The Universe - A Personal View ( Part 3 of 3 )
Chapter ( x ) - What I Believe
Starting from the origin of the universe ( the macrocosm ), we have come a long way through various important scientific theories about the origin of life ( the human specie in the middle size range ), the nature of space-time, the subatomic realm of elementary particles and strings ( the smallest inner microcosm ). Then, we have concerned ourselves with the basic working principles behind our earthly environment ( Theory of Chaos and Complexity ) and human behaviour ( the Science of Networks and Fuzzy Logic ). Having acquainted ourselves with the vital scientific knowledge and basic understanding of our physical world, we have ventured into the more philosophical realms of reality ( the different categories- SR, HR, OR, PR- the acronym, SHOP for easy memory ) and to gain some understanding into the workings of our mental faculties ( consciousness ). This is the common thread or connections between the various stops on our intellectual journey through the visible and invisible universe. Now, it is time for us to attempt to apply such knowledge to our daily lives and perhaps come to our own conclusions about various aspects of the reality with a capital R. Let us see if our newly learned knowledge can help us form some views or has modified our views of the world ( e.g. meaning to life, our proper relationship with mother earth, inter-personal relationships, human values, views on politics, economics and history, ethics and most important of all about ourselves including our religious and spiritual convictions and our own future beyond the survival of our physical existence if you are not a materialist ). I hope the reader would feel my planned effects of making our intellectual journey more and more down to earth and practical. Before I proceed further, I have to clarify one point about the title of this chapter “ What I Believe “. On the pain of being accused of plagiarism, I must declare that the title is taken from one of E.M. Foster's essays on his political, social and cultural views. I like its individualistic flavour so much that I cannot resist the temptation of adopting it as the title of this chapter. I hope I have not stepped too much out of line in doing so. Having given credit where it is due, I can now proceed with a clear conscience. So, without further ado, let us move on to the more practical issues that
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concern all of us.
( A ) The Theory
Of Money and Men
The most practical of all issues is, of course, money, money, money.... which makes the world go round. If you still recall our newly learned know-how, you will realize that money as we use it in our financial system of a market ( or capitalistic ) economy is a man-made Hybrid Reality (HR). Money by itself is merely pieces of paper or some plastic material such as in the case of the Australian currency. It is only by human institutional power ( in this case the Australian Legislature empowering the independent Reserve Bank of Australia ) ascribing financial values to the currency that money carries its assigned value usually based on the laws of supply and demand on Australian goods and services. In short, the Australian currency is the i.o.u. issued by a legal entity brought into being by the Federal Parliament in Canberra, ACT ( Autralian Capital Territory ) which is democratically elected by the citizens of the Australian Commonwealth. This kind of managed currency is also known as fiat money ( “ by fiat “ means in the place of ) meaning it is a stand-in for the real values money represents. As such, it is not as rigid as the physical laws of nature. That means HR can and should be changed to keep in step with the requirements called for by the relevant circumstances. This is lesson number one.
In the olden days of a barter economy, all resources are distributed or passed around by physical exchanges among the owners of such resources. Only the right buyers and sellers can strike a deal. This is obviously cumbersome and money was invented by some clever merchants as a medium of exchange. Older forms of money are not fiat money because the issuer of fiat money must have a good credit standing and trustworthiness on account of the i.o.u. nature of fiat money. There were no such persons or entities around. Therefore, most early monies have intrinsic and tangible values in themselves such as gold which is precious and scarce or sea shells that are rare. Even today, gold is still the safest kind of money but with a carrying cost in terms of the foregone interest income if an equal amount of value is held in the bank as money deposits. This is the opportunity cost for holding gold instead of money but gold is the only kind of money that is not someone else's liability. Therefore, it is the safest money available since the user need not investigate the credit standing of the previous owner. You can simply rely on
gold's face value.
It is precisely this nature of money as a medium of exchange that has given rise to a lot of undesirable side effects. Since money is only a means to an infinite number of ends ( i.e. to exchange for other goods and services ), it can represent endless goodies and this gives rise to greed for money which translates into greed for all material stuff. Money is the power of access to everything worldly. Very few people can resist the temptation of money. Show me a person who does not like money and I will call him a saint. At the philosophical level, human beings should not be greedy if they really understand the true reality of the physical world and their own limited capacity to enjoy physical goodies. This is the reason why I consider IGNORANCE the greatest of all mortal sins because the failure to understand this world and oneself leads to the second greatest mortal sin which is GREED. All other sins are derived from ignorance and greed. Consider the usual misdeeds we call mortal sins such as fornication ( greed for sexual gratification ), gambling ( greed for easy money ), alcoholism ( greed for consuming alcohol ), gluttony ( greed for food ), pride ( greed for other people's admiration and recognition ), cruelty ( greed for blood and other people's suffering ), injustice ( mostly done out of greed both for physical things and perverted mental satisfaction ), jealousy ( greed for obsessively possessing one's loved ones or precious goods ). All sins are related to greed one way or another. If you only knew how limted human capacity to enjoy was, you will never be
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greedy again. In other words, if you are no longer IGNORANT of your own limited abilities and insignificance in the objective world you will not fall into the evil trap of GREED ever again. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to be well informed about oneself and the world. The word education immediately comes to mind again!
To be able to understand the pitfalls in our financial world, I must acquaint you with the concept of the limited liability company which has become the single most important vehicle for the the serious and inhumane crime of greed that is to adversely affect the lives of billions of underprivileged people of the world. When human beings first organized business ventures there were only sole proprietorships and partnerships which were all with unlimited liabilities. This meant that the owners or co-owners had to be responsible for debts owed by the business to outside creditors without limit. In extreme cases, suppose the owners had previously built up a lot of assets over the years yet a single very large claim made by the creditors in the current year would cause the owners to go bankrupt and lose all the hard earned assets accumulated over numerous years while in business. The concept of unlimited liability was originally based on the sound ethical belief that a real man should face up to his full responsibility no matter what. However, when carried to its logical conclusion in business it would mean that even a debt contracted by one partner in the name of the business would be binding without limits on all the other partners. This could lead to dishonest partners disappearing leaving massive debts to be borne by other innocent partners. In other words, the system of unlimited liability is open to fraud by dishonest elements in the business world. There is another even more serious criticism against the unlimited liability concept and that is nobody would be willing to undertake huge business ventures such as massive infrastructure projects like building airports and cross-harbour tunnels and bridges. Massive projects like these require a pooling of capital involving thousands of people. Even without criminal elements to stage fraudulent schemes to trap other partners the amount of potential and legitimate disputes amount partners would be unthinkable. No individual investor would contemplate taking part in these important project to the detriment of the economy. Such considerations subsequently led to the limited liability concept being introduced after the start of the industrial revolutionary when huge infrastructural projects like railways and grand ocean liners had to be built.
As its name indicates, limited liability allows the investors or the shareholders ( as they are called ) of a company limited by shares to limit their personal liability to the amount of the paid up capital they have invested in the company. Huge limited companies can also subject to stringent securities ( legal terminology for shares listed on stock exchanges ) regulations become publicly listed company to invite investment funds from the public. Other protections for the investors include the legal requirements to appoint independent certified public accountants and auditors to audit or to check whether or not a limited company's accounts truly and fairly reflect the profit or loss positions of the company's business which affect the amount of dividends that can be distributed to shareholders. So far so good, but the main problem with limited liability companies or corporations as they are usually called is the separation of ownership ( the legal owners of the company are the shareholders ) from the management of the company's business affairs. The management responsiblity of the company usually falls on the professional managers generally called board of directors, chief executive officers ( CEO ) and chief financial officers ( CFO ) who may or may not own shares in the company ( i.e. they may not be owners ). Even if they own certain shares, they would be more interested in the remunerations they received for their services rendered which is also partly related to the profits of the company in the form of performance bonus. At first sight, such bonus system seems to lead to a common goal for the professional managers and the shareholders alike to make more profit for the company. But this is not always so. It gives rise to the temptation for the corporate custodians ( which I think is a better name for the professional managers ) to inflate the company's profit on paper such as in the recent US court case of the convicted CEO of the energy giant corporation Enron which collapsed in 2001 due to false accounting. What can we expect from a system that is
totally motivated by greed. There are mainly two ways dishonest corporate custodians can rip
off the company and the owners. Firstly, by manipulating the company's accounts to the
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maximum stretch of the limit allowed by law. Although this is not strictly illegal it is definitely unethical. According to my fuzzy logic, they are fuzzy criminals to the highest degree or virtual criminals in everyday language. Secondly, they can charge to the company so called legitimate expenses ( such as entertainment expenses ) excessively and provide themselves with outrageous perks such as luxurious holiday bungalows and expensive cars. Theoretically, this is also subject to scrutiny by the auditors but the custodians can also find ways to legitamize such expenses on the grounds of promoting the company's business or maintaining the corporate image. The separation of ownership and management of the corporation is the single most devastating weakness of the limited liability concept. Due to human greed, there is a tendency for high ranking custodians to build up a huge bureaucracy of supporting staff and purposely to pay them high salaries to justify their even higher remunerations. There are plenty of outrageous examples of corporate abuses by their custodians. Recently, in Australia certain big banks announced the retrenchments of hundreds of jobs and branches to cut back on their expenditures only to pay out millions of dollars in “ performance bonus “ to their CEO and golden handshake payouts to retiring and early retiring high ranking officers who were connected to dubious transactions causing huge financial losses to the corporation in question. Even worse cases of similar scandals are very often reported in the USA where much larger financial stakes are involved.
The main reason for the persistence in this unfortunate state of affairs can be attributable to the lack of ownership loyalty to any public corporation by shareholders in general. Unlike the traditional small businesses where there is usually no separation of ownership and management, shareholders of modern public corporations merely holds the shares or equities in a corporation mostly for speculative gains in the increase in share prices. Only when the increase in their equity prices is not enough to justify a sale will they keep the shares for the distribution of dividend which is usually a bit higher than the interest receivable from term deposits in the bank. This is because the risk factor in holding equities is considerably higher than putting your money in a bank. Risk and return is always directly proportional to each other. Thus, shareholders do not usually hold their shares for the very long term. Even for non-speculative investors they will change their holdings to other corporations without hesitation if there is a better return on their capital investments. Being only temporary owners of the corporation, the shareholders ( who are the actual legal owners of big public corporations ) very often have less loyalty to the corporation in which they hold shares than the custodians who make their careers in the corporations for which they work. Over a considerable period of time, the custodians may gradually feel that they themselves have more claim to the corporations assets than the legal owners. This kind of misguided psyche of some custodians very often leads to a mentality that is conducive to putting their own selfish interest before that of the corporation or the shareholders. This is the direct but undesirable consequence of the separation of ownership and management ot the modern public corporation. Again, I must emphasize that I am not accusing all corporate custodians across the board of fraudulent practices but I do maintain that some bad elements and the particular culture of the corporate world do contribute to various abuses of their power by virtue of the inherent weaknesses of the corporate machinery. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So said Acton, First Baron of England (1834-1902 ). I used to admire the powerful CEO s and their stylish ways of life when I was a kid. I was foolish enough to think that they deserved the huge resources they can control and enjoy with apparent impunity purely on account of their talents until I learn of the pitfalls in the operations of the limited companies from my economics and accounting disciplines. Now, I totally detest crooked corporate custodians. They are worse than thieves and thugs because they prey on poor old pensioners and small investors who desparately depend on their meagre amount of dividend income for their daily needs. Crooked corporate custodians obtain both financial resources and power with all the related trimmings by deception. The kind of excessive remunerations and fringe benefits ( sometimes known as benefits in kind ) pocketed by some crooked corporate custodians can run in to the tens of millions. Such excesses are simply outrageous by whatever standard by which one cares to gauge them. Unfair distribution of income in favour of these crooks is to be denounced on both moral ground of justice and economic ground of wastage and unfavourable dispositon for
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consumer spending because the marginal propensity to consume is much lower for ultra- high income earners.
You may be surprised to learn that the same kind of malpractices discussed in the previous paragraph are also being carried out even in charitable and non- profit making corporations. To start with, custodians of charitable organizations are in the privileged positions of not requiring to make huge amount of profits and yet be able to hang on to their custodianships. Although their remunerations may not be as ludicrously excessive as that in the business world they can nevertheless take advantage of their organizations in other ways. One very common practice by some delinquent custodians is to engage in extravagant spending to boost their inflated ego. I have this personal experience with our own education project in China which I have mentioned in the prologue. It was our original intention to refer one well-known international charity group to take over of the project at the very beginning since we had doubts about our resources and commitment. When we request them to visit the location the high ranking custodians proposed to charter a helicopter for the visit because the drive from Hong Kong to northern Kwongtung Province would take five hours and deemed by them to be too time consuming to fit into their busy schedule. Their suggestion infuriated us so much that we finally decided to take up the project on our own. We are angery not only because of the criminal extravagance but also because of the painful realization that even custodians of such charitable organizations which are supposed to do their utmost to help the underprivileged can be so arrogant, egocentric and have a complete disregard for their declared ideals. I am not suggesting for one second that all charities work that way but we were totally terrorized by the possibility that there could be many of these irresponsible custodians out there. Another way irresponsible custodians can rip off their organizations is to receive benefits and perks from suppliers of their organizations' materials and services like going on study trips which are actually of a holiday nature to conferences and seminars conducted by these suppliers. These are tantamount to bribes given to custodians for ensuring the charitable organization's continued patronage of the suppliers' goods and services. The extra expenditures incurred by the suppliers will without a doubt be reflected in increase in the prices of their products. In worse cases, unethical suppliers may even pay monetary kick-backs to the custodians to enlist their support. Again, such illegal and unethical practices are to a large extent the result of greed on the part of the irresponsible custodians coupled with the opportunities provided by the separation of ownership and management of the organization concerned. Most important of all, we must realize that all illegal and unethical practices can only be eradicated from society by replacing a partly corrupted population with a new younger generation of high ethical standard through a sound education system. The police force and the legal system alone are not up to the task. It takes time and resources and perseverance to achieve this long term objective. A democratic and accountable government with ethical and respectable statesmen ( as opposed to politicians ) with strong leadership and foresight is desparately needed before
this noble and ultimate goal can be attained. This is our next topic of discussion. Before we leave the topic of money, I wish to remind the reader of the limited capacity of human beings to enjoy earthly goods. The understanding of this particular aspect of our physiology will lead you to the sensible conclusion that greed is
both futile and not worth the price to be paid on both the individual and social levels. To enjoy life is our inborn right. But like all rights, the right to enjoy life is not absolute and must necessarliy carry with it the corresponding responsiblities. Furthermore, all individual rights must be subordinate to the natural laws and all just human laws enacted by any constitutionally appointed legislature elected through due democratic process. Regardless of the amount of wealth you own, there are just a finite amount of goods and services you can enjoy. How many times can you eat in a single day ? Three, four, five or six times is the best one can manage. Even if you ignore the adverse effects on our health resulting from excessive eating, your digestive function is liable to a total breakdown within a day or two upon uncontrolled intake of food. That is why ancient Romans used to performed self- induced regurgitation to make room in their stomachs for consuming more food. That sounds more like torture than enjoyment to me. Again, greed is the culprit.
As for clothing, housing and locomotion or travelling which are the other three major areas of our daily living, it is simply a question of your expectation. It can
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never be enough or it can be sufficient at a minimal but generally acceptable standard. Imagine ladies fashion. There are all sorts of new styles every season and countless number of designer labels. The issues of affordability and suitability aside, there is only 24 hours a day. How many times can a lady change her attire in a single day ? How many sets of clothing are enough ? Again, the sensible answer is countless sets or a few dozens or fewer depending on one's own expectation. One very common argument put forward by ladies in defense of stockpiling clothes is that one must not be seen to be wearing the same set of clothing on different formal occasions. This is really a matter of subjective perception. if the ladies assume a more objective view, they will realize that this argument of theirs is not completely valid because not all their friends had been present on all previous formal occasions when a particular dress was worn. In your view you may be repeating the same dress but from others' point of view you may be wearing the repeated dress for the first time. Everyone's frame of reference may be different and they may hold different but equally valid views with respect to their own perspectives ( c.f. Special Relativity ).
Now, let us consider other mental or intellectual enjoyments. Take going to the movies or concerts for example.You will feel tired after a few hours of watching a movie or enjoying an opera. Most large scale public entertainment programs like rock concerts and other opening or closing ceremonies of popular sporting events also generally last for 3 to 4 hours because there is a finite amount of information or external stimuli a human being can meaningfully take in and enjoy. Anything beyond the tolerance limit is a waste of resources. Typically the human brain can only pay attention to between 6 to 8 unrelated items of information and make intellectual sense out of them at a single moment. Anything more than this limit will result in a jumbled up mess of meaningless signals. Besides, there is the question of time that can be spent on such entertainments.There are only 24 hours in a day and generally one third is spent in our sleep for recuperation of our energy. So, you will see that spending most of our life working like a dog to earn money for the sole purpose of enjoying earthly goods is not an unassailable proposition. In fact, it may prove to be an unwise one because I have often come across cases among my own friends who used to say that they would have time to enjoy all they want upon retirement if they could mass enough money during their working life. Alas, a poor few were recalled by the Almighty soon after their retirements and some had worked themselves to ill health that further considerably reduced their already limited capacity to enjoy earthly goods as everybody else is for reasons cited above. The Uncertainty Principle decrees that nothing can be 100% certain. Therefore, you serve yourself best by living each day as if it were the last day of your life. Only by so doing can you enjoy life to the utmost.
I remember a funny but telling story told me by my good friend Frank. A rich and powerful aged banker once went for a holiday in Tahiti, French Polynesia. He went on a fishing trip in a boat captained by a lay-back Polynesian. After they had spent a day with some good catch, they chatted with each other on their return journey to their island resort. The banker lamented that his polynesian captain could have amassed huge fortunes if only he could be more enterprising and had spent more time and effort in expanding his single fishing vessel into a whole fleet of sight-seeing and fishing boats under a huge public corporation by inviting investment capital from the investing public. As the banker was enjoying the satisfaction of being smart with his know-how in the financial market, he got the following unexpected response from his Polynesian captain. The captain responded by saying that if the banker could answer just one question from him he would follow the banker's advice to form a corporation. The banker said :- “ Just Shoot ! “. Then the captain calmly asked :- “ Where are you now ? “ The banker immediately retorted :- “ I'm in Tahiti enjoying a great holiday, of course. “ Then the captain replied :- “ You are exactly right but I have been here enjoying the beautiful sun, sea and sand all my life free of charge. Why should I bother myself like you did working so hard for 30 years and then start coming here to enjoy the same beautiful scenery that Mother Nature has provided to me and everyone else for free? “ Who is the smart guy ? It is so true. Some of the best things in life are really free only if you have the time and wisdom to find them !
After involving ourselves in the money game for a while, we tend to make money for its own sake and, most of the time, we do not even have the spare time to
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enjoy the money or family values. I am both devastated and deeply saddened by the audio tape recordings of mobile phone conversations between the victims of the September 11 terrorists attack on the World Trade Centres in New York City back in 2001 with their families during the final moments of their lives. How they wished they had spent more time with their families instead of making money all the time. It is really heart-breaking. In the course of our wealth creation process, sometimes, it becomes money for money's sake. Still remember the bottom line I told you earlier. When you leave this world you cannot take a single dime with you. Worse still, you may create some lazy and good-for-nothing off-springs because they think they can rely on their parents' pecuniary legacy. So be wise with your money and strike a healthy balance in spending it and making it. Enough is enough but be smart about your standard of having enough money. It is all a matter of expectation. So be reasonable and yet realistic about your own expectation with money. There is only a marginal difference between an extra million when you are fortunate enough to have a few in hand already. The economic law of diminishing returns has got to have its effect even with money only few people are willing to accept this phenomenon when it happens. When this stage is reached it becomes purely a number game. So, be a bit generous with your own money. You have taken it from society give some back when you are on your way out. Be compassionate with the less unfortunate as we are all from the same stardust of this universe and all face the same harsh reality.
The very last issue about money on which I wish to comment is the Scrooge Syndrome. Everyone of us must have come across Mr. Scrooge or his close cousins at some point during our lives. The main argument put forward by Mr. Scrooge in support of his behaviour is usually this. One must be conservative and accumulate as much personal wealth as possible to increase one's protection against every possible contingency. I put it to Mr. Scrooge very strongly that he is not being conservative at all. Quite the contrary, he is taking the greatest of all risks and must end up in overdoing the act of “ Scrooging” ( a word coined by me to describe his actions ) which would lead to much greater loss in terms of personal relationships that could translate into tangible and adverse effects on him. In short, his action is bound to backfire. How so ? Well, as I see it, the only way to make sure that he had already squeezed every possible bit of benefit for himself out of a given situation is to reach the breaking point. Take buying stock and shares for example, the only sure way to confirm that the highest price has been reached is when it starts to fall and to get one's confirmation on hind sight by the drop in the share price. Otherwise, there would still be a theoretical possibility that the peak price is still to come. Scrooge would still not be satisfied at this point until the confirmation of a drop in price albeit, on hind sight has actually materialized. In terms of human relationships, Mr. Scrooge would withhold any consideration or price he would have to pay to obtain the desired return ( or reaction ) from the person he was interacting with to make sure that Scrooge need not pay a bit more than he really had to. Again, the only sure way to confirm that this absolute necessity has become unavoidable is the breaking point. The person Scrooge interacts with would protest before Scrooge could be sure that he had reached this breaking point. Unfortunately, by virtue of the most powerful Second Law of Thermodynamics of increasing entropy when something is broken the resultant entropy or disorder can never be fully restored. Scrooge cannot have the cake ( an amicable relationship ) and eat it ( and not having to pay any price to maintain such relationship ) as the saying goes. My advice to Scrooge is that the related pair of values - having the cake and eat it are another classical pair of complimentary values just as predicted by Quantum Physics. You can only have one of them materialized but never both at once. So forget about your frivolous attempt to have the best of both worlds. This is against the laws of nature. This is greed pure and simple. It is an undertaking of the highest risks you can engage in. It will certaintly lead to disaster ! Take money at its face value. Never read more into it than it can offer. You will ultimately lose all your close friends although you can still retain some who share the same kind of values as yours. I always wonder why people enjoy taking advantage of their neighbours. May be it is the evil aspect of our nature. Why can't we derive satisfaction out of giving and not taking ( advantage or anything) from others. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Taking advantage without contributing is just like a low down animal the biologists has classified as a parasite. How hideous and pathetic can it be. Respect yourself and others as human beings that are supposed to be
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endowed with more noble attributes of love and sacrifice. Down with the bad Mr. Scrooge who ultimately realized his despicable behaviour and was finally reconverted into humanity at the eleventh hour as a happy ending in Charles Dickens' memorable Christmas epic, A Christmas Carol. Therefore, the evil spirit of Scrooge must be exorcised, Scrooge, be gone !
Of Power and the People
“ Men is by nature a political animal.” So declared Aristotle. The father of modern China, Dr. Sun Yat San also said that “ politics is everybody's business.” Whenever men gather together there has got to be some organizational mechanism to conduct their daily affairs. Politics is born out of such a basic need. But the human brain which controls our actions is a chaotic system of the most complicated kind hence politics ( handling human affairs ) has become a highly complex, and very often, tricky process. Because we live in a materialistic world and our daily needs are derived from human ( services ) and other natural ( goods ) resources economics comes in. That is why Karl Marx had rightly stated that politics is merely concentrated economics. The dispute between the two basic economic systems, namely, market ( capitalistic ) economy and centrally planned ( socialistic ) economy, on which is the superior system has long been resolved ( since the collapse of the former Soviet Union ) in favour of the former. The only truly socialists systems to be found in the world nowadays exist only in Cuba and North
Korea and these are crumbling fast, too. Despite the settlement of the ideological arguments between these
two systems, it is still of interest to us to ponder on the philosophical basis upon which the two systems are built. This is because the roots of each system can be found in different assumptions concerning the relative importance of the inborn human rights as compared with that of society as a whole. A clear understanding of the rightful position of the individual in society is and always will be of paramount significance in guiding any present and future public policies. Such policies are ultimately reflected in the enactment of the relevant laws that will directly affect our daily lives and livelihoods, the most important element in social economics.
The most enlightening remark on politics, in my opinion, is Abraham Lincoln's statement :- “ No man is good enough to govern another without that other's consent. “ This says it all about the inborn right of the modern citizen wherever he or she might be. It spells out in unambiguous terms the basic political idea of government by the majority mandate of the people. In the very beginning of human history, people lived in isolated and small groups such as families and tribes. Even then, they found it beneficial to every member of the group to co-operate and help one another to face their daily difficulties in a harsh environment. To trade some liberty for safety and strength in number as a group, they were willing to subject themselves to the rules set by the group to which they belonged. Keeping in mind the main purpose of this partial surrender of individual freedom is for the exchange of help and protection from the group, it is both logical and reasonable to conclude that a fair deal should involve only the minimal sacrifice of the individual's right to enable society to function properly and nothing more. If the individual is asked to make a total sacrifice of his right to exchange for just a little benefit, he or she would have been better off living alone. Therefore, the measure of the efficiency of any government is the degree of sarcrifice it demands from her citizens. The less sacrifice asked of her citizens in the form of laws and taxes the more efficient is the governing machinery. Of course, there must be a reasonable level of protection and other social services such as health care and financial security that must be provided by the government. Nor is it right for the citizens just to ask for benefits from their government without contribution on their part because all goods and services must be funded by taxes and other financial measures. To square the equation of supply and demand, citizens must also do their part by paying all just taxes and not to abuse their rights to the essential services provided by their government. Furthermore, greater sacrifice may have to be
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made by the citizens when their own country is under threats of attack by enemies. There is a constitutional duty for all able-bodied citizens to defend their own country in a justifiable war when all other means of settling disputes with the enemies prove to be in vain. Should this unfortunate situation arise we must be wary about the wisdom of the politicians in going to war. Every attempt must be made to question such fateful decision through the legislature to ensure that war is the only option before we should give our support and act on it by our participation in national service.
Coming back to economic issues, it is pretty obvious that the reason for the triumph of market economics over the socialist or centrally-planned economics is the fact that the former system gives due consideration and respect to the rights of the individual while the latter does not. But this is not to say that market economics is the perfect economic system. In fact, its basic motivation is greed which is the second mortal sin on my personal list of vices. Therefore, like E.M. Forster's opinion on democracy, I can only manage to give two cheers for capitalism. Like any social system, capitalism must be urgently supplemented by a proper education system to instil the ethics of fairness and compassion into the minds of the citizens especially the younger generation before the capitalistic system can become tolerable. Only with fairness and compassion can mankind survive the less than perfect and, sometimes, greedily evil capitalistic system. You only have to look at the extent of the unfairness and misery brought upon the less develpoed countries by the overpowering globalization process that is gathering pace at an amazing speed to realize the potential damages and injustice that can be done to the underprivileged. Back in December,1984 , the horrifying Union Carbide pesticide poisoning accident that killed two thousand Indian citizens in the town of Bhopal in the Indian State of Madhya and put 180,000 others in hospital in the Asian subcontinent was a chilling reminder of the misery that the uncontrolled capitalistic system can inflict on precious human life because of greed. The worse part of the disaster is that many of the victims are still uncompensated because of loopholes in the legal system.
Despite all these terrible shortcomings, market economics still does a reasonably good job in the effective utilization and distribution of scarce resources by putting a price on any commodities or services through the laws of supply and demand that reflect their true economic value and thereby prevents wastage. To overcome its evil aspects of greed and disregard for humanitarian considerations, we must look to the democratic system of government which can provide check and balance in the ruling government's power. Any irresponsible government must be liable to replacement by another more capable one through a popular and constitutional mandate. This in turn is only possible through the implementation of a fair electoral system supported by a well educated population of voters. As mentioned in the previous topic Of Money and Men, the capitalistic system is only a Hybrid Reality that can and should be changed if and when necessary on humanitarian grounds which is the top priority in any just economic policy. Therefore, under sound economic policy, the commercial principles should not be applied to basic social services provided by the government. This is the sensible ability to pay and benefits received approach adopted in the area of public finance which is a special branch of economics that deals with public affairs. Under this approach, the pricing of public services such as health care is not based on the normal economic principle of demand and supply but on the individual's ability to pay for such services. For example, patients requiring emergency medical services are asked to pay different rates for the same services depending on their income brackets. Such measures can effectively reflect the different humanitarian considerations applicable to different patients. So, the impact of the undesirable aspects of a capitalistic economy can be kept to a minimum.
As regards the failure of the socialist regime, there are three main objections to its theoretical premises. Firstly, no one really knows exactly what the population as a whole need. It is just too complicated to plan in an orderly manner. Secondly, without a price system to fix the real economic value of any goods and services through the laws of supply and demand, nobody can know the true value of the ever scarce resources and that will lead to definite waste. This can be clearly seen in the general ineffeciency of public and governmental establishments which do not operate on the commercial principles. That is the reason why it is always important for the government to have the smallest possible share of the gross national product ( income ) in
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terms of its annual financial budget. The private sector is always more efficient economically because inefficient organizations will inevitably be forced out of existence by the powerful law of survival of the fittest which is the driving force in the history of the evolution of life itself. The third reason for the failure of the socialist economic system is its flagrant disregard for consumer choice and by reference to human values and the importance of the consumer as a uniquely functioning and feeling individual for whom society is formed in the first place. Socialist or centrally-planned economy has the usual characteristics of absolute power and discipline as dictated by the ruling hierachy. This is a key feature of any socialist economic system because without absolute power both the planning itself and the execution of such plans will be compromised. The illogical and lopsided reasoning of this key feature says it all for this failed regime. Instead of finding out and providing for the needs of the people, a socialist economic system asks for and, very often, demands adaptation by the people to the central government's economic plans usually decided by a few bureaucrats who are always supported by an army that has often sworn allegiance only to the ruling party and its leader. The ridiculous part of it all is the fact that without the fixing of the true economic values for the resources by an objective price system that works on the laws of supply and demand, the planners themselves in all their sincerity and honesty ( which is not generally the case ) will be incapable of achieving any efficient distribution or utilization of scarce resources. So, there you have it. It is simply a system based upon illogical philosophical assumptions which ignores basic human rights and unworkable economic principles that cannot achieve the major economic goals of efficient use of resources; fair distribution of income and wealth; full employment; stablity of prices and economic growth. It has degenerated into a hideous tool used by power mongers and dictators to enslave the people as most skilfully and satirically highlighted by the famous writer, George Orwell in his world renowned novel, Animal Farm.
The alleged moral superiority of the socialist system is its fairness to all. Karl Marx set out his ideal motto in this manner ;- “ from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs.” Despite its theoretical soundness, this motto is quite impossible in practice because of our selfish human nature. It requires almost a saint to do the first part without any financial compensation which was the original Marxist design. As for the second part of the motto, it is a mandate for what we call “ the free lunch”. If the kind of ethical standard that is called for by this motto really exists or is achievable in practice, then our society can operate on any system or none at all. Such is the high degree of moral and ethical standards required before the socialist economic system can be successfully implemented. Nevertheless, I do confess that at my home just like Jesus Christ and his apostles, I and my family members do practise communism ( the morally higher form of economic system that is actually described by Karl Marx's motto ). The parents make the money while the children just do their part which is receiving education and taking all their daily needs from the family without paying any financial compensation. This is Communism with a capital C, pure and simple and let me tell you unequivocally that it only works within the family unit, period ! Just to clarify the confusing reference to Communism, Karl Marx also felt that his motto as cited above was not easily achievable. Therefore, he proposed the less stringent standards of Socialism as a stepping stone to Communism. Under a socialist system there would again be no private ownership of property but there would be financial reward for labour provided by the citizens of the state based on planned and government approved rates. Ultimately, he anticipated a change over to the ideal state of Communism when the population had been educated to the required perfect moral standards. Under the disguise of all these high sounding ideas the ugly reality is the indisputable fact that socialist systems all go hand in hand with totalitarian political systems that always diminish the individual values of each human being in favour of selfless and total sacrifice of the citizens for the state ( but it is only one way traffic ) which is controlled by a self-interested ruling political party or dictator. To add insult to injuries already inflicted upon individual citizens by such a ridiculous deal , the declared political goal of all such totalitarian governments are always equal rights for all, but as George Orwell said ;- “ Only some are more equal than others.” The some referred to here are, of course, those politicians who hang on to their illegitimate power by hook or by crook. I could never in my life forget the bloody episode of the Tianman Massacre of demonstrating students and workers in Beijing on the 4th of June, 1989. The biggest irony
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of all is the killing of the workers who were supposed to be the proleteriat that made up the vanguards of the Communist Revolution. The army that carried out such despicable atrocity was none other than the Peoples' Liberation Army. Only this time around, this army of the Chinese Communist Party had truly and literally liberated the people they were supposed to protect into the kingdom of heaven. Even more ironic is the fact that such atrocity had taken place in the Square of the Heavenly Peace ( Tianman Square ) in Beijing. What greater horrors can absolute power manage to produce ? On a personal note, it is on account of this tragic incident that my family and I had decided with absolute certainty to leave our roots behind in Hong Kong to migrate to Australia.
So why are we still pondering over this welcomed demise of socialist economics now ? The simple answer is that its demise hightlights the triumph of the individual's sacred rights to be free - to make free choices in life on a materialistic, social, intellectual and spiritual levels. Freedom can only be delayed but never denied. A particularly undesirable effect of Socialism ( and Communism alike ) is Karl Marx's materialistic world view and the inevitability of class struggles ( no compromise in this area is possible under Socialism ) which subsequently deteriorated into the evil practice of the end justifies the means. Such extreme philosophical outlook is the source of almost all the evil deeds which are an affront to all humanity including the scourge of our present day- terrorism. That is why the argument for the end justifies the means must be vigorously denounced. To me, Marx's uncompromising attitude towards class struggle and materialism merely reflects his inability to connect different important aspects of nature, life and humanity. The sanctity and precious nature of life; the harmony and peaceful co- existence of all the elements and living organisms in nature ; and the never ending cycles of change through life and death all point to the possibility and, in fact, the necessity to compromise and to connect among ourselves and Mother Nature. Furthermore, the important elements in nature and life are not made up of things ( ends ) but processes ( means ) as implied by Quantum Theory. Therefore, the means are much more significant than the end because nature itself is the manifestation of never ending cycles of processess - to everything, turn, turn; to every season, turn, turn. In our modern society abound with high technology, everyone demands efficiency and instant results. Whereas it is the process of reaching your destination ( your chosen end ) and sharing that experience with the people you care about that is the ultimate happiness. We have very often mistaken the sign posts for the the destination to our disadvantage and , sometimes, to our own detriment as in the present case of justifying the means by the end. Let us learn this vital lesson before it is too late and heed the warning provided to us by the failure of Socialism to enable mankind to move on in the right direction.
It is incomplete to discuss politics without any reference to the politicians. They are a completely separate breed of human beings. I do not mean it as a compliment. They are most of the time a pain in the neck but, on the other hand, we cannot do without them. That is the absolute truth. Therefore, I have come to the sensible conclusion that the best attitude towards politicians should be this. They are to be tolerated but must always be viewed with suspicion. We cannot totally trust them and yet we must keep ourselves informed of what they are saying or doing because sometimes our livelihood and well being depend a lot on the policies they create in our name. We must do our part to make them toe the line of justice and fairness. I do not blame you if you feel that I am a bit unfair and even mean to our public servants which we generally call the civil service. It really beats me why the word civil comes in. Most of the time, they are anything but civil. I was in the Hong Kong civil service for a while and I was aware of the live and let live mentality among members of the service. We generally did a good job but coming to human feelings for the public whom we served we were, in deed, a little bit lacking. Now, let us see if this suspicious and merely tolerating attitude of mine towards politicians and other public servants is justified. First of all, I am only aware of two professions that pay its members a good remuneration and provide the great privilege to their members with the chance to make an everlasting reputation in history. These two professions are the politicians and the entertainers ( including sportsmen and sportswomen ). With regard to making a name in history , the politicians are far ahead of the entertainers because the issues the former deal with have far reaching effects on society as a whole. When we were discussing money and men, I specifically mentioned the temporary nature of money and that we
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cannot take a single cent with us when we pass on. The same cannot be said of reputation in history which will literally last forever. So, it is a rosy deal for all politicians. They get both a good salary for doing their job and the greatest privilege of all that is to get a chance to earn themselves a good reputation which will last for all eternity. As I mentioned before, efforts and reward go hand in hand. Therefore, it is only fair that the politicians should be under close scrutiny and subject to harsh criticism from the public for doing such a privileged job. Politicians cannot have the best of both worlds in the sense that they cannot both have their cake and eat it. Before I forget, I must emphasize that all my suspicion and hostilities are directed towards politicians but not the respectable statesmen like Dr. Sun Yat San of China , Mahatma Ghandhi of India and Abraham Lincoln of U.S.A. These giants of human history did not identitfy themselves solely with their own political parties or social groups but their visions were far beyond the political arena ( which merely deals with daily affairs of the people ). Their great visions did invaluable services to their countries and race and even to mankind as a whole. All their visions involved pomotion of basic human rights, justice and compassion to mankind as a whole. They are truly and rightly men of a separate breed from all the rest of us in the positive sense.
So, politicians please take notice of my comments. You are in the privileged position of being capable of doing great things with the power bestowed upon you by popular mandate if you choose to do the right thing and achieve immortality by putting your names in history for good. Despite their ideal position to do just that, many politicians are unfortunately corrupt and only serve the narrow interests of their own political parties and perhaps their own selfish ends. The hallmark of a politician is, as the chinese saying goes, grass on top of a wall that bends with the wind. For politicians in general, they very often ignore truth and justice in favour of popularity that can win them the vote to keep them in power which in turn means more fortune. They resort to smart talk and legal technicalities when they are in trouble. Take the ridiculous defence of the former U.S. President Clinton, for example. His defence for lying about his sexual misconduct with the White House intern, Monica Lewinsky was that he was not technically taking part in the alleged sexual misconduct because he was simply passively receiving the activities being performed by Lewinsky without actively responding to such activities which by itself sounds very dubious. If he did not take part in such sexual activities either physically or mentally or whatever, why did it at all ? Anyhow, the critical issue here is the extent and the creativity that politicians are capable of when it comes to saving their own skin. It is really pathetic. Had such wisdom and inspiration been applied to public affairs, incredible services could have been done for his country and the world. It may be recalled that during his personal ordeal in relation to the legal proceedings connected with the Lewinsky scandal, President Clinton was requested by the government of the African country of Sudan to take over custody of Osama Bin la Din whom they had captured. But on account of his own personal troubles, President Clinton was too preoccupied by his own futile crusade to save his crumbling reputation that he dared not take up the challenge of handling another hot political potato. And thereby, America and the world have missed a golden opportunity to nip terrorism at the bud and we all are still enduring the endless suffering of international terrorism which is partly a fall out from his own silly and reckless
mistakes.
My humble advice to politicians is this. Take a good look at this universe and the objective reality (OR). Find your rightful place in it. Assume the correct perspective which is no one is invincible and indispensable. However powerful you are on this earth, the Big Blue Marble is still an ordinary planet in an ordinary solar system situated among billions of similar systems in an ordinary galaxy we called the Milky Way that is 100,000 light years across. The Milky Way Galaxy is in turn just another ordinary island universe among billions upon billions of large and small galaxies in the visible universe which is some 150 billion years old ( earth time ) that started at the Big Bang. There could still be countless galaxies and endless space beyond our visible part of the universe. Even within our visible universe, we cannot rule out the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence. On top of all these, Strings Theory and Quantum Physics point to the possible existence of numerous universes in different and higher dimensions which scientists have dubbed the multiverse. All these scientific facts should be enough to put our inflated ego which is a very common phenomenon with politicians and other celebrities at bay. On the other hand,
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these facts do not have to intimidate us into hiding behind our own physical insignificance and to lead us to the negative conclusion that there is nothing much we can achieve in this vast universe. On the contrary, the implications of Quantum Mechanics on the role of human consciousness lend support to the view that our subjective intentions can make a real difference to our future course in life. Therefore, those in power should and must hold a positive attitude to achieving a better future for mankind. Politicians must have the vision and the wisdom to view their public policies in the larger perspective of the whole human race as citizens of our global village and not to dwell on the narrow interests of political parties and their self-interests. Be humble as everyone should. No one is qualified to stay in power forever. Politicians must not immerse themselves in such an unrealistic and unreasonable illusion. Enough is enough. When the people have spoken surrender your political powers graciously. Remember you have been privileged to be given the chance to serve the people and to put your name in history. Cherish and treasure this privilege and never abuse the power that has been conferred upon you by popular mandate. In short, rejoice for having this unique opportunity to make a difference to your own reputation, to this world and to your fellow citizens. Politicians, please put the people as your top priority !
Of Education and Educators
As I consider ignorance to be the greatest of all mortal sins, I naturally hail a good education system as mankind's saviour. As a matter of fact, I myself am a beneficiary of the education system in old Hong Kong. However, please do not misinterpret my statement as a compliment to the past colonial elite education system in Hong Kong back in the 1960s and 1970s. Notwithstanding the fact that the said elite system had provided me with the basis for my career, I do not support such an elite system which is only advantageous to the running of an impersonal and unjust colonial system. Such a system only takes care of the brighter group of students and ignores the needs of the majority. The great Chinese educator and philosopher, Confucius said that :- “ Education should not distinguish between different classes of students. “ It means that a good teacher is to try his or her utmost to impart knowledge and skill into the mind of every student regardless of their level of intelligence. I totally agree with such a noble and visionary principle of education. In my own case, I sincerely pay my unreserved homage and express my heart-felt gratitude to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the De La Salle Brothers who labour their heart and soul constantly throughout their saintly lives to open up our minds and souls to reason and compassion. They are unconscious followers of Confucius' educational philosophy and have provided the underprivileged children like myself in my younger days and others a chance to better ourselves and make a difference to our lives. I have come a long way, though modest by general standards, since my childhood days which were spent in our literally humber home and environment at the fringes of the infamous Walled-City ( Kowloon City ), a place well-known for criminal activities, delapidation and untouchable by British colonial laws due to its jurisdiction being covered by the Qing Dynasty Unequal Treaties. Of course, I like my siblings owed my mother a lot for bringing myself and four of my brothers and sisters up working hard as a teacher for some thirty years day and night ( taking up evening classes as well ). I was able to enter Hong Kong University in 1968 as an undergraduate student in accounting and economics mainly because of my adequate intellectual training provided to me by the Christian Brothers and partly due to my luck on the spark of inspiration in making the right decision to change to the arts subjects. The British system at the university was both rigid and not conducive to developing personal initiatives and intellectual agility. It was again by sheer luck and competent basic training in my secondary school days that had pulled me through to graduation. Therefore, I do have some bitter and sweet experience with the education system that has enabled me to develop some particular insights into this all
important system which is the locomotive that drives society forward. Unlike traditional thinking of aiming at students' success in their
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future in society, I am inclined to the view that they must be educated in the defensive techniques of handling failure. Nor is this simply a pessemistic view of reality. Let me ask you this question. How many students are number one in their class ? Surely, there is only one ! What happens to the rest ? Are they to feel sorry for themselves and quit trying ? Of course not. But before they can achieve that, they have to be able to get over their initial failure first. The highest position I ever got to in my class was during year seven which was second spot in my class of 45 and eighth spot in the whole of year seven totalling 270 students ( 6 classes in total graded by their results ). I never got to the top spot which is generally viewed as the absolute academic success. So, you cannot argue with statistics that failure outweighs success by a huge margin but that depends on how you define success. If it is defined in terms of improvement, then it will be a different story. It is all a matter of expectation and the selection effect as in scientific research.Therefore, I am glad to learn that recently public organizations in Hong Kong and elsewhere have contributed to certain academic awards called award on progress instead of the traditional awards to the top students only. Those students who have made the biggest improvements during their academic year will be recognized regardless of the position where they have started in the beginning of the year. This is definitely a more sensible and encouraging approach. Students should be given the realistic picture of life which is this failures do very often occur. This is to be expected as the rule rather than the exception.The most important thing to bear in mind is that they must do their personal best to achieve the academic goals set for them by the education system. If the unfortunate scenario of failing an examination arises, students should find out the reasons why and, may be with some help from their teachers and parents, to learn from their mistakes. Then, they must accept the reality of their failure and move on, putting their earlier failure in the proper Perspective of their whole life. A failure in one examination among numerous academic tests and other emotional and physical trials throughout one's life can be meaningfully compared to a little painful fall in the process of a child learning to walk. The sensible and logical thing to do about such a mild set-back is to endure the pain. Cry a bit if you like to relieve the pressure and stress ( I have always opposed the wrong attitude of adults in stopping children from crying when the young and gentle soul feels like it- crying is Nature's way of dealing with stress ). Then stand up and try once more. Learning to muster enough strength in one's character to put the past behind oneself and to pick up whatever pieces in one's life to endure failures and improve oneself should be the top priority in the education process. After all, to beat the overwhelming odds is the defining hallmark of life with a capital L. Therefore, take strength from the emergence of life in this universe and try your very best to beat the odds. You will be surprised at what you can achieve through your will power. It can be a case of mind over matter if you so decide.
Then, there is the issue about humlilty and absolute respect to the teachers that are to be traditionally demanded of students. While there is little doubt that humility and respect for the older generation are great virtues, blind adherence to such ideas regardless of the relevant circumstances will reduce such virtues to farce and even demerits. Take the process of learning in the class room, for example. We all agree that by tradition, students with oriental cultural backgroumds take less initiative in asking questions in class. Firstly, they are unreasonably inclined to the view that asking questions indicates disrespect and implies potential challenges to their teachers' instructions or competence. Secondly, the students may be under the mistaken impression that asking questions also reveals their own ignorance. It is obvious that the students are wrong on both counts. The correct attitude in learning is to clarify any doubts that may adversely affect our understanding of the truth and knowledge at hand. The question of disrespect for the teachers does not arise in this proper procedure of the learning process. Students should show their respects in their manners and body language in and outside of classes instead. Also, it is naïve on the part of students to feel embarrassed in asking questions which they may feel will reveal their ignorance. On the contrary, asking more questions ,in fact, shows that the students know a lot about the subject being discussed. If they do not know anything about the subject in question, they would not have been able to raise any relevant issues in the form of queries to the teacher in the first place. So, students should ask as many questions as they possibly can. It shows that you are really smart and works to both your advantage and personal image if you feel that is important to you. It will give
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you better self-confidence, too in public speaking and improving your ability to articulate your thoughts and verbal ability.
It appears to me that the virtue of humility has a lot to do with building up the students' self confidence. Always being humble regardless of the circumstances is counter productive insofar as it erodes one's confidence. When students are certain that they are right on particular issues they should be encouraged to express their points politely but forcefully. This will build up their confidence in sticking to their own principles. That is why the extracurricular activity of debating is a very good way of training in logical thinking and articulate verbal ability. I was once a member of the school debating team and I did enjoy the experience very much. On the other hand, humility comes in when the students should always be reminded of their proper place in life and society and ultimately the whole universe when they mature. The point that no one is all powerful and indispensable must be hit home in the students' mind. Similar to dealing with failure, students should be taught not to lose their head in excitement, pride and over-confidence with themselves in their successes as pride goes before a fall. Again, no one is invincible.
Let me tell you a very subtle tale told by a great Japanese master in Zen philosophy. There was once a very clever young man who heard of an old and wise Zen master from whom the young man wants to learn more wisdom. So, the young man paid a visit to the Zen master's humble dwellings. Upon entering the the entrance the young man was asked to crawl through a very low gate as a symbol of humility to access the study where the Zen master practised his meditation. After they were seated on the straw mattress, the old master performed tea ceremony and poured some tea into a cup held in the hand of the young man. He was specifically asked by the old master to pay attention to the tea pouring procedure so that he might learn something. As instructed, the young watched the cup slowly filling up with tea but he noticed that the old master continued to pour tea into the cup even after it was full and overflowing. He could not stand the pain of the hot tea burning the skin of his hand and let go of the cup which subsequently shattered to pieces on the floor. Without apologizing for his clumsiness, the old master asked the young man to leave. He was astonished by the rudeness and protested about the pain caused him by the old master. In the young man's mind, he felt cheated by the old master's claimed reputation of being a wise philosopher. He thought that the Zen master was nothing but a useless and clumsy old fool. So, the young man demanded that he be given some advice by the old master before he would leave him in a move to try to embarrass the old master and to discredit his reputation. Whereupon, the Zen master spoke in a slow but self- assured tone of voice :- “ I had already given you some excellent advice only you were too preoccupied with your own ego and complacency to have missed it. “ But the young man retorted that the Zen master was nothing more than a sham and his remarks were a poor disguise of the old master's total ignorance of any Zen philosophy. Without being upset in anyway, the old master said :- “ If your cup of thoughts is already full, how can you acquire any more knowledge to enrich your wisdom further ? “ The young man realized there and then that the whole scenario was an elaborate lesson to teach him humility. He felt so ashamed of his own arrogant attitude that he knelt down in front of the old Zen master in great humility to beg for his forgiveness. He was subsequently accepted by the old Zen master to be his follower and became an accomplished Zen philosopher himself in due course. There you have it. The little tale I have just told you is known as a Koan in Zen terminology which is similar in nature and purpose to the parables of the New Testsment of the Bible. It is really a telling episode.
Teachers occupy a very high and honourable position in oriental cultures and so did they under the ancient Greek tradition. This is not an accident of history but rather a reflection on the important responsibilty they bear in educating the younger generation who represents our future hopes and dreams. This being the case, teaching is not just any old job for people to make a living but instead it is a profession of vital importance on which society depends to shape the brains of the future. So, if you are thinking of making teaching your profession for life, please make absolutely sure that you are willing and able to commit your whole heart and soul to it before jumping into such a noble and demanding commitment. Let us examine in detail the ideal requirements of a competent teacher. First of all, teachers must have an affinity and aptitude to deal with the young. This would imply that teachers should have a patient and caring disposition. They
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must also be generous with their time. Expect to be bordered by your students even after classes where the formal learning process is going on. This is because teachers are not only responsible for imparting knowledge on the minds of students but also concerned with their personality and character development in co-operation with their parents. It is equally important to educate students in knowledge as well as in their morals. Students must be taught to be responsible citizens apart from being compassionate human beings. It would be most dangerous to teach students knowledge without instilling a sense of duty to themselves and to society as a whole because power ( that is knowledge ) without control ( that is moral responsibility ) would be potentially destructive.
Secondly, teachers must have a sense of mission because the education system is not run on the commercial principle implying that the pecuniary remuneration cannot be comparable to the commercial sector which operates on a profit motive. Without a sense of mission and generosity, mediocre teachers may tend to cut back on their time and commitment to their students to an extent that is commensurate with the limited financial rewards teachers are getting. This kind of commercial attitude has no place in the education profession. Once you begin to have such an urge to measure the efforts against the remuneration, it is time for you to consider quitting your job so as to prevent yourself from making a fool out of yourself as well as your students. As soon as such an attitude has developed in you mind, you would be wasting both your own time and that of your students if you continue to engage in teaching. The real reward from being a good teacher is to see the tangible results of your dedication materialize in producing successful key personnels in different walks of life who were once your students. If you are lucky enough, you may have lent a helping hand in the emergence of one or two Nobel Prize winners. That would be the pinnacle of your success. Failing this ideal situation, the mere thought that you have not produced any student who is a menace to society can be a source for satisfaction. Even such a scenario would be a consolation. That means that, at least, you have prevented the breeding of criminal elements in society.
Thirdly, teachers must have the virtues of fortitude and perseverance. In the Chinese tradition, educating the young has very often been compared to planting and nurturing a tree. There is a Chinese saying that goes like this :- “ It takes ten years to nurture a tree to maturity but it will take a hundred years to complete the education of men.” The meaning to be read between the lines is that it will take generations ( a hundred years are about five generations in duration ) to instil wisdom and good habits into the minds of the population. One properly educated generation will have positive influence on the next until the ideal moral standards can take roots in society after a number of generations. Therefore, teachers must have confidence in their mission and must persevere in their noble goal of shaping the minds and souls of their students. Do not expect immediate results for your efforts. The fruits of your labour will ultimately be reaped by society in the long run. Such belief and conviction has to be constantly refreshed in your hearts and minds to provide energy and support for you unceasing struggle in this vital mission.
Within my limited experience from our voluntary education project in China, my friends and myself have also endured some of the agony and enjoyed some of the esctasy in being teachers. We made it a point to request a verbal undertaking from the older students ( in year 8 and 9 ) to assist their younger schoolmates in their studies the same way as we have unconditionally helped them, especially in their English language skills. Most of them have subsequently honoured their promises. The agony we experienced had surprisingly come from the school administrators some of whom are Communist Party members. The students themselves were very eager to learn but the only trouble was the limited resources provided by the state run schools. Once we tried to hold English revision classes in the evening in preparation for public examinations which were very important to the year 9 students' future working careers. The school administrators objected on the grounds that they had to switch off all the lights at the officially set time of 8 p.m. to save on electricity which is quite expensive in China. So, we had to offer to pay for the extra costs out of our own pockets to get the evening classes going. There were other incidents like sporting equipments for which official funds had already been approved 2 to 3 years before but had not been made available due to the unexplained disappearance of the funds in question. The reader should be aware that
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there are no independent audit systems in China both at the governmental and the private enterprise levels. This is the working of absolute power in action. The party cannot tolerate the operation of an independent auditor whose power to investigate into financial affairs of the state would be tantamount to asking the party to give up its monopoly on absolute power which it has always been guarded with great jealousy. So much so that the party was willing to risk everything including its reputation and credibility to turn the army against its own people as it did on the 4th of June, 1989. True to my earlier statement of the adverse effects of not recognizing the rightful place of the individual in society, such totalitarian system of government will and does affect the livelihood of the people, even little people who are the future of our society. The only thing to be done in this particular case was again our own money that saved the day. Fortunately, we also experienced the ecstasy when our efforts were recognized by the students and ordinary members of the local farming community ( who are mostly parents of the students we helped ) by having been invited to participate in their local mid-autumn festivities of songs and folk dances followed by simple but delicious local cuisines. It was an experience that I would find great difficulty in forgetting. Now that some of my friends had been successfully appointed to the provincial People's Consultative Committee whose responsibility is to make annual recommendations on local governmental affairs including education, our work has been made a lot easier. That is the political reality that the school officials have no choice but to face! So, this is the story of my own adventure in Chinese education. Suffice it to say that even within the seemingly monotonous process of teaching, one can still become the richer in spirit despite the meagre financial rewards offered to the professional educators which is the rightful and honourable name I prefer to call all teachers. So, three cheers for teachers all over the world including my mother from whom I had the benefit of her guidance !
Of Youth and Youngsters
I had doubts in discussing this topic here because I am quite sure that youngsters will not read my book. My feeling in this regard is similar to the scenario of a priest giving a sermon in a Sunday church service denouncing those who do not observe Sunday services. Those listening to the scolding are the good guys while the bad ones will never undergo such an ordeal. However, I have still decided to go ahead with this issue because there is a faint hope that if my arguments are succinct enough the parents of youngster who are my readers will pass on my message to their kids. Worst come to worst, the current generation of youngsters will read it when they are mature enough. I always hold a stubborn attitude when it comes to principles and the one involved here is our obligation to give guidance to our younger generation. Here also lies the beauty in writing a book. It can endure the test of time if it does have some genuine and sobering messages to deliver. Better late than never is a sound piece of advice. Just like the goal of education, faith, hope and perseverance are the orders of the day in delivering one's message.
Youth is a gift. It is a mandate to enjoy oneself to excessive limits and to be able to be reckless at times. It is a time for adventure and acquisition of experience of all sorts. It is a time to exercise one's rights without having to bear the related obligations. On the other hand, it can also be hazardous to the well being of those who are fortunate enough to possess it. So much so that their precious life could be tragically cut short in extreme scenarios. It is all a matter of perspective as dictated by Einstein's Relativity. To the highly complex and chaotic nature of human affairs, common sense cannot always be applied in a straight forward manner. Take the question of old age, for example. Common sense cannot straightly apply. If I am 65, I can normally be considered an old man. But if I had the blessing ( or curse depending on how you look at it ) of staying alive until 100, I could still be considered as a middle-aged man. On the contrary, if I were 18 and were to meet with a fatal traffic accident at 21, then I could have been considered to be a very old man at 18 on hindsight. The question of age or ageing is all a matter of the heart. I sincerely believe in the wonderful idea of being young at heart. You may think that I am
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just being difficult and cunning with my arguments and that the foregoing scenarios are merely hypothetical cases. But mind you, I did have a relative whose son was killed in a tragic crash on his graduation day from a famous west coast college in USA in a new speeding sports car given to him by his father as a graduation present. He was 21 and his father later died of a broken heart. So, youth is not equivalent to invinciblity. On the contrary, It could be a one way passport to thy kingdom come. Then, I had another friend whose 12 year old son has an inborn problem of a deformed pocket of blood vessels in his brain. If these delicate blood vessels are broken through a heavy blow on the head in an accident, it can cause a massive haemorrhage that could kill him. Therefore, my friend is gravely disturbed by his son's unfortunate inborn defect in his brain. However, this defect has also caused his son to be more mature and cautious in his physical activities. My friend used to be a bit relieved at least temporarily when I told him the above sad story and he accepted my suggestion that his son's conditions may have been a blessing in disguise and better things may result from his conditions. At least one thing is clear so far, his son has already gained an advantage in the earlier maturity of his mental faculties. He has already developed a sense of responsibility toward himself at such an early age which may very well see him to his ripe old age. The universe very often works in strange ways. Or, if you are religious, God's ways are sometimes mysterious, subtle and benevolent. I know for sure that some of the readers will challenge me on this issue but without asking them to commit themselves to the idea of the existence of an almighty deity, I will set out my eccentric ideas on this particular issue later in this chapter. But for now, let us move on to the behaviour of teenagers.
How often do teenagers kid themselves into thinking that an extra cigarette a day will not hurt them. Or one more drink before they hit the road is harmless for those with sharp reflexes. Youngsters are strange but lovely creatures. They cannot tolerate the monotony of a few minutes of wise but boring counselling from their seniors and yet they can accept smoking and drink driving that can surely kill them in due course without the blink of an eye. Are they really that silly or are there any explanations for their apparently irrational behaviour ? Let us think for a moment about the possibilities. I for one can think of some scientific support for such behaviour in the Theory of Chaos and the Science of Networks. As far as the former theory is concerned, the human brain including young brains are without a doubt classical chaotic systems that are most sensitive to even very slight changes in their initial positions. Even identical twins with almost identical genetic dispositions will grow up to be completely different in personality and character although their physical appearance remains very similar to each other. This is the obvious result of nature and nurture coupled with the chaotic working of the brain. Even twins can conceivably be subject to different cultural and social conditioning in terms of different subjects taken in their education process and different careers being pursued. Once the initial inputs into their brains differ even very slightly the resultant conditioning may vary considerably due to the multi-lateral interactions between various aspects of their mental faculties. This is the peculiar way in which chaotic systems function. In more practical terms, young brains can be more unpredictable because the normally chaotic working of the brain may be substantially amplified on account of the still developing intellect which does not possess the more established and, therefore, more stable mental and moral principles or ideas as in the case of mature persons. There can be considerable changes of moods and emotions on account of hormonal changes in the biological maturing
process.
This being the case, young people are generally more susceptible to the Cascades Effect and Coercive Externalities as defined in the Science of Networks. In short, they are very much open to peer pressure because of their social needs to be accepted by their friends. Such desparate need which is their perceived reality (PR) will cause them to give in to such pressure regardless of whether or not the so-called accepted behaviour for the moment among their group is right or wrong. That is why teenagers can easily acquire bad habits such as chain smoking or bin drinking which are considered to be “ cool “ among the younger generation. This distorted images of a “ cool “ life style can in turn be traced to undesirable effects produced by socially unhealthy T.V. programs and the mass media. In this regard, teenagers can engage in the most bizzare and even painful practices such as body piercing to wear ornamental rings in even the
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most intimate parts of their young bodies that can result in permanent injuries and other health problems. Putting irremovable tattoos on their body is yet another one of such seemingly bizzare practices among youngsters.
So far, I have only dealt with the negative aspects of teenage behaviour. On the other hand, young people can be lovely creatures if they are correctly motivated. I have previously mentioned the voluntary social work projects I had experienced in Hong Kong where the participants are almost entirely young people. Therefore, as can be seen from my past experience and other similar situations, the Casades Effect and Coercive Externalities can be made to work positively in the service of the community. Again, the importance of education is the key. Young people have a lot of energy and, sometimes, have an excessive supply of it in the sense that they tend to engage in naughty and even destructive activities if they are not given a proper outlet to vent this overflowing energetic urge to express themselves. This, as I mentioned, can be utilized to their great advantage. The obvious outlet is sporting activities. That was why we were engaged in a dispute with the school authorities in our own education project in China over sporting equipments which we saw as being vital to the education of the children while the authorities looked at them as an opportunity to fatten their own pockets instead. Besides putting their physical energy to healthy use, sports have yet another more subtle function of building up the self- confidence of young people. As our mind and character require the proper conditioning through experience to achieve maturity, sports are ideal for the training of the juvenile mind. While adults have had the benefit of social and their daily experiences over the years to shape their character, young people are not yet seasoned in this respect. The ideal and safest way to go about this mental training is through participation in sports. Where else can young people learn from their mistakes both physically and mentally without paying the ultimate price of life and limb and other emotional trauma to prepare themselves for their later lives except in sporting activities. That is why there is a lot of benefits to be reaped by the young in playing games. The traditional Chinese thinking that encourages young people to spend more of their time in academic curriculum rather than games ( including sports ) is not a sound policy. Traditional over-emphasis on pure knowledge without corresponding healthy sporting activities to improve physical fitness during the pre-modern era had caused great suffering to China and her citizens in terms of their inferior physique. The lack of encouragement to the younger generation to develop interest in physical activities and practical knowledge had also contributed to the slow progress in science and technology in China. Their curiosity and creative spirit have not been properly motivated. This unfortunate situation had ultimately made Chinese citizens victims of many unequal treaties in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. On a positive note, sports also provide definite objectives for teenagers to direct their efforts. Success in sports is undoubtedly a source of great satifaction for young people and a good foundation for building self-confidence.
At this juncture, I wish to make a few suggestions and propose some guidelines for our younger generation to develop their self-confidence which is absolutely essential for success in all aspects of their lives as they mature. Firstly, you must know your rightful position ( have a correct perspective of yourself ) in life. At the family level, your main duty is to get yourself a good education. Therefore, your studies are the top priority. Your parents are working like a dog to support your education. So the least you can do is to show them some good results as a sign of appreciation for their hardship they undergo on your account. Help out around the house to show that you are aware of your obligations as well as your rights to a good education and the basic daily needs which you are getting for free. Never take anything for granted. No one is entitled to any favours from any other person as a matter of course, not even between parents and their children. Assume the right mentality and try out this approach at home. You will begin to develop a harmonious relationship with other family members instantly. At school, you should mind your manners towards your teachers and fellow students. Respect is something mutual. You cannot demand respect. You just have to earn it. One very sensible policy is respect begets respect. So, take the initiative by showing your respect for others, not just through your manners but also through your tolerance of the beliefs and opinions of others. This is the first and foremost principle in a democratic society. The famous French writer of the eighteenth century Voltaire wrote about democracy in the following manner :-” I disapprove
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of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. “ This statement says a lot about the true spirit of the democratic principle. Strike a sensible balance between work and play. Only by active participation in class and school affairs can you get the best out of your education for which your parents have worked so hard. Get your best value from it which will surely be reflected in your future success in life to your own satisfaction and that of your family.
On a personal level, you should integrate into the social groups to which you belong before you can contribute to the groups and interact with other members to your mutual benefit. You must have various circles of social groupings of which you are a member. These may include your friends, relatives, schoolmates, religious organizations and other sports clubs or teams. At times you may find it difficult to feel at home among such groups. This is a sign of having integration problems. One common reason for such maladjustment may be attributable to the failure on your part to find your rightful position in the group. You will always feel comfortable among your close friends or mates ( in Australian terminology ) because you feel secured in the knowledge that they care and support your values, opinion and personal feelings. In short, they have identical value judgments as your own. But if you accept the democratic principle to respect the values and opinions of all people, there is no reason why you cannot have the same sense of security among various social groups in which you are a member. But it will take some training. This argument is true only on the assumption that you are aware of your rightful place in the group. Therefore, you must make an intellectual effort to find out. This will involve the initial step of knowing your own personal objectives and goals. Without these personal targets, you will be like a seafarer that sails the seven seas without a chart or destination. You are bound to get lost and never be able to reach the yonder shores. However, it is only fair to assume that at your tender age you may still be looking for your meaningful goals in life and rightly so. In this regard, I would venture to make the following recommendations. You can afford the time to seek your ultimate goal in life but there should always be an awareness on your part that this is the most important task in your life. While you are still undecided, try to make the task easier by classifying your goals into the short term, the medium term and the long term ones. By short term, here I mean by the week; and medium term by the month; and long term by the year. For example, short term goals may involve how to spend your mid- term school break. Time tables of targets activities such as home assignments and sports commitments are always of great help. This is called your time management skill or procedure which you must master in due course. There are, in fact, training classes for such skills which I would highly recommend. Medium term goals may deal with badly needed improvements in certain academic subjects and sports or other extracurricular activities. Long term goals will probably concern the academic position in your class you are aiming at by the end of the school year or which streams of studies ( the science or arts subjects ) you wish to major in next year. Professional counselling in your academic planning is appropriate in these circumstances and it may be available at your school. There is, in fact, the goal for the very long run which is your goal in life. No one should rush into these things which require prolonged personal experience and endless soul searching before a sensible decision can be reached. In my own case, I only decided on my career goal ( a long term goal ) during my matriculation level which was when I was about the age of 18. As mentioned in the prologue, I was not good in mathematics so I decided to change to the arts subjects which finally culminated in the more practical and job-friendly subjects of economics and accounting at the university because of the financial needs of my family. So, each one
must decide on one's own background, ability and interest. As regards the goal for life which is one of the main themes in this
book. It would appear at first sight to be too distant for young people but, as a matter of fact, time simply flies by without your noticing it. Therefore, even teenagers should think about it once in a while before they enter their tertiary level of education. The sooner you can decide the better for two obvious reasons. Firstly, the earlier you decide the more time will there be for reaching that important goal. Secondly, an earlier start can give you ample time to change your mind and switch to another one should the initial decision be proven unworkable for you over a period of time. For example, if you find that the actual experience of becoming a medical practitioner is not your cup of tea, then you can switch
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to becoming a pharmacist or pathologist and may be a research micro-biologist. Before you make a final decision, make your curriculum of studies as flexible as possible to facilitate later changes should you so wish. But the general direction such as science and arts may have to be decided earlier. The accepted practice appears to be a general education that involves majoring in the sciences or the arts and having a minor credit in the other. This is a very sensible approach in view of the needs of a modern well-informed citizen to be able to make judgments on matters from different perspectives. Therefore, there is a basic need to be able to connect all aspects of one's daily life and society as a whole.
Returning to the buiding of self-confidence, Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the US president during the Second World War ( Franklin D. Roosevelt ) had this to say :- “ No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Thus, the key to self- confidence is to know your rightful position in any particular situation. This in turn requires knowledge applicable to that specific occasion. Therefore, a keen and inquesitive attitude is preferrable in combating the mortal sin of ignorance. If you have a general impression of the different aspects of reality ( i.e. the different types of realities- S,H,O,P and their particular natures ) and the working of your own consciousness ( and, in particular, the manner in which your brain works - by conditioning and reinforcement ), you will build up your self-confidence in no time at all. Take my personal experience for example. When I was working as a tax manager in an international CPA firm in Hong Kong at the start of my career, I was given the daunting task of attending a meeting of the board of directors of a very large public company in the place of my supervisor who was on leave. My task was to express our professional tax opinion on a huge real estate development project to be undertaken by the company. Present at the board meeting were the chairman, CEO, CFO, other directors and their legal counsels of the highest calibre. Such an array of seasoned experts is enough to deter the most experienced of tax consultants. On top of all these people, I was accompanied by a senior partner of my CPA firm who is supposed to monitor my performance at the presentation and to lend support if I was considered not to be up to the job. With such a watchful eye on my back and a demanding audience, I felt like I was taking my cut-throat public university entrance examination all over again. I started gingerly but I did put all my expertise in taxation to effective use. As the seconds ticked on I was able to catch everyone's full attention. I noticed that because the legal counsels as well as the CEO and CFO were raising queries in response to the finer points in my presentation of our firm's tax opinion. Then, my self-confidence sets in when I realized from the questions they asked that even the highpower legal counsels were not good at all in accounting principles as they were not supposed to be. There lies the key to my self- confidence. Nobody can be equally good in all areas of skill and knowledge. Do not let famous reputation intimidate you. Each person is an expert in his own way so long as he is well-informed ( i.e. not ignorant ) about his own area of expertise. As long as you put up sufficient effort and with some standard intelligence, anyone can become an expert if one so wishes. In the present example, my in-depth knowledge of my clients' project coupled with my expertise in taxation and a lot of preparation work had won over the day. As times went by, I became more confident and that had a snowball effect on the fluency of my presentation. All parties were completely satisfied by the end of my presentation. So much so that the senior partner had subsequently sent my supervisor an office memorandum that specifically cited my above memorable assignment as an example of the quality to be looked for in my replacement at the time I resigned to start up my own practice. This was a great compliment to me because my firm knew that I was resigning to compete against them in some minor ways. Furthermore, most of my clients had given my small sole proprietorship practice some jobs either for their own associates companies or their business associates as a token of their appreciation. I also remained as personal tax consultants to some of the chairmen of public companies and their close relatives for considerable periods of time even after my resignation from the international CPA firm. This was another great compliment to my abilities and led to further consolidation on my self-confidence.
The important lesson I have learned about self-confidence is that you have to work for it - no pain, no gain. It is a constant law of nature that no one can override. If you want to slim your waistline which is mass ( fat ), you have to burn it into
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energy ( Einstein's law of mass and energy equivalence ) by physical exercise that will turn fat into heat energy, water vapour and carbon dioxide. Mass and energy are both conserved for always. They only change forms but can never be destroyed. Some people choose what they think is the easier way out in taking dubious drugs and undergoing other unproven proccesses without enduring the pain of doing exercise. Apart from possible ramifications on their health, such people have to pay expensively for these questionable treatments. Nevertheless, the financial costs they pay are also hard earned dollars obtained as a result of physical or mental efforts by themselves or someone close to them. There is no free lunch. Occasionally, you may think that you get one but it is only an illusion. Only someone else has paid for it and sometimes without your knowledge. In short, returns for efforts is one of those laws of nature that belongs to the category of objective realities (OR) that are rigid and unchanging phenomena from which no one is exempt. Therefore, be prepared in terms of knowledge and skill and with a bit of luck which is essential ( that is the Network view of history ) you will be on your way to a blooming career when the right chance comes along. Meanwhile, be patient and work on your knowledge which will inevitably breed self-confidence. It is a win-win situation as far as the knowledge acquiring process is concerned. Your knowledge is always conserved ( with you until your dying day ) so there is no wastage anyway. You may even pass it on to your off-springs like what I am doing here and now and that knowledge may be retained for an eternity if it is useful stuff. If you are not prepared, luck will simply be squandered and it will pass you by when it drops in to say hello !
As I have emphasized at the beginning of this section, youth is nature's gift. Young people have the built-in impeccable computer hardware in the form of an agile and sharp intellect ( your fine and marvelous brain ), it would be a sheer waste if you do not put in the all important software program ( that is exemplified by relevant and useful knowledge ) to run it and to beat the cardinal evil of ignorance. You are the future pillars of society and our hopes and dreams. So, youth of the world, whatever you do, never put your brain on hold. As previously mentioned, only about 10 % to 15% of the normal brain capacity is utilized. If you do not make use of it, you will be more foolish than a fool. Because a fool is not up to the task while you are more than capable of accomplishing the job of banishing ignorance from your life forever only if you are willing to try. You will also recall that the process of learning works on a geometric progression basis as I have personally experienced it in my present intellectual journey. It is always a difficult task to overcome the initial mental inertia to start the learning process. It took me some 3 months to read Stephen Hawking's book of A Brief History of Time which consists of only 185 pages. Once the breakthrough is achieved after reading about 30 books in my case ( it is definitely different for each individual depending on your previous training ), the Critical Threshold is attained in terms of the predictions of the theory of the Science of Networks and the Information Cascades take hold. From that point onwards, I never look back, so to speak, as far as the learning process goes. There is one more point of interest for young people. Efforts in learning, I have come to realize, also follow the first law of thermodynamics - the conservation of mass and energy. Whatever efforts you have expended on learning is conserved. The knowledge you have accumulated through your efforts remains with you throughout your life. It is a very fair deal. Besides, if you do not work hard for it when you are young and physically fit you will definitely pay for your neglect in terms of a hard life when you are old and gray. That is a frightening thought, isn't it ? So, it is a matter of sooner or later for making personal efforts. One way or another, you are going to pay for it ( in living your life ). There is no free lunch, remember ? Therefore, it is always better to be sooner rather than later that you acquire enough knowledge to take contorl of your own life. This equally applies to the well-to-do youngsters. Yes, you who have rich parents. Whatever you can expect from your family legacy it cannot sustain your life indefinitely without the protection of knowledge. Without the necessary know-how to manage your inherited wealth, you can lose it in a jiffy. So, the only sensible proposition is to start taking an interest in learning and making a genuine effort to input the software into your really exclusive PC that is your own brain here and now. The earlier you learn the more time you have to make use of the knowledge you have acquired to your own benefit and that of society and, possibly, the whole human race. Who knows? There could probably be a few young Einsteins among you. Never
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underestimate your own potentials. You are what you want yourselves to be. Once you are able to adopt such an attitude sky's the limit for you.
As my long term goal after my retirement, I have decided among other things on reading and writing about science and philosophy. This book hopefully is my first project and represents the results of 6 years of constant reading. You may ask to what purpose ? I can only answer it with another question. The same question that I asked in the preface of this book. Why do people risk life and limb to climb Mount Everest ? What can they gain through their blood, sweat and tears ? Probably, it is just this. I with a capital letter or yours truly have been there ! My learning experience in these past few years had been amazing in the sense that I have become even more confident in my self as a thinking and compassionate human being. I feel that I am at peace and in harmony with nature, my family, my friends and society in general. I sometimes even feel that I am a friend to the animals (our family dog can testify to that if it can speak but it does lie beside me when I am watching T.V. tobear witness to my claim ), the plants, the environment, the atoms, the stars and the galaxies and beyond....... Such is the soothing effects of knowing your rightful place in this universe. That is why I have no hesitatiion whatsoever in recommending such an intellectual journey that does not cost a lot in monetary terms to any mature person who can afford the time. But, be patient, young people of the world, wait until your turn comes along. Meanwhile, persevere in you short term, medium term and long term goals with the hopes and dreams that awaits you in the wings.
Of Heroes and Housewives
When we were young we all dreamed of becoming heroes after we grew up. The image of a hero changes with our age. For kids before the age of 10, Superman and Luke Skywalker of Star Wars fame are probably their idols. Then for the teenagers before 18, the image of a hero may have changed to sports megastars, movie idols and rock singers. After the age of 21, our image of a hero may have evolved yet again to cover successful business icons such as Bill Gates of the computer world or Rupert Murdoch of the mass media. Regardless of whom you consider to be a hero, there are certain essential traits that we can always find in such charismatic figures. These important qualities that make people heroes in the eyes of their fellow citizens include courage, generosity, compassion, perseverance, sense of justice, dedication to duty, unconditional sarcrifice and other less noble features such as fame and fortune or power and glamour. Standards for heroism also change through the different ages in human history and vary broadly according to cultural backgrounds. For example, some heroes in ancient history who died for their king in blind loyalty may now be considered as mere fools if they were alive today. The ethical standards may have been modified through the passage of time and changing circumstances. Take Alexander the Great as an illustration, he would have been branded a war monger by present day standards because of his ambition to conquer the world. Of course, he would still be praised for his support and
contribution to develpoment of knowledge and science. Returning to real life heroes, I think they can be classified into the
following categories :- corporal, spiritual and intellectual. Lord Nelson of the Royal Navy who led his fleet to triumph in the defence of Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar but sacrificing his own life in the line of duty is a famous example of a hero of the corporal type. He gave up his life for his country. This category include all those who lost their lives in the defence of freedom and justice in the Great War, World War Two and all other bloody conflicts that involved the protection of innocent people, liberty and justice. The spiritual type of hero or heroine can be found in the outstanding example of the saintly personality of the Reverend Mother Teresa who devoted her entire life to helping the poor, the sick and the underprivileged people in the ghettos of Calcutta in India. Then the intellectual types are even more numerous. They include great scientists and thinkers such as Albert Einstein ( my favourite hero in this category ), Sir Issac Newton, Socrates of ancient Greece and Lao Tzu of ancient China. These intellectual heroes have shaped our minds and
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contributed tremendously to our understanding of the world and improved our standards of living through their ground breaking knowledge in science and technology. Apart from these giants of human history, there are, in fact, many unsung heroes and heroines among us who are less conspicuous but they deserve our respect to no lesser degree. I am referring to the dedicated policemen, fire fighters and the medical workers who make up the essential services of our society. Their dedication and personal sacrifice can be clearly seen during the outbreak of the bird flu epidemic in Hong Kong during 2003 when I was still working in that Special Administrative Region of China. The medical staff of all public hospitals there had to work around the clock during the epidemic to take care of the infected patients. Because of quarantine requirements, they were not allowed to go home to see their families months on end when the epidemic was at its height. Apart from the serious problem of physical and mental fatique, they were also emotionally deprived in missing their families who were also under the threat of the bird flu. The most heroic deed came to light when a young doctor died after contracting the disease at the early stages of the epidemic when not enough information was available to set up the necessary safety procedures to protect the medical staff. This young real life hero was known to have spent extra long hours beyond the call of duty in the hospital's intensive care unit to take care of his patients thus resulting in the weakening of his own immune system against the bird flu. As written in the New Testament of the Bible ( Gospel of St. John, 15 : 13 ) :-'' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. “ The heroism exhibited by this young doctor is no less noble and courageous than the soldier who dies in combat in the defence of his country and freedom. Only in this case the young doctor was knowingly taking a risk on his own life in combating disease to defend the lives of his patience and paying the ultimate price for his noble mission.The fact that he faced no bullets or bombs but a silent enemy did not require less courage and dedication as the solder in the battle fields. Our hats off to the unsung heroes !
There is no doubt that it takes tremendous guts to go into battle to face the enemy in defence of justice and liberty. In this regard, I am very proud of the ANZAC tradition of my adopted country, Australia. Only briefly during the Second World War that Australia was threatened by the invasion of the evil military might of the then Empire of Japan when Darwin was bombed by the aircrafts from Japanese carriers in Feburary, 1942. Despite her relative safety due to her isolated location, Australian troops had always taken part in important conflicts first as a member of the British Empire and later as part of the British Commomwealth. They had also acted as a part of peace keeping forces under United Nation mandates on all occasions when freedom and the lives of innocent people were threatened. In this process, the precious lives of many Australian young men were sarcrificed for the noble ideals of justice and liberty. For these brave and noble souls, all Australians commemorate their deeds of heroism annually in the ANZAC Day parades. The inscriptions on the walls of the War Memorial in Melbourne- “ Lest we forget “ appropriately reflect the sense of honour and loss we bestowed on such heroes. When I first came to Australia in 1997, I was puzzled by the importance Australians place on the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in 1915 which ended in the bloodiest defeat for the British and ANZAC troops. Later on, I realized that it was the sense of mateship and self- sacrifice made by many young ANZAC soldiers as young as 16 years of age in helping and caring for their fellow ranks and files that had won them the honour. In the course of their support for their wounded mates, those young heroes had to constantly move back and forth in the midst of flying bullets and shrapnals to bring the wounded medicines and supplies. Many paid the ultimate price in terms of their lives and limbs. This tragic and painful scenario lasted for a few months from August, 1915 to January, 1916 by which time more than 10,000 ANZAC troops were killed. It is not the war and fighting that the Gallipoli spirit is glorified. It is the selfless sacrifice made by these young heroes for their mates beyond the call of duty that had become the ANZAC spirit which is also the national spirits of Australia and New Zealand.
While heroism can be used to motivate people especially the younger generation to do good, it can also be misused to lead people into committing hideous crimes. Japanese Militarism that ran rampant during the Second World War was misguided heroism. Furthermore, extremists groups the world over are still using misguided heroism as an effective tool to recruit young and innocent crusaders for their
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perverted cause. How absurd is the claim that killing innocent lives through terrorist acts will make a hero out of the participant and will bestow upon him the right to go to heaven. Heroism based on fame and fortune can also do a lot of damage to the younger generation in motivating them to becoming fanatic fans and supporters of their idols very often leading them to a total neglect of their studies which should be their top prority. As far as these famous idols are concerned, they can also suffer from the illusion of their own invincibility arising from their popularity among their supporters. Many idols of fame and fortune very often engage in risky habits ( such as drug abuse ) as well as dangerous activities ( such as speeding ) under the influence of their illusion of invincibility thus resulting in great personal tragedies. So, even heroes themselves must be level-headed and must be able to make a distinction between people's perceived reality (PR) ( that they are heroes ) and their own objective reality (OR) ( that they are nevertheless as human as their supporters ). Confusing the two types of realities is a recipe for personal disasters.
Then there is heroism of a completely different kind which is, more often than not, taken for granted and most unfairly overlooked. It also concerns huge sacrifice and total dedication. Most of us have got one such heroine at home. Yes, It is your wife, or your mother, the housewives who have the twenty-four seven duty of caring for everyone in the family. Their sense of self-sacrifice is aptly reflected in a song sung by the great country singer Glen Campbell called “ Dreams of the Everyday Housewife “. The lyrics goes like this :- “ Such are the dreams of the everyday housewife you see everywhere any time of the day. Everyday housewives who gave up the good life for me ! “ This description is so true to life and it epitomizes the constant nature of the dedication of motherhood. Mothers all over the world have always been praised for their loving and caring nature. But the finer points of their dedication can only be appreciated in the light of the day in and day out patience and perseverance that is borne out by the tedious and never ending routines of house work all year round. In the battle fields, it only requires enough courage at the right time to become a hero and everything will be over in a matters of seconds if you become a martyr and you will be glorified forever. On the contrary, it takes an eternity to become a good housewife and the process goes on until the day you die. That must surely require a lot of courage, perseverance and total self-sacrifice to achieve. In this sense, housewives are greatest of heroines almost comparable to the calibre of the saintly Mother Teresa. Therefore, everyone whether you are a child or the husband should pay your housewife heroine the respect that is so rightly due to her. You should do this not just by moral support but by taking up whatever duty you are capable of around the house to lighten her load. A duty roster for everyone in the house is not a bad idea. At the very least, you should not make her job any more difficult by having a good
habit in using the household facilities. Household work is just one aspect of being a mother. I have and I
am sure you must also have come across cases of heroism involving self-sacrificing mothers. I was so touched by a documentary I had seen on the T.V.in Hong Kong a few years back that I had decided there and then to praise and glorify the great virtue of motherhood whenever I had the chance. The case concerned a mother in her fifties who was a widow and had a son of some twenty-five years of age who was a deformed cripple at birth. The son had deformed legs so that he was wheel chair bound since childhood. Before being able to use the wheel chair, our heroine mother had to carry her son around on her back all the time. After he was old enough for the wheel chair the mother had to push his son to school everyday in the wheel chair and had to care for him around the clock. Since the public facilities for the handicapped in Hong Kong are not so well developed, the mother was seen in the documentary to have to carry her adult son on her back when she went shopping at supermarkets or when entering and existing some public transportation systems. It was a very moving scene and brought tears to your eyes. One of the main purposes of the documentary was to raise public awareness of the plight of the handicapped population. The mother was also given a chance to make a public appeal for help in her particular case. Her main concern was not for her own desparate situation but she was worried about not being able to take care of her son any more as she continued to age. Her expressed wish was that the good Lord would give her longer years and the physical fitness to take care of her son. This is really human sacrifice in the highest order and, in my opinion, it even surpasses the heroism in the battle fields. For this heroic
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mother, her battle is for life. In this particular case, her appeal was met with some enthusiastic financial supports from the public only to lighten her load for a while. Unfortunately, there are other personal aspects of her tragic situation that she must face alone. Life can be trying and, sometimes, cruel to some people. Only with the aid of the unrelenting human spirit can the odds be overcome and this particular example is an inspiration to us all. Heroes and housewives, your sense of self-less sarcrifice has provided us with some profound insights into one of human being's most noble attributes that has made the survival of the human race as a whole possible. This love and sacrifice which are the hallmarks of motherhood is a part of the working of the Natural Law that has enabled the cosmos to turn in unending cycles of regenerations of life and that is the reason why life can go on against all impossible odds !
Of Love and Living
We have already seen that sacrifice is an important ingredient of love. But love does not involve sacrifice alone. Apart from money, love is the only other thing that can really make the world go round. The story of Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships, was the tale of the destruction of a whole city state on account of the love for a woman. Since ancient times there have been a lot of very moving love stories. Just to name a few, Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet and, in modern times, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, with the Duke giving up his throne as king of England on account of their marriage, these are all popular tales of love. What really is this
thing we call love ?
Love is a feeling, a yearning that cannot be satisfied until the lover is able to express his feeling for the one he or she loves. If the lover is prevented from expressing this overwhelming feeling in any way it will give rise to physical symptoms such as loss of appetite and amnesia as well as emotional symptoms like depression and lack of concentration. None of our bodily functions will be working properly. That is why some poets have compared love to a disease. From a scientific perspective, these symptoms are the results of hormones which are bio-chemicals causing physical changes to various organs in our body in response to the failure of the lover to vent his or her emotions of love. To refresh the reader's memory in the working of the brain, it will be recalled that tension will be built up as a result of electric impulses ( neural signals ) passing from the brain to the synapses causing the various chemicals that can affect the nervous and muscular systems to build up behind bio-dams at these synapses. When the pressure reaches the critical level, the dams at the synapses will burst open to release the chemicals to enable physical reactions to external stimuli to take place. In this particular case, the external stimulus is the negative input in the form of the prevention of expressing the feeling of love. Therefore, the proper reactions would be to give distress signals such as loss of appetite, amnesia, depression and lack of concentrations to draw immediate attention to the need for expressing this emotion of love. Until the urge to this expression is satified the negative health symptoms would persist. The foregoing is only a description of the mechanics but not the cause of love. The ultimate cause can be found in the emotional state of the individual in question. Through particular signals such as sights and scent, the lover is attracted to the one he or she loves. There could be cultural, personal, circumstantial, economic and even political reasons for falling in love. The word “fall “ is particularly telling. One does not run or walk in love. One falls in love because it is usually sudden and very often without warning. Then, a point of no return is reached when a conscious decision is made in the subjective reality (SR) of the lover which interacts with the objective reality (OR) of the physical appearance and signals from the one he or she loves to create the perceived reality (PR) in the eyes of the lover of being in love. The strange thing is that although the feeling may be mutual in many cases love can even be one way traffic and this can lead to potential conflicts between the lover and the one being loved. I must emphasize that the above rigid mechanics do not truly and sufficiently reflect the emotionally profound effects of love which is an important element and source of
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happiness for all human beings. While the natural purpose for love between the opposiite sexes is for the propagation of the human race, the process of love itself is even more important and constructive ( or destructive in some tragic circumstances ) to the development and fulfilment of one's personality and meaning in life respectively. That is why Shakespeare once wrote :- “ It is better to have loved and lost, than not to have loved at all ! “
Besides love between the sexes ( or the same sex ) which is only one kind among many others that can exist between human beings, there are other forms of love which can be equally, if not more, profound. There is the love between parents and their off-springs ( maternal love in particular ), love between sibbling (though sibbling rivalry is also common ), love between friends ( that can lead to self-less sacrifice ), love between teachers and students ( mostly out of care and respect ), and love for the undeprivileged ( mainly out of justice and compassion ). Despite the variety of form, there are always common traits in these different kinds of love. These include sacrifice ( as previously mentioned ), dedication, meticulous consideration for their feelings and unceasing concern for the other's welfare and happiness. So much so that the lover will not hesitate to sacrifice his or her own wealth, time, comfort, career or even life itself to
protect the loved one. Such is the power and inspiration of love. On the other hand, love can also be a double-edged sword. It can
cut both ways, the good way and the bad. A lover scorned can become destructive both on himself or herself or on the one being loved. We do hear from time to time that a jealous lover commits suicide or, worse still, hurts the beloved one. In less tragic cases, the rejected lover may not be able to handle such rejection and may become emotionally crippled for life. Others may resort to drugs and alcohol or become self-destructive in his or her career. Therefore, extreme care should be taken to avoid unhappy endings by looking before you leap. Although I have emphasized on the sudden emergence of love, there is, nevertheless, a point of no return at which time a conscious decision has usually been taken. This is the crucial moment to which I am referring. When your logical senses are still in control of the situation before emotions overwhelm you, that would be you last chance to size up the situation. Seek objective advice from your family and close friends or even professional counselling while you are still capable of making sense out of such advice. A blind commitment or one-sided devotion is not a workable proposition. Another corollary from this logical inference is that teenagers should avoid falling in love before graduating from college. Both their academic commitments and a lack of financial means may very well contribute to a failure in their love life or else their future career may suffer as well. Like a delicate orchid love will only blossom at the right time and appropriate circumstances. Therefore, those intending to fall in love should be extra careful before making a definite commitment.
As love is the most important ingredient in happiness, love and marriage like horse and carriage, as the saying goes, must go hand in hand. The most delicate and vital skill in nuturing a happy marriage is to keep the flame of love burning. Love is like a delicate flower, it needs a lot of meticulous care and watering to blossom in glory. The key to success in this regard is for both husband and wife not to take each other for granted. Each partner in marriage should still respect the privacy of the other by allowing room for each partner's personal interests and hobbies and own circle of friends. Men have men's talk while girls also have girls' talk. Allow some private times for each other's friends and hobbies or sports. This can also provide a time apart and a break from the tedious and monotonous daily routes. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. If the financial circumstances allow, married couples should go on occasinal vacations.The main aim is to break the montony of the daily routines. My wife and I used to go on annual vacations even when our children were very young despite the trouble to arrange for baby sitting. After our children have grown up, we still go on occasional holidays. Our favourite trips used to be sun, sea and sand in tropical island resorts such as Guam and Saipan ( Micronesia ), Bali ( Indonesia ), Phuket ( Thailand ), Penang and Kota Kinabalu ( Malaysia ) and Cairns and the Hayman Island ( Queensland, Australia ) and the islands of the Philippines ( Cebu and Boracay ), etc. and we have a lot of photos and videos to keep a lasting memories of the “ times of our life “. To create a good memory together was one of the promises I made to my wife when I asked her to marry me. I guess I have not
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let her down in this respect. Then, of course, there were the family trips to various places in Australia, North America, Europe, South Africa and most of Asia. After my retirement, we preferred to go on the less adventurous but more relaxing trips. These involved sailing the high seas on cruise ships which has, in recent years, become a very popular and affordable way of spending holidays. The bonus of being a pensioner is having the luxury of time. We are able to plan well ahead to get the huge early bird discounts of up to 30% or the rock bottom price for vacant unsold state rooms for imminent departures with short notice. Travelling is the biggest item on my family budget over the years. Cheaper options are always available if one cares to find out. Life is made up of numerous episodes which must be created by ourselves. How you like your memory to be read by yourself when you are old and gray and only has the past to look back to, is really all up to you. No one can change history. So do something before it is too late ! This is all a part of love, life and the process of living.
The foregoing only reflects the happy side of love. No one can completely avoid the bitter side of it except to keep it to a minimum. Refrain from making the fatal mistakes and you will be alright. One very tricky aspect of love and marriage is the issue of fidelity or loyalty of the partners toward each other. If a marriage fails both the partners and the innocent children will suffer. In this unfortunate scenario, the married couple suffer for a reason. It is their free choice and commitment that has led to the union. If it proves to be a mistake, they are to blame and rightly bearing the unpleasant consequences. But the children are innocent and should not be penalized for their parents personal failure. Therefore, married couples should not consider having children until they are very sure about the stability and durability of their marriage. I am proud to be able to say that I have kept my marriage vow of fidelity to my wife so far. I say so far, not because of my lack of confidence in my ability to stay loyal to my partner, but it is just a logical step to make my statement an empirical one that is capable of being proven right or wrong, one way or the other. However, there had been temptations on a few occasions that are quite common place in the world of business. Luckily, I was able to resist them by applying a few personal tricks specifically designed by myself to counteract such dangers. Let me share them with you here. First of all, never overestimate your own ability to control your emotions or natural urges. Natural or animal instincts are overwhelming. This is the laws of nature. The human spirit is in a sense, superior to all other animals because we can override such instincts if we really want to. Nevertheless, the first rule of mine is to avoid putting yourself under compromising circumstances in the first place. The human brain being a chaotic system, as I have time and again stressed in this book, makes it impossible to predict the final outcomes of even your own behaviour. Secondly, always carry your favourite family photo and wear your wedding ring to remind yourself of your moral obligations. Put yourself in your wife's position and your children's in particular. Always remind yourself that your own silly mistakes can ruin their whole life. It is not worth the risk, disease and moral obligations aside. I have always put this proposition to my friends and colleagues when they challenge me on my views on fedelity. I always say that the day I cheat on my wife will be the day I allow her to cheat on me. This would have at least been a fair deal. Since no man would allow his wife to be unfaithful to himself, therefore, I will never cheat on my wife and so should all husbands do the same under the principle of natural justice. Then some of my friends and business associates taunted me by asking what if I had a bad urge on my long business trips. I used to give them the naughty but practical answer of D.I.Y.My last trick in keeping myself from being naughty is to appeal to your own pride and integrity. My friends very often give the excuse that they cannot stand the teasing of their bad company of friends.They say they are afraid of peer pressure and cannot stand being called a coward who is a wife-fearing and boneless sissy. My strongest response to such bad company of friends is this. The day I cheat on my wife will be the day I choose to out of my own free will, never because of peer pressure. If I bend to pressure, I will become a truly boneless sissy.
On the issue of fedelity in love and marriage, we must again turn to science and biology for a complete understanding of the different mental and emotional attitudes of women and men towards this crucial matter. Mainly through evolution and later under cultural traditions ( by conditioning and reinforcement of their brain ), women are usually less promisuous than men because they are the homemakers. They put their
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family first and their pleasures second. So much so that many women unlike men cannot enjoy sex without love. For men sex and love may be separate issues but for most women these two are one. The children need their mothers more than their fathers as far as their daily needs are concerned for two very good reasons. Women are more sensitive and meticulous than men and they are also naturally better adapted to their caring role both by their delicate physique and patience. Men on the other hand are traditionally hunters, the wild ones who must always be the strong and invincible bread winner. The law of natural selection is such that the fittest and strongest survives and flourishes to inherit the earth. Therefore, men are born to be sexual creatures whose manhood is traditionally measured by their strong physique and sexual prowess.This tendency can easily give rise to promiscuity. However, these are only animal instincts that can be overridden by the human brain for the good of the family and, in turn, society. In passing, I would like to play a little game with the reader and ask you to solve a puzzle. The puzzle is this. Which is the most important male sexual organ ? It is not what most people think. It is your brain ! If you have guessed it right, then you are a mature male. If you have not, then you only live by your biological instincts. Your intellect needs a lot more training. If, after going through life and living for a few decades, a man is only able to get kicks out of his senses alone, it would really be a pathetic situation. That means he has not been able to evolve or progress to a point where he can get satisfaction on the higher intellectual or spiritual levels. He would still be an animal which is motivated by pure instincts alone. It is comparable to being still at the third grade of school after studying for 30 years. As explained previously ( chapter (ix) – Consciousness – Free Will ), the noble aspect of the human consciousness is the ability to override our basic instincts including our survival instinct to perform acts of great courage such as sacrifice and love. If one is not able to exercise this defining human ability to suppress your natural urges of whatever kind, one can no longer be fit to qualify as a human being. He or she would just be an animal, pure and simple.
The family unit requires absolute security and stability for the proper development for children both physically and mentally. Constant quarrels and numerous women in the house to compete for the master's love and attention is hardly a peaceful and secured situation for raising the next generation who is the future of society. Therefore, monogamy is preferred in the modern society for the greater good of our future generations. The noble and difficult task of taming men's wayward and wild nature in this respect can only be borne by a caring women, his wife, through “ tender, love and care “ as the lyrics of one very popular love song suggest. Incidentally, apart from applying moral standards, incest is always unacceptable in my view. This is because the duplication of roles involving jealousy and emotional competitions between mother and daughter's intimacy with the father or the father and son's intimacy with the mother ( and even between sibblings ) will inevitably lead to emotional and even physical chaos within the family unit and ultimately destroy it to the detriment of society. Thus, the perverted suggestion by some social scientists from Scandinavia thinly veiled in the disguise of respect for individual choice to legalize incest because of the reliability of birth control measures must be totally denounced without hesitation to protect the sacred family system. The problem of unwanted off-springs is just one among numerous complications of this taboo issue. The question of emotional conflict and the undesirable implications on the position of trust and power play among family members are the more controversial problems which should never be allowed to materialize.
In both this section and the previous one, I have paid great tribute to our better halves because I feel that in the traditional male dominant society women's rights and contributions have been belittled as a matter of course. I am totally against this kind of attitude. In the spirit of fairness and based on the common origin of all things, we should all work towards the removal of this injustice. There is a common argument in favour of superiority of the male based on the natural strength of the his physique. This has been taken as evidence from nature on this superiority. I strongly feel that this argument is flawed. I used to be puzzled while I was a teenager about why men have nipples despite the fact that we do not have to nurse the babies. Later, I realized from my biology class that both the male and female bodies are based on only one particular form of structure for economy of design. It is the X ( for men ) and Y ( for women ) chromosomes that are responsible for the biological changes in the human fertilized egg to
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give rise to the different male and female body structure. Nature has not chosen the male physique to be the dominant form. Everyone and all things are equal and have arisen from the same humble origin that is stardust !
Love is an important part of living but this process of life can be even more colourful only if we know how to handle it in the right way. It all comes down to one's meaning in life. What it all means to you and only you alone.The New Testament of the Bible ( Gospel of St. Mark, 8 : 36 ) says :- “ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? “ If you do not know your own meaning in life, you will already have lost your way because, without a goal, you will not be able to know what you are doing in life and why you are doing it. To a great painter, his meaning in life may be to create one everlasting master piece. To a writer, as the great Ernest Hemingway said :- “ To write just one true sentence ! “ It is just like happiness. It is different things to different people. You simply have to find your own way although you may get some inspirations from others. “ Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. “ (Gospel of St. Matthew, 7 : 7 ) Abstract notions such as meaning in life may not come to you easily or in a tangible way. You have to feel your way to find it. Neither can such notions be quantified and systematically analyzed. The reductionist or scientific method that has brought us all the modern technologies cannot help you in this regard. It belongs to the category of issues that I call a matter of the heart and not of the head. To deal with matters of the heart, a holistic approach may be more appropriate. This approach usually involves very personal and subjective techniques like introspection ( self-examination ), meditation ( a journey of the mind ) and even intuition ( power of your subconscious mind ). Be close to the best teacher of all times, Mother Nature, and you will ultimately be inspired. Forget about material things from time to time and get out to the open. Touch the grass and smell the trees. They radiate the energies of life. Bask yourself in the sun and enjoy the calmness and serenity of the sea and sand. Get away from your daily woes once in a while and you will reap the wisdom of nature and, may be, your meaning in life will parade itself before the windows to your soul. It is no use trying hard to find it. Be in contact with Nature without a specific purpose ( simply being idle ) and the inner light of wisdom may unconsciously and suddenly dawn on you. That is the mystical way how life works. The only thing that could help you achieve your goal of connecting with yourself and finding your meaning in life is to enrich your intellect and your spirit. This you can do by acquiring more useful knowledge, that is knowledge that can brighten up your mind in terms of sensitivity to your environment, both physical and mental. You have to stand on the shoulders of giants to see further than your own ability. In time, when you have done enough in such intellectual conditioning, all will be suddenly revealed to you. That is why people use the phrase “ to see the light “ to describe personal enlightenment. To me, enlightenment is Connection !
Let us now consider something more tangible and substantial. This is the material means to enable us to live a good life. Assuming that we have already found our meaning in life, how can we acquire sufficient financial means to realize our goal in life in the proper but efficient way ? A lot has already been said about financial and material resources under the section- Of Money and Men. Here, I only wish to elaborate a little on the appropriate balance to be struck between material needs and spiritual needs. When we first embarked on our careers in our youthful days, materialistic concerns were our main worries. After having been established in our careers, financial stablity will automatically ensue but most people keep on chasing the endless money game regardless of their actual materialistic needs. In this crazy game of money for its own sake, we have very often missed a lot of family fun and sharing in our children's maturing process without realizing it until it is too late. In the wink of an eye, our children have already grown up before we notice it and those precious moments such as the first word they spoke ( may be it was “Daddy “ ) or their first fall when they learned how to walk ( may be they cried for your help ) and so on were sadly missed by you, and lost forever. These are really the things that you worked so hard for. Never be the absent parents who are too busy taking care of the family bills. Your children desparately need you emotionally. So, a healthy balance must be maintained between career and family.
Most people like to ask themselves whether or not they have lived a successful life. Well, this is a big question that requires a lot of reflection before we can
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give an answer. To me, there is only one way to make a reply. It is a matter of personal value judgment. There are numerous way of defining success in life but the one sure way to become a failure is not to have set yourself a goal in life at all. Without a goal to gauge your achievements, your rating in life has to be zero. A goaless life is a zero standard for life and zero standards gives rise to zero ratings. Everyone must live by one's own standards for there is no preferred frame of reference or universal criterion for everyone's life by virtue of Einstein's Special Relativity. So, you must always remember this. You live for youself and yourself alone and for nobody else. Then, what about the ones we love you may ask. Do we not live for them ? The simple answer is in the positive but it does not conflict with my first proposition of living for oneself and oneself alone. Without loving and caring for you own well being, you will not be able to love any one else. Only by learning to love and live for yourself will you be qualified to love the ones close to you. If you do not know how to live and love yourself you will be unable to love anybody else for that matter. Living for yourself imply living according to your own principles and goals and I am sure that one of those personal goals have to involve loving the ones close to you. At the end of the day or the end of your life, success in your life will ultimately be measured by the fulfilment of your goals and responsibilities in life. Have you been a good son or daughter; husband or wife; brother or sister; a good professional in your own area of expertise; a good citizen or neighbour ? Never compare your success to that of any other person for each is different in every way. That is the special quality and true value of each individual, hence my dedication to liberal individualism or humanism. But always remember this. It does not matter how you die because death comes to us all. It only matters how you have lived ! So, live life to the fullest and start with the initial step like all long journeys - the first step - which is this - to find your own meaning in life and then go for it !
Of Death and Destruction
The British novelist, Henry Fielding ( 1707-1754 ) wrote aptly about death in the following manner :- “ It hath been often said, that it is not death but dying, which is terrible. “ This cannot be more akin to the truth. Ageing is part and parcel of the process of dying and it can be really terrible. There are four kinds of unavoidable pains and sufferings in life according to the Gautama ( Sukymuni ) Buddha - birth, ageing, sickness and dying. Two of those- aging and dying are different stages leading to death. To look at it in a even wider perspective, death actually begins at birth. The finer point to note in this classification is that death or more precisely the instance of death to the buddha is just a beginning of the next life - the beginning of reincarnation. Therefore, it is just a stop on the way to the next life. There is nothing more natural than death. It is just one stage of the eternal cycle of life through death and death through life. Come to think of it, it is actually the stark reality. The conditioning of our brain through life long experience of daily routines has led us to emotionally attach ourselves to the idea of life. Death with all its unfamiliarities and unknowns naturally evades our attention. Or is it actually a deliberate disregard ? It is our ignorance about death that gives rise to the great fear in us regarding death. Strictly speaking, it is not death but the fear for the unknown after death and the process of dying ( the sense of helplessness, the feeling of loneliness, the deterioration of our body and the loss of contorl over our life resulting in diminished personal dignity ) that is so frightening. Strange isn't it ? There is no surer thing than death in our life and yet most of us are not really prepared for it or even shun it by turning death into a taboo subject. I think otherwise. As ignorance is the number one cardinal sin to me, I advocate a more positive and aggressive attitude towards death to enable us to be prepared for its certain arrival. As a result of improved health service and coupled with the low birth rate, the proportion of the elderly population is increasing by the day. Therefore, there is a very urgent need to face up to the problem of ageing and death by learning more about it and educating our elderly citizens on the proper and sensible way of dealing with this extremely personal problem with a profound social connotation.
Let us start with the more practical and fundamental issue of ageing.
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Our senior citizens need to know how to age graciously and peacefully. Education and counselling is the answer. A lot of research and surveys have been conducted on the problem of ageing. One of the most comprehensive studies ever done on the problem of ageing was carried out in the USA mainly under the sponsorship in the form of a generous grant from Harvard University. The subject population for the study involved over 800 males and females from three different suburban groups of varying economic and social backgrounds over a period of more than 50 years to research into the important factors affecting the process of ageing in these individuals. The subjects were interviewed every few years since the 1940s starting from their twenties all the way to their late seventies to see how their lives and the ageing process had been affected by their family, social and economic backgrounds. The results of this comprehensive research together with some case studies have been published in a book by George Vaillant called “ Ageing Well “. We would not go into the technical details of the study but would only attempt to learn something from the conclusions and recommendations which we may find useful and illuminating. The following factors are cited as being important for ageing well. These are :- (a) social and emotional maturation, (b) identity, ( c ) intimacy, (d) career consolidation, (e) generativity, (f) keeper of meaning, (g) intergration. Let me give a brief explanation of each to enable the reader to have a clearer understanding of their significance to the process of ageing well. (a) concerns the maturity of a person in terms of his emotional state ( or emotional quotient, EQ ) and knowing one's position among other people and in society. The more mature one is in these respects the better one can adapt to the ageing process. (b) means knowing about oneself or being able to attach ( or identify ) oneself with your own social group. With a sense of place and purpose, one can naturally age better because there is emotional support from your social group. ( c ) deals with intimate personal relationship. If one is emotionally involved in a congenial personal relationship with someone, there is naturally more sense of purpose in life. Therefore, we can appreciate that the most important purpose of marriage or a de facto relationship is companionship in old age as far as the partners are concerned. (d) is the sense of achievement in one's career. A fully accomplished career in life would, of course, be a great consolation and something to be proud of when one gets old. This helps a lot in one's ageing process. (e) is the sense of continuity one has in your off-springs and your grand children. This is most important to us as human beings because having a part in the propagation of the human race is such a great feeling as if we become part of the grand scheme of Mother Nature. No wonder having children and grand children has a positive effect on ageing despite all the physical and emotional pains and hardships in raising children. In other words, you feel needed. This will give rise to a profound sense of purpose. (f) is the responsibility of old people in up keeping moral values and traditions either in the family or society. (g) is very relevant to one's ageing process insofar as being able to integrate into one's emotional, social and economic backgrounds will give rise to a sense of harmony and peace with one's existence. One will not feel out of place in life if one is integrated with one's physical and emotional environment. So, there you have it. These are the helpful pieces of advice for ageing well.
Then, there is a second tier of factors that can help in the ageing process. While some of the factors important for ageing well set out above are beyond our control, some steps suggested in the study are very useful for ageing people. Furthermore, these are well within our control. These suggested activities include :- Friendship and social contacts, hobbies, community service activities, religion and recreational sports. These are valuable recommendations and the the study also provides the following simple cues for positive ageing :- (i) Let go and let God ( relax and let nature runs its course ), (ii) first things first ( take care of the younger generation ), (iii) keep it simple ( back to the basics in life ), (iv) carpe diem ( live one day at a time ) and, finally, (v) use the telephone ( or better still, use the internet for social contact ).
There is even a third tier of general advice for ageing well. This general advice is mainly to keep, a positive mental attitude and keep your humour. Do not be like King Lear in Shakspeare's tragic play ( which incidentally was one of my texts in matriculation class ). One should accept ageing gracefully because there is no other alternative. To do this, the study suggests that you learn about the reality of ageing and learn from the numerous positive real life examples in the subject population. Pray that in
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old age you'd be able to strive for the possible ( whatever that may be under your own existing circumstances ) with perseverance; to accept the inevitable ( biology only runs down hill under the irreversible flow of the Second Law of Thermodynamics of ever increasing entropy or disorder ) with serenity; and have the wisdom to tell one from the other. My own attitude in dealing with human affairs is, as always, to exercise caution in applying any hard and fast rule. Therefore, I suggest that one should adapt the above advice to suit one's own particular circumstances. The human brain is such a complex and chaotic system that I cannot even vouch for myself with 100% certainty ( c.f. The Uncertainty Principle in Quantum Theory ) what my exact behaviour will be like in the next moment. Nevertheless, over a sustained period of time some general guidelines are always helpful. My own golden rule is that there is no golden rule with universal application. With regard to the problem of ageing, I feel that the most sensible attitude to maintain is to expect the worst and hope for the best. A lot of humour (or what I call Mr. Q's attitude ) will come in most handy.
Ageing will end in death ultimately. This is unavoidable but could be made less unpleasant by learning about its nature and by making sufficient preparation for it both physically and mentally. Let me share with you some of my limited experience of encounters with death. By encounters with death, I do not mean that my own life is at stake. It is simply my personal experience of being present at the moment of death of other people including that of my relatives which has provided me with some insights into this sad but inevitable event in everyone's life. My most graphic encounter with someone else's moment of death was experienced by me when I was twenty-six years of age. I was then working for an international CPA firm. When we were young we were very often careless about our own health. May be youth is so filled with life and energy that we more often than not have taken life and health for granted. We may even think that we are physically invincible as we are most of the time feeling mentally strong. Anyway, I did not take good enough care of my own health and used to work 10 hours a day under normal circumstances and even up to 12 hours in case of urgents assignments. So much so that I was hit with a bleeding stomach ulcer that required blood transfusion thus resulting in my being hospitalized and bed ridden for a week. That was back in 1974 which was the first time I was ever admitted to a hospital. Any first hospital stay however non-life threatening is a frightening and thought provoking experience. It was also the first time I ever had enough idle time to really do some soul searching since my graduation. Such was the hectic schedule of my profession which left me no time at all to do some introspection. The motto for office life in Hong Kong then and always is to “ work hard and play hard “. It was supposed to be my last night in hospital but due to a fever resulting from my blood transfusion, the doctor required me to stay on for an extra night. Sharing my room was another old gentleman in the seventies. We had become acquaintances during our few days together as room mates. We talked about life in general and the old gentleman had given me a lot of the benefit of his wisdom. In particular, he advised me to take good care of my health while I was young. Otherwise, I would be sorry at my old age when it would be too late. He also suggested that I should spend more time to enjoy my youth. He became some kind of mentor to me in hospital and
I was very grateful.
According to his doctor, he was also supposed to be able to check out in the next few days but life could give us a nasty shock out of the blue. As he was supposed to be recovering, all his family members who used to stay with him in turn every night had all gone home. At about 3.00 a.m., I was woken by his painful moaning. He coughed continuously and did not seem to be able to breathe properly. I helped him to sound the emergency alarm which was answered right away by the nurses. Alas, before the doctor's arrival on the scene the old man coughed a lot of blood that gushed out of his mouth like a fountain and became motionless and died within a matter of less than a minute. It was a horrifying and bloody scene of chaos with some four nursing staff trying to revive him and blood spilling all over his bed. After everyting had calmed down, I was moved to the adjacent single room. I heard the heart breaking weeping of his family members who had arrived too late to be at his death bed. I was also gravely shocked by the untimely tragedy and I felt like I had also lost a relative of my own. It was not the horrific scene that had left the deepest impression on my memory but, strangely, it was the
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sense of helplessness in life and the surprising peace of mind that I experienced for having accompanied him on the moment of his passing that had left the deepest imprint on my mind. Right after the tragedy as I lay alone in the next room, I originally thought that I would be very much fightened and would not like to be left alone. But instead, I felt a sense of serenity and peace, thinking, as my religious influences had led me, that such a kind and gentle soul would definitely be somewhere nice and quiet, and perhaps in heaven. Life works in very mystical ways. I could never have imagined in a million years that out of all the people in this world I had to be the last person to befriend this kind, old gentleman and no one else, not even his loved ones, but just me to accompany him at the final moment of his life. I felt my life had been greatly enriched by this experience. I still think of this kind, old man from time to time. May his soul rest in peace ! The insight I had gained into life and death in this tragic episode is that life is uncertain and nothing can be taken for granted. We should always be prepared for any eventuality. Secondly, we can deal with the issue of death in a peaceful and informed manner and without panic. As long as we have fufilled all our obligations towards ourselves and other people, we can always feel a sense of peace in our mind regardless of the unfortunate or frightening circumstances.
Then there was another incident in 1981 at my grandmother's death. She was 81 when she passed away. At the time of her death she was staying with me. No one else except a maid was in the house when her heart failed due to old age. I and my wife who were both working in Central - the commercial and banking district in Hong Kong - rushed home by taxi and I found my granny lying on the floor unconscious. The ambulance had arrived at about the same time and the paramedics tried to resuscitate her without success. We were allowed to accompany her body to the public hospital in the ambulance and I held her in my arms for a while on her last journey. My granny had been weak and frail for a few years without any particular complaints about her health. She had been alone after my grand father's death back in 1949. So, she had lived for 30 years as a widow but had always helped out around the house and to look after us when we were kids. She used to take me to school until I was in year three of primary school and give me pocket money for snacks during recess at school. Those were my fond and warm memories of granny. Although I could not hold back the tears, I still felt the same sense of serenity I had before and was subconsciously happy for her in the sense that she would be joining my grand father for always. Even though my granny's death was expected the sense of loss was still deeply felt by all of us. The only sensible way to deal with the issue of death is to rationalize it as a stage in the eternal cycle of change. No matter how much you love the dearly departed you must accept that their death is at some point inevitable. So is your own. Nothing is permanent and life must go on. I always try to comfort friends who have lost their loved ones by telling them this :- “ First of all you must sincerely believe that the dearly departed have to be in a better place where there is neither pain nor sorrow. Secondly, imagine that they are overseeing you just as guardian angels do. Do you think their everlasting consciousness would feel good if they see that the loved ones they left behind are devastated by their passing ? You should live happily for their sake and in honour of their memory ! “ I have always found such advice to be most useful and comforting to my griefing friends.
Is death the destruction of life ? I have always doubted about the validity of this idea. If one defines death as the destruction of the physical body, then this question should be answered in the positive. However, if one sees death as only a stage in the eternal cycle of change that is represented by the alternating state of life and death, then this question should be answered in the negative. Furthermore, the idea of death being the destruction of life is only a materialistic world view which is not the only valid interpretation of the reality. As I have time and again stressed the point that the reality is not composed of things ( materials ) but processes, this narrow materialistic world view appears to be out of touch with the reality, even for the objective reality (OR). If consciousness is also taken into account, the materialistic world view would even be less tenable. However, there is still a lack of consensus on the nature of the human consciousness so that, for the time being, the materialistic world view, with all its inherent faults, has so far survived an outright refutation. But its inadequate nature is seldom in dispute. Nevertheless, indirect and circumstantial evidence has clearly points to a deeper level of reality similar to
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the intricate order pioneered by David Bohm. My own views favour a higher level of existence for all forms of life. I base my convictions on the indicative evidence from lucid dreams ( LD), near death experience (NDE), out of body experiece (OBE), multiple personalities disorder (MPD), reincarnation claims (RC), extra sensory perceptions (ESP), psychokinesis (PK) or mind over matter incidents ( such as a mother lifting a falling car of close to a ton to save her baby ), the mysterious relation between energy and matter ( the equivalence of energy and mass – but energy is massless while mass is considered to be frozen energy ), non-locality ( first proposed by Einstein in his ERP thought experiment and proven later by Bell's Inequality Theory ), inextricable relationships between elementary particles (quantum entanglement), Alain Prospect 's experiment ( confirming faster than light propagation of signals) together with the theory of Holographic Model of the universe by David Bohm ( the intricate order ). Details descriptions of all these phenomena have been set out in chapters (iii) and (iv) respectively. To me, death of the human body is definitely not equivalent to the destruction of the human consciousness ( the master mind of our body ) which I believe to be an enduring entity akin to energy that is eternally conserved within the universe according to the Law of Conservation of Energy.
Regardless of the conclusion we have reached on whether or not death represents the destruction of life, we must all face the hard fact of death as a practical and inevitable issue. And one thing is certain. The more we learn about it the better we will be equipped to face it when the fateful moment of death descends upon us. To this end, we can start with demystifying death by excluding it as a taboo subject for discussion and scientific research. Neural scientists should do their very best to conduct serious research into the subject starting with NDE and other related phenomena and not to dismiss such phenomena as hallucinations under the possible influence of drugs. Most psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, neural scientists and members of the medical profession are generally sceptical about NDE claims, at least in an official capacity, because they are always under peer pressure to avoid these difficult issues lest they may be branded as abnormal and unscientific by their colleagues. As a matter of fact, there have been unofficial reports and comments from some prominent psychiatrists in the USA to the effect that they are basically holding a positive attitude towards such research. They are simply reluctant to express their true stance on this matter in public due to fear of ridicule by their peers. In my opinion, such attitude is counter productive and not in the interest of the advancement in science and technology. Some prominent members of the scientific community must have the courage and foresight to take up this worthwhile challenge. With the fast improving computer and neural monitoring technology, there should be a lot of room for further research into the nature of death to benefit the ever increasing ageing population. No further delay should be tolerated on this pressing issue.
Before we leave death and destruction behind, let me give you some of my eccentric thoughts on this taboo subject. Everyone including myself is fearful of death to a greater or lesser degree. But just imagine for a moment what would have happened if there were no death for anyone of us and everyone has life everlasting in the physical sense. This would be a disaster for the individual as well as society, wouldn't it ? It would be an impossible situation from both the personal as well as the social perspective. On the personal level, you would find that you would have an endlessly extended retirement for which you would not be able to support financially. You could, of course, continue with your working life indefinitely and that in itself would be a punishment in the form of everlasting labour. Then, you would get bored with life which would be forever so that you are liable to run out of interesting things to do. You would be bored to death but could not die from this boredom ( still remember the evil Dracula in the horror movies – in particular, the one in which Tom Cruise took the leading role – Interview with the Vampire ). It would be living hell. Furthermore, you would have so many children or grand children that you would not be able to even remember their names. Of course, you could do family planning but then how could you stand the loneliness of a childless but everlasting life. Even your wife, if you had one, would not have agreed to your childless arrangement. Worst of all, you would never be given an assessment for the success or failure in your life either by yourself or others because your enduring life's work could never be done. Then, on the social level, over population would have resulted from the zero death rate. Providing employment and aged care for the undying population would be
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an impossible task for society. A lot of drastic measures would have to be taken leading to serious conflicts of interest and clashes of human rights among the everlasting population. All in all, it would have been an impossible situation. Therefore, enough is enough. Death is, in fact, a blessing in disguise. To quote from the words of Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718) in his book called “ The Fair Penitent”,-” Death is the privilege of human nature. And life without it were not worth our taking.” Therefore, I have come to the ridiculous conclusion that death through nature's course is not only logical but necessary for the survival of the human race as a whole. It is without a doubt one of the finer points in the grand design of the universe or multiverse. Life without death is unbearable and may even lead to a diminished level of dignity for the individual because nobody will be missed by anyone else if human life is everlasting. My final remark on death is that we can always overcome its destructive power over our physical body by immortalizing our brighter ideas ( such as useful and practical advice ) and useful creations ( such as technical inventions and master pieces of music and art ) that could make a difference to our younger generations and future society. This idea is, in fact, the basic premises for my own goal in life which is to try to make this world a better place when I leave than when I have found it at my birth. If you want to know whether or not you have lived a good life, just ask yourself this question. What would you do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow ? If you could answer that you would carry on as before, then you would have lived a happy life. This is because you would have done everything that you had wished for and had no regrets. I sincerely wish I could be in that position when I die. Having made a dream of a wish for myself, I would end our present discussion with my own saying :- “ It does not matter how you die. It only matters how you have lived ! “ - Death be not proud !
Of Destiny and Destination
There has always been a firm traditional belief in the existence of a destiny or fate in our life in one form or another regardless of cultural background. That is the reason why the fortune telling business is thriving the world over. Even top world leaders like some past presidents of USA and their better halves are frequent patrons of fortune tellers. There have even been rumours concerning some important foreign policy decisions having been made on the so-called advice from spiritual medium or fortune tellers. Silly as it may sound, it is very probable that such things did happen. When we are uncertain about our own future, we are susceptible to such mystical influences. The basis for the claimed validity of spiritual predictions is, of course, the existence of our destiny like a spiritual book of our “ future history “ that can be read by the spiritual medium. My own interest in this topic actually concerns the issue of free will rather than superstition or mysticism. Before going into the more serious philosophical issues, let us have a brief discussion on the general or common understanding of the term destiny which some
people would prefer to call fate. The term destiny generally refers to the claim that all the events that
occur in our life are predetermined in the sense that on the day we are born all the conditions relating to different stages of our life have already been set by nature ( or a deity ) or according to some mystical laws that take into account our behaviour in our previous or present lives ( which will then affect our next life ). Another term for destiny is fate which carries similar meaning and connotation. There are even some farfetched theories which claim that by invoking some magical powers the course or destiny of one's life could be changed for the better but only at a price as a matter of course. On the less superstitious level, many people feel that there are some unexplained influences at work behind many important events in their lives which, from their personal point of view, have changed the expected course of their lives altogether. That is why they feel that destiny really exists for each and everyone. Not that I have any preconceived ideas about mystical issues because I do keep an open mind even on things that are beyond the scientific realm. However, I have to say at this particular instant that I do have serious reservations on the existence of a destiny for all of us.
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I would categorically state that the idea of a set destiny in our life is an illusion. This last term is defined as a false or misleading impression, idea, belief or understanding. Something that appears to be true but, in fact, it is not consistent with the reality. Furthermore, I maintain that this illusion of a destiny for everyone is mainly the result of the Selection Effect and the unavoidable bias on our part in favour of the materialized portion of the history of our life. This last mentioned bias is in turn due to a lack of complete understanding of the implications and interpretation of the relevant personal history. Let me elaborate my points a bit further. My salient points must be put into the context of the meaning of the term, destiny which can either be good or bad and the ex post ( on hindsight ) nature of its connotation. Take my own life for example, destiny seems to be kind to me in that I somehow made the correct ( on hindsight ) decision to change to the arts subjects in my matriculation class ( despite my traditional belief that boys should always study science ) or else I most probably ( note the word probably which could be taken to mean surely because I might not have taken up my present profession had I not been admitted to university ) would not have successfully gained entry to the university because of my weakness in mathematics. Before I proceed further with my example, I must make a slight detour to go into the hypothetical case of my failing to enter the university ( which did not happen ) because it will illustrate my point on the built-in bias in favour of the materialized portion of history. If I were a believer in destiny, I would simply say that my destiny is such that I am destined to have a reasonably good career because the good thing did happen in my life. This is the bias I have referred to above. On the other hand, if I was unlucky enough to have made a decision to go for the science subjects, there is no guarantee that I was bound to fail my matriculation examination or the university would be a no go zone for me ( which admittedly would be more probable if I had taken science subjects ). There could be other possibilities and, in fact, an infinite number of possibilities according to the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Theory when we are faced with any decision. You always end up with only one, the materialized portion of your life history which most people call your destiny ( it is actually your personal history ). I might still be lucky enough to enter the university on science subjects or failing that I might still have a reasonably good career as say, a teacher, although it might have been less rewarding financially. If this had been the case, I would have simply said that I had a bad destiny in life if I were a believer and the actually materialized portion of my life history would never be known to me. Then, there would not have been any comparison between the two different life histories. So, you will see that in either event ( i.e. good or bad destiny ), the notion of destiny applies depending on your attitude or state of mind regarding your career. For ambitious people, they are more likely to pay attetion to the good destiny and to ignore the bad ones while the opposite applies to people with no ambitions who would simply chalk their failure up to bad destiny. Conversely, coming back to my own real life history, I would just feel lucky to have had a good destiny if I were a believer. This is the working of the Selection Effect. You only pick out the facts you like to pay attention to based on your social and cultural background and previous conditioning of your brain. This is the lesson we have learned from the Science of Networks regarding history. You can never envisage other possible scenarios that did not happen or what could have been. May be they could have been better. Take my personal case. Had I taken science subjects and were lucky enough ( or worked hard enough ) to enter university all the same, then I might have become a successful research biologist because it is also one of my favourite subjects for which I got good grades but required less mathematical skill. I am not saying that this scenario had to happen but it might if I were to do my utmost to achieve this career goal because I had both the ability and temperament to succeed in this regard. My point is that the outcome of my life history also depends a lot on my personal attitudes where positive ( a necessary condition for success ) and negative ones could substantially account for my success or failure respectively. Of course, success and failure in one's life is also contigent upon luck ( which is the sufficient condition ) and there is also an additional one I call the final condition ( i. e. favourable quantum disposition ) to ensure success in anything. Because of the Selection Effect and the built-in bias towards the materialized portion of my life history I have come to feel grateful as it is a good destiny while ignoring what might have been ( that can be equal to if not better than the actual outcome ) which is understandable. Depending on whether
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your attitude on life is positive or negative, the fish that got away ( the unknown outcome ) may either be smaller or larger than your materialized catch respectively. It is anyone's guess and the same principle applies to that portion of the history of our life which did not materialize. Your feeling of what could have been depends mostly on your attitude on life. Therefore, the greatest problem in achieving success in anything is to overcome yourself in psychological terms. That is to maintain a positive state of mind.
This is not the end of the story on the issue of destiny. As a matter of fact, there are specific reasons why the term destiny is so miraculous and even fascinating to some people in more dramatic cases of life history. To start with, terms such as destiny or God ( a detailed discussion on this very important subject is forthcoming in the next section ) have some unique qualities. They are ex post statements meaning they describe a situation which had already happened ( no predictive content ) and they are also a truism meaning they state some obvious truths. Truism or tautology refers to words or statements that only have relevance in themselves and does not refer to anything outside of the system in question. In other words, they are self-referencing and have no empirical contents in the sense that they cannot be proved right or wrong by reference to facts outside of themselves because they do not relate to anything other than themselves. Take the statement :- “ My parents are the people who bring me into this world. “ It is a truism or tautology because this statement is simply setting out the obvious truth. It does not say anything more than just this :- “ my parents are my parents.” It is a mere definition of the term parents. There is no real proposition that can be challenged or proven one way or the other with reference to any facts outside of the proposition itself. Ex post statements are a description of history. It has no predictive power or content unlike their counterpart which are known as ex ante statements which make definite predictions about something. For example, the statement :- “ When interest rates go up, house prices will go down. “ This ex ante statement has a definite prediction that can be put to the test by some future events. Therefore, ex ante statements are generally more useful and have a richer predictive content than ex post ones which are wisdom after the facts or hindsights. A corollary flowing from ex post statements ( or terms ) is that they are true by definition and say nothing more than their own face value. Destiny is such a word. Unless and until we can size up all the possible outcomes and compare them with the materialized portion of our life history we cannot say with confidence ( or on any logical basis ) that our life history is predetermined or that there is a destiny for everyone. For destiny means that we cannot change the course of our life because we surely can. Remember the example I gave earlier in this book about free will. All things living and non-living are subject to the laws of nature (OR) but we can also choose to end our lives ( physical existence ) by suicide at any time and to cease to be governed by those rigid laws. Whether or not we wish to face up to life's perils in our time of trial and hardship or simply quit by taking our own lives is really up to us and us alone. It is clearly a matter of personal choice and free will. This hypothetical case gives support to the claim that our lives are not predetermined and that we are not automata responding mechanically and blindly to our set destiny. But, of course, we may still be caught by the catch-22 situation of the all embracing and ex post meaning of the definition of the term destiny which can be said either to be good or bad on hightsight. Fatalists ( the name we give to those people who believes in fate or destiny ) can still maintain in the foregoing hypothetical case that we had fufilled our good destiny if we choose to face our difficulties and live on or they can equally say that we have met our bad destiny if we actually commit suicide to avoid facing our problems in life. One way or the other, the term destiny will apply because it is an ex post concept and a piece of wisdom after the facts or simply a statement on hindsight. What destiny really means in practical terms is this :- “ your life history is your life history “ which the reader must agree to be a self-referencing tautology or truism. The bottom line is that it has said nothing useful or meaningful in the predictive or empirical sense. It does not tell us anything more than that which is already known to us within the isolated content of the statement itself. It is isolated because it refers to nothing else but itself. It actually begs the confrontational retort question of “ so what ? “
The very vital point on people's feeling about some miraculous or mystical influences in the course of their lives must be addressed here since this feeling is very often cited as a reason for their belief in destiny or fate. It is my contention that such
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feelings are a normal reaction to the complicated nature of human affairs. The ultra complex multi-lateral interactions between numerous socio-human factors ( most of which operate on the rules of Chaos and Complexity ) will very likely give rise to the mystical touch in the outcomes of events that can create a sense of fate and destiny in the observer, especially in the person involved in the particular outcome. The sense of complexity coupled with our inborn inquesitive mind to find a reason for everything ( but which we cannot in this particularly complicated issue ) very naturally lead us to the mystical conclusion of a predetermined destiny as a possible explanation for the sometimes strange and apparently unexplicable course of events. I must again draw the reader's attention to Nietzche 's saying :- “ Any explanation is better than none ! “ The important lesson we can learn from the scientific theory of Chaos and Complexity is the misguided idea of the conservation of complexity. The useful and crucial moral to be learnt here is that complex phenomena may have a very simple origin and, conversely, simple phenomena may have a highly complex origin. I strongly recommend a revision of chapter ( v ) on the Theory of Chaos and Complexity by the reader to facilitate an easier understanding of the arguments at hand. There are two things that are worthy of noting as far as this miraculous or mystical feeling is concerned. Firstly, as mentioned at the beginning of this topic, when we are at the cross roads in our life facing serious decisions we are prone to seeking divine guidance. Anyone with some religious background will feel inspirations of some sort from their brain's previous conditioning hence the mystical feeling. Secondly, the materialized portion of your life history is known to you. Regardless of whether or not it is good or bad, you are bound to be more familiar with it. On the contrary, what could have been your life history belongs to the set of infinite number of possibilities that are unknown to you. Therefore, you are very likely to have imagined or created a mental image of the possibilities in your mind which can give rise to the mystical feeling that you actually experience when you are reminiscing your past life history.
However frivolous the claim of the existence of destiny may be there can, nevertheless, be very important consequences flowing from the acceptance of such a concept. The real danger in believing in destiny lies in the negative implication that you cannot do anything about it ( since it is supposed to be predetermined ). Worse still, some fortune teller may take advantage of your vulnerable mental state to recommend costly remedies to improve your future fortunes. As regards using the service of a fortune teller, I have the following advice to suggest. If there really is such a thing as destiny, it serves us best not to know about it. For it will not matter when a good destiny takes its course without your knowing it in advance. On the contrary, knowing about a bad destiny will give you more pain and mental suffering if you knew it before hand. Since destiny is supposed to be predetermined why endure more pain than is necessary before its arrival. On the other hand, if there is no such thing as destiny ( in the predetermined sense ), then your life could be adversely affected by being told a lie and through suffering from some imaginery psychological blow that may, in the worst case, become the nightmare of a self- fufilling prophecy. This could happen because your predisposed attitude towards an unchangeable future could easily have been relied upon as an excuse to sit on your back side without making any real efforts to achieve your intended goals. Having sounded the above warning, I do have to say that if you are not really 100% superstitious the fortune teller can assume the role of a court jester to provide you, and may be your lover, with some lovers' entertainment of sweet nothing talks. I and my wife used to seek advice from the fortune teller regarding the auspicious date for our marriage on the bidding of my mother-in-law when we decided to get married back in 1979. Our marriage life has been so far so good but, of course, we will not give the fortune teller the bulk of the credit. We decided to be married out of love and of our own free will and we will definitely take full responsibility for our decision and common goal in life – destiny or no destiny ! Having discouraged people from using the service of a fortune teller, I do have one last kind word for this mystical or dubious profession ( depending your point of view ). When people are faced with difficult decisions or spells of bad luck in their lives I do understand that their emotional stress needs venting or relief. Perhaps getting some encouraging advice ( you usually get the ones you like to hear - that is why people like to visit fortune tellers ) from the fortune teller is justified. This is alright as a psychological pain killer and temporary relief for the emotional stress. As long as you remain level headed and not misled into
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following such advice to the last letter, I think it should be a harmless exercise or an alternative pseudo psychological therapy. I also have a message here for young lovers with respect to destiny. Just consider this. What is more precious to people involved in a loving relationship – an unavoidable destiny that tie you two together or a conscious and irrevocable choice made out of love and of your own free will that forge your union ? Which idea is more romantic – the mutual and personal choice between you two out of love and to pick each other out of millions of people in this world to tie the knot or an inevitable act of history ( destiny that is your own life history ) that has created your personal love story as if by legal mandate ? Answer me that you prefer your loving relationship to be forced by the circumstamces of your life history and I will grant you the existence of destiny in the predetermined sense.
Let me now tell you two stories from my own experience on the illusion of destiny. Both concern myself and my friends. The first story is my personal experience. While I was attending university, all of us had part-time teaching jobs. We used to rush to some private schools between our lecture hours to teach. We also changed jobs very often depending on the remunerations offered by those private schools. Back in the university were a few pretty female undergaduates everyone dubbed as beauty queens ( simliar to the prom queens in high school days ). On one occasion, I had to stand in for my room mate at a teaching assignment. As if by divine intervention, I ran into one of the beauty queens who happened to be standing in for her room mate as well. I, being a lad of 20 years of age at the time, instinctively thought that I was destined to meet this beauty queen alone. She was one year my junior which by university etiquettes made it obligatory on her part to pay respect to me as a senior. She was in the same faculty as I and was an active member of many academic clubs ( as I was also a committee member of my faculty society ). With such similar backgrounds, we had a lot to talk about. So, I was able to invite her out for afternoon tea in a classy coffee shop of a five star hotel and a dating game blossomed. To cut a long story short, there was a brief interlude with this lovely young lady lasting some three months. It was quite an experience at the end of which I was devastated to find out that she was also dating my room mate who was my good friend and a few others of my classmates as well. Luckily, I was level headed enough to opt out of the relationship on account of my strong sense of responsibility towards my family and dedication to my studies but not without the penalty of losing a few friends and getting some bad grades. So much for an unavoidable destiny which I had fortunately chosen to change. This is just one out of a number of episodes I encountered in my early life that sounded the alarm bell for me on having a sense of
destiny.
A second more tragic case happened to one of my classmates. It had a similar setting as my own frolic but it involved another socially over-active young lady. The failed romance had such a devastating effect on my classmate that he had to defer his study for an extra year to recuperate from the emotional damage. Under the rigid British university system that was very strict on conferring honours on graduates, my classmate was ulitimately given an R.P. or recommended pass in his degree which became a stigma for life ( with the R.P. Initials being permanently attached to his degree title ) and this had adversely affected his later career all through his life one way or another. Well, I did not know the exact circumstances relating to his misfortunes but many of my classmates including myself had heard him boasting about his good destiny during the failed romance. So, there you have it. A blind attachment to the idea of a predetermined destiny could be hazardous to your well being !
I hope the reader is now convinced on the disadvantages of having a blind and superstitious belief in destiny. But I think that the concept of destiny can also be utilized to our advantage if we are wise enough to overlook the emotional implication of a predetermined history in life. For one thing, I think we can turn destiny into a destination in life by setting ourselves a meaningful goal that can motivate us to create a successful life for ourselves. This is also one of the main aims of my book. By setting a predetermined destination in life of our own choosing we can achieve the ideal situation of having personal control over our own destiny ( to me it means life itself ) and can turn a bad situation into a winning venture. For every journey, there must be a destination or else one will become a lost traveller. It would be a great personal disaster, especially in the context
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of our life in which case one would certainly become a nomad for life. Without a set destination that is our ultimate goal and our personal meaning in life, one will only end up as a drifter. Can you imagine how tragic this can be ? There is one final word on the issue of destiny. I started the discussion by stating that my main concern with destiny is the question of free will. Now it is the right time to address my concern in this regard. Having set out my arguments on the illusion of destiny, I trust you will agree with me that our free will is well and kicking. Otherwise, there would have been a crisis on our hands because free will is what makes all of us human. It is this defining characteristic that differentiate us from other species of animals although this privilege has carried with it a grave responsibility. That is how to use it wisely and to our own advantage and that of society. Rights and obligations always go hand in hand. It is the law of nature. These are just another pair of complimentary qualities out of many in this universe that are inextricably attached to each other. It is part of the natural law and it must be obeyed if the universal order is not to be up set to our own detriment. In my opinion, the pitfall in the interpretation of the idea of destiny is to ascribe to it some predictive content ( for example, to try to read our future destiny through fortune telling ) based on our emotional state while the idea itself is, in fact, of an ex post nature without any ex ante content. So long as we can avoid this pitfall, we will be on home ground.
Of God and Ghosts
The idea of the existence of a supreme being or deity who has created this world and overseeing it constantly has always been an important part of human history and culture. No view of the universe can be considered complete without
discussing this very vital and extremely human topic. At the beginning of human history, men used to believe in all kinds of gods because of their ignorance about their physical environment. They attributed the warm and rejuvenating power of the sun to a sun god and the deafening roars of thunder to a thunder god and so on. As mentioned in the previous section, it is men's nature to attach an explanation to everything they encounter as a mark of completion ( i.e. to have successfully discovered the reason they are looking for ) to satisfy their curiosity and yearning for knowledge. At the discovery of anything too complicated for their comprehension or beyond their existing knowledge, it is not uncommon for men to invent the concept of gods who are all powerful beings to be the ultimate cause of any unexplained phenomena. But this is not to say that this reasoning can be applied directly and indiscriminately as a logical argument to disprove the existence of the one true God who is by definition a self-existing, all powerful and benevolent being that permeates the whole universe and is worshiped by billions of people worldwide under different forms of religions. I do not think that most people believe in God for such a naïve reason. People's thoughts are far more sophisticated and complex than this simple reasoning. My view on this issue will be set out below. Suffice it to say at this introductory stage that it is inherent in human nature to look to a higher cause for the ultimate origins of all things and phenomena experienced in their lives. It is my contention that everyone ( from the atheists to those scientists who hold a materialistic world view and even the buddhists whose philosophy as set out in their Law of Dependent Origination excludes the possibility of any self-existing entity ) has , in one way or another, based his or her belief regarding the origin of the universe on some aspects of the concept of a self- existing and all powerful force which possesses God-like qualities or characteristics. I totally agree that such a contention as mine sounds outrageous to most, if not all, people. However, I would plead for your patience and forbearance until you have gone through my rationale for holding such an unconventional view.
I shall not go into the detailed religious doctrines of different world religions but simply dwell a little bit on the concept of God as perceived by each of the major religious groups. The major world religions that have commanded the worship of over three-quarters of the global population include the following ( in alphabetical order ) :- Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism ( of China ), Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism
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( of Japan ), Taoism ( of China ) and Universality (i.e. yin and yang concepts of nature ) also originating from China. There are, of course, other religions of a more ethnical nature which are less structurally developed and all of them have their concept of a creator God in one form of another. As these are less representative and concern only individual social groups, we shall not deal with them individually. However, I think it is only fair to say that the point about the concept of a creating force or deity for the universe being a universal concept has been reasonably established. Without further ado, let me brief you on how my unconventional view has come about. This will involve brief visits to the world views of the major religions.
Buddhism has a number of branches the two basic off-shoots from the different philosophical outlooks being the Hinayana school ( the “ lesser vehicle “ ) and the later school of Mahayana ( the “ great vehicle “ ). The former school mainly concerns with achieving enlightenment or entering nirvana ( the western world of extreme and endless happiness without the need for rebirth to endure the human sufferings of birth, ageing, sickness and death ) for oneself. It was also known as Monastic Buddhism because it only places emphasis on the individual and isolated practice of the religion in monastery away from the materialistic world. This was not done for selfish reasons but on account of the strong belief that this materialistic world breeds evil that will prevent the achievement of enlightenment. Then, the latter school of Mahayana has the very noble concept of Bodhisattva. While the Buddha is the enlightened one, the Bodhisattva is the developing Buddha. The Mahayana teaching has the noble goal of selfless sacrifice by the Bodhisattva to remain on earth ( although they could have achieved nirvana and not to undergo the pain of rebirth ) solely for the benefit of other living creatures and to rescue them from their sufferings to help them towards enlightenment. That is why Mahayana is called the great vehicle to transport everyone to the western world of extreme and endless happiness. This magnanimous social goal is what causes this school of Buddhism to
become the main stream of the religion and a socially popular religion in the orient. Let us now exaime the Buddhist world view in brief. According to Buddhist philosophy, the individual and his physical environment are subject to constant processes of birth and destruction in endless cycles operating under a strict and unchanging law called Dharma. Everything and everyone is nothing but a manifestation of this supreme law of nature. There is no real differences between anything and anyone. There are, in fact, no separate entities of any sort. The world is just one under the working of the supreme moral or natural law of Dharma. In my opinion, this is the best recipe and rationale for world peace. So there are really no such thing as :- you and me, subject and object, self and non-self, in here and out there, physical and spiritual. Every phenomenon we experience is just an illusion of the existence of a reality which is the result of never ending cycles of changes. I would again point to the famous example of the reflection of the moon on the water surface and the image of a flower in the mirror as concrete examples of this concept. They look so real but they are simply illusions. The Buddha explained this proposition in his teaching on “ Dependent Origination “ which actually means “ Conditioned Arising “ or the “ Formula of Casual Connection “. In short, it maintains that the aggregates are mutually dependent on the multi-lateral interactions between all the individual components. You simply cannot analyze which component has contributed how much to the overall aggregate. The reductionist approach of breaking up the the aggregate into parts to find an explanation is simply unworkable here because every part ( if there is any which I do not believe this to be the case in most instances ) is multi-laterally interconnected with every other part in the system in question. This is the concept of the part in the whole and the whole in the part that we have come across in chapter (vii) - the New Science of Fuzzy Logic. Here, the holistic approach though a less scientific one is more appropriate. There is simply no one to one relationship. If this sounds familiar it is because it is also the conclusion reached by the Theory of Chaos and Complexity in chapter ( v ). So, there is a closer relationship between science and religion than one would imagine. To complete the Buddhist world view, the working of Dharma creates these aggregates ( or phenomena, which I feel is a better term ) which endures beyond death of our physical bodies and form new combinations of the “ individual dharmas “ represented by each of our individual consciousness in the form of our rebirths. The only sure thing about our life is that it is painful and full of sufferings due to our
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ignorance of the working of the supreme natural law ( “ Dharma “ ). We have so often been working against the natural law that our suffering is created by our own doing. The only salvation for us is to see through the illusion of reality ( that nothing is permanent ) and to adjust our attitiude and behaviour accordingly. Only by doing good and be compassionate to other living creatures can we break this endless cycle of pain and suffering to achieve enlightenment and enter nirvana as a buddha.
Since the law of Dependent Origination is so important to buddhist philosophy, some further insights into this concept is paramount in understanding the essence of the buddhist world view. As the logic of this concept relies on the argument that everything is interconnected as an undivided whole, it hypothesizes that all aggregates ( or phenomena ) both the grand Dharma of the universe and individual dharmas of each human being are mutually dependent on and as a whole determine one another. This is the essence of the holistic approach. The theory specifically hightlights 12 links or logical steps in the chain of dharmas. They are set out as follows :- ( 1 ) Out of the precondition of ignorance, the driving force ( 2 ) arises, this leads to the formation of our consciousness ( 3 ). Out of our consciousness, a spiritual and physical individuality is born. This is logical step ( 4 ). With this individuality, our six senses come into operation. This is step ( 5 ). From the sense of touch which is step ( 6 ), it gives rise to feeling. This is step ( 7 ). Once feeling is possible, the human nature is capable of craving ( the word “ thirst “ is actually used in the teaching ). This becomes step (8 ). Craving includes the inclination toward life. This is step ( 9 ). This desparate clinging on to life will in turn give rise to karmic becoming in life ( an unjustified yearning ). This is step ( 10 ) which logically leads to karmic becoming in rebirth. This is step ( 11 ) and with rebirth, the painful process of ageing, dying, worries, suffering , sorrows and despair reappear in the next life of the individual's consciousness. So, death and life comes full circle in step ( 12 ). No description of the physical processes were provided but on top of the list of the logical chain of events ( in this painful state of affairs that is life ) ignorance has the infamous honour. It is ignorance of the working of the supreme law of Dharma that has started all the troubles and that has led to our failure to break this sad chain of events which can only be dissolved through enlightenment. Now that you have some basic ideas about the philosophical reasoning of
Buddhism, we can turn to the rationale for my unconventional view. Regardless of the validity of the buddhist reasoning, it has, nevertheless,
based its argument on a self-existing and all powerful law of nature called Dharma. This is the basic premises that possess the God-like quality ( in terms of the fundamental concept upon which the philosophy has been built ) to which I have been referring in my unconventional idea. Conceivably, there are two counter arguments that can be leveled against my contention. Firstly, the buddhist view does not require the creation of the universe which is considered to be an illusion according to the buddhist reasoning and, therefore, does not need a creator. To thisretort, I would say that the whole idea of a never ending cycle of life, suffering and rebirth driven by the self-existing and all powerful natural law of Dharma, however unreal, requires the existence of the evil driving force of ignorance and the initial working principle represented by Dharma which is eternal and self-existing. The second possible counter argument may run like this.There is no beginning nor end for the cycle of life, suffering, death and rebirth except the breaking of the chain through enlightenment. Therefore, there is no need for the first cause because everything is an interconnected whole like a circle without beginning or end. However, the circle or the eternally existing state of affairs has to work on some self-existing or at least a spontaneous rule which in this case is the law of Dharma that has God like characteristics. Before we leave Buddhism behind for other religions and beliefs, let me summarize the buddhist arguments for the refutation of God's existence. The logic runs like this. Every phenomenon must have a preceeding cause otherwise there are no complete sequences to form a process that creates the illusion of reality. Besides, there must be interactions between all components of a meaningful system. Things that do not interact are not in casual contact with one another meaning they can have nothing to do with one another. Interaction must give rise to change on all the interacting components. Applying these logical steps to the concept of a all powerful and self-existing God, any phenomenon that is without a cause cannot form a complete and meaningful sequence of events or process. Even if there is interaction between God and men, both have to be changed to different
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degrees as a result of the interactions based on the law of Dependent Origination. But God is never changing by definition. So there would be no result from the theoretical interaction even if there is any. That means God is God and men will be men and that the two entities cannot have anything to do with each other. Thus, the concept of a self- existing, all powerful and unchanging God is superfluous under buddhist reasoning. The bottom line is that Buddhism requires no creation of the universe which is an illusion and a non-permanent phenomenon created from our ignorance of the working of Dharma. There is no place for a creator God, period.
Of the remaining major religions, all have the concept of a self-existing and all powerful God except Taoism and the Universality beliefs ( yin and yang - the negative and positive energy of the cosmos ) both of China. Taoism literally means the Path. This philosophy of the universe and human affairs originated from the teachings of Lao Tzu, a legendary Chinese philosopher who lived in China from 604 B.C. to 517 B.C. ( even before the time of the Gautama Buddha who lived from 560 B.C. to 480 B.C. ) His thoughts were embodied in his book called “ Tao-Te Ching “( the translated meaning is the Doctrine ot the Way ( Tao ) and Morals ( Te ) “. The Way refers to the working principles of the universe and Morals refer to ethics for human behaviour. The book is considered to be such an important work on philosophical thoughts even by western scholars that it was one of if not the most translated Chinese text. The book only contains 81 short chapters but it was written in beautiful and poetic language and full of imageries. The theme of his thoughts is the concept of Tao ( the Path ) which is hypothesized to be the eternal source of all beings and the force behind everything and phenomena both natural and human ones. It is similar in nature to a theory of everything so eagerly contemplated by the scientific world in the past few decades but the subject was treated at the metaphysical level so that its predictions are somewhat illusive and mystical. May be it is because the subjects of the universe and human behaviour are by themselves too all-embracing. Despite its highly subtle and comprehensive nature, the book is, nevertheless, amazing in its predictions which are in many respects consistent with modern scientific theories. Given the fact that it was written some 2500 ago, the foresights and insights of the book are nothing less than prophetic and remarkable in the scientific sense.
From a religious point of view, Taoism is not a well organized religion structurally. There is no hierachy of office bearers or leaders. Every follower of this philosophy of life may have their own way of interpreting the wisdom laid down in the book, Tao-Te Ching. The theory of the Taoist world view can be summarized as follows. The Tao is a kind of life force permeating the universe for all eternity. It is the law governing the world and the ultimate guideline for all human ethical behaviour. There is the emphasis on the Ultimate Oneness which is the highest principle of both the physical world of nature and the spiritual world of our minds. Again, the oriental concept of a holistic approach is very explicit in such a concept. Then, the Tao ( the Way or the Path ) is also described as the Absolute. No other law is above it. The Tao is both nameless and indefinable according to Tao-TeChing. Its indefinability and absolute nature is manifested in the cosmic and ethical laws in the form of numerous paradoxes that have become the hallmark of the Taoist way of teaching its philosophy. The Tao is also the primal source of the physical universe from which all things came into being. Tao-TeChing described the creation process as follows - out of the transcendental non-being, being emerges. The Tao in the form of undifferentiated Ultimate Oneness generates within its unity the duality of Yin and Yang ( negative and positive energy ) that leads to the breadth of life. Further development from this breadth of life brings about harmony between the two antagonistic forces that will give rise to Many ( all things ). So, we can trace the creation of the universe back to the Ultimate Oneness which is the Tao. Then, the Tao gives rise to Many ( through the dualistic idea of Yin and Yan that give rise to the Breadth of Life and subsequently all things ) and out of the Many, opposite values ( both in physical and spiritual terms ) such as good and evil, big and small which are mutually dependent on each other and did not exist before are derived from the Many. Taoist reasoning argues that the emergence of such opposite values or phenomena proves that the world and humanity have gone astray from the Path of Nature which is the Tao. Therefore, we have to turn away from materialistic desires and return to the Tao to be once again in harmony with nature. The Tao is the only truly permanent phenomenon in the universe to which we must all turn for
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eternal peace and happiness. The highest state of mind in Taoism is “ wu-wei “ which means non-action ( self-restrain ). It is contended that the truly wise man who is totally immersed in the Tao will adopt the mild and subtle principle of “ wu-wei “ or non-action or self-restrain to deal with the most difficult of problems. The rationale is that resorting to short-term physical or even drastic measures will cause more harm than good. Such short- sighted measures will not solve any problem in a fundamental way. Applying the concept of wu-wei ( self-restrain and non-intervention ) that is in line with the Tao which is the ultimate law of nature will prove to be the gentle and yet strongest and wisest move in the long run.
The Taoist world view clearly points to existence of a God like concept of the Tao which is Absolute, Ultimate Oneness, eternal, powerful ( but gentle ) and permeating the whole universe. The Tao in the case of Taoism is the God-like concept I am referring to in my contention. The only likely counter argument I can anticipate is the reasoning that the arising of the Tao is a more illusive concept than the definition of God. However, the trinity concept of Yin and Yang giving rise to the Breadth of Life that can all be accommodated within the grand Oneness of the Tao strikes a very close image to the Holy Trinity concept of the Christian God. I cannot over emphasize that this is just my casual observation which must not be construed in any way as my claim that the two religions in question are linked in any sense. One last comment on Taoism is in order and it relates to the subsequent development of this religion among the lay population of China. Due to the fact that ancient China was isolated from the rest of the world and its lack of a well developed scientific tradition, the sophisticated philosophical ideas of Lao Tzu were subsequently misinterpreted and very often misused by the lay population. Many different dubious elements with mercenary motives such as fortune tellers, spiritual medium and alchemists introduced magic and other undesirable practices ( such as using harmful potions and drugs to prolong human life and to increase the male sexual potency ) into the popular version of Taoism in ancient China which is still one of the most favourite religions practised by the Chinese population today, second only to Buddhism.
As regards the teachings of Confucianism, they mainly concern the worship and respect for our ancestors, the theory of the state and moral standards for the laymen. The idea of heaven above ( shang tien ) is in the teachings but no specific reference is made to God or creator. But suffice it to say that this idea of heaven implies a transcendental principle governing the physical and spiritual worlds. Confucius, worshipped as the founder of Confucianism and the Greatest Teacher of All Times in China, was believed to be a major contributor if not the sole author of the 5 most important books on philosophy in China. These are the I-Ching ( Book of Changes ), The Shih Ching ( Book of Songs consisting of 305 traditional songs or poems depicting social practices ), the Shu Ching ( Book of History concerning important speeches and proclamations of various rulers ), the Ch'un Ch'iu ( the Book of Spring and Autumn Annals describing the history of his own state of Lu with his moral views appended to each historic episode ) and Li Ching ( the Book of Rites setting out different religious and social rituals of the time ). Further teachings of his school of thougts were included in 4 other classics. These are the Lun Yu ( the Book of Discussions containing conversations between Confucius and his pupils ), the Ta Hsueh ( the Book of Great Learning mainly dealing with moral standards partly written by Confucious himself ), the Chung Yung ( the Book of the Doctrine of the Mean – middle or balanced way - thought to be authored by Confucius' grand son Tsu Ssu ( Kung Ki ) proposing the philosophy of the mild way to solve problems and to avoid the extremes ) and Meng -Tzu ( a book about the philosophy of Mencius who is the most brilliant pupil of Confucius and successor to his school of thoughts.) Confucianism was elevated to the status of a sort of national religion by most subsequent emperors of China because of its teachings of absolute loyalty to the emperor who was considered to be the son of heaven ( tien tzu ), the upholding of moral standards, due respect for the older generations in ancestor worship and adherence to principle of justice and neighbourly love. Its demand for a high moral standard among all citizens has culminated in the well-known Golden Rule for human behaviour – “ Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you “ This is also known as the Doctrine of Reciprocity of Treatment. For all its moral guidelines for human and earthly affairs , Confucianism still holds the view of a God-like principle of heaven which is an eternal, self-
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existing, all-embracing concept and it occupies an absolutely supreme position with regard to the physical and spiritual world.
The remaining candidate for my discussion of the concept of God is none other than the scientific community. To be fair to all scientists, some of them do believe in God. However, according to the book – Big Questions in Science ( edited by Harriet Swain ), a 1996 survey had found that only 40 % of the US scientists believed in God. Nothing is known about the worldwide population of scientists. I would make a wild guess at less than the 40 % mark after taking into account of the large non-Christian population of China and similar countries. Despite this atheist attitude held by the majority of scientists, almost all of them rely on or believe in the laws of nature ( based on observable and testable evidence ) which possess the self-existing, self-organizing, all powerful ( every human being is subject to the laws of nature ), all permeating ( the various quantumn energy fields existing throughout the universe ) and eternal characteristics that bear many God-like qualities. The only major difference between the characteristics of the laws of nature and God is that the laws of nature do not engage in spiritual correspondence with human beings. These laws are cold and impersonal unlike God to whom we can turn for help. Nevertheless, most of the God-like qualities are present in the laws of nature. Scientists may argue that in time we may be able to understand how the laws of nature have come about but it must again rely on the working of a higher set of laws with similar God-like qualities. Or worse still, it could be like the example of peeling an onion. One layer of mystery is removed by us only to find another layer undeneath and finally when all layers have been removed by us nothing except the void is left. Or can we even say void with certainty because when there is no more substance to reveal the void in a comparative sense what is left is entity X or element X ! Or simply ????....... The saving grace seems to be in Quantum Theory which has put us or our consciousness in the centre of creation as the observer to at least validate the concept of the void by our physical presence and the act of making the observation. Notwithstanding this embarrassing situation, I think my point about the laws of nature having God- ike qualities has been borne out in the above sequence of reasoning.
My own view on God has, in fact, been partially revealed in chapter (i) about the origin of the universe. To me, God is the Life Force. There, I proposed my eccentric idea that both the scientific and religious views concerning the creation of the universe could be equally accommodated if the scientists can reserve their demand for an immediate proof of the existence of God through their own scientific method and accept that the laws of nature which they have thought to be self-existing and self-organizing anyway as the manifestation of the first cause (i.e. God's creation ). This is simply a proposition of asking them to put God and the laws of nature which is their existing belief on an equal footing only and not much more. Let me level with the scientists on their home ground. Quantum Theory has established beyond doubt the phenomenon of complimentarity. I boldly suggests that the laws of nature could be a the manifestation of God from a different perspective. Why can scientists accept that the laws of nature can self-exist and self-organize by themselves but not the existence of a self-existing and all- enbracing God as the first cause of creation ( of the laws of nature themselves which in turn give rise to everything else ) ? Of course they will strongly protest that there is no proof of God's existence in accordance with the requirements of the scientific method. But may I point out that the evidence of God's existence is everywhere if you care to look. The evidence is in the beauty and serenity of nature, in your family and relatives who love you, in the innocent children who are little angels on earth, in your friends who care about you, in your good neighbours who keep the neighbourhood watch, in the heroes who sacrifice their lives in the service of society and in the cause of peace and justice. An account of the unhappiness and evil side of the world will be given below. To me, the mystical ways in which the laws of nature appear to work may very likely have been the result of our still limited understanding of their true nature. Despite the present theoretical difficulties, scientists are still very bullish about the possiblity of attaining the ultimate and noble goal of the Theory of Everything in the near future which is currently still bogged down by the unsuccessful marriage between Quantum Theory and the theory of General Relativity on gravity. They are very obviously doing it on their own faith ( not to say that it may be bordering blind faith ) – the faith that nature is ultimately comprehensible. Surely, it may
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probably be comprehensible but to what extent and what would the ultimate truth be ? I sincerely hope that it is not the same as the example of peeling an onion set out above. So, you will see that it is all a matter of one's perspective.There are more similiarities in religion and science than one would expect. After all, everything is interconnected in this universe. Only if the scientists can redirect a little of their faith to the concept of God. There is no need to be fully converted. Just a little forbearance by not rejecting God outright will suffice. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that my counter argument against the atheists concept set out above is just another perspective on the issue of God. There is not the slightest intention on my part to preach the gospels here. Everyone is entltled to his or her own views. That is why I have specifically named this book with the important emphasis on A Personal View. Suffice it here to reiterate my earlier point on the importance of faith which is needed even in the practice of the scientific method as set out in the foregoing example. Issues such as the belief in an all-embracing, all-powerful, benevolent ( as manifested in the harmony and serenity existing in nature and the compassionate and noble side of human nature in our good neighbours ) and eternal God or the Life Force to some, belong to the category of concepts I have dubbed matters of the heart ( where faith, inspiration and intuition apply ) instead of matters of the head ( where logical reasoning is crucial ).
On the other hand, the religious camp must also relax their strict adherence to the Bible to the last word. After all, the Bible was written long, long ago in case of the Old Testament and even for the New Testament it was done not by direct divine authorship. There were, in fact, two versions of the New Testament, one in Greek and the other in Hebrew. Therefore, any rigid interpretation of the Bible ( or any religious dogma to the last word of the given text for that matter ) seems to be both dangerous and detrimental to the cause of discovering the truth. More often than not such a radical approach has given rise to great evil in the form of extremism and, ultimately, our present day scourge of terrorism. As a matter of fact, there is no absolute truth but only different perspectives of the truth. The last proposition must not be taken to mean that no moral or spiritual standards exist. Such standards can always be gauged according to the supreme laws of nature ( which in my view are the creation of God ). As my intellect is seasoned by my age, I tend to be more spiritual than religious. I always maintain a healthy suspicion on any form of bureaucracy including organized religion. Whenever there are people, there will be politics and politics is solely about power which in the absolute form will definitely lead to absolute corruption. The term religious dogma says it all about the absolute nature of religious teaching. Here is another one of my eccentric ideas. God has given us our intelligence. I really feel that He wants us to make use of it and not to blindly follow any set rules that may not be able to adjust to the changing circumstances. The stubborn religious stance against birth control is an example of such a dogma. I surely do not want to be cast into hell ( which to me is a state of mind ) for following anything my conscience ( through
my intellect ) has told me is incorrect but is dictated by religious dogma. Now let us start our discussions on the world's sufferings and the
apparent existence of evil forces. We must do this now or the scientists and atheists will be getting impatient. The big question and, in my view, a well justified one is this. If God exists, why does He allow all these suffereings and evil influence to take place ? After all, He is all-powerful, all-knowing and, most of all, benevolent. This legitimate question is the argument most relied upon by non-believers as a proof of the non-existence of God. The first impression created by this challenging question is that it is non-assailable. But a closer look will reveal some loop-holes. It is not as water-tight as it first appears to be. I think that the first step to cast doubts on this contention is to be found in human nature. I am referring to the characteristic of human nature to spread the bad news but not the good ones.This is the nosy aspect of our nature. There is a Chinese saying that goes like this :- “ Good things never go out of the door while shameful things always propagate a thousand miles ( i.e. far and wide ). “ Owing to this lop-sided treatment of bad news, these are more often than not blown completely out of proportion. How often do we glorify the greatness of motherhood such as the example of the unknown mother taking care of her hopelessly crippled and mentally retarded child for decades I described in the topic of Heroes and Housewives, very seldom, indeed. We only come across billionare philanthropists giving away millions to charity which we mostly denounced as promotional gimmicks. What about
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all the good things done by nameless volunteers who are nobodies and toally ignored by the media. There are lots of other examples of good deeds that are not being publicized. But this is not to say that there are little or no sufferings and unhappiness in this world. Sufferings and unhappiness are the facts of life but can they be mainly attributable to God ? That is the vital question. My view is that the bulk of these sufferings are the results of men's own misbehaviour out of ignorance and greed. Of course, there are many natural disasters that kill thousands of innocent people but many of these like floodings and drought can be traced back to the green house gas emissions causing upsets in the climate systems that can be directly linked to greed ( the profit motive in businesses ). Even for disasters such as the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that occurred in the East Indian Archipalego ( which claimed some 200,000 victims ) due to submarine earthquakes, the death toll could have been much smaller had the governments of the countries concerned been willing to spend some of their national budgets in setting up a co-ordinated early warning system. These developing countries are poor mostly because of over population, lack of an efficient government system but most of all because the well developed and powerful nations of the world are too busy looking after the own interests and have neglected their duty to other fellow citizens of our global village. No nation or individual can act as if they are isolated from the rest of the world, not if they genuinely want the whole human race to survive all these terrible odds.
Then, there are the totally man-made acts of war out of lust for power and misguided racial superiority which is a myth and total nonsense. It is nothing more than a pathetic attempt and pretext by power crazy dictators to justify their monpoly on absolute power and control of the people. The Great War ( World War I ) claimed over 9 million lives for the militaty on both sides as a conservative estimate and not counting civilian deaths which included the massacre of an estimated 1.2 million Armenians by the Turks for their alleged assistance rendered to Russia. Then the Second World War was even more bloody. Just think of the estimated death tolls in China ( over 16 millions from 1931 to 1945 ), Russia ( 9 millions ) and the rest of the Allied Nations ( must have been some 2.5 millions ) and the defeated enemies of the Japanese Empire, Germay and Italy ( another 4 millions ) plus the 6 million Jews in the Holocust and another 2 millions of various ethnic background in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The total number of war deaths for World War Two including both military and civilians is estimated to be 62 millions by the internet encyclopedia, the Wikipedia. Then in the 1950s, there was the korean War that killed another 6 million soldiers and civilians ( just the Communist Chinese volunteer army fighting in Korea had recorded 1 million deaths while the North Korea had suffered some 3 million casaulties ). The Vietnam War that lasted from the 1960s to the mid 1970s must have killed another 3 millions. The killing fields of the evil Khmer Rouge Pol Pot Regime did away with still another 2.5 millions. The civil wars in some parts of Africa and the Balkans that were purely man-made had also killed countless civilians and in the tens of thousands. How about the Middle East conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians and so on and so forth. Not even the Black Death in the Middle Ages had killed that many and for what ? Human insanity of lust for power and inflated ego ? Even worse, there are still day-in day-out accidental deaths resulting from drunk driving ( must be over tens of thousands worldwide ) and air disasters from human negligence and criminally neglected aircraft repairs due to greed on the part of the purely profit- oriented airline operators. There are so many of such incidents that are due to human misbehaviour that I am grossly ashamed to be a human being. So, dare you blame the good Lord ! There is so much suffering in this world that even the saintly Reverend Mother Teresa had confessed once that the questions of whether God really existed and why He has allowed such pain to be endured by his creatures did more than once come across her mind.
I am sure you are thinking that I am evading the vital issue of why God let all these happen. Because I am not. I only intend to save the best for last to achieve maximum effect. According to my own view, God has created the laws of nature and then let the universe run its course. It is not just a matter of intervening in the operation of our free will that God should not step in ( which is the traditional theological answer to human suffering ). More importantly, there would be no human and world system at all if God really chose to intervene against his own natural laws selectively. In that case, there may
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just as well be no creation of this universe at all. I am not so arrogant and egocentric as to interpret God's mind for Him. I am simply putting forward a logical argument of what could have been if God had decided to selectively intervene in the working of the laws of nature. I also have this eccentric idea about the traditional belief of glorifying God by our suffering. I do not support this point of view. I do not think God wants us to suffer at all or to glorify Him for His own sake. That is why He has given us the intelligence to take care of ourselves, our neighbours and Mother Earth. But for him to intervene selectively such as in the case of human suffering and, in fact, in anything for that matter, would be to defeat the purpose of our own creation and that of the universe. This is because there would be no real control by ourselves over our own lives which is the perrogative of our consciousness. It is not as if we were not given the right to quit life altogether but, of course, that would be a coward's act. Without our independent consciousness there would be no questions asked by any conscious being that is the pinnacle of creation. Everyone would simply be puppets on a string. Thus, our exposure to suffering and other good or bad experiences is just the price that must be paid for being humans. That is the process of life and living. Will a stone or any other liveless objects suffer ? Of course, not. Therefore, I think our consciousness is the ultimate prize of creation which is noble and untouchable. That is also my basic rationale for respecting the individual's inborn rights. Even God respects such rights. A very important corollary from my contention is that God did not create us for his own glory. Glory is such an empty concept. It reminds me of the slogans soldiers use when they go to war. But is there really any glorious wars ? Perhaps, only the glorious dead ! There is no God and us as really separate entities. Everything is inextricably interconneted as indicated by Quantum Theory ( this is a dose of the scientists' own medicine ). It is definitely not a matter of being God on high and untouchable and we human should stay down low and worship Him blindly. Instead, we find God everywhere in nature, yourself and your neighbours and in LIFE. That is the reason why I insist on practising one's belief in God ( for believers ) by one's daily actions rather than just by doing lip and ceremonial service. If you find that it suits you to go to church, so much the better. Having some religious routines to instil discipline into your children before they can find their own way is a very good practice. But more importantly, we should discover our God-given attributes and utilize them to their fullest potentials for our own good and that of others and our environment ( which is truly the temple of God ). This is the holistic approach I would like to adopt. Human beings are the manifestations of God's noble attributes ( an extension of His persona ) and we should love ourselves and follow the laws of nature to show that we cherish this precious gift of life ( one should again refresh one's memory on the overwhelming odds against the existence of life in chapter (ii) – The Origins of Life ). This is Nature's way. Hence my special emphasis on finding your own meaning in life. Only by caring and loving ourselves, our neighbour and our environment can this gift of life blossom to its fullest natural potentials. It does not matter even if there is no particular built-in or preordained purpose for our existence as many scientists seem to think. It is for us to find and create our own meaning in life ( using our God-given intelligence ) which must again be subject to the laws of nature and all just laws of society and men. Do not wait to be told what your purpose in life is. It is my earnest wish that everyone could find their own and in concert build a better world.
At this juncture, I would like to advance my above argument one step further. Let me assume that God had granted us our wish that all sufferings would disappear from this world forever despite the worst of our behaviours. What would happen next ? Would we go further to ask for almighty power ? I can bet you on my life that we definitely will. This is the greedy aspect of human nature. We always ask for more than what we are having at the present moment. That is why a materialized measure such as a fixed 10 % service charge can never motivate good service. This is our natural instinct which is a drive provided by nature to enable us to improve our lives. When used in a sensible way, it is healthy ambition and motivation. But uncontrolled greed must ultimately lead to the demise of the whole human race. So, you will see that human nature is just like the famous request for food by Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens' book :- “ Please, sir I want some more ! “ The fact that we are faced with sufferings but possess free will is the harsh reality. Changing the existing system could reduce us to liveless entities which some people ( especially those who are suffering ) might prefer but once we were there, it would
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be no turning back because we would no longer be conscious nor intelligent enough to ask for a reversion to our former ( or rather present ) selves. To me, suffering like risks and ecstasy are an integral part of life and consciousness. You cannot remove such elements without distorting the nature of life and consciousness. You may even diminish the essence of life altogether. For example, mental pain may arise when we have made a wrong decision out of our own free will ( such as loving the wrong person and getting rejected ) but then is it the right solution to do away with such pain altogether ? If we do that, we may never be able to learn from our past mistakes again. Or is the final solution to this scenario to be found in banishing our free will altogether ? No choice means no wrong choice ( and no pain ) but at the same time, also no sense of satifaction from making the right ones. It is just like the complimentary nature of risk and return. Zero risk ( like keeping your money under your pillow all the time ) will be rewarded by zero return ( no interest income from the bank or any other investment income ). Do not think for a moment that if we really did away with pain there would only be happiness for us. The simple reason is that without pain we may not even be able to tell what happiness is because there would be no comparison to bring out the good feeling. So, pain is just like death. It is bad but life cannot do without it. You will recall that life without death would make us all horrible creatures like the Dracula. The co-existing pair of concepts like pain and happiness ( or pain and gain ) remind us of the Taoist concept of the necessary existence of many of the opposite pairs of attributes in nature resulting from the working of the Tao ( the Path ) which is the Life Force to me.
Our wish to ask God to remove suffering against the laws of nature reminds me of innocent and ignorant children asking their parents for sweets instead of bitter medicine to cure their ailments because they cannot stand bitterness. It is also like asking for the bests of both worlds – having the cake and eat it or a square circle. The bottom line is that whatever are our existing circumstances ( in this case there is the existence of the laws of nature that sometimes cause pain and suffering due to the working of the special characteristics of our consciousness and free will which are integral parts of the human life ) they would always be less than ideal according to the demands of human nature. Nonetheless, there could always be only one given system operating at a particular time and we are simply stuck with our present one. The percieved reality (PR) can be different from varying human perspectives. As the wife of King Louis XVI of France, Marie Antoinette said during the French Revolution :- “ Let them eat cake. “ ( if the people were hungary ). From her personal perspective it never occurred to her that the people could be so poor that they could not afford to do so. If the poor French peasants could afford cakes there would never have been the French Revolution. Even with all the pain and suffering in this world there are still some people who are satified with their own situation. They are the lucky ones but then there will always be the majority of dissatisfied ones in any system. Whatever level of difficulty ( whether there are more or less difficulties ) our life could have been as designed by God, it would always be painful by the human standards because it is in human nature to strive for higher goals and better conditions. There could always be something better. The same argument can likewise be applied in the opposite direction. Why is life not worse than it is now ? Should we be equally happy that it was not worse (which could have been the case ) ? Therefore, do not lament over the dark side of life. Rather, do as I suggest in the next paragraph which is to take suffering as a challenge in life. That is my contention which I have ( though may be pessimistically but surely realistically ) based on human nature. We never notice the good with the same degree of appreciation as we feel the scourge of the bad because of our misguided assumption that life should be a rose garden as a matter of course. This same characteristic in our human nature has also led us to easily forget favours done to us by others while never forgeting any harm others have inflcted upon us. The logical explanation for this one-sided phenomenon is probably our survival instinct to avoid further harm from those who have done harm to us before with a naturally lasting impression. Having said all the above, it would only be fair to ourselves to add that the pains and sufferings in life can be overbearing at times. What is more is that the trials in life such as in the case of the brave mother with a son physically and mentally crippled for life can easily be overwhelming to say the least. Let us hope and pray that our own trials be bearable and when they hit us we would be strong enough to persevere in our set goals in life.
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On the more practical front which is one of the main aims of this book, we should learn to deal with suffering, again as in the case of death, by rationalizing it and turning it to our advantage. For example, we should be psychologically prepared that suffering is a fact of life as hight-lighted in buddhist philosophy and take it up as a challenge to our intelligence and creativity to overcome it. In the course of doing so, the human spirit can be elevated to an unprecented level that may surprise even yourself. The point on what good suffering can do was exemplified in an old movie starring the acting genius, Anthony Quinn called “ The Twenty-Fifth Hour “. The story line was about a Jewish Pole who was a simple minded peasant with a live and let live attitude towards life. The irony of life is that he was mistaken for an outstanding specimen of the Arian master race by the Nazis. His image was published in numerous propaganda posters by the Nazis Regime to glorify the image of the so-called master race. During the course of the Second World War he was a victim of fate ( in the ex post sense ) and was separated from his wife and children over the war years after having been drafted into the Nazis infamous S.S. Units. He was subsequently sent to the Russian Front and was captured by the Russian army and became a prisoner of war in a hard labour camp in Siberia where he stayed till the Stalin era. He endured so much hardship and pains both physically and mentally that it breaks your heart. He was detained for so long because of his appearance in the Nazi propaganda poster. Finally, he was released during a prisoners exchange with the western allieds in Berlin in the late 1950s. That was only the beginning of his ordeal because he was tried in the war crimes tribunal as a war crimnal on account of his distorted image in the propaganda poster. He was offered clemency on the condition that he would admit to his “ crime “ which he did not commit – in assisting the Nazis in promoting the concept of a master race. After two decades of suffering which was not a single bit due to his own fault, he finally realized that he was a human being whose basic rights should be respected. Therefore, he steadfastly refused to plead guilty to the war crime charges and he continued to struggled against the injustice leveled at him for another few years. All through his life, he was a lost soul wandering everywhere at the mercy of fate and destiny. His sufferings finally made him realize that what his own meaning in life really was. The sanctity of the individual's human rights are unassailable and cannot be violated. Therefore, he put up hunger strikes and other drastic measures to attract public attention. Luckily, there was an ultimate happy ending when his plight was finally heard by a human rights group that helped him to uncover documentary evidence of his birth and to find witnesses from his home town in Poland to testify in his favour. He was able to rejoin his family after losing their contact and his freedom for over 25 years. His story which was based on a real life episode has become a classical case illustrating the evil and suffering that war can inflict on the innocent individual. He himself has become a symbol of the persevering and unrelenting human spirit to endure pain and suffering for the sake of justice and human rights.
When it comes to the practical level of pain and suffering, it is no longer a question of why but how to turn it to our advantage. As I have stressed on a few previous occasions, human affairs are so chaotic and complex that it would simply be a waste of time and effort to even try to find out why. At the end of the day, there may not even be a simple and direct logical explanation as is the usual case because of multi- lateral interactions between all the different causes. There is simply no one-to-one relationship. Rather be wise and concentrate on finding a way to minimize the adverse effects of the pain and suffering by taking it as a challenge. Rely on your humour, creativity, intelligence and ingenuity to rise to the occasion. Be positive and have faith in your own ability to face the challenge. Remember that nature does allow for the fighting spirit in us to achieve the seemingly impossible. Still remember the real life example of the mother lifting a one ton car to save her baby ? The mind can sometimes win over matter but only if you care to try your best to realize your full and hidden potentials. Never say die
but rather let your potentials materialize ! I have one last comment to make on pain and suffering. From a
medical point of view, pain is part of our body's warning system. It alerts us to the fact that something may be wrong about our bodily functions. This is one of the main functions of the phenomenon of pain itself. However, it can also be misused in torture by evil people to achieve their own selfish ends. Thus, there are always two sides to a coin. It depends on
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the perspective from which a phenomenon is viewed. Should we do away with this warning system because of its bad side ? A more sensible answer seems to be that we should rather tolerate its existence and keep its adverse effects to a minimum without removing this phenomenon altogether even though it could have been done by divine intervention.
The second part of the title in this section is Ghosts. What is that all about ? I am certainly not going to tell you some ghost stories. It actually concerns our soul if you are a believer. If you are convinced that your own consciousness is not just effects of bodily processes or you do not hold a materialistic world view, it is easy for you to accept the existence of our soul. I unashamedly do. In my opinion, having a soul is what makes us human. There is no need to elaborate any further my reasons for holding such a view. My arguments have been set out in great details in both chapter (iii) on Quantum Theory as well as Chapter (ix) on consciousness. The only issue left to be discussed here is my view of the working mechanics of the human soul. My speculative opinion is that with the death of our physical self, our consciousness which was used to working through our physical body would become unattached energy that would now be our wandering soul. Furthermore, I feel that our unattached energy would usually be concentrated around the places where we normally conduct our personal activitiies before our passing. This is the reason I suspect that people who are sensitive to such energies ( which exist in different frequencies ) can sometimes detect unexplained ghostly images because of their special sensitivity derived from inborn biological-spiritual tuners. This idea is not as crazy as it sounds if we put ourselves back in the times before the invention of the radio. People then would say your were nuts if you proposed the idea of broadcasting to thousands of listeners located hundreds of miles from the studio all at the same time through the transmission of wireless radio waves. It is all a matter of tunning into the sensitive frequency range which is not such a farfetched idea. Based on the working of Quantum Mechanics,it is possible that the elementary particles belonging to the atoms that were once part of our body would remain in existence under the law of conservation of energy. There would also be a close affinity between these elementary particles from our former physical body which had once been interacting with those belonging to our loved ones over the course of our life. I futher speculate that our soul would remain wandering until our consciousness become attached to another physical body upon rebirth through some as yet unknown process. I also have some eccentric ideas on various speculative models of the rebirth process that may form the theoretical basis for further research into this mystical subject although it will be beyond the scope of this book. Nevertheless, I would give you an example from the experience of my personal life that has led me to accept the existence of the human soul. It concerned my maternal grandfather.
When I first started to work as an executive officer in the Hong Kong civil service back in 1971 immediately after my graduation from university, I was posted to the then Public Works Department in charge of all the 300 or so clerical staff. My maternal grandfather had passed away in 1961 while I was still a kid. He was a very serious and scholarly Chinese elderly gentlman of 73 at the time of his death. I and my maternal grandfather were not very close because my mother had a total of eleven brothers and sisters ( my uncles and aunties ) and over 30 odd nephews and nieces ( my cousins ). Therefore, our maternal grandfather only stayed with his elder son and family according to established Chinese tradition. We used to visit him in our uncle's home may be monthly for dinner but because my grandfather was still working right up to the time of his death there was not much personl contact between him and me. Therefore, we were not close in the sense that there was no discussions of personal matters between him and me. As children, we were even a bit afraid of him as an authoritative figure. Then, the night before I reported to work at the Public Works Department, I had a very vivid dream of my grandfather. The setting of my dream was under a beautiful and azure sunny morning sky on the busy waterefront of the Hong Kong business district of Central. I clearly saw him walking towards me wearing a smart navy blue overcost. He had a radiantly fresh and healthy look on his face with the sunlight shining on him as we walked past each other. We did not speak to each other except that he just smiled to me very warmly. In fact, the warmth was so deeply felt in my heart that I can still reminisce on that warm feeling once in a while right up to this day. As I had never dreamt about my grandfather before at any
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other time in my life, I could not helped telling my mother about the dream on the evening when I returned home from my first day of work at the office. What I heard from my mother was a great surprise to me. She told me that my grandfather used to worked for the Public Works Department through a building contractor who was a relative on a building project which was the upgrading of the first reservoir ever built in Hong Kong. This could be a pure coincidence but ever since that day I have never dreamt of him again. I cannot give a sensible explanation for this strange dream except to speculate on the possibility of the casual connections between my grandfather and the Public Works Department and my own personal relationship with him and the Department for which I had my first job. The Public Works Department seems to be the common factor in the timing of my dream. It was as if my maternal grandfather had given me his blessing and guidance to me for my first job although you might argue that the Selection Effect could have again taken hold. But is this effect the sole and logical explanation ? It is anybody's guess. But to me, it is an indication though not conclusive proof of the Quantum Entanglement phenomenon at work. This theory suggests ( and this claim has been proven in laboratory experiments ) that any elementary paricles once interacted with each other in an entanglement operation are always tied together in an inextricable way. Applying this theory to my dream, some atoms involved in my brain's bio-chemical actions have originated from my mother who in turn has inherited some from my grandfather. The common factor that could have triggered my dream was the mutual connection between the Public Works Department, my grandfather and myself. Before my mother told me about my grandfather's working relation with the department, I had not known about it. So, there was no question of my preconceived impression having given rise to my dream. When I said in the section on Of Death and Destruction that I used to comfort my griefing friends by telling them that their dearly departed relatives would be overseeing them like guardian angels, I really meant it based on my own personal belief. You may brand my eccentric theories as pseu-do science as the scientists most probably will but you definitely cannot reject them outright. I may even be able to refine them a bit in due course to enable them to be put to the scientific test using the already availble sophisticated brain monitoring apparatus. Let us wait and see !
( B ) The Inspirations
This has been an exceptionally long chapter. The reason why I have not split it into various shorter ones is that there is a central theme running through all the different topics discussed here. It is, in fact, an attempt on my part to apply the different scientific theories described in chapters ( i ) to ( vii ) to some practical and spiritual issues that I consider to be very relevant to our daily lives. To recapitulate, the theme I referred to started with money, the most practical of all our daily problems ( Of Money and Men ). Then, it turned to politics ( Of Power and the People ) which will ultimately affect our basic human rights and the fair distribution of economic resources that are vital to our very livelihood. This is just the extension of the money ( economic ) problem. To build an equitable political system and a fair society, a proper education for our citizens ( Of Education and Educators ) is indispensable. Our younger generation is the foundation of future society. Therefore, they should be the centre of our attention when implementing our education system ( Of Youth and Youngsters ). One of the most overlooked but dedicated support groups in our society today are the hard working and selfless housewives ( Of Heroes and Housewives ) who deserve our total support both morally and in practical terms. Then the main theme is elevated to a higher level to look for the meaning in life and the practical aspects of living ( Of Love and Living ). As the process of living progresses, we must face the problem of ageing ( Of Death and Destruction ). I have attempted to provide some suggestions for facing this serious problem of which I am fast becoming a part. The ageing process, if you are lucky enough to survive it graciously and with minimum suffering, will still ultimately end in death. I have boldly set out my views on this painful and difficult subject for the readers' reference. Questions have always been
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asked about whether our lives are predetermined or whether we have the power to change it according to our free will. Hence, I have ventured to present my personal insights into this mystical but interesting subject ( Of Destiny and Destination ). By so doing, the theme is elevated yet again to the higher metaphysical level. Finally, after I have mustered enough of my courage and inspirations from all the previous philosophical chats, I very irretrievably dived into an attempted analysis of the ultimate spiritual issue of God. While doing so, I have also touched on the other very personal but related question of the existence of the human soul ( Of God and Ghosts ). This is done in case my arguments on God's existence fail to convince. This is the run down of the program in this chapter. Such a recapitulation may seem superfluous but I always feel that it is better to consolidate on the salient points of all the relevant arguments before confronting the grand finale of my tantative Theory of Everthing in Life in the forthcoming last two chapters. So, you have been warned on yet some more complicated issues ahead. After all, LIFE is a complicated affair because of human nature !
( C ) The Eccentric Ideas
As a matter of fact, my eccentric ideas relating to each topic have been set out in the respective sections of this chapter for the sake of coherence. But I deem it advisable to reiterate some of the more important ones that may have direct relevance to the construction of my own Theory of Everything in Life. These are set out in the sequence as they have appeared in the above program run down. I have the unconventional idea in placing emphasis on preparing for failures in life when educating the young. While we must motivate them to achieve success to the best of their abilities we should, nevertheless, be prepared for the eventuality of failure. If none is ever anticipated failure may come as a devastation that could result in suicide for the unprepared tender mind as can be seen in cases of teenage suicides over failing their examination. Another related issue in education is the building of the students' self-confidence. I proposed that humility should be encouraged as a virtue but not to the excessive extent as to hinder the building of their self-confidence. Regarding the gift of youth, I strongly advised the younger generation to get to know their rightful position in any situation as a first step towards the building of their self-confidence which is in turn a vital key to achieving a colourful life. This must be supplemented by a keen interest in learning about themselves, their environments both in the physical world and their social arena. All their efforts should be directed to the ultimate aim of finding their own goals in life, the sooner the better. In this almost spiritual soul searching process, our common sense may not always be able to help us because it is partly a matter for the heart which requires your feelings and intuition and not straight forward common sense.
There lives among us a silent half of our society who has been dutifully and constantly serving the community through the meticulous care provided by them to their families. These are the ever loyal and totally devoted housewives who are mostly taken for granted by both society and, sometimes, by the younger members of their families. I see them as the unsung heroines whose merits are very often most unfairly overlooked. I stressed the point that being heroes or heroines need not involve performing spectacular deeds. Their fortitude and perseverance are equally admirable because it is literally a life long profession. They deserve our exclusive affection and total support. As for the all important concept of love and meaningful living, I hold the basic idea of learning to love oneself first and foremost. Only by learning to love yourself are you really qualified to love other people. Loving oneself encompasses the need to find your own meaning in life and then striving to achieve all your set goals in life. A goaless life is a zero standard for gauging your own success in life at the time of your passing to a higher spiritual stage of the ever changing and yet revolving cycle of nature. Notwithstanding this self- assessment, the notion of success or failure in one's life is only meaningful in the subjective sense. No direct comparison between one person and the next is possible
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without being unreasonable. It just doesn't make intellectual sense. Is the richest man in the world more successful than the courageous mother who has cared for his crippled son all her life ( as described above – Of Heroes and Heroines ) ? The richest man definitely has more dollars and cents but in terms of love and sacrifice the courageous mother beats him hands down. Then, is red more beautiful than blue ? Again, this is just like comparing apples to oranges. It is all a matter of value judgment with no absolute standards being universally applicable. This is the ingenius, inspirational and profound findings of Einstein's Special Relativity. Everyone must have one's own standards which are equally valid in one's own frame of reference. This is the pinnacle of the democratic principle and the basis upon which the sanctity of the individual's inborn rights is so solidly built.
The final stop in life is death. I have the crazy idea that it is not only inevitable but necessary for oneself and society as a whole. I also bodly put forward my own ideas about the after life based upon my acceptance of various spiritual, psychological and psychiatric phenomena and, in particular, the Hologrphic Model of the universe proposed by David Bohm. Then, I expanded my concept of the after life in my speculative model of our soul. Finally, I expounded the idea of God's existence and my own rationale for accepting Him. The closely related controversy on the traditional philosophical view of the existence of pain and sufferings in this world as proof against God's existence is also dealt with according to my own reasoning and from my personal perspective. Like the issue of death, I have come to the same conclusion that pain and sufferings though most undesirable are the necessary ingredients of life and must be tolerated and, better still, if they can be turned to our advantage. All these eccentric ideas of mine and all the labour of reading through the 10 chapters up to this point are merely the preparation for my final proposition of the Theory of everything in Life to be explained in the last two chapters of this book. Let us start the ball rolling after this brief stop of a short recapitulation.
Chapter ( xi ) - Towards a Theory of Everything in Life
Having learnt about the physical reality ( chapters (i) to (vii) ) and the human consciousness and various philosophical questions in life ( chapters ( viii) to (ix) ) and other practical human issues from the perspective of science and philosophy ( chapter (x) ), we are now equipped to attempt the formulation of some useful theories that can be used by us to our advantage in our daily lives both on the short term and in the long run. Let us start by setting the goal for the theory and then by laying down the necessary criteria to gauge its efficiency. In short, we will try our very best to follow the scientific method as closely as the circumstances allow.
( A ) The Theory The Goal
The obvious purpose of a Theory of Everything in life ( TOEL ) is, of course, to provide some practical guidelines as well as a concise description of human behaviour in the context of men's complex physical and social environments to assist them in achieving their set goals in life to their own satisfaction and to the satisfaction of society as a whole. On a theoretical level, the theory must be built on a sound and generally accepted philosophical basis. It must be simple enough to be understood by the lay person and yet comprehensive enough to cope with all important issues in life. It must also be concise enough to be manageable and yet easy to apply to purposes for which it is designed.
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The important issues in life that must be addressed can, in my opinion, be classified into three levels ( the vertical dimension ) :- the personal ( micro view ), the family ( domestic view ) and the social ( macro view ) levels. Then, there are another three categories according to the subject matters ( the horizontal dimension ). These are the economical issues ( money matters ), the emotional ( mental and interpersonal matters ) and the physical ( health and other material matters ) issues. The foregoing are the different areas to which the TOEL must be applied. Furthermore, it is my contention that the common keys to solving all these issues lie in the mastering of the three qualities of being knowledgeable, sensitive and correlative ( or being able to connect ). Our final formulation of the TOEL will be subjected to the above tests in terms of goal achievement, the various levels and coverage of its application and the existence of the common key elements of knowledge, sensitivity and connection.
I also propose to divide my formulation into two parts :- (a) the descriptive part and (b) the predictive part. Part (a) will be a detailed description of the various elements of the theory together with the relevant settings of the formulation while (b) will be the specific predictions applicable to each particular issue. Then concrete examples will be provided for each of the different types of problems ( e.g. Personal emotional problem or family economic problems and so on ) as classified above to test the efficiency and usefulness of the TOEL. Having set our goals and criteria against which the theory can be gauged, we can now move on to discuss the settings in which the TOEL has to operate.
The Descriptive Contents
The Physical World
From Chapters (i) to (vii), we have learned that the physical universe has emerged from some sort of catastrophic explosion known as the Big Bang some 13.4 to 15 billion years ago the sure cause of which has still not been acertained but was thought to have been the result of some quantum fluctuation in the elusive entity called the virtual ( because they are not normally detectable until some quantum actions and reactions of the virtual particles have taken place by revealing their tracks ) quantum energy fields. Since then the universe has been expanding continuously without any sign of stopping. Out of the resultant energy from the aftermath of this explosion came the creation of some matters and antimatters most of which annihilated each other. But due to the chance existence of a slight excess of matters over antimatters, an ever so little amount of matter was left over after the initial annihilation that became hydrogen and helium atoms as the great heat of the Big Bang cooled to some 100,000 degrees Kelvin at a time frame of 300,000 years after the Big Bang when the temperature was cool enough for the hydrogen and helium nuclei to capture the electrons to form stable atoms.
Another 1 billion years had passed before the first stars and galaxies were formed due to the slight uneveness in the heat distribution of the radiations caused by the Big Bang. Matters in the slightly cooler patches of space coalesce because they had slightly higher density than their environment and were attracted to one another by the gravitational force. As they continued to be compressed under gravity, a point was reached when the heat generated by their gravitational compression caused the nuclear fussion process to commence and the nuclear furnaces started to ignite and numerous stars like our sun were born. Such stars slowly organized themselves under varying degrees of gravitational pull resulting from their varying distances from one another to form galaxies ( a compact and rotating system of stars ). Our own Milky Way Galaxy is a spiral galaxy of about 100,000 light years in diameter consisting of some 100 billion stars like our sun. There are at least 70 billion trillion stars in the visible universe. That is really vast to an unimaginable degree. The nuclear fusion cooking process gives rise to numerous elements other than hydrogen and helium which were produced at the Big Bang. The most important of all elements is carbon which forms the basis of life. Without the stars no life
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would have been possible because the energy produced by the Big Bang could not have created any more complex elements beyond hydrogen and helium on the Periodic Table. Towards the end of a star's life when the nuclear fuel of hydrogen and helium were exhausted through the nuclear fusion process to form other higher elements on the Periodic Table up to iron which has the most stable of all nuclei, the star's now fully iron core will collapse under gravity ( in the absence of the originally outward expansion force supplied by the powerful nuclear fusion energy ). This dying star's iron core will be crushed to a very dense state that will result in a tremedous explosion called a supernova which can outshine a whole galaxy for a while. After the supernova explosion that sheds off the outer layers of the dying star's iron core, the gravitational collapse process will continue. For stars that possess less than 1.5 solar mass ( the mass of our sun ), the end result of the supernova explosion will be a spinning neutron star giving out a radio beacon at both poles of the star now only about 20 km in diameter. This kind of stellar objects working like a rotating beacon giving out radio signals at regular intervals in the universe are known as pulsars. For stars with a mass in excess of this limit ( known as the Chandrashekhar Limit after its inventor, 1983 Nobel Prize winner for physics – Subrahmanyan Chandrashekhar ), The ulimate fate will be a Black Hole – an entity that is so dense that its gravitational pull is strong enough to prevent even light rays, the fastest moving thing in the universe, from escaping beyond its boundaries( the Event Horizon ). Many galaxies including our own Milky Way Galaxy are thought to harbour huge black holes. This is inferred by the fact that the speed of our galactic rotation is faster than that which would have been possible to hold all the visible mass in the form of stars and planets together. The unseen mass that makes this fast rotational speed possible without shattering the whole galactic system is attributable to the additional gravitational force due to the presence of a massive black hole in our galactic centre.
There are two very important consequences that have come about from the catastrophic explosion of a supernova. The first is the creation of elements heavier than iron which is the heaviest element that the normal nuclear fusion process going on in burning stars can cook up. The second more important effect of the supernova explosion is the recycling of cosmic debris by dispersing the stardust far and wide. The cosmic materials scattered by the supernova will in time coalesce again to form new stars. So, the matter of life and death and rebirth are just a normal and never ending cycle of changes in nature. By checking the colour contents of the light rays emitting from a particular star using the spectroscope for analyzing the colour signatures of chemical elements, astrophysicists can determine the number of generations a particular star has evolved. Our own sun is a third generation star in its middle age as explained in chapter (ii) on the origin of life. Our mother earth is thought to have been originated from other cosmic debris left over from the sun's creation. It was estimated to have been formed some 4.6 billion years ago. From fossil evidence, the earliest form of life on earth which is carbon based also began some 3.6 billion years ago. That was only 1 billion years after the earth's formation.
We, human beings had only started our evolution process about 1 million years ago. As a matter of fact, the modern men ( the homo sapien ) can be traced only to some 100,000 years ago. We are not even new born babies compared to the history of life on earth. The written history of men had only been around for some 5000 years. This is just like the blink of an eye compared to earth history. Therefore, we have really a lot of things to learn from mother nature. All that we know for sure is that we are all subject to the laws of nature without any exception. The forces of nature can be grouped into four categories :- the thermo-electro-magnetic forces ( or simply the electromagnetic force ), the strong nuclear force that binds atoms together, the weak nuclear force that is related to radio-activity and the force of gravity. We know almost everything about the woking of the first three groups of forces but we are still puzzled about how the gravitational force operates. So far, scientists have discovered how the first three forces are related. They also believe that gravity should also be related to the other three in some way. The efforts to unite gravity with the rest of the forces of nature is known as the Grand Unification Theory which had evaded Einstein for the last twenty-five years or so of his life at Princeton University in New Jersey, USA. But the current scientific view is that this grand unification theory or the Theory of Everything as it is better known should be around the
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corner if the intellectual marriage between Einstein's General Relativity ( the best available theory on gravity ) and the Quantum Theory is successful. Despite this important outstanding scientific issue, the physical world ( or objective reality (OR) as I call it ) is mostly predictable subject to the Uncertainty Principle which is of great relevance only at the subatomic level and other sensitive phenomena that obey the laws of Chaos and Complexity. This may be considered to be good news because when it comes to human affairs predictions are almost impossible. So far, we have been able to make use of our knowledge on our physical world to improve our lives through technology but always subject to the risks of our self-destruction through man-made wars. Men are the greatest of all threats to themselves and their environment through ignorance and greed both of which can be controlled if common sense prevails.
With these stark facts staring in our face, what kind of inspirations can we derive from them ? Well, the following are the impressions I have got as a result of learning more about the physical world. Firstly, we are physically insignifcant in the grandeur of the universe yet with our intellegence we can harness the natural forces for our own good ( there are always opposite qualities to everything ! ). Furthermore, regardless of the achievements we have attained, we have no reason to feel conceited because there is so much more that we do not know anything about than things that we do know. Secondly, no one is immortal and indispensable yet we are ( as all life is ) all unique and precious in our own way ( life has bravely survived all the impossible odds ). Therefore, we must respect and treasure life and one another. Thirdly, we are all connected ( so is everything as proposed in the Gaia Theory by James Lovelock ) through our physical environment ( the unfolded order in David Bohm's theory ) as well as the intricate order ( the Holographic Model of the universe ). Apart from such connections, we have all originated from the same humble beginning – stardust - and are, without exception, faced with the harsh reality of pain arising from suffering, ageing, sickness and death. This is the ultimate rationale for our compassion to all life including ourselves. In this regard, it should be the greatest lesson for political leaders and those in power to refrain from initiating any armed conflicts that must surely involve the loss of innocent and precious lives. War is, beyond doubt, the worst and most futile means for settling disputes. To say the least, it can only create more and worse problems than it is supposed to solve. There are never any holy or just wars. There is neither any glory nor honour to be won except death and destruction. Violence only begets more violence. All parties involved, including the so called final victors are certain losers. Fourthly, nothing is permanent for nature operates in ever ( or never depending on your point of view ) changing cycles that cannot be stopped or hindered by anyone. These cycles are never changing in the overall view but always changing at a particular period of time. The inference from such a natural phenomenon is that the process itself ( like the process of living is more important than the end which is death ) is more important than the end because there is, in fact, no partcular end in the ever changing cycles. The message here is that the end can never justify the means or we will face a downfall like Socialism and its poor cousin, Communism which is notorious in achieving political ends regardless of the means. The irony of having a successful medical operation but the patient being certified dead is the order of the day for such extreme political systems. Furthermore, the lack of permanence in any phenomenon also implies that enough is enough – another warning from nature to the politicians who hang onto power no matter what. Fifthly, and most important of all, the laws of nature with their constancy and equal treatment to everything and everyone, are the ultimate moral standards for human behaviour. Natural justice is the highest order of justice that should form the basis of all human behaviour. Then finally, inspirational idea number six , as I see it, is that the qualities of beauty, harmony and serenity we find in nature are most profound and inspirational of all. Therefore, protect your environment to the best of your abilities.
Thus, in summary, we should at least learn the following ideas from the physical world :- (1) We are physically insignificant but intellectually capable. (2) All life is precious and unique and must be respected and cherished. (3) With a common origin and faced with similar woes, we should be compassionate to all life. (4) We cannot use the end to justify our means because processes are more important than the end. (5) The laws of nature are the supreme guidelines for human behaviour. (6) Nature instils the sense of beauty, harmony and serenity in us. We should enjoy nature and do our best to protect
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and preserve her originality and wonderous qualities for all future generations.
Human Nature
As our TOEL is to be used by us for our daily purposes, we must adapt it to our nature or else the theory will only remain an empty slogan devoid of practical contents. We cannot ask for the impossible. Therefore, TOEL must be formulated according to the capabilities of our nature. Let us now have a look at the normal characteristics of human nature. There is the good side as well as the bad side. Let us start with the good side. Generally, our nature is determined by our genes inherited from our parents but as scientific research has also shown our personality is also greatly affected by nuture or our environment. However, there are some qualities in human nature that are generally accepted as universal. These include, firstly, the inclination towards improving our living conditions both at the materialistic and mental levels. Secondly, the urge to protect and provide for our loved ones. Thirdly, the need for friendship and social interaction. Fourthly, the need for recognition as a successful person by other members of society. And fifthly, the urge to achieve a sense of satisfaction in oneself ( self fulfilment ) for attaining one's set goals in life. These are the different levels of needs starting with material needs and ending with higher psychological and social needs up the hierachy of needs ladder. There are also many human virtues such as faith, hope, charity, humility, sacrifice, patience, perseverance, fortitude, generosity and compassion.
Then there is the bad side or less desirable aspects of human nature. Apart from the seven cardinal sins taught in the Christian faith ( pride, greed, anger, jealousy, lust, gluttony, idleness ), there are many others that we very often encounter in our daily lives. Number one on the list of human frailties is selfishness. Human being will do anything in their self interest even at the expense of their loved ones at times. Secondly, the inclination to exert as little effort as possible in proprtion to a given return. Thirdly, human nature is greedy. We want more of everything if possible. Fourth, there is the urge to be in control. This is lust for power. Fith, once given power, there is a great temptation to abuse it to one's own advantage. Sixth, the undesirable inclination to learn about the bad things of other people and to make these matters known to the public. This is actually curiosity run wild. Seventh, the tendency to exaggerate and boast one's contributions or merits and to belittle the efforts of others. The eighth weakness of human nature is to befriend the rich and powerful and to ignore those less fortunate than oneself. Nineth, people very often use double standards, a more lenient one for themselves but a much harsher one for others. The tenth common weaknesses of human nature is wavering in one's principle according to the majority opinion depending on one's own interest. This is also known as being politically correct. The eleventh undesirable inclination in human nature is to take things for granted. People generally expects favours from others but never return them or do others favours voluntarily. The twelvth, and last one of the major weaknesses of human nature is the tendency to find excuses to justify or to legitimize our actions. This shortcoming can have really horrible consequences. Take an argument such as I am justified in killing his father because he has killed mine – an eye for an eye. It sounds so logical. But do two wrongs make a right ? Being logical may not be right. Logic is mathematics while the issue right or wrong is a value judgment regarding moral standards. We must apply the correct set of rules to the proper circumstances. This is the practical application of Cross Disciplinary Sensitivity which will be descibed in greater detail later on in this chapter. The great tragedy of the Holocust is one big ugly example of justification run wild. The evil Nazi regime used the grossly misguided master race concept to justify the extermination of the Jewish race which now sounds naïve and ridiculous. But with the aid of their powerful propaganda machine and weaknesses of human nature in the German nation at the time, this ridiculous concept was carried out to its extremely evil conclusion. Obviously, the above list of human weaknesses is not exhaustive but the common faults of human nature are well represented in the list.
By giving considerations to these characteristics of human nature, I am
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not at all proposing to give in to these faults. It is simply an attempt to be realistic. On the matter of basic principle ( subject to the laws of nature and all just human laws ) there will be no compromise. However, a balance must be struck between the good and the bad aspects of our nature on the practical level of our TOEL. The functions of our brain are such that all of the above faults in human nature could be controlled, subdued or overridden if we really want to make such a conscious command. Therefore, it is the moral standards which we instil in our conscious mind that are crucial to our ability to override such bad influences of our character when it is warranted by the particular circumstances. I cannot over-emphasize this vital point for our behaviour. Furthermore, people's behaviour varies with the circumstances they find themselves in. Good people may act badly under adverse circumstances ( e.g. in strict poverty ) and vice versa for bad people in better circumstances ( e.g. at their happier moments in life ). As it is, our present analysis of human nature is an over-simplification that does not do justice to the complexity of human nature but such a complicated subject can never be fully discussed within the scope of this book. I hope the reader would accept the above propositions on human nature merely as the highlights for the purpose of our search for the prototype of our TOEL.
The Nature of Society
The characteristics of our society must also be taken into account in the formulation of our TOEL as it is the background or arena in which most of the theory's predictions will be applied. Modern society is originally built on the basis similar to that outlined in the French philosopher, Jean-Jaques Rousseau's ( 1712-1778 ) book, The Social Contract. This book is one of the classics on the modern political system of democracy the origin of which can be traced right back to the ancient times of the Greek civilization ( the city states ) and the book's most memorable statement is :- “ Man is born free, and he is in chains.” Without going into the details of the principle of democracy ( or in essence, a one man, one vote political system with the concept of the majority rules ) with which the reader should all be too familiar, we shall proceed to the characteristics of a democratic society. The more demanding reader is advised to refer to the prologue and chapter (x) on the section of The Power and the People for greater details on the workings of the democratic principle.
In a democratic society, the simple majority rules but this may not always happen in an indirect ( or representative ) democracy like the USA. The reader may recall the great controversy relating to the US president election in 2001 that put the current US president George W. Bush in power only after a dramatic intervention by the Supreme Court of the USA. Barring this really special and peculiar example, the normal result of a direct democratic political process of one person, one vote will be a simple majority rule. However, this does not mean or intend to mean that the wishes of the minority should be and can be ignored. This is because the limits included in most constitutions of democratic countries in the world will restrict a mandate given to the ruling government in a particular election to a fixed number of years ( usually 3-4 years ) only. A re-election to extend the existing government's mandate is due periodically so that even the former minority voters would have to be taken into account by any ruling government running for re-election. This is the usual built-in safeguard for the democratic process. Furthermore, in some countries such as the USA or Australia, the existence of a Senate the membership of which is not based on the populations of the constituencies returning the senators will reduce the pain of tyranny arising from the majority rule. This is one kind of safeguard for the monority against the simple majority rule. The senators are usually elected for some special historical reasons or geographical significance. Take the USA for example, its Senate is composed of one senator elected from each of the 50 states which have different population sizes to ensure that the more populous state could not
overwhelm their less populous counter-parts. To facilitate the running of local and regional affairs and to avoid
placing too much responsibility on the central ( or federal government ) in the running of all
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minor and local affairs ( which possess so much varieties in their nature and special characteristics that will surely evade the central governments attention), state and local governments ( usually called local councils ) are formed according to population sizes to improve the efficiency and economy in running local and regional everyday affairs. Different entities such as these state and local governments can also encourage competition among their various essential services ( hence higher efficiency can be achieved ) and provide more choices for the citizens in selecting their place of residence. This is the ideal situation but in reality the problems of abuse of power and other dirty politics will inevitably arise because of the bad side of human nature.
Even more directly linked to our livelihood is the economic system operating in society. As previously mentioned, 99% of the economies in the world today are some sort of market or capitalistic systems. These systems may be proficient in economic terms but they can be really harsh from the human and sociological points of view. In short, it is the impersonal and cold reality of money calling all the shots which strongly encourages greed. On the other hand, the competitive market system based on consumers' free choice and working on the principles of supply and demand is wonderfully suited to the democratic principle. Thus, the logical and sensible solution is to run a competitive market system but to keep the greedy elements in check through the enactment of effective laws and supplemented by a good education system to instil generally accepted moral standards ( of justice, fairness and compassion ) into the minds of the modern citizen. In this regard, it is my personal contention that humanism can provide an effective and appropriate set of moral standards that represents a suitable way forward on our road to the ideal society. I shall elaborate on my arguments for humanism
in a separate section below. On the sociological front, the modern democratic society also
possesses the characteristics of recognizing the sacred basic human rights of the individual ( in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association and equal rights under the law ); respecting family values and the equally inviolatible right of private ownership of property. Any effective and acceptable TOEL must also give due considerations to these rights in its application. Because of the possible conflicts between the individual's rights and the public interest, an equitable balance must be struck between these two issues. The currently accepted view seems to be that the individual's right should be given any benefit of the doubt ( and, therefore, priority ) in case a possible conflict is expected to arise. A democratic government is like a borrower. It has, in fact, borrowed its political power from the people through the popular mandate of the vote. The less the government borrows from the people in terms of its power the easier it is for the people to accept the granting of the power loan to the ruling government by their popular vote. Therefore, the effeciency of a ruling government can be gauged by the minimum power rule. The less power it needs to carry out its governing process properly the more efficient is the ruling government. However, the reality is less than ideal. Many governments even though democratic to a great extent are still inclined to abuse its power to some degree by doing favours and taking better care of the intersests of their own political parties and support groups at the expense of society as a whole. Some may even use their political influence to manipulate the media through favours and other regulatory pressure in an attempt to create public opinions in the government's favour. Therefore, the pillars of true democracy must include a fair legal system applicable to everyone equally, freedom of the press and a proper citizens' education to instil a sense of social responsiblity and a clear understanding of their rights and obligations.
The most important thing to note in the mechanism of human society is that it operates on the rules of Chaos and Complexity. The characteristics of Chaos and Complexity involving multi-lateral interactions and unpredictability are the general rules rather than the exception. Furthermore, both the volitile Cascade Effect and Coercive Externalities of the Science of Networks are working actively within our social system. Finally, the rules of Fuzzy Logic which involve a multi-valent system are also very useful in understanding the way society works as the collective behaviour of all its individual components. More is different would be the best principle to follow in the analysis of our social mechanism not the conventional linear mathematical logic of the whole being the simple sum of its parts as in the underlying assumption of the reductionist approach so
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often used in the scientific method.
The Reality Revisited
The physical world, the individual and society are all part of a wider reality that can be classified into four categories as we have learned in chapter (viii). The purpose for the present revisit is to reiterate the salient points about the reality that may have a direct bearing on the formulation and operation of our TOEL. It will be recalled that the four different categories can be put in an acronym - SHOP. The subjective reality (SR) includes all ideas and emotions ( such as inspirations and dreams ) created in our mind through the bio-physio-chemical actions and reactions of the brain. To a great extent, these are almost fully under our control except when there is some mental malfunction ( sickness ) or when we are under the influence of medication, alcohol and drugs. SR varies with our moods and can be illusive in the intellectual sense. Hybrids reality (HR) is the result of interactions between SR and OR ( the physical world ). Most phenomena, especially social ones, belong to this category. As SR can be illusive and OR is mostly predictable in the macro sense and operates according to set rules we call the laws of nature, HR can bear the characteristics of both. Though objective reality (OR) operates on mostly unchanging rules that give rise to fairly reliable predictability it, nevertheless, is still subject to uncertainty at the subatomic level by virtue of the uncertainty principle of Quantum Theory. This uncertainty apart, the same set of facts or OR can be interpreted differently from varying perspectives ( c.f. Special Relativity ) and by different individuals with varying social and cultural backgrounds. In other words, our views on OR which may be unchanging in itself will still appear differently to different people due to the past conditioning of the brain. This is the special chaotic nature of the brain which is a highly complex chaotic system very sensitive to its own development history and slight changes in the initial information input at a given moment ( as predicted by the Theory of Chaos ) thus leading to very unpredictable consequences. That is why we may be taken aback by unexpected behavioural reactions from people with whom we think we are familiar. Once we realize how a chaotic system works, we will understand the sudden and abrupt changes in people's moods and behaviour. This is also a very important prediction of TOEL because we may be deterred by these sudden changes and be led to the wrong conclusion that we may have done something wrong to provoke their occurrence. Such wrong conclusion will inevitably hurt our self-confidence as we may think that the unhappy experience represents our own failure in interpersonal relationships. Finally, what we take to be the true position in the state of things happening around us is our perceived reality (PR). Strangely, PR may be completely different from the actual situation by objective standards or from other people's point of view. PR is the reality that is vital to us because we react according to what we think is the true reality (PR). For example, when two persons are madly in love or love sick as we sometimes call it any attempt to separate them may lead to very tragic results such as the best known great Shakespearean tragdey of Romeo and Juliet. In their PR, the lovers see love as more important than life itself while cool headed bystanders will simply see them as suffering from a tragic sickness. Where does the truth lie ? It depends on one's perspective. Suffice it to say that PR does have its working effects. We must understand such effects to avoid tragedy as well as to ensure that a proper conclusion can be reached on any set of given circumstances for sound decision making which is yet another function of TOEL.
Connection between the Realities
The necessity to connect the various types of realities can be found in our decision making processes that we so very often undergo in our daily life. Giving due consideration to the different characteristics of the various types of realities will greatly aid
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our decision making process. Whenever we are faced with any problem or a particular set of circumstances that requires a decision to be made it has been my personal experience that it is very helpful to analyze the situation by classifying the type of reality we are dealing with. Then, by applying a solution that is aimed at the nature and characteristics of the type of reality in question you will find that the particular problem can easily be solved. To illustrate how this can be done, I shall use some simplified examples for each type of reality to put my theories into practice.
SR concerns things in our mind. Let me take the emotion of anger for example. To be more concrete, let us say you are angry with your son for failing a mathematics test at school. First of all, you should realize that SR is normally under your control if you are in your right frame of mind. You can blow your anger completely out of proportion or you can control it to a manageable level. Therefore, your first reaction to SR should be to keep a cool head or be level-headed. Secondly, you should always remember that SR is simply a personal perception of some external signals. Thus, the best way to see SR is to try to look at it from an imaginery outsider's perspective. Once, you have stepped out of your own personally involved perspective, everything seems smaller or less serious. Even for the more positive examples of SR such as your own inspiration or an original creative idea, taking an outsider's view point is also in order because you will always be inclined to overrate your own creation. So, the apparently paradoxical approach to SR is to take an objective look at it in order to put it in the proper perspective. Applying these two techniques to the present SR example, it is advisable to suppress your anger rather than to let off your steam by dishing out punishment to your son or by scolding him. Such drastic measures can do no more than venting your anger but will surely have an adverse effect on the most important goal at hand which is to help him improve his mathematics. From a wider and more objective perspective, the more sensible approach is to have a serious discussion with your son to find out the reason for his failure and to encourage him to improve his performance by positive motivation such as a reward system. Of course, if the present failure is due to your son's neglect or laziness, some meaningful reprimand like requiring him to take extra mathematics lessons may be warranted. Being angry alone will not solve any problem. To sum up the skill regarding the treatment of SR, the simple but paradoxically sounding motto is - “ Be objective about subjective reality “.
OR on the other hand is more predictable and rigid by nature. Despite its predictability, OR as governed by the laws of nature does possess its uncertain elements at the subatomic level. Apart from this quantum uncertainty, some natural phenomena like the weather, fluid and gas turbulence are subject to the rules of Chaos ( as described in great detail in chapter ( v) in conjunction with the Theory of Chaos and Complexity ) and, therefore, are much more difficult to master in terms of their behaviour. Even regarding normal classical systems, the same set of data relating to them may be interpreted differently from unlike perspectives because there is always the element of subjectivity whenever the human consciousness is involved. That is where most of the difficulty will arise. The key to understanding OR is, of course, sufficient knowledge of its working mechanics. You must at least have some elementary knowledge on the working principles underlying all important aspects of the physical world including those already set out in chapters (i) to chapter (vii). As regards the practical approaches to OR for the purpose of decision making, I would suggest the following two ways which I have found to be very handy. Firstly, do not follow rules blindly. You must only apply the physical rules in a way that is suited to your own circumstances. In other words, apply with caution and beware of exceptions in your case. I can take my personal example as a diabetic. All the rule books for diabetes say that candies and chocolates are out of bounds for us. But my own daily blood tests after dinner have consistently revealed that for myself eating rice causes a higher glucose content in my blood than a fair amount of chocolates which I sometimes eat when entertaining my guests. Each person may have different bodily reaction to substances as set out in textbooks or research manuals. In short, I may not be an average or normal person with regard to rice and chocolates. Secondly, you must be clear as to which set of rules of physics to apply – the classical rules or the chaotic ones. Having regards to the existence of chaotic systems where special rules such as the Power Rule ( see section ( C ) in chapter (v) on Chaos and Complexity ) are applicable, you have
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to be able to identify chaotic and complex systems. The physical chaotic systems are mainly connected with the weather, fluid, gases and other man-made mechanical specialty systems with which you need not be concerned in your daily life. Other more important ones which we must contend with are the human brain (OR) ( which in practical terms means people ) and our socio-economic systems (HR). In short, any situation in which human factors are the main features is very likely to be chaotic. That is why results for team sports are notoriously difficult to predict. The same is true for any sort of elections. Pre-election opinion polls are very often seen to be unreliable because of Information Cascades and Coercive External Effects ( see chapter (vi) on the Science of Networks ). Everyone is trying to see or estimate what the others are doing or would do before they make up their own minds. My motto for OR as far as the decision making process is concerned is - “ Be flexible with objective reality. “
HR and PR are very often mixtures of SR and OR, therefore. The practical rules relating to SR and OR are applicable to varying degrees depending on the given circumstances. Let me take an example of HR for the purpose of applying my decision making rules. Our economy is a man-made system born of the idea ( SR) of consumer choice ( freedom of choice ) translated into the law of supply and demand ( another SR ) acting on real physical resources (OR). To be more concrete, I shall apply my rules to an investment decision relating to stocks and shares. Equity stocks are ultimately represented by the net assets or net worth of the corporation in question. These are physical objects (OR). Therefore, we need to acquire sufficient knowledge or information about the true value of the assets in question. This is the basic starting point for our investment decision. Presuming that the corporation is in a healthy state and the share prices fairly reflect the asset values, we would have only passed the necessary condition but not the sufficient condition for a postive investment decision. Because other investors ( human beings ) are involved in the stock market, we must apply the rules relating to Chaos meaning the stock market is very sensitive to even slight changes in the input parameters. Having considered the human factors as well and in the absence of obvious adverse circumstances, we may proceed to make a deicision to invest in the said shares. There is, however, one more thing that the investor must keep in mind. And that is to be financially and psychologically prepared for any eventuality such as a stock market crash out of the blue and without any warning signs as predicted in the Science of Networks ( chapter (vi) on erratic investor behaviour ). The proper precaution to take is not to put all your eggs in one basket no matter how attractive and secured that basket may look to you. Similar rules would also be applicable to PR which is again mostly a mixture of SR and OR. As HR usually involves human factors, my motto relating to HR for the purpose of decision making is - “ Be human with hybrid reality “ because you must look at HR from human angles ( not necessarily your own ). As regards PR, I have already emphasized its importance and real feeling to the perceiver who will react to it from his or her own perspective. Therefore, my motto for PR is - “ Be personal about perceived reality”. It does have a very personal and sentimental value for the one perceiving it. Respect others' PR within the limits of the natural law and our own personal principles. I hope the reader is now in a position to appreciate the delicate connections and possible interactions between the various types of realities. Now, let us move on to other
descriptive aspects of the TOEL.
Natural Laws as Objective Standards
As there are different view points or perspectives to every issue, whether they be scientific or philosophical, we must find some objective criteria to gauge their validity and effectiveness. I think there are such standards readily available in nature herself. These are none other than the Laws of Nature. They are invariant and are equally applicable to each and everyone or everything in the universe without exception. Let us see how they can be applied to the TOEL. I have time and again stressed that all human behaviour and physical ( industrial, recreational,resources exploitation or engineering )
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ventures must be subject to the overriding authority of the Laws of Nature. What this means in practical terms is that we must examine our physical and moral activities to ensure that these are not in conflict with any natural law. Whenever these laws of nature are violated ( all the physical laws are, in fact, immune from violation ), there will inevitably be serious repercussions on our environment and ultimately on our own well being.
Apart from the laws of physics of which we have already learned a lot in the earlier chapters of this book, there are other very important guiding principles of nature that we should all keep in mind. These mainly concern the environment and by inference they are also applicable to our behaviour on both physical and moral levels. The practical issues of environmental protection and conservation of natural resources have been on the international ( United Nations, etc. ) agenda for more than five decades but, unfortunately, we seem to be progressively losing the fight to protect our environment. There are strong scientific and practical arguments for conservation. The most important scientific theory on the environment is James Lovelock's Gaia Theory of the earth which is treated as a holistic living organism as explained in detail in chapter (ii) on the origin of life and chapter (v) on Chaos and Complexity. The practical problems arising from ecological and environmental neglect are too well known to be ignored. We have problems with the green house gas emission ( many countries are still unwilling to sign the Kyoto Protocol to limit green house gas emission for political reasons ), acid rain, soil erosion, deforestation, depletion of the ozone layer ( leading to more cases of skin cancer and, in fact, all forms of cancer ), global warming ( leading to the melting of the polar ice caps and rising sea level threatening the immersion of island states ), adverse weather phenomena of prolonged drought and heavy rain storms ( leading to disastrous land and mud slides ), extinctions of animals and plants ( whales and seals in the ocean and tigers and elephants on land ). Such unfortunate scenarios are all of our own making out of greed and ignorance. Serious efforts both at the national and global levels must be made soon or we will have to make plans for interplanetary migration before the end of the 21st century. Therefore, we need to improve our laws to deter further damages and to encourage education for the general public to raise their awareness in protecting our precious environment which is practically
a holistic living eco-system or huge organism under the Gaia Theory of the earth. By reference to the physical laws of nature, we can infer the appropriate moral standards applicable to human behaviour at the personal and sociological levels. Many of the moral standards we have been taking as self-evident truths can, in fact, be traced back to the physical laws of nature. First, let us start with life itself. We all know that “ Life is Precious “ beyond all comparison. Therefore, we should all “ Cherish Life “. I think the reader should now have a definite scientific basis for such a claim as set out in chapter (ii) on the origin of life. You will recall that for life to come into existence by random chance the odds are 1/10 to the power of 40,000 which can be compared to finding a fully assembled 747 jumbo jet after a hurricane has swept through a junk yard ( a lively analogy given by Sir Fred Hoyle of Steady State Theory of the universe fame ) or, alternatively, it can be compared to winning the first prize of all the lotteries in the world since the beginning of human history and right up to the end of our solar system when our sun burns out in 5 billion years' time. Second, we must “ Be Compassionate “ as we have always been taught. Now, you have the scientific basis for this moral claim. Because we are all from the same humble beginning in the form of stardust and are subject to death and suffering under the rigid physical laws of nature, we sholud all be compassionate to one another. Third, we should appreciate what we have in the material as well as spiritual sense. We should “ Be Content “ with what we have because happiness is not guaranteed. Even the most unlikely thing can occur by virtue of the uncertainty principle in Quantum Theory. Therefore, we should “ Expect the Worse but Hope for the Best “. The corollary of this uncertainty is that tragedy can also strike out of the blue without particular reasons. In the unfortunate event of tragedy befalling on you, do not torture yourself in asking why because it is most probably a matter of random chance ( or bad luck in everyday jargon ) - “ Stop Asking Why “. Rather, muster enough courage to take it up as a challenge and turn the tragedy to your advantage by learning some lessons from it or gaining extra skill and knowledge in the struggle against the ordeal. Four, the first law of thermodynamics dictates that energy and mass are always conserved. Therefore, put in personal efforts in learning and working to the best of your ability. All of your toils
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and hard work will be conserved and kept in your brain as knowledge and valuable experience for life – “ No Pain, No Gain “. Five, the second law of thermodynamics proclaims that everything must deteriorate over time in a one way ticket. This increase in entropy or disorder in life is the greatest law among all the laws of physics. Therefore, accept the inevitable. This must happen regardless of your wealth and power. You may try to delay the ageing process but death comes to us all ultimately. Accept this as a fact of life and be a good sport. As my own saying goes :- “ It does not matter how you die. It only matters how you have lived. “ “Age Graciously “ and “ Be At Peace “ with yourself. Live life to the Fullest ! Six, you must “ Bear your Proper Responsibilities “ in life. This is implied by the order in the universe because everyone and everything has its proper place in life and in the physical world. Mother nature operates in ever changing processes but unchanging cycles of life and death. This is the law of causation. Cause and effect are always related in the proper sequence in the physical world consisting of classical systems ( subatomic uncertainty excluded which is not normally relevant in our daily lives ). Any attempt to evade your responsiblities will have ramifications either on yourself or the ones close to you. Someone has to pay. There is “ No Free Lunch ! “ Seven, there is “ No Absolute Truth” . It depends on your perspective and interpretation which is usually affected by the Selection Effect ( i.e. we only take notice of facts and information we want to pay attention to and normally outlook the rest – this is one of the working characteristics of the human brain – see chapter (ix) on consciousness ). There can be different equally valid standards in different frames of reference. This is the proven findings of Einstein's Special Relativity with respect to the absence of a universal standard for time. So, you should always be objective in trying to appreciate other people's views. Never insist that your version of interpretation of a given set of facts is the only absolute truth. There are “ No Universal Standards “ in judging any given issue. All these are very sound guiding principles for human behaviour which can be inferred from the laws of nature which I maintain to be the ultimate standards against which our morals can be gauged despite all the seeming uncertainty and complexity inherent in the universe.
The Minimum Standards
With the ultimate standards of the laws of nature in place, it is now possible to proceed with the setting of the moral standards for our behaviour. It is my contention that the best way to go about this is to set the minimum standards only and let the individual to elevate himself or herself to higher standards as a recommended personal preference. I hold this view because it is more realistic, practicable and in line with the principle of the sacred rights of the individual. A minimum standard is preferrable as it takes into account the weaknesses of human nature as outlined above and yet it makes our social system both workable and bearable. It is also human and does not require everyone to become a self-sacrificing saint which would be an impossible task for our present education system to achieve. Of course, it should still be our long-term goal to build an ideal society with the highest moral aspirations. This, as I see it, would be in the
far distant future if it is at all attainable. From the practical point of view, minimum standards are easier to
achieve and more economical to operate ( my training in economics has once again taken hold which merely confirms the importance of the past conditioning of our brain ) . We must bear in mind that moral standards cannot be enforced like the law. A moral code is one ( as I said in the prologue that “ renders calling the police unnecessary every time we feel aggrieved by small little things done by our neighbours “ ) that is not enforceable by law. It is part of our culture. It is just like our manners and other etiquettes that we feel we should follow as reasonable and compassionate human beings. The only consequence for failing to follow such a code of behaviour may only be an unfriendly stare or two from bystanders. That would be all. This is why we should only hope for the bare minimum. If the set standard is easily attainable and bearable by the majority in society, then everyone is more likely to adopt it and the Coercive External Effect ( as explained in the Science of
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Networks ) would be stronger. In other words, public opinion would exert a greater pressure on the members of society who violate the accepted moral code thereby forcing the bad elements in society to toe the line. No man is an island. Everyone is afraid of being isolated by other members of society if they fall out of favour with others because of their misbehaviour. Therefore, the minimum standards are vital to the successful working of a given moral code in society.
My second reason for advocating the minimum standards in setting up a moral code for society lies in the basic principle of the sacred rights of the individual. No individual should be required to do more than necessary to enable society to be run at an acceptable level of efficiency. In other words, we should not cause incovenience to the citizens to an extent not strictly necessary for the proper administration of our social structure. In the analogy of the borrowing scenario, more demand in terms of a higher set of moral code of behaviour of the individual is not justified on the ground of strict necessity. My argument should not be taken to mean that the higher virtues such as sacrifice, generosity, compassion and respect for human rights and dignity are not to be promoted. On the contrary, these should be part of our long-term goal for an ideal society. However, we should not demand that everyone must possess them to avoid isolation from main stream society. The purpose of their promotion can serve both as a transition to the ideal society as well as a safety net against further deterioration of the minimum moral standards.
In passing, I also wish to mention that a moral code for society is a safety net for our legal system. If each and every bit of our daily routines is to be codified into the legal system, every country will become a totalitarian state. All citizens will be put into a legal straight jacket. Our legal system would become both costly and draconian to say the least. By having a moral code for social behaviour, everything would run more smoothly for society as a whole. The social atmosphere, so to speak, would be more amicable for everyone.
Before leaving my arguments for a minimum standards in setting up our moral code, I would like to give you a real life example of a tragic incident which is not a crime in the legal sense but a totally disgusting and infuriating case of moral violation to an extremely despicable degree. I really regret to say that it happened in Hong Kong about 15 years ago. It concerned a traffic accident in which a private car caught fire in a less busy part of the city ( a place called Kowloon Tong ). A fire had broken out on the engine due to a major leak in its radiator resulting in the emptying of its coolant content. The driver was trapped inside the car on account of the malfunctioning of the door locks. A few pedestrians tried to stop a passing bus in an attempt to borrow a fire extinguisher which is a standard piece of safety equipment required by law to be installed on all public transports. To the disgust of the good samaritans, the driver of the bus refused to let them use the fire extinguisher to put out the fire. This unreasonable refusal to help a fellow citizen in grave danger resulted in the tragic death of the victim trapped inside the private car. The bus driver's ridiculous excuse for his refusal to save a life was that he did not want to undergo the trouble in filing a report to his bus company for utilizing the fire extinguisher on another vehicle which he felt might adversely affect his employment prospects. The bus driver was prosecuted for manslaughter in a court of law but was acquitted on the basis that he was not aware of the urgency of the situation and had no intention of causing the death of the victim. However, the judge presiding over the case specifically denounced the bus driver's behaviour as an affront to all civilized human morals and codes of decent behaviour. The judge further said that while he might not be guilty legally, he was guilty as hell morally in causing the death of the victim. This tragic example unambiguously highlighted the importance of a generally accepted moral code for society and everyone of its members. Without an effective and healthy moral code society would become a living hell ! Not every social issue or private dispute can be resolved through the legal system. It is simply impossible to legislate for compassion, generosity, good manners and a gracious personal disposition. A healthy and positive social and moral code is the right answer.
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Humanism as the Basis of TOEL
To establish a moral code for society, there must be a set of philosophical values applicable to the individual and to society which is acceptable to all. It is my view that Humanism is a good starting point. This philosophical view on human nature is based on the assumption that human beings are rational and intelligent creatures who can solve their own problems and can best pursue their own goals in life in a manner they think fit without any external interference. In the liberal tradition of John Stuart Mills and Jeremy Bentham ( the Utilitarians in economics and social theory ), when everyone is striving for their happiness in a fair and positive way society as a whole will ultimately benefit by collective prosperity. The greatest happiness for the greatest number can be achieved in a free economy with fair competition and freedom of consumer choice. This is also the earlier philosophy of Adam Smith who in 1776 published his famous book called “ An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations “ in which he first advocated the laissez faire policy of non-intervention by government in the economy. Its popuplarity is no doubt the result of its respect for the freedom of the individual. Nowadays, the classical laissez faire approach is no longer desirable having regards to the sophisticated economic environment existing in our present day society. However, the great majority of the economies in the world today are all market oriented or consumer oriented in which choices of the individual still call the shots. But there are minimal interventions from government in the form of regulations on monetary policies ( relating to money supply and interest rates ) and on fiscal or public expenditures which should be as small as possible in proportion to the gross national product for better economic efficiency. To provide safeguards against anti-social acts by selfish individuals, a just legal system is installed through a democratically elected legislature which is independent of the executive branch of government. The final bulwark as I have mentioned earlier is a sound education system to groom a physically and mentally healthy younger generation to take over the never ending process of constructing an ideal society. Last but not least is the creation of an insurance and support system in the form of a healthy, compassionate and socially- oriented moral code to guide citizen behaviour based on the sanctity of basic human rights. With all these in place, our society wil be well on the road to utopia. In my opinion, it is in the aspect of building a moral code that Liberal Humanism can make the most useful contribution because it provides both a workable and humane basis for a reasonable code
of behaviour.
Just to refresh the reader's memory, Liberal Humanism or Liberal Individualism is not concerned with selfishness at all. On the contrary, it is simply a very humanly conceptual view of people's character. Ordinary people like you and me. It has a long history dating back to the Renaissance Period of the fifteenth century when the rights of the individual were trembled upon by both the church and state. The citizens were literally enslaved at the materialistic as well as the spiritual levels as church and state colluded together in an effort to exploit the individual in the name of God and the law unilaterally imposed by the state. Their livelihood was threatened by excessively heavy taxes and they were very often coerced into giving up their meagre savings as donations to the church. During this difficult period in human history, many great intellectuals and philosophers such as Sir Thomas More of England ( canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic church in 1935 ) who was the Lord Chancellor under King Henry VIII spoke out in support of the humane treatment of the private citizens and protection of their human rights under the law. He was a man of principle and great integrity. He followed his own conscience in opposition to Henry VIII's decision to break away from the Papal rule of Rome because the church did not grant the king a divorce to marry Anne Boleyn. He was finally imprisoned and executed for refusing to recognize Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England. Sir Thomas More's most famous writing in the great tradition of the humanist scholars was included in his book the Latin Utopia (1516). Humanism emphasizes the value and basic rights of the individual. With regard to human nature, it proceeds with the assumption that men are basically rational creatures who can use their intelligence to solve their own problems without external intervention ( especially not from the state ). If all citizens follow their own rational mind to achieve their personal happiness
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society as a whole will prosper and will hopefully become an ideal world in time. Humanism gives due consideration to human nature and its inherent weaknesses. To err is human and to forgive is divine. This the the basis for compassion and understanding. As I treasure my own rights as an individual so I should also respect the rights of others. To acquire such a socially friendly attitude requires a sound education, especially what I call sensitivity education that encourages taking an objective view over and above our own personal interest ( i.e. to look at things from other people's point of view ). That is the need to put things in their proper perspective and to be able to communicate with others to exchange personal views. This involves social skills and interpersonal relationships both of which are under tremendous threat from the convenience of computer technology. Our younger generation as well as ourselves are getting more used to communicating with other people through our personal computers than talking directly with them in person. This is a worrying trend on our road to setting up a moral code for society based on human feelings and values. We are simply getting less personal but more machine-oriented.
To recapitulate the essence of Liberal Humanism or Liberal Individualism, I would categorically say that a liberal humanist is rational ( in utlizing his intelligence ), reasonable ( in practising his rights ), sensitive ( to other people's feelings, needs and rights ), responsible ( in carrying out his obligations ), compassionate ( in his treatment of all life ), objective ( in his views ), educated ( in all necessary aspects of being a good citizen and human being ) and respectful ( of human values and interpersonal relationships ). With such qualities instilled in our character it is just a matter of fine tuning to set and to practise a socially viable moral code to guide our behaviour in society.
The Required Moral Standards
Bearing in mind the basic requirement for a minimum standard, let us go into the general principles of our proposed moral code of conduct in society. Since we are inclined to allow the maximum tolerable freedom to the individual in the exercise of his civil liberties it makes sense to set out our general principles with the negative word – NOT as a starting point. We only spell out the things that cannot be done so that anything
outside the prohibited list would be allowed. Using the above approach, I would propose the following general
principles for our moral code :-
1. Not to do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you. 2. Not to use violence in settling any disputes. 3. Not to do anything to harm the environment. 4. Not to evade your responsibilities.
5. Not to be dishonest or less than honest. 6. Not to discriminate against people on any grounds. 7. Not to be unkind or disrespectful to anyone. 8. Not to be insensitive to people's feelings. 9. Not to be greedy or covet other people's property. 10.Not to take other people's favours for granted. 11.Not to take advantage of people in any way. 12.Not to demand anything you are not entitled to. 13.Not to find excuses to justify your mistakes. 14.Not to be impatient with people. 15.Not to be over your head in times of success. 16.Not to abuse your privileges or use your position and power to bully anyone. 17.Not to ignore other people's sufferings or misfortunes. 18.Not to ignore other people's call for help.
You will notice that some of the above principles or guidelines seem to relate to mundane issues but, in fact, they do apply to our daily activities where the moral
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code rather than the laws is more appropriate. Other more serious issues will come into the realm of the statute or common laws. This is precisely the point in having a generally accepted moral code and social etiquette ( which relates to even more mundane matters in our social interactions such as dress codes for social functions ) that serve the purpose of guidance for our miscellaneous daily activities. I must once again stress the chaotic nature of human behaviour which can turn mundane issues into matters of life and death. A comical example of such an astonishing development can be seen in a minor war that flared up between two Central American nations on account of a World Cup soccer match about 8 years back. The losing side waged a bombing run on the winner to avenge their so-called unfair loss in the match due to bad refereeing. So, we must not overlook the importance of setting up a healthy moral code. From the above guidelines, some derived moral standards can be adduced to guide our behaviour at the personal, family and social levels. At the personal level, rule (1) is always applicable. It is an all embracing guideline or the golden rule of good human behaviour. (2) is only useful in interpersonal acitivities. (3) should be developed into a good habit of environmental protection such as abstaining from using plastic bags,etc. (4) should include responsiblities towards yourself like taking care of your own health ( e.g. no smoking and drugs abuse or alcoholism ). (5) also applies to dishonesty with yourself regarding your mistakes and failure in attaining your own goals. (6) is again for interpersonal relationships. (7) also means that you should respect yourself as far as your own integrity and moral behaviour are concerned. To respect oneself is the starting point for respecting other people and the law. (8) will require you to be sensitive to your own needs and feelings as you do for others. (9) to (12) refers to social interactions. (13) provides that you face your mistakes and to make amends or learn the lesson from it. (14) to (16) are only applicable to social intercourse. (15) and (16) equally apply to oneself insofar as one should not ignore one's own signals for help in terms of physical and mental health and other personal or emotional problems.
At the family level which involves close or even intimate personal interactions, the moral code and guidelines are equally important. (1) is the universal golden rule applicable at any level while (2) is also some sort of golden rule for the family environment where disputes of different kinds very often occur. Discuss your differences calmly and make use of the wisdom of senior members of the family to mediate. Remember the Weak Link concept of the Science of Network where objective opinions of outside parties such as friends of the family can provide better and more useful help. In more serious situations, professional counseling should be seriously considered. (3) must be enforced at the family level as a lot can be done within the domestic setting to protect the environment by water and energy saving practices. (4) is vital to good family relationships especially between husband and wife. In fact, all family members both young and old should take up their share of the responsibility in house keeping and financial or mental support for other family members to ensure they all live together as one big happy family. A healthy family unit will ultimately translate into a healthy society with high moral standards. (5) refers to honesty which is always the best policy especially in a marriage relationship. (6) will be useful in a family with members of different religions. Tolerance is the key to a harmonious co-existence. Better communication between all parties concerned will definitely help to achieve a deeper understanding of different religious beliefs. (7) and (8) demands respect and sensitivity to be exercised between all family members while (9) regarding greed is not usually a big issue within the same family. (10) requires members of the family not to take everything for granted as if it were their God given right to enjoy the family resources. This is a particularly important guideline for younger members. They should appreciate their parents' hard work to provide for their needs. The least the younger members can do is to show their appreciation by helping out around the house and say thank you whenever appropriate. The best way for the younger members to repay their parents is to do well in their studies which is their main area of responsibility. (11) and (12) provide that all family members should not take advantage of others by virtue of their special circumstances ( like being the most beloved child, etc. ) or should they demand anything they are not entitled to such as a teenage son asking for a new car when he has not yet earned his own living. (13) is more difficult to follow than at the personal level because to admit one's mistake to other family members takes some courage but sometimes the parent should exercise some discretion by allowing a private
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confession out of the audience of other members to make it easier for the wrongdoer to face his or her mistake. (14) encourages the virtue of patience for family members when dealing with one another. This will certainly help to build one big happy family. (15) teaches humlity and keeping a low profile to avoid the tall poppy syndrome which may prove to be fatal in the working environment or the office when younger members start their working career. Within the family unit it can also arouse jealousy. (16) applies equally to those in authority as well as the younger members who can also play on their parents soft spot in spoiling them. (17) and (18) can be done easily within the family if more care and attention are exercised mutually among the members.
At the social level, (1) is again the universal golden rule. (2) is the safety rule in social behaviour. If disputes cannot be settled amicably through discussion, you must keep cool and calm to call for the assistance of law officers whenever necessary. You should take this course of action even if you have the slightest doubt that you may not be able to carry on the negotiations in a peaceful and orderly fashion. (3) can be done at the social level if a culture of environmental awareness is cultivated. In fact, it is most crucial that society as a whole can carry on this task which is vital for the continuing survival of the whole human race and all living organisms which include mother earth. (4) concerns responsibilities. Here, it refers to social, legal and moral responsibilities along the line set out above. (5) stresses once again that honesty is the best policy any time and any where. Honesty will surely win you friends and admiration of your colleagues and superiors. Such amicable interpersonal relationships will take you a long way up your career ladder. (6) is a very important code of conduct for a civilized society. We must follow this guideline closely or risk alienation among different sectors of the community. In fact, serious acts of discrimination is punishable by law. Here, we are referring to your attitude in cultural and religious tolerance. (7) is closely related to (6). Respect and being kind to other people call for more than your good manners. It also demands acceptance of differences in taste, thoughts and opinions. (8) is the most important of all the guidelines for social intercourse and interpersonal relationships because being sensitive is the basic condition for carrying out all other guidelines. It requires a genuine connection with and understanding of other people. It is the most vital aspect of our education as we all interaction in our social activities. (9) demands that you should not be motivated by greed in your dealings with other people in the social setting. If you are susceptible to greed you must be extra careful in society because many criminal elements make use of your greed to incriminate or to tempt you into criminal activities. You may also be a victim to crimes such as fraud which mainly operates on this human weakness. Working contrary to guideline (10) will surely land you in hot water in the social environment. If you take things for granted in the family, you may be forgiven but in society you are bound to lose friends and fall out of favour with colleagues and your superiors. Nobody likes people who take things and other people's favour for granted. When you have been done a favour by other people, you must first show your appreciation and return that favour as soon as possible. Once you are indebted to other people, you may regret it when the accumulated favours ultimately lead to the asking of a return favour by your benefactors which you may find difficult to perform but likewise difficult to refuse because you owe them so much. If you disregard guideline (11) to take advantage of people, you will definitely be branded a rascal. The damage to your reputation and integrity may cause you your career or you may risk isolation from main stream society. (12) dictates that you should not make unreasonable demand which will get you nowhere in society. Within the family, you may be able to succeed in working at your parents' soft spots. But it is surely a no go in society. In a society in which only the results count, you cannot work in contrary to (13). Finding excuses for your mistakes will only get you more reprimand than if you admit them.
Patience in listening to people and in doing things will take you a long way in society. Therefore, you must heed the advice of (14). At the same time, you should also avoid the tall poppy syndrome by keeping a low profile according to (15). There is a saying in Chinese which goes like this :- “ The larger the tree the more it will catch the wind. “ You will be a public target if you violate (15). All bullies are hated universally. If you abuse your power contrary to the bidding of (16), you will lose support of your friends and colleagues and the loyalty of your subordinates. More serious cases of bullying can land you in a court of law. Here, we are concerned with a bullying and abusive attitude towards others. A
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person who follow the advice of (17) and (18) will most likely be known as Mr. Nice Guy in social circles. It will also be an asset to you in your career because you will without a doubt make a lot of friends and win supporters due to your caring attitude.
After deriving the practical guidelines for our moral code, we can now proceed to another very important aspect of TOEL which is the question of perspectives. This issue has been written between the lines throughout this book because it is a defining quality of our ability to function as sensitive and reasonable human beings.
The reader will learn the reason for my contention in the following section.
A Question of Perspectives in TOEL
There is no absolute truth only facts viewed from different perspectives. This calls to mind the telling fable of the four blind men expressing their views on an elephant they have never seen before they lost their vision. The one who touches the elephant's trunk says the elephant is like a garden hose. The other who feels the elephant's leg describes it as in the shape of a tree. Still another who is in contact with the elephant's tail calls it a rope. The fourth blind man who grabs the elephant's ear cries out loud to say that it is like a fan. All of them are partially correct but none is totally right about the appearance of the elephant. As for men with proper vision, they can always laugh their heads off because they can have a full view of the whole elephant. But if they were to be restricted to a stationary position within a distance of, say one foot from the huge beast how would the elephant look to them then ? Of course, at such a close distance, they could only have a partial view of the animal and could never make out the complete profile of the beast now. It is all a matter of perspective.
Going back to the olden days, men maintained that the earth was the centre of the universe because they saw the sun rising in the east and setting in the west everyday. From their perspective, they had concluded that our earth should be the centre of the universe. Only if our ancestors had deep space probes like ours to take a wider perspective of the solar system from deep space, then they could have got the real situation and realized our physical insignificance. May be then, there would have been fewer wars fought on this earth in an attempt to dominate this minute dot of a blue marble floating in an immense and dark sea of over 70 billion trillion stars like our sun in this unimaginably vast space known as the visible part of the universe. Only if we can put things in their proper perspectives and everything would be fine and peaceful for everyone. In the words of E.M. Forster again :- “ Only connect........” and you will see the world in a different light. I would boldly add the following appendix or extension - Only Connect and you will be human and have better foresight. To me, foresight ( looking forward – in time ) is another way of looking at things from a wider perspective by moving a few steps back at a farther distance ( in space ) to acquire a fuller picture of a given situation. According to Einstein's Special Relativity, space-time is one continuum or a continuous entity. Looking back far into space in astronomy is equivalent to looking back in time. Therefore, a telescope is, in a way, a kind of time machine capable of retrieving information from back in time, the past. Knowing the past better will help in predicting our future more accurately and hence better foresight.
Furthermore, a higher dimensional perspective is also a wider and more comprehensive one. Take our maps for example. It is, in fact, a higher aerial view taken over the landscape and a wider perspective of the geographical region under surveilance. It is also a rule of physics that a conscious being at a higher dimensional level of existence will always have a better grasp of the reality than one existing at a lower spatial dimension. No one can argue with the fact that one sees further when standing on a mountain top than on level ground. This is the same with levels of our knowledge. Once you have attained a higher level of understanding, the simpler ideas will become clear as day. You can even easily correlate ( as I have learned in this present intellectual journey ) all the different seemingly unrelated pieces of the big puzzle ( that is the universe ) that you have previously found to be strange and incomprehensible to you. In a scientific novel
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full of satire called Flatland written by Edwin Abbott Abbott in 1884, this English headmaster and a Shakespearean scholar told a story of a two dimensional world inhabited by lines, triangles and squares of Euclidean ( plane ) geometry. These two dimensional inhabitants could not visualize what it was like to live in a three dimensional world which they had heard about. Then, in came the Sphere which is a three dimensional creature. This hero in the story taught the flatlanders a completely new perspective of what the world could be like in a higher dimension. The book had a very acute social angle that made fun of the rigid Victorian English morality. For example, it portraited the female members of Flatland society as thin lines which were even more inferior to the slimmest of triangles ( accusing society of sex discrimination ) and it depicted the Priesthood ( the clergy ) as a fat circle implying their cravings for wealth in the form of donations from believers. The most important scientific aspect of the book was its allusion to extra dimensions. Such an idea was most revolutionary having regards to the fact that the book preceded H.G. Wells', The Time Machine ( dealing with the extra dimension of time ) by a whole decade. Whatever effect the Flatland had on scientific thoughts it remained a fact that the book had inspired many subsequent sequels in term of its subject matter. The latest creation was “ Flatterland – like Flatland, only more so” written by mathematical physicist, Ian Stewart in 2001 which deals with the possibilities of successively higher dimensions in our universe up to the tenth dimension. Despite all these latest developments, the principle that any beings or consciousness existing at a higher dimension can understand better and command a fuller view all of the lower dimensions but not vice versa always applies. The latest theory on the reality that we experience in our daily lives suggests that we are mere projections or images projected from a deeper or higher level of existence. Just like the shadows cast on the wall by our hands and fingers in the ever so familiar finger shadow game, we can create queer shapes of different animals without revealing the true appearance of our hands and fingers in the normal three dimensional format. The same could be true that our existing three dimensional appearance is a mere shadow projected from a deeper or higher level of existence. This is the speculation of the Holographic Model of the universe.
So, what is the relevance of perspectives with respect to TOEL ? Well, it is this. To be able to apply our theory effectively and with flexibility, we need to exercise a versatile control over our perspectives and to constantly change the scope and depth of our view points to suit the problem at hand for the purpose of proper decision making. This is a very important requirement of a universally applicable theory to cater for all the complicated human needs. Otherwise, our theory cannot be called the TOEL. The best way to visualize this is to imagine that we are equipped with a powerful telescope with a wide field of vision that will enable us to command an overall perspective ( wide-angled view ) as well as a zooming ( close-up ) function to make close-up observations possible with regard to any problem or issue as and when necessary. This is the ideal situation. In my opinion, the way to achieve this almost magical capability is to acquire a well founded background general knowledge on all the vital branches of knowledge ( such as (1) general science – including astronomy, (2) economics, (3) law, (4) sociology, (5) politics, (6) psychology, (7) philosophy – including ethics and religion, (8) basic mathematics – including logic, (9) history - especially about your own country and ethnic origin (10) current affairs, (11) information technology and (12) liberal arts subjects such as music, art and literature ) relating to the different types of realities - SR, HR, OR and PR ( SHOP - as an acronym ). This is the wide-angle view. Then, as a specific problem arises, a more in depth view will be called for. This is similar to the modern health practice of having a general practitioner (GP) who knows a lot about the overall picture of our body functions and its disorders as a family doctor. Then, as the GP thinks fit, we will be referred to a specialist in the event of a particular malfunction arising. Only in our case of the TOEL , we are both the GP and specialist medical practitioners. To be a specialist, we must have the ability to zoom in and take a closer look at the problem to find a solution. The only difference in the case of the TOEL is for us to become a specialist or expert not in a particular branch of medicine but in the skill of spotting and identifying the right problem for referral to the proper branch of specialized professionals for the ultimate solution. With the lightning progress in all branches of science and technology, it is simply impossible for us to master the huge amount of information and knowledge in every branch of science and
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the arts. Therefore, it is my contention that we should be expert in the art of spotting and classifying problems to be solved by the right kind of specialists. This is what I call Cross Disciplinary Sensitivity (CDS) ( just one kind of the many types of sensitivities I shall present to the reader in a separate section below ), a vital skill that a modern citizen must possess. This particular kind of skill has to be built on the foundation of a solid background education on update general knowledge. I hope that by now the reader should have a feel of the importance of assuming a proper perspective in all kinds of daily situations we encounter.
The Universal Principles in Human Affairs
Just as we have to maintain different perspectives for viewing different problems and issues, so we must be able to derive and apply certain universal principles useful in the mastering of human affairs. These principles are set out below for our better understanding. Some of these are purely common sense. Others are more subtle and require closer examination and explanation. To be able to handle human affairs smoothly, we need the following attributes as far as our personality is concerned. These qualities include (1) patience, (2) tolerance, (3) compassion, (4) generosity, (5) self-confidence, (6) good manners, (7) sense of humour, (8) sense of justice, (9) being sociable, (10) being respectful, (11) being considerate, (12) being knowledgeable and (13) having a magnanimous heart. The most important of all is (14) Sensitivity with a capital S that warrants a detailed discussion below. I am not suggesting that everyone needs to be a saint to interact with other people because possessing all the above attributes is tantamount to being a saintly figure. I for one am not able to achieve all the above virtues. However, the more of the above attributes you can command the better you will be equipped to face the world and the people in it.
Most of the above named qualities are self explanatory. Here, I simply want to connect the reader to my basic philosophical view that all evils start with the two cardinal sins ( by my own classification ) of ignorance and greed. The last mentioned vice has been excluded from our recommended behaviour by our moral code in item 9 in the NOT TO list under the section of The Required Moral Standards. Ignorance is not a behavioural trait but it is, nevertheless, a very serious character flaw which is to be avoided at all costs. In fact, it is not that difficult to be done away with as long as we have the guts and intellectual tenacity to face the problem. We must make it a habit especially among members of our younger generation to be intellectually inquisitive. Over time, we will definitely become reasonably knowledgeable in all the important disciplines necessary for handling human affairs including our own personal issues. Now, let us explore the issue of Sensitivity in greater detail.
I have always advocated for the introduction of sensitivity education into the school curriculum at both the elementary and intermediate school levels to instil the good habit of being sensitive to other people's needs and feelings in young students. Once the young and tender minds of our teenagers have been conditioned by the impersonal values of our computer age which involves more inter-machine than interpersonal relationships, it would be too late to reverse this undesirable trend. The adverse effects of computer technology is further reinforced by the even more impersonal and purely effeciency oriented commercial cultures of the materialistic market economy which grossly debase human values. This, in my opinion, is the greatest of all potential dangers and an insurmountable difficulty along our path to the establishment of the ideal society. As far as the issue of sensitivity is concerned it can be analyzed at different levels. There are, in fact, many types of sensitivities. The more important ones which have a direct bearing on the TOEL are :- (1) self-sensitivity (SS), (2) cultural sensitivity (CS), (3) physical sensitivity (PhS), (4) problem sensitivity (PrS), (5) cross disciplinary sensitivity (CDS), (6) interpersonal sensitivity ( IPS), (7) financial sensitivity (FS), (8) emotional sensitivity (ES), (9) receptive sensitivity (RS) and (10) intuitive sensitivity (IS). Before we go into a detail discussion of each, I have to remind the reader that sensitivity deals with values.
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Therefore, it may not be strictly quantifiable. In other words, it is not a natural science subject and is bound to involve value judgments. It is not a purely philosophical subject either because it has practical applications in our daily lives. I tend to classify it as a social science subject with a personal touch. Its meaning and significance varies from one person to the next. Thus, there are no hard and fast rules to follow. Everyone has to develop their own skills and standards based on one's own value judgment ( again subject to the overriding authority of the laws of nature and all just human laws ) and one's own past cultural and materialistic conditioning of one's mind through life long reinforcement. Notwithstanding all the inexactness and subjectivity relating to the this subject, sensitivity remains, in my opinion, the single most useful universally applicable principle and practical tool for all human affairs and other impersonal or physical problems.
SS is an alertness towards one's own physical and mental conditions. It also forms an important basis for the building of one's self-confidence. There is a very famous saying by the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu who is the master of military tactics and manoeuvres which is equally applicable to human affairs. It goes like this :- “ Know yourself and your enemies and you will be invincible.” Knowledge of others must start with a knowledge of oneself. That is the initial step in undestanding human nature. This is the same quality that I have elaborated earlier in chapter (x) – What I Believe - Of Youth and Youngsters – about self-confidence and knowing one's place in this world and in all situations.
CS is a necessary condition for social tolerance. The term cultural shock is applied to the embarrasing state of people's mind who are ignorant about a new culture into which they have been introduced. Learning about the main stream culture and communicating and interacting with people in main stream society is the key to CS. Isolating oneself is the worse enemy of CS.
PhS involves general knowledge of the physical world or reality (OR). Understanding how physical things and phenomena work will take you a long way on the road to successful handling of human affairs and, in fact, all matters. It also include taking care of your own health which is one of the primary goals in life.
PrS is the skill to sense and identify problems and potential problems. Being mentally and intellectually alert at all times and the willingness to rely on your intuition and experience are the vital keys to applying PrS. To achieve a skilful PrS requires a solid background of extensive update general knowledge. It is also closely related to CDSas explained below.
CDS is the ability to relate problems and issues to the different branches of knowledge and disciplines which are relevant to the problem or issue at hand. To make this happen, one must possess basic and essential knowledge on all the important disciplines ( 12 items in total ) set out in the subjects specified for the acquisition of general knowledge under the section of A Question of Perspectives in TOEL. Such knowledge have to be used in conjunction with the techniques set out under PrS above to produce maximum effect.
IPS is the most important skill in social and personal relationships. It is, in fact, the combined skill of other forms of sensitivities such as SS, CS, ES, RS and IS. One must be able to appreciate the characteristics of all these types of sensibilities before good IPS can be achieved.
FS is based on some knowledge of the essential working principles of economics and preferrably accounting as well. Financial prudence is the key word. Neither should one be a miser like Scrooge.This skill can both be applied to managing one's own financial affairs as well as other money matters concerning oneself and other people. It also calls for a proper sense of value for money and an awareness of other people's financial position. For example, not everyone is as well off as or worse off than yourself so that you should follow the majority suggestions or decisions in case of collective spendings.
ES is a delicate issue. It involves one's EQ ( emotional quotient ) or the stability of one's emotional control which is obviously a very personal and complicated issue. Suffice it to say that we desparately need this skill to maintain a good interpersonal relationship with others. ES is particularly important for people involved in a loving relationship ( e.g. the problem with jealousy ). Under normal social interactions, other
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types of emotions such as anger and pride may become important issues. The absolutely vital consideration as far as human emotions are concerned is the lesson we can learn from the Theory of Chaos and Complexity. The human brain is a highly chaotic system that is so very hard to predict. Therefore, the fool proof policy to adopt in interpersonal relationships is NOT to start anything or initiate any action that will inevitably leads to always unpredictable reactions unless it is absolutely necessary. Even when you must start the ball rolling, the catch phrase is to proceed with extreme caution every time.
RS refers to the ability to pick up or receive signals including warning signs from other people and from your environment. It is all a matter of training and mastering the relevant knowledge. Experience and, sometimes, intuition can be a great help. Alertness and good observational skill are the keys to acquiring a skilful RS.
IS is purely based on intuition which may mean different things to different people. The latest research has indicated that the power of intuition is derived from our subconscious mind which possesses unknown but surely huge problem solving potentials. It has also been found that intuition is highly correlated with past learning and the accumulation of knowledge. One thing is so far certain. Our brain is grossly under-utilized. So, young people, please make better use of your mental as well as intellectual faculties. The surprising thing to me is that I have discovered in my present intellectual journey that the famous English writer, Jane Austen's ( who, incidentally was also E. M. Forster – my personal idol's heroine ) book, Sense and Sensibility ( the ability to be affected by feelings ) has actually formed the basis of my tentative TOEL. A logical step up the ladder from Sensibility is Sensitivity ( the ability to be sensitive or responsive to other people's feelings when used in the human context ) which cannot be achieved without the basis of Sensiblity ( the ability to be affected by feelings ). Having identified the universal principles in human affairs, our next step is to attempt to set up some guidelines for establishing our goals in life which is another main theme of this book.
Setting the Goals in Life
Goals in life are all a matter of value judgment. A meaningful goal for me may mean nothing at all to you. It is purely a question of taste, affinity and ability. To build a colourful society both materialistically and intellectually, it takes all kinds of talents and ideas. To this end, members of society should be encouraged to set up their own goals according to their own tastes and capabilities ( always being subject to the overriding authority of the natural laws and all just human laws ). Based on the socially and personally friendly philosophy of Liberal Humanism which emphasizes human values, interpersonal relationships and the sanctity of the individual's inborn rights all of which are supported by a democratically elected government administering a fair judiciary system and having a healthy education program, all the ingredients for an ideal society with a humane moral code will be in place. Therefore, it can be easily seen that the noble objective of a utopian society starts with the individual's goal in life. Confucius , the great teacher in ancient China set out the following guidelines and steps for establishing the ideal society :- “ Build your personal morals before you proceed to putting your house in order and then you can run the nation properly which will ultimately lead to the pacification of the whole world. “ This was Confucius' recommended course of action to build a utopian society which makes a lot of sense. Some people argue that it is petty to care about small issues in human behaviour such as personal style and manners in social interactions. They contend that it is only important for us to do the big things right. The minor issues can be safely and economically ignored. But I can bet you on my life that an individual who does not have self discipline ( which involve self-denial and the ability to override the weaknesses of human nature ) will not be able to succeed in achieving higher noble goals such as personal sacrifice and acts of great generosity when the time comes to call for such noble acts. Can you imagine a person without any intensive athletic training breaking the hundred metre dash record ? Or, a moral weakling such as an addicted gambler being steadfast enough to stand up against the temptation of the slot machine in a casino ?
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Quite impossible ! So, please do not cheat yourself ( which is another common human weakness to find excuses to justify one's wrong actions ) by imagining that you can rise to any occasion without being prepared for it. No pain, no gain – remember ? Let us be realistic and start with the small things which we find easy to do and develop a habit or mental conditioning that will prepare us for the tougher tasks ahead. This is the right way to go about building a stronger character especially for our younger generation.
Some people need a role model to be their target in life. Others rely on their own world views to determine their goals in life. We have already gone through some of the important views on the origin of the universe and the origin of life itself ( chapters (i) and (ii) ). On top of these, other philosophical and theological issues about God, the world ( the physical reality ) and human consciousness have been subject to some degree of examination in chapter (viii) ( on the reality ), chapter (ix) ( on consciousness ) and chapter (x) ( on what I believe – Of love and living, Of death and destruction, Of destiny and destination and Of God and ghosts ). I have also pointed out the fact that even some intelligent minds such as Nobel Prize laureates hold the view that the universe seems to have no purpose at all. However, the strong implications of Quantum Theory do undeniably point to the significance of the human choice or consciousness in the unfolding of reality. This proven scientific notion gives strong support to the possibility of human beings controlling their own future or even mind over matter in special cases. These are very clear indications of the importance of having a goal in life regardless of your religious belief. Therefore, I can safely maintain that the case for setting a goal in one's life being necessary and meaningful has been established beyond reasonable doubt.
Now, let me boldly suggest some probable steps in finding and setting up a goal in life for everyone. Take my personal case as an example. I have started off my own planning for a goal in life on the general premises of making this world a better place to live in when I leave it than when I have found it at my birth. I have chosen this general premise as my starting point because I did not originate from the privileged class and had seen injustice and experienced hardship on the personal, family and social levels. I would consider myself to be mature beyond my age as a teenager and always have a realistic outlook on life – that it is not a rose garden unless you are willing to work hard for it and make full use of every opportunity when it presents itself to you. Based on my own methodology as I have recommended it to the youngsters ( in chapter (x) – What I believe – Of Youth and Youngsters ), it is advisable to set some short term goals supplemented by medium term ones all coordinated into your paramount long term goal in life. Applying this method to my own life long goal of making a better world, I have set and achieved, with a bit of luck ( which everyone needs and in accordance with my own personally improvised additional or extra condition of mathematical logic on top of the generally accepted necessary and sufficient conditions – the Final Condition or Favourable Quantum Disposition as I call it in chapter (iii) – Quantum Theory - ( C ) The Eccentric Ideas ) some short and medium term goals of fulfilling my personal and family responsibilities by having a reasonably satisfactory career and generally happy family. Then, I am not ashamed to say that I have done it “ my way “ insofar as I have tried to help all my friends in need within my abilities as and when I see fit. Since my school days, I have always been interested in social issues and current affairs. I used to organize public forums on social issues such as fare increases in public transports ( readers from Hong Kong may recall the incident of the famous 1966 Hong Kong Star Ferry riots triggered by a 5 cents fare hike that led to some civil disturbance involving radical youth groups and the subsequent awareness by the colonial government on youth affairs ). I was also proud to have been a part of the efforts in the successful social campaign of making Chinese an official language accepted by Hong Kong colonial government during 1969 with the relevant legislations being enacted during the 1970s. I had also taken part in political demonstrations in 1971 ( in Victoria Park in Hong Kong which is the equivalent of Hyde Park in London ) that led to violent confrontations between the Hong Kong police and some radical student leaders ( some of whom were arrested and imprisoned ) when Japan first attempted to claim sovereignty over the Chinese Diaoyutai group of islands off Taiwan. At that time, I had already been appointed as an executive officer of the Hong Kong colonial government so that my family was very worried about my political stance. I
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also led my family in the mass demonstration involving over one million Hong Kong citizens after the Tianman Massacre of 4th, June, 1989. As the People's Republic of China became more open to the outside world, we started our own education project for young people with some of my close friends in Guandong Province as previously mentioned. Currently, I am involved in some voluntary community acitivities relating to the aged of whom I am fast becoming a part. These are the daily little goals that we can easily achieve. As the immense Pacific Ocean is made up of small droplets of water and the extensive Sahara Desert minute grains of sand, so a good and wonderful life is also made up of small memorable and meaningful moments and episodes. Little things can mean a lot. Therefore, it is my view that small good deeds which everyone can manage to perform are the solid basis for building a meaningful life and a better world. Who needs great heroes when everyone is a hero or heroine in his or her own little ways. It is only in a big, bad world that we must rely on great heroes and heroines to save us and bring us salvation. My earnest wish is to let everyone be a hero or heorine by fufilling their goals in life and steadfastly holding on to their individual responsibilities. We do not need great people only great numbers of ordinary but responsible ( both at the behavioural and moral levels ) people to make the world a better place. Not everyone can be great but anyone can be good in our own little ways to make this world a better place to live in. That is my realistic assessment of the moral path for the ideal society and, hence, my notion of finding a TOEL to act as a manual for guiding acceptable human behaviour.
Coming back to the suggested steps for finding and setting a goal in life, I have proposed the above first step of starting off on a general premise such as making this world a better place in our own way. There can possibly be other equally workable premises such as :- promotion and protection of human rights and justice, promoting environmental protection and awareness, education of youth and working for the welfare for the aged. Then there are other issues closer to home such as providing for your family and a good education for your children, etc. There are even more private matters such as taking care of one's own health and developing one's own talents or even more personal goals in life such as global travelling and seeing the world. Regardless of the extent and coverage of your goals in life, there are a few rules and principles that must not be violated and which have, in fact, already been included in our Minimum Standard Moral Code of the Not To list. First and foremost, all goals must not conflict with the minimum moral standards and must be subject to the overriding authority of the natural laws and all just man-made laws. Secondly, the ends of the goals themselves can never justify the means of achieving them. The means such as all our behaviour must meet the minimum moral standards. The reader is reminded that the misguided argument of justifying the means by the end is the major reason for the down fall of Socialism and Communism. Thirdly, you must remember that not all goals are mutually exclusive. A number of goals can be pursued in parallel or at different times of your life. This is an extremely important point. I have more often than not come across cases among my friends and their friends who spent their whole life pursuing nothing but their career only to be unfortunately struck down with sickness and ill health upon their retirement to make enjoyment of their retirement years quite impossible. Then there are others who are so used to hard work in their lives that they cannot slow down to enjoy the quiet pace of retired living. Their brains are just not conditioned for enjoyment and it would be too late to recondition their mental faculties. That is why everything must be put in their proper perspective and a telescopic capabilities of changing such perspectives as and when necessary is of such vital significance in our life and our TOEL as explained in the section on A Question of Perspectives in TOEL. Fourthly, my personal advice is to set your goals in successively higher order so that some are always a bit out of your present reach and capabilities so that you can always have the motivation of becoming better in your life – make yourself a never ending task, so to speak. The reader should recall that a realized issue can no longer provide any motivation for the person considering the issue. With all the emphasis on the declared magical powers of our tentative TOEL, the theory itself means nothing to the individual if one has no set goals in life. This is tantamount to saying that a powerfully accurate seafaring chart ( our TOEL ) is useless to the seafarer who does not have a destination ( our goal in life ).
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Current World Issues and TOEL
Most problems are the result of men's ignorance and greed. Problems on a global scale are no exception. I consider the following world issues to be of the greatest urgency. The top priority is environmental protection followed by problems related to globalization. Then the next on the list is terrorism and extremism and the last but not the least issue I would like to discuss in brief is the internet related problem and the repercussions of the information explosion on privacy and human values. All these and other problems can be solved if they are put in their proper perspectives and the modern citizen of the global village is competently trained to recognize and to deal with these problems accordingly. Furthermore, all problems can be analyzed and resolved if the right tools are applied. TOEL is one of such tools. Let us see how TOEL can work in the following examples.
Environmental Protection
With regard to environmental protection, I feel that it is the top priority because at present we are all walking down the path of self-destruction at a progressively increasing and alarming rate. In the prologue, I mentioned my own weakness in mathematics. Now I have come to understand that knowledge in this discipline is indispensable in life. As regards the environment, the damages we have already done to date are growing according to an exponential function just like the over-population problem. As the famous physicist, Albert A. Bartlett wrote ;- “ The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function. “ There was this legend about the inventor of the game of chess in ancient times who pleased the king so much with her interesting and challenging game that she was granted a wish for anything by his majesty. She only asked for two grains of wheat to be placed on the first square of the chess board and that the number be doubled progressively on each and everyone of all the remaining 63 squares. The king was tricked into granting this apparently insignificant wish. It turned out that 2 to the power of 63 represented more than all the wheat produced by human beings in the entire history of the world. The reader may recall that the total number of atoms in the whole universe is 10 to the power of 78. Applying the exponential amplification to environmental problems such as waste matters produced by a exponentially increasing population, it can easily be seen that there is no such thing as sustainable growth or sustainable exploitation of resources. There is a very interesting analogy between our brain and population growth. According to his book, The Mind, Anthony Smith noticed that the human brain has 15 billion nerve cells which is about three times the total world population. The brain cells also multiply by exponential amplification. It takes only 33 doubling of the first nerve cell to reach 15 billion. To attain half that number, it takes 32. The lesson to be learned here is that all the previous doublings up to 32 seem insignificant. The problem of over-population and man-made waste is the same. When the problem really appears to be overwhelming such as when the world is half-full of people, it only takes one more doubling which will only require the same time cycle as each and everyone of the previous doubling up to the half-way mark ( much more quickly than you can imagine ) in terms of physical capacity to make a full house on our planet. Our minds work on a linear scale. Thus, we treat 33 as only 1 additional number from 32. We cannot visualize the exponential effect until we actually see the imminent result of the second last doubling which would be too late. Therefore, I consider environmental problems which very often work on exponential amplification as the most urgent of all human problems.
The second reason why I have, apart from mathematics, ranked environmental protection as the biggest of all human problems is the fact that it does not
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kill us immediately but will definitely do so in time and not in the too far distant future at the present rate of destruction. Damaging our precious environment is like taking slow poison. You would not feel the pain until it is too late. As the accumulated effect reaches the critical limit ( in the same sense as that used in the Theory of Chaos and Complexity ), one extra push no matter how insignificant it may seem will spell instant destruction of our Big Blue Marble and all living things in it. The worse part of it all is the frightening prospect that we might all perish out of ignorance and in the comfortably dead calm before the storm. In our ignorance and complacency, we have acquired very bad habits of carrying on ecologically unfriendly practices that cannot be easily changed ( such as the excessive and indiscriminate use of plastic bags ) due to the adverse conditioning of our brain. As such, we will inevitably pass on our bad habits to succeeding generations thus hastening the deterioration of the environment. We must wake up before it is too late. It is now the eleventh hour already. Let us all heed nature's warning signs such as abnornmal weather conditions and disastrous meteological phenomenon like the El Nino Efffects to muster a global effort in concert to stop and hopefully to reverse the damages while we still can.
The deforestation of the Amazon equatorial rain forest is a case in point. Out of greed, commercial enterprises in collusion with ill-advised governments have carried out indiscriminately, so-called sustainable exploitations of lumber and other minerals in this largest of all ecological systems in the world that can regulate the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. Wholesale destruction of the forest in the size of a whole city is a daily routine in this region of precious natural resources. A conservative estimate put the extinction rates of scarce animal species including many rare insects at the hundreds and rarer still plants including many with disease healing potentials ( for killer disease such as AIDS ) at the thousands. Many of such rare species of animals and plants have not yet been studied or discovered by scientists but already they are lost to us forever. All these tragic events happened because of the lowest of all motives which is greed. All these wholesale exterminations of life for a few lousy bucks not a single cent of which we can take away when we leave this world. Such stupidity is compounded by the limited human capacity to enjoy earthly goods as explained in chapter (x) – What I believe – Of Money and Men. Furthrmore, it is very often just a number game for the greedy entrepreneurs who may be earning money for its own sake without even bordering to find the time to enjoy it notwithstanding their already limited capacity to enjoy earthly goods. It has frequently been argued by eloquent corporate custodians that their duty is to maximize the the investment return of their shareholders and this fact constitutes their sacred mandate to turn on their greed engine to maximum capacity in the senseless pursuit of profits no matter what. Their sacred duty is to make profit for their shareholders ? My foot ! It is all a matter of personal greed on the part of some corrupt corporate custodians to line up their own money belts and to fatten their piggy banks just as in the imfamous Eron case in USA. Why should the whole human race and all living organisms suffer such a miserable fate because of just a handful of these greedy and heartless crooks ? All in all, the profit motive which is so very often glorified in the capitalistic system is nothiing but a senseless pursuit based on ignorance and selfishness that has led to this great catastrophy for the whole human race. Enough is enough. Let us
put a stop to such madness here and now ! Just to give you a more graphic example of the deadly nature of our
environmental problem. It can be compared to the deadly disease of liver cancer. This type of cancer is so deadly because it silently creeps upon the victim. Like all forms of cancer the definite cause has not been confirmed. However, it is most likely to be the result of faulty genes and it has a very high correlation ( not causation ) with hepatitis B and heavy alcohol abuse that will adversely affect our liver function. As hepatitis B is very common among the Southern Chinese population ( about one tenth of the population are carriers of the virus ), about one-third of the carriers of the virus have the chance of developing liver cancer at their old age. The most dreadful part of this kind of cancer is that it will not noticeably affect the liver functions and the organ can continue to work normally until about one-third of the liver cells have been contaminated by the cancerous cells so that there are no conspicuous warning signs unless under observation by ultrasound or CT scanning. Therefore, by the time the victim notices his or her own liver malfunction, the condition is likely to be terminal. It is the same with environmental pollution. When the
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noticeable signs are detected it may be too late to reverse the damages which multiply by exponential amplification.
The appropriate measures that should be taken in order to solve our progressing environmental disaster should be three fold. For the long-term, education is the appropriate tool to cultivate a new generation of environmentally conscious citizens. In the medium term, there must be effective enforcement of environmentally friendly laws and regulations to prevent and apprehend the greedy culprits who damage the environment to achieve their own selfish ends. In the short term, the more urgent problems such as green house gas emissions, deforestation and pollution of the oceans must be dealt with through immediate international co-operation and joint global efforts to stop the on going irreversible damages to the environment. Most importantly, all countries must put aside their political differences and selfish economic agenda to make a genuine effort towards the vital goal of environmental protection before it is too late. Admittedly, there have been international conferences such as the Kyoto Protocol to limit green house gas emissions but countries like the USA and Australia have refused to sign the treaty on the ground that it does not take into account their particular economic objectives and so-called special circumstances. Such excuses are untenable and must be done away with immediately to comply with the paramount global objective of environmental preservation which surpasses all other national goals. TOEL can be useful with regard to environmental protection because the principles of intergeneration education, a genuine sense of social responsibility and respect for all life and things are an integral part of TOEL as will be seen in greater detail in the final chapter of this book.
Globalisation
This is one of those grand terminologies that can spell disaster for the weaker party taking part in the game. The World Bank defines globalization as “ the freedom and ability of individuals to initiate voluntary economic transactions with residents of other countries. “ This term has been popular since the 1980s and is used in connection with the increased economic activities between all countries in the world especially the opening up of Third World economies to the developed nations such as the USA and the European Union. It is similar to the free trade concept between two partner nations only that it is universally applicable to all countries in the world through the establishment of international organizations such as the World Trade Organization ( WTO ) and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ( GATT ). It is, in fact, the modern term for internationalization that had been in progress since the industrial revolution in the western countries that was gathering pace during the 1850s. With the dramatic increase in productive capacities brought about by the industrial revolution and mass production methods introduced by industrialists such as Henry Ford in the motor car industry in USA in the early 1900s, the need to open up international markets became a pressing issue. The technologically more advanced and better developed nations were making excessive profits out of the economically and industrially less developed countries including resource rich ones like China. Thus, industrialization and imperialism went hand in hand during the century up to the 1950s. Cutting a long and painful story for the human race short, the profit making motive ( or simply greed ) of the classical capitalistic countries such as England, USA and other European powers had led the industrialized countries to dominate the world stage for over a century since the industrial revolution at the tragic expense of the less industrialized nations until the enlightened version of capitalism developed after the First World War. Internationalization continued in the formation of global or nearly global organizations such as the League of Nations after the First World War and subsequently the United Nations ( established by the San Francisco Conference of 1945 ) after the Second World War. The more important global financial institutions are the World Bank ( as mentioned in connection with the definition of globalization ), the International Monetary Fund and the G-8 Summit involving the eight most economically developed countries ( USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Russia ).
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There were also lesser regional trade and political organizations that were also part of this gradual globalization process. These included the OPEC of the oil production countries formed during the global oil crisis in the 1970s, EFTA, the predecessor of the EU, NAFA of North American countries for free trade, NATO ( North Alantic Treaty Organization ) for the defence of Western Europe and USA, the Warsaw Pact countries under the former Sovet Union for the defence of Eastern Europe, SEATO ( South East Asian Treaty Organization ) for the defence of the pro-western countries of South East Asia, including Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, France, UK and USA ( the last three countries were involved because of their colonies and protectorates in South East Asia ). The main purpose for SEATO's establishment back in 1954 was to oppose any further Communist expansion in the area. Anyway, globalization has been a slowly creeping international phenomenon since the industrial revolution of the mid nineteenth century.
The basic problem with globalization is that it is a strong man's game and money calls the shots as it was the case with classical capitalism. The golbalization process is getting more and more like a resurrection of the old form of inhumane capitalism. Despite the World Bank's definition of globalization being “ the freedom and ability of INDIVIDUALS to initiate voluntary economic transactions with RESIDENTS of other countries “, the indisputable fact remains that the major players are all international MEGA CORPORATIONS. So, the reader will appreciate the tremendous difference between the high ideal of free trade and the harsh reality of globalization which is based upon the very concept of free trade. These legal entities as I have pointed out earlier are by and large controlled by the corporate custodians such as CEO, CFO and other members on the board of directors all of whom are sworn to and bound by the corporation's memorandum and articles of association ( or simply the corporation's legal charter ) to make the maximum return on the shareholders' investments ( or is this really the case ? - please refer to chapter (x) – What I Believe – Of Money and Men to refresh your memory ). In short, they are all motivated by the heartless and impersonal vice of greed. They in their turn and by virtue of the vastly superior financial resources at their disposal ( that do not legally belong to them but to their absentee shareholders instead ) are able to exert tremendous pressure on their respective governments through lobbying consultants ( who are usually former politicians and who themselves receive huge amounts of fees from mega corporations ) and even media organizations owned by them to enact legislations and to follow trade and foreign policies in their favour. All in all, it is a matter of a small number of a privileged few holding the vast majority of conscientious and hard working modern global citizens of the world for ransom to a less than ideal economic and social and, to say the least, unfair system.
Of course, no one can argue against the economic soundness of the free trade concept. It is the abuse by a minority of black sheep that should be blamed for the undesirable reality resulting from the working of the principle of free trade. Since the time of Adam Smith in the 1770s, the concept of free trade and maximization of consumer utility have always been sacred principles of free market economics. As applied to international trade, the free trade concept runs into some human problems such as conflicts of interests between trading partner countries and different priority of economic goals of the countries in question. We must look at these problems in turn before we can appreciate the nature of the basic problem in globalization.
Conflicts of interest inevitably arise between trading partners because of the differences in the economic backgrounds and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the countries involved in a particular international trading relationship. For example, a technology intensive economy like Japan with littte natural resources will love to export their high value added products ( in the form of technical know-how and high tech designs such as computers and highly automated robotic productive systems ) to resources rich but technically less developed economies like China because a small amount of Japan's high tech products ( such as video games and audio-video equipments ) will earn a lot of low value added natural resources which are badly needed industrial inputs to the Japanese economy. These raw materials can in turn be used by Japan to manufacture more high tech products with higher profit margins to earn more foreign exchange from other buyer countries. To facilitate greater trading volumes, unfettered and open markets would be ideal for Japan in her trade relationship with China
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but is this an equally ideal situation for China ? Obviously, this question can be answered both in the postive and the negative with some reservations from China's point of view. Unconditional free trade without any restrictions will definitely favour Japan who can make a higher profit margin from exports of high value added products to China while the latter can only earn a nominal amount of profit from her export of low value added natural resources to Japan. Furthermore, the complete opening up of a country's economy will mean removal of all trade barriers such as protective tariffs in support of that country's weaker trade sectors which are not as competitive as those in other countries for the same lines of trade. Removal of protection of such sectors must result in higher unemployments in those sectors. In political terms, unemployment contributes to instablity. It must be avoided at all costs. There is a very popular saying or slogan among Communists Party members in China in the past decade since the Tianmen Massacre of 4th of June, 1989 and that is “ stability above everything else “. One of the greatest issues with China with regard to opening up its economy according to the terms of entry into the WTO is the abolition of all subsidies to the peasants in producing agricultural products because such a move will inevitably lead to mass unemployment which is already quite serious in her agricultural sector. There are millions upon millions of peasants in China and mass unemployment in the agricultural sector will spell political disaster and possible social and political unrest. The same problem with abolition of agricultural subsidies also arises in Korea and even France where massive and sometimes even violent demonstrations are held by farmers during WTO conferences. Demolishing all trade barriers in the world will undoubtedly lead to the phasing out of all economically inefficient productive units and thereby achieving higher efficiency in the utilization of the world's economic resources in the long run. But the short-term problem of structural unemployment and the possible political instability must also be addressed. There is also the question of humanitarian considerations for the workers of the inefficient sector. As the famous saying by the great economist Lord John Mayard Keynes ( whose innovative ideas in fiscal spendings based on the paradox of thrift saved USA from the great economic depression of the 1930s ) goes :- “ In the long run, we are all dead ! “ Therefore, short-term problems must also be properly taken care of.
Economic efficiency must be put in its proper perspective of human values. Effficiency is not everything there is to consider. As human beings, there are other non-materialistic considerations such as justice, fairness and compassion which all flow directly from the Natural Law, the supreme and ultimate authority. Any human policy inconsistent with the laws of nature should be reformulated because no noble end can justify the ignoble means. As can be expected, the culprit in the pitfalls of globalization is none other than the cardinal evil of greed. The same vice that has given rise to other urgent world problems such as environmental desecration. Incidentally, the same agents guilty of abusing globalization are the identical ones responsible for our environmental disaster – just a handful of black sheep who should go back to the basic educational training on elementary human ethics and, in particular, the futility of endless personal wealth building. It is about time that these crooks be exposed for the harms they have done to the whole human race and our beautiful Big Blue Marble and that they be held accountable for their heinous crimes committed against humanity. Without the preparation of successfully re-educating these misguided and corrupt corporate custodians and dirty politicians, the blind push towards globalization will simply bring about more injustice and suffering upon all the honest and hard working global citizens for the benefits of just a handful of black sheep. A healthy and equitable international legal system for effective control and a satisfactory moral code accepted and practised by everyone are pre- conditions for successful globalization. Law and education must lead the way.
The second basic problem of globalzation springs from the different priorities each nation places on their own economic goals. As the objective of launching economic policies is to achieve the various economic goals of full employment, growth, price stability and fair income ( and wealth ) distribution, there must be some order of importance to be put on each objective for the simple reason that these objectives sometimes conflicts with one another. For example, full employment generally leads to better spending power by consumers and will give rise to inflation. If government increases interest rates to control inflation, such a move will dampen the incentive on the part of
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investors to make investments in housing and other business ventures that will cause employment to fall with the related political repercussion on the ruling regime. On the other hand, a low interest rate will favour long-term economic growth but has an adverse effect on inflation. Then, a fair distribution of income will entail redistribution of income through a progressive taxation system which is a disincentive for more personal efforts. A less hard working labour force will result in a slower rate of economic growth. So, it is all a matter of value judgment for the independent nations and their citizens to set their own priorities in their economic goals. This being the case, it is not difficult to see that the ultimate aim of globalization which is to maximize the utility of available economic resources may not be a top priorty of each and every nation of the world. For less developed ones where over- population is the usual situation, full employment may be of top priority. In other less populated but more resource rich countries like Australia, a more equitable income distribution and price stability may be preferred by the majority of citizens. Such priority will ultimately be reflected in government policies through the democratic process.Therefore, a completely open economy without any protection for the standard of living of the workers in various economic sectors may not be welcomed by the voters. All in all, the question of different economic priorities of different nations poses an insurmountable barrier to successful globalization even if the short comings of this economic phenomenon are ignored which, in my opinion, is quite unrealistic. Notwithstanding my personal views, it would appear that globalization is becoming a fact in our economic life that cannot be avoided indefinitely. I have chosen it to be one of the pressing world problems because it affects each and every global citizen and their livelihood whether they like it or not.
The relevance of TOEL in respect of such an issue as globalization lies in the possible application of many moral and practical concepts such as justice, compassion, international dialogue and sensitivity education which will be part and parcel of the tentative theory of TOEL set out in the next and last chapter of this book.
Extremism and Terrorism
One of the greatest evils in our world at the present moment is undoubtedly terrorism. It can strike anywhere and at any time without any warning and everyone can be a victim. This is the worst characteristic of terrorism. Its sole aim is to instil fear into every aspect of our daily lives in the hope of succeeding in disrupting or forcing us to change our preferred way of life. The worst scenario is that we are led to changing our principles regarding justice and common sense by taking drastic measures or over react to the intended threat by treating everyone as a possible terrorist thereby becoming as inhuman as the terrorists themselves. If this happens, the terrorists would have achieved their evil purpose. To me, terrorism is merely cowardice in disguise. Whatever the alleged reason for carrying out terrorist acts it cannot white wash the true nature of terrorism which is the heartless venting of one's frustration and anger ( another most destructive form of cardinal sin ) on precious, innocent and helpless lives. If they are man enough, terrorists would only have targeted the powerful military machine or the idiotic politicians who are accused of perpetrating the alleged original crime that calls for retaliation. Not that I am in support of taking revenge and the law into our own hands. However evil the alleged crime is or however noble is the end of so-called doing justice, it can never justify the evil means of terrorism for all our actions must always be subject to the supreme rule of the Natural Law. How stupid can the argument by the terrorists be when they claim to serve God by the destruction of precious and innocent lives created by the Almighty Himself ? Or for the terrorists themselves to claim that they would be admitted to heaven if they die during the course of their own cowardly act of killing precious and innocent lives ? How do all these stupid arguments square up with the infinitely good and loving nature of God ? Don't they ever read the good Book ? Just to take the Old Testament which most religious people accept. “ Vengeance is Mine ! “ How dare the terrorists ask God to forfeit His divine right to punishment ? Who do they think they are ? The incarnate of the Almighty ? Notwithstanding my emotional outbursts out of
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intellectual rage ( because their foolish arguments have grossly insulted my intelligence ), let me try to analyze the causes of terrorism from which we may learn some useful lessons.
To start with, most terrorists come from underprivileged social groups and they are very likely to have some of their loved ones killed for some political or religious cause usually under unfortunate and violent circumstances. Violence beget more violence and blood shed only leads to endless rounds of senseless slaughter of precious lives. Terrorists are usually members of an extremist sect of a religion that does not accept any other points of view in anything except in accordance with their own religious or political dogma. Extremism breeds terrorism because the former justifies its means by whatever end it has set its eye upon. The latter is the inevitable result. And once its target is set, it is a one way ticket to everlasting damnation for extremism has the narrowest of all perspectives like a frog trapped at the bottom of a well. The sky to the frog is but a small circle of light. What a big pity for the frog because it is such as vast and colourful world out there for everyone to enjoy in haromony except for the frog that is ! Such unfortunate background may even arouse sympathy if not for the destructive results arising from its bitter fruits. Now the world can never go back to its peaceful good old days again because of the emergence of terrorism.
Of course, this is only a typical profile for a terrorist and there are other contributing factors to make a real life terrorist. Injustice is on the top of the list of contributory factors to terrorism. We seldom come across a wealthy terrorist who actually becomes a martyr himself. If ever a wealthy extremist is the master mind behind some terrorist plot, it is only financial or moral support that the wealthy extremist will offer. He would never have risked his own life because for all the extreme and vocal slogan of a holy war against the so-called infedels the wealthy extremist knows better than put his own life at risk for fear of sacrificing his own earthly pleasures. It is all a matter of big and empty talk but nothing much else. As the famous Chinese saying goes :- “ The wise man uses his mouth while the idiot uses his hand to strike at his enemies. “ Of course, you will appreciate that it is the idiot that will get hurt while the wise man gets his honour without risking his life. As statistics have shown, all those terrorists who got killed as martyrs are from poor families who have received what the Chinese aptly called “ family settlement money “ before venturing upon terrorist acts such as in the 9/11 attack on the twin World Trade Towers in New York City back in September 11, 2001. The amounts involved were reported to be a mere US$9,000 for some. Had there been a more equitable distribution of income and wealth in the world in general, there would not have been anyone who were willing to die for such meagre sums of money even though an extremist religious or political view may still be a possible motive for terrorism. Therefore, one way of rooting out terrorism in a substantial manner would be the worldwide promotion of social justice. But this must be done with genuine international co-operation and not simply by lip service of some international organization such as the United Nations. This is a very pressing issue because social injustice is the root to all kinds of evils and terrorism is but one of the bitter
fruits of social inequity.
Then, there is the second problem of the uncompromising attitude adopted by some developed countries notably the USA to pitch military and financial might against terrorism and its related violence. Such policy as that adopted by the current US president, George W. Bush - “ if you are not with us, you are against us “ - will definitely lead to further polarization of the opposing forces of terrorism and western global influence. Such an uncompromising attitude inevitably leads to the extensive use of military force and collateral damages in terms of losses in innocent civilian lives that breed even more terrorists. It is simply a case of a vicious circle where violence begets more violence. In some sense, these two seemingly unrelated activities of terrorism and western global influence do have at least one common quality which is the attempt by one group of people to impose their values on the rest of the world out of greed and ignorance. The former vice is connected to globalization through the workings of profit-crazy mega corporations and the latter vice is the hallmarks of terrorism ( and extremism ) through their ignorance of the precious nature of life and the workings of the natural law. While terrorism resorts to violence and the killing of the innocent to impose its evil will on the rest of the world globalization uses economic and financial forces ( which can be equally
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violent in the economic sense in destroying existing life styles of the underprivileged – does this not sound like the definition of the international crime of economic and ethnic clansing ? ) to open up markets for the stronger economic powers. You may think that my view on this issue tends to be a bit radical but carrying out total globalization to its logical conclusion is tantamount to subjecting the whole world to the tyranny of money. Little has been said about improving the quality of life of the underprivileged people both on the materialistic and spiritual levels in any concrete and substantial terms. Environmental protection is yet another casualty of globalization. The former problem is very often bypassed or reduced to secondary priority in the earnest pursuit of globalization. There is just too much emphasis on the maximization of the utility and effecicency of economic resources which in the short term simply translates into more profits for the mega corporations and, worse still, mostly for the corporate custodians. I have yet to find any effective control measures being taken on the crooked corporate custodians against the abuse of their powers out of greed. For one thing, I am of the opinion that crooked corporate custodians and dirty politicians are strange bed fellows. They have a very turbulent relationship. The former need the latter to carry out policies in their favour and the latter need the former for their powerful financial support to stay in power. But somehow, even the dirty politicians have to pick on the crooked corporate custodians once in a while to make a mock fight against corporate greed to shore up their opinion polls. I really think that there can be no genuine control of the crooked custodians by the dirty politicians. It is just like asking a naughty child to keep a greedy candy seller away from other children for their better health. It will never work. It is not by polarization but dialogue instead that any dispute can be satisfactorily settled. I earnestly wish that the leaders of world powers such as the USA could acquaint themselves with more oriental philosophy of compromise and a holistic approach to any urgent global issues such as terrorism instead of adhering to the Rambo or John Wayne cowboy spirit that can spell sure disaster for mankind.
The third cause contributing to terrorism is, in my opinion, radical and extremist political or religious doctorines. Going into all the extreme and fundamentalist religious views will take endless volumes of history and philosophy books. Suffice it to say that all such views and doctorines are the results of misguided opinions. In short, it is again the cardinal sin of ignorance of the workings of human nature and of nature herself that is at root of the problem. When it comes to prejudice and bigotry, common sense is thrown out of the window. In the context of TOEL which is heavily based on scientific theories, I would simply draw the reader's attention to the relevance of the invariant rules of Chaos and Complexity. The primary precaution is not to initiate any unnecessary action that may lead to unpredictable consequences as all human beings are chaotic in behaviour. Therefore, resorting to force in settling disputes is to be avoided at all costs. The only sensible approach to fighting extremism and, ultimately terrorism is the long term process of educating the younger generation and re-educating the current generation wherever possible in the virtues of forgiveness and compassion for all life in order to disentangle the existing complex emotional knots of destructive hatred and obssession for vengeance in the hope of a better tommorrow. But in order to achieve this ideal situation, there has got to be a stop right away to all the killings and revenge killings that are ongoing. There had been some silver linings in the dark clouds of war between Israel and her Arab neighbours back in the 1977 when then Israeli prime minister, Menachem Begin and Egyptian president signed a peace deal, the first ever in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the Egyptian President Mohammed Anwar el Sadat who was responsible for this historic breakthrough in the Middle East peace process was subsequently assasinated in 1981 by Muslim fundamentalist elements in his army and this tragic episode signalled the gradual reversion of the peace process back to increased hostilty between Israel and other Abrab nations. Since then, the Middle East crisis has deteriorated from bad to worse and is now at an ever expolsive edge. It is the eleventh hour and unless we all co-operate fully to put a stop to the ongoing madness the end of the world will become a frightening reality in the not too distant future as the extremist regimes are able to get hold of the destructive power of nuclear fission. Barring that, our quality of life will deteriorate further down the path to constant fear and insecurity for our
very own existence.
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Now let me describe to you my own personal experience in acts of terror and how I tried to deal with them. I would now take the reader back to the times of the Cultural Revolution in communist China during the decade from 1966 to 1976 ( the year when the Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung passed away ). I was not a red guard then but just a peaceful secondary school student preparing for entry into the university in Hong Kong in the matriculation class. The Cultural Revolutin overflowed from China across the border into the British Crown colony in the form of general strikes by leftist workers unions and violent demonsrations by subversive elements bankrolled by the same unions with a view to toppling the imperialist colonial British Hong Kong government. At the height of the unrest which lasted for over six months home-made bombs were planted by leftists radicals in public places and on public transports to instil fear into the general population. Such bombs were at first ridiculed by the British and Hong Kong governments as nothing more than large firecrackers but they did subsequently kill a few unsuspecting policemen who handled suspicious objects or ' pineapples “ as they were used to be called without due care and proper protection. Even one experienced police ballistic expert was maimed by a premature explosion suffering the loss of one of his arms. A sense of desperation and insecurity prevails in the whole of society and many daily routines like public transport and social and cultural activities are badly disrupted. We, the students were allowed to stay home or skip class if public transports were unavailable. To show our disgust for the terrorists and as a sign of defiance, most of our schoolmates used to walk to and from school in the midst of all the mayhem. Whenever we come across a suspicious object that part of the street would be sealed off and all pedestrians would be asked to take shelter behind street signs and pillars while ballistic experts from the police and sometimes the British garrison ( when martial law was at one time declared and night time curfews enforced ) risked their lives to detonate the “ pineapples “. So, there was a certain amount of risks in walking on the streets but we all defied the terrorist threats most of the time. Some innocent citizens had been wounded though none had lost their lives during the 1966-67 riots in Hong Kong by the grace of God. Except there was one outspoken radio news commentator who took a very vocal lead in denouncing the terrorist acts and was murdered by the extremists in an act of arson near his home when he was on his way to work. Some of the even more courageous citizens like my own elder brother joined the Royal Hong Kong Regiment, the Volunteers to patrol the city streets and the secured border with mainland China in full military gears to deter terrorist actvities and to provide some moral and defensive support for the ordinary citizens of Hong Kong who went about their daily business as usual in defiance of this radical communist threat. Therefore, the best way to deal with terrorism is to keep our composure and carry on with our daily routes with caution and as an act of defiance against such evil forces. Never over react which is what the terrorist wants you to do and you would become an extremist exactly like him. If that ever happens the terrorist devil would have won.
Then, there were the cowardly acts of the terrorists which I so vehemently denounced earlier. Our family home in 1966-67 was located at the edge of Kowloon City facing the old Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong. We were on the sixth floor of an apartment block that overlooked the main thoroughfare called Prince Edward Road. A lot of terrorist activities occurred along this stretch of the road because many public buses passed along this particular section of the main road on Kowloon side
of the colony. It is also a strategic point because it is only 50 metres across from Kai Tak Internatiional Airport. This fact made it an ideal place to make a scene and catch the headlines in the newspapers that would in turn become world events if the terrorist acts were spectacular enough. I and other members of my family had witnessed more than a few terrorist plots that involved terrorists paying small children to plant home-made bombs for them in the middle of the thoroughfare to disrupt traffic and to target conscientious transport workers who defied the public transport strike to serve the public by continuing to operate public transports. They used innocent children to carry out their dirty and dangerous job for them. Yes, you have read me correctly. Those heartless and cowardly communist terrorists did turn to innocent youngsters of 9 and 10 years of age to ask the boys to carry out for them what they had considered to be too risky acts of terror which they were not man enough to perform themselves. Such is the low down nature of terrorists. Furthermore, we had time and again seen the terrorists standing behind young
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children from uneducated and poor families originating from the Kowloon walled city and prompting them to throw stones at cars passing by Prince Edward Road. The targeted cars were mostly driven by foreigners as a symbolic gesture of directing the conflict against the western imperialists. As usual, the communist terrorists hid behind the protective wall of the young, innocent and misguided children when they carried out their sordid affairs in the hope that the riot police would be hindered by the concern for the safety of the children to take any lethal action against the terrorists. There you have it. This is the true face of a terrorist. Of coure, the events described above are nothing compared to the horrific destruction of human lives by terrorists today. Nevertheless, the true nature of a terrorist remains unchanged. He is always a coward. He is heartless and ignorant of the reality of nature, human feelings and compassion. In short, he is an ignorant and foolish coward who could have seen the beauty of life but had chosen death and destruction instead. Like the frog trapped at the bottom of the well, the terrorist has condemned himself to eternal darkness and misery both for himself and sometimes for everyone around him.
Insofar as the relevance of TOEL is concerned, the virtues of tolerance, compassion and forgiveness are applicable. Scientific rules from Chaos and Complexity and concepts of a wider perspective and the equal validity of different points of view together with laws of nature relating to peace and harmony, the sanctity of life and equality of all things are all vital in understanding and finding the ultimate solution to the evil of terrorism.
Information Technology Explosion
The tremendous progress in information technology in recent years is both a blessing on and a scourge to our humanity. While we can now all stay at home and access relevant information we need and most basic commercial transactions 24 hours seven at the hit of some buttons on our PC, this convenience has also sown the evil seeds of dehumanizing all of us in various aspects of our lives. It has also diminished the value of interpersonal relationships and by reference the other important human virtues such as love and compassion.
With its highly complex hard and softwares, computer technology has only one aim and that is to maximize the efficiency in processing data and information. It has no heart or no compassionate heart to be exact. Reference to chapter (ix) on Consciousness, and in particular to the section on AI ( artifiial intelligence ) in ( C ) the Eccentric Ideas will show the arguments for the claim that AI can never replace human being as far as human emotions are concerned. Even if AI can mimic the emotional reactions of humans, the Chinese Room Experiment by John Searle will provide evidence and proof that it is the syntex ( the mechanics ) but not the semantics ( the meaning in particular contexts ) that AI is able to read and understand. By virtue of the peculiar way our brain works which is through the senses, feelings, experience, conditioning and reinforcement and most important of all by obeying chaotic rules, AI can only imitate albeit closely but never replace or even completely duplicate an individual human being because of the simple fact that each individual is unique and behaves in a chaotic manner. Not even the particular individual himself or herself can predict with absolute certainty one's own behaviour from moment to moment. Nor is this a mere attempt on my part to elevate a human being to an irreplaceable level. These are the facts of nature and the objective reality (OR) supported by scientific experiments.
Going back to the impact of information technology on human values, it is an indisputable fact that machines are incapable of feelings in the human and emotional sense. Connecting with people through the computer which is a cold and impersonal medium is connection through a buffer. It is indirect and counter productive in the interpersonal sense. It is just like enjoying all the nutrients and vitamins of a romantic
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candle light dinner by taking some food supplement pills. The fact that a romantic candle light dinner is so enjoyable is because it concerns the atmosphere, the companionship of your loved one, the involvement of your senses of taste and smell, the beautiful sights of the artistic furniture and decorations in the dining venue and the hospitality of the staff serving you as well as the colourful presentation of the cusines and the paricular purpose for the dinner ( perhaps to commemorate you wedding anniversary ). All of these complicated factors contribute in different ways and in a collective manner ( involving multi-lateral interactions of all the relevant factors and components ) to the enjoyable nature of the particular dinning experience. It is really a matter of history – your personal history or life story that is to say. Even if AI can mimic all the facts it can never duplicate the feelings arising from the particular occasion and with the same degree of fondness of memory and nostalgic touch as yours truly. Therefore, replacing human interactions by electronic medium is definitely a second best choice for social intercourse. And the prevalent preference for the electronic medium over personal interaction for convenience is fast becoming a threat to genuine interpersonal relationships. This is my foremost reason for considering information technology expolsion as one of the major threats to the human world. Have we ever considered what our children would be like if the computer has actually taken over human interaction completely ? All of our future generations will become cold, heartless and unfeeling machines that possess no social skills of interpersonal relationships. Our future may as well be a gigantic computer devoid of human feelings and values. Already, we have seen the tragic effects of computer games on our teenagers. The increase in violent crimes among teenagers can be partly attributable to the diminished value in human life and dignity as depicted in most computer games such as combat scenarios with higher points being awarded to the more number of enemies having been killed in the game. Equally dangerous is the computer game of formula one motor racing where speed is everything. Teenagers are subconsciously trained to take unnecessary risks in their driving skills. The fact that a car crash on a computer can simply mean game over without any physical damages having been inflicted on them is a very bad form of mental conditioning. Unfortunately, such bad habit of unnecessary risk taking acquired by teenagers in motor racing computer games may easily be passed on to their later years when they actually become real life drivers behind the steering wheel of a real motor car. A real life accident may very well result from such a bad attitude in driving and this time around game over for them may mean the loss of their precious young lives or at the minimum level serious bodily harm. These are the most undesirable effects of computer games which are so popular among teenagers nowadays.
My second concern for the IT expolsion is the invasion on our privacy. With the ever increasing pace in the miniaturization of the audio and video equipments, many misguided people or voyeurs can easily invade into our private moments or conversations for whatever reasons and without our knowing it. This is a frightening and insecure situation for all of us. Despite the enactment of laws to protect innocent victims and the fact that the culprits, if they are caught, will be punished accordingly this is not much of a consolation for the victims who have been mentally traumatized. Even more difficult to police are crossed or multiple-jurisdiction internet crimes such as illegal gambling or financial frauds, child pornography and kidnap and abduction cases using the internet as the medium to perpetrate such crimes. Apart from child pornography which has commanded genuine and earnest international co-operation, the other types of internet crimes are still largely left to flourish on their own terms. The most frightening and devastating scenario in electronic crime is the theft of personal identities which are not uncommon in developed economies like the USA. Once you have been robbed of your identity you will have endless troubles and personal woes that will take an unthinkable amount of police work to retrieve and restore to its former conditions. One way or another the victim will be damaged for life in terms of insecurity and trauma. Worse still, such wicked ways can be adopted by some crooked government agents as weapons against anybody they may have reasons to eliminate or to control. These are really heart chilling and frightful aspects to contemplate but they are actual possibilties within our present day high-tech world. This subject of stolen identity has more than once been the main theme of some movies produced in Hollywood.
Using IT is an area of human behaviour that no amount of legislative
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effort is comprehensive or water-tight enough to achieve an ideal level of control. Only proper education and the building of an internationally acceptable social and moral code of conduct can be the effective and long-term solution and protective measure for the sacred rights of the individual. IT is similar in nature to the politicians. It is something that is a pain in our back side which we cannot do without. The logical and sensible attitude for us to adopt towards IT is to tolerate it wherever possible and to give it a kick when it behaves mischievously. Moreover, we must always be on guard against its possible abuses because the progress in IT is like the weather which can change rapidly in the blink of an eye. The relevance of TOEL as applied to the information technology explosion lies in the concept of a healthy sense of personal and social responsibility and the long-term measure of proper education for the younger generation and re-educating the current generation. The main emphasis should be on their respect for other people's sacred individual rights and their obligations to attaining an acceptable level of moral behaviour above the minimum requirements of the man-made laws. Needless to say, we must all subject ourselves to the supreme rule of the natural law and try our utmost to maintain its integrity in the context of the present issue and all other human affairs. Let us be wary about the information technology explosion or else we will all become slaves to the computer.
The Predictive Contents Predicting Human Behaviour
Apart from describing or understanding the nature of human behaviour, TOEL should also be able to predict to a certain degree the manner in which people will behave to enable the observer to react accordingly subject to his or her own personal principles with the ultimate goal of achieving a harmonious interpersonal relationship and, if possible, to enrich the existing relationship for both the observer and the person with whom the observer interacts. For this purpose, predictions are required in the following aspects of behaviour of the subject being observed:- (a) the subject's personal type, (b) the subject's emotional state , (c) the subject's attitude towards the observer, (d) the subject's main concern at the time of observation, (e) the subject's disposition towards a possible dialogue with the observer and (f) the subject's base line on any particular issue in question.
Before going into the detail discussion of each area, we must start with some basic premises on the implicit assumptions behind our TOEL. These include the initial premise of the TOEL being an inexact predictive tool as it is the usual case in all human affairs. We are dealing with social science which is not an exact scientific discipline. Secondly, appropriate changes or adaptations must be made based on the characteristics of each individual case. This is, in fact, the special quality of TOEL and the essence of its intended universal application. Thirdly, it may sometimes be difficult to gauge the success in applying TOEL in any absolute quantitative terms. A general and holistic assessment may have to be used depending on the particular circumstances of each case. During the formulation of TOEL in the next and final chapter, specific examples will be attempted to illustrate its practical application. Fourthly, The effectiveness of TOEL may vary from one user to the next depending on their levels of understanding and personal aptitude. Lastly, owing to the multi-lateral nature of human behaviour a holistic approach is preferred over the linear and classical reductionist approach in the traditional scientific method. In practical terms, this in effect means that all factors and elements of a given case cannot be taken in isolation from one another although more weight can be put on one or more related factors. However, the overall assessment of a given situation must always be made in a holistic and sometimes non-quantitative manner.
Bearing these implicit assumptions in mind let us go into the detailed areas for which predictions may be required when applying the TOEL. For area (a)
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concerning personal type, I am not at all advocating that we should stereo-type everyone we meet. Instead, this is just an attempt to start an interpersonal relationship on some educated guess as to the type of person we are dealing with. Re-assessment and adjustments must be made from time to time as the relationship progresses, if at all. The safest approach to start a social relationship is to categorize people into two broad classes of friendly and non-friendly types. This can be most easily done by observing their body language ad facial expressions at the initial encounter. If you find them friendly, there is a good prospect for striking up a friendship. Otherwise, the decision of whether or not to interact with the subject entirely depends on necessity as indicated by the circumstances. The important thing to bear in mind is that everyone has the right to choose one's own friends. Therefore, do not be discouraged or feel bad if the subject is unfriendly or does not show willingness to interact with you. It is nobody's fault. It may simply be a matter of mood of either party at a given moment. That is why possessing a sense of humour and the skill of sensitivity are so vital to successful interpersonal relationships. You cannot win them all.
As for area (b) of predicting the subject's emotional state, sensitivity is the key. Of course, the acquisition of the skill of sentivity itself takes a lot of training and prolonged education and mastering this valuable technique in interpersonal relationship also depends a lot on personal aptitude. This will be a separate subject of discussion later on. Suffice it to say at this juncture that applying the skill of sensitivity and being observant make the vital difference in successfully predicting the mood or emotional state of any person you are dealing with. Having gauged the mood of your prospective friend, you can then adjust your course of action accordingly. For example, if the subject is in a bad mood you had better leave serious and demanding discussions to some other time. If the subject is in a jovial mood, it would be easier to develop a healthy friendship. If we work against the mood of the subject, some unpleasant experience may ensue. Either way, the prediction on the emotional state of the a particular subject is always conducive to the successful development of any interpersonal relationships. The importance of prediction in this area is not in doubt.
Regarding area (c) of the subject's attitude towards the observer, this should be viewed on two separate levels. They concern the subject's general attitude and his specific attitude on particular issues. The general attitude covers the overall friendly or unfriendly disposition towards the observer while the specific attitudes on particular issues could be some what subtle. The observer can only gauge the specific attitude of the subject on particular issues by reading between the lines in the relevant conversation on the particular topic of discussion. The advisable general approach is to proceed with whatever issue that the observer intends to take up with the subject only if the he can detect a positive general or overall attitude in the subject . Then the observer sholud pay extra and meticulous attention to the conversation ( particularly, to any implicit messages put forward by the subject in between the lines ) that has transpired as the interaction progresses in order to make appropriate adjustments to the observer's conclusion regarding the subject's specific attitude towards the issue under discussion. Here again, the effects of sensitivity, keen observation and the ability to connect various signals will play a deciding role in the success or failure of the observer's interaction with the subject.The detection of a negative attitude in the subject will signal a temporary stop to the ongoing discussion or at least some major adjustments to the direction of the discussion to accommodate the subject's different points of view. Otherwise the whole relationship may simply collapse because of the collision course taken by both parties.
Area (d) deals with the subject's concerns. After observing the subject's attitude and concluding on the correctness of the direction the interaction is progressing, the observer could now come to understand the subject's main concerns for the issue at hand. This is possible because it is on account of his own concerns that the subject has come to adopt certain observed attitudes. In order for the interaction to be successful to both parties, the subject's concerns must be properly addressed or, at least, some form of compromise must be struck between the conflicting interests of the subject and the observer. The key to the success of achieving some fair and reasonable compromise is a genuine concern by both parties to clear the doubts and address the concerns of both sides. This is the only solid foundation for any successful social interaction and we must
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act on such a basis with all sincerity both in mind and spirit. Only through open and sincere dialogue can any differences be smoothed out.
(e) requires that the observer be always aware of the extent of the subject's willingness to egage in dialogue over any differences of opinion on the issue at hand. Since dialogue must proceed before the concerns of both sides can be properly addressed, it is most important that every steps be taken to promote a dialogue and all circumstances conducive to an exchange of opinion be created. This can best be done by showing sincerity on the part of the observer to allow maximum chances to the subject to open up his mind. In other words, the observer must be a good and patient listener. Only having given every chance to the subject to put forward his case should the observer elaborate his own views. When the observer does this he should always take a positive approach by emphasizing on the common points first before setting out the differences to show a genuine intention of reaching a fair and reasonable compromise. The sincere belief that there can always be more than one valid point of view and the existence of equally valid view points in different frames of reference ( the lesson from Special Relativity ) will always be a great help in any attempt to strike a compromise in a given situation.
The last but not least area for which prediction is required is (f), the base line of the subject on the particular issue in question. Prediction in this regard can be both easy or difficult depending on the subject's personal temperaments. If he is an outspoken or open person, he may be willing to set out his base line right at the beginning of the interaction. However, the subject is usually more reticent on his bottom line assuming that he does not know the observer too well as it is generally the case for a first social interaction. The observer should facilitate the opening up of the subject's mind by setting an example and opening up his own voluntarily. We are very often too much acquainted with the commercial ways to be willing to reveal our hands such as in the situation of bargaining for a better price of the product we want to buy. I think this bad habit is the worst tactic you can adopt in any social interaction. If the bottom or base line adopted by the observer and the subject are miles apart, it is better that they should know this at once and not to waste time and effort in engaging in further interaction. If, on the other hand, the difference is manageable, the sooner both sides know this the quicker will they be able to reach a compromise to enable the friendship to flourish. This is the same with a loving relationship. The malpractice of new lovers to hide their shortcomings from each other is simply an act of cheating on themselves. That is why the following saying is such a true and sobering description. People stay in a loving relationship on account of their misunderstanding and part company when they really come to understand each other. Therefore, I always advocate an honest and open attitude in any personal relationship. This can help us to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering on an emotional level.
In recapitulation, it is plain to see that the skill of sensitivity plays a major role in the prediction of human behaviour. This personal character trait when reinforced by the quality of being knowledgeable, especially in various scientific theories set out in chapters (i) to (vii) and the characteristics of the different kinds of reality ( S,H,O,P ) in chapter (viii) and the peculiarities of our consciousness in chapter (ix) will make a formidable tool in conducting human affairs in general. The reader will be able to have a glimpse of this tool in action in the final chapter of this book.
Predicting Events in the Short Term
Predicting events in the short term involves a clear understanding of the different types of reality and their special characteristics. The difficulty in predicting events involving physical objects or phenomena is mimimal when compared to the prediction of events relating to people who are mostly chaotic physio-bio-chemical machines. As fas as the former events are concerned, barring uncertainty at the quantum or subatomic level, even distant future events like the destiny of our visible universe or multi-verse can be, by
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and large, predicted. For example, the age of the universe is estimated to be between 13.4 billion years and 15 billion years while the destiny of the universe is scientifically confirmed to be based the value of the term, Omega, the mean density of the whole universe which is very close to unity ( i.e. one ) so far as the scientists are able to measure it with the most delicate and sophisticated instruments. In astronomical terminology, our universe appears to be flat. This observed value means that our visible universe will keep on expanding as proven by Hubble in 1929 but at an ever reducing rate ( with the most recent data pointing to an increasing rate but subject to further investigation). All the 70 billion trillion stars
( with an estimated average of 100 billion stars for each galaxy making up about 15 trillion galaxies in total ) will be isolating themselves more and more from one another ( because of the separate formations of particular groups or related systems of galaxies tied together by local gravity ) as the universe continues to expand in an ever reducing rate. It will really be a cold ( about 3 degree Kelvin or -270 degrees Celsius ) and lonely ( as each island universe or galaxy as each is called ) place out there. Closer to the Big Blue Marble that is our home, our Sun will burn out its nuclear fuel in about another 5 billion years at which time it will explode in a supernova that can out shine a whole galaxy of stars. Before doing so, however, the Sun will expand into a red giant star engulfing the inner planets of Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus and all living things on Earth will cease to exist. This is our doomsday scenario. Our Sun will ultimately become a neutron star or a pulsar at a midget size of about 20 kilometres across and will be sending out radio beacons at regular intervals as it makes regular and rapid rotations in the void. Even prediction beyond this doomsday scenario can be made. The debris scattered by the Sun in the supernova explosion will in time mix up with other cosmic dust and materials and coalesce under gravity to a point where the nuclear furnace operated by nuclear fusion will once again be re-ignited. At this stage, a new star will be born and with the help from serendipity some remaining cosmic debris not caught up in the star creation process in the vicinity of the new solar system will become planets that may give rise to life in due course through panspermia or other as yet unknown means. This is a pretty certain and reliable prediction of the destiny of the whole universe and our solar system in the extremely long run. Strange, isn't it ? We can predict our physical destiny ( i.e. the destiny of the entire universe ) for almost the entire eternity but, on the other hand, we cannot even predict our own personal behaviour with certainty in the next few seconds. This is because objective reality (OR) follows strict and unchanging rules while human beings are chaotic machines that are subject to the elusive rules of Chaos and Complexity. So, how can we predict human behaviour with certainty ? The short answer is that we cannot. The best we can achieve is to predict a likely outcome. Let us see how this can be done.
To start with, we need to know the history of the subject and his attitudes and personal attributes as described in the previous section. Then applying the rules of Chaos to identify the presence of characteristics such as bifurcation points, sinks, sources, saddles and limit cycles ( reference to chapter (v) on the Theory of Chaos and Complexity is recommended to referesh the reader's memory on the peculiar nature of these concepts and characteristics ). Considerations should also be made to ideas such as Tipping Points or Critical Limits and Self-Organization. If one or more of these features are detected, then prediction to a certain degree is possible but if none is found only educated guesses can be made. That is why the prediction of human behaviour depends on pure luck and random chance. How helpless are we, human beings ! On the one hand, no hard and fast rule exists with regard to the prediction of human behaviour. But on the other hand, there are some useful guidelines for human behaviour based on scientific theories such as the Science of Networks ( reference to chapter (vi) on the theory is recommended ) in the form of such concepts as Coercive Externalities, Information Cascades, Contingent Decision Making, Synchroized State, and Critical Limits. The possible application and the relative weights to be put on each of these guidelines and working concepts have to be a matter of personal judgment but with the accumulation of practical experience each one of these concepts and ideas can become very powerful tools in predicting human behaviour. You will note that there is no mention of long-term human behaviour because it is next to impossible to do a long-term forecast on human behaviour just like weather forecasting which is the origin of the Theory of Chaos. I really regret that I cannot be more specific regarding prediction of human behaviour without being presumptious but we must get
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used to the idea of the possibility of not have a definite answer to any question or issue insofar as human behaviour goes. This is a fact of life and the laws of nature from which no one is exempt. Sometimes, no answer is the answer just like non-action may be the best course of action as suggested by Lao Tzu in his famous Tao-TeChing – The Path.
( B ) The Inspirations
Reviewing all the above background concepts and facts upon which the tentative TOEL will be based, I have the following comments to make. It is indeed a very tall order as far as the formulation of TOEL is concerned. As I see it, the following qualities should be present in the tentative TOEL. One, it must be simple to use but comprehensive to cover all possible situations. Two, it must be useful for all daily scenarios but easy to learn for easy access by everyone. Three, it must be general enough to cover all situations but has to be specific enough to give definite predictions and procedures like a manual ( for life ). Four, it must be practical but not too demanding as far as both physical and mental efforts are concerned because it must be used by people of all ages and with different levels of intellectual capabilities. Five, it must be universally applicable to different societies having very diverse cultural backgrounds but yet be acceptable to all users. Here, the minimum moral standards are the best foundations upon which to build the tentative TOEL. Six, it must also be applicable to big and small issues alike so that it needs to combine the mundane issues with the complex ones. This seeming contradiction can be accommodated through the holistic concept of the whole in the part and the part in the whole based on Fuzzy Logic ( chapter (vii) – The New Science of Fuzzy Logic ). Seven, it must be interesting enough to attract the attention of everyone but must not be too farfetched to be in the realm of scientific fictions although some of my own eccentric ideas are nuts in the light of common sense. Luckily, none of them form any part of my tentative TOEL. I always contend that common sense may not be applicable to special circumstances outside our daily experience, especially in the case of scientific hypothesis and conjecture. I have tried my best to avoid this undesirable situation but, again, I find it very difficult to resist the temptation of introducing them in the hope of provoking some reactions from the appropriate quarters which may lead to new directions of research efforts as I have specifically pointed out in the relevant sections of this book. This may simply be my wishful thinking. Eight, it must be convincing but not dogmatic which quality has no place in any useful and healthy theory or conjecture. Nine, it must also be philosophically sound by prevailing social standards but should not be too idealistic and high sounding because the tentative TOEL is supposed to be the people's theory. It must be both practical and realistic and must blend in with our daily lives. Number ten and last on my list of required qualities for TOEL is that it should be validly and effectively applicable notwithstanding the efflux of time and it must not become obsolete due to changes in the relevant circumstances. This is the most difficult quality to maintain. I can only think of using the minimum standards and the formulation of a non- background dependent theory as a possible solution to this apparently insurmountable difficulty. So much for my self-criticism and standard setting, I must now proceed to take up my own freely chosen intellectual challenge of the formulation of my tentative Theory of Everything in Life ( TOEL ) without further ado.
( C ) The Eccentric Ideas
In an attempt to realize my humble wish to make this world a better place in which for everyone to live, I have always tried to contribute to the peace and harmony of our society by being a responsible and compassionate member of the community in which I live. As mentioned before in the earlier parts of this book, I wish
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there could be a manual for life that can be made available to and freely used by each and everyone for the purpose of guiding our moral behaviour as modern global citizens ( reference to chapter (vi) - ( C ) The Eccentric Ideas – A Manual for Everyone, is recommended ). It is with this eccentric idea in mind that I have chosen to attempt a formulation of my tentative TOEL as a first step towards my eccentric ideal. What appears to be an impossible task at a certain point in history may become a daily routine after we have set our minds on achieving a particular dream. Take mankind's dream of flying through the air like a bird for example. Just half a century after the pioneering powered flight by the Wrights Brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA in 1903, we are capable of flying at 7,300 km per hour ( Mach 7 or 7 times the speed of sound ) in a rocket propelled experimental aircraft, the X-15 that had achieved that speed back in 1956. If we take into account the space shuttles, the giant booster rockets that propelled them up to over 100 km in orbit around the earth, these incredible machines can travel at the tremendous escape velocity of 27,360 km per hour ( Mach 27 ) to get the astronauts free from the pull of the earth's gravity. Therefore, it is plain to see that sky is the limit and the truth in the saying :- “ Where there is a will, there is a way “. We are only limited by our own ability to dream. So, never underestimate our own ability to innovate and to improvise when dictated by necessity and the relevant circumstances. Necessity is truly the mother of all inventions.
As this is the section where I present my own strange ideas, I would take the opportunity to set out a rough outline of my tentative TOEL the details of which will follow in the next chapter. It is my contention that a viable TOEL can be formulated purely on ideas that are of common knowledge to most people. What I will present to the reader is nothing new. It is simply a connected whole of bits and pieces of common ideas supported by what I think to be the relevant scientific theories all of which are currently relied upon by our top scientists and researchers in the advancement of scientific knowledge and technology. May be the only innovative element I am going to introduce is the rare co-operation and coherent interface between science and philosophy which are strange bed-fellows according to some leading scientists. But, on the contrary, according to the famous philosopher representing the branch of philosophy on human nature and consciousness known as Instrumentalism, Daniel Dennett ;- “ There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without examination. “ I have always been a fervent believer in E.M.Forster's philosophy of “ only connect “ and, therefore, I generally possess the urge to see things as a connected whole. Now that I have come to learn about the useful and high-tech concepts of the Science of Networks, I have ever more confidence in my philosophical outlook on getting connected which has now acquired a even more solid scientific basis. For this reason, I have become a scientifically connected student of philosophy. As I see it, we are forever students because there are endless things in life that we should learn about in order that we may become quailified modern global citizens. The last mention concept urgently calls for well-informed and connected individuals to make the vision of the global village a workable reality.
There is one final comment I care to make before getting down to the finer details of TOEL and that is the importance of being aware of our obligations as modern global citizens to be inquesitive and knowledgeable. Otherwise, we will not be worth our salt to be the only living organism naturally endowed with such an advanced personal computer that is our brain and along with it the related intelligence. Without useful input in the form of knowledge, our hardware, the brain will be lacking in software just like a powerful sports car running on an empty fuel tank. It would be a tremendous waste of precious natural resources. The giant of modern science, Sir Issac Newton had once compared the state of human knowledge to a young child searching for sea shells along the beach. Once in a while, the child stumbled on one or two rare and beautiful shells at which he marveled in awe. Whereas all the time there was this great ocean of knowledge out there always waiting to be explored by human beings but was so unfortunately overlooked by them !
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Chapter ( xii ) - The Tentative Theory of Everything in Life
My original intention in writing this book was to express my personal views on the physical realities of the universe and other spiritual and philosophical issues arising from my own perceptions and interpretations of the relevant scientific facts for the benefit of my children. I gather that they may be interested when they are mature enough to understand and appreciate some of my arguments. I further hope that my ideas may stimulate their curiosity to the extent that they will voluntarily start to look for their own goals in life. As I am attempting to achieve my selfish ends in this regard, I have also come to realize that I can create my own intellectual legacy along the way just to satisfy myself, if nobody else. Then, as my writing progresses, it suddenly dawns on me that my ideas, however mediocre they may be, can still act as stimuli to other people who are smarter than myself. Such intelligent people may be able to carry on from where I have left off in respect of my eccentric ideas many of which are pure conjectures albeit scientifically based that may lead to interesting research and new theories. So, I have decided to post my book on the internet for free browsing by any interested individual. Who knows ? Something interesting may come out from the readers' intelligent minds.
The first seven chapters deal with scientific theories which I feel have philosophical and practical implications for our daily lives. I wish to recapitulate their significance in the above respect at this juncture to refresh the reader's memory. I shall also be quoting the chapter reference in conjunction with each concept and idea I am going to put forward in my tentative TOEL for easy reference. From chapter ( i ) - In the Beginning, we are able to learn about different theories on the origin of our universe as well as the ongoing research on the possible fate of our cosmos. Apart from the ingenius ideas such as Inflationary Cosmology that call for our admiration, the most profound message we can pick up from the origin of our universe is the fine tuning of the relative values of all the important constants ( measurements or coefficients of the vital characteristics of the universe such as the mean density ( Omega ) and the relative strengths of the four types of forces in nature ). Such mysterious fine tuning inevitably points to the delicate and Subtle Connections between all aspects of our physical world. If the physical world behaves in this manner, there should be no exception for the human society and relationships although more inexactness prevails in human affairs but the interconnections must be there regardless of our chaotic behaviour. We must, therefore, be more human by taking into account our close connections in our daily behaviour towards one another. The same Interconnectedness can be seen in all environmental issues which constitute indisputable evidence of this fact. Another important and useful lesson we can learn from observing the universe in astronomy and cosmology is the fact that we are physically insignificant in the context of the vast cosmos. This idea inevitably breeds the virtue of humility and yet we are precious beyond compare as human life is nothing short of a miracle. The universe will go on no matter what happens to us as individuals or even mankind as a whole. The cycle of life and death carries on regardless. Therefore, whatever success we can achieve or have achieved should always be put in the proper perspective of society and, in turn, the cosmos as a whole. If we are able to do this, then perhaps, we will not become intoxicated or enslaved by fame and fortune ( which all form a part of greed ). Most of all, the lust for power which can lead to destructive and cruel wars may appear empty and pointless. We will not have learned the real lesson from the universe until all the above virtuous human qualities become standard character traits in everyone.
Chapter ( ii ) - The Origin of Life clearly reveals our humble common origin as stardust and the miraculously slim chance of the emergence of life. This calls for our genuine respect for Precious Life and the showing of Compassion to our fellow global citizens. Furthermore, the process of evolution of life also suggests with a high degree of certainty that Co-Existence is nature's way as can be seen in Lynn Margulis' theory on the
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emergence of the nucleated cell. In order for life to evolve for the better, small imperfections in our DNA caused by copying error and ultra-violet radiation from sunlight leads to mutations that makes the process of natural selection possible. Thus, imperfection is not a thing simply to be snared at. Even defects in living organisms serve a purpose in the grand scheme of nature. It is tolerated and made used of by mother nature. Who are we, human beings, to be so arrogant and self-righteous as to despise little imperfections in others. We are born from imperfections ourselves and we must be tolerant of differences existing among us.
Chapter ( iii ) - Quantum Theory opens up a whole new philosophical outlook for human beings in the important role of the observer and his interaction with the quantum or subatomic world to determine reality or to bring reality into being. This is a shocking refutation of the classical determinism that had ruled the scientific world for 300 years since Sir Issac Newton. Uncertainty and random chance surfaced to throw genuine doubt on determinism. Once again, the “ spooky actions at a distance “ as dubbed by Einstein on the instantaneous interconnectedness of elementary particles that were once involved in interaction substantially point to the existence of the Intricate Order as proposed by David Bohm. Suddenly, everyone and everything are tied together ever so closely. On the other hand, the lack of certainty which has been proven to be a fact of nature by Quantum Theory gives rise to a sense of helplessness in our own destiny. Nothing is certain anymore. Despite all these impact on our world view, Quantum Theory does offer hope in the sense that the observer is an important ingredient in the materialization of reality. Our consciousness does play a pivotal role in our own future. While we should be cautious in the presence of uncertainty we can still hope for the best as anything is possible through random chance. It is not inconceivable that the whole universe originated through random chance in accordance with the laws of nature ( which in my opinion are created by God or, if you prefer, the Life Force ). In the meantime, we must keep in mind that Quantum Theory is applicable only to the subatomic world. Traditional everyday classical systems of normal sizes still obey the rules of Newtonian Mechanics because quantum uncertainty is generally smoothed out due to the huge number of atoms in a classical macro system and the rule of average is applicable. Nevertheless, Quantum Theory does have profound implications for our lives and daily behaviour and most of all, our philosophy in life relating to our world view, the meaning of reality and the role played by our consciousness in the workings of the universe.
Chapter ( iv ) deals with Albert Einstein's Special and General Relativity. The former theory proved that space-time is a continuum ( and part and parcel of the same phenomenon ) and that there is no universal standards for time. Different observers can have their Own Standards of time which can be equally valid in their respective frames of reference. The greater is the speed at which the observer is moving. The slower is the rate of elapse of time for him. In other words, time runs slower for a faster moving observer. Furthermore, the laws of nature are equally valid in all frames of reference. Therefore, Special Relativity has been dubbed the most democratic of all scientific theories because every observer's point of view is duly respected. This has a deep implication for human behaviour. Democracy as it seems is inherent in nature and everyone's perspective must be respected. There is No Single Valid View point for any particular issue. As regards General Relativity, its predictions and implications are even more far reaching and profound because it can foretell the destiny of our universe as well as extreme and fascinating phenomena such as black holes and gravitational lensing that are very useful and important in astronomy. General Relativity contains very remarkable foresights as can be expected from a genius like Einstein. The important lesson we can learn from both theories is that in special and extreme circumstances, our everyday common sense may not be strictly applicable or that there are limits to our daily standards of reasoning.
Chapter ( v ) concerns Chaos and Complexity. Nature behaves in a paradoxical manner in that while systems on a grand scale like the cosmos behaves predictably and rigidly many local systems on our own planet earth like weather systems operate in very chaotic fashions. We can predict with almost 100% accuracy the return of Halley's Comet and even the size and chemical composition of stars billions of light years
away but we cannot predict even one week's weather in advance with any confidence. To
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monitor the dynamics of weather systems requires very special rules found in the Theory of Chaos and Complexity. Features such as bifurcation point, limiting cycle, sinks, sources and saddle and concepts such as Scale Invariance and Self-Organization must be applied. The simple reason can be attributable to the Sensitivity of any chaotic systems to even minute changes to their initial positions and it has a lot to do with the past and immediate past history of the system which are so dynamic as to defy any reliable prediction. This is the result of Multi-Lateral Interactions between the component elements making the whole greater than the total sum of its parts. Apart from the peculiarities of its behaviour, we can also learn that there can be Order Out of Chaos and, conversely, Chaos Out of Order. Furthermore, we can also learn the futility of the misguided and misleading rule of Conservation of Complexity. In other words, complex things can have simple origins while simple things, on the other hand, may have highly complex origins. On top of all these, the valuable Nobel Prize winning insight of Ilya Prigogine on “ irreversibility being the key to bringing order out of chaos “ is nothing less than brilliant. The above are all useful concepts that can be applied to human behaviour because the human brain is a typical chaotic system of the highest order.
Chapter ( vi ) on the Science of Networks has a direct bearing on human behaviour because of its predictions on the operational dynamics of all kinds of networks including information networks and social networks. The crucial concepts of small world systems ( six degrees of separation ), weak ties, coercive externalities, information cascades, contingency decision making, tipping point, synchronized state, critical limits and the Power Law relating to prediction of natural disasters are all extremely useful tools for predicting human behaviour. These very practical concepts and ideas are the nuts and bolts for the construction of TOEL which the reader will come to appreciate in the fine prints of my tentative theory. Each and everyone of these ingenious and fantastic intellectual fruits born out of the fine brains of great scientists are invaluable contributions to the advancement of our understanding of the workings of the complicated and close to unpredictable chaotic systems that are ourselves and our fellow neighbours.
Lastly, chapter ( vii ) that introduces the New Science of Fuzzy Logic provides us with a new philosophical perspective on science as a discipline. It emphasizes the importance of a multi-valent system as a useful and practical alternative to the traditional and rigid bi-valent system that does not accurately reflect the objective reality (OR). The practical success of everyday application of Fuzzy Logic is beyond dispute when one looks at the huge number of commercial and domestic appliances that operate on fuzzy rules although most of these registered patents are in the hands of oriental countries like Japan and korea. This is mainly due to the ease with which oriental philosophy can blend in with the principles of fuzzy logic. The idea of the part in the whole and the whole in the part epitomizes the triumph of the holistic approach. The inmitation of the workings of our mental faculties by fuzzy logic is the key to the success in applying this new science to the technologies that we encounter on a daily basis. The same inmitation process can also be applied to the prediction of human behaviour with a similar degree of effectiveness. Armed with the above scientific tools, we can now proceed to the finer details of the TOEL.
( A ) The Theory
The Three Basic Skills
As I see it, we only need to possess three basic capabilities to predict human behaviour and to respond appropriately which is the main objective of the TOEL.
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They are :- ( 1 ) being connected, ( 2 ) being sensitive and ( 3 ) being knowledgeable. These three capabilities must be skilfully applied to the relevant circumstances before any effective action plan can be promptly devised. When any contingencies arise or any decisions need to be made, the first steps that must be taken are the standard and sound management procedures in planning. These will include information collection, its analysis, selection of relevant data and the arrangement of such data in their proper order of importance and priorities. These vital planning procedures must involve the capability of being Knowledgeable. Then, by applying the capability of Sensitivity ( which by itself already implied knowledgeability ) of all types ( as described in detail in the last chapter ) to all the relevant data a reasonbly relaible conclusion can be reached concerning the issue or situation at hand. This is the sizing up of the situation in everyday language. And by Connecting the relevant aspects of the current issue in their proper perspectives including their order of importance and relative weights, an appropriate action plan can be devised to deal with the situation at hand. This is the relevance and scope of these three basic capabilities. I hope the reader is able to appreciate their comprehensive nature and universal application for every possible situation that calls for their effective use. The comprehensive nature of these three qualities can be further illustrated by the analogy of a soldier in the elite special forces unit equipped to defend and to counter any possible threats against his country at short notice. A member of a modern rapid response defense unit needs an agile brain with a very high IQ. This is comparable to the capability of being Connected because he must be able to put the relevant data in their proper perspectives once they are presented to him for instant decision-making. Then, he must also be equipped with a high-powered and sophisicated computer that can rapidly analyze and pick out early warning signs of any potential threats to national security by presenting all relevant data to the observer for his consideration. This is the capability of Sensitivity. Last but not least is the availability of a reliable data base of update defense information and knowledge together with the most advanced software to run the strategic database on the sophisticated computer. This last capability is the quality of being knowledgeable. Lacking any one of these capabilities will spell disaster for the national security front. I have adopted a so-called top down approach in the above illustration to facilitate further in depth description and analysis of the details of the TOEL down the line to the more basic levels. This is because I guess that the smart reader will have already picked out the most important of the above three comprehensive and universally applicable capabilities which is, of course, being Connected. Without being knowledgeable and sensitive, one cannot be connected. That means one will not be able to put things in their proper perspective in a given situation. To be Connected implies being both sensitive and knowledgeable, the last two qualities being only necessary conditions for the former. Armed with the most important skill of being Connected ( i.e. the ability to put things in their proper perspective in any given situation ), we can face any problem in human behaviour with complete confidence and in the certain knowledge that we can always find a satisfactory solution to any issue or protect ourselves from any danger at hand. Being Connected is the best possible state of mind in which we can keep ourselves as far as human behaviour is concerned. As Einstein's Special Relativity can be summed up in one simple equation, E= mc2, so my proposed tentative Theory of Everything in Life can also be written in one single word, and that is :- “ CONNECTION “. For those who may feel that a single key word is too concise, the following section provides the fine prints of the theory,
The Finer Structure of TOEL
We have come to learn that being Connected is the essential and foremost skill in applying TOEL. As a matter of fact, Connection is the TOEL in its summarized form. To support this capability, we need the other two back-up skills of being Sensitive and Knowledgeable. Sensitivity in turn, requires the support of a human mind that is well endowed with general knowledge which ultimately comes from a good education, both formal education and informal self-education at an ongoing basis. There
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are endless things in this world that need to be learned by a modern global citizen. The learning process itself need not be dull and heavy going if we are properly motivated. Motivation is the basic force behind all human behaviour including learning. The traditional carrot and the stick technique is still an effective tool for providing motivation despite its long history. But what we have very often overlooked in using this technique is that motivation is not necessarily confined to the use of materialistic means. Apart from the most common everyday incentive of money ( which is the stand-in value for all material goodies ), there may very well be other forms of non-materialistic incentives. Praise, recognition, self-satisfaction and a sense of perfection can all be used to motivate people, especially the younger generation to cultivate a keenness in learning. As a convenient example, I am totally motivated by the non-pecuniary incentive of self-satisfaction as I am writing this book. I will give further illustration from my personal experience on the motivation to learning in the next section of this chapter.
So, we have now constructed a complete structure for our tentative TOEL. On the top of the hierarchy is the state of being Connected. It takes intuition, past experience, personal aptitude, constant positive conditioning of the brain and the other two capabilities of being Senitive and Knowledgeable to reach the state of Connectedness. Then comes the second tier of the structure which is the capability of being Sensitive that is erected on a solid foundation of being Knowledgeable on the third level. Based on a rich repetriore of solid general knowledge covering all the relevant fields as set out previously and supported by shrewd observation and systematic filtration of useful feed-backs of information, the capability of being sensitive will, in time, be acquired slowly and subconsciously. In other words, it takes training and experience. That is the way our mental faculty works. These are the 3 basic skills. There are, in my opinion, 5 levels to my tenative TOEL, the other 4 will be set out in just a while.
In the meantime, we must always be aware that there are 10 different areas for Senstivity to operate which I would like to repeat here for easy reference. These areas are :- (1) Self-sensitivity (SS), (2) cultural sensitivity (CS), (3) physical sensitivity (PhS), (4) problems sensitivity (PrS), (5) cross disciplinary sensitivity (CDS), (6) interpersonal sensitivity (IPS), (7) financial sensitivity (FS), (8) emotional sensitivity (ES), (9) receptive sensitivity (RS), and (10) intuitive sensitivity (IS). Detailed explanations for each of these 10 areas have been given in chapter (xi) – Towards a Theory of Everything in Life – (A) Theory – The Predictive Contents – The Universal Principles of Human Behaviour. Revision on the different types of sensitivities is highly recommended. These various types of sensitivities should be put into the context of our daily lives and in the perspective of the characteristics and physiology of our brain and consciousness for effective application.
Furthermore, to achieve the state of being Knowledgeable on the third highest level of the TOEL hierarchy, the reader is reminded that the following 12 disciplines of knowledge are on the curriculum :- (1) general science including astronomy, (2) economics, (3) law, (4) sociology, (5) politics, (6) psychology, (7) philosophy - including ethics and religion, (8) basic mathematics - including logic, (9) history - especially about your own country and ethnic origin, (10) current affairs, (11) information technology and (12) liberal arts subjects such as music, art and literature. As the reader may be aware, we have only concerned ourselves mostly with science and philosophy in this book. I have chosen these two because these two disciplines of knowledge are, in some sense, more fundamental than the others and have a significant effect on our world views and goals in life which are my particular interests. For one thing, these two subjects are traditionally considered to be mutually exclusive to a large extent. I wish to show that it need not be so.
Then, the structure of TOEL can be further traced to a more basic fourth level below the state of being knowledgeable which is more fundamentally supported by a healthy Education System and an effective Moral Code for social behaviour reinforced by an equitable Legal System. Brief discussions on my views on education have been forthcoming in chapter (x) – What I Believe – Of Education and Educators and more lengthy descriptions of my own moral perspectives in chapter (xi) - (A) The Theory – The Descriptive Contents. As far as the ideal moral code is concerned, we must take into account the required minimum moral standards and weaknesses in human nature. These discussions are by no means exhaustive but all salient points required for the formulation
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of my tentative TOEL have been set out to the best of my ability for the reader's reference. At the bottom of all the above levels, there are still some even more fundamental concepts forming the fifth and most basic level as the foundation of my tentative TOEL. This basic ground work is built upon our current understanding of the Reality consisting of the 4 different types which are :- Subjective reality (SR), hybrid reality (HR), objective reality (OR) and perceived reality (PR) ( making up the acronym SHOP for our easy memory ). Also forming a part of this fifth level foundation of TOEL is our perception of our own Consciousness. Reference to chapters (viii) and (ix) on The Reality and Consciousness respectively is recommended. In particular, the special characteristics and multi-lateral interaction and chaotic nature of all the different types of reality except OR which obeys the rigid and unchanging laws of nature that are equally valid in all frames of reference as proven by Einstein and other great scientists time and again. Allow me to repeat my own short comments on each type of reality here for easy reference. They are as follows :- “ Be objective about Subjective reality – be human with Hybbrid
reality – be flexible with Objective reality – and be personal with Perceived reality. “ The counter-part of reality is our consciousness which interacts with the former to give rise to our physical and mental experiences which will duly become a part of our precious memories. With regard to our consciousness which manifests itself through our brain and bodily functions ultimately, the reader will recall from chapter (ix) – Consciousness, that there are 10 structural features of our consciousness discovered by the great philosopher, John Searle, which are very useful for our understanding of human behaviour. These are set out here again for easy reference. Feature (1) is Subjective ONTOLOGY which means that our consciousness is always in the first person. Otherwise, we would be suffering from split personality disorder. Based on this feature, we have come to see ourselves as an important individual which is the primal and basic instinct for our own survival and that of mankind as a specie. The unfortunate and undesirablle effect of subjective ontology is our inborn tendency towards selfishness. Also based on the same feature is my own favourite philosophy of liberal humanism or individualism which I propose to adopt as the universal moral foundation. Let me emphasize once again that humanism stresses the values of tolerance, compassion and respect for individual rights more than anything else although we cannot do away with our selfish tendency entirely as an inborn instinct. However, our mental ability is such that we can definitely override such defects ( and any other defects ) of human nature if we so choose. We can see the manifestations of this overriding power in noble deeds like self-sacrifice which proves beyond reasonable doubt that our basic instincts, both good and bad can be consciously controlled by us. Feature (2) is UNIFIED FORM. This involves the brain's ability to put all external stimuli received by our nervous system into a coherent whole to make our experience meaningful or to enable each isolated stimulus to fit into an overall picture that makes sense. This ability is still a great mystery to scientists but its vital importance is not in any doubt. Without this mental ability, all our experience would have been isolated bits and pieces of infromation that could not make any sense to us. That means there could be no meaningful life for us. Feature (3) is INTENTIONALITY which is the quality that enable us to access other people's mental world besides our own. Our brain and consciousness always want to achieve something and make contact with the outside world besides being passively aware of our own existence. That is why men are social animals and have the urge to stay Connected with their environment. If human beings are not available even animal pets will do. Barring even animals, then liveless things would have to serve some purpose for our need to socialize. The movie, “ Cast Away “ with Tom Hanks in the leading role is a classical scenario exemplifying this human mental quality and urge. Tom Hanks had to interact or socialize with someone or something, even a football. This quality also gives us our survival ability insofar as we always possess the urge to get in touch with other people and our environment. It is in our nature to stay Connected with our fellow human beings and the environment. Feature (4) is that our consciousness always exists in DIFFERENT MOODS probably due to the interaction of external stimuli and our hormonal conditions. Such moods can both be good or bad and to varying degrees for each. Feature (5) is the very important ability of our consciousness to be STRUCTURED. Even when we are presented with the scantiest of information or stimuli, our brain will conjure up something that makes sense. For example, our brain can imagine a triangle if we are
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shown three dots on a piece of paper. Our consciousness will automatically structure the signals by joining the three isolated dots with imaginery lines to form a triangle. Something that we have often come across. This is the ability to be structurally creative but sometimes imagination can run wild and may lead to over reaction to our own invented impression on some isolated signals or external stimuli. For example, we may imagine seeing a ghost at night when we may have merely detected some shadows cast by swaying branches of a tree under the wind. It is also how the famous Selection Effect works. Structural feature (6) is the varying DEGREE of ATTENTION our consciousness pays to outside signals. It is some sort of automatic ability to assign priorities to external stimuli or things but we can also change our centre of attention at will. Feature (7) is the quality of the brain to set BOUNDARY CONDITIONS in terms of space and time. Our consciousness always possesses a sense of space and time and is constantly aware of our place in the spatial and time dimension. This is believed to be a defensive mechanism. Feature (8) concerns the varying DEGREE of FAMILIARITY our consciousness always have on things we perceived in our environment. This is most likely the result of our past mental and cultural conditioning. For example, people of oriental origin will most likely feel familiar with oriental artifacts in a museum. Such ability allow us to set our priorities in giving different weights to external stimuli received by us. Feature (9) is the OVERFLOW CONCEPT which means that our consciousness will exercise the power of association and creative thinking automatically. One idea will inevitably lead to other related ones. While this is advantageous to our planning ability, unnecessary stress and anxiety may result from over doing this overflow ability. This is known as becoming paranoia over some upcoming event such as a holiday trip or a wedding. The last of the 10 structural features of our consciousness is the inevitable tendency to ask whether an experience has been PLEASURABLE or UNPLEASURABLE to varying degree. It is, as if, we only exist for pleasure alone. Others feel that the feeling of pleasure or displeasure in this structural feature of our consciousness may only represent the symbolic quantifying of gains or losses arising from a particular experience rather than mental pleasure or displeasure as such. I tend to support this last idea because the sense of gains or losses fits into the traditional or classical mental conditioning technique of the carrot and the stick. That is the way the learning process proceeds in our brain. When viewed from this perspective, the last structural feature of our consciousness makes a lot of sense.
With all the 5 levels of structures in place for our tentative TOEL, we must now attempt to apply all our skills to concrete examples to test the usefulness and effeciency of our new theory on human behaviour. While applying the above techniques of being Connected, Sensitive and knowledgeable ( using all the related disciplines of knowledge ) all other facts and characteristics of the Reality ( SHOP ) and our Consciousness ( all structural features of our mental faculty ) must be borne in mind and put to effective use whenever they are applicable to the issue or situation at hand.
TOEL in Action
It will be recalled that at the beginning of chapter (xi) – Towards a Theory of Everything in Life, I have classified all human problems into two dimensions of three categories each according to subject matters. I would reiterate these categories for easy reference. There is the vertical dimension consisting of the personal issues ( micro view ), the family issues ( domestic view ) and the social issues ( macro view ). Then there is the horizontal dimension according to subject matters of economic issues ( money matters ), the emotional issues ( mental and interpersonal matters ) and the physical issues ( health and other material matters ). We shall attempt to apply TOEL to an example of each of these categories to see how the tentative theory fair. By the process of combination, the complete set of human problems according to the variety by their nature are as follows :- (1) Personal economic problems, (2) personal emotional problems, (3) personal physical problems, (4) family economic problems, (5) family emotional problems, (6) family physical problems, (7) social economic problems, (8) social interaction problems
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and (9) social health and behavioural problems. We shall use each of these 9 types of problems as examples to illustrate the TOEL in action.
Before we go into the details of each problem, let us set out some standard procedures to approach and to solve these problems. The first step is problem identification, description and classification ( Problem Classification or PC ). The next step is the collection of relevant data ( Data Collection or DC ). The third step is to analyze the relevant facts to arrive at the essence or centre of the problems ( Problem Analysis or PA ). The fourth step is to set the goal or target for achieving a solution ( Target Solution or TS ). The fifth step is to apply the TOEL in different levels using the three basic skills ( Theory Application or TA ). The sixth step would be to monitor the progress of the problem solving process ( Progress Monitoring or PM ). The seventh and final step is to evaluate the the results of our actions to assess the degree of target achievement ( Result
Assessment or RA ). Further action should be taken if deemed necessary.
(1) Solving Personal Economic Problems
Let us start with (1), personal economic problems. For the purpose of our present exercise, we shall take up the personal debt problem. Let us further assume that a young professional male singer of 18 years of age ( perhaps one of the American idols ) and recording artist is faced with a financial crisis. Barring fraud by other people such as relatives, friends and his manager such a financial problem is usually the result of ignorance and bad habits of the subject himself. We shall proceed according to the standard seven steps problem solving routine set out above which I shall name the
Standard Seven Steps Solution ( SSSS ). Step (1) – For PC, personal financial problems belong to the hybrid
reality (HR) category. The workings of a financial system are based on man-made rules born of an idea ( Subjective reality – SR ) which is applied to physical resources (Objective reality – OR ) thus leading to the hybrid nature. Recalling my slogan for HR which is to “ be human with HR “, we should analyze the present problem from a human angle ( that of the subject ). Furthermore, rules of chaos ( chapter (v) ) are applicable whenever human beings are involved such as in the present case. In short, the subject's reactions may be unpredictable to some extent.
Step (2) – DC, the relevant data is, of course, financial statements such as bank statements and debt repayment notices together with expenditure modes and patterns with related records. Then there are the financial information relating to the subject's personal investments which may contribute to the crisis. The foregoing requires knowledge on accounting, finance, law and economics ( the skill of being knowlegeable ). An in-depth discussion should be arranged between the subject and professionals in the financial field ( accountants, bankers, financial analysts and commercial lawyers ) to ascertain the extent of the problem. Furthemore, the subject may need to seek counselling to obtain advice on his psychological disposition towards his own finances ( knowledge in psychology is needed ). For example, whether or not he has some uncontrollable urge to be extravagant. The reader may also note that in all steps the skills of being sensitive ( in this case cross disciplinary sensitivity ) and being connected ( in this case to see the connection or correlation between the different aspects of the problem before the right kind
of help can be sought ).
Step (3) – PA, problem analysis can start once all the relevant information has been collected. Keen observation and a shrewd sense of proportion will facilitate the analysis of the collected data which will hopefully lead to the cause of the problem and its ultimate solution. Again, the three basic skills play a deciding role in this important step of PA. As we are dealing with a human subject, being aware of the 10 structural characteristics of human consciousness and the physiology of the brain will provide valuable clue to the essence or centre of the problem. Once these facts are put in the context of the correct category of reality with its own characteristic, the centre of the
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problem will become clear. Here, the probable cause of the problem may be attributable to the subject's ignorance in the working principles of financial matters. Nowadays, this is popularly known as financial literacy. Ignorance coupled with the subject's probable mental conditions ( being constantly under pressure to perform well and to maintain his popularity among his supporters or fans ) may very well lead to extravagance in spending and showing off his success in the materialistic way. It would appear that counselling and using proper channels to relief stress may help to solve the problem. The above hypothetical analysis relies heavily on the three basic skills.
Step (4) – TS, target solution is derived from the pinpointing of the centre of the problem. The subject in this case should be persuaded to adopt a wider perspective of life. He should be counselled on the inevitability of losing his own popularity at a certain point in the future for which he must be psychologically prepared. Things will change and sometimes very abruptly as predicted by the uncertainty principle in Quantum Theory as well as the Theory of Chaos and Complexity. These are the harsh facts of life. But life will go no regardless of the fate of the individual. The realistic thing to do is not to lament over the passing of fame and fortune but to be psychologically and financially prepared for it. Therefore, the target solution is to be prepared by being conservative and prudent about financial matters and to enlist professional help for adopting sound investment policy. When everything that should be done has been done adopt a Mr. Q's attitude with a sense of humour ( see daily SHOP SCHEDULES below ). Do not only ask why something bad has happened to you but rather move on with the appropriate lesson learned and become wiser for the experience. If real and substsntial damage has been
done, rescheduling of debts must be carried out with professional assistance. Step (5) – TA, is theory application using the three basic skills to follow and apply the 7 steps. Moreover, all the hints in the daily SHOP SCHEDULES especially humour and economy are most useful in the present case. All efforts must be directed towards theTarget Solution which involves education in the form of counselling and acquiring financial literacy together with the achievement of a wider perspective of the subject's own life. As recommended by me in chapter (xi) – Towards a Theory of Everything in Life – (A) The Theory – Setting the Goals in Life. Successively higher goals should be set so that some are always a bit beyond your present reach. This is sound advice from my personal experience. In the present example, to be a successful composer of music after retiring from performance may be a possible new direction for our hypothetical subject. After that, becoming a successful music promoter or manager may
yet be a higher objective so as to extend the life span of the subject's career. Step (6) – PM, progress monitoring can be effectively done if we have good DC technique supported by the three basic skills. Here, obtaining regular reports from accountants, lawyers and counsellor in charge of the case would be a sensible measure. The subject should always be made aware of the progress or any difficulties arising from the action plan. He must be personally involved to learn the valuable experience for future guidance. Educating the subject in having a healthy sense of value on money and our limited capacity to enjoy earthly goods may very well instil a
sense of appreciation for the spiritual and non-materialistic things in life. Step (7), - RA, the final step of results assessment is quite
straight forward in financial problems because every issue is quantified and can be compared to generally accepted and objective standards. In this case, professional assessment is required. The more subtle aspect of RA in this case is the extent to which the subject has learned his bitter lessons. A final counselling session may be the right answer. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope that the subject's hypothetical problem has been solved for good.
(2) Solving Personal Emotional Problems
As an example of this type of problems, we shall take the hypothetical case of a 24 year old female subject who has just parted company with her boy friend she
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has known since high school for a period of some 8 years and she is totally devastated. Step (1) – PC, problem classification here involves emotional problem which is by and large a matter of perceived reality (PR). This is because to the female subject, her world has just ended emotionally. My motto relating to PR is to “ be personal with perceived reality “. If this unfortunate situation continues, it may have repercussions on the subject's health both mentally and physically. Therefore, we must handle this delicate situation with meticulous care. The right person to help the subject is her mother in the first instant but if the relationship between mother and daughter is not amicable, then a close relative or friend of greater maturity should be considered. Here, we must be reminded of the Weak Tie concept of the Science of Networks (chapter (vi) ). The people who can offer the best possible help or support is not the person closest to the subject ( the strong ties ) because of existing prejudice and preconceived impression between the closely related persons. For example, the mother may always have objected to the relationship from the start or the mother may have acted as the disciplinary agent in the
family. If so, the daughter is not likely to take the advice of the mother to heart. Step (2) – DC, information collection in this case can be tricky because the daughter is the only one who is supposed to be acquainted with all the relevant facts apart from the boy friend. Furthermore, the views of the daughter must be assumed to be subjective rather than a reasonable judgement on the facts which may merely be feelings of emotion. In such a case, feed-backs from her friends and preferrably from friends of the boy friend would be a big help since we can at least learn both sides of the story. Here, due allowance must be given to different points of view which may be equally valid in their own frame of reference ( Einstein's important postulate ). The best attitude to adopt is to take a neutral stance. Emotional support is the main aim having regards to the personal
nature of the problem ( see step (1) above). Step (3) – PA, problem analysis could be difficult as is always with
emotional issues. Probable cause for the break up may relate to changes in personalities during the maturing process on account of different conditioning at both the work place and social circles. All the three basic skills must be effectively applied, especially emotional sensitivity in handling such a delicate issue. In this case, the centre of the problem may not be easily and exactly pinned down. The best approach is to be prepared for all contingencies. On the one hand, if the relationship can be salvaged more or less intact, this would be the ideal solution. But if there are irreconcilable differences, it may be best for both parties to part amicably. The sooner the problem is settled the faster will the parties involved be on the road to emotional recovery. If close friends and family members find it difficult to be level-headed. Professional counselling should be sought as soon as possible.
Step (4) – TS, target solution in the present case is closely tied to the ability to pin down the centre of the problem. If it is ever possible, a face to face meeting between the daughter and his boy friend in the presence of mediators or professional counselors would definitely improve the chance of an amicable solution. This would reduce the emotional impact of the problem and rationalize the situation for both parties. Once common sense has prevailed, more candid discussions can take place that may bring the episode to a happy ending of reuniting the pair hopefully. It is all a matter of perspective more than anything else just as in the case of all human affairs. A connected telescopic perspective is always a powerful tool in solving all kinds of problems. Things always look less threatening or less overwhelming when viewed at a distance. The only trick is to realize this possibility at the right time and have the courage and determination
to override your natural instincts of emotional attachments and unwillingness to let go. You can achieve this ability once you are connected through seasoned conditioning of the brain or mind or consciousness.
Step (5) – TA, theory application here involves the three basic skills as well as a loving and caring heart. This is the peculiar requirement and characteristic of perceived reality (PR). Once the subject is aware of the helper's genuine concern for her well being, everything done in the process of achieving a workable solution will produce the desired effects. In dealing with emotional issues, it is very often a matter for the heart rather than of the head ( logic and cold reasoning ) that will win over the day. Sometimes, feeling and intuition which are higher and more subtle qualities must be relied upon to do
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the job. There are no hard and fast rules to achieve such qualities. They will come to you in time when you have attained what I call the critical threshold or take-off point in acquiring the techniques for handling human affairs. It will suddenly dawn on you one day if you persevere. These are the finer points of TOEL which can only be written between the lines but not explicitly spelled out. This is the mystical and intuitive aspect of my tentative TOEL.
Step (6) – PM, progress monitoring in the present hypothetical case can be done by periodic discussion with both parties and observation of the daily routines usually taken by the subject. If the old routines are back in place, then progress is promising. Otherwise, professional help is highly recommended. Sensitivity is the key word in dealing with emotional issues. With genuine concern, patience and keen observation, the monitoring process can be effectively carried out.
Step (7) – RA, result assessment can be done by checking the degree to which normality has been restored for the subject. This will be a clear indicator of goal achievement. If the family members are uncertain about goal achievement, professional assesssment may be sought. Based on the significant impact of conditioning on our mental faculty, we can never be too careful about the certainty of a complete psychological recovery. Any repressed emotional trauma will surface with a vengeance in the subject later on in her life by which time it would be too late to make any amends.
( 3 ) Solving Personal Physical Problem
As an example of personal physical problems, we shall consider the case of a middle age male subject who is diagnosed with cancer pending treatment.
Understandably, the subject is under tremendous stress. Step (1) – PC, this problem can be classified as a case of objective
reality (OR) but at the same time, we are also dealing with a human subject where the rules of chaos apply. This is an important issue to keep in mind. My motto about OR is to “ be flexible with objective reality “. Even OR can be dealt with in a flexible manner. This is especially true with health problems because the progress in solving the problem depends a lot on the subject's state of mind. If he holds a positive attitude, the battle would be half won. On the contrary, a negative mental attitude adopted by a patient will definitely contribute to the deterioration in his physical conditions. In other words, a positive mental attitude will give rise to mental tenacity, strong will power and motivation to wage battle against cancer. It is a necessary but not sufficient condition for full recovery. OR may behave differently for different people because what we call statistics are average figures that may fluctuate up or down depending on the particular circumstances. The most famous example is seen in the case of Professor Stephen Hawking's ALS or motor neuron deteriorating condition. The average odds are that ALS patients cannot usually survive over 30 years of age but he is still coping a few decades after being positively diagnosed. Just look at him. He is now over 60 years old ( being born in 1942 ) and is still fighting fiercely and courageously against ALS. You never know. Miracles may or may not happen. But determination and mental tenacity are certainly positive weapons against disease. This fact is not in the slightest doubt.
Step (2) – DC, data collection in this case requires straight forward medical reports which must be thorough and reconfirmed. Otherwise, we will be on a wild goose chase and self-inflicted fear for nothing. Clearly, a lot of expert medical help is in order but do not overlook the psychological support and reinforcement on the subject's will power to prepare him for the battle of his life. Therefore, professional psychological counselling and the related reports are also part of the DC process. Discretion and all related types of sensitivities ( CDS, PhS, PrS, ES, RS, ES and IPS ) are all needed to do a good job.
Step (3) – PA, problem analysis in this case should be left to the medical professionals. However, we still need to find out whether or not there are financial problems and other emotional problems to be faced. Encourage or even accompany the subject to engage in more suitable sporting activities will greatly improve his mental
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conditions. Furthermore, a lot of spiritual strength can be acquired if the subject is persuaded to take part in religious services particularly in his own family tradition.
Step (4) – TS, target solution in the present case has two levels. On the health front, a complete recovery would be a definite target. At the mental level, we must prepare the subject to face the harsh reality of a possible failure in a medical solution. Should such an unfortunate situation arise, then all efforts must be directed towards the mental and spiritual aspect of the subject's imminent passing to prepare him for his demise. Professional counselling must be sought apart from friendly emotional support. The situation must be handle with extreme care and sensitivity and the scope of assistance will be extended to the immediate family.
Step (5) – TA, theory application would be tested to the limits if the unfortunate scenario arises. The three basic skill and the 10 different types of sensitivities together with all other human virtues and principles of commendable human behaviour must all be made to bear upon the problem at hand to ensure proper and meticulous handling of the emotional and health crisis. In the fortunate event of a probable recovery,
the application of TOEL may proceed in the normal and less urgent manner. Step (6) – PM , monitoring the progress in this case will involve obtaining periodic medical and psychological reports. Constant and close personal contact with the subject and his family is in order. Needless to say, the three basic skills will come into play as usual with particular emphasis on all types of sensitivities being exercised in
the monitoring process.
Step (7) – RA , results can be measured in terms of medical reports on the process of physical and mental recovery. Even after the subject has made a full physical recovery, there is usually a waiting period of 5 years to be certain of a relapse free recovery. In this long and painful wait, the subject must keep a positive mental attitude which would greatly contribute to the safe completion of the waiting period. During this time, patience and perseverance are the deciding factors for complete recovery from cancer. There are, in fact, many support groups for cancer patients run by both governments and voluntary agencies to which the subject can turn for assistance and
support. He should be encouraged to do so.
( 4 ) Solving Family Economic Problems
We shall take the example of the head of a family, the father, being unemployed or laid off suddenly to culminate in a family financial crisis. It will be a bit more complicated than the personal economic problems because of the involvement of more human subjects and group behaviour is more difficult to predict. More is different is the
catch phrase.
Step (1) - PC , this is again a HR issue with a wider scope due to group behaviour. The degree of severity of the problem depends mainly on the existing financial conditions and the financial burdens of the family. If there are family savings to cushion the impact of the crisis, it may not call for drastic measures. This depends very much on the finacial commitments such as home mortgage, children's school fees, family spending budget, expenditure patterns and current interest rates. Financial sensitivity (FS) and knowledge in financial matters are the keys to working out a solution. At least, the direction towards a solution is clear.
Step (2) – DC, data collection in the present situation include two main areas, the exact financial position of the family to determine the necessary emergency measures to be taken and the employment issue concerning the father. The latter area should be explored to consider what kind of unemployment benefits to which he is entitled or whether the circumstances leading to the lay-off give rise to legal issues such as unfair dismissal entitling the subject to compensation under the law. Of course, information on the family's existing financial position is of top urgency. The relevant government agency dealing with unemploymemnt should be consulted immediately. Perhaps, the family is entitled to emergency assistance.
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Step (3) – PA, problem analysis here requires mostly financial and legal knowledge. However, keen observation and being connected are also crucial for a proper and in-depth analysis of the problem at hand. Besides the father, other family members should also receive counselling on the sudden impact of the crisis on their life and daily routines. It is advisable to arrange a family meeting to keep everyone informed of the current situation. This serves the dual purpose of calming the fears of family members as to what direction they are heading as well as a showing of unity and sense of responsibility among family members. The problem is a reality and it can serve a useful purpose of teaching each family member their responsaibility and solidarity as a family unit.
Step (4) – TS, depending on the situation, the solution to this family financial problem is two fold. For the more fortunate scenario of having family savings, the solution could be more emphasis on assisting the father to get a new job. If the financial situation is very tight, then obtaining emergency financial aid must be the top priority. Both government agencies and charitable organizations should be approached for assistance. These targets are not mutually exclusive so that parallel actions can be taken with more
weight and priority being placed on the more urgent issue. Step (5) – TA, theory application is rather straight forward in this
case. Besides the three basic skills, the other qualities of possessing accounting and financial knowledge, patience, sincerity and most important of all, a sense of compassion would be a great help in the application of TOEL in the present example. Misfortune can befall any family.We are all in the same boat. Therefore, we must be understanding and compassionate to those less fortunate than ourselves. Our sociey and, as a matter of fact, the whole world is inextricably linked. Action and events happening in one region can produce fall-outs affecting other people who may be miles away. This is the hazards of modern living from which no one is exempt.
Step (6) – PM, to monitor the progress of the action we are taking, financial statements and employment reports are the necessary tools. We must also be mindful not to neglect the mental and emotional health of other family members, not just the father's. Sudden financial crisis can come as a bombshell and could have devastating effects on everyone in the family. A proper perspective and a high degree of sensitivity must be adopted in carrying out the relevant measures to achieve a solution to the
problem.
Step (7) – RA, results can easily be assessed by the pace at which normality is returning to the family as well as the re-employment of the father. Their mental state is yet another indicator of success or failure in achieving the right solution to the problem at hand. Just a look at the faces of the family members will give you a reliable answer. The day the smiles return to their faces will be the moment of success for the
remedial measures we have taken to solve this family financial problem.
( 5 ) Solving Family Emotional Problems
We shall take the case of the divorce of the middle-aged parents in a family with two young children of ages 12 ang 16 as an example of family emotional problems.
Step (1) – PC, this is problem involving HR ( the human institution of marriage ) and SR ( subjective reality of the emotional incompatibility of a man and a woman, both of mature age ). To deal with this sort of family emotional problems, it often calls for lawyers and mental health care professionals of the highest calibre. Apart from solving the emotional problems for adults the delicate situation of children's psyches and mental states are at stake. Slight mistakes made in the process of solving the problem could produce even more serious problems or, worse still, human tragedies that can devastate a family and even precious human lives. In the very least, mistakes made in such cases will produce serious emotional scars that can adversely affect the children for life.
Step (2) – DC, data collection must include people's private affairs
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and intimate information. Then there is the need to obtain data about the children's physical and mental conditions. Emotional sensitivity and interpersonal sensitivity are the key skills to be applied in such a case. Usually, the service of professional counselors is required. Candid meetings between the divorcing couple must be carried out preferrably in the presence of professionals to see if the marriage is reconcilable. If not, what arrangements must be made for the children who are the main concern of the courts of law to protect them against physical and emotional harms arising from the divorce. Visiting rights and financial and family arrangements for the children are the top priority.
Step (3) – PA, problem analysis should be centred on whether the intended divorce can be avoided and the marriage salvaged. The decision in this regard must be based on the children's best interests first and foremost. Then, the secondary concern is for the fair treatment of both divorcing partners. This would inevitably lead to the question of a fair distribution of the family assets. Legal and financial knowledge are essential abilities in the role of a mariage counselor or family lawyer. Only after these three important issues have been solved before any properly constituted court of law would
approve the legal dissolution of the marriage. Step (4) – TS, here, the target solution is three fold as can be
seen in the previous step. There is no other considerations apart from first salvaging the marriage. Then, if this is considered untenable, the children's interests will come to the forefront. Only after proper settlement of the children's problems will the court even start to deal with the question of dissolving the marriage and distribution of family assets. The reader will easily see that in solving family emotional problems, the three basic still plus intuition and great patience and meticulous care for the children are orders of the day.
Step (5) – TA, theory application here requires great care and delicate balance because any mistake may lead to unpredictable consequences which are definitely both unpleasant and undesirable. Due to the chaotic and ever changing mental states of the subjects in times of great emotional crisis, all the rules derived from the Theory of Chaos and Complexity as well as the Science of Networks must be used with
great care to aviod potential tragedies. Step (6) - PM, progress monitoring must be based on legal advice
and psychological reports on the children as well as the divorcing partners. Expert opinion may be required to carry out a good monitoring function because as lay persons, we are not qualified to make proper assessments.
Step (7) – RA, in the present case is a bit different from the other types of problems because the main aim here is by nature very conservative and preventive in nature. This is to avoid tragedy and severe repercussions caused by the divorce on the children. Therefore, we only require negative indicators to assess the degree of success such as the absence of adverse effect on the children's emotional state or the lack of misbehaviour of the divorcing partners. This is not ideal but given the
unhappy circumstances these would have to suffice.
( 6 ) Solving Family Physical Problems
We shall take the case of the removal from a family dwelling as an example of this type of problems. While the question of moving house is more financial than physical there are many physical aspects about such a family event. Let us assume that the financial issue is settled because the family in question may be well off. Despite this happy situation, there are nevertheless a lot of other physical problems to deal with
that concern each and every family member. Step (1) – PC, this problem exists in the realm of physical or
objective reality (OR) but at the same time it concerns people which in turn will lead to subjective reality (SR) or ideas as well as perceived reality (PR) or judgement and fairness ( in the area of allocation of family resources ). The last two types of realities are the tricky part of the operation to solve the problem at hand.
Step (2) – DC, data collection involves finding a new location of
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the family home that is relatively convenient to every family member but within the required budget. Services of real estate agents can be sought. Then there is the question of the layout or building plans of the new dwelling. It must be within the compromised expectations of each family member. Again, professional help from architects and builders is available but subject to the budget. Family meetings and discussions must be held to address every's concern. Here, mediators with Weak Ties ( as proposed by the Science of Networks ) can be most helpful to assist family members to reach a compromise on any divergent and conflicting views.
Step (3) – PA, problem analysis will be related to financial, design, and logistical matters. The most important point to note in PA in this case is the ability to assign the proper priorities to various aspects of the problem at hand ( i.e. who want what and how to get them and in what order ? ) The three basic skills, especially the capability of being knowledgeable is of paramount importance as building a house requires numerous branches of knowledge even though we are not the ones who actually carry out the construction. An informed consumer is a wise consumer. In case of conflict of choices,
TOEL must be carefullly and skilfully applied as set out in the next two steps. Step (4) – TS, target solution in this case most likely centres around resolving all the conflicting needs of the family members. First of all, the most convenient location of the new home relative to the schools and work places of each member. There are bound to be conflicts with choice and budget. The next important target may be the layout or floor plans. The father probably wants a private study, the mother a large and modern kitchen, the children their own den or play area. The parents as a team may want a family theatre or entertainment room and so on. There could be endless possibilities and desires. It is a classic case for economic planning based on engineering and architectural
techniques.
Step (5) – TA, applying TOEL in the presentcase mainly involves economic and other branches of knowledge for decision making. Again, sensitivity of all types are very useful in communication, negotiation and setting priorities to the satisfaction of all family members during family meetings to finalize the building plans as well as the exact location. Final authority for arbitration on conflicting wants inevitably falls on the father who must have the wisdom and steadfast determination to protect the majority interest and well being. All good attributes in human behaviour must be present in the
decision maker in order to achieve this end. Step (6) – PM, progress in this example can be monitored by the
work schedule and the materialization of the building plans and adherence to the set budget. Furthermore, progress on the human front can also be gauged by the degree of harmony and the existence of a cordial relationship between family members. Any signs of discontent should be addressed right away and not left to deteriorate to breaking point. This again requires tact and meticulous attention. A keen observation is also needed to detect the signs in the first place.
Step (7) – RA , assessment of results can be measured against a new home satisfactory to all members and the lack of complaints from them. There should not be any issue of blowing the set budget and unexpected problems arising from the newly installed utility systems and other essential appliances. All family members should
have a peaceful and enjoyable stay in the new family dwelling.
( 7 ) Solving Social Economic Problems
We shall take the familiar problem of unemployment as a typical example of this category. While this is mainly an economic problem there are far reaching political implications arising from such an important issue. A high unemployment rate at the time of a general election will almost spell certain defeat of the ruling government. On the other hand just by achieving a high employment rate without the related stablizing factors of low inflation and equitable distribution of income will not ensure the re-election of the incumbent regime. Achieving a low unemployment rate without proper regard to other
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economic objectives is not sound economic policy. Step (1) – PC, this problem belongs to HR, the hybrid type of
reality where human considerations are of paramount importance. No sensible government should set policies to eradicate unemployment without first ascertaining the mood and aspirations of the people who have given the ruling regime its governing mandate. All economic objectives are by and large results of value judgment as far as their priority is concerned. All forms of economic policies willl give rise to both favourable and adverse effects on the economy and will, in turn, affect people's livelihood. Careful balance between the pro and cons of each potential policy must be struck to minimize economic backlash on the people.
Step (2) – DC, there should be some sort of statitics collection and processing government department already in existence for this particular purpose. Population census carried out periodically are for long-term economic planning purposes while quarterly reports on trade statistics and consumer price index (CPI) and other financial data such as interest rates, growth of mortgage loans, capital investment figures and bank lendings are for short and medium term policy making. With the help of sophistcated computers, reliable trends or economic projections can be produced at short
notice.
Step (3) – PA, problem analysis in this case include the nature and degree of unemployment. If it is the result of a lack of comsumer demand, more inducements to consumer spending in the form of tax cuts or lowering of interest rates may help. On the other hand, if it is structural unemployment the possible solution may have to be retraining of the work force and the changing of the entire direction for economic development to adapt to the changing demands both domestically and internationally. The crucial point to note is that the economy is the aggregate results of individual economic behaviour which are most volitile for two important reasons. Firstly, the individual consumer is a chaotic entity as all human beings are thus leading to the problem of an unpredictable nature. Worse still, consumers as a group ( macroeconomics applies ) behave very differently from and are even more unpredictable than the individual ( microeconomics applies ). More is different because of coercive externalities, the cascade effect, contingent decision making and the existence of the critical thresholds as predicted by the Science of Networks ( chapter (vi) ). Therefore, a holistic approach works better for economics due to multi-lateral interactions between multiple factors with feed-
back loops. There is simply no one to one realtionship between them. Step (4) – TS, the target solution has to be determined after assigning
different weights to each contributing factor to the unemployment problem and striking a balance in terms of pros and cons of each proposed policy. There are always conflicts between different economic goals. A reduction in interest rates will likely lead to increase in consumption which is good for solving unemployment as more investors are attracted to increase capital investments in productive capacity to increase supply of consumer goods for profit. But lowering interest rates will surely lead to inflation which will hurt fixed income earners or the working class most. This is politically unwise. This simple illustration highlights the potential as well as the actual conflicts between different economic policies. The three basic capabilities of being connected ( the larger perspective of public interest as a whole ), sensitive ( to individual needs of citizens and their families ) and knowledgeable ( in the workings of the economy ) are all plainly very useful and vital.
Step (5) – TA, besides the three basic skills the application of TOEL in the present case requires a high moral standard on the part of the planners because different sectors of society will be benefited or affected in different ways under different policies. In other words, it is easy for government to do favours to their own political parties and support groups both in the business community and the working class. Furthermore, government's advanced knowledge of the policies they have discussed or decided before publication in the media leaves much room for insider deals based on advanced knowledge which cannot be easily proven. Therefore, the reader will once again see the importance of an effective moral code for the fair and proper functioning of society.
Step (6) – PM, the monitoring process is straight forward through the economic data periodically collected as a matter of course but the moral monitoring may be difficult. Therefore, it is good and healthy practice to ask high ranking public servants to
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face the media and the people as a constant reminder and pressure to force them to toe the moral line. The reader will certainty see the most important function of the opposition party in parliament which is to be the watch dog and moral whip of the ruling party.
Step (7) – RA, Results of good economic policy to reduce unemployment can be ascertained in trade statistics and consumer confidence. This is because less unemployment means a more secured job market giving the consumer more confidence in their future financial prospects which will ultimately be reflected in increased consumer spendings. The only worry then would be inflationary pressure which could mean that higher interest rates may again be in the pipeline. Inflation would also lead to less equitable distribution of income because profit margins can be adjusted upwards instantly to beat inflation while salaries and wages would be left behind due to annual
adjustments and relative bargaining power depending on labour market conditions.
( 8 ) Solving Social Interaction Problems
We shall take racial problems as an example from this category of social problems. Such problems depend on a lot of interacting factors such as history, cultural back ground, ignorance, extremism, inequitable social system, bigotry, a bad
education system and outside or international influence. It is one of the most difficult problem to solve. The best we can hope for in terms of public policy is to reduce racial conflict and avoid open confrontation. Complete eradication of racial problems will call for an effective education system both formal ( in schools and tertiary institutes ) and informal ( through the media and a generally accepted and effective moral code ). Only through time and perseverance can the problem be solved at the fundamental level. A workable moral code is especially vital because nothing is more influential than coercive externalities in the form of peer pressure and prolonged re-conditioning of the brain and our behaviour.
Step (1) – PC, problem identification will put the present problem as mainly a subjective reality (SR) and HR. The prejudice that leads to racial problem originates from each misguided individual. Hence, it is SR created out of misinformation and negative conditioning of the brain. It is also HR because the racial behaviour and the unfortunate incidents of open confrontation and subsequent blood shed and loss of lives are part of history and objective reality as far as the damages to property and loss of lives are concerned. These man-made tragedies just like the cruel wars that killed millions of people will most unfortunately become causes and further fuels for the fire of hatred to
create vicious circles of ever more damaging and devastating violence. Step (2) – DC, unfortunately all relevant data are in the form of
police and coroner reports although other theoretical and academic information is available from researchers and academics in higher educational institutes such as universities and other research centres. Relevant history is an important source of information leading to better understanding of the problem.
Step (3) – PA, for problem analysis in this case it takes an objective mind and a wider perspective to understand and to come to a fair and balanced conclusion based on a given set of facts which is bound to arouse an emotional response from the one analyzing it. Therefore, a high moral standard including a true sense of justice and compassion together with the three basic skills especially connection and sensitivity are needed to carry out an unbiased and comprehensive analysis of the
problem at hand.
Step (4) – TS, the target solution seems to lie in an effective and healthy education with special emphasis on our common humble origin that is stardust, our common plight of suffering the pains of birth, ageing, sickness and death, the precious nature of life, the interconnectness of all beings and, most of all, the already bleak reality of insufficient resources of all kinds to battle hunger, diseases and natural disasters. With all these common factors and plights in existence, we are all in the same boat. We already have our hands full of troubles so that we cannot take silly ideas such as racial inequality
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and bigotry anymore. They are all evil fruits of igonrance that must be done away with for good by means of an effective education system consistently applied for a few generations into the future to cultivate a new breed of informed global citizens ( my concrete ideas and detailed argument in this regard have been set out in chapter (x) – What I believe - Of Education and Educators to which please refer ).
Step (5) – TA, with regard to the present problem, TOEL ( with the three basic skills ) must be applied carefully with special emphasis on cultural sensitivity (CS) and interpersonal sensitivity (IPS). A proper sense of history ( chapter (vi) – the Science of Networks – A Network View on History ) together with a basic understanding of the structural characteristics of our consciousness and the working of our brain ( through constant conditioning ) are important keys to a successful solution to the problem at hand. A genuine sense of compassion based on our common plights is a positive contribution. Encouraging more muti-cultural activities and joint celebration of
different cultural festivals with the government taking the lead is a workable proposition. Step (6) – PM, progress can be monitored by the reduced number of racial incidents and increased harmony among different racial groups. Professional researchers should also be commissioned to conduct periodical studies to update the monitoring process. It pays for the government to invest in racial harmony and encourage multi-cultural activities which will definitely bear the fruits of peace and harmony among all
citizens and avoid polarizing and destructive racial tension and violence in the future. Step (7) – RA, results of our problem solving efforts will be seen in a more peaceful and harmonious society with everyone respecting the values of others and taking part in friendly festive activities of all other cultures. This would be the ideal society that could be a reality if we are sincere in our wish to reach out to other people of various cultural heritage and putting a genuine effort into implementing a racially healthy
and effective education system on a consistent basis with perseverance.
( 9 ) Solving Social Health Problems
This is the last of our representative type of problems to which TOEL can be applied as designed. We shall take the well known problem of AIDS or the HIV epidemic as an example of a physical ( in this case biological and, more precisely, health ) problems on a social scale. This health problem first surfaced in the early part of 1980s and had continued unabated up to the present time. However, its publicity seems to be more subdued recently probably on account of the severity of terrorism and other world wide problems of regional wars ( in the Middle East, Afganistan, Iraq and Africa ). Also the discovery and introduction of various drug cocktails that can effectively control the virus and prolong the lives of sufferers have done a lot to reduce the immediate urgency and cries for help from the infected population. Nevertheless, its destructive effects are still there and are spreading like wild fires especially in Africa.
Step (1) – PC, this problem exists in the realm of obtjective reality (OR) and obeys the rigid laws of nature. But it also closely involves real human beings in the millions. Therefore, the pains and sufferings caused also exists subjectively in the infected population (SR is also involved which calls for a personal touch ). Let us refresh
ourselves with the motto of OR – be flexible with OR and of SR – be personal with SR. Step (2) – DC, data is readily available from WHO and other health authorities in different countries. Nowadays, governments of all countries are very open about AIDS statistics because they realize it is a global phenomenon from which no country is exempt. International efforts are badly needed, hence the more pragmatic approach. Besides medical data, personal information especially that relating to needs for financial and mental support is also required to enable us to take a more human and personal approach as suggested by the above motto. However, this second type of
information is harder to come by. Step (3) – PA, problem analysis involves the medical expertise which
must be taken up by health experts while the human side of the problems calls for a lot
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more research. Despite the difficulties in this respect, the job must be done. In conducting such personal work affecting the patients their privacy is a top priority. Sensitivity of many types ( IPS, CDS, PrS, PhS, RS and CS ) are needed to do a satisfactory job. Both material and mental help should be provided to the infected population. Concepts from the Science of Networks relating to propagation of disease are very useful tools.
Step (4) – TS, the target solution is two fold. Doctors will take care of the patients physical health while counselors must cater for their mental health. All such services should be funded by the international community because it is a global issue and the poor nations cannot afford the resources. The rich nations should bear the major financial burden relating to this problem since they have already reaped the benefits from unequal trading positions with respect to the poor countries. More international efforts in fighting the HIV virus should be made. The generally accepted moral principles of justice and compassion must carry the day.
Step (5) – TA , as far as the present problem is concerned, TOEL must be applied with a delicate hand. On the prevention level, more extensive education programs to raise HIV awareness should be conducted in earnest. The actual medical caring process should be carried out with a humane approach and great sensitivity which is called for in the circumstances. Being thoroughly knowledgeable with the disease in
question is of paramount importance for the protection of the problem solvers themselves. Step ( 6) – PM, monitoring can be done by both medical practitioners and social workers. National and international organizations must take part in the monitoring process. More frequent periodic meetings and forums should be held to improve implementation efficiency. With modern sophisticated information technology supported by financial backings from the international community, there is no reason why this urgent mission should be unsuccessful. Where there is a will, there is a way and a
direct way it should be. Step (7) – RA, results can be published by international bodies such
as WHO ( which is currently working hard in this direction ) for open discussions and further improvements on the present course of action being taken. With determination and genuine efforts, the HIV epidemic should be under control in the not too distant future. It is very likely that new drugs and treatment will be forthcoming to speed up the fight against HIV to the benefit of all mankind.
The foregoing 9 examples are much simplified versions of real life problems but I hope they do serve the purpose of illustrating the basic workings of my tentative TOEL and provide a rough idea on the integrated way the theory is supposed to operate. Like the proposed Intricate Order of the Holographic Model of the universe pioneered by David Bohm, there is a holistic touch to my tentative theory. The whole proposition works as an wholly interconnected system with multi-laterally interactive elements at 5 different levels. The theory works or falls as an indivisible whole. No breaking down of the system into each independently operating part is possible as in the reductionist method. Of course, it is just a start and requires a lot of further refinements
and more systematic formulation to transform it , as I have hoped, into a manual for life.
( B ) The Inspirations
TOEL in Summarized Form
Having seen the tentative TOEL in action within the context of all representative types of problems, it is time to recapitulate the complete theory in summary
form for easy reference and effective presentation. TOEL has 5 levels in structure. In order of decreasing importance,
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the hierarchy begins with the top capability or state of BEING CONNECTED ( or BEING CORRELATIVE ) by the application of a TELESCOPIC PERSPECTIVE. The second in line is the capability or state of BEING SENSITIVE ( in 10 different areas ) and the third capability or state is BEING KNOWLEDGEABLE ( in no less than 12 recommended disciplines of knowledge ). The above three vital capabilities are all built on the fourth structural level of a good EDUCATION system, effective MORAL CODE for society reinforced by a fair and equitable system of LAWS. The most basic ground work is represented by the fifth level at the root of the whole theory which hinges on our present understanding of the REALITY ( consisting of 4 categories – SHOP – which cover the grandest of all structures that is the visible universe – 150 billion light years across - to the tiniest of all things - the subatomic particles or strings or branes up to 10 dimensions possibly of Planck length – 1/10 of a metre to the 35 power in size - and all the intellectual ideas and artistic objects created by human beings up to the present point in our history – the HR and SR ) and our current understanding of the characteristics and mechanism of our CONSCIOUSNESS ( with 10 useful structural features for operational guidelines on all human behaviour ). The above is the best possible way to describe my tentative TOEL in terms of briefness. Of course, the one single KEY WORD for TOEL is CONNECTION which may be a bit too brief or metaphysical for some readers. So, the previous 12 chapters consisting of some 200,000 words ultimately boil down to the above few hundred ( just under 300 – which is 291 ) words. This is the most coherent picture and my CONNECTED TELESCOPIC PERSPECTIVE ( as explained in detail in chapter (xi) – Towards a Theory of Everything in Life – (A) The Theory – A Question of Perspectives in TOEL ) of the whole universe and all human affairs in one paragraph that occupies less than 18 square cm in area or close to nothing in cyber space of the hard disk in my PC ( 2.8MB ). It is the most concentrated form of summary or precis I have ever done in my whole life and I am feeling so elated and yet tranquil after doing it ! The most vital point to keep in mind about TOEL is that each of its features should not be viewed in isolation. They are all inter-connected and they interact multi-laterally to produce the desired results of being connected ( or correlative ), being sensitive and being knowledgeable. These are the main themes of the theory.
Practical Hints in Support of TOEL
Apart from setting out the tentative TOEL in the above summarized form, there are other practical hints that can be systematically arranged to act as reminders and auxilliary measures for TOEL. These hints can be given in support of the daily application of TOEL as well as for the long-term spiritual level of ongoing conditioning of our brain and consciousness. For easy memory, I have improvised two working SCHEDULES for the reader to follow should they decide to do a test run of my tentative TOEL. These are the daily schedules and spiritual schedules. Moreover, since TOEL is to be applied to the reality, I would further propose to integrate the acronym for the 4 different types of reality ( i.e. SHOP ) to the two working schedules so that they have now become our daily SHOP SCHEDULES and our spiritual SHOP SCHEDULES. Let us go on to see
how this can be done.
Daily SHOP SCHEDULES
First of all, let us discuss the daily SHOP SCHEDULES. I strongly suggest taking the following steps and measures in our daily routines which are most conducive to our own the preparation for learning and training in the use of TOEL. These steps and measures include the following :- Sports, Co-operation, Humour, Environment
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( awareness ), Duty ( sense of our responsibility ), Utility ( making ourselves useful ), Living ( meaningfully ), Economy ( being thrifty ) and Society ( socially aware ) which make up the acronym SCHEDULES.
We need a healthy physique to cope with the toils and trials of life once we have set our own goals in life. Taking part in SPORTS can give us a healthy body and build up our self-confidence. No wonder a phrase like “ be a good sport “ is so popular in describing a happy and jovial disposition.
Because we must interact socially in order to conduct our daily affairs, the ability to CO-OPERATE with everyone we encounter is an essential social skill. Sensitivity is the key to successful human relationship. This ability coupled with the two other basic skills of being knowledgeable and correlative ( or connected ) will guarantee you smooth sailing in the river of life and the great ocean of people. Once again, TOEL has made your day.
With numerous obstacles in our daily living both at work and in dealing with other people, a healthy sense of HUMOUR is indispensable. Therefore, it is an important part of our daily schedules. To acquire a sense of humour, one must have a telescopic perspective ( again, an attribute of TOEL - see summary above ). With the ability to put success and failure in the proper perspective of your life, society and ultimately the whole universal order ( life goes on regardless of what happens to you at your personal level and for that matter anyone's level ), you can then keep your confidence and composure and look at anything with a sense of humour. For example, I am poor but I can be rich in spirit. Or, I am not a millionaire so I am safe from kidnappers.
ENVIRONMENTAL awareness is everyone's fundamental responsibility towards nature and our next generation. This is the number one issue chosen by me as the greatest and most urgent of all world problems. We must act on our beliefs and principles in our daily life. Therefore, environmental awareness is an important element in our daily schedules. As an individual, we can start with small things such as rejecting the use of environmentally unfriendly plastic bags and joining car pools to cut down on the emission of polluting exhaust. The bigger issues require international co-operation and determination for their ultimate solution.
On the other hand, a sense of DUTY is a fundamental quality and character trait everyone must possess before one is qualified to be a decent human being and a modern global citizen. Every good deed begins with a sense of duty as a human being. The same quality is also essential to our career and being a good member of society and your own family. Thus, it should be another important element of our daily
schedules.
Making ourselves useful or of UTILITY to oneself, one's family and society as a whole is an overflow from having a sense of duty. Regardless of your age, gender and physical conditions, you can always make yourself useful in some way. For a retired person like myself, taking part in social and volunteer work is a meaningful option.
The most important and meaningful thing we can do in life is LIVING. I do not mean it in the physical sense of simply existing and biologically functioning. I mean it in the spiritual sense of setting goals in life and achieving them. More importantly, really living in the spiritual sense does not just mean achieving goals for achivement's sake like the more the merrier and with top efficiency. It is quality of life and not the quantity of goals that is the main theme in life. The reader is once again reminded that in life it is the process of living as a coherent and enjoyable experience rather than achieving a particular end by hook or by crook and with top efficiency that is important to us as feeling human beings. This message is loud and clear in nature's ways which operate in never ending and unchanging cycles that are somehow always changing from one stage to the next. The same message can also be seen in the implications of the illusive and mystical Quantum Theory. Therefore, quality living should include private moments for reflection on the present course we are taking in life and even some idle time for connecting with nature in aimless contemplation or deep meditation. I have found such activities most productive in terms of spiritual rejuvenation and intellectual inspiration. Nature works in mysterious and wonderous ways. Some of our brightest ideas are sometimes born out of idle contemplation. It is the paradoxical way nature operates at times. Even in the course of writing this book, I have encountered flashes of inspirations
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not when I am consciously thinking about the book in front of my PC but during so-called idle moments of contemplation when my eyes catch sight of the strange shapes of white clouds in the azure sky and the beautiful shades of colours in the leaves swaying in the breeze as I am walking the family dog.
With our always limited amount of resources to meet our unlimited amount of needs, the virtue of being thrifty is not only good but it is absolutely essential for our material well being. Therefore, the concept of ECONOMY should be a part of our daily schedules as well. Given our limited capacity to enjoy earthly goods, being thrifty is a logical attribute to adopt. A detailed discussion on this limited capacity has already been carried out in chapter (x) – What I believe – Of Money and Men. One further comment that is in order here is the social implication of the economic concept of marginal utility on the issue of an equitable distribution of income in society. While it is not in dispute that a fair income distribution is socially desirable to avoid polarization of the rich and poor, care must be taken to ensure that the incentives to more economically useful efforts are not discouraged through a too progressive taxation system. A sensible and healthy balance must be struck between keeping motivation to personal efforts intact and an equitable distribution of income and wealth which is always a matter of value judgment and prevailing social expectation and aspiration. Furthermore, a too aggressive plan to redistribute income and wealth will again bring back the spectre of socialism or of a planned economy. It is also against the principle of minimum intervention by government in individual rights regarding the sanctity of ownership of private property which is the
foundation of a democratic and free society. The last item in our daily schedules is SOCIETY. It reminds usof the
importance of having a genuine and sincere awareness of our proper place in society. Besides being a responsible and law abiding citizen, we should also be motivated to keeping the generally accepted moral code intact and always try to think of ways both big and small to make the world a better place whenever possible and when it is within your power and rights to do so. This is not a call for extra efforts beyond your duties as responsible citizens but simply an ideal to aspire to.
To reiterate, SPORTS, CO-OPERATION, HUMOUR, ENVIRONMENT, DUTY, UTILITY, LIVING, ECONOMY and SOCIETY complete the acronym of our daily SHOP SECHEDULES.
Spiritual SHOP SCHEDULES
At the spiritual level, we too can make up a schedule to provide hints for the application of TOEL. The suggested steps and measures for our spiritual schedules are as follows :- Sensitivity, Connection, Harmony, Equity, Dream, Unselfishness, Love, Experience and Soul which make up the acronym SCHEDULES.
A lot has been said about SENSITIVITY and CONNECTION. The only other comment that is left to be mentioned is that these two subtle and intangible qualitiies are the resultant products of a mature personality or seasoned personal character which requires knowledge, time, experience, will power, perseverance, keen observation and, to some extent, personal aptitude to achieve. It sounds difficult if not impossible to acquire such qualities but as long as there is a will there is a way. No perfection is possible in anything ( which is itself an illusive concept ). However, some workable degree or levels of SENSITIVITY and CONNECTION can always be attained if we really want them badly enough. Anything is possible or at least probable if there is sufficient motivation and tenacity of will. Just think of the reward you will get in return for achieving these two capabilities. You will be able to apply TOEL effectively to all human affairs and be able to see the light as the saying goes. At its best and with skilful application TOEL can raise you to a level of understanding and handling of human affairs that you have never dreamed it would be possible. My personal experience and feelings in this regard will be described in the epilogue for the readers' benefit. It may be different for unlike individuals but, nevertheless, the feeling of tranquility and satisfaction will be there for everyone who
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attempts this intellectual journey to share. Meanwhile, let us move on to the other steps and measures in our spiritual schedules.
HARMONY is a very important attribute in the spiritual sense. As all human beings are equally subject to the pains of birth, ageing, sickness and death, a sense of harmony with ourselves, with our loved ones, with our neighbours and with mother nature is the best consoling feeling one can experience. Harmony also implies peace and this is a rare commodity nowadays. To achieve harmony with ourselves, other people and our environment, we must know our proper place in the universe and society. Once our own position and personal identity has been established, our self-confidence will automatically ensue. I bet you must have felt uncomfortable in an unfamiliar place among people that you do not know for the first time such as at a business cocktail party or a charity ball. This is natural because this feeling of unease is basic instinct to keep us on our guard against any contingencies. Therefore, harmony or peace of mind will automatically come about if we are CONNECTED with everything and everyone.
EQUALITY is not just an empty concept. We must not only sincerely believe in it but our convictions about equality must be translated into our actions in treating everyone as our equals. Like the virtue of compassion, equality is solidly founded on our common humble origin of stardust. If you are really inspired by the scientific facts relating to our origin, you may even treat everything as equals despite the fact that things and objects do not possess life as we understand it. The catch phrase is “ as we understand it ”. There are such a lot about this universe that we do not yet understand. This is the real problem and primary cause of all our woes. It is Ignorance which is our greatest enemy. Sometimes, we do not really feel that everyone is our equal simply because we may be materially more privileged than others. However, given our common humble origin, the transitory nature of the material world and our same limited capacity to enjoy earthly goods, we have no alternative but to accept the inevitable conclusion that we are, in fact, all equal in both body and spirit. Religious people base this equality on the belief that human beings are all God's creatures and master pieces of His creation. Now, even atheists must also accept this equality by virtue of the scientific fact concerning our common humble origin that is stardust. Therefore, the case for equality for all beings is thus established beyond any doubt. Any acts against this natural principle of equality of life must be treated as an affront to all humanity. Hence, this basic human right derived from nature should be on the agenda of our spiritual schedules.
At first, it may seem puzzling to find an illusive phenomenon such as a DREAM included in our spiritual schedules. However, it will all be clear to the reader if dream is viewed from the perspective of creativity. In the whole history of human existence, there had been numerous wonderful discoveries and technical achievements that started as illusive dreams. Our dreams in flying and landing on the moon have all been realized. Other more ambitious dreams such as prolonging the human life span and even breaking the time barrier about which brief descriptions will be made in the epilogue are all on the scientific agenda and in the pipe lines awaiting delivery. In fact, we would all be the poorer at both the materialistic and spiritual levels if we were not naturally endowed with the capacity to dream. The only regret seems to be our inhibition and scepticism and doubt on our own ability to dream. Sky would be the limit for us only if we were not so afraid to dream more often. Dreams can enrich us both materially and spiritually for all knowledge starts with wild and unconnected ideas in our mind. Nothing ever happens unless there is first a dream. Therefore, we must dare to dream and be creative. Human
achievements are only limited by our courage and capacity to dream. UNSELFISHNESS is obviously a much needed quality in enriching our
spiritual life. If everyone only thinks of one's own interest and ignores the public need, humanity would have perished long ago although we are still at risk of self-destruction on account of our own ignorance and greed of all forms. With our close global connections nowadays, we simply cannot afford to be selfish because harmful actions by a few can bring devastation to all mankind in terms of war, terrorism, diseases and environmental disorders.
LOVE not only conquers all but also promotes peace and harmony among all people to ensure continued prosperity in our global village. Besides its positive effect on global harmony, our love must also be extended to our environment as well. To be able to
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love others and nature, we must be informed about the workings of nature and human behaviour. Only when we are no longer ignorant about ourselves, other people and nature can we sincerely and genuinely feel love for them. Here is where TOEL can be a useful tool. The reader should note that TOEL and tool are similar both in linguistic construction and practical purposes. The other important point to remember is that love necessarily encompasses the attribute of compassion for all life.
To achieve the important states of being connected and being sensitive, we must go through a lot of useful and relevant EXPERIENCE. Our spiritual life will also be enriched by more experience of all kinds. Subject to the laws of nature and all just human laws and in keeping with the prevailing generally accepted moral code, we should try our very best to gain all sorts of experience so that we may attain the highest order on the TOEL hierarchy of capabilities sooner. Hence, experience is also on the agenda of our spiritual schedules.
Finally, we must not only maintain the well being of our physical body but also our extended persona that is represented by our SOUL. Although the human soul is still a topic for metaphysics and its existence is rejected by most scientists, I am inclined to view it as our individual life force inextricably tied to the grand life force of the universe. My views on the human soul and consciousness have been set out at length in chapter (x) – What I Believe – Of Death and Destruction. So, further discussion is not warranted here. Suffice it to say for the various reasons set out in the above-mentioned section of chapter (x) that I do not agree with the purely materialistic world view. On the balance of available scientific evidence including the implications flowing from it and other relevant philosophical arguments set out previously, I am in favour of the existence a higher form of intricate order with close interconnections between all aspects of physical and spiritual life of all beings. I have also argued that our technology is such that further scientific investigations into this hypothesized higher intricate order is becoming more and more viable only if we had the courage, foresight and tenacity of will to move in that direction which I am sure will yield valuable, interesting and rewarding insights.
To reiterate, SENSIBILITY, CONNECTION, HARMONY, EQUALITY, DREAM, UNSELFISHNESS, LOVE, EXPERIENCE and SOUL complete the acronym of our spiritual SHOP SCHEDULES. I sincerely hope that the above practical hints for applying my tentative TOEL are useful to those who would take up my challenge to try to apply the theory as I have always done to my great advantage.
( C ) The Eccentric Ideas
We are almost at the end of our long and arduous intellectual journey. We may even say that it is the beginning of the end. Let us stop here for a moment to ponder on the past and the future in order to get a sense of orientation. Chapters (i) to (vii) deal with the Objective Reality (OR). Chapters (viii) and (ix) relate to the subjective reality (SR) that concerns ideas and our perceptions of things and phenomena around us and the mechanism ( our consciousness ) for interacting with our environment ( including other people ) to acquire such views. We shall bypass Hybrid Reality (HR) and Perceived Reality (PR) which are merely off-shoots of the first two types of realities although learning the characteristics of the last two is very helpful to the effective application of TOEL because they constitute the majority of situations we encounter in our daily lives. Chapter (x) – What I Believe – sets out my personal views of some of the major issues in life as I see them. Such views are, in fact, products from my application of TOEL to the relevant issues in the integrated sense, a precursor to the last two chapters, (xi) and (xii) on the formulation and simulated application of my tentative TOEL. Having orientated ourselves with respect to our navigational chart, we can now set sail for the final leg of our voyage towards our ultimate destination in the harbour of life and truth ( yet another type of SR ).
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Theory and Reality
The reader may find the 9 examples set out above too simple and a bit out of touch with reality. You are absolutely correct but all theories are necessarily approximation of the reality they pupport to describe and predict. Otherwise, they will be too specific to have any predictive power. We may as well take each real life scenario to transform it into individual theories which are accurate to every minor detail. But then, there would be numerous theories to cover every real life scenario thus rendering the them useless for lack of generality and predictive value. Theories are by nature theoretical ( here comes another one of my tautologies ! ). Let me tell you a short story about theories and theorists. When I attended my first lecture in economics on my first day at the Hong Kong University back in 1968, our lecturer at the time was an economist who was previously employed by the United Nations as a consulting economist. Before starting the lecture on economics, he said he would tell us an interesting story after which we will definitely realize what economics is all about. It goes like this. There was once a centipede ( a small crawling venomous creature with 100 small little legs ) which has lost one of its legs. It has heard that the owl is the wisest creature around in the forest world. So, the centipede paid the wise old owl a visit to ask for help to heal its leg. After a lot of close examination and serious pondering by the wise old owl, the wise guy was only able to come up with a puzzled grin in his eyes and some undulating wrinkles on his forehead. The owl told the centipede that with all his great knowledge about nature he regretted that there was nothing he could do to reverse the course of the centipede's misfortune. However, the owl knew of a even wiser creature called the economist who could play magic by using only limited means to meet unlimited ends with the material world. Perhaps, the economist was smart enough to conjure up something for the centipede. So, it immediately went to see the smart economist. Without much hesitation, the economist said to the centipede :- “ I cannot help you to recover your leg but I may be able to reduce your level of injury and disability by 90%. “ The centipede was overjoyed to hear the good news. “ Please, tell me how this can be done. I will surely repay your kindness when I have the chance “ said the centipede. “ O.K. ! It's easy “ said the economist , “ you can reduce your disability by 90% if you turn yourself into a millipede which has 1000 legs. “ The centipede was dumbfounded. “ How could I do this ? “ it protested. “ Don't ask me ,“ said the economist,:- “ I am only a theorist. I base my theory on sound logic but as regards implementation you have to ask the technicians. Implementation is not the responsibility of my department.” There you have it. Theories mostly work on principles and approximations. The story itself is an extreme case of pure theorization and real life economists do come up with practical solutions for economic problems. For example, J.M. Keynes' important economic theories on government fiscal expenditure and deficit financing reversed the course of the world depression in the 1930s resulting from the great Wall Street Crash of 1929. However, the story does hightlight the necessarily general nature of all theories. I hope that given time and further efforts my theory will become more systematic and user friendly.
Connection and Sensitivity Revisited
By now, the reader must have noticed the vital parts played by the above two qualities or capabilities within the frame work of my tentative TOEL. The question of how must have come across the reader's mind at some stage of the reading process. Well, I have better news to tell the reader than the lesson from the above story concerning the centipede. As a matter of fact, there are practical ways of achieving these two qualities as part of our personality traits. The following is the personal experience acquired by me on my path to connection and sensitivity which can have no limits on their perfection. The job is never done. These qualities will grow with time and experience without any limits. That is why the learning process should be ongoing and unceasing. The
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more we learn, the more we realize that there is much more to be learned. In fact, acquiring knowledge is an endless process. The only certainty about the learning process is that the more we learn the easier it is for us to learn more due to the effects of geometrical progression or exponential function in the accumulation of knowledge.
There are only 26 alphabets in the English language. When we first started to learn the language, we began with penmanship. The writing of the alphabets in both small and capital letters. We only learned one or two alphabets every week. It was so tedious and monotonous. At that time, I was all the while wondering why we had to undergo such a seemingly meaningless ordeal. Learning the first few alphabets can only help us to understand some simple nouns such as egg or bee. But when we have learned all 26, sky is the limit once we can connect them. From making up simple sentences of some ten words or there about in my primary school, I have come a long way to writing this book of over 200,000 words consisting of over 1,300,000 alphabets although the quality of my writing is subject to the reader's opinion. The working of geometric progression and the power of the exponential function are both remarkable and mind boggling. Similarly, there are a mere eight musical notes in an octave. That is all you have got to compose your music. But with the extraordinary power of connection inborn in the ingenius and inspirational mind of the great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin the resultant artistic creation is beyond description in terms of beauty and inspiration. Their music can invoke a profound sense of serenity and timelessness. It is all a matter of effective connection ( in the case of music, it is really mathematics and the frequency of vibrations in the form of accoustic resonance – again, there is the science-art connection ! ). To me, there is really no sophistication or any deep philosophy in the conception of connection because it is nature's way. This is the way nature works, albeit in a subtle way and it leads me to the inevitable conclusion that simplicity is beauty and to the eternal truth that simplicity, beauty and truth are in symmetry at the highest level of nature's existence. Most important of all, connection leads me to the exact opposite conclusion to that reached by some renowned scientists such as Jacques Monod ( that mixing knowledge with value is forbidden ) and Steven Weinberg ( that human existence is without any particular purpose or that this universe is meaningless ) because both science and philosophy are seeking truth, simplicity and beauty in life which is definitely meaningful if we only care to make it so by virtue of the power of our consciousness and our role as an observer in the grandeur of the universe as Quantum Theory has so indisputably highlighted. If anyone has the slightest doubt about the interconnection between science, philosophy, beauty, simplicity and the meanings in life, let him or her
read the following beautiful peom by the British poet, William Blake ( 1757-1827 ) :-
To see a World in a grain of sand, And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour.
It is really remarkable how the whole of Einstein's concept of time and Quantum Theory's concept of inner space were all implied in this profoundly inspirational little poem of the eighteenth century created purely through the poet's natural intuition and aesthetic insight into Mother Nature. All of the above issues and, in fact, everything else in the universe are inextricably connected through Mother Nature as the intermediary and as the ultimate manifestation of life and God, or the Life Force as some of us may prefer to call IT. I would humbly suggest that one should look to one's heart for the personal proof of their existence because these are matters for our heart ( feelings ) rather than matters for our head ( logic ).
As the reader may recall, the state of being connected is the highest level on the structural hierarchy of TOEL. In order to be connected, one must be knowledgeable and sensitive but having the latter two capabilities may not yet guarantee you to becoming connected. It takes a lot of relevant knowledge coupled with even more experience, sensivity, intuition, inspiration, adaptability, personal aptitude, quick wits, keen observation, positive motivation, flexibility of mind and perspective to reach the state of connection. From my experience and based on the way our brain works ( i.e. through
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conditioning ), I have found TRAVELLING and INTERACTION with people of all kinds to be the primary route towards the goal of connection. Then, there is the secondary path of getting close to NATURE through CONTEMPLATION, MEDITATION and IDLE and aimless thoughts. You can do this while you are travelling but being close to nature need not involve distant and costly travel. I have mentioned above that I sometimes get my inspirations even when I am walking the family dog in parks and nature reserves. Before you can reach this stage, you have no alternative but to go through what I call the materialistic stage. There are many paradoxical things in life. One of these is that you cannot easily do away with anything unless you did once possess it or had experienced it at a certain stage in your life. I suppose this is nature's way to put in us such yearnings for things that we have not yet possessed as a motivation force or ambition to lead us to better ourselves. Such yearnings can lead to tragedy for the weak minded. How often do we hear about teenagers being caught for drug trafficking ( and handed the death penalty ) simply because they are tempted by free sight-seeing trips to exotic places which they have long yearned to see but could not afford to. I was lucky enough to have done a lot of travelling both on business and on family holidays and thereby gained a variety of experience relating to natural wonders, people, scenic spots, sumptuous food, exciting entertainment, comfortable dwellings, architectural wonders and cultures other than my own. Travelling used to be the top expenditure item on my budget and I must confess that I have learned a lot of knowledge and gained some inspirations and profound thoughts during my travels. As you get older, you may not have a lot to look forward to on the material level as your health deteriorates but your memories stay with you forever. Therefore, do try your best to travel more when you are young and gain precious experience of all sorts wherever possible and in the proper way. TRAVELLING definitely helps you to become connected with yourself, other people and nature.
Constant interaction with other people will certainly improve your chances of becoming connected by increasing your sensitivity. Everyone can do this if only one is willing to take the trouble. But I can assure you that your efforts will be generously rewarded. With the convenience of easy access to the internet, the younger generation is in a very good position to interact not just electronically but also interpersonally with other people but caution is the best advice. There are a lot of criminals and perverts out there on the net. Ask for counselling and friendly advice from family members, trusted relatives and friends in case of doubt. Never go it alone if you are not too sure what you are in for. INTERACTION with other people is another good way of becoming connected and sensitive. When you are absolutely alone listening to soothing music, both modern and classical can be inspirational and can help to prepare yourself mentally for the connection process by inducing a sense of serenity and tranquility in your psyche. I had background
classical music most of the time when I was writing this book. As regards the secondary path to connection which is to be close
to nature, you must take time out from your tedious daily routines to recharge yourself spiritually. Get under the sun and on the sandy beaches ( with a lot of sun screen for protection, of course ). Also, have a walk in the park to enjoy beautiful sights of the array of colours in the flowers and the leaves and the soothing sound of singing birds. You need not do this alone. In the company of friends will provide the added benefit of safety and social interaction to help with the conditioning of your sensitivity of all types. NATURE is the greatest teacher as I have mentioned time and again. You will definitely reap your golden harvest of inspirations in time.
Given time, you will sooner or or later reach what I call the TAKE- OFF POINT ( just as in the economic sense when a society reaches the level of national income that the economy becomes self-sustaining and achieves spontaneous growth ). Everything will suddenly dawn on you just like the birth of a star when the nuclear fusion process is turned on. There will be no stopping after the critical point until the star is burnt out completely or, in human terms, until the end of your life.That is how powerful and unstoppable once the learning process is switched on. For the purpose of learning, it is always the sooner the better because the sooner you become connected the more time you will have to apply your skill. On the other hand, it is never too late to learn. In my case, I would say that I started the connection process, as I told the reader, when I first read E.M. Forster's novel, Howards End, back in 1966. Then, it carries on at different pace and
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intensity until it really started to burn with a vengeance ( like the nuclear fusion process in star birth ) in 2000 after I had read Professor Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time. As I unashamedly declared, I never looked back since the past few years during which I had become some sort of book worm. Having realized the potential of becoming connected, I have'nt the slightest doubt about its value for myself as a thinking and feeling individual human being and by extention to society as a whole. So much so that I would advocate this training for our younger generation but in a simplified form.
There you have my life story on the learning process along my path to CONNECTION ( which is still ongoing as I have emphasized ). If ever I am requested to give a name to my way of thinking that has culminated in my tentative TOEL, I would probably call it the Philosophy of the People because of my wish to devise a manual for life which can be used by everyone to guide their daily behaviour. I would sign off from the formulation of my tentative TOEL with Sir Winston Churchill's famous saying during the Second World War : - “ This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” It is so true in the never ending cycles of changes in our universe ( or multi-verse ), the end of a cycle of changes is only the
beginning of a new and recurring one and vice versa. Before we leave TOEL, I would just like to repeat E.M. Forster's
inspirational motto in Howards End - “ Only connect “....... and you will see the world in a different light. Only connect and you will be human and have better foresight.
Epilogue
After leisurely reading for six years and seriously writing for more than eighteen months in expressing my personal views on the universe, I have finally realized my childhood dream of becoming an author of sorts. In accordance with my personal philosophy of life ( chapter (x) – What I Believe – Of Love and Living ), I have done this for myself first and foremost. Then, there is the selfish motive of leaving some intellectual legacy for my children. If, incidental to the above personal goals of mine, some readers find the book useful in whatever way that is applicable to their lives, it would be an extra bonus. As I have previously said, I always wish to make the world a better place for myself and others. Even if my book can motivate just one other person to start searching for meaningful goals in his or her life, I would have achieved my purpose. Still remember Ernest Hemingway's aspiration as a writer : - “ The goal of a writer is to write one true sentence “. Of course, it would be much better if I could succeed in inducing the same motivation in my own children in time, even after my passing to another dimension where my consciousness will remain in some form or manner ( this is my sincere belief according
to my own convictions on death and thereafter ). There is another experience that I have come to cherish most
during the course of writing this book. I have finally come to feel the kind of emotions closest to that of a mother giving birth to her baby after the full term of her pregnancy. There had been times of pain and anguish when it would appear that the development of the foetus is not quite normal. Then, there were times of elation when an excellent medical report or ultra-sound scanning image showed healthy growth of the embryo. The ups and downs of the emotional levels are phenomenal. Most memorable of all is the time such as the present moment of truth when the whole book is finally completed and the tremendous pains of labour ( estimated to be grade 8 to 9 out of a maximum possible total on a scale of 10 ) are over. The height of the agony followed by the pinnacle of ecstay after giving birth ( comparable to the completion of the book ) is beyond description. I am so grateful to really have had just a glimpse of the greatness of motherhood.
How has this intellectual journey changed my outlook on life ? Well, there are two folds to my answer to this question. At the daily or practical level, I am no longer too particular about small issues like following conventions or things that other people expect me to do. I have put everything in the wider perspective of life as I see it and within the context of my own goals in life. After all, I live for myself and not for other
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people. This is the basis for liberal humanism. That does not mean that I have become more selfish. On the contrary, I am more compassionate to everyone and everything based on the natural laws and our common humble origin. I have also come to accept and tolerate imperfections, both in myself and others because very good things may come out of imperfections which make us more human and give us our individuality. It is out of the imperfections created in our DNA through ultra-violet radiation and copying errors that have given rise to mutation which in turn makes evolution possible. Peace and harmony is also inherent in nature like the case of co-operation between two warring cells that had finally become the nucleated cell through symbiosis under Lynn Margulis' theory. The nucleated cells are the basic biological units in our bodies. Co-existence is good for everybody. This is equally true in the economic world. If one trading partner reaps all the profit leaving the other partner with nothing, then the other party will become too poor to buy any more commodities from the rich merchant who will finally lose all his business and a vicious circle of poverty for all will ensue. Then, I have also become more tolerant of other people's opposing views as I now know too well from Einstein famous theory that there can be equally valid view points in different frames of reference.
On the spiritual level, I have really taken the implications of Quantum Theory to heart, especially the role of our consciousness in the materialization of reality. We can be master of our destiny if we so choose but at the same time the uncertainty in life cannot be ignored. My mental state has become more serene and peaceful about life in general. Whatever will be will be, not in the sense of a predetermined destiny but rather our own consciousness ( and free will ) being the central issue subject to the elements of random chance and uncertainty. I have come to adopting the attitude to life of hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. More important still, I have learned not to ask why when misfortunate falls upon us. There could be immediate causes but you can never find a one-to-one or cause and effect relationship in most human affairs because everything is interacting multi-laterally with feed-back loops leading to further complications. This is the result of the chaotic nature of human behaviour ( chapters (iii) – Quantum Theory and chapter ( v) - Chaos and Complexity ). When something bad ( anything bad regardless of magnitude ) happens look at it from a wider perspective ( i.e. whatever happens to you or even the whole human race, life must go on in the universe ). Learn the necessary lessons or the immediate causes. Cry a little. Pray for guidance. Do the necessary remedy and move on. Do not insist on finding out why things happen. There may not even be a satisfactory answer. Do not go on a wild goose chase. The paper or money chase has already done enough physical ( biological ) and mental (emotional ) damage.
With all the risks and inherent uncertainties in life, the best attitude is to take things in their stride, be cautious but also be hopeful. Have faith in yourself and the good Lord. Be prepared for life in terms of knowledge, skill, sensitivity, compassion, love and tolerance together with a telescopic perspective ( be connected to yourself, other people and nature and have the ability to look at things from different points of view ). Once I have done all these, I will have the peace of mind and carry on with my daily life as if it were the last. I would like to live life to the fullest, especially spiritually. There is no harm in indulgence in earthly things ( take a cruise with your loved ones or go on family holidays ) but in moderation is the key. Also keep in mind our limited capacity to enjoy. In good times, think about the less fortunate ( may be to take part in some voluntary work of your choice ). In bad times, keep your cool. Have faith in yourself and God and hope for the best and actually do your best to improve your situation. Turn to your friends for emotional and spiritual support as you should also support them in their time of need. Do whatever you want to do subject to the laws of nature, all just human laws and the
generally accepted social and moral code. I will now tell you one last little story about life and the related risks
as a conclusion to my outlook on life. There was once a great monk who was a very accomplished philosopher. He had a very intelligent student who had been learning from him for years. The student was getting impatient to see the world and ask the wise monk to release him from his seclusion. The monk agreed but only on one condition. The student was required to undergo a test to prove that he was mature enough and had sufficient wisdom to conduct his own life outside the monastry. The wise monk pointed to a field full of ripened corn with golden stalks of grain of various sizes and height. He told the
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student to walk through the field without turning back and to take the tallest stalk of corn he can find and to give it to the master as a parting gift. The student thought privately that the test was a piece of cake. As he walked slowly and attentively through the waving sea of corn he caught sight of one tall stalk of corn a few feet in front of him. As he lowered himself towards that particular stalk, his line of vision from a lower angle led him to the impression that another stalk situated at some distant further forward appeared to be taller. So, he abandoned the original choice and moved forward. Again, the same thing happened. The student was thinking that his master might have played a trick on him by deliberately planting the tallest stalk at the far edge of the field to test his patience and power of observation. Finally, when the student reached the last stalk at very edge of the field he still found that the last one is shorter, on hindsight, than some of the previous ones he had given up. But he was not allowed to go back in the opposte direction where he originally came. His indecision had left him empty handed and he failed the test. The wise monk finally revealed the lesson to the student. Life is full of risks and choices. Regardless of the risks in life, choices have to be made time and again. The fear to take risks will result in no choice being made and consequently no living in the true sense. Life is similar to a financial investment in this respect. Risk and return is directly proportional. Some risks have to be taken in order to get a corresponding return that reflects on the degree of risks taken. Of course, common sense must prevail. There are risk takers and conservatives in the financial market just the same as it is in life. The bottom line is that some risks must be taken or there can be no living in the true sense. Lock yourself in a bank vault and you will be 99.99% out of life's normal risks but you will also have to give up the same amount in your quality of life. The ideal approach is, of course, to take reasonable risks in return for a reasonably happy life. I hold the same philosophical outlook on life.
The best way to describe my mental state after the present intellectual journey is as follows. I feel more peaceful and serene about life in general to start with. I have in a certain sense become a more confident, compassionate and positive human being. Furthermore, I feel close to nature and have a geuine concern and sincere affection for her and her creatures, both animals and plants. With my better understanding of the working of nature in the quantum realm as well as the vast cosmos and the nature of the time-space continuum, I feel as one with my environment. If you realize ( as I hope you should after reading the first 7 chapters ) the vast emptiness of space out in the cosmic void and the equally vast emptiness in the microcosm of the quantum realm occcupied by some illusive entities called elementary particles or strings or branes but mostly full of virtual quantum energy fields, you will then understand the wonderful mysteries of the illusive reality which we experience as this colourful world. Nothing is, in fact, solid. Energy seems to be the main constituent. But what actually is energy composed of ? That is the sixty-four million dollar question. Stop short of a full explanation of the scientific reality, the practical effect on my psyche is simply marvellous. I feel at home with all the atoms and stars as we, human beings, exist in the centre of the macro and microcosm ( chapter (iii) – Quantum Theory – (A) The Theory - Macrocosm, Man, Microcosm ). The feeling is just like going to a huge reunion of former classmates. You may no longer know about each one of them as clearly as you did back in your school days but you realize that all of you are from a common origin. They sincerely care about you and you them and they cherish your mutual relationships with them. There need not be constant contact over the years but once you meet them the fond memories and feelings return instantly. That is what I mean by feeling at home. Furthermore, having a thorough understanding of the working principles of nature makes your daily physical activities more enjoyable in the secure feeling that you know exactly what is going on at both the micro and macro levels. If you become skilful with TOEL, then the human arena will be equally open to you in terms of clarity and control. I am sure sports enthusiasts like golfers and tennis players will agree with me that they have ball feel or ball sense. It is as if you can communicate with the ball as a friend and you can actually will it by your conscious mental faculty to do what you like with it. Of course, this ideal situation does not always happen but you always feel that you can do it. The ball can almost assume a human personality as far as your communication with it is concerned. Now, imagine the tiny atoms and gigantic stars are your own golf balls or tennis balls. That is the kind of feel ( not just feelings which are only a part of the feel concept ) I have for the objective reality (OR) as I call it.
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Looking to the future, what would happen to religion and science ? Let me deal with religion first from my own point of view. Briefly, the present state of all organized religions are under threat from the materialistic world view ( the denial of God and the hostility towards established authority by the younger generation ) , globalization ( leading to cross cultural influence resulting from further materialistic commercialism ), dwindling number of office bearers ( causing staff shortages ), permissive social and moral code and the impact of information technology explosion ( as discussed, leading to diminishing human values ). The only solution I can see is for the religious leaders to be more pragmatic and to conduct amicable dialogues with the faithful and the public at large to ascertain their grievances. Subject to their religious dogma ( which is an almost offensive term ) or principles, they must be flexible and be realistic about the current world situations and the state of the social and moral codes. Perhaps, then progress in rebuilding and strengthening of their organizational structures can be made to win back more existing and potential followers. Issues such as homosexuality and abuse of wards in
religious care must be delicately handled. As regards the current progress in science and technology, scientists
are doing so well that they are getting all the support they are looking for because some of their research has great commercial potentials. The only dark cloud looming in the horizon is the huge potential risks to humanity and human values posed by the rapid progress in human cloning techniques and the information technology explosion as discussed in detail in chapter (xi) – Towards a Theory of Everything in Life. Human values are under threat as these two branches of technology advance at a faster pace than the lay public can understand clearly what is going on and the possible ramifications of the new technologies on their lives and values. Take human cloning for example, it is done under the banner of medical research to combat disease at the genetic level. Using embryonic stem cells which can develop into any kind of human cells has serious ethical implications. It is a question of life for life. Why should a new life be sacrificed for the benefit of an existing one ? Who would and should protect the basic human right of the unborn ? It is not simply a matter of objecting on moral grounds alone. Cloning has very real and tangible consequences like deforestation that has led to the extinction of hundreds upon hundreds of plant and animal species that may play or could have played an important part in the fine and delicate balance of our eco-system. Apart from their rights to survival, they may have medicinal and therapeutic values. We just do not know without being given the chance and time to find out. Similarly for human cloning, the destroyed embryo may be another Einstein in the making. We simply do not and cannot know. Once we meddle with nature, there could be serious ramifications on our future well being. Furthermore, not all the side effects of cloning and genetic modifications have yet been discovered and studied so that the current direction of research may and could be flawed. The recent anouncement ( in September, 2006 ) of a new technique that is supposed to keep the damage of the test embryo to an acceptable limit which would keep it alive is an example of the mentality of the medical research community. It has been argued by them that the new technique involves only a single stem cell from the test embryo. The rate of destruction of the test embryo is claimed to be substantially reduced but unproven in a reliable way due to limited available data. However, one thing is not in dispute about this new technique. At least some test embryo will still perish. So, you can clearly understand their arrogant and impersonal attitude from this announcement. Why should even one case of test embryo's demise be acceptable ? A single life is still precious life of unknown potential wisdom or talent. They are simply playing statistics to calm the public and to cover the backsides of politicians who have both political and commercial interests of their own to consider that are in conflict with their public policy making role. We must be very careful lest some uncontrollable and perverted scientists may play God again to our own detriment and that of society.
Apart from the human cloning issue, the long awaited Theory of Everything ( TOE ) which had been Einstein's unfinished dream still evades the research efforts of the scientists. Let us hope that the imminent integration of the two major and the best theories of Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity on the subatomic realm and the working of gravity respectively can lead to a successful unification of all the four forces
of nature and the finalization of TOE.
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Before I leave the possible future of science, I would like to introduce one last eccentric and incredible scientific idea of BREAKING the TIME BARRIER. This is not science fiction but a partial scientific reality. It will be recalled ( from chapter (iv) – Special and General Relativity ) that nothing can travel faster than light and to do so would tantamount to going backwards in time. As recently as in February 1999 , scientists had been able to cool down atoms to near absolute zero temperature under laboratory and experimental conditions. At such lowest of possible temperature all movements of atoms and elementary particles stop. Light is also one type of elemetary particles called photons which are massless and are the most numerous type in our universe. While the speed of light through a vaccum is 186,000 mph, its speed had been successfully reduced to a mere 38mph in a cloud of atoms ( techincally known as a Bose-Einstein condensate ) cooled to near absolute zero at the Rowland Institute at Harvard by a Danish scientist called Lene Vestergaad in February, 1999. The significance of reducing the speed of light to an attainable pace also implies the slowing down of time. This is because all information must be transmitted by light. Nothing can happen until signals have been exchanged between two conscious parties. If the propagation of signals is slowed down all events due to take place according to the signals or instructions would also slow down correspondingly. As time is measured by the occurrence of events, time would also slow down to an attainable speed. We could then break the time barrier at the reduced speed if we could exist in that kind of cold temperature near absolute zero. But, alternatively, we could send robotic probes in our place to break the time barrier in the extreme cold to propagate or retrieve information for us. This would still constitute time travel through the trick of reducing the speed of light rather than catching up to the normal speed of light at 186,000 mph ( or 300,000 kmph ) which would take an infinite amount of energy to achieve. This has been predicted to be impossible by Einstein's Special Relativity ( e= mc2 ). In the near absolute zero temperature conditions in the dark and vast cosmos, there are a lot of very ancient photons produced by interactions between elementary particles arising from past events that are waiting to be captured or read. If that could be done as current research has indicated, we might just be able to do time travel backwards in time by means of robotic probes to retrieve some of these ancient signals of past events. Isn't this interesting and exciting stuff ? I will surely let the reader know if and when this manner of time travel is materialized. From this example, the reader will probably appreciate that however abstract and complicated revolutionary scientific concepts may seem to us, to ignore them completely does not prevent such advanced concepts from drastically affecting our philosophical outlooks on life and reality. When such concepts are proven and materialized into everyday technologies such as IT ( the net, etc. ) (which incidentally is based on the application of Quantum Theory ) they would be directly affecting our daily lives and well being, not just in the philosophical sense. This is the reason that has led me back into the scientific realm after all these years of my accounting and tax consultancy career. It pays to be basically ( but need not be technically ) informed for two very important reasons. Firstly, it is in accordance with my own TOEL to be knowledgeable for better capability to make decisions on human behaviour. Secondly, being well informed about the basic principles and ethical implications of such new concepts entitles you to engage in discussions over the right direction to be taken in such research. I do want a say because new scientific concepts and technologies will ultimately affect our lives ( just like human cloning ). This is my basic individual-humanistic right. Everyone should and must insist to stand up and be counted on crucial issues that will affect us and, most importantly, our future generations whom it is our sacred duty to protect ( just as in the case of environmental issues ). Secondly, for the more practical modern citizens, funding of research deemed vital for the public interest will one way or another come out of our pockets in the form of higher taxation ( my area ) and other levies. We must know what we are in for. This is also the reason why scientists nowadays place so much emphasis on informing the public about their research, sometimes, in the form of popular science books which have lured me into the present intellectual journey in the first place. So, you see. I have once again shown the readers that everything in this world is interconnected. It is just common sense. I would be most surprised if it were not the case. Therefore, the motto - ONLY CONNECT – plays an indispensable role in our lives.
The only question left for me to answer is whether I have succeeded in
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establishing my case for the importance of finding one's meaning in life and that all problems in this world can be solved if we act in accordance with the laws of nature. I said in the prologue that it is for the reader to pass judgment. Here, I would just like to comment on the criteria for judging my case. I truly feel that I could rejoice even if my book is just able to motivate the reader to think about these issues stop short of finding a solution to them. My mentality has reached a point where I could be very happy if my life comes with all the beautiful trimmings, some of which I have already possessed, but I would not be too disappointed if the outstanding ones are not forthcoming. If my book has the desired effects I would be elated but if it doesn't I would not be devastated. This is the privilege of being a connected human being.
Before I sign off, I would like to repeat my call to refrain from comparing one's values and achievements with another. So long as we have set out and fulfilled our own goals and responsiblities during our lives, there should be no regrets. You just have to measure your own success in life by your own yardsticks. This is the only valid way to assess your own achievements in life as Einstein's profound discovery has undoubtedly proven. Do not let anyone make you feel small by quoting statistics to intimidate you because figures and even facts are subject to different interpretations from varying perspectives. Have complete confidence in yourselves and your own principles. Have the guts to say:- “ to hell with double standards “ if you are ever confronted with such evils. As the only observer in your own frame of reference and as a unique and precious human being, you are the only qualified judge of your life. Of course, you must first qualify yourself to be judged by your own standards by having a goal in life which must not conflict with the laws of nature, all just human laws and the prevailing generally accepted social and moral code. Once you have done that you will be your own hero for life. As I have previously exclaimed, we do not need great heroes in this world only numerous small little ones who are moral, conscientious and connected human beings. You are doing great ! Keep up the good work with all your heart and soul and motivate others to do the same.The best way to think positive about yourself is to remember what the former American first lady ( the wife of FDR, one of the most popular US presidents of all times who was in office during the Second World War ), Eleanor Roosevelt said :- “ No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. “
Nature is an open book. We can learn a lot from her only if we care to do so. For some people, they take things for granted and carry on with their existence by fufilling their daily duties without asking questions about things and other natural phenomena going on around them. They are happy in their own ways. May be they are too much taken up with their daily toils to notice anything in particular about nature. But for those who wish to connect various aspects of nature to their own lives, it is a completely different picture. They will see life from a higher and wider perspective and as the saying goes, they will see the light – the light of endless beauty, profound truths and eternal harmony with nature, their fellow global citizens, and most of all, with themselves. Tranquility and peace of mind will be their ultimate reward. They will have built that illusive but precious rainbow bridge that can immortalize their fleeting and chanced existence in this vast and mysterious universe where reality with a capital R only exists ( by virtue of Quantum Physics ) for the observant traveller in life. It is both my sincere and humble wish for all fellow human beings that every person could successfully construct one's own rainbow bridge and, in due course, become a prudent traveller along the river of time as well as a skilful architect in life !
As for myself, I would like to be described in the following way or, more exactly, I would like to live up to the following epithet upon my passing into the higher dimensions ( or the lower ones if I am condemned to hell ) : -
“ Here lies a stubborn but compassionate liberal humanist who had produced some eccentric personal philosophy of his. He professed during his life to make the world a better place.
And succeeded by connecting everything in the simple way ! “
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( By a connected humanist )
J. C. Melbourne, Australia.
9/ 9/ 2006
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Before I start off on this long and arduous intellectual journey, I would like to suggest five ways of reading this book. First, the conventional way which is to start from page one and then all the way through to the last. Second, if you are pressed for time or are really afraid of the scientific pudding you can skip all the first seven chapters on the relevant scientific theories and start with chapter (viii) on the philosophical issues after, of course, reading the lengthy prologue only to refer to the the first seven chapters as references are made to each in connection with the relevant issues and arguments on human behaviour. Third, if you feel that you are reasonably well informed about a particular scientific theory, you can skip that particular chapter and follow the conventional way in all other respects. But as I point out in the prologue, it should be interesting just to browse through section ( C ) The Eccentric Ideas in every chapter to get a feel of my screwball whims. The fourth way to read this book is just to single out the particular chapters that arouse your interest. So long as you read the prologue and the last two chapters together with the epilogue, you will still get some ideas of what I am talking about – LIFE. The fifth and last way to read my the book is simply to pick out topics that interest you from the table of contents and read them. Most topics are relatively self-contained but with specific references to the related chapters and sections. I have tried my very best to make my the book as versatile as I can to suit the busy modern reader. As regards the lengthy prologue ( the smart reader must have guessed it ), I purposely summarize all my basic themes and ideas at an early stage for the benefit of those who do not have enough time to finish the whole book. Depending on the temperament of the reader, let us fasten our seat belts or boil the coffee in preparation for the take off.
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