Logical Thinking

One Friday day night me and my son were sitting before the TV for our normal late night  sit out after our dinner. I felt like having a cup of ice cream. I asked my son, if he wanted it as well. No surprises, he also agreed with my plan. I went and started looking into the refrigerator; and was able to spot only the pistachio flavor ice cream. I took it and came and started a movie and opened the ice cream box. My son as usual came and sat close to me and started watching the movie. When I opened the ice cream box, there was a thin layer of ice crystal on it. My son saw me opening the cup and signed to me to feed him a spoonful of it. I took a small portion, mostly with the ice crystal and put it in his mouth. Within seconds, he made a face and said, “Pistachio is the worst flavor in the in the whole world.” For him, the declarations should always apply to the whole world. I said to him, that he might be wrong.

I told him, “I don't think, that is the case. Pistachio has a very peculiar flavor, and you might try to  start to developing an openness for new tastes.” 

Then I removed all the ice crystals and took the real ice-cream and fed him next. Within seconds, he smiled and showed thumbs up and whispered “You are right, it is really good. I stand corrected.”

I was shocked. Not on his change in stand, but the usage of words. I've never used this phrase in my entire life and was surprised, how he got the sense of using that.

Another day I had a long conversation with my daughter on why she should not open all her gifts that she got on he birthday at once. After a while, she did not seem to agree to all my reasoning and was kept on questioning, why she should not be allowed to open the gifts, which are technically her’s! I lost my patience, and started raising my voice and gave her a stern warning, “ You are not opening all the gift at once! Based your good behavior in the next coming weeks, I'll let you open one a week.” She calmly looked at my eyes and said, “Appi, Just because you shout, does not make your statement right. Also you are not my boss. I'll talk to mom,” and walked away.

Again, I was speechless. Not because I was replied back, but her usage of words and the way she used it effectively to logically explain who the real decision maker is.

This would be a case in most parent’s life. Some might adore these kinds of replies and even brag that their kids are so smart. Some parents might get annoyed with these type of answers considering them as over smartness. My objective is not to debate on that, but the layer beneath this behavior: Logical Thinking.

One thing, that is typically human is our capability for logical thinking (or is it?). If you expand, what really a logical thinking is not just adding two numbers; is not simply repeating a stored data point; is also not simply exercising a cause and effect situation. A way deeper than that. If your kid was able to solve a quadratic equation or remember 100 things at once - Not to devalue the merit - think that a simple Chinese made calculator worth $2 can do it faster and more accurately. 

However, logical thinking is much more than that. I read a poem by Rudyard Kipling(Indian born British poet and Nobel laureate who wrote the famous book ‘Jungle book’) called ‘I keep six honest serving men’. Oh! My God! I saw such profoundness in that. It goes like this: 

I KEEP six honest serving-men

 (They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When 

 And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

 I send them east and west;

But after they have worked for me,

 I give them all a rest.

The six serving men is about our capacity to analyze. These are the six kinds of questions we use to gather concrete information. Let’s see them individually.

What: Questions are about practical information concerning an object or actions outside ourselves.

Why: Questions are about meaning and purpose and require an understanding of causality and an inner yearning for wisdom

When: Questions require a sense of Time, of passing of seasons.

How: Questions are about procedures and inner workings and require a degree of logic

Where: Questions are about the place and space and require spacial awareness

Who: Questions about identity and require a sense of self and self-reflection

I think humans are the only species that can manage all six dimensions; and I'm not sure if animals ever ask themselves who and why.

I told my son after one night as a bedtime story, the six serving man and concluded “Bud, only humans can do all six parts and be fully logical and animals can't do all”

His eyes half closed he protested, “I don't understand what and why you say like that?” 

I sensing that he did not quite understand an abstract idea, try to lower the level of complexity said, “I'm sure that animals do not have the sense of all six parts. I've never seen a cat asking himself who is he truly;  I can never imagine a mosquito asking himself before entering a spider’s web, why he was there; I don't think a spider exploring what exactly the meaning of his own web house!”

I was very proud of my great answer and was very confident that he must have understood that and would have slept.

A minute of silence, He turned towards me. Hugged me tightly and said,“appa, how can you be so sure? How can you tell the presence or absence of such thoughts?” - and slept.

I did not sleep that whole night!

Know Myself

Yesterday night, as I was channel hopping in the TV, I stopped at one of the Harry Potter movie, I think it was the second one. Seeing these movies makes you feel how time flies; those kids in the movies felt like they grew before your eyes. I’m not a great fan of those movies, however I always wonder when JK Rowling wrote such a complicated and a planned story. I tried to read the books and after the first one, I couldn’t. I’m not into fictions, however the book looked to me like more philosophical than a mere fiction.

I started watching right in the middle, when Dumbledore started talking to the little Harry on Wisdom. He said something like “It is our choices Harry, that show what truly we are, far more than our abilities.”  Wow! What a profound statement. I thought the wisdom and self-awareness are the exclusive bragging rights of the philosophers and self declared gurus. After that I stopped watching. I've read books on knowing self; which is so important for any philosopher as a starting point for his studies. The main quest for the entire human kind could be summed up as ‘What makes us who we are!”.

On another note, the movies trigger what the scientists call the reflective memory within the viewer, to put them on the scene itself. That’s the reason, we are moving in our seat during a tense car chase and feel for the hero, when his lover rejects him. Same way I felt as if Dumbledore said to me on the choices. I said to him “Got it sir,” and I started going around to seek what are the choices that show who I truly am?

When I was a child, as any other Indian family, most of the decisions were made by elders in the family and parents. However I’d a choice on how to handle their decisions. When I finished my high school, I choose to study in the science group. When I wanted to go to grad school, I took engineering and on to the mechanical department. What does that say about me? That I studied well and went to engineering school? Did I wish to become an engineer? On a closer look, is that even an essential trait of who I am, or is that an accidental happening? I was confused as how many of them were determined by my conscious decision or by chance or influenced by others.

One thing which I can recall as a common string was that I’ve always been stubborn and self willed. I tried so many things, took responsibility for the outcome. Even most of the time, I failed I did not worry or did not show my worry. Oh! I got it, now I can start articulating the situations and the choices I made.

When I was in school, we lived with our cousins in the same house. Together there were three families, close to eight to ten kids and many uncles and aunts managing the house like a public sector organization! I hardly had a family time, as I did not had a chance to sit and talk with my parents. My parents hardly came to my school nor intervened in any of my activities. Initially I was really sorry for myself, that I did not had anyone to take care of me. As I grew up, around 10, I started realizing the positive aspect of it. Non intervention made me stronger as I was able to make my own decisions and manage the repercussions. My first choice was to stand by myself.

When I finished my engineering, I had an opportunity to go and work with my cousin. He had a software development (in 90’s) in Bombay and he gave me an opportunity to come and search some work and in the meantime work for him. I did not gain anything economically, as I was not paid, I had a place to stay, food to eat and work to do. Then, I got another job in Delhi; I had a choice to make. To stay with him and continue the life under the shadow of my cousin or to start afresh on my own. I choose the second, even though it was not appreciated by many. My second choice was to be on my own.

When I was working in Delhi, I suddenly felt that life is going stale and monotonous. I felt that I need to study more than work and earn, which I thought would help me in the longer run. I made my next choice to quit the job (well paying) and went to do my masters. I wanted to offset the loss of income by working on the night shifts; thereby sleeping only few hours a day. Amid all difficulties, I completed my post gradation, and started looking for job. My third choice was to pursue higher education.

During my entire life, I was very choosy when it comes to friendship. Most if not all my friends were older to me and were well experts in what they do. I had association who were top class designers, supreme court lawyers, sons of member of parliament, very successful businesspersons, notorious characters and drug addicts. To me all of them had stories and experiences that I can listen and learn from. My fourth choice was the relationships I choose consciously.

When it comes to the selection of the profession, I always had a great faith in engineering. Also I thought computer engineering is not a profession by itself and saw it as an enabler in all areas of engineering. I decided to be a hard core engineer with a good computer knowledge. When the opportunity came to me to take up such a profession in Madras, I dropped everything in Delhi and took the Next available train and went down on an unreserved ticket. When I came back after all my six years, I did not had even a suitcase with me. My fifth choice was to select the profession that matched my expectation.

What do these choices say about me? I tend to seek out the uncommon and the uncharted, but at the same time I want to know I'm roots in tradition, family and health.

What wisdom have these choices brought me? About the people I moved with, every one was different and nobody is purely evil; About relatives, people who seem to do ‘good and helpful’ sometimes don’t and the other way around; About the existence of God, what does it mean by ‘exist’ or ‘God.’ About how to teach my kids, as the best way to teach is not to teach; About the learnings, I can never say that I know.

After all, I came to a full circle. As Socrates said, “The more I live, the more I know that I know nothing.” The more knowledge you have about a certain subject, the more nuanced your opinions. This aspect of not-knowing is a good sign, I think if you ask me - but who am I?

So always distrust absolute statements - even this one :-)

Free Will

On a casual e-mail conversation with one of my friends, I used the term free will just like that to say my conscious decision. After that it struck me, is that an autonomous decision or predestined one. This must have been many conversations logically and scientifically to establish objectives and factors on this area. However I wanted to do a conversation with my friend (none other than an enlightened ME!)

A look at my own life, When I was in my mid twenties, I had a dream, like everyone else. I had a dream of making big! I wanted to make a lot of money. Then my aim was to make twenty to thirty lakhs, which is approximately $60,000. That’s all! Once I make it, I'd turn to much of a free time, many fun travel and a bit of sports of my choice. 

Then, I quit working in Delhi for an appliance manufacturer and started perusing my higher studies. It was a once hectic way of life. School in the morning and Work at night to manage the expenses. However I managed it for almost two full years. During those days, when I rode through the big bungalows at Aurangzeb and Akbar Roads, I wish to dream a peaceful life to worrying about anything, having a cup of coffee served in the posh lawn - by a servant. I'd be dreaming of me able to drink it without worrying to run for work or plan for studies. My dream was to make it to America and live with no strings!

After 16 years, when I looked back, yes I had completed those milestones, however am I free from all strings? I’ve more responsibilities than I was studying then. Looking at the events that had happened in-between I started asking myself, Is there such a thing as predestination after all?

Refer to books or google search university, you will see a bundle of citations that your karma has predestined you for a certain path; but your free will can decide to choose a different path.

Ah Ha. I got it! I should have exercised my free will to be like what I wanted to be. Wait a minute! However then, I did to an extent. Either it mean that my free will is not that strong enough or a notion of absolute autonomy is an illusion!

I started asking a very simple question to my friend (enlightened ME) “Is everything predestined?”

He looked up at me quizzically and raised his eyebrows. I continued “All the things I will feel, say or do in the future are decided on in the present?” 

He started shaking his head up and down. 

“Doesn't that mean everything is fixed” - I asked in disbelief

He started shaking his head side to side, meaning ‘nah’

“Then even the idea of having a free will is dictated by the culture in which I was predestined to be born,” I went on “ Then my future is fixed and there’s nothing I can do about it.

My friend took a glass of water on the table and on a fraction of a second dumped it on my head. I was shocked and with anger took searched for something, so that I can throw it back. My friend smiled at me said, “Too bad, you were predestined to be drenched like this! Well, that’s your fate.” I was fuming and got hold of the fork and took it to his face and yelled “Ya, I’m damn sure your free will was a part of my fated act!”

My friend looked at me, smiled and said, “I’d say you were predestined to revise your faith on fate.”

I went speechless!

After all these things, I did not had any path to follow on this topic; And I wanted to see the western culture as how that had reflected the same idea (with my limited knowledge).

The western philosophy is purely based on the three major pillars Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The Greek trio were the forebears of reasoning including ideas, critical thinking and goal. As Christianity was gaining popularity, these philosophies  took it to an important turning point in history. The thinking added with scientific discoveries started clashing with religion. There were two distinct stands when it comes to the free will: Incompatibilism and Compatibilism. The Incompatibilism was explained by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) that, "Man is free to do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills.” Whereas Compatibilism argued that, determinism is compatible with human freedom. The Frenchmen Descartes (1596-1650) started questioning the reality and establishes that dualism in philosophy (originally thought by Plato). He famously coined the statement “I think therefore I am”.

I've listened to many old Tamil songs and read some thought provoking books, in which the poets had taken a great measure to explain the dimensions of the free will. One had explained it as a small paper boat in a strong current; another one equated the free will as a raging bull; another viewed it as a high flying kite on a windy day, another peculiar reference of the free will to a mimicking parrot repeating the same thing. The count goes on and I'm sure that this type of references will be all over other languages and cultures as well. 

A very common reference is the Gita Saar (Essence of Gita), as ‘Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening..’ 

Did it mean that the future is deterministic, but unknown! Interesting. I wish I know how many runs I’ll score in tomorrow’s game or how many catches I’m going to drop! That would help me to decide to go or not to go; Oh, Well! I can’t do it now….because I’m destined to score runs and miss catches.

What is thinking, after all!

I took the whole week off from work, for no single reason. I wanted to disengage myself from the routine office work and get my head refreshed with some fresh ideas and views. Sometime the thinking process gets into a rabbit hole as keep doing the same thing over and over. Also the group dynamics plays a greater role. The world suddenly shrunk to the same people, similar issues, identical responses and expected outcomes. I wanted to break this monotony and hence the break.

The first thing I started to do was what I’d do differently, when I’m out of the typical situation room. Well, in the office environment we all work with active sonar inbuilt within us. We always tend to be sending signals and tend to wait for the feedback loop. Once the response is established, the reactive response starts. The issues as against going towards solution will start going on to a request & response mode with no solution in sight. So I decided to first think, to start a nice topic for my brain to work on. 
After two hours of intense assessment and thinking, one scene flashed on my mind. Usually when I try to establish a new concept or directive I used to tell my son, to think about it.

“Hey it is as simple as that! Think about it!!” – I said to my son on an intense conversation on the importance of math. Apparently I used it many times, one day he got annoyed and protested.

“Why should be me all the time to think? I can’t” – My son replied.

 Now I got it, I decided that best to start thinking on ‘what exactly is thinking anyway?’

As a human being, we all are thought hat we are the only species who have the capability to think. I wanted to take this to my own life. When I was around ten years as old as my son now, I had the similar quest and my observations were very simple. Whenever I was told to think, I was thinking that an ever-expanding series of thoughts is all about thinking. If I’ve to choose between doing my home work or to go out and play, I was thinking the benefits of playing outside and the benefits lead to the pleasure and pleasure lead to the immense satisfaction and so on.

When I was in my high school and was around 16, I had a great friend and we used to consider ourselves a level above our peers. I used to read Osho and JK and my perspective of thinking changed. I started picturing thinking as a wild sea of conscious and subconscious thoughts. I’m sure the teen-age hormone and a general confusion between the right and the glamour must have impacted my thought process. As my friend was writing poetry with meaningless abstract words, I was able to understand and managed to write some myself.

When I finished my grad school, I was around my twenties and I hit with the reality. My close friend went in a different direction and my associations changed. I used have friends usually much older than me. I was playful at the same time was able to read some books on Upanishads and meditation. I was able to expand my observation of thinking as a veil between me and my own and true consciousness. Be it a friend or a profession or a choice to make, I felt my thoughts were coming in-between to sway my inner inclinations by invoking fear and anxiety.

The next few years were really turbulent and I was moving between jobs and travelling all over moving away from home and staying all by myself or with my cousins and friends. I leant a lot about the people, their attitudes and the behaviors that got recorded in my memory. This started affecting my view towards thinking. Whenever I’ve a situation to think about, I was able to zip through my memories of impressions and emotions and can make a meaningful approach. Suddenly it dawned on me, that the thought process is a series of steps to evaluate the choices before you and able to make one as a preferred based on the memory containers stored in our brain,

At the age of 26, I travelled outside the country. New place, new people and new events made me to revisit the old theory. I’ve no impression of the new world, but still I was able to make some good progress. I started to distinguish that there are three forms of thoughts: Observations (driven by perceptions), Connections (made by associations) and Conclusions (ends up as deductions). I was able to look and feel a job opportunity, was able to figure out the economic incentives and able to make a decision weather to accept it or play hardball with the offer. All these three types of connections were taking place more or less on the simultaneously on different levels both consciously and sub-consciously. I believed that this was a great model and will work all the times. Also I had a strong feeling that thinking on your own will be good, but will be ring fenced with your assumptions and emotions. I also believed a new thought only really thrive on a bit of input and repartee. I started subconsciously having friends that were instrumental in providing the bit of insight.

As I got older, as more you read and more you learn, a better picture evolves. The thought process t is like an Internet accessed through a PC or a mobile device. If the computer breaks down, it doesn’t mean the Internet is down! Reality is full of information and we can’t perceive it directly – and as in an Internet – we can only access it with the appropriate device. We can consider the body and brain as instruments and feel and receive sensory reality. Thinking is a method by which our instrument – body and brain – process the information we receive. The central processing takes care of the observations, connections and conclusions.

I can predict how I’ll be thinking in the future. I can see this very clearly – May be there are more methods of processing the reality than just our own – Java vs iOS as differing operating systems. And may be the end of the body and brain is not necessarily the end of consciousness – Karma takes over – as an upgrade to newer hardware, firmware & software.

Hmm…at least I’m thinking…and can answer my ten year old that I tried once.