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Some basic to know to about CBSE Exams, just to handle pressure of time

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:03:41 +0000

By: Adarsh Sharma

ICSE and CBSE and are two major Central Board department. These conduct 10th and 12th examinations at national level.

Both ICSE and CBSE board organise 10th and 12th examinations, but there is a basic difference between both of them. While CBSE has full fledged control over syllabus and curriculum of CBSE 10th Question Paper and 12th question papers as well, the ICSE board is only responsible for the syllabus and curriculum being studied in class 10th or 12th. Varied private and government schools are linked with ICSE and CBSE Boards all over India. Although, ICSE and CBSE boards have acquired equal value, students prefer CBSE board because most of the competitive exams are based on the same syllabus. That is the reason why most of the private schools like to get affiliated by the CBSE board.

Talking to the point, it is not an easy task to solve the CBSE 12th Question Papers because it needs more hard labour and concentration. They consist of varied types of questions, which are not constrained only to the school or college examinations. It involves more. The Question Papers of CBSE 10th exam are very much crucial in the student’s career, because of the fact that it is a parameter to judge yourself for the upcoming 12th standard. Many a times percentage in different subjects decide the stream of the student, whether it’s commerce, science and arts in the 12th class.

Board Exams is a kind of medium by which we get to know what we have learnt so far. First, we need to go through previous year’s CBSE sample Papers as well as 12th question papers, to have an idea of the paper’s pattern, before sitting for the exams. Acknowledgment with pattern plays a very important role, while solving the Question paper.

Duration of time for the Examinations

For CBSE 12 th question paper or CBSE 10th Question Papers, maximum time duration given is 3 hours, with grace time of 10-15 minutes, so that students can scan the paper and then formulate a strategy to crack. Furthermore, preparation for CBSE exams can be done in different ways, which entirely depends on the comfort of a student. Although, a couple of basic things should be kept in mind to score well in exam.

First of all, read all the relevant material on thorough basis. More often, a lot of information are available, but one need to be selective with the topics, which are important, while leaving the topics of less importance at exam time. Time – table can help you too, as you can give equal weightage to the subjects in line. Although, recreation should be given due importance in this regard to fresh up your mind for better performance every time.

Testing for the effects of Music on Reading Comprehension Skills under Different Music Environments

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:42:40 +0000

By: Ardeshir Sadehkhou

References

Boyle, R., & Coltheart, V. (1996). Effects of irrelevant sounds on phonological coding in reading comprehension and short-term memory. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 49A(2), 398-416. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1080/027249896392702

Collins, M. W., & Levy, B. A. (2008). Developing fluent text processing with practice: Memorial influences on fluency and comprehension. The Canadian Psychologist. 49(2), 133-139. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1037/0708-5591.49.2.133

Furnham, A., & Allass, K. (1999). The influence of musical distraction of varying complexity on the cognitive performance of extroverts and introverts. European Journal of Personality. 13(1), 27- 38. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099- 0984(199901/02)

Furnham, A., & Bradley, A. (1997). Music while you work: The differential distraction of background music on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extroverts. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 11(5), 445-455. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099- 0720(199710)

Klauda, S., & Guthrie, J. (2008). Relationships of three components of reading fluency to reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology. 100(2), 310-321. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.100.2.310

Oron-Gilad, T., Ronen, A., & Shinar, D. (2008). Alertness maintaining tasks (AMTs) while

driving. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 40(3), 851-860. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2007.09.026

Registrar, D., Darrow, A., Standley, J., & Swedberg, O. (2007). The use of music to enhance reading skills in second grade students and students with reading disabilities. Journal of Music Therapy. 44(1), 23-37. Retrieved September 09, 2008.

Savolainen, H., Ahonen, T., Aro., M., Tolvanen, A., & Holopainen, L. (2008). Reading comprehension, word reading and spelling as predictors of school achievement and choice of secondary education. Learning and Instruction. 18(2), 201-210. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.017

Smith, A. (2005). Aircraft and road traffic noise and children’s cognition. The Lancet,

336(9487), 715-716. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1016/S0140- 6736(05)67174-7

Yao, S., Kuo-En, C., & Jung, Huang (2008). Improving children’s reading comprehension and use of strategies through computer-based strategy training. Computers in Human Behavior. 24(4), 1552-1571. Retrieved September 09, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2007.05.009

Testing the Effects of Music on Reading Comprehension Skills under Different Music Environments

The influence of background music on working cognitive memory has been a debate and has become a subject that has gotten many psychological researches involved. At the same time, thanks to the advancement of technology, we now can listen to music almost wherever we may end up going. Background music while studying has become an almost every day task for students. Many students listen to music while they study. Do we want our students listening to music while they study?

School achievement clearly predicts future educational attainment (Savolainen, Ahonen, Aro, Tolvanen and Hlopainen, 2008). As we see on a daily basis, this habit is well accepted in most institutions and there is nothing that is being done to ban it, not to mention the fact there is no research with data that would back such arguments whether it’s for this habit of against it. (Darrow, Standley and Swedberg, 2007, p. 25) state in their study that according to (Tucker, 1981) “it is widely believed that music learning, music reading and/or, music participation enhance academic achievement, especially reading and math.”

Other researchers have measured the influence of background music on cognitive performance (Furnham and Allass, 1999), however that is considered as background noise which is playing from a stereo possibly located somewhere around the subject. Our research is measuring their comprehension abilities while the subject is listening to music with their headphones on.

To understand the affects of background music on reading comprehension we must be able to measure their comprehension and then control the environment with music.

The affects of music on concentration while driving has also been looked at to see if music could possibly have an effect on fatigue in which some drives might experience. (Gilad, Ronen and Shinar, 2007).

It is important to look further into the details of this habit that is little by little taking over most college students. Why would anyone not like listening to their favorite music while studying? However, will this practice hurt the individuals at the end of their study sessions by interfering with their comprehension skills while they read?

Though a number of studies have researched similar ideas, such as memory recall while listening to music, reading comprehension measurements while listening to music and while in complete silence, they haven’t so far tested for music in which the individual might find motivating to study in.

Reading in many ways is like driving, and includes many tasks that the individual must complete to comprehend the material well. Music could in a sense make you more alert just like it does to drives who listen to music when they drive.

Over a relatively short period of time, a reader progresses from laborious word by word decoding to quickly and accurately understanding the constructing meaning contained in sentences, paragraphs, and entire passages (Collins and Levy, 2008). According to (Gilad, Ronen and Shinar, 2007), psychological fatigue, on the contrary, is a subjective experience of disinclination to continue performing the task at hand. Therefore if music takes away the individuals focus away from the fatigue, it might actually do less harm than originally thought.

Once we take this important issue in account, we can then draw a closer line to the conclusion and expand our understanding of this habit and what it can and can’t do for the students.

This research will be similar to current researches in many ways, yet will have other ways to measuring for accuracy. It is our goal to only look at the short-term effects of music on reading comprehension. There are studies out in which the researchers have measured cognition between children who were raised in areas where the traffic noise and aircraft noise was high vs. children who lived in quite areas (Stanfeld, 2005). We are also staying away from measuring memory by making the passage available for the subjects to go back to whenever they might need to.

“Measuring for phonological codes in reading comprehension has been the subject of investigation for many years” (Boyle and Coltheart, 1996). As stated by this very article the answers to component which are essential for short-term memory has still remained unanswered.

Throughout this study, it is predicted for the individuals who listen to music to have a lower reading comprehension level than the other two controls. The second group in which the individuals get to listen to their own favorite music is predicted to do better than the last group in which we choose the music, however worst than the group who do the task in silence.

It is also predicted that the music which is playing in the subject’s ear, whether it is their choice of music or ours will interfere with their comprehension and delay their understating of materials within the context of the passage.

For example, the subjects might need to read the same sentence(s) more than once in order to comprehend the full meaning of the author.

By confirming this hypothesis, one can decide on the study skills he or she might want to get used to. Once we reach our conclusion in this study, it will implicate the very fact that music is good but only to a certain degree such as driving. However it is an unnecessary tool for students to use while they study. If the comprehension levels are lower when the individual is listening to music, it will set the ground for major studies to follow and possibly making this an epidemic. This study is a very small step in summarizing and concluding this issue, and there hasn’t been a significant amount of evidence based on the research done. However, we wish to confirm our hypothesis as far as the effects of music on reading comprehension.

Although the majority of research show a strong correlation between music and cognitive tasks, and even succeeding and doing better in special education students, they fail to control for music the is the choice of the subject.

This study was designed to investigate the correlation between individuals who listen to music while reading a passage and compare their comprehension levels to the subjects who read their passages in silence and compare those levels with subjects who read passages while listening to the music they have chosen as their favorite music which in many cases is a type of music that will motivate them.

Method

Participants

We will be using 60 participants for our study. We will use 20 participants for each of the three conditions. The participants will be assigned to the randomly assigned conditions in sets of 5. We will have a total of 12 sets of participants, 4 sets per condition. We will randomly assign the conditions by writing each condition on pieces of paper, placing them in a bag, and drawing them out one by one. Our selection procedure is based on the qualification of being able to read English fluently and participants must be a Psychology 150 and/or 250 students whom will be notified by the school’s research management website also known as “Sona System” once our research methods are approved by the board. The participants will get credit for their participation. The credit authorization will be filled out by us, the researcher, and we will also list their credits on the Sona System.

Materials

The participants will be given a 5 page booklet, a pencil and a stop watch for their timing purposes. We will also be using a desktop PC if available in the research rooms or we will provide a laptop for the purposes of playing a CD and accessing the World Wide Web to find the participant’s music of choice. The participants in the conditions with music will be advised to bring their own headphones, and if for any reason they forget to bring their own, they will be given a headphone which they can keep at the end of the research session.

Procedures

Our research is measuring the level of reading comprehension of the participants based on three different conditions. Condition one involves no music, condition two involves listening

to music that has been chosen by the researcher and condition three involves the participants listening to the music of their choice. All conditions will require the participant to read the passage that is being provided to them. The participants will be given an introduction to what they will be doing.

This introduction will take just under one minute. They will be told about the booklet and the 10 questions which they will have to answer following reading the passage. We will tell the participants that they can go back to the passage whenever they feel necessary, since this is NOT a memory research. They will be informed that they can use any way they are most comfortable with, whether it be search and destroy method, in which the participant can read the questions first one by one then going through the passage to look for answers or they can read the passage then start to answer the questions and go back if they needed to.

In all three conditions, the participants will be given a total of 8 minutes to complete reading the passage and answering the questions. They will also be informed that they may NOT guess on any questions. If they can’t find it, they will have to move on or if they don’t have enough time to finish, they will have to leave the questions blank.

The researcher will ask the participant to place his/her pencil on the table and STOP after the 8 minutes has lapsed. For the participants in which the condition requires listening to music we will provide ear phones which are either connected to a PC in the research rooms or a laptop

which will be able to play a CD. For all participants we have decided to use Classical Jazz by Sade and the song is called “The Sweetest Taboo”.

The participants will be given 1 minute to come up with the 5 songs of their choice in the condition in which the participant uses the music of their choice. We will then take an extra

minute to find one of their songs on the World Wide Web. They will then also be given the headphones along with their favorite music playing ON REPLAY for the duration of the 8 minutes.

The total duration for the experiment will take no more than 15 minutes. Once the participants are done with the passage, they will get debriefed and credit will be given to them for their class participation purposes.

Results

Within all the groups, the total number of participants was 56. There were 46 females and 10 males. There were 82% females and 18% males. The mean of their ages was 20. The median of their ages was 19 and the mode of their ages stood at 18. The standard deviation of the ages was calculated to be 4.692. The minimum age was of the participants was 18 and the maximum age was 50. The variance age of the groups was 22.015.

For Condition #1 in which we had No Music, we had 20 participants, which equaled to 35.7% of the total participants. For Condition #2 in which the participants listened to Jazz Music, we had 18 participants, which equaled to 32.15% of the total participants. For Condition #3 in which the participants chose their Own Music, we had 18 participants, which equaled to 32.15% of the total participants.

Over 75% of the scores were above the 50%tile rank and 27% of the scores were perfect. Also, 5% got zero questions right. The mean score was 6.59. The median score was 6 and the mode score was 10. The standard deviation of the scores was calculated to be 2.84.

The minimum score was 0 and the maximum score was 10. The scores ranged from 0 to 10. The variance of the scores was 8.065.

Between all of our participants 53.36% were freshman totaling 31 students, and 23.21% were sophomores, totaling 13 students. Also, 19.64% were juniors, totaling 11 student and 1.79% seniors totaling 1 student. From the whole participant pool, 46.43% of our subjects normally listened to music while studying which equals to 26 students.

A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated on participants’ ratings of reading comprehension scores. The independent variable was the music conditions in which the participants read the article under. The dependent variable was the measurement of reading comprehension based on their scores. The higher the score the higher the participant’s reading comprehension level. The analysis was significant, F(2, 55) = 35.98, p < 0.05. A post-hoc analysis showed that the participants in the No Music condition outperformed both the participants in the Jazz Music condition and Their Own Music condition; also there was a significant difference between the participants in Their Own Music condition and the Jazz Music Condition where the participants in Their Own Music condition outperformed the participants in Our Music Condition.

The aesthetics fraud

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:36:07 +0000

By: Lamotte Jean-Luc

To prepare this talk, I opened the Petit Robert, and I read, at the entry “aesthetic” and the beginning of the following definition: “science of beauty …” I immediately stopped my reading, because only in these three words make clear enough the imposture of Aesthetics, which I believe, for my part, as the false science of a false object.

False object, because what we call “beauty” is absolutely scientifically unsuitable: we speaks of a beautiful poem, a beautiful car, a nice gesture, a beautiful sunset, etc. This does not mean at all that there is no reflection on what is beautiful, but today I reject the consideration of this issue to speak only of the aesthetics as false science. Why a false science? Simply because aesthetics explains nothing just as arts. We immediately returned to the question: what is it to explain? And it is this question that I will start by answering.

You may know that there are two main explanatory perspectives: to explain it always returns to a phenomenon in principle, but principle -be careful here- is to be understood as a logically model and a chronologically contemporary antecedent phenomenon observed, either as an origin, a principle logically similar to the observed phenomenon, but chronologically earlier than him. I will immediately give you an example. Consider a bird perched on a branch. Suddenly, hop! He is gone. Well, the explanation is twofold. First explanation: why this bird has flown away? Because he heard the sound of a gunshot. Why has he heard a gunshot? Because Mr. Smith went out hunting. Why Mr. Smith has he gone hunting? Because he was fed up of his wife’s complains. (And you realize that we may well go back to the original domestic scene -this is the case to say! –the one of Adam and Eve). Second explanation why the bird has flown away? Because he is capable of flight. Why is he capable of flight? Because he has wings. Why does he have wings? Because he must ensure sustenance in the air. Why should he sustain them in the air? Because, given the gravity and density of the air…etc… So, first, the explanation has a chronological priority from the origin explanation which is by the logical antecedent model.

However, I will, first speak about art, the explanation by it origin. In a second time, I will talk about, in the same area of course, the explanation of model. And I will conclude by offering some thoughts. So, first, the explanation by it origin.

What has given this explanation by origin in our faculties of letters? History of art. What that means, except that it only adds obscurity to another? Indeed, the history of art explains nothing, for two reasons. The first is that this discipline has been unable to distinguish art (singular) and styles (plural), as when we say: “Roman style”, “Gothic style,” “Baroque style” etc. The second reason is that without having a proper theory of history that would clarify it, for example, concepts such as interaction, interference, influence, loan…it turns to the chronological catalog. You see that everything can be blamed for the History of Art, because it defines neither art nor history. This must be done! Knowing that it does not define anything, we understand that it is doomed to a totally useless encyclopedia.

Similarly, if you open a “History of Literature,” as large as it is, you will learn nothing about what some call the “literariness” No more than if you open a “History of Religions…” Look, I have a very good friend (she may be here tonight), who wants to read from beginning to end an enormous work of Mircea Eliade entitled History of beliefs and religious ideas. Obviously, she reached an age where these questions start to work on her! But then there! The book covers in two or three thousand pages, the whole world (I mean the whole world), since the “Stone Age” to today. This is an erudite work: this guy knows everything! Absolutely everything! So I told her: “But my poor dear, before you finish reading that thing, you are no longer of this world! Rather read one or two letters of Mother Teresa that have been translated into English”. Nothing to do. She objected me: “I am learning”. And that is what I want! I bet my bottom dollar that she will never know what a belief or an idea is (religious or not, it does not matter here.)

Let us return to our business. What is, however, interesting in the schools of letters, is the training received by the “art” students (that is relatively new). What does the expression, that the schools of letters have finally admitted that “All the same, in art, there is a little technical, a little manipulation, it should not be forgotten,” etc.? Under these conditions, you see that the existence of “art” is a sign of repentance so that clears a few teachers of Art History and Aesthetics of teachers to neglect the art. And then they have to take into account at least a little of “manipulations” to train those in my time we called drawing teachers. It is nevertheless true that training in art remains a poor relation, because as you all know, what matters in France at least, it is the bullshit.

More you spiel, the more you climb of steps on Jacob’s ladder of grades and treatments! While down there (we almost forget!) there are the Artists. They are not very troubles because they do not know cause any. And it is true: the experience taught me. When I was a young adult, Aimé Maeght had some interest in me because I made a few scribbles, and he presented me in his gallery, I met Giacometti, Miro, and Braque (and so on). Well, you can not imagine the intellectual idiocy of these people! Sad, but quite normal: cause of their art is not their thing. They do, and that, believe me, it is a sacred ball game (and then not given to everyone). What I just wanted to tell you is that there are people, like artists, with who do far exceeds the ability to explain what they do, and they do it very well. In other words, this is not because someone is not able to explain what he does (he will be a very bad teacher!) He can not show you how he does it. That is why, in my time, when speaking to an artist, they said, “Master.” It was not at all flattery: he was called “Master” as in corporatism; they spoke of “master craftsman.” Well, what did this master do? He showed in silence to his companions, what he knew to do, and they gradually “learner,” I mean they “took” from the master their practice.

So, the more bullshit, the higher we go up. Artists are down (Oh, if we could do without it!). At the level just above artists, you have the plastics, causing still a little. But as they work, so they tend to talk about what they do, too. A level above, there are the historians of art, who do nothing but talk, and the climax is what I would call the “Transcendental Aesthetic” in Malraux. Here we are in full nirvana is the mystical delirium, that is to say that completely derailed. And that, in general, for philosophers, who are the virtuous of this kind of sport.

And now for the explanation of “literary” by its origin. I turn now to the model of explanation. Here, I would be much shorter. Why? Because no thinker, never modeled, if only a small field of art… Except one! Believe me, I have read a lot about art (too much, indeed!). Well, the only book of Aesthetics that really made a difference to me, is the work of Pierre Schaeffer, a Polytechnic student (not a chance!), who has devoted his entire life trying to model; I mean to propose a scientific theory of music. He died like ten years ago, and his book, the first edition, in Seoul in 1966, entitled Treatise on musical objects. Well, what is needed here is to arrive to talk about a painting, for example, in terms as precise and technical than those used by Schaeffer to talk about music. Everything, absolutely everything, is to do! It should even begin to acquire or build, imagine a totally new vocabulary to talk scientifically not only about music, but also painting, dance, sculpture, etc. We are facing an absolutely colossal task, and may raise generations and generations of researchers! I used the phrase “scientifically speaking” to mean what? Simply what is known in science as the “nature” of theory. What is a theory? To see clearly, neither more nor less. You may know that the word “theory” comes from a Greek word theamai that means “see” and that given in English, the word “theater” (theatron in Greek).

That said, I come to the third part of my presentation, namely the one I will suggest some ways forward. I leave a note on the fundamentally abstract art. Usually, they speak of abstraction in terms of cognition (logos.) But what we must understand is that abstraction is not a matter of logic: it is a matter of technique. There would be no art if we did not have the technical ability of abstraction, and that is why all art is abstract. The “concrete art” does not exist, so there is no more “concrete music” than there is “concrete dance” and “concrete painting”, etc. Plato, Kant and Hegel had indeed found that art is abstract: they bound to the intelligible, and they were absolutely right. But the trouble is that, for them, the intelligible was the logos, that is to say the word, language, or the trial. Automatically, this reduction due to the logos has gone astray because they do not understand that there is in man a technical rationality. So it is not worth to read them!

To explore the abstract nature of art, it is better to study the drawings of children in a kinder garden class. But for that one that is interested in this child’s drawing, it took the venting process of painting done by the Surrealists to say this time of the modern art when art was no longer subservient to the resemblance. This has freed everyone. But what should grasp is why the kid’s drawing is necessarily and immediately, spontaneously, abstract. But as it does not give the ability to ignore the child, refuses to believe that it is rational and verbally and technically. Personally, I think we should consider the child’s drawing to study from life, technique abstraction. But for that it must make its production an object of study and not an object of admiration. We all tend, insofar as they are our little darlings who do this to save the museum. Even in schools, the masterpieces can be visited. It is the “gallery!” And I compare readily the child’s drawing of the cartoon. It said: “The cartoon? Minor art!. Absolutely not! The caricature drawing as a child, means a hell of analysis! Analysis of what? Everything that is there, and there are theories to the issue. But you quite realize the abstraction of caricature. A caricature is almost as abstract as a painting the Mona Lisa, which is perhaps in any Western painting, the height of abstraction!

Of course, we must go much further. When, for example, a mathematician sees an apple what attract his attention? The geometry of the sphere. But it is also what interests Cézanne! I mean that abstraction is exactly the same. The mathematician and the artist do not address the sphere of the same way, of course, but they are also abstract. Another example, take the high fashion. When you see a parade of models, you say: “It is not possible! No women will wear that! This is not done! It means that the eye of big fashion -Christian Lacroix, for example -is a geometric look exactly like the eye of the artist. What he captures in there, this is not the woman he could not care. A Dress Made by an artist in high fashion is not meant to be worn, as well as Cézanne’s apples are not made to be eaten. What interests Christian Lacroix is a geometric body, just as in architecture, we have a geometric habitat. Besides, is it a coincidence that “habit” and “habitat” are two words very related? (There is certainly no coincidence that the Latin word habitus, meaning “way of being,”) In short, the dress in “haute couture” and the Parthenon, is strictly the same thing! With Gagnepain, called “figure” almost geometric sense, these two types of art.

But this art abstraction is evident not only in technical rationality terms but also in rationality verbal terms . Thus, just as Cézanne’s apples are not made to be eaten, and the dress by Christian Lacroix, as it is an art, not made to be worn, so the message report called the poem is not to say something (example: “Honey, can you pass me the bread?.”) The poem is, basically talking without saying anything, since the message is taking he to be, just as in the figure, the path (or, if you want the gesture) is taken him to be. That is what showed in my opinion and definitely a great linguist, I am referring to Roman Jacobson. In his famous tests of general linguistics, published, also in 1966, analyzing the various “functions” of language, Jacobson makes room to participate in the “poetic function” as it defines how the message has “return to the message:” “The sight (Einstellung) of the message as such, the focus on the message for its own account, is what characterizes the “poetic function.” What does this mean? Jacobson takes an illustration the political slogan: I like Ike (Ike is the nickname of Eisenhower, presidential candidate of his country). You see clearly that the “poetic function” of Jacobson defines the method of producing a message that is also a quote to him, the concepts of rhyme and rhythm. In other words, a poem, phonologically (in the guise of sound) or semi logically (under the aspect of meaning) is a refrain and a cover. And this revival is the fact that the poem has to say, poetically, that is to say as it is Art, is nothing other than what it is. The poem gives us its own law. If I tell you:

“In Paris

On a gray horse

In Nevers

On a horse…?

…Green, of course! You have no more choice than Max Jacob had. That is what we call “inspiration.” You see it is quite simple: “In Paris …”

In short, you can say now that a poem is the linguistic structure is itself the object. This makes the importance of prosody (metrical verse, melody, rhythm, etc.) There is no question of talking to eye on the “final without end,” the “useful or pleasant,” the purging of the passions and the devil and all his train. You tell me that it is formal art. Of course it is a technicality, since the language is taking him to be not said! And just for music. I will tell you a true story from the life of Bach. One evening, Bach was playing a sonata in the living room of a German baroness as there are many. When he had finished interpreting his composition: “Ah! Master! It is wonderful!… But what did you wanted to say? Then Bach moved again to the keyboard, and replays his sonata. And when he had finished: “That, dear Baroness, which is what I meant.” It is, nonetheless, pretty darn interesting! This means simply that music, like poetry, works in closed circuit, and thus nothing can be “translated” as they say, nothing can “mirror” itself. His motto is: “My end is my beginning.” That is, if you want the snake biting its tail. Basically, the art factory that manufactures a point, that’s all.

So the figure in terms of technical rationality, is the equivalent of poem, in terms of verbal rationality. But this does not stop there, it also applies in terms of social rationality, as usual, is taking himself to be, its ceremonial, as also, finally, in terms of rational ethics, which behavior, is taking itself to be, its feat. It is here, complete what I told you some time ago about the “set” (as defined Gagnepain, this time) of the cultural dialectic, the tendency of any reinvestment of abstraction in favor, antagonistically or pole (structural) of abstraction, is the natural hub, what is still called “concrete.” Well, we must add a third referred Poem…, figure, ceremony and match achievement (in rhetoric, industry, politics and morality) in a performance endocentric (word coined from the Greek prefix endo-, meaning “in” and used to form the “endogenous” “endocardium,” “endoscopy,” etc.) that is to say, in a performance in which rationality is involved not in the outside world (it would be referred to something exocentric,) but inside (endo-) itself. You see, from the inability to avoid neologisms: new object to, new language. As I said, the snake biting its tail. But this is no way to be empty, because every time the process takes himself to be the poem is not empty: the message is full of itself, the figure is not empty, the book is full of itself, the ceremony is not empty, that use is full of itself, and finally the exploit is not empty, it is full of moral behavior in itself. In all these cases, the important thing is to understand that the aesthetic is, on every level, partly as other targeted, performance, but it characterizes the performance as it is still once endocentric.

And I would add that, of course, this is referred endocentric absolutely incompatible with the other two mentioned that they are exocentric: the poem is a poem in that it refrains (referred endocentric), it did not stop to say something (referred exocentric). It may be technically columns (referred exocentric), then these columns do young women called caryatids (referred endocentric) as the Greeks have done in this monument is located on the Acropolis of Athens and the called the Erechtéïon. Laying the foundation stone of a building can be a ceremony (referred endocentric) and be at the same time, a conspiratorial act done for the monument in question would collapse not (referred exocentric). Finally, you can do, without even suspecting it, the feat of beating the record of France’s one hundred meters (referred endocentric) just to catch your bus!

However, to remain in the kingdom of art, if you give this concept is a scope large enough (figure in the art of dance or figure skating, but also in the gymnastics ground, compulsory figures or figures free, etc.) you will see that this definition of art as the product of self-reference of a dialectical process of technical abstraction (I weigh each of my words), applies to all arts! I say absolutely everyone, from dance to the culinary arts, from architecture, sculpture, caricature, etc. I’m absolutely serious: take the time to think about giving you, yourself, some examples, you will see! It works! And if “it works” is that our hypothetical-deductive method is corroborated by the comings and goings between the observation of concrete and the theoretical hypothesis. Thus our theoretical position receives, not (yet) its clinical audit, but its validation. We have no access to proper scientific truth, however precarious and provisional as it is, but a proposal generally used in an explanatory model that is not built for the needs of a particular cause, but still operating in any similar occasion (if it was not the case, it would change the model, no more, no less).

In these conditions what would it be a true Science of Art? It is about analyzing the technical analysis implicitly made by the artist. In other words, here again what we have to do is to analyze an analysis “in double” in the mathematical sense, somehow. This complicates things! We analyze the analyzer! Do you realize the enormous complexity of the case? You can imagine that we will take centuries and centuries to achieve something!

And that’s not all! To be truly a science, it is necessary an experimental verification of the model that I just outlined.

And the rest is literature!… I mean, the imposture of an imposture that is suitable, before any unmasking of the strongest, if we want to progress.

www.theory-mediation.com

Scientific Research Regarding Modern Material and Spiritual Sciences

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:19:38 +0000

By: Yuga Rishi Shriram Sharma Acharya

Material Science can be defined as understanding the potentials of this material universe and then making apt use of them. On the other hand Spiritual Science deals with the advancement of our consciousness so as to attain eternal unlimited bliss (Ananda). Human beings need to pay heed to both these in a balanced manner. Based on spiritual tenets Vital Force consciousness is made balanced in an optimal fashion. The physical body is made up of matter and hence materials are required to maintain a sound healthy body. In order to lead a balanced life both these are very essential for world humanity. If only spirituality and modern science work together in a healthy balanced manner can individuals and the entire world, lead a life of material comforts and spiritual bliss.

And yet it is our ill fate today that the gigantic potentials of materialism and spiritualism refuse to work in tandem with one another in a healthy cooperative manner. Forget cooperation both are at loggerheads with each other and are busy casting aspersions on each other. Modern Science virtually scoffs at the existence of God, our soul and fruits of actions (Karma Phala). Those who believe in only that knowledge/proof dished out by our 5 senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin) also believe in only the utility of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and nothing beyond that. With the result man has not only become an atheist but unethical too. Since a major chunk of world humanity follow rank materialism and nothing beyond that their thinking too has become blind and deluded. Today selfishness, unruliness and terrorist activities are ruling the roost. This has totally weakened individual characters and a sense of oneness with the world has disappeared into thin air. No doubt Modern Science has advanced our economic and intellectual prowess in a manifold manner and yet unfortunately immense distortions too have simultaneously grown like weeds in man’s conscious arena. Dangers and clouds of destruction are looming large all over the globe. It seems as though the days of super destruction are just round the corner.

After having said all this it is now the turn of Spiritual Sciences. They have failed to give healthy logical answers to the allegations made by Modern Science against them. Not only this spirituality angrily lashed out at science and set up an illusory dream like world for itself where science was refused entry. Obviously the vast intellectual class got irked and labeled Spiritual Science as a set of blind beliefs and means of fulfilling selfish unbecoming desires. With the result spirituality remained demeaned and man’s material prowess got a shock. World humanity has sadly lost all those benefits ere had Spiritual Sciences and Material Sciences worked in healthy tandem with one another. Today world individuals face debacle and the globe’s all round balance too has become grim. Only those subtle seers of the world who have gauged the havoc inflicted on the layman’s life, world management etc by all these developments. These great seers naturally are worried and uneasy if a solution is not found and applied immediately.

Today in the world the need of the hour is that modern science and spirituality, matter and consciousness work in whole hearted cooperation with one another. As a result an individual’s glory and world management can reach higher peaks of all round advancement. In order to target this super goal Brahmavarchas Research Institute (Address: Shantikunj, Haridwar, Uttaranchal, India, website: www.awgp.org) is conducting research studies in a very scientific manner so that modern science and spiritual sciences work in smooth tandem with one another. This mutual cooperation can be compared to the Samudra Manthan or ‘Churning of the Ocean’ as depicted in Indian Mythology called Puranas. In that the ‘demons’ (not literally speaking since it is just an allegory) of modern science and ‘demigods’ of spiritual science worked in tandem so as to churn the ocean and thus obtain 14 priceless jewels. Today’s times demand that this sort of cooperation take place again between modern science and spirituality. Brahmavarchas Research Institute (Address: Shantikunj, Haridwar, Uttaranchal, India, website: www.awgp.org) has already commenced this on a war like footing.

The task at hand is quite difficult and hence not easy at all. This is because all ancient precepts have to undergo the test using modern scientific techniques which so far were superficially accepted as “Rishi-tenets”. The Brahmavarchas Research Institute has authored a gigantic text which encompasses ancient Rishi texts, philosophical principles and modern day scientific laws. All worldwide principles with reference to science and spirituality (scientific journals, scriptures etc) have been collected on a mammoth scale. Great thinkers and scientists the world over are reflecting over these details deeply so that science and spirituality mutually cooperate with one another and thus bestow both material and spiritual prosperity on world denizens. Ultimately the age old dream of great leaders and thinkers of the world can definitely be realized viz. “A BEAUTIFUL BORDERLESS WORLD”.

Spiritual philosophy, sacred sentimental feelings, idealistic behavior and a disciplined life is not merely the figment of one’s imagination because they encompass not merely logic, precept, proof etc., but also modern scientific principles. Without proving all this very conclusively it is well nigh impossible to re-manifest faith that has been lost in the soul of today’s highly intellectual and professional world human beings. Scriptural proof and the Rishi tradition does not hold as much water as it did many decades back. If under such circumstances we sit listlessly devoid of hope the situation in future will turn even scarier. Over and above losing faith in spiritual values it will lead to a life devoid of ethics, duty bound nature, commitment, accountability, human values, love for all etc. In turn man’s intelligent wiliness devoid of ethics and human values will create anarchy, unruliness, terror, tainted viewpoint etc in the entire world. Thus idealistic thinking, generosity, disciplined living etc will all remain a thing of the past.

Keeping in mind that the world over people abhor practicing spiritual tenets it has now become most important that those priceless teachings of great Rishis, thinkers and philosophers of the world be tested scientifically which encompasses logic, sound principles, proof etc. Only then can the present day ‘ethical anarchy’ be nullified so as to replace it with high ethical living both professionally and socially. Research studies conducted by Brahmavarchas Research Institute involves experimentation, scientific research and analysis in this direction. It has a well equipped gigantic laboratory including modern day scientific technology and apparatus. In addition it has a superb collection of books, journals and other required literature from the world over. Highly qualified research scientists are experimenting in this unique scientific institute so as to achieve the supreme goal of raising man’s ethical, material and spiritual status. So far some very encouraging findings have come their way and they are very sure that in the near future the goal of raising world humanity’s glory to its pinnacle will no doubt be achieved.

Nature has designed such machines in the form of the human body and brain which helps man easily carry out his daily chores with élan. The subtle body has so many mysterious layers which help us correlate them to cosmic Divine Powers and tap the latter for apt material and spiritual advancement. Brahmavarchas Research Institute makes use of apt research techniques for carrying out experiments and research, on the subtle human body and its relation with cosmic powers. The 6 Chakras, 5 Sheaths (Koshas), subtle complexes and glands, subtle plexuses, divine Yogic nerves, vital energy flow, Sahasrar, Mooladhar, Sushumna, Kundalini centers etc abound with infinite divine energy. If these are awakened and made optimum use of man can raise his ordinary status into an extraordinary one and his Extra Sensory Potential (ESP) too will augment by leaps and bounds.

Shantikunj (Haridwar, Uttaranchal, India) the HQ of All World Gayatri Parivar conducts many spiritual camps where one finds thousands of spiritual participants. As per their inner state and requirements they are made to do Sadhana (spiritual practice) and its results are noted down in detail. As per our observations the bodily health, intellectual brilliance, sentimental potential, Ojas, Tejas, Varchas and divine aura of these aspirants augmented a great fold which imbues strong belief in us that in future much more gigantic achievements will come our way at the world level. Aspirants who undergo Sadhana find a great difference wherein their mental weakness, ill health, bad habits, mental taints and complexes are eradicated from their very roots. Instead good health, special qualities, divine aura, intellectual brilliance etc bloom forth amazingly.

Dev Sanskriti (divine culture) has 2 foundation stones viz. Gayatri and Yajna. Gayatri is a Super Divine Science that encompasses Mantra Science too. Within Mantra Science word power of an individual is awakened which in turn augments our Vital Force manifold times. Almighty God is also called Shabda Brahman or Divine Sound and Naad Brahman. The Gayatri Mantra is interwoven and meditated upon on this basis. Mantra Science helps one augment ones divine potential greatly, make use of it for others material/spiritual advancement and both the material world and subtle world’s atmosphere gets transformed in a positive manner. Today we are scientifically analyzing as to what extent the precepts of Gayatri hold true in today’s modern age. In fact the results so far are outstanding wherein Super Mantra Gayatri chanting and meditation manifest mysterious DivinePpowers in the devotee’s subtle body. In the near future we are confident that more such valuable information will be unearthed by us all.

Agnihotra practices (fire rites) as per scriptural injunctions help overcome diseases and mental taints and complexes like lust, greed, envy, criminal instincts etc. Based on scriptural tenets we are trying to prove whether all this can be overcome including natural disasters and calamities. We are quite sure that when the true principles and method of Agnihotra will be identified via research it will be at par with existing methods and cures that humanity resorts to today. It will augment both physical and mental health without any side effects and that our very life force and Vital Force will be made intensely radiant.

Shantikunj (Haridwar, UtTaranchal, India) has built a gigantic garden that grows various herbs including very rare ones. These herbs are used in Yajnopathy i.e. curing diseases by using these herbs grown in various types of Yajnas (Vedic fire sacrifices). Today we have set up a modern scientific laboratory to experiment on these herbs and prove that what is written in our ancient scriptures regarding their method of cure is absolutely true even in today’s modern computer age. From the standpoint of therapy every herb is tested to find out which disease/diseases are cured by it.

Yajna has other priceless benefits too. Vital Force energy rains from interstellar space on Earth which is absorbed by creatures, plants etc dwelling on it. We are studying how it can be made more nourishing for us all on our globe. Yajnas also help eradicate atmospheric and other types of pollution. Yajna energy can help radiate our personalities by warding off mental taints. A philosophical research in this area too is being conducted by us very minutely.

Astrological Sciences believe inter planetary rays and emissions influence the Earth’s atmosphere, the Vital Force of all beings and plants, trees etc. The present day calculations of their findings are in a state of doubt for majority of world humanity. With reference to their influence mere approximations are put forth. It is our ill fate that this priceless science which can influence various aspects of human life in a positive manner remains listless in a cloud of doubt. Brahmavarchas Research Institute has set up a Vedic School which has all requirements and means used in ancient times. With its aid predominantly the true state of the planets, satellites etc of the Solar System are gauged. It is done so that one can find out how a particular state of a particular planet etc influences which group, when and in what manner? If such apt and accurate predictions are made successfully will they not help man the world over overcome problems and thus increase his material and spiritual prosperity? With reference to this astrological research a new Panchang (almanac) has been published wherein apart from the planets mentioned in ancient texts the influence of more recently identified planets (Neptune, Uranus, Pluto) too has been elucidated. Astrology can strongly influence Spiritual Science and hence it too is a part of our research at Brahmavarchas. In order to unearth information regarding the subtle results of conscious inter planetary influences new beliefs and scientific technology too have been made use of apart from apparatus that has been used so far since ancient times. Keeping this in mind our research also includes a deep scientific study of Astrological Sciences.

Over and above all this we are also researching into the other unknown and subtle mysteries of cosmic nature. A major aspect of this research focuses on the basis, nature and mode of awakening of the unlimited Extra Sensory Powers (ESP-albeit in a latent state) that lie untapped in man’s psyche/soul.

This cosmos is also pervaded by groups of invisible beings. They are called ghosts, Satan, demigods, angels etc. The question is if they do exist what is the nature/form of their existence? Assuming a relationship gets established between man and these subtle beings, will both mutually benefit or that one of them gains and the other experiences a lack? This area too is being researched into by us. We are making all efforts to prove our point via scientific means, sound logic and required proof.

With reference to precepts detailed in spiritual texts we take recourse to the findings, speech, experience and the required proof given by great philosophers, saints and Rishis of yore. Simultaneously we are trying to re-prove these very ancient precepts with reference to the 25 major categories of modern science by using modern scientific research techniques. We have kept in mind more such other areas of science and soon we shall delve into them too.

It has already been emphatically said that both Spiritual Science and Modern Material Science are 2 Super Powers of this world. If both cooperate with one another we can reach the portals of Ultimate Reality and Truth. Thus when both these commence proclaiming the same reality and truth regarding this cosmos people the world over will accept and imbibe them in their lives very easily. We must fully hope that this seemingly small experiment of ours will not only benefit individuals but the entire world at large both materially and spiritually.

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Mathematics of Hindu God

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:43:37 +0000

By: Chanchal Malviya

Mathematics of God

Understanding a Hindu God within scientific arena

Science has opened up the secrets of materialistic world. But humans are yet ignorant about whatever is not-material. No religion dares to describe God with materialistic features, except Hinduism. And this is what brings Hindus under the cloud of ignorance as viewed by other believers. But there are a much deeper facts than what the world sees about a Hindu from their limited vision. I will describe here about the logical conclusion of a Hindu to envision God in the form of Idol or Image and what does a Hindu actually feel about God. I, being a so called Hindu, would describe my understanding of God, which I inherited as all other Hindus, from our religious books. My understanding, which remains same as a Hindu understanding, is based on the concepts provided in Vedas and Bhagwad Geeta. Wherever necessary, I would quote sentences from these books for references.

Concept of a Hindu Idol is like a mirage for all religions outside Hinduism. The illusion fades away and the image of idol evaporates away when one comes forward trying to reach the Hindu mirage. God in idol form as viewed by other religions is an object in vicinity to be sensed by a Hindu. We require an object to be in vicinity to sense it. We cannot see GOD directly unless we are so close to him as the concept of vicinity itself. God being a non-object for most religions has non-object vicinity to be realized. A basic question – How can a human being attain the state of non-object to perceive God? A Hindu has an answer to this and to understand the answer, we require talking some mathematical metaphors. What forced me to jump into mathematics is the very concept of God being ‘One’. By saying so, we have mathematicized God: we have surely given a number, may be unique, to God? When we say ‘One’, we always relate to some object and objects have boundaries. Boundary-less object cannot be ‘One’ as ‘One’ is finite. And a non-object God can surely not have ‘One’ attached to him. The very concept of God being ‘One’ reflects the lacking maturity about understanding of God. Since, all the religion has a say on this, I am inspired to share a Hindu view of God as ‘One’ and ‘Many’.

Philosophy has the capacity to prove and disprove theories of all streams including science, mathematic, biology, geography, astronomy. Truly speaking, there is no stream that exists without philosophy. In the world of religion, a man of philosophy stands on the two legs of materialistic and non-materialistic theories, manifested and un-manifested realities. A Hindu is not ready to paralyze one of his legs of materialism while treading towards God and this allows him to compose the world of mathematics with manifested and un-manifested entities, with finites and infinites, with material and non-material, with life and God. I can clearly and undisputedly say that anything that is neither zero nor infinity is material and manifested. The world of materialistic science lives within the boundary of zero and infinity – the finites. And the world of non-material science is governed by the two extremities of math – zero and infinity. It is this un-manifested form of God that is believed by all religions – the infinite. Thus, I can dare to say that we cannot see God because he is absolute infinite. I would also dare to say that we cannot see him because he is absolute zero. I use the word absolute, because zero or infinity is something which is used in mathematics tangibly though they are intangible. There is no difference between zero and absolute zero, both are zero. But absolute word is used to give our discussion a shape of philosophical mathematics thereby emphasizing on the zero and infinite entity.

An Islamic believer told me God can be infinite but not zero: How, someone who is absolute zero can also be absolute infinite. Hinduism is a religion which never asks its followers to close his thinking. What makes other religions to close their perception about God having said that he is of infinite capacity and of unexplained reason of being One (the two contradicting concept coexisting within them), Hinduism has a broader and clearer concept of realizing that God has nothing and everything to do with One or Infinite. As humans we are free to feel God and there is no quantification to limit feelings. There is no quantification to limit God and there is huge quantification that visions God. For example, the words of Quran about God can be easily quantified to number of words about him. But the meaning of God even in Quran cannot be quantified with finite numbers. Thus, Islamic brother, though believing in infinite form of God, takes shelter of finite means to vision that infinite.

Zero and Infinity are at opposite ends of extremities and these extremities are always beyond human imagination; they are non-material, they remain un-manifested. Any number of zeroes added to zero cannot increase zero even to a smallest measure. Any number of infinite taken out of infinite cannot reduce the size of infinite. Hence both are complete in themselves. All others are incomplete. Anything is complete if it disproves all additions or subtractions and executes its identity in all formulating circumstances. God is also complete in himself. Hence, if some religion tries to define God, I would say he fits at both the figures. He is nowhere, yet he is everywhere. He does nothing, yet he does everything. He is omnipresent and omnipotent, i.e. he is present in everything that is within the imagination of human and even beyond and he is capable of doing anything that is within the imagination of human and even beyond – he is the almighty. I, as a Hindu, know that if I try to bind anything with zero or infinite, I tend to outreach either of these situations. For me, any formulation done to realize God helps me to outreach him. As, the material and the manifested numbers which are non-zero and finite tends to convert to zero or infinite upon unlimited singular operation, so I standing before the idol tend to outreach the same zero and the same infinite God, with the repetition of my approach in terms of rendering prayer, concentration and love.

This theory of equating zero and infinity is beyond the imagination of mathematical science as both these entities are beyond object perception. And hence, science and God have separate realization. This is where philosophy of mathematics helps us to do synthesize the two – the impossible starts seeming possible with the removal of boundaries between mathematics and philosophy. And this is exactly what a Hindu does. We try to start from zero, traverse the whole number system to outreach the very infinity. We don’t see zero and infinity as a separate entity than the other numbers. Mathematics is the base of science and zero is the base mathematics. Thus a zero was a gift to this world by a Hindu (though I have enough evidence that the whole number system was formulated by Hindus, long before the word ‘Hindu’ existed). A Hindu has started this world, Vedas being the oldest known and yet the most matured creation of Philosophy and God. A Hindu has started the logics of mathematics. Yet, the world views Hindu as ignorant worshipper of God.

There is another big problem in vision God as simply infinity and considering him separate from all finites. Our mind but cannot accept to visualize zero and infinity either or together. We immediately tend to think of something like vacuum as zero and the whole space as infinity. We not only fail to recognize that the whole infinite space is composed by the sum of same zero vacuum, but it is impossible for us to even imagine this. This is impossible and that is why we call him God who fits this formula. Because, once this fits to human mind and becomes possible, God would be nothing more then science. If modern science denies this fact and enforces the law that everything is science, then they would not hesitate to accept that science is still child in contrast to what is yet to be realized. Can science say – ‘yes, we have come to the end of all discoveries’. Every scientist is sure to answer a big ‘NO’. And if it is so, a child cannot deny the fact that this universe exists beyond the universal law as defined by them. The infancy of science can be easily understood by the fact that they have yet not been able to realize what life is, forget about the infinite universe.

I would be bold to say here that, if science wants to reach out the infinite, they have to first realize what this zero is. Science has to accept the fact that life is still a mystery. And instead of ignoring and disproving the Hindu concept of this life and God, science has to come forward to mathematicize this Hindu philosophy.

Realization of God is an attempt to realize zero or infinity. Both exists together, both are within and outside us and we are part of both, but how to understand this. Zero for me is nothing but the self inside me, the soul inside me, the life inside me which is the vacuum composing the infinite space, forming the God. Hence, we need to uncover ourselves first. We need to realize ourselves first. We have to know the fact that there is something that is driving each one of us, the something that seems to be zero and nothing, is also a part of that infinite which is everything. Zero for me is the same driving force which is constructing me towards realizing the infinite world of knowledge. If I don’t bring in me the capacity to understand this constituent ‘zero’, how can I realize the whole ‘infinite’? Realization of this zero will give me power to realize the infinity – and this is what a Hindu does – realize the Self.

But is realization of this zero possible? If yes, how do we do this? Simple, say if I have a (one) coin with me and I give that coin to someone for no reason, what is left with us in terms of coin is ‘zero’ (coin). If to visualize zero even in pure mathematics, we require support of non-zero numbers, then how can our material mind envision the unmanifested without correlating it to the manifestations. The very concept of zero and infinite make us realize that our imagination is always composed of all things that can be represented by all other numbers but these two. Our mind is material, pure material, capable only to imagine the manifestations. But all religions accept that God is beyond these manifestations. And it is at this juncture, while all other religions ceases to move ahead in the step of realizing God, a Hindu moves forward boldly breaking the boundary of ignorance to unfold the impossible. A Hindu very well understands that creator is not separate from creations; for if he is separate from creations, than creations don’t require the creator, which means no religion should exist in this world. If creator is unmanifested and infinite, creations are manifested and finite. Infinite is relative to finite, unmanifested is relative to manifestations, creator is relative to creations, God is relative to us (materials). And this is where idol comes to generate a formula. We know very well that to realize God, we need to realize correctly what is there within our vicinity to us and then formulate them to outreach the unreachable. Idol worship is nothing but one such formula. Our internal representation of God is zero, and external vision is infinity – none of which can be visualized. If mathematics has to exist with zero and infinity, it has to create symbol of these two figures as well, and we have those figures. If God has to exist among his creations (the finite numbers) as a creator (the infinite), he has to be symbolized as images, idols and words. We find that in many Hindu festival idols are created and then drawn back in river; bringing the unmanifested into manifestations, realizing it with enjoyment, and then sacrificing the material back to the unmanifested.

We will now try to equate zero and infinity, and correlate them to the finites. And to do this, we require first to disprove the antithesis of the same. We must first conclude that the two extremities cannot be equated, nor can they be correlated with the finites, as is understood by most religions. Supporting the anti-thesis, we can say that everything that we think and do is outside the control of that thing which drives our breath – the infinite. This will enable us to believe the incomplete theories of modern medical science, which describes all concepts of life (particularly the so called non-material parts categorized by religions) under the umbrella of chemical behaviors. Chemistry of life is somehow tried to be viewed as a source of Amino Acids by science and remains unproven. But it is just not life that remains unexplained. How do we build memory? How our thinking does get developed over those memories? How do we feel love, hatred and anger? Are all these properties of just mind? Neurology has its own explanation about these, but none of those theories are effectively able to induce these properties as proof of concept. Hindus have many more explanations and many more queries that can put science under smoky mysterious loops. Nature has created every single creature on this earth with different proportions in nearly all aspect of life. And it is this capacity of nature which Hindus call a property of God that cannot be achieved by man. And it is this amazing variation of life which does not fit the chemical reaction theories of science. Because compounds react in similar fashion and produce same compounds for repeating reactors. But nature doesn’t execute this property and life prefers to exist in variations. Thus the anti-thesis that life is within the finite understanding of humans falsifies within this arena itself.

Hindu philosophy fits perfectly to equate this impossible relation of zero and infinity. Memories according to a Hindu is a property of mind, but realized by the same zero – the soul. Summing up of these memories is same as summing of the zeroes in order to achieve the infinite space of huge memory with increasing time. Thoughts of mind erupt from the infinite space of memories as zero and starts building up towards the same infinite again. Our mind is the bridge between this zero and infinite, overriding the river of finites. The zero and infinite are at two opposite ends of our mind. Thus, every aspect of mind starts from this zero. And as it starts its journey towards the infinite, the length of the bridge itself seems to be infinite. And the mind is lost within the infinitely long finite path of the bridge.

There are two entities in this world which seems to govern even God – Time and Relativity. There was no situation when time was zero and there is no concept that is not relative. Even time is relative to the finite numbers and has its extremities in infinites. Even God takes shelter of these two concepts. There is no event in the history of mankind, when anything occurred in no time. And if religions believe that God has done something, they cannot say that God did it in no time. And understanding of these two entities are first two stepping stone towards realizing God. According to many religions, other than Hinduism, God seems to be creating this Universe. If this has happened, God has existed within the finite boundaries of time. And finite is material. Hence, God is bounded by material, which is not true as per the same religions. Swami Vivekanand has a similar thought behind this:

The Vedas teach us that creation is without beginning or end. Science is said to have proved that the sum total of cosmic energy is always the same. Then, if there was a time when nothing existed, where was all this manifested energy? Some say it was in a potential form in God. In that case God is sometimes potential and sometimes kinetic, which would make Him mutable? Everything mutable is a compound and everything compound must undergo that change which is called destruction. So God would die, which is absurd. Therefore, there never was a time when there was no creation.

It would be interesting to compare Universe with Time, both being infinite and both being realized in finite manner by man. If evolution did occur, it must have occurred on at least these two parameters – time and relativity. If the whole Universe was nothing but singularity (a concept that is boggling the mind of scientists and yet they accept it) that was infinitesimally small (I can say it as our concept of Zero), what was there in the space currently consumed by this Universe? Was it simply a vacuum? Relativity will say then that the Singularity had existed with relative to vacuum; vacuum being the infinite and singularity being the zero. And this was all that was existing, some finite time ago (around 40 billion years ago as per Big Bang theory). The question arises – What was there infinite time ago? And Big Bang says: eruption of Universe from Singularity and collapse of Universe back into the Singularity had been a rotating wheel on the time line. This is what Vedic religion says. Why is there disbelief on Religion by Science? Is science now on same line as religion? This is what I call the development era of ‘Religious Science’ – an era where Science would exist in ignorance, with many perceptions about life, evolution and creation, none of them being a correct, complete and proved conclusion. Anyway, I am not here to prove or disprove any of these scientific conclusions. All I wanted to convey was that such beliefs are not new to this world, nor are they complete and finally correct. These are all scientific discoveries in relation to zero, finite and infinite relatively. I say this has been under the umbrella of relativity because science has not tried to prove the Big Bang or Evolution theory in isolation: science have tried to perceive these beliefs through material properties. In fact, no entity can be realized in isolation – not even God.

And thus, by saying that God is infinite and cannot be manifested would simply mean isolating God; breaking the infinite from its relation with finites. The only source of realizing God has to be through the finites, and idols are one such important finite, one such important manifestation of God which is beyond imagination of humans.

Middle School Science Projects Made Easy

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:56:43 +0000

By: Jordan Matthews

In this short essay I describe an easy to follow, step by step approach to deciding on and undertaking a project for your middle school science fair. As you’ll discover, what may seem quite daunting, can actually be very educational… and a lot of fun!

The initial step is to determine the experiment for your project. While you need to consider your teacher’s expectations, I would also encourage you to opt for an experiment that demonstrates how something works, and preferably, addresses a question people have about how the world operates.

When determining the kind of project to embark upon, you may, of course, be limited by what apparatus and materials you have around. Select something that’s realistic for you to undertake – you don’t want to be wasting time assembling all the ingredients, when you could be getting your experiment underway. It’s also a good idea to choose a science project that excites – or at least, interests – you. This just makes your project more fun to work on.

To help you brainstorm some ideas, check out the following questions that you could design an experiment to address:

1. Do different brands of bubble bath produce more or fewer bubbles? What makes the bubbles in baths pop?

2. Is all mold the same – i.e. does the same kind of mold grow on old vegetables compared with old bread?

3. Does sticky tape stick to some surfaces and not to others?

4. Which has more vitamins – canned, frozen, or fresh corn?

5. What kinds of soil are necessary to grow certain kinds of grass?

6. Where do you need to water plants to ensure they grow? Compare watering near the roots with watering the leaves.

Once you’ve chosen your project, it’s time to get it underway. Ideally, take your time and work in an environment where neither you, nor your experiment, will be interrupted. In many cases, you will have an expectation of what the outcome will be. If this outcome doesn’t occur, start the experiment gain, double-checking to make sure that there are no external influences. Otherwise, perhaps you’ve found an exception to the “rule” which may be interesting in itself.

When speaking about your project, I suggest you take it slowly, and be as cool, calm and calculated as possible. If you need notes, by all means use them, but try not to read them. Start off by introducing yourself and what your project is about, then explain the process and results, concluding by discussing the implications. By all means practice your presentation in front of parents, siblings and friends, and try to work out what questions the audience is likely to ask.

As your teacher and parents have probably told you, the middle school science fair is an opportunity to explore something you don’t know, discover how remarkable our planet is, and have fun too. So be sure to choose a project you’re interested in, and try to enjoy yourself.