As I get older and listen to people express their inner feelings, one of the deepest pains I hear is how so many us are living a life not out of choice, but out of expectations or pressure. We live our lives based on parental expectations, societal expectations, and religious expectations, among any others. Many…
Faith is beautiful – Part I of Faith, Religion, and Me
Faith, now what does it mean? It is a confidence or a trust in something, or someone. Faith gives up hope, it gives us a reason to go on when we cannot see the future or an end. Faith doesn't have to be in a deity but it could be anything - it could be…
Love story from HONY
I have heard from countless people about both sides of the argument as to what makes a marriage work - is it love or is it sharing similar background. Too many confuse infatuation with love, and give ammo to people who say love doesn't work. And too many think having similar background will lead to…
Me
Once you have met and befriended people of various nationalities, race, faiths, sects, political beliefs, ethnicities, and sexual orientation...it becomes really hard to keep believing that your background is the right/true/best. It feels like intellectual cheating and arrogance to continue to pick and choose based on convenience/selective ignorance to support your side. And for this,…
If immodesty can be sexual objectification on one side of the spectrum, modesty can be sexual objectification on the other side of the spectrum. Making women in bikinis parade around for men treats them as flesh, but making women cover themselves head to toe so they don't tempt or distract men also treats them as…
Imagine
I imagine - if we are flying through space in a big blue box, our only identity is an Earthling. when we see that pale blue dot, we see one home. when we land on Earth, our identity turns into nationalities, race, and religion. when we enter a nation, our identity turns into ethnicities and…
The ‘other’ sexism
I always called myself a feminist because I believe women are equal to men. To me that's what the word symbolized - equality and fairness. There are countless traditional/religious/cultural expectations of women which aren't equal and which a lot of women complain about, and rightfully so. Expectations to be obedient, 'beautiful and thin', housewife, child-bearer,…
Education – another way to help improve income inequality
this is a nice article in yesterday's New York Times about our attitude towards education and how it might affect income equality or upward mobility. here is my little take on this - wages isn't the only reason for income inequality obviously. how about the lack of responsibility of many parents and students towards education,…
We term lions and tigers as savage animals because they kill for food using their bodies. And we call ourselves 'civilized' because we hunt with weapons for sports, and use guns and bombs to massacre millions for land and differing 'ideas'.
Socialized defenses
Why is it alright to have socialized defense against external threats (like terrorists and murderers) in the form of police and armed forces, but not alright to have socialized defense against internal threats (like bad organs and microorganisms) in the form of a single payer universal health care? Surely both threats are serious and both…
The Philosopher-Scientist 