achievements in science, philosophy literature etc etc<br />Keen to hear your thoughts sir!<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-46652562668251318092016-05-15T14:11:51.836+01:002016-05-15T14:11:51.836+01:00In Econ, 'adaptive expectations'- i.e. sit...In Econ, 'adaptive expectations'- i.e. situations where what happens in time t conditions expectations and thus behavior in time t+1- create horrendous 'cobweb' type problems- i.e. wild fluctuations and market failure. Yet in the real world, we don't see this most of the time. Why? John Muth's simple answer is that people believe in the prediction of the correct economic theory- i.e. the one which permits the economic process in question to exist.<br />A Religion is a range of solutions to a co-ordination game- i.e. one in which agents of similar type gain more by interacting with each other as opposed to with a random sample of the underlying population. At one end of the range is a 'heteronomous' (vyavaharik) version of the Religion which is based on blind observance of orthopraxy. In a shrinking economy, this strategy may be more successful and become normative. At the other end of the range is an 'autonomous' (adhyatmik) version which stresses the inner ethical life of the subject. In a growing Economy, with Knowledge effects, this grows more rapidly- particularly because the Institutions of Learning, Hospitals, etc it sets up are more successful- and thus gains salience.<br /><br />Sanyal thinks Religions are hysteresis ridden- the dead hand of the past dictates the future. If this were true, Religion could not act as a Muth Rational solution to a Co-ordination game. Now, if there is some outside coercive power- e.g. the State- which constrains agents, then it can happen that the only publicly observable signals are heteronomous- e.g. color of skin, language spoken- and in that case Sanyal's analysis may have some purchase. It so happens that some oppressed Religions- e.g. Judaism in the Polish Commonwealth, Hinduism under Muslim rule- can have this feature and experience a hypertophy of heteronomous observances. However, once the outside coercive force is removed, or once you have enough 'Exit', this hysteresis effect loses salience completely. This is not to say that orthopraxy can't be a continuing solution to a coordination game. It can and may even experience higher demographic success if it becomes parasitic on a regime which subsidizes it pro-natalism.<br />windwheelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-23073814275370112352016-05-12T13:24:22.612+01:002016-05-12T13:24:22.612+01:00Thanks for your reply.Thanks for your reply.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-52903250630511912572016-05-12T11:31:46.646+01:002016-05-12T11:31:46.646+01:00If New Atheism is not empty it must be the case th...If New Atheism is not empty it must be the case that at least one Religion constrains its followers to at least one maladaptave action or strategy. However, to prove this, we would need to show that the action or strategy in question is not a 'Zahavi handicap' or 'costly signal'. Even if after we do this, we would have to prove that that a 'cheap talk' version of the action or strategy is not compatible with the Religion in question.<br />Since human actions are either 'over determined' or stochastic (because of the way we define stochastic processes) the task is impossible.<br />By contrast, essentially defeasible doxastic systems- e.g. Constitutional Law or Bio-Ethics- incorporate a principle of sufficient reason and are a fitting target for an agnostic critique. However, New Atheism won't take up this task though it actually impacts on productivity and thus the progress of Science, because this raises the bogey that Old Fashioned Religion is a bulwark against Relativism or potentially risky Intellectual hubris leading to adventurism.<br />In recent years, attention in Evolutionary theory has focused on the multiple ways in which variation is dammed up and released so as to yield a 'regret minimizing' search procedure over the relevant fitness landscape. On this view, the New Atheism is just a variety of a late Nineteenth Century Evangelical turn to Irenicism or 'inclusivim'. There was a Class angle to this. Essentially the hereditarily wealthy East Coast Boston Brahmin type thought their Economism and Scientism was a way of showing they were higher class and thus entitled to more Political and Social Power than the noveau riche Mid Westerner with his primitive Baptist Faith and declasse tastes. Thus, this approach which believes it is entitled to be the State's ideologue, is actually uncritical about State Power- precisely because it keeps focusing on abuses, not to curtail the State, but to expand it. Thus New Atheism is unconsciously committed to helping Secular Power to burgeon though there are good Information aggregation and Moral Hazard type reasons to always seek the opposite.<br />Thus people like Hayek- who started off doing a bit of genuine Scientific research- belatedly found that the primitive Red Neck Baptist, or whatever, actually served a purpose within the Polity.<br /><br />This isn't a very good reply to your question. I'll post something fuller when I get time.windwheelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-34570718821198634552016-05-11T17:46:21.299+01:002016-05-11T17:46:21.299+01:00I can concede that New Atheism is showing signs of...I can concede that New Atheism is showing signs of becoming a cult. But how does it "fail to incorporate advances in the way we think about Evolution"? Surely, evolution is a strong argument <i>against</i> religion?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-62283916232410431352016-05-11T11:58:43.901+01:002016-05-11T11:58:43.901+01:00Brilliantly done. Didn't get the bit about Mut...Brilliantly done. Didn't get the bit about Muth Rational Coordination though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-57325967256259425122016-05-10T18:25:39.831+01:002016-05-10T18:25:39.831+01:00It is old fashioned and fails to incorporate advan...It is old fashioned and fails to incorporate advances in the way we think about Evolution or analyse co-ordination games. Thus it fulfills no purpose. It is a papier mache brick hurled at a certain type of American Evangelical who actually derives a reputational rent from this sort of purely gestural attack.<br /><br /> In the case of Dawkins, it is a straight forward cult- or 'conversion marketing' platform- and as such as good or bad as any other.<br />windwheelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099651877551933295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1674709389503889160.post-30089499622132466692016-05-09T16:07:51.521+01:002016-05-09T16:07:51.521+01:00What is your opinion on the so-called 'New Ath...What is your opinion on the so-called 'New Atheism' movement?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com