Siri - Where will it take us?

The most entertaining and a marvel the technology is, Siri or a little different app Google Now, just amazing how machines can predict and help us in our daily endeavours. 

But the conservative me worry will it a Siri make people mollycoddle themselves through the machine, develop a safe relationship - no threat of conflict, heartbreak and always getting an answer which is positive, encouraging or fun. Will it keep adults as child, the child is in a constant state of parents protecting them from the life and Siri will protect them from any negative influence. The parent  replaced by the technology applications. 

Will people start obsessing the Siri's and fall in love with them? The next step which this will take is one can custom and have the voice of Siri to match your lover's voice (I don't know if it is already there but I am sure it will come), imagine then what kind of relationships it will breed?

What if Siri starts understanding moods, emotions will it replace the girlfriend or the boyfriend? Many questions and will be interesting to watch how life unfolds with technology.....

What kind of people are we breeding?

What kind of people we seem to be growing?  The recent gun shoot @ Connecticut make me wonder. Some believe it can all be curbed by a stricter control on guns, by passing a law, I wish it was so simple a law making it all set right. 

It will have some positive impact but the malady which seems to affect our society is much deeper. All the gun law will do is an Adam Lanza (the shooter) will have to use knife instead of a gun, maybe the no of people killed will drop, but will it stop producing more Lanzas?

Some reports mention Adam Lanza's mother was a strict control freak, and that could have been one of the reasons besides the divorce which impacted Adam, I wonder if her Mother was to be assessed for being a good parent, do we have a good parenting law? I know it is funny, but I don't think there are any solution in controls we can put as laws, the real reason for what is happening around us is much deeper and complicated. 

And it is not about the Connecticut, it is also about the Jacintha who killed herself, what made her so weak to commit suicide, why could her close and dear ones not give her a patient ear and helped her in life much earlier to be stronger,  it is also about the radio jockey of Australia, what has made them to be so rude and insensitive that poor Jacintha was at the receiving end?  

We may lament about the developed world and their lack of religion or values but India is not behind, what bred the acid attackers of Sonali Mukherjee? or the Ponty Chadha shootout between brothers?

The other question the whole episode brings is how come this happens a lot in US, the best place for education, the most well read, scientist people making great strides reside there, the newest technologies are there for your help, the best government administrative set up, cutting research on psychology, happiness, most self help gurus, best selling wisdom authors. You name whatever the best of society is there, it has a big place in US. Then why does it keep happening there? 

The ways of today's life are they on false foundations? Or am I raising just a false alarm, after all genocide in yesteryears in the name of race or killings in the name of religion were equally big and evil.

Uncertainity

Embrace relational uncertainty. It's called romance. Embrace spiritual uncertainty. It's called mystery. Embrace occupational uncertainty. It's called destiny. Embrace emotional uncertainty. It's called joy. Embrace intellectual uncertainty. It's called revelation.

- Mark Batterson -

Yet again on Purpose....2

Purpose is Happiness
Happiness is Within,
Within is a journey.

A journey of endless miles,
A journey of multiple goals.

Action is the measure,
Growth is the measure,
Happiness is the measure,
Journey is the Purpose.
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This has become my favourite topic, I am obsessed with this question, partly as I cannot handle unsolvable riddles, and this riddle which I have been grappling me has reached a point that I need to have a clear point of view if not a solution.. :)

Here I go once again, my last blog brooded on - if there is any purpose per se? I was saying no there is none, and largely I tend to agree with that thought process and this is in continuation of the same thought process. Mostly we confuse good deeds as purpose, it is good for humankind and a worthy effort, it is to be appreciated but is that the purpose? My answer is no. 

The confusion which purpose as a word has created is largely due to surplus wealth, comfort and free time. People in earlier ages were busy in meeting ends and this was never a question. 

If you look at developed nations, the dominant thought on purpose, as their self help books and the numerous inspirational books define is - finding your passion, honing it and living it. The life as they see it is about fulfilling self, the premise is based on the fact that we are to serve ourselves first, each is responsible for self. In a way if we think deeply into this theory, it is about reaching your best possible potential, through developing a deep rooted attachment to an activity and spending hours of practice to become an expert. Spending hours can only happen as an outcome of deep rooted attachment. Further this philosophy assumes by doing this one will be a top ranked in the field, this is the main reason why the majority does not benefit from it. The assumption is deep rooted attachment will lead to expertise and you will be at the top, but unfortunately top place is only for 1 or few and we are billions and billions of souls residing on this planet. 

If you look at eastern philosophical constructs, the purpose has to have a higher purpose which would end in knowing the god, reaching perfection what mankind is capable of, not in material world but in the world of spirits or heaven or how god is defined. So the life purpose is about discovering the ultimate truth. This is a difficult ask as it involves giving up a lot of comfort and attachments, this is the reason a majority of us find it difficult to walk this path. 

The above 2 theories are on the extreme end, there are numerous theories which are in between the 2 extremes. Whatever said and done the above 2 extremes have one end in common - happiness of self, maximizing happiness and ending the suffering the difference is one is based on life ends here and hence maximising through your strengths and the other is based on life is beyond here and hence working for happiness beyond this life. 

If you closely examine further each has a worthy goal which keeps us occupied, fills our free time and gives us a purpose, of moving ahead to achieve and gives us the happiness we are looking for

To simplify this  - There is no elevated purpose, the purpose qualifies to  be purpose if it leads to an outcome of happiness. Happiness is the end of any purpose you choose.  

It can begin by having a goal, big or small. The journey to achieve it can itself be fulfilling if we do not get obsessed by the end but the continuous improvements you bring about from where you are, these improvements may not come instantly and may require days, sometime ages but the journey and effort is what it counts. 

The next question is what is the goal one can aspire for? We have multiple needs and the goals you set have to fulfil those needs, it begins with knowing yourself and knowing your real needs, this is an iterative process and hence goals will keep moving. 

The needs can limit to yourself or can be beyond you, can change for you from time to time. If you are single, it is more about personal needs, when married with kids it is beyond you, if you have dependent parents, the circle beyond extends more, and if you are really strong, prosperous, gifted the circle can grow further for community, nation, world. 

It is about the goals which grow you, make stronger, help conquer negativity, fear and infuse positivity, happiness, courage and in effect help fulfil your needs which will make you happier. 

Yet again on Purpose...

This seems to be my favourite topic.. comes from a deep desire to do more out of life, and perhaps also has to do with the way my life is going on currently.. at work front I have accomplished quite a bit but my heart keeps telling me life is much beyond it.. And because I am working hard I am unable to get time to give time to other activities which I think could help me extract more from life. ..I want more and hence it bothers me -  what can I do more to have even more out of life... It also has to do with the fact that I have no other distraction in life it is either work or me.. there are no addictions, kids, partners who fill up the time and leave no room for such questions.. I am back yet again on what more? What more, the question makes me feel greedy, however I am not perturbed.. I am greedy for life, happiness, fulfilment. 

Though I have tried to answer this question couple of  times earlier, those attempts I tried to make a roadmap on how one can have a purpose.. feel inadequate, put sustained effort and commit... it will come.. it has been more to do away with inertia.. but currently I am stuck up with a tangential thought and that is  - is there a purpose? Is it not an illusion? Is it not just a defence mechanism to give yourself to hard work without thinking of what I will achieve? It is perhaps a way of coming to this answer through elimination.. so here I go

The thought rests in the fact that after all life ends in ashes, and none remembers. It ends and even if it may have been etched in some history books.. you are no longer living it.. someone is just reading it to get kicks for her life.. The first point is life ends so where will any purpose take you, anyway.. so why bother so much of accomplishing and trying to create a monument of your life which may some day be called the 9th wonder of world? Is it worth it? My point is that purpose is not leaving your name in history books for next generation.. It is not about creating any edifice, of becoming the richest, the smartest.. it ends all ends... If it is not about achievement then what can be purpose about.. all the purpose people talk and I have till now heard is about where do you want to be...

The new age psychologists who study fulfilment through work these days, say it is about aligning your life with your motivations and value system through a series of positive actions.. These are rooted in your personality which is stable over time, align it and you feel good.. for example you may value altruism so you find ways to align your actions around that.. or you may value money so you align yourself towards work which gives you the same.. Alas this also does not answer, as we a re so multidimensional and motivations are like a shifting goal post, you have money and you will need power, you have power and you may need fame, you have that and you may need something else.. It is a circle and desires in general don't fulfil anything..fulfilling desires is impossible and my point is it is also not a purpose.. so what is left to have a purpose?

If you are reading this at this point, you may want to raise your hand and say purpose is about helping others in need.. The question is  - Is it a purpose or a worthy action? Help people in need cannot be a purpose but a responsibility, a higher action in the hierarchy of actions categorized under humanity... A way to pay it back for all you have got from others, a way to acknowledge that all of us are social animals and need love, help, support and it does not come unless we extend it ourselves. A way to a peaceful life, a way to fulfil a deep desire which we all have of seeking love and companionship, and it is only possible if we also give.. it is not a one way traffic.. overall energy on the planet remains same, it can be rooted in goodness or evil.. the more goodness the more happiness.. These actions are not purpose but the right way to act, even in this there are so many variants, causes to work for - education, people with special needs, poverty, sick, environment, corruption, etc. These actions are important to do our bit to save humanity for a future generation, make future life better and not a purpose...

If purpose is not achievement, fulfilling needs, doing good - Can there be a purpose? is purpose a myth an intellectual debate of mind to keep us distracted from what we must do, a strategy of mind to make us lethargic, keep us away from hard work in the work we have taken, in fulfilling responsibility? a way of mind to procrastinate, not accept our imperfections by believing we are not being perfect as it is not what we really are meant to do.. I don't know 

By writing again and again on this, I am convinced, there is no higher purpose to be looked for. Purpose for me is to be honest with life, taking the daily life steps with all I have got, to handle the questions of life rooted in here and now. Future is unpredictable I just need to find a balance between my responsibility towards my self, others who are my responsibility - kids, partner, parents, friends and towards my desires which make me feel good.. All bounded within a value system which constitute good karma, which means I don't act in fear, greed, weakness, don't harm someone for my gain..... 

It is about a balance between responsibility, love n care and my desires. A balance much hard to achieve as life has much subjectivity, each moment testing us to take decision which can either bring this balance or disrupt it....Right effort for the same is the purpose, that's all ! Discovering yourself is the purpose, that's all! Trying to move ahead is the purpose, that's all......

Purpose...

"We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it.-- Wendell Berry