Saturday, November 29, 2008

My Hypothesis

Written and conceptualised by : Ampla Naidoo
Edited by : Kriti Sharma.
Revised and corrected by : Nelly Mok


Dear reader,before you start to read this blog-post i have a humble request- that you keep an open mind.After all it is a hypothesis, by the very nature of its definition a basis for reasoning without the assumption of the truth.

Through ages every nation on earth has had two questions:
1) Where did i come from?
2) What will happen to me after i die?

These questions have given birth to a kind of social science called religion,based on the belief of a controlling supernatural force, that has created the entire universe and beyond. On this earth there are more religions than nations. Most of them have common principles in their constitution (the existence of a soul, punishment for the infrigement of rules within religion, peaceful existence ,brotherhood, etc.) All of them have one basic element "A Supernatural controlling force."

However, there are more differences than similarities in these ancient sciences. These differences are what make me question the authenticity of their origin. Somehow cultural rituals of specific communities have been integrated into religion itself. Making the ritual and religion undistinguishible. If religion was the result of revelation given to a specific human, who by virtue of his good qualities or birth right, made contact with some supernatural force, should not all religions of the world be exactly the same for the sake of constancy?

These revelations that have been incorporated into our holy scriptures have been resulting from a "special" human who established a contact with supernatural force. The revelation happened through some kind of apparition. Either it was seen or heard.

Having said that, i put forward the following argument. Is it a possibility that the revelations given to us in our holy scriptures is a result of hallucinations? It is quite possible for a person in good body and mental state to have hallucinations. The revelation given to us was not necessarily an attempt to mislead the population but a result of their distorted sense of the reality. I put forward the following evidence to collaborate my argument: Genetic diversity plays a huge role in the survival and adaptability of a species. If the environment of a particular species changes slightly, there is a need for it to adapt in order to survive. A species with a greater degree of genetic material among its population will have a larger variety of genes to choose the most suitable ones. Without such variation we have problems such as inbreeding.

Inbreeding consists in breeding between close relatives. This leads to increased homozygosity. A higher frequency in recessive deleterious traits in homozygous will over time lead to inbreeding depression. . This is a decrease in health, fitness and fertility. As time passes by the population will not exist. I add the following argument:

In research conducted by a number of scientists on the decline of wild chicken this was their findings:

"Effects of small population and reduced genetic varation of wild animal population remains controversial. During a 35 year study of remnant populations of greater wild chickens, population decreased from 2000 individuals in 1962 to less than 50 by 1994. Concurrently, both fitness, as measured by fertility and hatching rates of eggs and genetic diversity declined significantly. Conservational measures initiated in 1992 with translocation of birds from large,genetically diverse population restored egg viability". Thus, sufficient genetic resources appear to be critical for maintaining the growth of a population. If the conservation measures as stated above were not taken then the population concerned would have died out.

Inbreeding can also result in a chromosomal abnormality such as with the case of the Ulas family from a remote Kudish area in south eastern Turkey. These people have been labeled with names i can not bring myself to write inside this blog because they are human after all. The five men and woman affected are between the ages of 21 to 37(2008). They crawl on hands and feet like animals, but with swift agility; their speech is primitive babble. They are mentally disabled. The family has a long line of inbreeding with close cousins.This is not an isolated case. There is a tribe called the Vodoma who lives in the west of Zimbabwe. They have no contacts with other communities. A substantial majority of this tribe has a condition called ectrodactyly, in which the middle three toes are absent and the two outer toes are turned in. This is an autosomal dominant condition resulting from a single mutation of chromosome number seven. This tribe is an example of the genetic effects of too much sparse and limited population on the genetic defects and mutation.

Therefore, I refute Adam and Eve and Noah theory; it is scientifically impossible for the world to have been populated by Noah and his family let alone Adam and Eve. There would not have been enough genetic material and entire species would have died.

There is also the question of the food chain. After the rain, when Noah let carnivorous creatures out of their cages. What did they eat?

Ahimsa means the non-violence and is a tenet that has its roots in hinduism. Ahisma bans the killing and injury of living beings, including animals and plants Ahimsa emphasizes vegetarianism and bans hunting and ritual sacrifice.Jainist must not hurt small insects and other tiny animals. If one looks at the human anatomy it is clear that we are omnivores and that we were made to eat both animals and plants. If it were the intention of our maker for us not to eat animals,would he have given us this type of dentition and digestive system? Hindu mythology has stories of gods that went to war and killed. There are explanations for the above,bu there are only views.

Bu there is more inconstancy i must put forward. The dark forthnight which falls in the Hindu Calendar in the month of Bhadrapad (September is known as Pitr-paksha or Malahay). It's the period which is an ideal occasion to perform rite for the deceased ancestors to keep their spirits gratified. Yet all hindus believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation literally means made fresh again. According to this theory the soul experiences journeys from one body to another until soul reaches Moksha. Moksha means liberation. I ask the question:why do we observe Pitr-paksha if this theory was true? There is a contradiction. Hindus could be observing prayer for themselves if they follow Pitr-paksha and reincarnation at the same time.

If you read Exodus 21:23-27 in the old testament it advocates an eye for an eye yet Mattews 5:38-42 teaches us to turn the other cheek

The second account of my argument is the inconstancy which exists when one compares a religion to another. For the purpose of this article i am going to take the following examples: There is only one god. This is a common denominator,yet some religions would argue on this. Hindus have many gods and goddesses. What is the truth? One god or many gods and goddesses?

Idolatry is considered as a sin in Abrahamic religions, but some religions accept the workship of idols as the norm.

All religions that have been formed have a very close relationship to the values and social standarts regarding the particular place of origin. Hindus teach vegetarianism as a way of living, as they want to live with a minimum injuries to other beings. To eat beef is totally forbidden. Islam and Judaism allow eating beef but prohibit eating pork. Others are silent about this topic.

This brings me back to the first point : all religions of the world should be exactly the same if they were given to us by our creator. If they are not then all of them are frauds

Is the creation of this universe the result of a cosmological incident? I don't think so. I cannot imagine for one second that the existence of the whole universe is the result of an accident. The universe is far too intricate to be the result of the so-called big-bang theory. Even on our earth there is the smallest unicellular organism as well as the complicated species like humans. The human body has 100 trillion cells, each of which can survive indefinitely and in most cases can reproduce provided its fluids remain constant.Yet our existence comes about with only two cells. Can that be the result of a cosmological accident?

Then how was the universe created? By a supernatural force. I have never questioned the existence of god.

One man wonders if all things do need a start to come into existence. Who made God? I think that God is an intelligent energy source. In physics the law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy is an isolated system and remains constant. Therefore energy cannot be created or destroyed,as its a need to follow the principles of religion. Even though the rules and principles may be a case of fake authority. The content of the rules are prevalent for peaceful co-existence. In the same way why does it make sense to follow other man-made rules such as "the rule of law" which advocates to follow principles of religious teachings. Failure to do so may lead to a world deprived of any moral obligation

My theory is that god made man -man made religion. Religion is just like a vehicle. A bus, a car, a rickshaw etc. It does not matter which one we take. As long as we follow the correct plan we will all end up at the same place. And the correct way,peaceful existence,can be found in all scriptures. Even if there can be only concepts of mad men

Saturday, November 1, 2008

PART OF THE PACK


We tend to think of our selves as unique. For most apart , this may be true The are no two pesons exactly alike. However We have a burning desire within our human nature that yearns to belong to a group. This need to belong to a group sterms from our need to be secure and safe. And also for the support we get from our pack or pride. Belonging to a group we see others as being different to us. Some how they don't measure up to the standards we set in our pack. “WE MUCH BETTER THAN THEM”
Lets take the follow analogy. group of vey academically inclined scholar can not be part of a group of
athletically inclined scholar. This often leads to bigotry. The jockes against the nerds.
The above is just an example. The are more classifications of the human race ( rich, poor, professional, labour, capitalist communist,republican, democrat,........)We chose to be in a particular group because of various reasons, some reason are be beyond our control and others are matter of our personal preference.
Being male of female was a choice beyond our control yet now if you you not satisfied with your sex you and you have enough money you can change it. Our race is something we can not change and I can not find a reason why someone will want to.
The media has created the stereotype mentality that people with fair skin are more superior more beautiful. Have you seen any movie were the heroine is dark skinned. The media is a powerful in influence our perceptions in life. They tell us what is beautiful, what is cool and were we must spend our money. The appearance of a thin fair woman eating a chocolate becomes more appetizing than a fat guy eating it. Why? Here again we want to belong to the group. Some how we are lead to believe that we are identifying with the thin fair lady when we buy the chocolate.
We are organized into thousands of different nationalities each with a complexed governments. In the free world we need to be democratic and a political party with the largest number of votes becomes the ruler of the entire nation.
So anyone one can belong to a group no matter what your education, social standings or income if you are a resisted voted you are welcome to be part of the group. I never coincided head of a country a the ruler of a country but the savant to the constituents that endowed him with such powers.
Policians are the biggest two faced , stranger to the truth you can get on the face of the planet. They promise less taxes for the rich, and more services for the poor. However when they charged more taxes for the rich the was no money for services for the poor. So the new guy that promises these things must have a very special fertiliser to make money grow. The only reason that you were allowed to vote was to inflate the leader and members of the parties ego, once they in power they have their own personal agenda.
The are other groups that we belong to some our religion, once we find what religion we are after carefully dividing subdividing we are on the way to righteous. We become better people. All religion has one fundamental teaching the respect and value fellow brothers and sister. Its the most perfect human science in the world. Yet it has been the source of wars deaths and destruction.
The need to protect the interest of this group leads toward fundamentalism ludicrousness..... the simple fact is that all fundamentalisms don't have a personal agender. They so consumed in haterate that they forgot the ration behind their action. And this creates a different group blinded by their fate for their leader.
And all this acts of distraction kicks in our animal instinct and the need for retaliation becomes a must hence a new group is born.
The need to belong to a group is to protect our own individualist. Every one acts the same, does the same. So your actions can not be condemned by the group.you also have protection from outside attacks. Any person who acts your action acts the groups action. Having strength in numbers is an advantage your actions enjoy protection from outside disapproval.
If we all know that the is a need to belong to a group then why don't we accord everyone with the same respect that we need. In doing so we will live in a better world.