We sleep in cycles.
Each cycle is 90 to 120 minutes.
There are 3 NREM (N1, N2 and N3) and 1 REM makes a cycle.
N2 is Light Sleep
N3 is Deep Sleep
Memories are probably stored during deep sleep in a raw and random fashion.
NREM = Non Rapid Eye Movement
REM = Rapid Eye Movement
SCN = Suprachiasmatic nucleus
Regulates Diurnal Rhythm
In REM sleep memory is reorganized and redundant information is filtered off.
REM sleep is generally 25% of the total sleep and we tend to dream in REM sleep.
Memory is stored during REM.
REM starts as short bursts and as one sleeps longer REM tends last longer.
We have 6 cycle per night.
We generally needs 8 hours of sleep out of which 4 hours of Deep Sleep is vital.
One need not worry about since these patterns are determined by melatonin secretion.
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Sleep, Dreams and Biorhythms
Ophidiophobia
Generally I do not fear anything.
I was brought up as an adult not to fear even bombs during L.T.T.E, J.V.P and D.J.V.P.
J.V.P. landed their makeshift bombs on top of our room in 1971 and in 1989 I was 4th in their hit list.
It was RAW of Indira Gandhi that funded the D.J.V.P and the ploy was to stop Americans launching a satellite from Ceylon.
I am generally Anti-American but this incident made me lifetime Anti-Indian and beating Indians in a cricket match should be our ultimate goal.
I am not sure but Chinese are reviving the ground station and we can use Chinese satellites to cover the Indian ocean.
Enemies enemies are our friends phrase can be applied to India and China.
I am far off the target.
I do not fear blood or dealing with any horrific accident patients in hospital care from my Internship.
I was a good trauma officer in New Zealand and indirectly was the flying doctor.
I have only treated one patient with snake bite all my life and that was also in a private hospital in Negamboo, a non venomous sea snake.
Taking a fishhook accidentally stuck in a forearm was more difficult than treating a snake bite.
But fear is still there for snakes specially for cobras.
As a kid we lived inbetween Galgedhara and Mawathagama.
It was called Weuda (means village built on a filled up lake).
There were lot of snakes around our house.
It is perfectly normal to find a deadly Magamaruwa or Thelkarawala.
Sometimes these snake go inside to feed on honey bees in bee boxes. They become plump and cannot come out unless bee box is opened and the parasitic snake is released.
Snakes were not a problem but come cobras I go into panic mode.
Under 5 years, one day I pulled out my tiny suitcase to find a tiny cobra under my bed.
I immediately took the ruler out hit it dead on the neck.
It formed its hood to bite me but I was bit quicker.
That incident passed away and one day we were walking down a narrow gorge and I found a water snake peacefully swimming.
I took a little marble and reflectively hit it.
It died an agonizing death.
That day I took a vow never to hurt any animal all my life.
Incidentally, I became a pet lover and ornamental fish keeping was my longterm hobby.
I was woken up with a daytime dream when accidentally I broke one of my big glass fish tanks.
I could not pick up all the fish especially the baby fish and that stress alone woke me up.
Made a cup of tea and decided to pen down on ophidiophobia.
I have accidentally touched a belly of two giant cobras.
The third time, I was feeding the fish and when I turned back I saw a huge cobra at least 12 to 16 feet long behind me.
I was obstructing its escape path.
In two steps, I was down onto the next level 8 feet below.
I did not crack my leg but the snake was so alarmed calmly slithered away in a few seconds.
It did not try to show its hood and it would have sensed I was more alarmed than the snake.
This fear is not reasonable.
I think it is genetic fear built in any human being.
Irrational to the core.
I think I am rational and I am scientific.
I doubt that classification and deep within I am NOT a rational but intrinsically and inherently fearful guy.
To, snakes specially cobras.
Why?
I do not know.
It is also called herpetophobia or fear of all reptiles but I do not have any fear on other reptiles, like lizards and even big comodo dragon.
Comodo dragon was very common good old days.
But the real adoring guys were tortoises.
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Buddhism and Stoicism
It is not a doctrine.
It is a simple way of life.
Its goal is emancipation from unsatisfactory Bhava of all beings (including higher beings called Devas).
Its enlightenment is peace, tranquility and wisdom.
No belief in god or of his creation.
Because it is not a dogma (as for god and creation) and has given free inquiry to its followers it has spawned many variegation.
Kalama Sutta is based on Free Inquiry.
Unfortunately, Buddhist teaching was written down in Ceylon probably around 1700 years after the passing away of Buddha.
It was passed down by Oral Tradition and memorizing what had been said by elder monks of the past, a definite scriptural or textural comments came to existence much later in its evolution.
However, Hinduism is the oldest religion and has the oldest scripture.
All textural contents are preceded by a phrase "I have heard it so" or "Evam Mesutham".
So any errors of passing down the oral contents and translations were presumed to be inconsequential.
That is why there are commentaries and probable misreading of Buddha's original teachings.
Open inquiry and commentaries were genuinely encouraged and this has lead to enormous proliferation of scriptures.
That is my bone of contention.
Lot of things were added over time.
Coming from scientific background, I prefer minimalist and simple approach to Buddhism or Dhamma.
There are also claims, that Buddhism was probably written down in Ceylon in the middle of first Century and commentaries were written by Buddhagosha in the fifth Century.
Buddhagosha was an Indian philosopher, commentator and a translator.
His work has been questioned probably due to his Indian origin.
His classic work is Vissudhimagga or the Path of Purification.
That book gives instructions in how to meditate.
There are about 1000 ways of meditation techniques.
I am writing this to warn guys and girls to be vary about various self claimed guys and girls who propagate Meditation Classes in the Internet without basic understanding of Dhamma.
1. Theravada Buddhism
This is based in Ceylon, Burma and Thailand.
These countries participated in six Buddhist Councils and the last one was in 1956.
First council was during the time of Buddha and the Second Council about 100 years after passing away of Buddha.
Both were oral councils.
In Kandy, Ceylon there is Publishing House called Buddhist Publication Society (B.P.S) which has enormous collection of books on Buddhism in Pali, Sinhala and English.
Two Suttas I recommend are Kalama Sutta and Brahmajala Sutta.
If one is looking for books from simple to advanced that is the place one should visit.
It has a web site and one can order books through email correspondences.
It is closed on public holidays and open on normal working hours of Ceylon.
It is resourceful place.
2. Mahayana Buddhism
I know very little about Mahayana.
I do not think it exists currently in India.
Buddhism was translated to Sanskrit in India and a copy of the contents went to China. From this few copies or translations were passed to Japan and Korea.
By the way, Mao Zedong destroyed temples and most of the scriptures.
It is called Mahayana.
3. Tibetan Buddhism of Lamas.
This, I think is the most distorted version of Buddhism.
I am resistant to call it Dhamma.
They try to become Buddhas, in one go.
It is alien to the fundamental teaching of 4 levels of attainment.
Often, Western the guys fall prey to gullible mantras or uttering.
What one needs is sustain attention to meditation under a "Real Guru".
I leave it at that.
If one wants to visit Tibet and enjoy the serenity of Tibet it is altogether, a different kettle of fish.
Do not fall to Gullible Guys and tourist guys in Tibet.
Is Buddhism a Philosophy?
My answer to that is neither positive nor negative.
The western authors have labeled it as a philosophy inappropriately.
Dhamma is not a doctrine.
It has three plausible concepts not dogmas.
1. Impermanence of life and things.
2. Cause and Effect or Kamma concept.
3. Rebirth
Above there concepts are all Mind based.
There is a Canonical Text called Abhidhamma which tries to classify mind in an exhaustive manner.
I have tried to read this text with an analytical and critical way as a medical guy with very good understanding of how our brain works.
To say the least, I do not recommend any of my friends to read them.
The approach of philosophy is to classify things by reasoning and logic.
Apart from above 3 concepts there are no additional philosophical concepts.
Rebirth is a belief system and the other two are self explanatory and no need for philosophical conjecture.
So it cannot be described as a fundamental philosophy but a way of life where on tries to live a simple life, while trying to achieve enlightenment through peace, tranquility and wisdom by one's own will.
The Buddha shows the way, but one has to trod on diligently.
It is a way forward.
There is moral aptitude but no compulsion by law, except for monks.
For example, if somebody is seafaring for his living he is not prevented from his living but at least in his sunshine years of life he should do something worthwhile for his own mental well being.
Buddhism brings happiness or Somanassa Citta.
There is lot of optimism in Dhamma.
36 Somanassa States
Only 8 Domanassa states
Only philosophy that has any semblance to Dhamma is Stoicism but it is full of pessimism.
The 4 components are
1. Courage or Power or Energy of Mind
2. Temperance or live here and now
3. Justice or abide by law
4. Accept things which are beyond one's control, for example death.
Arthur Schopenhauer is a stoic.
Other stoics added few more ingredients.
5. Act with right intention
6. Be useful to fellow beings
7. Anticipate difficulties
8. Live with nature or be a part of it.
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Born 9 September 1826
Died 20 November 1910
War and Piece
Anna Karenina
Sketches of Sivastapol
Based on Crimean War.
His approach to non violent protests for social change influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, junior.
He was deeply religious man and followed Christianity.
Currently Russians are Orthodox Christians.
Greatest writer of all times.
Towering figure in Russian literature.
Charles Dicken lived at the same time.
Like a wise old grandpa with amazing stories.
CD was a poor city boy whereas LT was a country gentleman. Dicken wrote monthly or weekly.
LT wrote epic long stories like family, society and politics. CD believed in life opportunities and was very optimistic.
LT believed in mystical forces within self and was recklessly pessimistic.
CD dreaming of future and fortune(capitalistic outlook) and LT looking inside and purpose in life.
Dickens stories are overtly sentimental whereas LT overtly moralistic (eastern approach).
Egalitarianism was a dominant philosophy in the west. The most famous was of Karl Marx equality of rights of mankind.
The sacrifice of soldiers was normal in war and the glory went to the generals and kings.
Two who lived through this period were LT and CD who captured the mood in literary sense.
CD
Good Expectations
Tales of Two Cities
Christmas Carol
LT
Pioneered art of story telling by traumatization.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Psychological depth and dramatic structure in his literature and journalistic writing.
Leo Tolstoy
Sociological and more comparable to Dickens.
Childhood, boyhood and youth is modelled on CD's David Copperfield.
LT went to France and met Victor Hugo.
Dickens wrote about ugly side of industrial revolution while LT wrote about ugly side of history warfare.
Likes
English peasants vs Russian counts
Father was sent to prison for unpaid debts.
Count into an aristocratic family.
Dickens troubles with money.
Tolstoy troubled with life.
His mother died when he was two and his father died when he was nine.
What is the purpose of this life?
CD worked 10 hours as a 15 year old.
Learned how to write shorthand.
He became a journalist.
Started writing short stories.
He rose up the social ladder.
Tolstoy was a sloppy student.
He quit oriental languages in the university.
His life was easy.
He pursued alcohol, women and gambling.
He realized he need a bigger purpose in life and joined the army to fighting the Crimean war in 1850.
He used this experience in his masterpiece in War and Peace.
Horrors of war changed his perspective in life.
Lead to pessimism.
Dickens met Victor Hugo and Alexander Duma in France. Dickens was global figure.
CD had 10 children and LT had 13.
LT met Victor Hugo 15 years after CD.
Huge impact on him reading les miserables.
He returnec to Russia and started writing War and Peace.
In 1853 CD had a midlife crisis and left his wife with 10 children and married an 18 year girl.
Dickens had a stroke and died 58 in 1870.
Unlike Dickens Tolstoy crisis was the purpose of life. In his 50s he disowned his novels and confessed his religious belief.
Struggles for meaning constantly shifting from Arthur Schopenhauer's negation of self and Christian belief.
Died in 1910 aged 82 in a railway station.
Anton Pavlovich Chekov
1. Leon Tolstoy
Sociologist
Moralize
2. Dostoevsky
Psychologist
3. Stepan Kolesnikoff
Artist
4. Alexandra Pushkin
Poet
5. Maxim Gorky
Revolutionary writer
6. Anton Chekov
Story Teller
7. Nikolai Gogol
He was a Russian story writer and a play writer who influenced later writers.
He was a Ukraine writer. The Ukrainian culture and folklore influenced his writing.
His writing style wads called grotesque or distorted or repulsively ugly.
The Nose
The Overcoat
The diary of a Madman
Born in 1st April 1809
Died in 4th March 1852
We all came under Gogol's undercoat is a saying that come his work overvoat.
Below is about Chekov
Father of short stories.
He was the artist of the mundane.
To escape from reality he choose literature.
He was living at a time when Russia was waking up with outpouring of literature.
His mother probably would have told him many stories.
Talent from our father.
Our soul from our mother.
He failed in Greek.
When he was 16 his father went bankrupt. To avoid jail he fled to Moscow.
He had to support family financially and keep them cheerful by writing letters and stories.
He read lot of fiction.
He read books by philosophers like Schopenhauer.
Busy chasing with older women including one of the wife of his teachers.
He managed to enter Moscow State University.
Within 4 years he got his doctorate.
He achieved all this without any help.
all by himself.
He has come from poverty and he wanted to give something back.
It all came at a cost to himself.
It was his writing which kept him going.
He won the prestigious Pushkin Prize.
Other writers were getting old and Russia needed young blood which Chekov filled.
He wrote a story book Steps while in Ukraine.
Ivanoff became a hugh success.
Painter of reality in his stories.
This was revolutionary at his time.
Everything in the story should have a purpose.
Tidy story telling.
He wrote about all human horrors he observed.
He wanted the authorities to treat criminals humanely.
Human Rights.
Tolstoy fought in Crimean war.
George Orwell wrote poverty in London and Paris.
He moved to a village while practicing medicine he wrote his classics.
He became an atheist.
When his health was failing he moved to Crimea where he met Tolstoy and Gorky.
One of the greatest Russian play writers and a physician.
The Seagull
The Cherry Orchard.
Uncle Vanya
Three Sisters
Were his classics.
Lady with the dog.
Born 29 January 1860
Died 15 July 1904 aged 44.
He probably died of tuberculosis which he probably acquired during resident work.
He took a neural stand on morality, politics and religion.
In short stories one should focus attention with minimalistic details. In novels one can diverge but not in short stories.
Less is more approach.
Follow intuition.
Telling the Truth
Brutal Honesty
These are escape from reality and philosophy.
Human behaviour in real life.
Wil to Joy
Joy is all temporary.
Happiness is not enduring but a myth.
We anticipate death.
Final Words
He made himself invisible in his stories.
He appears heartless in depicting the reality.
He says, medicine is his lawful wife and writing was his mistress.
He was probably spending all his earning on his big family.
He was down to earth and idealist in his philosophy.
Maxim Gorky
Alexi Peshkove
Born 1868.
He died at the age of 69 in 1937.
Ophan at the age of 11.
Raised by maternal grandmother.
Ran way at the age of 12 in 1880.
Assistant for a shoemaker
Erand boy.
Assistant to icon painter.
Dish washer.
Cook made him to read books.
He was a street boy (which is quite normal behaviour) and dropped out of school instead of studying languages and history.
He read a lot.
Father of Soviet Revolutionary literature.
He propagated Socialist Idealism.
For 15 years he traveled throughout Russia and turned to become a writer.
He used to make lot of spelling mistakes and his wife was the proof reader.
He was known for his naturalistic writing style.
His book "Mother" which Lenin praised as a timely book.
He associated Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy.
He was a prolific writer.
He had over 500 literary work in a national paper.
He was active with emerging socialist movement.
He was arrested several times and imprisoned.
He met Vladimir Lenin and developed a personal friendship.
He was a Bolshevik but criticized Lenin.
Headed the union of soviet writers.
He became a publisher to promote his political writing that were related to Russian Revolution.
He went to America to raise funds for the revolution.
He made an impression on Mark Twain.
He was a good chess player.
After the assassination attempt of Lenin his relationship with Lenin deteriorated.
However, Joseph Stalin treated him well and he had a summer house in Crimea and Winter houses in Russia.
He was not allowed to migrate to Italy probably fearing copyright infringement of his material by foreign investors.
Besides, the payments were low in Russia.
Not having a legal wife to inherit his copyrights should be understood in this light.
Financial dealing were shoddy both in Russia and in the west.
He was known for his short stories and catch phrases.
He probably believed in god, quite contrary to the Marxist atheistic beliefs.
Vladimir Lenin
Only person whose baby picture was flowing into space.
Founder of the Soviet Union.
Gave orders to kill the entire royal family of Tsar Nicholas.
His body is preserved for decades.
He masterminded the Russian Revolution on the Theory of Marxism.
To some he is a hero and for others he was evil villain.
Born 1870
He came from a happy home.
Mother Maria descended from a wealthy Jewish family.
Father was a director of education for an entire province.
They were considered hereditary nobility.
They were from section of Intelligentsia and debated over philosophy and politics in their spare time.
His brother Alexandra went to university in Pietersburg and there he believed the failure of the Romanov Empire.
To save Russia they had to be removed.
They formed a terrorist group to kill the king and they were caught and hanged.
Lenin was expelled from his school and he decided to educate himself.
The king relieved peasants from their landlords as a conciliatory gesture having felt the revolutionary trends in the country.
He read Karl Marx and other revolutionary advocates and writers.
1891 famine was a catalyst to show failing Russian economy.
Nearly 5 million people died.
Coronavirus endemic contributed to deaths.
Karl Marx believed that a revolution would come from an individualized country.
But it was peasants who rose against the Tsar.
It was called Leninism.
Also demanded shorter hours of work and better pay.
He was arrested when he wad 22.
He was 17 when his brother was hanged.
Hid prison was a comfortable place. He had family visits and read books.
Allowed to write his revolutionary essays.
He was exiled to Siberia.
Siberia was very long writer's retreat.
He met his wife and married in exile.
He published political themes in various pseudo names.
Moved to Germany aged 30 and continued to publish his revolutionary ideas.
Joseph Stalin was one of his conspirators/ revolutionists who disseminated his writing.
Stalin of course took Lenin's place after his demise.
He was well respected intellectual and thought would rise to power almost immediately but not to be.
Even among Intelligence anyone who disagreed with him were fearlessly dealt with.
He decided to take time off in Swiss Alps and let his Bolsheviks take care of his political activity.
Protest at Winter Palace for 8 hour work.
Tsar ordered the guards to shoot and thousands died.
Bloody Sunday outraged the people.
Country wide protest began and Lenin read that time was right for him to steer the revolution. He tried to incite people but it did not work and he fled to Switzerland.
World War I started and everything damped down.
Tsar went to front line to fight the war.
War was a disaster and millions died.
Revolution was starting take effect without him.
Soldiers wanted to end the war and they started revolting.
Provincial government leader was Alexander Kerensky. He was a lawyer and Lenin could not match him in a debate.
He fled again.
He was called a German spy.
This time he went to Finland.
Alexander Kerensky outlawed the Bolshevik party.
In October 1917 he came back to Russia and convinced Red Guards and Bolsheviks to overthrow the Tsar.
It worked on the 4th attempt.
Every Though many historian write Kenin as a impatient character I believe he had the patience, charisma and intelligence to understand that the Revolution was not a Instant Remedy but a painstaking slow process in spite of tremendous effort.
That is my estimate as a medical man not a politician.
This type of guys are rare in history.
Take Ceylon as an example, many of our politicians are opportunists and theoreticians.
They were not pragmatic and JVP in many forms is another example.
40 years in politics but nothing much to show off.
I am putting these down to educate the masses.
Ceylon is in wrong hands presently and various political wings are like fishing on muddy and trouble waters.
Lenin overthrew the provisional government without a single vote casted for him.
If he waited any longer I would not be writing anything about Lenin.
Lenin was crafty man but it took a long time to come to power just like J.R.J in Ceylon and he was well past 80 when he became our president and ruined our politics and we have not recovered from the LOANS taken from the IMF.
Whereas Russia has come out of its economic meltdown and giving a run for CIA and the West.
Peace
Bread
Land were his promises.
Old Grand Daddy Lenin was going to take care of Russia and Russians.
His rule was not conciliatory but brutal and he was decisive of getting rid of the Tsar.
Unfortunately guy who followed him was a true autocrat and a dictator.
It is very difficult to predict history but who would have ever guessed President Putin would come this far.
When he retires he would have surpassed even Stalin.
He is much cleverer and 90% of Russians love him.
In a democracy only 50% (in Ceylon one who was not elected by the people is running the country. He is no Lenin) of the guys and girls vote a guy/girl to power.
A woman shot him twice but survived.
Lenin let the socialism gradually changed to capitalism.
President Putin was the beneficiary.
Lenin died in 1924.
Petrograd was changed to Leningrad!
Vladimir Putin
This is to make a statement about Russians.
30 million Russians died fighting Germans Nazis.
Stalin and Trotsky were the architects of this victory.
Neither Winston Churchill nor Roosevelt helped until Russians entered Berlin causing total defeat of Nazis.
Nazis are raising their heads again, through Ukraine and CIA.
When things go bad CIA will sacrifice Zelensky and it is thier normal game plan.
East German Angela Merkel was a BIG Cheat on behalf of CIA in 2014.
I believe the Nazi Rump has infiltrated the CIA.
The Canadian incident and Bandera Outfit of Zelensky are the proof of the pudding.
Americans want to undermine the Germans and they blew up the Russian pipeline.
Russia has got another gas pipeline and they should never give gas to Germany for another 10 years (they should not be allowed to operate Nuclear Power, lest they develop nuclear arsenal).
Zelensky wanted to develop Nuclear Arms in their Nuclear Plant.This is where Russians decided to say enough is enough and got hold of one of the two operating systems.
Other plant is still disputed.
CIA plans unlike good old days are blatantly obvious.
Iran Nuclear deal is not OK but Ukraine developing nuclear arsenal is OK.
In spite of fighting wars in the past Iran and Russia, are mending their ways.
Enemies' enemy is a good friend!
Israel has to walk on a tight rope.
There are lot of Jews still in Russia.
Trotsky was a Jew.
Zelensky is supposed to be Jew with Nazi Bandera.
Russia is giving Nuclear Fuel to Bangladesh.
Western hegemony is falling down under President Biden.
Turkey and India playing double deals and can never be trusted.
Coming to President Putin he is not sacrificing his foot soldiers unlike Stalin.
His rockets are plummeting Western arm dumps in Ukraine.
CIA attempt to temporary ceasefire is to hoodwink Russia again like Angela Merkel.
Stalin of course developed the Nuclear Bomb for Russia.
Putin is selling his Nuclear Fuel and France cannot have double deals for its small Nuclear reactors.
Putin has changed, this world upside down and he never trusts UK, USA and Canada.
Australia has to walk a tight rope, since it has to get its gas from outside or go nuclear.
It is a changing world.
I wish I kick the bucket earlier than late.
Joseph Stalin
I won't wright a piece on Mao Zedong who was a mass murderer.
He killed 30 to 45 million Chinese during Operation Leap Forward.
To this add 15 million killed in Tibet.
Only, the British killed similar number in mainland China and Hong Kong using two Opium Wars.
This is to take over Chinese Tea Industry.
In that sense Joseph Stalin killed only 6 million Russians. This may go upto 9 million premature deaths in gulags.
For anti-communist he was a mass murderer ( compare with Mao Zedong).
For most Russians he was a statesman and a nation- builder.
In Russia a Jew (Leon Trotsky) or Muslim (Chechens and Tartars) can live with equal dignity provided they do not propagate disorder.
Similarly Orthodox Church operate in Russia, unlike in China (10,000 Buddhist temples were destroyed by Mao Zedong) there is no freedom for religion.
Born in Georgian town of Gori.
He was brought up behind violence.
His birth name was Joseph Vissarionovich.
December 18th 1878.
In 1894 he graduated 2 years ahead of his schedule.
He was sent to a Church for learning but was taken up by Marxism at an early age.
He was an atheist.
He hated Tsar.
His code name was Koba.
His father was a shoemaker.
He ruled Russia over 25 years with an iron fist.
Single death is a tragedy and million deaths is statistics.
He started leaning Russian at age 9 and haf a typical Georgian accent.
Similar to Trotsky he was good in his speeches and organizing strikes.
He used writing to propagate his agenda.
He relocated to coastal town of Batumi in Georgia.
He was taken into prison for organizing and sent to Siberia
He was sent to 0rison and each time he managed to escape.
1903 the workers party broke into two sections.
Mensheviks
Bolsheviks
Lenin was impressed with Stalin.
Called him wonderful Georgian.
He was taken into communist party committee.
This time he changed his name to Stalin
Man of Steel.
First World War in 1914 accelerated the collapse of Tsar regime.
1917 Provisional Government.
Tsar Nicholas abdicated.
Year later Lenin ordered the killing of the entire royal family.
Stalin was living in Siberia during the whole revolution.
Leon Trotsky fought and defeated the White Army that supported thr Tsar.
Lenin of course took him to the Central Committee.
Stalin was appointed to lead the army at Stalingrad.
He frequently went loggerhead with Trotsky.
Due to internal strife the Bolsheviks changed its name to Communist Party.
Lenin made him General Secretary of the Communist Party.
Autonomy for Georgia was not granted (renege) and he fell out with Lenin.
Stalin executed the Georgian Rebellion.
Lenin was absolutely furious.Lenin castigated Stalin.
After the death of Lenin Stalin became Lenin!
This called deification of Lenin.
Trotsky was exiled.
He confiscated peasants lands. Poor management of agricultural land, lead to famine.
10 million died in Ukraine.
He brought the law to deny defense.
Automatic leader was born.
He methodically purged anybody who opposed him.
Nazi crossed the Soviet Border in spite of a pact with Germany.
400,000 Russians were were surrounded by pincer movement in Minsk.
25 millions Russians died in the war with Germans.
He celebrated his 70th birthday in 1949.
In 1953 he had a paralyzing stroke.
Died March 5th, 1953.
Rein from 1924 to 1953.
Nikita Khrushchev succeed him.
German invaded Russia in 1941.
In 1945 Russians pushed German to Berlin and captured Berlin.
In 1949 Russia had developed Atomic Bomb.
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
True believer in Marxism.
Utopian society built on Communism.
He was sidelined by Stalin.
He was assassinated by a woman.
Born 7th November,1879.
Parents were from Ukrainian, village Yankova.
His birth name was Lev (Leon) Bronstein.
Language he spoke was mixture of Russian and Ukrainian.
But he had a love for Russian language and literature.
He was sent into a Jewish school but was not fluid in Yiddish. Modern Jews speak, Hebrew, English and more importantly Russian
His reading like Leo Tolstoy made him to challenge orthodoxy.
He moved to Nicolova which was center of dissent.
Met Aleksandra Sokolovskaya and she was the only person who could challenge his views.
She argued "Is it Marxism which is best for Russian Society?".
He was jailed for striking union member in 1898.
Married in 1900.
1900 banished to Siberia for his radical ideas.
Had two children, both girls.
He wanted get out of the purgatory.
Found a false passport and changed his name to Leon Trotsky to escape from Siberia. Name comes from a jailors name in Odessa.
Made his way to London and met Vladimir Lenin.
Lenin took him as the writer for his newspaper, Ikstra.
Went to France met his second wife, Natalia Sedova.
Came to London and attended the second council of the " Workers Congress".
Mensheviks
Mens of the minority.
Moderates of the two factions.
Envisioned the gradual transmission to Communism.
Bolsheviks
Mens of the majority.
Far more radical.
Dismantle the current system immediately.
Prepared to stage violent uprising.
Lenin wanted to create a centralized power structure to control the masses.
This decision was troubling for Trotsky who it was similar to and replacement of capitalist control of workers.
1905 Russia suffered a humiliating defeat to Japan.
Protesters gathered near Tsar Nicholas Palace. Cavalry was sent and rioters were routed.
Bolsheviks saw this as the trigger they were waiting for.
General strike of October, 1905.
Lenin and Trotsky were relocated to Pietersberg (north west of Moscow bordering Baltic sea).
Begining of Soviet workers councils.
Trotsky was again taken in a prisoner.
Exiled to Siberia. He escaped again in 1907.
Pravda
London then to Vienna in Austria.
Started working on Communist Paper Pravda.
Len agreed with a replacement of a Bolshevik as an assistant editor.
Lenin purged the moderates but Trotsky remained in opposition.
Around 1912 wrote to several radical papers.
He was sent cover the Balkan War.
Located himself in Paris. He was expelled from France and went to Spain and expelled from Spain.
Ended up in United States.
Bronx in New York in 1917.
Tsar Nicholas was overthrown.
October Revolution in 1917.
1.Distrust the bourgeoisie.
2. Control our own leaders.
3. Gather confidence in Revolution.
Voted as the Governor of Pietersburg.
Provisional government failed.
He became the second most powerful man of Bolsheviks.
Immediate task was to get Russia out of the war.
Russians give the claims for Ukraine, Poland, Lituania, Latvia and Belarus.
Countries convinced Lenin and Trotsky to not to sign the armistice.
We declare we end the war but we will not sign an armistice.
Austrian and Germans invaded Russia.
Czechoslovakian army returning from war revolted against Bolsheviks
This "White Army"was made of volunteers Christians from the Church.
White Guard from Finland to save King Nicholas.
Royal family was kept captive.
Order came to kill the entire royal family of 7.
In 1919 Russia was in crisis due to civil war.
Disease, famine and poverty decimated the population.
The White Army was pressing up to Moscow.
White Army was consecrated in Siberia.
With determination Trotsky defeated the invaders.
Petersburg was saved.
1922 Lenin had a massive stroke.
Lenin held on until the 24th January, 1924.
Trotsky was the natural choice but Josef Stalin took over by force.
He expelled Trotsky from Communist Party and was to be sent to Kazakhstan.
He was later sent to Turkey and he was treated with respect, there.
Trotsky wrote Revolution Betrayed.
Hitler and Stalin.
Stalin seek my death.
August 24th 1940 a man hit him with a ice spike. He fought the man but said he would die of this attack.
He was street fighter and a thug.
His iron fist on Russia betrayed Trotsky and Russians.
Karl Marx
Born on May 5th 1818 in Germany.
Died 14th March, 1883 aged 65.
Grandparents were Jews by birth but his father converted to protestantism.
Wife Jenny von Westphalen.
Married in 1843
Happy marriage with 7 children.
Philosopher
University was fascinated by J.W. F. Hegel
Idealism
Ontology
Epistemology
Metaphysics
Political philosophy
He moved (exiled) to London and took the post of journalist as the European correspondent New York Tribune.
Crisis over slavery and abolition movement.
Civil war in America.
Journalist
Historian
Political activist
Revolutionary
Communist Manifesto
Champion the worker (preliterate)
Ruling Class (bourgeoisie)
Classless society
Das Capital
Economist
Friday, October 6, 2023
Feel Good Factors
I have a big piece on this topic here and I cannot remember when.
Here it is just a summary.
Three activities promote endogenous production of these chemicals.
1. Physical exercise
2. Meditation
3. Social engagement with family, friends and helping the disease and disabled fellow beings.
Growth hormone tops the list of endorphins.
By the way, dietary components like tryptamine also boost feel good hormones.
Mind and Matter
I wish to be anonymous in my blog pieces.
My interest are many but I have spent lot of time on Mind related to Dhamma (Buddhism).
Only the speculative facts I post here but not in my books.
I have high regard for the readers of my books.
Here, I wish to make a few comments about higher achievements of mind.
I consider mind as a form of energy.
It has an intrinsic tendency to be tagged to the brain.
The highest devas (Arala Kalama, Uddhakarama and the likes) also are bound to subtle mind form and are not delivered from bandage or emancipated.
But I believe mind can exist on its own.
Buddha who attained Nirvana and all those Arhath, after passing away, enter into subtle energy wave form that cannot be detected, for example by EEG wave.
The reason being, there is no Form or Bhava in this state of existence of mind.
So Nirvana is not Null and Void but its existence is subtle and not perceptible to human mind.
But Sovan, Sakuradagami and Anagami have subtle body forms until they reach the state of Arhath state.
The above is my attempt to explain and should not be taken as sacrosanct.
I have a simple classification of various levels of mental states.
1. Sleep is essential for living beings, a minimum of 8 to 9 hours for adults.
Children need more.
2. Normal Wakeful state.
3. Euphoria
Alcohol has 6 levels of effects.
1 is no effect.
6 is death.
Level 2 is Euphoria.
4. Ecstasy
This state is induced by drugs
LSD is the first to be discovered.
All pain killing substances have this side effect especially morphine.
I have never tried them. They are classified as Level 1 addictive drugs.
Even Voltaren has this effect on me.
One of my batch mates was given morphine after appendectomy and he was demanding a second dose.
Addiction is the next stage which is irreversible.
5. Esotericism
Magic mushroom or Ayahuasca induces this state.
Out of the world experience, alien visitation and spiritualism are a few of its manifestations.
This delusional state is dangerous to the individual (if not to his peers who do not consume this stuff).
This is similar to Near Death Syndrome where individuals who has come back from death become unusually spiritual moral beings and god abiding.
There is a dangerous precedence that guys with underlying psychiatric problems consume them in desperation.
By the way, some psychiatrists themselves become addicted to these drugs to prevent suicidal tendencies.
Psychiatrist are known to commit suicide.
Paediatricians come second in the list and radiologist the least.
Pathologists are above radiologists by statistical analysis.
Sumerians are an example known to use mood elevating drugs.
My bone of contention is even prehistoric man, 13,000 years ago was addicted to mushroom like substances.
I think Cardinals in the Vatican are known to use these substances.
6. Trance States
There are 4 Trance States.
These guys are born after death in 4 realms.
They consider themselves as heavenly aboard and live a long life.
At the end they are reborn again in animal and even lower realms, having expended their credit merits.
So never think of going there.
To me simple human domain is good enough.
Please note, I have not gone beyond Euphoria (simple wine) and all the other levels are speculative but I have delved into Pali Dictionary for reference.
My current hypothesis is that almost all religions have arisen after indulgence in these Mood Altering Drugs.
The other rival theory is that having seen REAL alien visitations the visitors were elevated to Godly realm.
Hindu Vimana story is a good example of possible alien visitation.
Not one type but several types of conflicting aliens.
In Hindu Gods probably reflect various aliens who may have visited earth on their galactic expeditions.
Russian cosmologist have postulated 7 seven probable civilizations.
Unfortunately human records are sketchy.
Assuming Roswell Incident is true, the CIA attempt to keep it under classified information is a case in point.
But my understanding of "Alien Saga" is that Americans wanted to hide the development of Stealth Aircraft from the Russians.
This experimental aircraft was projected as an alien crafts.
We are well into the World War III and Rockets and Robots are the next level of warfare and industry.
AI will soon take over the mankind and its 6th extinction.
Vatican interest in global warming speaks of their understanding of global affairs and warfare industry.
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Biology
Abstract thinking was not my forte.
Biology was my fascination.
Diversity of leaf structure was my first research item.
Frogs, toads, cockroaches, butterflies and dragon flies were my interests.
Fortunately or unfortunately I ended up in medicine and never delved into nature until well past 50.
Water plants and orchids were added to the long list.
But, all this started with simple observation.
In a glass bottle, I put a rolled up filter paper leaving just enough space for bean seeds to stick in. Soil in the middle and bit of water for moisture was my biosphere.
Sun, water, soil and air.
Presto!
A root, a shoot and a pair of leaves.
Invariably, leaves face the sun.
Never towards the center of earth which ever angle the bean seed is placed (erect, horizontal or at an angle,)
Roots toward the center of the earth.
Night and day cycle.
That is all.
Reality of nature.
It is not God that gives the signal.
It is all built in within the seed.
It is the mother earth that is in control of all life on this planet.
The earth is a living being.
Why are we destroying it with War?
Disregarding God and without abstract thinking, a little scientist was born.
He is still alive in me.
It is not a soul but it is little me.
Reality
Reality is simple.
Keen observation power is the only tool one needs.
I never had the dream of becoming a big or a successful guy.
I never wanted to fly to the moon or mars.
But I was fascinated by planes.
Getting in to plane and travel from Northern hemisphere to the Southern hemisphere was my dream.
Doing that on my own money not on a free scholarship was the simple game plan.
Airfares were cheap then, but after coronavirus epidemic airlines have unfairly jacked up the prices.
Even food prices have gone up including alcohol. After I have published the book on "Charms of Alcohol", I even refuse wine.
Beer was Rs.1.80/= as an undergraduate.
I even spirited King Coconut Wine in the distant past.
Reality is every godforsaken item has gone up in price.
All this due to Ukraine War and nobody blames Zelensky!
It is time to kick the bucket and say Hi to President Putin from heaven!
Reality and Abstract
My gut feeling was to stop blogging here well before US and Ceylon Elections.
Politicians are shoddy people and there followers are stupid to the core.
I have decided NOT to educate simple folks and let them live in their own delusional state.
Whereas, I do not want to give an inch to the politicians to hoodwink the masses with hope and bright economic outcome.
Let the politicians sink on their own mess.
Having said that, I deleted my long piece here to avoid misinterpretation of my own logic and reason by visitors here.
For example, a guy picked my "Uncertainty Principle" a physics reasoning of mine. This guy made YouTube presentation extending Uncertainty Principle on a metaphysical level. Metaphysics by definition is outside of the material world.
It was like tail wagging the dog.
If you read my piece on philosophy here on this blog post, the real philosophers work on abstract thinking and there is no limit to abstract thinking.
All religions are derived from abstract thinking. None of these religions can delve into reality.
Reality is simple but even rich guys like Elon Musk and Bronson take reality as an extension of abstract imagination.
Reality
1. We are one gravity people. We cannot neither live on space nor on Mars.
By the way, Mars do not have plate tectonics and rock formation. It has a thick mantle.
I am not sure if there is any water in its belly.
2. Without water man cannot survive.
70% of our brain is water.
60% of our body is water.
Infant 80%
Water intoxication and electrolyte imbalance are critical in new born babies.
Baby 70%
Man 60%
Woman 50
3. We are 24/7 people and any alteration in our sleep/awake cycle alter our melatonin secretion and biorhythm.
This leads to confusion and impair critical thinking.
4. Van Allan Belt is not narrow.
5. Even Moons atmosphere is alien to humans.
Its geostationary (we never see the darker side) orbit is not conducive for our melatonin secretion.
The bottom line is let only rich people spend their money on rockets and we ordinary people think of global warming and biodiversity.
Monday, October 2, 2023
Lost Continent-Lemuria
Lemuria
Heckel
Helena Blavatsky
Mythical homeland of 7 races of Humanity.
Limas and Lemuria.
Continental Drift
Sircorn
Supercontinents
Pangaea 300 million years ago.
Antarctica is the remnant of lost continent.
Gondwana 500 million years ago.
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Tragedy of Philosophy and Disintegration of Humanity
We are going through a critical period.
The emerging trend is not good.
Changing dynamics or uncertainty is not new to humanity.
My worry is certain interest groups like Bilderbergs are trying to manipulate the underlying currents to their advantage.
The proxi war in Ukraine is only the front end, the nefarious backend is there to create crisis within the crisis.
War brings poverty, disease, dislodgement and displacement of large communities including children.
Child abuse, child labour, prostitution, illegal organ farms, use of mood altering drugs and abuse of conscripts in the name of saving the nations are the front end.
The back end is more sinister.
Large stacks of money is stashed and exchanged in the cyber crime world outside the monetary system.
That is the human dimension.
The philosophical dimension is very subtle.
Woke culture, disregard for cultural norms and mass human migration looking for the utopia or presumed freedom from social ills are the philosophical dimensions.
Unlike the "New Age Era" when the dynamics of change was subtle but the current crisis is global due to Internet misinformation campaign brought on by media like CNN, Fox News and the BBC.
Media output is doctored by the groups created by the subsidiaries of Bilderbergs.
The penetration of the alternative media coverage is not adequate.
Bilderbergs are not visible in the front end.
They always remain invisible in the background.
Banking crisis is not visible and the stock market does not reflect the underlying trends.
It will take sometime for the BRICS to mitigate the Rich and the Poor Divide.
Millions will succumb to starvation and social inequality.
Not being a guy from economics, I cannot predict the trends.
I have tried a simple scientific analysis and my analysis is not full proof and it goes like this;
1. Tragedy of Philosophy to see the current trend and direction.
2. Inevitable human tragedy or impending disintegration.
I am becoming pessimistic and not optimistic.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Well done Our Boys of Cricket- Sri-Lanka
Loss in Asia Cup was a rude shock.
Upto this point our guys did well and this id not the end of World Cup.
I think Ceylon Cricket needed some sort of "Shock Treatment" at some stage before the World Cup.
Thank You, India.
I wanted to stop blog pieces here but having seen the incredible win away from home, our boys deserve a few lines, here.
First let me thank our coach, English Silver(man)wood for forming a closely knit unit.
Cricket is a team game, the better team wins.
Let me not Do a SWOTS analysis.
The last S is my addition.
It means SUSTAIN the efforts.
Make wining a Habit.
Few words about Dimuthu K.
Your job is to score 30 runs and take the shine out of the ball.
Anything else is a bonus.
My man of the match is Kusal Mendis.
I enjoyed every stroke and even the runout.
The runout was unfortunate and I do not know how he felt about it.
To me it looked like he sacrificed his 100 for the team.
He was not selfish.
Goodman in the team.
Now about captain Shanaka.
Your job was to win the game for your mate Kusal.
You did it with a finger nail bite.
Rotating the ballers was your job.
You did it nicely.
Well done.
Think of that man Angelo Mathews, who destroyed our cricket.
He would have taken the full credit of the win to himself. His other weakness, I have written in this blog site.
The bottom line is, if he is playing I refuse to watch Sri-Lankan cricket.
He was pain in the arxxx.
About the rest of the performance of balling and batting, please feel happy as a teammate and everyone contributed to the win.
Every catch, every run saved on the field is a bonus.
But do not try to become a hero on the field and injure yourself.
Every injury keeps you put of the game.
Keep FIT, do not be lazy in the gym.
Let your boss, the coach decides whether you are fit to play on the day of the game.
It is one game at a time.
Precisely one ball at a time.
I saw Wallage for the first time.
Good luck to him.
My only regret is Dinesh Chandimal.
He did a stupid thing, in the past BUT the punishment was inordinately harsh.
What we lost in him, in one day cricket, is a lot BUT he should concentrate on Test Cricket which is very good at.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Alcohol, the Good, Bad and the Ugly
DUI Driving Under Influence
PCA Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol
(Above the legally allowed)
The PCA level vary from country to country, the lowest probably in France.
100 mg is legally drunk.
China has the lowest tolerance of 20 mg and above 80 mg, 3 year prison sentence.
Cayman Island allows the highest level.
Australia 50mg
EU. 50mg
Breathelizer Test can be accurate up to 50%
If one does a survey on one's favourite actor and how one ends up the life as homeless destitute, the commoner denominator is alcohol.
Alcohol does not discriminate but is a leveler of one's dignity or otherwise.
Alcohol is the commonest cause of Dementia Worldwide.
By the way alcohol does not cause visible structural changes in the brain.
Its structural effects like cirrhosis are seen in the liver.
The name Perera or Pere Ra originated from Distilling of Toddy from coconuts.
Our Finance Minister under Siri-MAO was double PhD N.M. Pere Ra.
He established the first Coconut Distillery in Ceylon.
V.S.O.A (Very Special Old Arrack) was one of its products.
We did not have adequate food during their time and infants with ZERO blood sugar used to die like flies under their regime.
This is similar to Negamboo coming from Nikam Book or barking for no reason.
My contribution is nicampoop or Nikam Pop of political leaders in Ceylon.
One good example is Ra Nil of Blue Toddy.
This name was changed later to NGOs or Nikam Go to developing countries, thanks to CIA and the AIDS combo.
SLPP is Sri-Lanka Pathalya Party (local mafiosi).
Alcohol industry is the oldest (10,000 to now) and the most powerful industry of mankind.
Little bit of alcohol is OK is the myth spearheaded and spread by this powerful industry.
Within the first bypass in the liver it causes (aldehyde is the poison) fatty change which lasts at least 8 hours.
Acetone is the metabolite.
Read the book General Pathology by Walter and Israel (1975) and this book is out of print.
This book came out two years after I was graduated.
But the best account of alcohol was given in Clinical Pharmacology by Lawrence at all.
This book came out in 1961 and is out of print.
General Pathology published in ,1968 by a lady who was famous for proposing symbiosis in early evolution has a good account on effects of alcohol.
It is said that wife battering without alcohol is like a circus without lions.
More pertinent saying is you take alcohol first and then the alcohol takes you over.
Worse case scenario is that one is not satisfied with the temporary euphoria and one tries more potent stuff called Drugs.
Alcohol inevitably effects the metabolism of other drugs and medicines, one takes.
Medical Term for this is Drug Interactions.
There are roughly six level of alcohol actions.
One does not have the insight into its progression from the first sip of alcohol ingested and that is the tragedy of alcohol .
Level six is death.
Level five is total loss of self control.
Motor vehicle and industrial accidents are the end points.
Level four is temporary euphoria which is transient and the need for frequent Top Ups.
In other words one is addicted.
Level three is loss of control of one's spoken language.
The gift of the gab manifestation.
Level two is sense of transient happiness which should not be interpreted as Euphoria.
Euphoria is a type of self delusion which meditators get addicted.
Level one is that the Alcohol has No Effects.
What it means a certain amount of alcohol has to be ingested for one to show effects of alcohol above level one.
So one has to know only 4 levels.
I want a mathematical guy to take the Gompertz Curve and draw a graph to show effects of alcohol, in the middle portion of the curve.
Flat bottom, ascending middle and flat top.
Three functional derivatives of the equation are;
1. Age
2. Sex
3. Race
I want him to do a meta-analysis of all the countries using this curve and develop an arbitrary point scheme and line them up from 1 to 100 (there are over 200 countries).
Each point level may have 1 to 3 countries.
I am going to put Ceylon on the top 10, knowing very well we had the highest consumption and sale of alcohol during our war of attrition.
At this moment I think the order the country stands is as follows.
1. Ukraine first
2. USA second
3. Russia third
4. UK fourth
5. Germany fifth.
6. France has fallen from second to sixth place due to progressive decline in economy.
Details are in my book "Joy of Alcohol" and the name was especially selected to increase my Royalties at Amazon.
Chemistry of Alcohol (Ethanol)
Carbohydrates gives 4 Calories per gram and fat gives 9 Calories per gram and today I figured out absolute alcohol gives 7 Calories per gram.
In other words alcohol has 300 to 50 Calories per 100 ml, wine having the lowest.
If one is consuming 300 ml of 50% alcohol that means one is consuming 350 Calories which a large amount.
The highest concentration of alcohol is 40% and 100 ml at this strength would yield 280 Calories.
Since alcohol directly effects metabolism in the liver one with liver dysfunction (hepatitis) ingesting alcohol would cause death.
This is why one is prohibited from drinking alcohol for at least 6 months following hepatitis.
Alcohol itself can cause alcoholic hepatitis.
This is where one has to consider genocide by the British of Aboriginal Natives in Australia. Hepatitis was common and alcohol did help to bring down the population of Aborigines.
Ethanol is a simple molecule with a chemistry of one OH radical.
C2H5OH
It is oxidized to aldehyde (ADH) and later to ketones.
The musky smell or odour in the breath is due to ketones.
Basically it is a universal metabolic poison.
I have not discussed its effect on water soluble vitamins.
Thiamine has metabolic effects on brain cells.
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Socrates
Could be considered as the father of philosophy.
He is the one who questioned everything and everyone in his time including god.
Agora is where they / he discussed politics, arts and philosophy.
He never left a record of his saying.
Thanks to his student Plato his thinking revibrates to modern time.
He believed in afterlife. He postulated if there is afterlife, there is probability of life before and reincarnation.
There was no writing left behind from his time.
His student Plato probably recorded verbatim the discussion he had with his teacher.
In later life Plato was critical of his teacher and contributed his line of thinking to philosophy.
He had followers and haters.
There were three accusers.
Charges of impiety.
1. Going against the God.
2. Homosexuality.
Sentence Death Penalty.
Chosen by 501 citizens by drawing lots.
1. 260 Yes
2. 220 No
3. 21 Abstained
He was given poison to drink.
When asked about helping him to escape from prison cell he said;
Breaking one law is breaking all the laws.
Plato had known to say;
"We lost the best upright man in history".
Plato
He came from an aristocratic family and lived up to 80 years.
Creator of the Academy in Athens.
Learned mathematics from Pythogarus.
Many individuals influenced his thinking.
Socrates was his teacher.
Dialogue was his way of discussing a topic. His interests branched to philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, logics and religion.
His theory of form (physical word) and non form, most likely the behaviour of mind and abstract thinking lead to the foundation of Western philosophy, which the modern scholars still discuss to present day.
He left behind volumes of writing and most of them were probably came down from the interpretation of Socrates thinking.
His earlier writings are supposed to be coming form his teacher Socrates but in his later life probably after the death of his teacher, he was critical of his teacher and made his own line of thinking.
He is known as the student becoming the teacher.
Founding of the Academy and preservation of thinking that predated him was his monumental contribution to philosophy to begin with but later branched in to other disciplines in education.
His efforts of educating, the human mind by dialogue continues.
Aristotle
His curiosity led to vast strides in history of philosophy.
Quest for knowledge and open inquiry were his bona fide.
His interest were science, philosophy and human understanding.
Plato was his teacher.
His seat of knowledge was Venice in Greece.
He traveled a lot and debated his opinions with contemporary intellectuals.
He questioned the authenticity of existing beliefs.
His independent thinking sometimes diverted him from his teacher's idealism.
He delved into metaphysics, logic, ethics and politics.
Founded the lyceum in Athens.
Lyceum expanded into teaching, arts, science, physics and philosophy.
He encouraged research and development.
He was the mentor to the young prince Alexander the Great and ended as his wiser council.
His allurance to knowledge, virtue and philosophy laid the foundation for modern education.
Wallace, Huxley, Hooker and Darwin
Darwin is not the only one who postulated that theory of evolution.
There were three other figures who influenced Darwin.
Darwin doubted himself of his theory of evolution and the natural selection.
Some were called frenemy.
If not for his friendly companions which were only a few Darwin would have not published his monumental work.
He had many critics and enemies and the Church spearheaded the attacks.
The success of science is collaboration, and the lack of it is the Church's contribution.
Alfred Russel Wallace, 14 years younger had postulated a similar geological postulation of species distribution while working in Indonesia. He studied Geology. anthropology, ecology and astrobiology.
He was a surveyor by profession which helped his naturalistic tendency. He briefly taught surveying and map making in Leister.
His friend and traveling companion went to Amazon jungle to study natural selection that was congruent with geological barriers . He met tragedy after tragedy of his brother dying and the shipwreck and losing of his collection insects.
However he came back to England and made a series of publications.
He subsequently went to East Asia (Indonesia) for further studies.
The Wallace Line separating the Australasia from Asia was his creation.
Joseph Dalton Hooker was a botanist and a explorer. He was a good friend of Darwin. He was the director of the Royal Botanical Garden of Kew, following his father who was the director.
Thomas Henry Huxley was a biologist, anthropologist and a comparative anatomist. He was called Darwin's bulldog due to his close adherence to Darwin's theory of evolution.
In 1996 a dinobird called sinosauropteryx was discovered in South America. Primitive feathers similar to birds were found with the specimen.
The theory of origin of birds from dinosaur was in existence from the 19th century.
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Nicolle Machiavelli, the Diplomat
Machiavelli had two paths for success for a prince.
Mind you these are all against Dhamma Principles.
Path one is ruthlessness.
King has to a liar.
He has to be miserly.
He has to be very lavish.
He should be harsh to the people.
He should have an army.
He should purge powerful military men.
In other words he should murder the general when Italy was fully conquered.
Italy was divided into three, Florence, Naples and Roma and headed by vested interests.
He should not trust flatters.
He should be surrounded by wise men.
Other path is diplomacy.
For diplomacy to work there should be laws that control the commoner or his subjects.
Subjects should fear him.
Subjects should honour him.
Only after satisfying the above he should show kindness to some of his favoured subjects.
Always guard against the flatters.
The Fear was the base for power.
Fear of death, disease, disability and old age are natural to humans.
The slogan is these natural tendencies should be harnessed to remain in power.
Rulers are
King first.
Army second.
Law and order the last.
Democracy never.
War is common in human history.
Diplomacy is rare.
Nicolle Machiavelli, I believe was a classic example of how diplomacy was created in the medieval history having subdued all opponents by any mean including fear of death and punishment.
These are all real and perceived threats.
Whereas as the threats created by Church are not teal but manmade concoctions.
There were 3 elements in history.
King
Pope
Army
Councillors were non existent.
All my life I did not know who was Machiavelli.
An old lady whom I used to see on medical grounds, when I visited her, gave me a book in Sinhala, called Prince.
She was a political character and there were no political overtones in my simple consultations.
The paradox was that she claimed that she followed Buddha Dhamma.
I refused, since its content were political but on second thought accepted it.
Once, I tried to read it but got bored instantly.
Today, Google enticed me with several YouTube presentations.
This is an attempt to relive his attempts in diplomacy.
He was called prince of political philosophy.
To begin with politics has no philosophy.
Politics is the manifestation of greed and power.
The three who manifest this greed are obvious.
Depending on the Power of the Pope and his greed for territorial claims and dominance wars were created by design.
Pope is the greediest of all.
Once war is started even Pope cannot intervene since there are many sectors including Orthodoxy.
We need a modern Machiavelli of high repute.
I do not think we would find one until Ukraine is decimated in full.
Do not put the blame on President Putin. He is prepared to drag this war until the presidential election in US is over and done with.
Then only, a suitable diplomatic entity should emerge.
One has to accept the American defeat and Americans have to swallow the bitter pill.
Biden wanted Putin changed and it would turn out to be that Biden and his policies will be changed without a single gun fired towards America.
Already 30,000 Russian soldiers are dead.
Ukrainian death toll is estimated to be over 400,000 and a ratio of over 1 to 10.
I do not know how many are displaced and how many are permanently wounded. Probably that runs in to millions and much more than the second world war casualties.
Che Guevara, the Real Revolutionary with a Beard
Che Guevara was born to a rich family but died as a hero to the oppressed.
He was assassinated in Bolivia by a singal soldier. Shots were fired to the lower body to show as he was killed in the battle and left to die (long term chronic asthma probably did the rest).
When his body was exhausted with six of his comrades it was found his arms were cut.
Later they were taken to Cuba for proper burial with state honours.
He died for the poor. the hungry and the diseased.
He was clever and never fought in battle without a gun in hand. He ridiculed the guys who went empty handed against a ruling junta.
He said it is counterproductive and result in either arrest or killed in battle.
When odds are heavy he preferred escaping from the battlefield..
That is what Russians do in Ukraine battle.
He carried his medicine in a pocket in his leg.
He emphasized the importance of the survival kit which CIA probably learned from him (to use in Afghanistan).
Swiss krist knife probably a byproduct of his safety tools.
He was 20 years senior to me and his Revolution started before I was born.
I can remember copying his photo with a pencil on the wall (side of my bed) at Arunachallum Hall. This was painted over by the university authorities during our vacation.
I also had wall hanging depicting a Vietnam peasant in a paddy field.
During this period North Vietnamese fought valiantly against US carpet bombing and the use of agent orange over plush vegetation.
Battle of Tom King was a CIA conspirasy.
It was natural for me to become anti CIA not antiamerican.
CIA planned his assassination in Congo / Angola but failed.
His march to Havana (Castro arrived 12 days later) made him the real revolutionary force, against the capitalists of CIA/USA combo.
He was taken a prisoner.
Russia was instrumental in his release from Cuba.
This was the time when Russia had missiles stationed in Cuba (1962).
He was follower of Karl Marx political philosophy and the liberation of the working the class.
He followed Leninism but Lenin deplored killing but Stalin was like Che.
He worked in a labour colony and organized them within, in Latin America.
He was an intellectual.
He finished his 6 year course in medicine in half of that time.
He gave up practise of medicine to work and die for his comrades and fellow beings.
He excelled in sports, athletics, swimming and rugger but he had to give up rugger due to chronic asthma.
He was keen in music and produced revolutionary musical themes.
He organized a radio station for communication surveillance and he did know what the CIA tactics were and escaped assassination attempts twice.
His struggle was global and he did not remain in Argentina.
Che Guevara Beard
I use grow a beard in my first year as protest against the strict protocol of the medical faculty.
Che died in 1967 in October and I entered the university in October 1968. We sat the A Level examination in 1967 and it was a fashion for us to emulate him as a young radical. If I remember right another guy wore a beard since he failed the examination, twice. I was severely reprimanded by a senior medical guy who came from my village. He was one of my brother's classmates.
I told him growing my beard is my business and he never said anything to me in his final year.
Of course I cut it during Viva Vose.
When the Army sent the gulag to the university I immediately cut my beard. I was asked to do so by a JVP guy who was my friend.
I continued to grow my beard in the university as a seconded officer but my professor never said anything.
The facial hair grows at 0.3 to 0.5 a day and it grows one third to one half inch a month. Its growth depends on genetics, nutritional status and perhaps the age (before puberty) and the type of testosterone. T and DHT.
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Science Education in Ceylon and its downfall
I can write a book on this topic.
What went wrong?
1. Rapidity of change.
2. Change in medium of instruction.
3. Lack of textbooks.
4. Lack of training of teachers.
5. Lack of laboratory facilities.
6. Cancelling of University Entrance Examination conducted by the university.
7. Cancelling of practical examination.
8. Dropping to three subjects from original 4 subjects.
9. Lack of certification of schools on the basis of Science Education.
10. Irregular standardization methodology.
11. Increase of intake to the universities while the standard kept falling.
12. Fall in standard of academic English.
The word academic is my creation.
13. Poor salary scale for teachers and most of them leaving for assignments abroad.
14. Poor pension scheme for teachers.
15. Proliferation of private tution classes.
16. Training undergraduate as an export commodity.
17. Government Free book program.
18. Lack of library facilities.
19. Lack of extracurricular activities.
20. Lack of reference material on science journals and additional books.
21. Lack of review of Science education.
22. Lack of relevance of computer science.
23. Lack of tools like tablets and wifi education (this is done excellently in Singapore).
24. Lack of exchange programs.
25. Lack of multilingual capability for example German, French, Japanese and Korean.
26. Lack of programs for children waiting for examination results.
27. We had hopeless education ministers and some were young Teacher Rapists.
28. Lack of Training of school laboratory staff.
If only five of these points can be improved I think that it will improve the education system exponentially.
Teacher training comes first for me. I did not have good set teachers but I was a different kettle of fish.
I saw a comment of educational reforms on YouTube and thought of penning this down, as I am stopping further blog pieces here.
Skills
Skills are necessary for conducting practicals.
I had a box of weight and a dissecting set.
My brother left all his ORIGINAL textbooks.
Only book missing was Physical Chemistry by Angus. I found a second hand copy.
My elder brother failed his advanced level and I was much junior to him and I did not hurry my steps.
With a Seven O' Clock blade I could cut a very thin slice of a meristem.
Later I graduated to a Wilkinson blade smuggled from UK for Rs.3.50.
Rs.3.50 was a big some and Marks and Spencer shirt on open market was Rs.5.00.
Currently I have a digital microscope which I had to by from my own pocket, I used it for my own research.
The university did not have a digital microscope.
I am surprised I did not become a surgeon (I was good with surgical skills).
By they way dissecting postmortem (no bleeding )and looking for antemortem thrombosis is difficult macroscopically.
Microscopic examinations is mandatory with lot of postmortem changes to deal with.
Monday, August 14, 2023
Worm's Genome in My Brain
It is interesting to note a surgeon has removed several worms from an Australian woman recently.
Detected through a MRI shadow.
The worms were not visible and was an accidental finding.
By the way, there is another worm called Taenia solium, a tiny tape worm resident in pork.
I think Jews ans Muslim do not eat pork due to this worm infection.
Pigs also carry an encephalitis virus that is transmitted by the common mosquitoes, Culex fatigans.
JEN-V or Japanese Encephalitis virus.
I was part of the team of the IIMI where we developed the vaccine with Japanese AIDS.
This not an educational piece but a satire piece and copyright protected.
My proteome is 20,000 and assuming 80% homology I have 16,000 proteins in my brain almost exactly similar to a tiny worm Ceanorhabditis elegans who is only 1mm in length.This guy has 302 neurons and 7000 connections and my brain cannot see any of these without a microscope.
Thankfully my childhood craze was a microscope (not the telescope).
I have a standard digital microscope at home and a children's Telescope and Microscope Kit, I bought for 150 Singapore dollars many moons ago.
Problem is my brain has billions of connections and I think I probably have not used 80% of those connections for nearly 35 years (for clinical and academic work).
The corollary is if evey being uses little bit of his or her brain daily, this world would be a nicer place than it is today.
Nearly 80 millions connections of my connections are available for sale to the chatGPT for resale.
This blog site is not getting Big Hits and it will be closed soon and the Google search engine should not try to activate it.
Thankfully, my gmail client will be erased by default, in two years from now.
Thank you Google and YouTube.
Formulary Notes and Ceylon Medical Journal
This is about Medical Faculty of Peradeniya.
We did not have a journal then all our publications were condensed in Formulary Notes.
Professor Senaka Bible initiated these little publications similar to Bhody Leaves of BPS.
Rest of the publications had to be presented to CMJ.
There was a book on liver of pathology published by a lady in UK who was an examiner.
To me, most mentioned in the book were artifactorial.
One day, I asked my Professor of Pathology, it is time we should dispute them.
He said this is what you should do.
Professor of Paediatrics was very helpful and we decided to write 10 articles (not research) based on liver pathology in children.
Infectious hepatitis was common then.
The so called textbook was removed within 3 months of our publications in CMJ.
I decided to pen this since doctoring publications was an age old tradition.
There is a YouTube presentation highlighting these episodes.
The Coranavirus Saga is the latest manifestation.