Nicely put and here is a tweet from one who has put one of the largest "dents" of our times Jeff Bezos[0] who quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson as:
>Love this quote. It’s been on my fridge for years, and I see it every time I open the door.
>"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded." – Ralph Waldo Emerson.”
And for the post below by @newen, I had to dig up my bookmarks to find this excellent article by a high schooler[1a,1b] about Charles Stover, quoting from article:
1> Under his name a simple inscription proclaims him “Founder of Outdoor Playgrounds.” When I read that for the first time, I laughed. How could one person be the founder of playgrounds? And shouldn’t he get more than a bench?
He worked selflessly for the poor, marginalized and children
and setup many parks and housing facilities.
2>So why has Stover been forgotten? Although a prominent and influential figure, he did not seek fame or fortune. In a letter to a friend in 1927, he wrote, “My real preference is to be writ in water — just such complete obliteration as the poet Keats feared would be his fate.” He never married and kept no house of his own, preferring instead to live at University Settlement. He was a very private person, prone to bouts of depression, and was known to vanish occasionally with no explanation.
"On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club "
Eventually history will forget us all, IMHO instead of optimizing for global immortality we should strive locally to serve those around us as best as we can.
I am reminded one of the last scenes of the Godfather 3,the retired mafia boss,an old Michael Corleone is seen contemplating life{?) on a wheel chair, when suddenly he slumps and dies, possibly regretting all the violence and wrongs heaped on others.
I suspect on one's death throes, no one contemplates on wealth,fame or power they acquired in their lifetime but whether has their life been meaningful or made a difference for the better. Just my thoughts.
Just look at the advertising and lobbying spending of sugar industry to gauge their power over population's discretionary spending.Also, bulk of their marketing spend is during cartoon programming of kids, "catch'em young"!
They successfully shifted blame from sugar to fat as cause of modern lifestyle diseases for last two decades. Would highly recommend the book "Case against Sugar" by Gary Taubes discussed amply here[0] and here[1].
Also recommend the documentary "Super Size Me"[2] a revealing take on workings of fast food industry.
> you are just showing that you have the power to do it (by burning that power)
This is so true for mate selection in animal kingdom e.g. the gelada baboon male[0] has a bright red spot on its chest and females choose the male with brightest and largest red spot, though it is has no useful biological function. Expending energy to maintain an unnecessary function, hints at superior genes similar to your IB example.
Perhaps if we give baboons another million years to evolve, they will start shooting lasers from their chests. And then it will be useful in the human-baboon wars. :D
More seriously, some people think that by a similar mechanism human intelligence has evolved. That in its first stages it was simply a costly (more difficult childbirth because of larger heads, more precious energy burned by brain function) and mostly useless mate-attracting thing. Until at some moment a critical threshold was crossed, and human culture became possible; and then it became dramatically useful.
So yes, there is a more general mechanism of how value gets burned in signaling competitions. Robin Hanson built his entire blog on finding examples in human society: www.overcomingbias.com
But then there is another general mechanism, where the heaps of waste accumulated by the aforementioned processes suddenly become a new niche to exploit for something useful. Such as people who build huge bitcoin-mining machines in Siberia, where the wasted heat warms their homes. So perhaps on another level there is something good to be gained from the corporate bullshit jobs.
Actually, I suspect what it could be... if your job is bullshit, it is less noticeable if you take some time off to browse a web. It could turn out that bullshit jobs are actually a huge factor driving today's culture. -- If you would remove bullshit jobs, for example by reducing the working time to 20 or 15 hours a week, many popular websites (including Hacker News) would lose most of their traffic. Because most people would spend their free afternoons differently, e.g. with their kids, or doing sports. I am not saying it would be worse... just different, maybe in ways we can't predict.
It is tragic that being "devout hindu" has turned into "Us vs. Them" when in fact hindu religion advocates universality for all living beings (chetana) even non-living (jada) but the profound lessons are conveniently overlooked for sectarian politics. The core message of Bhagvata-Gita and Bhagvata-Purana, two of the most revered scriptures is the "Everything is the Lord, there is nothing besides the Lord" Bhagvada-Gita Chapter 7 Verse 19,
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ
"Vasudevah sarvam iti", everything is the Lord there is nothing besides the Lord.
Jesus Christ said "If you do not love your brother whom you can see, how can you love God whom you cannot see?"
If "devout hindus/christians/etc" realize this message the World could be heaven on earth.
After most hindu prayers there is invocation of "Shanti Shanti Shanti" i.e. Peace Peace Peace to All.
It is most unfortunate that such ancient religion has forgotten its core principle.
You deleted your previous question while I was composing...
>1. Why did Krishna guide Arjun to kill Kaurawa?
After Pandavas completed their 13 years of exile imposed by Kauravas and demanded for half of the kingdom which was rightfully theirs, Duryodhana adamantly refused. Lord Krishna wanted to avoid war so he went to negotiate with Kauravas on behalf of Pandavas and he asked for just 5 villages instead of half the kingdom, Duryodhana famously replied "Without war, I will not yield even the amount of land on a pinhead",so war was inevitable.
> 2. Why did Krishna believe that Duryodhan does not deserve power?
Had Duryodhana acceded to Lord Krishna's demand of mere 5 villages instead of half kingdom, Duryodhana and inturn Kauravas would have lived but Duryodhana was envious of Pandavas and that led to his downfall.
Initially, Arjuna is reluctant to take up arms against his own cousins but Lord Krishna advocated that doing nothing is also doing something i.e. tolerating injustice is also a sin as a warrior. Arjuna was thus convinced of his duty as warrior and was victorious in this holy war/ dharma yudha.
Hence,it was Duryodhana's own undoing and in this "holy war", i.e. "dharma yuddha", the Kauravas perished.
P.S: In India, the word "dharma" is mistranslated as "religion" but its true meaning is duty. One of the key precepts of Bhagvata-Gita is to perform your duties without expectation of fruit of your labour i.e. nishkama karma yoga.
I deleted my earlier response, because it was not logically ordered for others to make sense. So I rewrote it.
I still dont know if you agree with me on this that Hindus dont have fair representation in english speaking global media or textbooks.
Your answers are factual, and lack psychological dimension. So let me add another question.
From your answers, it appears that it was easier for Krishna to convince Arjuna to kill his brothers & relatives than convincing Duryodhan of giving up five villages. If Krishna was really a god or god like, why/how did he fail to convince Duryodhan for giving up villages? What stoped him for pursuing Duryodhan one more time? Why Krishna's "godly" influence didnt work on Duryodhan? Why was war necessary?
few additions to your answer:
Dharma also means people with character, thats why Yudhisthir is known as Dharmraaj. Its opposite is Adharmi (अधर्मी) which means undisciplined person.
I dont think Dharma yuddha will translate into "Holy war". Dharma also means discipline or law. So Dharma yuddha means a war to bring law on the land. It is similar to how various countries are attempting to bring self-sustaining democracy in Afganistan.
The total count of human warriors participating in Mahabharata was approximately 3,936,600[0]. Of which less than 10 warriors survive the devastating war. Five Pandavas, Lord Krishna, Ashwatthama, Kripacharya etc.
>Barbarik
The character Barbarik[1] was so powerful that whichever side he chose Pandavas/Kauravas they would grow immensely powerful and it was Barbarik's obligation to fight for the weaker side hence he would keep oscillating between both sides thereby killing everyone except himself. Hence Lord Krishna asks his head in charity and in return Barbarik's head is planted atop a hill overseeing the battle.
After the war, victorious Pandavas were rejoicing and there was banter between regiments of Arjuna and Bheema that their leader was pivotal to victory. When the warriors questioned Lord Krishna who was the "Achilles" of the war, the Lord said why don't you approach Barbarik, he has witnessed the war with a panoramic view. On questioning Barbarik responds,
though for rest of you it might seem that warriors from both sides killed each other, I saw from my vantage point that the Lord's discus (Sudarshan Chakra) killed everyone.
To rid the earth of cruel and unjust kings the war was imperative as per the Lord.
After the war, Lord Krishna visited Gandhari, mother of Duryodhana and Kauravas. Gandhari was devastated on hearing death of her 100 sons, she asked the Lord "O Lord, you are Bhagwan(God), if you wanted, you could you avoided the war and spared my children but you didn't and let annihilation of my children. Just as my family tree has been culled, I curse you O Lord that your clan share the same fate as mine.".
The Lord merely smiled and accepted her curse because after destroying the corrupt warriors, the most powerful family left was his own, the Yadavas or Yadu-Vansh/Yadu-clan. Some time later, the large Yadava family (circa ~millions) gathered for a festival and during merrymaking were heavily intoxicated which lead to eventual fighting in inebriated state and death of entire Yadava-clan except Lord Krishna and Balaram.
>With the above backstory, now we can ponder why did the Lord did not stop the war.
As Gandhari questioned, it was possible for the Lord to avoid war but he did not to teach humanity the savagery of war, brothers killing brothers, uncles their nephews.
>Bhagvata-Gita
The whole of Bhagvata-Gita is instructed by Lord Krishna to Arjuna but Arjuna is merely a medium, every human being is the real focal target. It is instruction on how to lead an ideal life and before death realize the supreme goal of life i.e. moksha/salvation/one-ness with the Lord.
Had the Lord avoided the war we would not have Mahabharata war as example of annihilation of 3.9m warriors.Back to the present age, it took us three colossal World Wars to learn this ancient lesson. Clearly us humans need to be reminded of our lessons repeatedly.
You are correct on Dharma-Yuddha not translating to "holy war", it was my attempt to simplify the idea to western audience.
>On Hindu representation in western media:
Personally, though I am a practicing Hindu, I believe in the concept of "universality" of ancient Hindu tradition and its modern counterpart from the scientist Carl Sagan[2]
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
All of us trace our origin to stars and yet we pigeonhole ourselves into Hindu/Muslim or While/Black. If we are the same at the core and only superficially different why waste precious breaths over petty differences.
Ending with another Carl Sagan quote:
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”
I began appreciating boredom for its on sake after reading this article https://hbr.org/2010/06/why-i-returned-my-ipad years ago and since then I consciously avoid trying to be "productive" during commute, queues etc. Quoting from article: "Being bored is a precious thing, a state of mind we should pursue. Once boredom sets in, our minds begin to wander, looking for something exciting, something interesting to land on. And that’s where creativity arises".
In the movie,The Insider (1999) a Big Tobacco CEO says "We are in the nicotine delivery business", substituting nicotine to dopamine and you have your Tencent and Facebook. They now are increasingly targeting women for social media gaming.
[0]https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-31/fueled-by...
We seriously underestimate the importance of boredom. I used to be like OP,constantly seeking stimulation/engagement with either books/mobile when bored but reading this https://hbr.org/2010/06/why-i-returned-my-ipad has deeply impacted me. While commuting, waiting in queue etc. I just let my thoughts wander and wonder at its nimbleness. Thank you for the quote.
>Love this quote. It’s been on my fridge for years, and I see it every time I open the door.
>"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." – Ralph Waldo Emerson.”
And for the post below by @newen, I had to dig up my bookmarks to find this excellent article by a high schooler[1a,1b] about Charles Stover, quoting from article:
1> Under his name a simple inscription proclaims him “Founder of Outdoor Playgrounds.” When I read that for the first time, I laughed. How could one person be the founder of playgrounds? And shouldn’t he get more than a bench?
He worked selflessly for the poor, marginalized and children and setup many parks and housing facilities.
2>So why has Stover been forgotten? Although a prominent and influential figure, he did not seek fame or fortune. In a letter to a friend in 1927, he wrote, “My real preference is to be writ in water — just such complete obliteration as the poet Keats feared would be his fate.” He never married and kept no house of his own, preferring instead to live at University Settlement. He was a very private person, prone to bouts of depression, and was known to vanish occasionally with no explanation.
"On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club "
Eventually history will forget us all, IMHO instead of optimizing for global immortality we should strive locally to serve those around us as best as we can.
I am reminded one of the last scenes of the Godfather 3,the retired mafia boss,an old Michael Corleone is seen contemplating life{?) on a wheel chair, when suddenly he slumps and dies, possibly regretting all the violence and wrongs heaped on others.
I suspect on one's death throes, no one contemplates on wealth,fame or power they acquired in their lifetime but whether has their life been meaningful or made a difference for the better. Just my thoughts.
[0] https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/992765968182001665
[1a] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/opinion/charles-stover-pl...
[1b] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15111433
Edit: formatting