Sunday, February 24, 2008

Life... Or Something Like It

Red Redding in Shawshank Redemption:

“….But that wasn't the only reason. Prison time is slow time. So you do what you can to keep going. Some fellas collect stamps. Others build matchstick houses…. It was the same reason Andy spent years shaping and polishing those rocks. The same reason he hung his fantasy girls on the wall. In prison... a man will do most anything to keep his mind occupied.”

Well…If you ask me, It’s the same reason I played minesweeper millions of times… even after reaching (almost unbeatable) scores of 2 seconds in beginner, 27 seconds intermediate and 101s in expert. The same reason I played 5000+ games of FreeCell … the same reason I continue to play Tetris and Trivia… The same reason I read all the novels I can get my hands on…The same reason why I watched 700 odd movies (regardless of the fact that the frequency of even reasonably watch-able ones only is about 1 in 25, the good ones are even rarer)…watched some 15 different serials (everything from Friends, House MD to Avatar)… The same goddamn reason why the whole bloody lan is drained and empty…

They say that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop (this goes way back to the twelfth century …Chaucer's 'Tale of Melibee' :

“Therefore seith Seint Jerome: "Dooth somme goode deedes that the devil, which is oure enemy, ne fynde yow nat unoccupied.")

Bollocks. A devil’s workshop? Count me in. Any day. Period.

THIS is what happens in an idle mind… give the useless brains like mine a fart a breathing time and questions like the below keep popping up…

And thus, good people, by induction, using the above question as n = 1, introducing. in the place of ‘INTEGERS’, anything from ‘fractions’, ‘imaginary numbers’, ‘chester barnard’s principlestoRouth - Hurwitz criterion for determining the number of roots on the right half of the s- planeet al.... it can easily be shown that for all n, the damn question still remains unanswered.

The shit doesn’t stop right there… things always go from the frying pan to check out the flames below… if that was a tough question… try this… ladies and the gentlemen… introducing the eternal question …POL… the purpose of life... the reason for human existence...

And, likewise… all other theories from pragmatist, utilitarian, existentialist, humanist, spiritual et cetera to even scientific and individual views on the meaning of life, sound just as ridiculous, and provide just as much satisfaction…

Man...these are some haunting questions…it’s so easy to spend the entire lifetime (well… ages, at least) searching futilely for the ghosts of the answers to these questions…
I don’t want to get caught in that chakravyuha …
I really, really need a new project...
I just can’t stay idle...
This is it for now..
I blog.

PS: Shawshank Redemption is one helluva movie. Also, Bill Waterson is a genius.
Hats off to both of ‘em.

13 comments:

Logik said...

The mighty dha finally justifies his undying love for minesweeper,freecell and every other futile thing he has been doing for the past 4 years, [ the list also includes tronix, from what i see].

Purpose of life. Chappar the wastage is responsible for bringing that issue, and polluting our thoughts for around 3 years now.

But, why do u bother with all this bunkum trash, Just chill maadi. Life alli khushi importantu..

evilsense said...

Well, you seem to compare life to prison. Not much of a difference if the answer to POL is unknown.
Andy spent his free life fixing boats in mediterranean, which apparently had no memory. Redemption.

Great post. It is the fact that you play minesweeper instead of reading ‘Routh - Hurwitz criterion for determining the number of roots on the right half of the s- plane’ that surprises me. For some people, it doesnt make any difference, both are equally futile and valueless.

Yeah, Shawshank redemption is indeed a great movie.

Unknown said...

@evilsense...
1. the (or something like it) part of the title fits the post better than (life). the direct comparison to prison lessens then...
anyway there is.. "man's born free.. but is in chains everywhere" crap..well, i digress.. :P

2. throughout the post i talk about idle mind... under the assumption that the mind is not idle when reading Routh- Hurwitz... mandatory, deadline related, exam crap is not spoken about here..

the operative word is 'idle'

Unknown said...

@logik..
1. i wanted to write some serious stuff
2. "life alli kushi important" , has been patented by me.

Rakesh Babu G R said...

As Albert Camus said "To two men living the same number of years, the world always provides the same sum of experiences. It is up to us to be conscious of them.".

It doesn't matter what you do, you are as good as any other person. But then you could not "not" have done the same thing anyway.

Ajay said...

maga too much of philosophy to take in one post. Take up one issue at a time. Nice effort to put out all the white noise inside ;) You have found out a probable reason for all the activity(!) over the past few years... Dig further and you may be able to find the reason for all your activities of the past present and future...

@Takaal as usual
@logik - arbit unnecessary comment on POL. Everyone has questions on POL... Sagar just rechristened these questions as POL...

So "bunkum trash" for you may be worth a diamond for someone else... Just like a spicmacay concert being bunkum trash for some junta in our college (you know who) but is precious for you (I hope so)...

Trash is gold for a scrap merchant!!

Unknown said...

@takaal.. dude.. u lost me there :O
@ajay... ha! nice one

Hashish said...

Good analogy to why u spend ur time doing worthless things (like tetris,minesweeper and freecell) and worthful things (house is the only worthful serial u watch...rest all suck). As on the purpose of life its a very important question. But blogging is not one of them. And as for others reaction: Takaal was prob drunk at the time he wrote the comment. Evil sense just will jump on the slightest hint of a discussion of POL. Ent is full of shit. Ajay made some valuable points (u cant some up the POL and what u do in one blog...It forms a label for a lot of posts)

Hashish said...

We need a new platform for flame wars... Lets all use Takaal's blog...

Unknown said...

@hashish and @ajay
yea... that was supposed to be an introduction to POL, think i even use the word in the blog..

the whole post was abt:
1.how sitting simply sucks, and any filler material helps
2.introduce the concept of POL
3.be damn serious/ sombre

but i thought.. the way i posted the same thing, would be better than the above way...
:)

evilsense said...

Takaal: Albert Camus said "To two men living the same number of years, the world always provides the same sum of experiences. It is up to us to be conscious of them."

I disagree. Are you suggesting the world gives SAME choice? Same experience would never happen if choice is what you mean. So your latter statement would be void.

Rakesh Babu G R said...

@dha,@evilsense-

When Camus says what he says he means,
If a sweeper and the CEO of Google live the same number of years, they will have the same sum of experiences(doesn't mean that they will lead the same life). But, the point is that the sweeper will think that the Google CEO is leading a better life. But, then Camus says since we are all going to die one day, what matters is not the luxury with which we live, but how many experiences we accumulate and how conscious we will be of them when they occur. So, he suggests that everyone be conscious of what they do and do whatever you want(debatable?) to do. That is probably why we(people interested in POL) would any day trade a day of life in an AC room with a kodachadri type of trek with lots of NDEs(Near Death "Expereinces") and why each one of us(at least me) , when we go in a bus, want an accident to happen, and be the only one to survive. The operative word here is "experience".

The purpose of life can be summed up in three words(At least that is what my conclusion is as of now). These words are not mine but of my hostel warden when I was in Alike. I will assume a GPL license for it.

"Enjoy your existence"

Game,set,match.

evilsense said...

That comes close to the phrase:
"Live in the present moment!",a zen philosophy.

It makes me think of a song called "Parabola" by Tool:

"
We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment,
We are choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside
This holy reality, this holy experience.
...
Twirling round with this familiar parable.
Spinning, weaving round each new experience.
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing.

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal.
All this pain is an illusion.
"