An incomplete essay on an ill-defined subject

I sometimes wonder about who we are…. Yes i know that many people wonder about that and that many people have written about their wonder…. But that doesn’t stop me from wondering and i write about it because….. well, because….. Because I CAN!!

Anyway, moving on… who ARE we??? Are we what we believe we are? or are we what OTHERs believe we are??? OR do we start believing and thus BECOME what others think we are?? This line of philosophical questioning ofcourse has been done to death and the debate is endless…. And so, having found no enlightenment with the philosophers i looked towards the scientists (who are only barely removed from philosophers in their ability to confound and confuse)…. well anyway, turns out there is quite a lot of concrete science that’s been done and is being done with a view to answer questions about the brain, behaviour, and the big question “what does it mean to be conscious??”

Now… it’s not my place to try and explain to you about the work of these scientists… I just wanted to share with you the (fairly useless) bit of information that there exists a body of work in this field which is slightly better than the certifiably insane reasonings of philosophers…. Slightly better in the sense that its not certified insane…. though many believe it to be quite mad….

For those of you who are interested in the science of cognition and behaviour…. A good place to start might be Dr. V.S. Ramachandran’s book “Phantoms In The Brain”…

For an insight into genetics and behaviour… Try and get any book that might give you info on Seymour Benzer’s work…. There’s a book called “Time, love & memory” which is quite good…

Could Do with some logic...

The other day i was watching this movie called "evolution"... Its about how an alien lifeform hitch-hikes its way onto Earth... Well the movie was supposed to be fictional so i put up with the stupid idea that the aliens evolve at a rate about a million times greater than any earthly lifeform..... However, the protagonist (a "scientist") is looking at the DNA of the aliens and is shocked... then rushes to his sidekick and says "They have TEN Base-pairs".... This is a perfectly STUPID statement to make because it implies that the DNA of the alien is only ten units long.... Then he says that "Every life-form on Earth has FOUR base-pairs".... That's when it hit me... He meant that we earthlings have four KINDS of BASES... not Base-PAIRS (which is a different thing)....And the aliens have 10 kinds of bases... and that is the supposed reason for their difference from us (this idea is pretty daft too but is pardonable).... The one about base pairs is NOT.... Why can't they check their bloody facts before they make a movie??? Any high-school biology student could have taught you the difference between saying 'bases' and 'base pairs'....

XKCD

These are a selection of XKCD webcomics that i like... Actually i like all of them... These are a selection of XKCD webcomics that i think you might like... Personally, i prefer the ones with a lot of science in them...

This is THE life!! :D

A clear sunny afternoon + A light breeze + The sound of waves crashing + A good Book + A HAMMOCK = Pure BLISS :D

The Original Pic

The Final Product

Mamta's budday gift....

Came across this book at the United Services Club Library... Was reminded of the Happy fact that some people have more time than i do :D

Definite proof that i have way too much free time... I had a syringe with me... Filled it with water and did that to my hand drop by drop.... Like i said... TOO MUCH TIME

This is a paper clip twisted out of all recognition placed on a piece of black paper... Of course, you may say this is the result of me having too much time on my hands and nothing better to do... i choose to call it ART :P

That's me and my buddy Thapliyal on my terrace... This pic was taken on the 1st of Jan 2007... The only sunrise we'll see the whole year... too damn lazy to wake up in time for the rising :P

It's Thapli's data cable that i'm using now to upload pics....

FAILED ATTEMPT :-(

Ah... I was planning on growing a full-blown military style moustache... The mission had to be aborted coz i had to go meet a professor... I needed a reccomendation letter from him so couldn't afford to scare him :P

It still pains me to see this photo...