Does God exists?
Being an astronomer and an Indian cultural person, many times, I have been asked, if I believe in God?
This is indeed a serious difficulty for belief in God. However, in my opinion, it does not wipe out all the evidence on the other side. Instead, it shows that there’s something we don’t understand. How much do we actually know about what it’s is not as pointless as it appears, that it’s a means to a greater good.
Is belief in God purely psychological?
a. Point of logic: You must establish that a belief is false before you "explain" it as an illusion.
b. Yes, we can magnify our concept of earthly parents, authority figures, creative artists, etc., to arrive at a picture of God. Does this mean there is no God? Or does it mean that parents, rulers, artists, etc., are made in God’s image?
c. Psychological factors can also make someone an atheist. Obvious psychological factors working against belief in God are adolescent rejection of parental authority and desire to be exempted from moral principles.
Some arguments for the existence of God
a. Cosmological argument (St. Thomas Aquinas): Everything in the physical universe is temporary and requires a cause. Either there is an endless chain of temporary things caused by other things, or there is, at the beginning, something that is not temporary and does not require a cause (namely God).
c. Argument from design (Paley): Discovering the orderly universe, especially biological life, we are like someone finding a watch on an uninhabited beach and inferring that a watchmaker exists somewhere. Nothing but intelligent design can explain the order of the universe. (Supposedly demolished by Darwin.)
d. Argument from common consent: Virtually all the human societies that have ever existed have had some concept of deity which, when refined (e.g., by Socrates or Aristotle), comes to resemble the God we know. (And why would evolution produce this?)
American service section: Part-2
Bank of America:
6/5/2010
We decided to open a bank account for my wife, and get a credit card, so that she can improve her credit score. We went Bank of America, and opened account, and applied for a secured credit card. Secured means they will charge money to me, and offer me same amount of credit line. We applied for $300. Now, when we applied, I remembered, asking the person specifically, that if there is any annual fee associated with it. He said no.
OKEY.
6/13/2009
We got the card, and letter says that there is $39 annual fee with it. What?
Now, we have been receiving offers by many credit card companies, and we decided to use Bank of America, since it is our bank. Wellsfargo offers free secured credit card!
12.18 PM EST
I thought there is a mistake, and called customer service.
I told person, that I had asked if there is any annual fee, and was told that there is none! The customer service representative said that if we like, we could cancel that card and apply for the new one! What? The only reason we got this card is to improve the score. Now, if we cancel so soon, it is going to affect the score adversely. I asked, let me speak to his manager. And he put me on hold for 20 mins. No reply. And eventually hung up.
12.33 PM EST
I called again, and was speaking with Rob. This time, I was clever to write down name. He said he is the manager. I told him the same thing.
He said, the fee is associated with credit score. The annual fee is based on credit score, and they make decision about annual fee based on credit score.
Understood: however, if I am asking specifically while applying the card about annual fee, then I must have given same information. I was told that there is no fee. I opted for this card, since it is free. Otherwise, I could have selected Wellsfargo, or Credit one!
Rob said, it is written in the credit application, and it is my responsibility to read the document before signing.
True: however, if I am asking a specific question orally, then I must be given a honest answer orally. If Bank of America told me that my answer is in those documents, then I would read them. They said that there is no annual fee!
I told Rob that there was lying, and almost stealing on money.
Rob, kept on saying the same thing, that I should have read the documents, and there is fee with the account. He was happy to cancel the card for me, which would adversely affect the score. It was their fault, why should I pay for it? I kept repeating the same thing.
Rob is a manager, but not at all good at customer service sector. Eventually, I told him that I am going to write a complaint to Bank of America, he offered to cancel the annual fee for the first year only. Strange. I don’t know how this works?
I have the address, and I am going to report all this in any case.
Lessons:
- One has to be very persistent.
- They want to squeeze as much money as possible from their customers, so one should be careful.
- I was told that Bank of America is not that good, got one experience!
American service section: Part-1
My experience with American service sector has been filled with mixed feelings. I have had many good experiences, and some bad experiences. Here I am trying to down some of bad ones; just in case, if it helps to anyone else?
This is experience with Comcast.
8/2/2009
I am having intermittent internet problems since Friday and it stopped completely on Saturday (9/2/2009) morning. I gave a call to Customer service (Saturday-10/31-10.31am) and was talking to Kahelia-45073. I gave her my account number , she was not able to locate me, then I gave her my phone number, she was not able to locate me. Then I gave her my last name and other details when she found my on system, and then she confirmed my information by asking the same questions which I already answered. This all took more than 15 minutes.
I told her about my internet service but she was not able to help at all. She mentioned that a technician will have to come to my place and the next available is on Tuesday. There is no reason I should be asked to wait that long.
Two main issues:
1) WE BOTH ARE WORKING PROFESSIONAL AND CAN NOT STAY HOME DURING WORKING HOURS.
2) WE GET IMPORTANT EMAILS AND CAN NOT WAIT FOR A WEEK FOR INTERNET!
I asked to talk to her supervisor and she put my on hold. After 5 minutes she asked me to contact Cable service giving reason that they might have technician coming earlier. I understood that she just want to get rid of me. I insisted on talking to her supervisor and then again wait for 10 minutes. Then she told me that she will try to find a technician who can come to my place within 24 hours. I told her OK. Again on Hold. She then said that it can also happen on Monday. I told her that you just said within '24 hours', which she answered by saying that she was telling that she will try and can not promise. Again Hold. Meantime, I told her several times to let me talk to her supervisor and she was very hesitant to do it! She NEVER let me talk her supervisor. Lastly she said she is going to talk to someone? This all took 50 minutes and I was frustrated and annoyed with this customer service and hung up, which she wanted me to do for some time (she has been just checking intermittently to see if I am on line!).
Again, I called in the afternoon, talked with technician and insisted to talk to Manager. I explained all this to Eric-3652. A very RUDE manager. I asked to talk to his supervisor and then talked to Aanet-3394. She knew what she was taking. She said she will try to email someone to see if we can get someone on Sunday.
I thought to check this on Sunday, and called Comcast, and was talking to Marie-23401. I again explained this to all to her and asked to talk to Aanet .She said there is no way she can connect me to someone called Aanet etc... I mentioned her to talk to her supervisor, she said she has to email her supervisor and then he/she will get back to me. I told her to do it, and NO REPLY. Why my calls go to different location where I have to explain again everything; I rather talk to a person who knows about my complaint.
10/2/2009
I called again on Sunday afternoon, talked to Shawn-8789. Same frustrating answers and unhelpful service.
I guess there is no need to mention the average hold on 15 mins for each call and having to explain my situation to everyone.
There is still NO internet. It works for 5 mins and then stops for 20 mins. We are schedule for a technician to come on Saturday, since WE CAN NOT STAY HOME on WEEKDAY !!!! I told this 100 times to all the people above mentioned.
11/2/2009
I got email from Amelia Dennis, Customer Advocate Liaison asking me the problem, and other details. I told her everything, and she said I have to wait till technician comes to my place. I told her again that we cannot stay home, and then she could offer appointment at 5 pm. I told her, I can get home by 6 pm, but she refused! So again, we had to wait. Eventually, technician came to our place on next Saturday (16/2/2009). He went around, and thought that there is problem with the connection. He thought he fixed it, and went.
12/2/2009
Internet stopped working again! I called and called again, and same frustrating and rude customer service.
Another technician came to our place on next Tuesday (14/2/2009), and he did the same thing. He thought that there is problem with the wire! But, atleast he figured out where the connection was loosing the signal.
Now, we have cable with broken connector. So, whenever internet stops working, I play with that connector, and it works.
Note: Technicians were very helpful. Mean time, two technicians called me, and offered me to come to my place. Since, I was in office, I was not able to come home. But customer service offered no flexibility.
Lessons:
- · Comcast internet is good when it works, but if there is a problem then it is really difficult to get it fixed.
- · Costumer service is horrible, and all the agents are rude.
- · One has to be very aggressive to get some work done. As I said, after fighting so much, I was offered a technician coming home at 5 pm. It did not help me much though!
- · I am still with Comcast but I am not a loyal costumer!
Updates:
Its been really long since I blogged here. Lot of things are different now. I am a married man now, and juggling my life between job, home and career. I have been told and now I know it is true that the amount of time gets limited after marriage and it vanishes after you have kids. Well, I hope to keep up with this blog.
Editorial
An Even Better Hubble
Published: May 24, 2009
The Hubble Space Telescope, already hugely successful, should have even greater powers thanks to new instruments installed and repairs made by astronauts on a servicing mission that ended Sunday.
The trip validates the decision of former NASA chief Michael Griffin. He reinstated the mission after it had been canceled by a previous administrator because it was slightly more risky than most shuttle flights. Without refurbishing, Hubble would have limped along with diminished viewing capability until its gyroscopes or key circuits conked out and left it unable to function.
Hubble is the only major space telescope that is close enough for astronauts to reach and refurbish; it was planned that way largely to give the costly shuttle program something useful to do beyond building the scientifically more dubious international space station.
Making the telescope reachable proved fortunate. After Hubble was launched in 1990, NASA discovered to its horror and chagrin that a misshapen mirror blurred its vision, rendering it largely useless. Shuttle astronauts corrected the vision defect, regularly replaced failing gyroscopes and installed ever more sensitive instruments, allowing Hubble to provide brilliantly sharp images.
Among a host of scientific achievements, Hubble has discovered hundreds of proto-galaxies that emitted light when the universe was forming and helped establish the age and expansion rate of the universe.
Now, with the fifth and possibly last servicing mission, NASA has made Hubble potentially better than ever. Astronauts installed two new instruments, repaired two others, and replaced gyroscopes that keep the telescope pointed in the right direction and batteries that provide power. The only glitches were a repair to a survey camera that was only partially successful and frustrating difficulties loosening a bolt and handrail.
If all works as planned, Hubble should be able to peer even deeper into space and farther back in time than it has before. The telescope, circling some 350 miles above Earth, is expected to perform for at least five more years.
That should be long enough to bridge the gap until its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is sent to a perch almost a million miles from Earth — four times as distant as the Moon. That is a much better vantage point for viewing the universe without Earth getting in the way. It will also be far beyond the reach of repair parties, so the manufacturers had better get it right the first time.
SECOND LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER FROM TYPICAL MOUSE FROM MUMBAI
By: Unknown Author
Dear Prime minister,
Hello from typical mouse from Mumbai. Soon Mumbaikars will be going for voting. I would like to remind you what has happened in Mumbai during last five years.
During last election you had promised that Mumbai will be made like Shanghai. Next time when your plane lands in Mumbai please see for yourself which part of Mumbai looks like Shanghai. Half the Mumbai is filled with slums, exactly like what is shown in SLUMDOGS. Even dogs will not like to stay there, but we human beings have no choice.
Remaining half of Mumbai is occupied by multistory concrete jungle. Your former chief minister went on increasing FSI, collecting money from builders and pumping back to Delhi to fight election. No wonder your party gave maximum advertisement in media so people can see the good work done by your government which is not visible to ordinary citizen.
During last five years price of houses has increased three times and ordinary Mumbaikar cannot even dream of having his own house in Mumbai. Thirty percent of money is paid in black, which is distributed among politician, bureaucrats and underworld. When more than 30000 rupees are withdrawn from bank, it is to be informed. Nobody informs you about crores or rupees which are being paid as black money.
This reminds me of black money in Swiss banks. When Mr. Obama became US president he did not request, nor pleaded with Swiss banks. He simply filed a suit against Swiss banks for luring rich people to open Swiss bank account to evade taxation. Within a week banks were forced to pay fine of Rs 700 million dollars that is rupees 3500 Crore. ?They even disclosed names of 300 account holders. During your regime not single paisa has been recovered not a single name has been disclosed. By the time some action is taken all the money will disappear and the only name of dead person will remain.
Fifteen years have passed when hundreds s of people died in Mumbai bomb blast. Main conspirator Dawood is not only at large but still calling shots. Whether it is Gutka king or a builder or a Bollywood producer, each one of them pays him protection money. Same money is pumped back as bullet in the chest of people, poor police and soldiers. We feel as much secure as a mouse in presence of a cat. Today cricket matches are shifted to South Africa for security reason, why not shift parliament to London?
During Munich Olympics, Israel team was massacred. Within one year each one of attacker was done to death. We dare not touch Dawood. Former Prime minister Charan singh had described politician as eunuch. I will not use such words. Why insult eunuch by comparing them with politician?
November attack in Mumbai is still fresh in my mind. This was a wakeup call. Your trusted friend Mr Sharad Pawar replaced one of the most honest ministers R R Patil with Mr Chagan Bhujbal about whose honesty there cannot be two opinions. He is dishonest. He is person who made pimp out of most efficient Mumbai police force.
Last August I had gone to PriyaDarshini park near my place. There were youths from villages who had gathered there to give fitness exam for enrollment in police force. I asked one of them ?Don?t you have to pay bribe to get selected? his reply was ?At the time of Bhujbal we had to do it, but after R.R.Patil has became home minister it has stopped. ? A villager boy knows all this, either Mr. ?Pawar is unaware of this or he likes to play cruel jokes.
Just before three days former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde said ? we chief ministers are just Ji Hajoors ?of Congress high command.? Reason for mushrooming of small parties is that local Congress leaders are like underwear which can be replaced any time.
Congress high command has only one commander and loyalty to commander supersedes loyalty to motherland. Even the most incompetent person like Mr Shivraj Patil was kept as home minister of country till he became a huge liability. Most talented president was discontinued and
replaced by Pratibha DEVISINGH Patil just because commander wanted to give gift of first woman president to country. Person like Ms. Kiran Bedi would have been the best choice but even Mr Pawar who was kick-commander who became lick-commander wanted only politician to become president.
With the weakening ?of major political party even the poor billionaire farmer like Dev Gowda are coming back to life to serve the people. Every Tom, Dick & Harry wants to become prime minister since that is the only way to serve the nation. As soon as election results are out, donkeys will be trading horses.
Congress party who ruled country for maximum number of years has made greatest promise of bribing millions with 3 rupees rice, for those unfortunate millions surviving is the greatest luxury of life.
Last but not the least, Yesterday that is on 23 rd April 2009 you said in Guwahati that ?AS OF NOW? nuclear weapons of Pakistan are in safe hand. Mark your world ?AS OF NOW? so you are not sure what will happen tomorrow or whether there will be any tomorrow? Your assurance that our future is in safe hands of Congress is as much assuring as word of prostitute that she is virgin.
Some time Mr. Prime minister I wonder why I am writing all this? What purpose it will serve? But then I cannot forget faces of thousands of youngsters who had gathered at Gate way of India after the Mumbai attack. They all were against politicians. They were all chanting ?HUM HONGE KAMYAB? I might be a little typical mouse but I will never be a rubber stamp, at least I will squeak.
Thanking you
Typical Mouse from Mumbai
A note on economic recession!
Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what was the total cost of your education, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has. Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come… life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full… sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all. The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support… The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed… The first cry… the first steps… the first word… the first kiss… all of your child… The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you… The first award… the first public appreciation… the first stage performance… And the list is endless… Experiences, with timeless memory… No denying that anything that's material costs money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never. So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent. Time will pass… economy will revive… currency will soon be in current… and in all this, I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences… If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy. Make a statement with the way you live your life: How we feel has nothing to do with how much we have :)
