Analytic vs. Synthetic Mythologies Mythology means the science of lies. It can have two further flavors—Analytic and Synthetic. Analytic mythology is the scientific study of how rational arguments are used to justify lies. Since most people like rationality, they can be fooled into thinking that because it seems rational therefore it must be true. Synthetic …
Vedic Texts vs. an AI Chatbot Someone recently asked me a question about AI. The specific request was to convert Vedic knowledge into an AI chatbot so that people could easily ask it questions. As and when a question would arise, they would enter the question into the chatbot and the chatbot would produce the …
What is measured is improved. Economic progress is currently measured using GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and PPP (Purchasing Power Parity). In this article, we will discuss how the methods of growing GDP and PPP simply grow the debt. We will then describe three alternative measures that grow the economy without growing the debt.
There is general opposition to all kinds of elitism at present. This is due to the exclusivist nature of Western elitism. The bad attributes of Western elitism are applied even to Vedic elitism when it is inclusivist. In this short post, I will briefly discuss the nature of two different elitist societies.
Consciousness vs. Content Distinction One of the hardest problems in the scientific study of consciousness is to distinguish consciousness from its contents. In the simplest sense, consciousness is the knower, and content is the known. However, in an experience, we cannot distinguish the knower from the known because the two are combined. Hence, when philosophers …
There are numerous and widespread misconceptions about Advaita Vedānta at present. Most people in the West dismiss it as Solipsism or Idealism in which the external world doesn’t exist when Advaita clearly states that the world does exist as a myth, a false story, a sort of TV imagery, or a fantasy movie. They neither …
This is the third of a three-part series in which I cover sexuality. In the first part, I discussed the nature of perverted sexuality whose hallmark is shame. In the second part, I discussed various types of sexuality found in the Vedic texts, leading to a perfectional stage whose mark is shyness, rather than shame. …
Colonization was modeled after the previous Islamic conquest of the Middle East and the Roman Catholic conquest of Europe. When colonialism ended, it wasn’t because the colonialists had a change of heart. It was because they did not have the power to continue. Their armies were dead. Their coffers were empty. Their will was broken. …
I don’t like telling personal stories, but in this case, I’ll make an exception. Almost by serendipity, or shall we say cosmic design, I came to study the deeper and broader history of Abrahamic religions, and what I found stunned me. This is the story of what sent me in that direction, what I learned …
We can scan the length and breadth of Vedic literature, but we won’t find the term “Universal Truth”. Everywhere, we find the term Param-Satyam, which has three meanings—(a) Highest Truth, (b) Original Truth, and (c) Best Truth. The highest truth controls everything. The original truth creates everything. The best truth enjoys everything. Param-Satyam is the …
Buddhism had four successive goals—(a) reject deities as representations of the ultimate truth, (b) end all rituals and sacrifices performed for these deities, (c) dethrone the status position of the Brahmanas who were performing these rituals, and (d) reject all Vedic texts as sources of knowledge of the truth. Shankaracharya is revered as one who …
Standards For Different Religions My criticisms of other religions are sometimes dismissed not by a counterargument but simply by calling it an outsider’s opinion, different from the believer’s viewpoint. The critic says: Believers have an orthodox view of their religion while academics have a heterodox view of the same religion. The divergence between the orthodox …
