Falsas Ilusiones Históricas

History essentially is the study of all events and occurrences in the passage of time. History is everlasting and can never end. It is the study of evolution, man and also sometimes even words. so it is a large mix of Etymology, Anthropology, science, even Ornithology and Orology in some areas.
Throughout the course of history there have been different beliefs in people. For example, today people believe in technology and that the government actually helps us daily.
381 years ago people believed that the way to enrichment was by the trade of tulips.
375 years ago people thought that the way enrichment was by putting all their trust on a gambler, influential, bankrupted man called John Law.
79 years ago people thought that the way to enrichment, power and fame is by depositing trust into a dictator who was a drug addict, a racist, a sadist, and surprisingly short.

We are full of delusions. We are still enslaved by political, social and cultural dogmas and traditions which we cannot change unless we try. Back in the olden times, a woman called Mother Shipton predicted the fire of London and London flooding. A couple of astrologers predicted the world to end on 21st December, 2012. People believed the best way to heal sword cuts was to take a magnet, place it in soil with seeds and the water used to clean the wounds must be used to water the seeds. Can you imagine that today?
But today we are in much more serious delusions than scimitar wounds. We trust technology a little to much. Take the coming of driverless cars controlled by programming. What is a driverless car? It is a car controlled by a computer. One can hack a computer no matter how strong the firewall is. All it takes is one ISIS tech genius to hack into the computers and soon several cars will drive off cliffs. Death Valley will seem like a Japanese cherry blossom festival form that point of view.
We believe whatever is ear candy for us. take India for example. For the last elections, so many promises were made but India has hardly shown any increase in two years. It is not easy to judge but a population of 1.3 billion only producing 50,000 crore Rupees per annum in taxes is very sad. But then again, a lot of the population does not pay tax due to minimum income requisites. But what is more annoying is that an insanely large part if the tax payers do not pay tax as well. Due to this, the Prime minister had to demonetise the currency and remove 500 and 1000 Rupee notes to irritate the black markets. But one way or the other, humans always, always, always take situations like these, make them incentives and take advantage and all measures to beat the incentive. This has worked very well and someone or the other always finds loopholes in plans. That is the reason Murphy's Law states,' In any field of endeavour, anything that can go wrong will go wrong.' also,'Nature always sides with the hidden flaws.'

I hope we can overcome this blind faith in delusions and political bureaucrats because they will be the cause of our undoing. Before believing in people, assess the situation in your own way and in you own sense. Don't count on anybody to help you in life or make you money. The world is cruel and everything is fair. The word 'honour' is found amongst thieves and pirates only, even though it seems to be ironic. Even if fifty million people tell you something, it can yet be wrong and don't expect zebras when you hear galloping.

The Multiverse of Opinion

In just a hundred years, the wisdom of fourteen centuries collapsed and new knowledge flooded into society-Ideas and wisdoms of Biology, Astronomy and Freedom. The idea of freedom is changing constantly. In 1792, the idea of freedom was ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’. In India in the early 1900s, It was the freedom to profess and preach what you desire in public with no harm on your person. In some other parts, liberty or freedom was defined as the power to move and traverse the world and the seas and to have the free power to trade with countries, much like in Marco Polo’s time. In some patches of history, freedom was, like in 2001, much against the jingoish USA Patriots Act which allowed wiretapping homes and phones, checking business records and restricting investing in certain countries. 

‘Freedom’, therefore, is very erratic- it keeps changing in ideology so one cannot easily put a statement on freedom because it is not like the words in the Oxford Dictionary which will outlast time. Sooner or later, a new definition for freedom will arise, just like today, when the civilised world’s opinion of freedom conflicts with that of terrorist organisations’. 

As seen before, history is an exemplary evidence of the ‘undefinable erratic nature’ of freedom.Throughout history, man has been transforming his beliefs into more refined and advanced ones. Man always thought that the best mode of transport was on foot, until the making of the wheel came through which then progressed into the bicycle and then into the car and now is boats, trains and airplanes. Man always thought that the best surgical equipment were his hands. This was until Sushruta’s coming in 1215, who introduced needles and scalpels. Everybody long ago though that syphilis and hepatitis were the modern equivalent of A.I.D.S, until the coming of Alexander Fleming who gave humanity the boon of penicillin. Man always used stone to hunt until the arrival of the sword and then the gun. Man always thought that freedom was the power to be a male, and was a natural quality and not something that could be brought about to change. 

Till the time of the Mughals, males were the dominant and ‘free’ ones. This concept withered quickly into the bloom of women empowerment and just like the son takes after his father, women now are taking over the world and they feel that freedom means complete independence and the equality of both sexes. Different people have a different opinion of freedom even today. A dominated country may feel that to be free means to be independent. Feminists feels that women empowerment is freedom, a youth may feel that freedom is the power to stand up and support oneself in life and a child may feel that freedom is the power to choose which video game he can buy. Just like the Indian monsoons, the perception of freedom is very erratic- it keeps changing. 

Even in India, we can see that freedom has changed itself and like a chameleon, has adopted to its clime and situations. In the Vedic period, freedom was the power to buy and sell ‘Gau’ and the power or be a ‘Rajpat’ which turned to not being called a ‘Chandal’, changing to male dominance and then was recast into free trade. It finally transited into being independent as a country on a macro level and as an individual on a micro level. 

Understanding ‘freedom’ truly is an enigma which even Alan Turing cannot solve. Freedom has had its fare share of protest and has been encumbered by several leaders. Dictatorship is the rule over a kingdom by one man for a long time. A dictator can change or order and change the constitution of a country. So has been the case for Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. These charismatic men changed all the laws of their countries and even barred basic rights. General Dyer barred the right of Indians to move around freely and form associations and killed several who did. The native Americans of the present United States were driven away from their lands and rivers to the hot western and central deserts, expropriated from their freedom. Native Maoris of New Zealand were enslaved and completely barred from any freedom when Thomas Cook arrived, until the Maoris eventually committed mutiny and killed him.

We see that freedom has been often snatched from the hands of those who are unlucky and poor and so the phrase ‘the rich get away from crime’ comes into play here. Today we see that the concept of freedom in Syria is a right to life and safety, which even though being a human right, constantly gets violated.

Freedom constantly keeps amending itself. Lack of education or the belief in common maxims and dogmas makes the majority believe that freedom basically means the freedom of thought and speech and to do whatever one wants. This is correct in one aspect but if one was to looker deeper, one would see that freedom is like a tree with several branches voicing a different aspect, perception or meaning. Several times, old ideas of freedom become redundant and just like an old branch, wilt away and fall off. In its place, newer branches sprout up which represent modern interpretations of freedom. Today, for the unfortunate several, like refugees, gypsies and vagabonds, freedom means finding a shelter and a living. To young men, it means being solvent and for women, being equal to men. 

Freedom can be large or small. Freedom for a young child could mean to be free from studies. Freedom for a fat man could mean to eat whatever he wants without society judging him. Freedom could also be seen and interpreted as being a free nation or a free race among several other examples. 

Knowledge is power. Knowledge gives man the power to understand and judge the world around him and build a better place, as famously put by Francis Bacon. This is true because knowledge is the main constituent of freedom and, synonymously, power. Knowledge gives man the power to interpret freedom to his own understanding and how he can make his life free from whatever shackles him to slavery. This was witnessed in the South African freedom struggle where patriots and revolutionary thinkers- like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Walter Sisulu- fought for their freedom. In India also we saw similar ideas when nationalists like Tilak, Gandhi and Nehru educated themselves and through education fought the rule, and often without violence.

Today we are enslaved by technology- possibly the worst type of slavery when we are entrapped by things which do not have a heart and are controlled by other men. Machines are but metal and electricity. Computers can easily be hacked and can then expose people publicly on the internet, ruining peoples’ life and living. Self driven cars can be hacked and anarchists can easily drive them into walls or off cliffs from miles away through a computer. 

We must keep a safe distance from technology. They say that people lived the same when there were no blenders or washing machines. It is true that these inventions have done wonders but has made people lazy and complacent and accept mediocrity. Nobody strives to do anything now and those who do are often jeered by the complacent ones. 

We must break the chains of the Rule Of Machines because it will be the bane for us. But whenever we attempt to do things like this, we think about the pain and struggle we will have to deal with. It is not easy but it is a good way to start. A piece of paper is worthless for the marriage of two men who love each other but is a damn good beginning. There is no freedom till we are equal. God loves all his children which we have somehow forgotten, and now blindly believe and paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago. Our genre still ignores this. ‘Gay’ is synonymous to the lesser in India. It is this same hate that has caused wars for religion, gender, skin colour and the complexion of your pigment. There are human rights for everybody and there is no difference. If you preach hate at the service, those words aren't anointed and the holy water you drink and offer has been poisoned. When everyone is comfortable remaining voiceless rather than fighting for humans who have had their rights stolen, our world is on a fast lane to decay. No laws can change people so, instead of prohibiting gay people to do anything, we should ‘break the bat’ and support them. This is a forward-taking step towards freedom rather than setting our world back a few decades and persecuting and killing millions who cannot do anything because it is in their genes.

————

Money Money Money, It's a Rich Man's World!

Have you ever thought that money and studies are not everything in life? Unfortunately, they are everything in life.
Many people say that you cannot buy happiness. To some extent this is true but with money you an buy a lot of things to help you be happy. You can buy a Lamborghini, a mansion, a casino or you could just buy a yacht. People say that the fact that you have loved one means you are happy even if you are poor. Being rich, you can buy you're loved one everything they always wanted and see the happiness in your face. Truly, this is much better than seeing your loved one's face over a burning barrel. 
Studies is everything in life and is often the precursor to richness. A lot of people say that studies is not everything but that is probably because they have the money to not care for studies or they just don't have an aim in life. To be successful you must study. You have to work hard and studying teaches you the fruits of labour. If we work hard, we will do well. If we waste away our days playing GTA V or FIFA, we won't end up anywhere. People say that extra curricular are very important but actually they only serve as ways to relax yourself. Most of the top universities care for grades. 

The reason studying is so important is because today, the number of people graduating are a lot. Every year at least a million people get an MBA and a lot more graduate. The competition has skyrocketed in the past few years and ever since the 'no child left behind' several schools have started caring a lot more for studies and the number pf children passing has quadrupled. More and more people from the asian countries are getting admitted into the top universities. More and more people are getting uneducated. Conditions have become so depressing that today, in India, taxi drivers era double an average MBA's salary. Alarm bells are sounding all across the world because everybody wants to be rich but very few become according to the survivorship bias ( see 'Why Dreaming Big Has Problems').

The only way out of this rat race is to study and make something of yourself before its too late. You will know the its too late because all your friends who told you that studying is useless in the past will drive Maseratis and you will not own a car. 

So be up and doing and don't ever listen to those who feel that studying is futile. Everything has a reason. You may not see it now but it will always play its part in your life. Everything you do has consequences and just because your friends are not studying doesn't mean that you should follow suit because if you do what everybody does, you will get similar results. do what your gut tells you because thats how leaders are born.

Dumb Ways To Die- the blog!

Are we all doomed?

The simple answer is yes. But there are several ways you could die at this moment or in the next. However there are a few ways you could die which are stupid. The game "Dumb Ways To Die" gives you many such ways but in this blog, lets discuss a few weirder ways to die.

1) Cow farts-

Yes! Cow farts can kill you. As surprising as it sounds, Farting Bos taurus ARE LETHAL. But this is in the long run and over a million or billion farts. Global warming is a problem or an "Expensive hoax". Cows and other farmland animals contribute a lot to global warming. Yes, this survey spilled the cereal out of several environmentalists' mouth while reading the morning paper.

In 2006, the United Nations' FAO claimed that the agricultural sector which comprises of some 1.2-1.5 billionaire cows "Generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent- 18% -than transport."

According to a Danish study, cow farts do the same greenhouse gas damage as four tonnes of carbon dioxide. You'd wonder if banning beef in India was a a measure to protect Hindu feelings or to add on to global warming. 

2) Drinking water-

How can you die with what your body consists of 75%? you can!

A 28-year-old California woman died after competing in a radio station's on-air water-drinking contest. After downing some six liters of water in three hours in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" (Nintendo game console) contest, Jennifer Strange vomited, went home with a splitting headache, and died from so-called water intoxication. Strange indeed.

They say drink eight glasses of water, but there is no scientific proof behind it. Essentially, you should drink as much water as to suffice your thirst. We feel thirsty when the essential amount of water in our body is depleted. So, the replenish the body water, we drink water. there is no need to go to sleep worried that today you had only seven glasses of water. You could have drank only four if necessary.

3) Holding back the second call of nature-

We all have had those moments during a test or interview where we have needed to poop. But we always thought that once over with the task, we could easily poop. Till then we can hold it. This ended tragically for Emily Titterington, a 16-year-old from Cornwall, England, who died on February 8, 2013, from not pooping for eight weeks. as sad as it is, its very strange. As the show "The Simpsons" explains in an episode, eating laxatives can't always be bad. Especially when you put them in a rivals's chocolate supply in a chocolate selling competition.

4) Laughing a lot, like a lot, like "Behzinga" lot-

We all know the famous youtuber Ethan Payne better known as "Behzinga". We all know that he laughs a lot and half of his videos you just want to put on mute because its him laughing. But yes, laughing can kill you but it requires to be longer, louder and more laughter than Ethan.

On march 24, 1975, Alex mitchell, died due to laughing for twenty five minutes continuously after watching an episode 0f "The Goodies". He fell dead with a heart failure. Laughing excessively can lead to many problems like ruptured brain aneurysm, cardiac arrest, collapsed lung, strangulated hernia, elastic seizures, stroke, or asphyxiation. So to think of it, if you died of laughter, would the person who made the joke become a murderer?

5) hamster bite-

Imagine this- A cute critter of a hamster is walking around int its pen. You are rubbing its back. All of a sudden it turns and bites you. You laugh as it is like the prick of a toothpick but a few hours later you're dead. An autopsy conducted on the body of an 11-year-old girl who died yesterday after being bitten by a hamster at home in Ma On Shan. The asthmatic girl was bitten on the little finger of her right hand while playing with her pet in her flat at Marbella Tower in On Chun Street shortly before 12.45am. She was rushed unconscious to Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin. Doctors declared her dead shortly after 2am. Hamster bites can inflict small punctures in your body and set off specific allergies. Due to this your body could contract a fatal disease. Many people have died by a hamster bite and once someone filed a suit against a hamster adoption home when the rodent killed three people with bites. Think about how Alan Shore would feel when he opens his portfolio to find a suit like this.

Nothing in the world is safe. Not even air. Be careful with your surroundings all times. It may seem funny to people how some die but it isn't in reality. It is a sad tragedy for which  the above mentioned died. Whatever you do, think before doing it because there are a million sites which post funny incidents of death. You certainly would not want to be on any of them.

Why dreaming big has problems

Sometimes, people tell me that when they grow up, they will be rich and successful and become things like actors, singers, instrumentalists, famed entrepreneurs, et cetera. 

But, I always end up telling them this that the chances or the probability of you becoming what do you just told me is one in a million. Yes, there is only one mark Zuckerberg, only one Steve Jobs, only one bill gates, only one Stephen Spielberg, or only one Usain bolt.

the rest 999,999 are those who have tried and failed or have done only halfway with their dream and now in a problem.

people say that the fruit of labour is sweet, hardworking always pays off, always follow your dreams and do what you dream but according to me more than that luck plays are larger and in your success.

With the degree of any Ivy League university, there is no guarantee that you will have accomplished the goods of life or you are set for a bright future ahead or that you will become very rich. This is because even if you work hard you may not be what you desire because there are people like you are working as hard as you, maybe harder and dreaming bigger than you who are also now in the picture. For every one of you are there are thousands more people exactly like you. So what do you think your chances are to become something important in this mosh pit of people. The chances are less than 1%.

This is called survivorship bias as coined by Robert Dobelli. 

With increasing population your chances will reduce. This is also the reason off on employment of those who dream big. It is not wrong dream big but you should know that the chances of you becoming your dream or a minute. So, what do you do?

Practice at what you are doing. Do not listen to other people's stories of becoming big because you know that deep inside they are false hopes and dreams. Many people say many things but many times those things are not true. Think of what you do and what do you do only. What happens in the world, if it is not directly relate to your life or affect your life in any way whatsoever, then delete it or do not listen to it because it's of no use. So if you hear that a pope is being elected, do not go deep into the process. Do not go deep into everything related to it because it's not going affect your life. It's fun doing about it but it's not going to affect your life. So practice what do you do and do what do you do do well.

About beliefs

Call it a dogma, superstition, faith or religion, we always have something we believe in without knowing the reason behind it. There are an infinite number of evidences of it in India. India is the land of several religions but we have yet to learn rationality and not be set back by blind thoughts and beliefs.

As Tagore put it in his 'Where the Mind is Without Fear' which I learnt about in my tenth grade-

"where the clear steam of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert of dead habit"

Here 'stream' is compared to the rational mind which should not be dirtied or must not lose its way in the 'dreary desert of dead habit' or superstition or blind beliefs.

We have learnt in previous experiences that our parents have told us things about religion, or social beliefs. How many times have hindus been told that the Pandavas were the truth and the Kauravas were cheats and deceptive or that Rama was righteous and Ravana was cruel?
Why do we fall for these dogmas or blind faiths?
In a simple way, it gives us something to believe in. If you were to tell people and prove that God does not exist then it would occur as a heart attack to them. God is one aspect almost the whole world believes in. We are taught to believe in God since our childhood but we never questioned our parents about these beliefs.
It's not wrong to believe in these faiths and superstitions because as mentioned above, we get something to believe in. We get something to trust in and as humans, Need something to believe in. It gives us purpose in life. Imagine a life in which you never believed in anything and carried forward in your life as a solemn trance. It would be like living in the fields of asphodel. The same thing over and over again with nothing new.
Believing in things teaches us new things about it everyday. You may learn something new about the lord everyday. Almost everyday my mother tells me stories about god.
But there are some beliefs in India about the society like untouchability and classism. Indians of a higher standard refuse to socialise with people of somewhat lower classes. In villages, the caste system prevails as well. These are terrible faiths to believe in and it would be best to raise our head over them. we must rationally think about this. It is a severe problem in India. With a population of around 1.3 billion people, things like this are a hard to growth and development.
With this i'd like to say that no matter what happens, think with a clear thought and a rational mind for it is the only thing that will be your salvation or your bane.

Not everyone who is nice to me is my friend

You must have noticed this in the past that your friend is ever so kind to you in private, always speaking good about you and telling you that both of you are very close and how much he cares for you. But in public he changes. He goes on teasing and insulting you which starts a heart burnin in you and you twitch your eyebrow asking yourself,"Did he really tell me the truth a while ago?"
We all have done this before in the understanding of jest. We always tease our friends, close or not, in public and speak about private matters and speak well about them privately.
I've seen this a lot. a lot of my friends tell me their stories and problems and how they can't solve it  privately but in public, or with others, if I mention it, they seem like the have never heard of that problem. Are they lying to me or just trying to hide their problems. Many people tell me something in private and change the whole case publicly to avoid anything that can go against them. It is very weird and I felt like my friends lied to me. But when I sat to ask myself what the root cause to this is, I found out and that is why I write this blog.
You might think that your friend puts on a mask for the world and removes it when talking to you. We all feel this. There is no particular word or phrase for this, lets call it 'Face Change'
According to me, this is because of several reasons.
I don't feel they wouldn't be your real friends. Your real friends wouldn't be two faced or would not change their views on something in public.
Things like this have happened to me and others a lot. There is no escaping it. So what to do?
I think that the best way to tackle this is to think with a clear head and put aside and sieve out all the rational thoughts from the fake ones.
Think whether that person is close to you or not. If he is then there must be an ulterior reason for him behaving as such. If not then he is a piece of garbage.
Leave him.It helps. This may sound harsh but there is no reason one should be put down by someone who does not mean anything to that person or for that matter even if he does mean a lot. There is no need to feel bad for someone like this either. But then again some people are very persistent and will not give up the hope of potential best friends.
Some people know that you are close to them and vent out their true thoughts onto you. This is different because they trust you a lot and tell you the truth.
All I can tell you is that the best way to deal with them is to literally leave them. According to stoic philosophy, let go of all the things that don't matter to you. Here, these people who are two faced do not matter to you and you should let them go. It may cause a lot of heart ache or feeling lonely and may cause fights, rumours or unpopularity but the faster you do it the better because then the remaining ones you will have will be your true friends.