Note: Somehow I convinced myself around the time of writing this post that I needed to abandon Google Blogspot and move to Wordpress. This was the first post that appeared there. You will likely benefit from this context while reading this post, hence the note!
Hello friends. As much as this appears to be my first post on this blog, I must make open the fact that I had a very elaborate blog elsewhere. So, in this first post, let me partly use this chance for talking about why I had to create a new blog and also present my views on why idea sharing is a good thing.
I was immensely dissatisfied with what I had managed to achieve with my previous blog. A constant confusion between upgraded features of that site and unnoticed cum accidental setting of certain options ensured that my words were not to be seen by anybody but a few very close friends. This defeated the purpose of using a public domain sharing site or a blog site altogether for I might as well have sent my views via e-mail to those few who were reading my thoughts and my work. When contemplating on this, I realised that it would in fact be a good idea to make a new beginning and in a new location with the hope that this time, the thoughts, the ideas will reach a bit more further and will enable more learning.
I have spent many hours and even days learning various things and in the end, the only way I ever discovered the flaws in my understanding and methods to correct them, was when I presented what I had understood to a broad audience. When you communicate an idea with someone, the very effort of communication can refine your ideas and your understanding of it. Once the presentation has been done, people will come forth and present their views on it. They might ask questions that you, all by yourself, could not ask and thus have unexplored but easily accessible territory.
The views that people present can range from senseless criticism and mockery to some very deep suggestions or comments. It has been my tendency to actually feel discouraged from even posting an idea for the simple reason that in the end all I would get is senseless commentary. But I realised that in our daily life, there will always be a situation where our primary task-at-hand will be to sift through everything in front of us and choose the good from the bad or the useful from the useless. So, I finally have come to a mean solution that it is a good idea to present your ideas! You will be bombarded with a large number of comments covering a wide range of the spectrum but in the end, with a little effort, there is bound to be a set of comments or suggestions or feedback which can enhance your understanding of something.
With regards to our tendency to bad mouth someone’s opinion, the host of the famous 3-part BBC documentary “The Story of God” has pointed out something which I found truly wonderful. As can be guessed, he has pointed out that we have had disagreements among humans for a very long time on various issues. Some of these disagreements have resulted in catastrophic events that have led to tremendous bloodshed. Every one of us has wondered of why this problem has existed and what the solution to this problem is. A relatively simple statement by the host of this documentary who explored these kind of conflicts, struck me very hard. I paraphrase (severely) his point of view below.
The disagreements, whether it be between two religions or two groups of the same religion or between religion and science are always present. What makes these disagreements acquire the potential of creating destruction or becoming ugly is the lack of acknowledgement of the principle of uncertainty. This principle reminds us that whether it is our own religion or be it our study of science, there is always an uncertainty in our understanding of the same. If people of any discipline or any sect merely acknowledge that there can be an uncertainty in our understanding of anything, will we stop outright and violent disagreements with each other.
The purpose of presenting this thought here is simple. I want to highlight what I have always kept telling my friends. Use the chance of sharing a thought or the event of someone sharing their thought as a chance to learn. Use disagreements not as blows to yourself but as windows of opportunity to think from a different perspective. Do not disagree with the other, with the intention of giving him a blow but to remind the other that there is an alternate way of looking at something. After all, in this exchange of views, which is seen by many people as a battle of wits, who is to judge the correct from the wrong? Is there even one single correct which makes everything else wrong? I leave you with another paraphrased thought and with the hope that you enjoy my future posts and we can all exchange something that leads us all to taking progressive strides.
A major mistake we can make is to impose one single method of progress, one single method of learning or one single method of worship on everybody, ignoring their individual strengths and weaknesses. Each person wants to progress towards the centre of some circle but lies at different points on the circumference. Each can take a different radial path and try reaching the centre.