Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Evolution of Pi

Warning:- Post might sound like one from a Reverend Mathew..but unintentional..;-)


When you were a little kid and given a pencil most of you must have started with drawing simple shapes like a square…a rectangle or maybe a circle…Your parents might have held the tiny hands of yours and helped you feel the beauty of holding the pencil and the power of expressing yourself.

Drawing a circle is often what most kids start with….The flower which you first drew with the little bud in the center…..The iris of the eye which you drew on fresh papyrus …..But drawing the circle was tricky…Most of the time you wouldn’t end up at the starting point as you curve the circle into shape… otherwise it turned out into an oval or any abstract shape….Even the finest of artists cannot draw a perfect circle without leaving little smudges somewhere…

You must be wondering what’s my point anyways…Well there is a lot more about the perfect circle I want to tell you about….



Anchor yourself
If you want to draw the flawless circle you would use the compass anchoring the sharp end to the centre of the paper…Anchoring yourself and gripping to the focus is crucial….If I can take the liberty of analogizing its more like anchoring to your faith or religion….I am someone who believe every religion enunciates the same values ….Just like how your Math teacher taught when you were young, its very important to have a firm anchor around which you move and which can guide you as you shape the arc…Once you finish the circle the center is not visible to the naked eye, but its decisive to give you the necessary direction and guidance. Just like God whom you cannot see and yet the presence which is important as you shape up.

The strong spike
The spike or the long arm of the compass is like your conscience which is pivoted to your faith...which helps you define what your values are….It encompasses what our ethics and ideals are and the inherent humane feelings which makes us a social being. Just like a good spike which is made of steel, our principles give us the strength and ability to link with our faith. Most of us have these ideals but sometimes we end up in situations questioning them or weighing whether to hold on to it…Maybe the compass leg is made of steel…but holding on to it is more worth than its weight in gold….

The pencil
The pencil is you….
There is no point in having the right anchor or the perfect compass unless you tighten the pencil well…. Eventually the artist who etches the circle is you and how good you can do it depends on how well you hold yourself to the compass.


The center, the compass and the pencil together creates the wonderful synergy …There has been times in my life when I thought I could draw the circle just with the pencil…And I failed…Then I thought I could be the atheist….a compass with a well tightened pencil but without dropping the anchor anywhere….And then I wondered If love could happen without a reason why do I need to seek reasoning in the existence of god….And I sought for the anchor…Well it is no good either if you have the focus and a nice compass and yet the pencil is loosely held…a pencil which is clinging on and yet wobbling around...That what many of us are like...really!


And when you have everything right...the faith in your anchor…the paragon compass and you are secured well to it like a kid holding tight to its mother…you get it…you grow from the little kid who started with a flimsy pencil to a fine person who can draw the perfect circle….the perfectly meaningful circle of life....as god himself conceived ….






P.S. In case you are wondering I have caught the Aristotle flu... ;-)
P.P.S. pictures courtesy flickr

23 comments:

skar said...

Let me just point out that some things which you said about atheism are misplaced. Atheism, like you rightly said,leaves you with a free-standing pencil. So, in effect, atheism isn't about running around in circles with a rigid centre. Its about a free standing pencil that can form any shape, and is not limited to circles. It is not limited to shapes either. It may even be just be a bunch of zig-zag lines. But that is because the principles are constantly evolving. It is a process of constant reasoning that allows your principles to evolve with time and knowledge and that allows you to do what is rational. Reason is the plane on which the pencil moves. On that plane it can move with complete freedom.


I was just elaborating to clarify what atheism is about. I don't wish to advocate atheism to anyone however because it is not an easy path after an upbringing with faith in any religion. I do however recommend it if one wishes to be a good and free human being. However, I know both my earlier sentences are logical fallacies. In a world of reason, atheism is not a matter of choice. It is only a rational conclusion.

mathew said...

@Karthik
I had a fair inkling this post might invite comments from Pro-atheists...:-P
I think i need to clarify that i have nothing against the concept of atheism..just that i happen to believe and feel that helps me a lot!!

And ofcoz there is no misconception about atheism..having entertained such thoughts myself I am fully aware of rational thinking and logical conclusion which might coherce anyone to take an atheist view point..yeah it might sound stupid to say that when the trend is otherwise ..when everyone from George Carlin to Christopher Hitchens talks anti-faith...

Just want to clarify first that I was talking pro-faith and not pro-religious establishments...secondly when you say.."I do however recommend it if one wishes to be a good and free human being." this is exactly where i feel faith enhances us to be there..

And what many of us think as the voice of the conscience at times is a sub-conscious self convincing value system which takes the zig-zag pattern at several instances in our life.

anyways my idea is not to debate here..but wanted to reaffirm that i believe in free will of every individual whether he chooses to be atheist or not..and I respect that..

Anonymous said...

A wonderful post there ...
Anchor,compass,pencil all of the imageries sounds great..
But am leaving it there Mathew,jus to make our conversation clear..

"Then I thought I could be the atheist….a compass with a well tightened pencil but without dropping the anchor anywhere" happens for most o who love think..But thats the keypoint for any TRUST..I sincerely believe Mathew,that till date we think on that line,we are into a FAITH,a dead belief which has come to us through inheritance or whatever..The day we think and reenter into any belief,whether thats a "religion" or "honesty" or any other belief,then we are into a TRUST to which we are RESPONSIBLE..as you said about conscience.
(however,I love to think in terms of Jiddu..we think we make sure and leave..then it is goin to be wonderful..Like today i feel there is no such rappo between the reasonable thinking and beliefs..Truly this is a mind game where we all are communicating with an unknown POWER which can be seen no where..In fact Mathew,thats a strong strong relief since most of the so called commu back from LORD happens in our own minds..lovely right? The relieving point gets stronger if you jus go through all other kinda communications/discussions around us with all those arguments,counterpoints and all !!)

But the journey from that flimsy pencil to a fine person is the most important and decisive thing..ille mathew ? Thats where we all are in a unique travel..situations,experiences,encounters, everthing which makes the pencil go weak or strong differs..and so are the beliefs..

Hope all of us who are born into FAITHS should travel meaningful and transform to TRUST where the confusions are over and lead an honest life..The life which respects everyone..
Thanks for this poking post Mathew.
(happy to comment this time..last one didnt had anything to comment.lol)

sandeep said...

sathyathil enthanu sambhavichathu???

anyways ... u made my day. i was already feeling sleepy and lazy for work :(

btw ... that last pic is wonderful. wonder who shot it?

Anonymous said...

It is easy to lead a good life as an atheist after religions like Christianity (or maybe others) have spelt out what is good or bad for us. I mean before the entrance of mainstream religions there were no ethics or charter of human conduct. Though these religions have transformed to a mere shadow of their former selves due to misinformed followers, one cannot take away from them the foundation they laid for good conduct as human beings. This is not a post on religions I know. So sorry for going OT...but one cannot divorce faith from religion.

Dhanya said...

Enthu patti? Anyway nice thoughts :)

thomas said...

Out of my league mathai. Not knowledgeable enough to comment. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see the debate in the comments.

Pics are beautiful. :)

mathew said...

@Ann
thanks for the long comment and very interesting points...i liked the line from Jiddu!

"But thats the keypoint for any TRUST"

Yeah..I agree its all about trust...but for me I find for comfort in the trust in God than myself..not coz I dont believe myself but more coz I am a limited entity which needs direction on what is right and what is wrong..

In essence we are talking the same thing...and it would be wonderful if we can achieve the perfect circle without the anchor but am not sure how many of us can!!

@sandeep
hehe..enthu cheyaanaa..;-D
this is where i got the pic..http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuzeytac/3064544867/sizes/o/

@Anonymous
You have put it succinctly...yeah this is not a post about religion but its crucial...and our thinking and ethics are still derived from the basics written in many of the religious scriptures..

@Dhanya
hehe..well angane aayi poyyi..;-D

@St.Thomas
haa..Thomas...you are still 'doubting'!!;-D

Deepti said...

Nice post .. Its all about keeping your faith .. faith in yourself and faith in the world in general .. :)

scorpiogenius said...

Sparkie, is this post a spillover from an earlier post? Well, the Faith X Atheism debate seem to be spreading like the Ivy.

You've wonderfully put in your views here, in that circle concept. Well done. Actually I had to read it twice, to fully understand what you mean ;) , in fact, anything which discusses the existence of God (or the non-existence) interests me now-a-days. Intimacy Vs Isolation, as some wise man found out about Early Adulthood seem to be true, eh? :)

At the moment, I think I believe that Man did create God and not the other way round. I may be proved wrong, hopefully, but the institutions of God are never the abodes of Him for sure. If people believe in God, well & good, if you can lead a good life. But the sore fact is that Religion created too many bottlenecks for an individual to lead a free and truthful life. You dont need God to learn moral values, do you? So why the Enigma of the divine?

Perhaps Im proved wrong and will be brought back to the path of the faith. Just putting across my views here, I've seen your reply to Karthik, so I already know your response. :)

Cheers.. ;)

Ancy said...

Well i dunno wht the whole 'debate' is all about...but this surely is a good way to teach geometry. We surely wud have more 'math' believers if nothing else... :)

Sakshi said...

Oh Boy you scared the hell out of me with the Pi heading...thought it's gonna be a mathew math post...For all I know about maths and Pi is that I am still hoping the value of Pi to be 3.14?? God it took me ages and grades to memorize that one. Hope no one has changed that yet coz I want to proudly teach the same value to my son..

It's a thought provoking post but am very bad to comment on such things..seriousness is something I do only while washing the dishes..then thoughts combat in my mind and by the time the dishes are done they flow out along with the dirty water down the drain...

Divs said...

I need basics! Like trying to draw a straight line! It always goes crooked n lands up in a totally different state. (Just like life.. :P )

(not line maarofying line :P .. actual geometry line. I can never draw freehand.. :( )


Nonsense apart, liked the analogy

How do we know said...

Mathew.. just when one typecasts you into an intelligent humour person, you come up and throw something as brilliant as this at us. This is not fair.. intelligent and creative and funny is good. Intelligent and creative and philosophical and just plain brilliant is just not fair. We turn communists and demand that some of these talents be distributed equitably among the havenots of talent.

Seriously dude, you rock and impress big time!

Shrutz said...

God. Really. God :P

Timeless Memories - My Bygone ! said...

Well... good writing, bt frankly, i was left totally blank after reading the entire post that i had read it again, to make sure wt al disasters a circle can do...... like makin u the next in the line of aristotle....
Jokes apart.... ur post actualy made me think..

wanderlust said...

Nice to see you in this philosophical mood, but once or twice a year is enough :-)
On a more serious note, the anchor part is what touched me the most. But for that, God only knows where I would have been now.

Ashwadhy said...

Absolutely brilliant analogy! Very smart.. very precise. Great going!

Annie said...

Good post. Had a good read. Thank you. Compass point and pencil point mal adjusted, circle gets spoiled irreperably.

hope and love said...

nice post..

mathew said...

@Deepti
you said it!!:-)

@scorpiogenius
hehe..no..
interesting thinkings you have put in as well..:)

@Ancy
LOL!! atleast that...

@Sakshi
yeah...I like Pi...and i like geometry..;-P

@Divs
drawing a straight line is usual a test by Police to check drunken driving..;-D

@How do we know
my goodness..this such a generous dumpling of good words..I cant help feeling embarassed about it...atleast I think I managed to get people into believing I am talented..;-D

thanks a lot..:)

@Shrutz
hehe..you say..;-P

@Devil Incarnate
I prefer to be the aristocrat than aristotle..;-P


@wanderlust
yeah..i forget to take the pills once or twice a year..it happens..:-P

@Ashwadhy
thanks a lot..:-)

@Annie
thank you...and glad to see you active in blogworld..

@hope and love
thank you..and a warm welcome back to blogland!:-D

Happy Kitten said...

Loved this post of yours...

we dont have to be religious to believe in a God who is ever present for you. When u believe in an omnipotent, loving God, one is free in every way.

mathew said...

@Happy Kitten
oh..you have been reading my old posts..:-) thanks a lot!