Showing posts with label Writings. Show all posts
This is in continuation of Time Travel.
In the previous post, I explained the consequences of using a time machine. However, there's a bigger problem than that. The machine can only travel in time, not space.
Which means, even if we travel in time, we will be on the same spot in space. Therefore, our initial position (from where we travel in time) and our final position (where we arrive after traveling in time) will be different. How different?
The Earth rotates from west to east.
The equatorial circumference of the Earth is 40,075 km. (Source)
That means, if we're on the equator, we travel 40,075 km (in space) every day, just because of the rotation of the Earth. (From this point forward, let's assume the person who is going to travel in time does so on the equator.)
Number of minutes in one hour is 60, and number of hours in a day is 24. So, in a minute, (if at the equator) we travel x km.
x = 40,075 / 24 * 60
x = 40,075 / 1440
x = 28 (approximate value)
So, if the person travels one minute in the past, he will be 28 km west of his initial position (because the Earth rotates from west to east)
But wait. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Not only does the Earth rotate continuously, it also revolves around the sun.
The circumference of Earth's orbit around the sun is 940,000,000 km (940 million) (Source)
The Earth covers this distance in 365.25 days. (Source)
So, in a minute, the Earth travels y km.
y = 940,000,000 / 365.25 x 1440
y = 940,000,000 / 525960
y = 1787 (approximate value)
Put it all together and, in 1 minute, if your position in space remains constant,
where,
So, to overcome this problem, the time machine would also have to travel in space. Therefore, a time machine would also have to possess the ability to teleport us.
A lot of people are talking about time travel and it is one of those things that people believe would be possible in the coming future. Well, I'm no scientist. So, I don't know if it is possible scientifically. However, let's assume that it is possible and that a device capable of time travel was made.
What then? Well obviously, it has to be tested. But, how will that be done?
Two options; going into the past, or going into the future.
Let's assume Dr. T invented this device that is capable of time travel. And let's say Dr. T wants to test it by going into the past. However, he knows the consequences of messing with the past. So, he decides to just go 5 minutes back into the past, just to see if it works.
To make this post less complicated, I'll refer to Dr. T of the past as Dr. U.
If Dr. T went 5 minutes into the past, he will see Dr. U pondering over what to do with the machine. And, if he waits for 5 minutes, Dr. U will also make up his mind to go 5 minutes into the past to test his machine. And this can keep looping.
Unless, Dr. T sends a sign to Dr. U telling him that time travel is possible. That would thus tell Dr. U that his machine works and so, after 5 minutes, he won't use his machine. But, by doing that, the time that Dr. T lived in has changed. It is now a world where Dr. T doesn't go into the past.
So, Dr. T can't return to his present, because there will be another Dr. T there. However, he can't stay in this world either, because of Dr. U.
A possible way to counter this would be to ask a friend for help. Let's call him Mr. X.
Now, before Dr. T goes into the past, he tells Mr. X to kill Dr. T after he sends a sign to Dr. U. Thus, if Dr. T dies in the past, Dr. U can live on to be Dr. T and know that the time machine works.
To make things easy,
At 13:15, Present,
Dr. T: Mr. X, at 13:20, I'll travel back in time (to 13:15) and send Dr. U a sign. As soon as Dr. U gets that sign, he'll tell you. After you find out, look for me in this room, and kill me.
At 13:20, Present,
Dr. T travels back in time.
At 13:15, Past,
Dr. U: Mr. X, at 13:20, I'll travel back in time (to 13:15) and send Dr. U a sign. As soon as Dr. U gets that sign, he'll tell you. After you find out, look for me in this room, and kill me.
Now that Mr. X knows he has to kill Dr. T, Dr. T sends the sign.
At 13:16, Past,
Dr. U: It worked. Time travel is possible.
Hence, hearing of the success, Mr. X goes to the room to kill Dr. T.
At 13:20, Past,
Dr. U is confident time travel works. Mr. X has killed Dr. T. And Past is now Present.
So, just to check if time travel is possible, scientists will have to do this much thinking. And, the scientist that travels time will have to die, and let his "clone" take over.
But, what if the experiment was to travel in the future?
Going into the future is, as you'd imagine, the opposite of going into the past. The main problem with going into the past is having a clone of you. However, when you travel into the future, for the period of time you skipped, you didn't exist in the world. So, without raising any concerns, you can only travel short distances of time (in the future).
So, if Dr. T goes into the future at 13:15, and he goes to 13:20, he will have to come back to the present between 13:15 and 13:20. But, that means, travelling in the future is quite easy.
However, let's assume Dr. T lives in the year 1900 and travels 100 years into the future.
In 1900, Present,
Dr. T goes into the future.
In 2000, Future,
Dr. T sees a mobile phone and decides to bring it back with him.
In 1900, Present,
The mobile phone is now in this year. Which means, the future of the world has changed. The future that saw the invention of the phone has changed. And so, theoretically speaking, the phone that Dr. T brought back doesn't exist anymore.
So, as you can imagine, time travel is quite paradoxical. And so, I hope they never perfect it. Because, there's no saying how a small change in the past might factor into the world that we live in today.
If you could select one superpower, what would it be?It's been a very interesting question, asked a lot in Facebook groups or on pages.
For the sake of keeping it short, let's only consider controlling the 4 main elements of nature; air, earth, fire and water.
When you think about it, each of these elements can be destructive, and constructive. Air contains oxygen which is necessary for living, on the other hand, too much of air (cyclones/tornadoes) can be destructive. Water is a necessity for most living things, but then, too much water, in the form of a flood or tsunami, is destructive. Earth is a surface that we can walk on. Without it, we would just keep falling. Actually, we would just float in air, but that's a topic for another day. However, "faults" in Earth can lead to earthquakes which can result in tsunamis and floods.
But, when you consider fire, you realize that fire can cause destruction even if it's in a small quantity. Fire spreads and even a small fire can turn into a huge one and ultimately burn cities to the ground. Which is why, in my opinion, fire is the most destructive.
However, that's not the only reason for choosing fire. If you think about it, earth, water and air are necessities, fire is a luxury (read the third paragraph). Of course, you can't cook without fire, but, cooking itself is a luxury. We can eat raw fruits and vegetables, we'll still get the necessary nutrients. But, we want a better taste, so we cook it, hence, fire is a luxury. Fire also provides warmth, another reason why it's a luxury. Fire is the reason we can drive vehicles, another luxury.
Even if you look at it from a mythological point of view, fire was always held in high regard. Prometheus was a Titan (Greek mythology) who was known to give several gifts to mankind. One of them was the nourishing part of cows (or beef). But, all of this went unpunished by Zeus, the King of Gods. However, when Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus (the residence of Gods) and gave it to mankind, Zeus eternally punished Prometheus. Fire was God's greatest gift to humanity.
But, the uniqueness of fire remains constant throughout the argument. If I was to possess the power of controlling water, I would be able to breathe and stay dry underwater (by controlling the water in a definite way). If the element in question was earth, I would still be able to change the hardness of the earth to survive a fall (though the fall itself might kill me). Similarly, controlling the air, I would be able to fly, and remain unharmed in a hurricane etc.
But fire is a tricky element. No matter how precise I am with controlling fire, if my body isn't immune to heat, I wouldn't be able to effectively use fire. Because, just being near a fire is enough to feel the heat and if my body can't withstand it, controlling the flame is a useless ability.
So, if I was to choose a superpower, I wouldn't choose controlling fire. However, if I was to choose two superpowers, I would choose controlling fire and immunity to heat.
Which element would you like to control?
"Memory of an elephant" is an English proverb that means really good memory. I was a bit curious about it so I looked it up on the Internet.
Turns out, it has scientifically been proven that elephants have really good memory. (Source) But, after reading about elephants, I started reading about spiders (I don't know why)
It's been an urban myth, I guess, that a spider's legs are immune to adhesion i.e. a spider's legs can walk on sticky surfaces (webs) But, after just a minute of reading, I understood that it's not the case. A spider isn't immune to adhesion. Spiders just have the option of making sticky web and normal web.
That means, the spider remembers which part of the web is non-sticky and treads only on that part.
Even in your house, if you see a cobweb, what do you do? You remove it and kill the spider if it's nearby. But if he's not, he will weave another web and he'll have to remember which parts of it are sticky.
And that's just a common spider. Bigger spiders that live in forests weaves HUGE networks of webs and they still know which part is safe to walk on.
According to the article on elephants, one elephant remembered another one for 23 years even though they were together only for a few weeks. It's safe to say that an elephant's memory span can go up to 30 years. And according to the same article, an elephant's lifespan is 50 - 60 years. Also, elephants can keep track of around 30 companions at once.
Now, a common garden spider lives for 1 - 2 years and will remember about his webs for all his life. Bigger spiders like tarantulas live for 25 years or so, and they will remember about their webs for all their life as well.
I really hate it that the proverb is "memory of an elephant", when it could've been a number of other animals. I just happened to read about spiders and find out that they have an excellent memory as well.
Religion-wise, people can be classified into 4 categories. The first is the rapidly growing atheist category. These people have no faith in any religion. They often debate with the theists about anomalies in myths and such.
The second category is where most of today's teenagers reside. They don't actually believe in any of the stories or theories, but, they don't want to admit that they are atheists and ruin their 'image', ironically, if all these people just admitted that they were atheists, I'm pretty sure the number of atheists would be larger than the number of theists.
The third category is the smallest of all. It consists of the theists. These people, despite the fact that they believe in the existence of an almighty power, have my respect, because, they don't blindly believe. These people are mostly priests, with only a few exceptions. And, most priests (in India) don't even come under this category because, well, they just know being a 'baba' means quick money from gullible citizens. Anyway, these theists have actually studied the myths related to their religion very carefully. The don't just know the "popular" stories, they know most, if not all, of them. And, they actually follow the "amendments" strictly.
The fourth category is, as far as I know, the largest. And, in my opinion, the stupidest. Not because they believe in the existence of God. It's your life, believe in whatever you want. But, it's because they are concrete examples of ”blind-believers". It's what atheists call the theists and these people just make it worse for the real believers.
When I say blind believers, I mean, they don't know about the myths. I don't know much about Christianity, but Hinduism has a LOT of myths and different Gods and Goddesses. These people only know the very mainstream ones. But, that by itself is still fine. You believe in just one God, fine by me.
The reason they are, in my opinion, the stupidest is because they have the nerve to go around calling themselves saints. These are the same people who pick fights with atheists. Of course, a lot of atheists know myths and deities better than these people so, the argument is pretty one sided.
I mean, if you believe in one God, just do it, don't go around picking fights with people who don't. I'm not saying atheists are right either. Being one of them, I know how it is, it starts with a simple atheist post on Facebook and ends with all the fake theists on your friend list against all the atheists on your friend list. I don't know why we can't just believe/not believe without feeling the need to prove it.
And these are the people who have statuses like, "Atheists, why do you need Christmas holidays?" Well, I don't know about other atheists but, I don't mind going to school in December, but the question is, will my teachers show up? The answer to that question is because it's been declared a holiday. It's not like the theists take a leave on that day. Everyone has been given that holiday because the majority of the population took leaves anyway.
Of course, atheists make it even worse by saying, "If we can't enjoy holidays, why do you get to benefit from modern medicine? Next time you have a cold, don't go to a doctor, go to church,"
Though what pisses me off the most is the fact that these theists don't really follow their religion. As in, they go drinking, and commit all those other sins, and then when they're in trouble, they pray to God. They justify it by saying "I just drink occasionally, it's fine." It's not. If you want to be a theist, you have to follow the "rules" 24/7 till you die. I mean, by that logic, I am also allowed to kill people as long as I do it once a year or so. (It'd take a few years but, if that logic was accepted, the atheists might just be able to take over.)
To be honest, right now, I don't really want to call myself an atheist either. Not because of all the hate I get from my relatives or basically any grown up in this country (aka fake theists) but because that term is starting to become like "otaku". Everyone is just fighting amongst themselves based on their religious views.
The Hindus fight with the Muslims, the Christians and what not, while the atheists fight with all of them. If they could just stop fighting and quietly follow their religions, the world would be such a better place.
This has been a very active debate ever since atheists started openly debating about the existence of Gods. Does our life just end after we die? After all the years we spent, does our mind just stop thinking?
We're told that afterlife does exist, by a lot of people. But, the concept of afterlife is pretty mainstream in most popular religions. It states that after death, we are taken to a place where we are first judged based on all our past actions. If God thinks you were a good human, he sends you to heaven.
Heaven, a place that has increased all our expectations. We've come up with such theories about it, I doubt, even if it does exist, it's going to be as good as we expect it to be. I mean, think about it. Who made heaven? God. Who made the Earth? God. Do we like life on Earth? When you add computers, movies, food, drinks, women, yes, we do. But, heaven is like God's own place. So, obviously, there won't be any meat (unless you're christian) Drinking is considered a sin in most religions so, there won't be any kind of alcohol. God never created computers or cameras, so there won't be any kind of media to keep you entertained. And women, well, everyone thinks Heaven is a place where the residents are beautiful and they serve you as you want.
But, if you ever actually read the "rules" of most religions, you'll know that lust is also one of the deadly sins. So, it's not like you're gonna have a lot of fun with the ladies on God's turf.
And if God thinks you've sinned too much, he will send you to hell. We've all imagined hell as a place underground, where there is no food, drink, and is probably full of demons that God has damned to eternal captivity.
Some even believe in rebirth. And if I was to believe in one of these theories, I would pick this one. But, then, I found out that the theory of rebirth revolves around karma. Which means, basically, God judges your entire life and based on that, he decides which creature you'll be reborn as.
For some reason, I don't like being judged by someone who did such a bad job making certain people, so I started thinking about different methods of afterlife.
One theory that I came up with, and that I liked, was well, rebirth. But not as an animal, based on my life performance. Maybe, after we die, we are just born again, in a different dimension. Of course, if we're being reborn, we'll have memory of our life on earth.
But then, if we're living in a different dimension and if the way to get here is by dying on Earth, that means everyone in this dimension was a resident of Earth before. Then comes the question, will my body be the same? Well, no, there's no reason for it to be the same. So, you'd have a new body, maybe even a new gender, but the same mind. In this world, man trapped in a woman's body would actually make sense.
So, what happens after you die in this world? Simple, you are reborn in the next dimension. It is said that there innumerable dimensions, so, what if we just kept traveling from dimension to dimension after death. Maybe there aren't innumerable dimensions. Maybe there are only a few hundred.
But that's still a 100 hundred lives. Maybe, after we're done with all the dimensions, we are reborn on Earth again.
Next time you meet someone who claims to have reborn, you might want to think about this theory.
Another theory that I'd personally like to believe in is, we are reborn, in a different year. For example, if I die in 2015, there's a chance I'll be reborn in 2100s or even 1900s. Of course, if you're reborn in the past, you'll be in someone else's body, maybe even a popular historic figure like Hitler.
Through various movies and series, you have learned that we shouldn't change the past, but if this was true, you might be able to. And your future, the present, would completely change.
I'll conclude before this gets anymore complicated. All these are theories, there's no explanation yet, the only way to find out, is to, well, die.
I'm not a huge fan of powers like invisibility, invincibility, immortality etc. and least of all, telepathy. Telepathy is the power of sensing or reading a minds and communicating mentally. For now, let's just talk about telepathic perception that is, mind reading.
As I said, I'm not a huge fan of such powers and so, I haven't seen any movies or read any books that featured such powers, but I do remember one Marathi movie about it. It seemed like a typical movie for supernatural powers.
A guy wishes he had some power, he gets the power due to weird reasons, he realizes how much work it is, he goes through a lot of hardships, and in the end wishes to lose the power.
The movie which I remember showed one guy who wished to be able to read the mind's of women. When he got the power, he realizes how much women think about and so on. And it always bugged me how they only showed one problem behind mind reading, when there're so many.
Let's assume a kid was born with this power. First of all, he would have to grow up knowing everything his parents didn't tell him. That means, while his parents told him stories of Santa Claus, he would be hearing "Santa isn't real", when his mother tells him about the Mahabharata and Ramayana, he would her his dad think "I don't know why I ever married this girl, she believes in this story (#ArrangedMarriages)" Basically, his childhood would be screwed up.
And that's still assuming he was given some orientation, as in, not to tell his parents that he can hear their thoughts. If he was never told this, and, being naive like any other kid, he would've just told his parents. His parents, after finding out that he wasn't lying would probably be too scared to be around him, and he'd be all alone.
Now, let's assume he makes it to school. In an Indian school, there are at least 40 students in one class. So, he'd have to spend around 6 hours hearing 40 people's thoughts. And these are all kids, so they would be thinking about the most random things. Besides, because of all the "voices" in. His head, he wouldn't be able to hear what the teacher is saying. So, it's useless to go to school.
As he grows up and enters high school, it'll get even worse. High school is when every kid in class has a crush and are thinking of their crushes during boring classes. And I, personally, wouldn't even want to hear anyone's thoughts about their crush. He would know a lot of secrets. But, he can't tell them to anyone because his source is well....you know.
Worse would be him going to a movie. Even worse would be him going for Jism 2. Listening to a theater full of guys think about Sunny Leone, that can't be fun.
Of course, there are a lot of perks. He won't ever have to study. He can just copy by listening to someone. He would easily find out if a girl likes him. He can meet anyone and know their deepest secrets, a great way of helping your country, being a telepathic spy.
But then, it kinda makes you think. Maybe this power has an off-switch. As in, you can just stop reading minds for some time. But, that's exactly like logging off when a group chat is lively. You know it's just spamming you, yet, you don't want to miss if, in case, something does happen.
So, would you still like to have this power?
I can understand the motive behind festivals. They're based on some historical event or according to some calendar etc, and religious people celebrate it with the proper rituals etc.
What I don't understand is, days like Mother's Day, Teacher's Day etc.
Teacher's Day, in that list, is the one that bugs me the most.
First of all, it's a different date in every country. I mean, it's an internationally celebrated day, why do you need separate dates for it? Are you worried one country's celebration will interrupt another country's celebration? Or that there's going to be too much celebration that day so it should be restricted to one country at a time?
In India, we celebrate it by having presentations for the teachers, usually a dance, skit/play, or speeches. And then, in some cases, the seniors teach the juniors while the teachers take the day off.
That's how we celebrate teacher's day in our school. From August, we start begging teachers for some time to discuss what we want to do. Then we start begging for practice time while negotiating with the teacher to let us celebrate it.
Then on the 5th, we make the teachers gather everyone in one place. We present whatever it is that we have done.
My question is, why do you need a day to show your gratitude? Because, seriously, that's the only day when students respect their teachers.
Every other day, it's just teasing behind their backs, irritating them to no end etc. So, why go out of your way to dance for them? Simple, you get a break from studies and a lot of free periods.
But, then, there are those speeches. Those emotional speeches that say how glad we all are to have teachers like you. And the very next day, we irritate you in our class, and you scold us to no end.
We know that no matter how much you scold us, you still care very much about us and you only scold us because we're doing something wrong.
And you know that we don't actually hate you and it's just human nature to slightly rebel against any authority figure.
So, why put up a show for all this?
And the most hilarious part about Teacher's Day is, the children are never wished on Children's Day. Teachers don't put up a show on Children's Day. In fact, this year, we had to remind our teachers that it was Children's Day. It was a childish thing to do, we're not considered children any more, but, there should be some reciprocated celebration.
And the grown-ups justify this by saying "every day is children's day". Well, it's not. If it is, they have a very bad way of celebrating it by yelling to our faces.
The same goes for the other days like Mother's Day, Father's Day (If it even exists) etc.
The worst of all, in my opinion, is Valentine's Day.
Sad part is, not many people know about it's origin. Not that they care, they just like to do what all people do, stupidly follow the trend without caring what it's about.
The story says that Saint Valentinus used to perform weddings for soldiers who had sworn not to marry. And it was said that when he was jailed for his actions, he (magically) healed the daughter of the person who jailed him. And he was later executed for all that he had done.
So, basically, we're all celebrating the fact that some priest, who married a bunch of people who weren't supposed to get married, was killed for spreading love.
What a romantic day!
I don't understand the need for this occasion either. Couples celebrate it by exchanging flowers, gifts and going out to a nice restaurant or something. I'm not saying every date is like that but Valentine's Day is nothing different. It's just a bit more fancy.
Valentine's Day is a relationship's equivalent of an Apple product. It costs more, but does the same thing that any other day does.
