umm..plausible?maybeee...
and if you're wondering..kaise banaya..
amazing tool called http://bubble.us/
Friday, July 03, 2009
Moo?
umm..plausible?maybeee...
and if you're wondering..kaise banaya..
amazing tool called http://bubble.us/
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A biologists love...
A biologists love
Teaching few 10th class students, some biology of the cell(which I myself, mugged up only a few days before the exams),a very distant and weird thought hit me. Why is it that all cells perform their duty?
There seem to me,2 answers for it...a utilitarian one and another one which is on a higher plane(no..not (1,1,0)).
Doesn't it seem weird to you, how each cell endless and diligently performs it duties without fail? How cells remain in harmony, and yet help each other out in carrying out there own duties?
On a hilarious note, how would the thinking process of a cell work?
"Hi!yay!!great...i have been born out of one cell,say,by mitosis..
wohoo!i didn't know it by i have another brother of mine just round the corner..
oooh.not only one brother, but millions of them. and hey!they all look alike..
yaar,life mein kuch fun bhi hona chahiye..chalo..cancer kare!
*now the dilemma of life begins*
am i special? was i born to do a special task, since everyone of my so called busy-in-their-own-task brothers are doing the same task that i am doing..still thinking..
dameet,its time to die...
tada!"
How is it that they all do their work so efficiently to make the body run so perfectly in sync?
And maybe they all get tired of our thanklessness towards them, that they start misbehaving towards the end of life…or as we age?
One of the solution towards this dilemma is...
They do it just utalitarianly..
All the desire is only their own survival, own growth, own promotion(if there is any,in the cellular world),and their own propagation.
They are selfish, mindless freaks, who are rigid, move only as per their DNA commandments, to attain a successful cellular life.
In short, much like towards world, they do everything just for their own utility..for their own benefit..not thinking, for any communal/community cellular benefit.
Another point of view, would be to assume them to be carefree,yet caring,social beings,who are performing their duties out of love for the body, for the love of the well being of life and its sustenance.
They are true saints, selfless, being born and dying every second for our well being,our life..
Maybe they don't know it, that they do so for a common good, maybe they're just doing what they think is right, but still unknowingly, they are doing this out of love.
And,as concerns with me, I think this is theory I support.. out of love, shall all beings be born!
Teaching few 10th class students, some biology of the cell(which I myself, mugged up only a few days before the exams),a very distant and weird thought hit me. Why is it that all cells perform their duty?
There seem to me,2 answers for it...a utilitarian one and another one which is on a higher plane(no..not (1,1,0)).
Doesn't it seem weird to you, how each cell endless and diligently performs it duties without fail? How cells remain in harmony, and yet help each other out in carrying out there own duties?
On a hilarious note, how would the thinking process of a cell work?
"Hi!yay!!great...i have been born out of one cell,say,by mitosis..
wohoo!i didn't know it by i have another brother of mine just round the corner..
oooh.not only one brother, but millions of them. and hey!they all look alike..
yaar,life mein kuch fun bhi hona chahiye..chalo..cancer kare!
*now the dilemma of life begins*
am i special? was i born to do a special task, since everyone of my so called busy-in-their-own-task brothers are doing the same task that i am doing..still thinking..
dameet,its time to die...
tada!"
How is it that they all do their work so efficiently to make the body run so perfectly in sync?
And maybe they all get tired of our thanklessness towards them, that they start misbehaving towards the end of life…or as we age?
One of the solution towards this dilemma is...
They do it just utalitarianly..
All the desire is only their own survival, own growth, own promotion(if there is any,in the cellular world),and their own propagation.
They are selfish, mindless freaks, who are rigid, move only as per their DNA commandments, to attain a successful cellular life.
In short, much like towards world, they do everything just for their own utility..for their own benefit..not thinking, for any communal/community cellular benefit.
Another point of view, would be to assume them to be carefree,yet caring,social beings,who are performing their duties out of love for the body, for the love of the well being of life and its sustenance.
They are true saints, selfless, being born and dying every second for our well being,our life..
Maybe they don't know it, that they do so for a common good, maybe they're just doing what they think is right, but still unknowingly, they are doing this out of love.
And,as concerns with me, I think this is theory I support.. out of love, shall all beings be born!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Artificial Brains??
One fine day, inhabiting the portals of the library, a discussion begins, soon, passionate arguments are thrown around and very soon, it explodes into a conflict of ideas, and the resulting chaos threw me out of the library! (Well, yeah! The discussion was being the cause of anguish to the typically retentive, repetitive medical student who has his/her plans chalked out :P)
So, this discussion was about Artificial Intelligence, or to be more specific, why and how natural intelligence differs from artificial intelligence....?
Anyways, so, if you have reached this part of the blog-post, lets continue further....let us assume modelling a human brain, in all its complexity , is possible....then, let us try to answer some questions:
Q.1: What does the brain do?
Well, even today, after years of research, no body, can with certainty, clearly define and designate the brain’s functions.
The rationale behind designing an artificial heart/ leg/lung is that they have a explicitly clear and understandable function(s), that can be reduced to a simple mechanical bottomline for eg: the heart pumps blood, the leg is responsible for locomotion, and the lung facilitates gas exchange.
Conclusion:
We are unable to, in gross terms, understand what consciousness is, let alone model it!!!
Q.2 :Are you the same person, today, that you were yesterday, and will you be the same person tomorrow that you are today?
Well, if you say, Yes-well, then, I’d say, No....Every Second is a learning experience for the brain- its internal circuitry being continuously changed by charging and updating!
But, even a computer can learn, right? But, again, would it be wrong to state that the scale of dynamism is very different? A computer, will learn and modify itself, only when, it has been “taught” to “learn” by predetermined rules (software)!
The brain, however, or rather, the biological neurons, don’t just change the strength of their connections, they grow new connections, and let old ones atrophy i.e. they change their physical shape => Hardware is indisguishable from software!
Roger Penrose and Deep Thought
The famous mathematician, Roger Penrose, in his inimitatable style, brought into focus, why the human consciousness cannot be modelled by a conventional Turing machine.
Computers function by means of algorithms :
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
.............
............
However, the human brain does not work in this number crunching mechanical way!
Penrose pointed to the example of the chess computer, Deep Thought, which was confronted with a chess problem, in which it had only pawns left, apart from the king. The pawns were positioned in an impenetratable way, and all that a human player had to do to avoid defeat was to position the king behind the pawns. The mechanical way that Deep Thought was programmed, it took the rook, and thereby, lost the game.
Moral of the story: True, the game couldn’t be saved even by a seasoned chess player, but what Penrose tried to project through this example was that humans use more than just a fixed set of rules that are implicit in the problem to be solved.
Maybe, thats what Niels Bohr meant when when he admonished a student- “You are not thinking, you are just being logical!”
The whole Brain, thus, can be thought of as a mechanism for reducing risk, by making more accurate predictions about the likely result of any particular course of action, on the basis of past experience and memories. And it is our consciousness that helps us select and edit what gets into our memories!
In sense, then, we can now, say, that we are our memories- accumulated, nurtured and pruned over a lifetime- this wonderful mechanism, offers us, some degree of freedom from neural determinism, and probably, and probably, makes us the unique person that we are!
Then, why did the Hypothesis that “we” are nothing but complicated machines arise? It is, to a large extent true, with respect to our bodies, because, regarding bodies as machines, has definitely enabled several breakthroughs in biology and medicine.
And, it wouldn’t be wrong to conclusively say, that it is only of limited validity, with respect to our minds.
Maybe, it was a similar hope, that considering minds as mechanisms can help us, one day, discover, what makes the unpromising, gooey, creamy mass floating in a liquid aka the brain “tick”?
And only when we are explicitly able to pin down how the brain makes chaos in order to make sense of the world, can we truly understand ourselves, our worlds, our worlds of sensation, thought, feelings and emotions....
P.S: If this post appears ambiguous, then, I would choose to explain by quoting Jung - “I prefer ambiguous language, since, it does equal justice to the subjectivity of the archetypal idea and to the autonomy of the archetype!”
Afterthought:
It definitely is a tough task to model the human brain, in all its splendour. However, if we, now introduce a generic term “neural nets” in this discussion, which, arguably is the closest we have got to modelling the brain in silicon, it is indeed possible to model the essential functions of the brain. As they say, it really isn’t necessary to build replicas of bird’s feathers in order to fly!
So, this discussion was about Artificial Intelligence, or to be more specific, why and how natural intelligence differs from artificial intelligence....?
Anyways, so, if you have reached this part of the blog-post, lets continue further....let us assume modelling a human brain, in all its complexity , is possible....then, let us try to answer some questions:
Q.1: What does the brain do?
Well, even today, after years of research, no body, can with certainty, clearly define and designate the brain’s functions.
The rationale behind designing an artificial heart/ leg/lung is that they have a explicitly clear and understandable function(s), that can be reduced to a simple mechanical bottomline for eg: the heart pumps blood, the leg is responsible for locomotion, and the lung facilitates gas exchange.
Conclusion:
We are unable to, in gross terms, understand what consciousness is, let alone model it!!!
Q.2 :Are you the same person, today, that you were yesterday, and will you be the same person tomorrow that you are today?
Well, if you say, Yes-well, then, I’d say, No....Every Second is a learning experience for the brain- its internal circuitry being continuously changed by charging and updating!
But, even a computer can learn, right? But, again, would it be wrong to state that the scale of dynamism is very different? A computer, will learn and modify itself, only when, it has been “taught” to “learn” by predetermined rules (software)!
The brain, however, or rather, the biological neurons, don’t just change the strength of their connections, they grow new connections, and let old ones atrophy i.e. they change their physical shape => Hardware is indisguishable from software!
Roger Penrose and Deep Thought
The famous mathematician, Roger Penrose, in his inimitatable style, brought into focus, why the human consciousness cannot be modelled by a conventional Turing machine.
Computers function by means of algorithms :
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
.............
............
However, the human brain does not work in this number crunching mechanical way!
Penrose pointed to the example of the chess computer, Deep Thought, which was confronted with a chess problem, in which it had only pawns left, apart from the king. The pawns were positioned in an impenetratable way, and all that a human player had to do to avoid defeat was to position the king behind the pawns. The mechanical way that Deep Thought was programmed, it took the rook, and thereby, lost the game.
Moral of the story: True, the game couldn’t be saved even by a seasoned chess player, but what Penrose tried to project through this example was that humans use more than just a fixed set of rules that are implicit in the problem to be solved.
Maybe, thats what Niels Bohr meant when when he admonished a student- “You are not thinking, you are just being logical!”
The whole Brain, thus, can be thought of as a mechanism for reducing risk, by making more accurate predictions about the likely result of any particular course of action, on the basis of past experience and memories. And it is our consciousness that helps us select and edit what gets into our memories!
In sense, then, we can now, say, that we are our memories- accumulated, nurtured and pruned over a lifetime- this wonderful mechanism, offers us, some degree of freedom from neural determinism, and probably, and probably, makes us the unique person that we are!
Then, why did the Hypothesis that “we” are nothing but complicated machines arise? It is, to a large extent true, with respect to our bodies, because, regarding bodies as machines, has definitely enabled several breakthroughs in biology and medicine.
And, it wouldn’t be wrong to conclusively say, that it is only of limited validity, with respect to our minds.
Maybe, it was a similar hope, that considering minds as mechanisms can help us, one day, discover, what makes the unpromising, gooey, creamy mass floating in a liquid aka the brain “tick”?
And only when we are explicitly able to pin down how the brain makes chaos in order to make sense of the world, can we truly understand ourselves, our worlds, our worlds of sensation, thought, feelings and emotions....
P.S: If this post appears ambiguous, then, I would choose to explain by quoting Jung - “I prefer ambiguous language, since, it does equal justice to the subjectivity of the archetypal idea and to the autonomy of the archetype!”
Afterthought:
It definitely is a tough task to model the human brain, in all its splendour. However, if we, now introduce a generic term “neural nets” in this discussion, which, arguably is the closest we have got to modelling the brain in silicon, it is indeed possible to model the essential functions of the brain. As they say, it really isn’t necessary to build replicas of bird’s feathers in order to fly!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Carnaame!
College ke kaarnaame:
A few things happened in the college,or let me say,with some college people and though i hate to put it like this,I was the central joker in all.
Both of them,happened the same day,and lemme put them chronologically yet diplomatically:
1.I was coming back from Lakshmi nagar,after meeting a friend and was walking back from the bus stop to my place.As usually happens with people of my age,both of their eyes always fixed into their mobile phones.
I walked past a lady,and then..after a few(10) steps i realize..wasn't this esha's mum?
I turn around immediately,saying loudly,Namaste aunty(no..no..don't take me like that,i was in a good mood that day,that's why i took so much of pain).
She is bewildered..amazed at the loudness and the distance after which is spoke..and then says..namaste namaste..maine pehchaana ni.
By this time,I had a good look at her,and realize that she does ook like her mother,but then there's some change.
Chalo baal katwaa liye honge i think.Then i give her another look,a grim one this time..and she says,maybe terrified of my face and the absurdity of the situation..haan haan,ab pehchaan liya.
I was still away from my place,so walking back,i again started what my generation is best at.I typed a message:"chee esha,teri mummy ko maine namaste bol ke darrrra diya!".
Happily,I entered my house,thinking what a scene would it be when she asks her mum about this incident.
She replies:"ah...kab?kahan par?".I reply,"koi ni..kal bataunga".
And then,I start off with the paper,thinking what fun it would be to narrate this story to other people.
And suddenly,it occurs to me..both of her parents are out of town for the last one week!
2.Ye waala aur bhi mast tha!
I was to talk to my friends mum and convince her to send her(my frnd) to the college trip.
One of my "dangar" frnd gave me her mum's number,saying hat if he talks,her mum would even stop sending her to the college.SO fine,i say,i'll talk.
I call up one day,(no not so easily..just after much delibration and convincing and rehearsals myself),and ask on the phone for Mrs Day.
Her father picks up the phone,says she's not around and then,maybe because he was busy,cuts the phone without asking any further question about my identity or reason for calling..thankfully(for we are not so much acquainted with him,than her mum).
A few days later,again making up my mind(i had to think upon this and medidate for this.for 3 hrs..nah..kidding),i call on the same number again.Her dad agains picks up the phone.
I ask for Mrs Day,he says,she's not around..And this time...I was not so thankful.He asks,whom am i talking to,for what reason do you want to talk to her.
My mind slams up its breaks and all making up of mind seems only a touch up..I reply in hesitation..hi this is sameer...do you want insuance??
The gentleman replies...no not right now.Thank you.
phew..close shave...
Then we decide to call my frnd up and ask her to pass the phone to her mum.Sure shot,method this time.
imagine what would have happened if she would have said..mum to nahi hai..le papa se baat kar.
His dad replies:haan beta batao,kya bat hai..
me...ah..uncle...insurance??
A few things happened in the college,or let me say,with some college people and though i hate to put it like this,I was the central joker in all.
Both of them,happened the same day,and lemme put them chronologically yet diplomatically:
1.I was coming back from Lakshmi nagar,after meeting a friend and was walking back from the bus stop to my place.As usually happens with people of my age,both of their eyes always fixed into their mobile phones.
I walked past a lady,and then..after a few(10) steps i realize..wasn't this esha's mum?
I turn around immediately,saying loudly,Namaste aunty(no..no..don't take me like that,i was in a good mood that day,that's why i took so much of pain).
She is bewildered..amazed at the loudness and the distance after which is spoke..and then says..namaste namaste..maine pehchaana ni.
By this time,I had a good look at her,and realize that she does ook like her mother,but then there's some change.
Chalo baal katwaa liye honge i think.Then i give her another look,a grim one this time..and she says,maybe terrified of my face and the absurdity of the situation..haan haan,ab pehchaan liya.
I was still away from my place,so walking back,i again started what my generation is best at.I typed a message:"chee esha,teri mummy ko maine namaste bol ke darrrra diya!".
Happily,I entered my house,thinking what a scene would it be when she asks her mum about this incident.
She replies:"ah...kab?kahan par?".I reply,"koi ni..kal bataunga".
And then,I start off with the paper,thinking what fun it would be to narrate this story to other people.
And suddenly,it occurs to me..both of her parents are out of town for the last one week!
2.Ye waala aur bhi mast tha!
I was to talk to my friends mum and convince her to send her(my frnd) to the college trip.
One of my "dangar" frnd gave me her mum's number,saying hat if he talks,her mum would even stop sending her to the college.SO fine,i say,i'll talk.
I call up one day,(no not so easily..just after much delibration and convincing and rehearsals myself),and ask on the phone for Mrs Day.
Her father picks up the phone,says she's not around and then,maybe because he was busy,cuts the phone without asking any further question about my identity or reason for calling..thankfully(for we are not so much acquainted with him,than her mum).
A few days later,again making up my mind(i had to think upon this and medidate for this.for 3 hrs..nah..kidding),i call on the same number again.Her dad agains picks up the phone.
I ask for Mrs Day,he says,she's not around..And this time...I was not so thankful.He asks,whom am i talking to,for what reason do you want to talk to her.
My mind slams up its breaks and all making up of mind seems only a touch up..I reply in hesitation..hi this is sameer...do you want insuance??
The gentleman replies...no not right now.Thank you.
phew..close shave...
Then we decide to call my frnd up and ask her to pass the phone to her mum.Sure shot,method this time.
imagine what would have happened if she would have said..mum to nahi hai..le papa se baat kar.
His dad replies:haan beta batao,kya bat hai..
me...ah..uncle...insurance??
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Divine love!
ahem...ye kissi ke liye likhi thi...
mat poochna!!
her kohl underlined eyes,
as fresh as the mist,
from a morning flower,
elude and draw me,
into infinite ecstasy,
leave behind an afterglow
and a sweet scent
those mystic eyes,
leave me in a trance
I could but only
watch them with awe,
lost in their splendor
afraid,
to touch,
to see away,
lest they vanish,
in their mystic world
mat poochna!!
her kohl underlined eyes,
as fresh as the mist,
from a morning flower,
elude and draw me,
into infinite ecstasy,
leave behind an afterglow
and a sweet scent
those mystic eyes,
leave me in a trance
I could but only
watch them with awe,
lost in their splendor
afraid,
to touch,
to see away,
lest they vanish,
in their mystic world
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