Theory of Knowledge (its not a story....just an argument)

Some people feel that there is a life after death. They feel after human dies he or she goes to the heaven or hell on the basis of his or her karma. Why do they feel like this? They feel like this because they have belief. Belief is something which you sense is true on the basis of personal experiences or by getting influenced by other person’s beliefs. Everyone has their own beliefs but it is not necessary that the two people will have the same belief. They can have different point of views. Like one person has belief that war is against the mankind but there is one more person who has belief that war is not against the mankind. Similarly one has belief that eating non-vegetarian is not ethical and unhygienic but the other person has belief that eating non-vegetarian food is hygienic and harmless to humans.

Taking various beliefs of a person individually is called self-belief of a person. A person has different beliefs in different areas of knowledge like- he or she has belief that earth is not round. He or she beliefs that god is one also he or she has belief that India will come as a superpower in this world after few decades. So this collection of various beliefs of a person in different field of knowledge is collectively known as faith. Like belief, faith can or cannot be same for people in different community for example; Christians have faith in bible and believes that whatever written inside is true. Similarly, Muslims have faith in their holy book Quran.

Faith is something which makes people follow a religion by adopting different traditions. Like in Jainism there are two types of follower Digambar & Shwetambar. They all follow Jainism but they have different traditions & different preaching by their gurus.

So we all have faith & belief but can we rely on them or can we prove that the information which we are gaining from them is a legitimate source in different fields of knowledge? Legitimate source is information which has been proved by providing various substantial evidences. If a person makes an assertion in any field of knowledge then to make it legitimate source that person has to justify his assertion by proof. Hence, legitimacy is also justification.

In my first example I talked about there is another life after death. Is it really true or this is just a myth? Is there any place like hell or heaven? What evidence can the people provide to the world about this belief? Well till now no one has provided any evidence that can justify this belief. Also holy books like Quran and Bible. Can Christians and Muslims prove that whatever written inside their religious book is true? Now let’s take an important example existence of god.

Almost everyone believes in the existence of god in this world. But till now no one has provided any proof of god existence. Some people claims that they have seen god but they are unable to provide any evidence. Apart from all these reasons they pray to god even rely on him or her but are not sure about their presence and existence. They believe that there is someone above whose looking at us who has some supernatural power and he is the one who has created us. All these beliefs are not been proved by deisms. All these examples given above can be a legitimate source of knowledge in religion because all these beliefs come from your faith and your faith has originated from your religion.

According to me Knowledge means that there has to be some widespread agreement and substantial evidence with justification. So considering this definition as your base you can see that faith can be used as legitimate source of knowledge in religion as it has millions of followers but it can’t be considered in every field of knowledge. For example a doctor gives an opinion on the condition of patient and advises that patient. His profession and experience would be enough to be considered a legitimate basis. But what if his opinion was based on faith?

This is the condition where your faith starts fading. You cannot depend on faith when it comes to someone’s life. A person who has faith cannot cure a patient who is suffering from cancer or any other disease, he can only pray to his god to save that patient’s life. Therefore, faith can be taken as a source of knowledge up to a limit, not beyond it as it doesn’t provide any substantial evidence with justification.

Like in science, I don’t think faith can be taken as a legitimate source of knowledge. For instance there is one person says that he has faith that earth is round & one scientist claims that earth is round. What is the difference between the assertions made by both? Well that person is not sure about earth being round. He just believes that earth might be round also he cannot justify his statement by any evidence accept his belief in it. On the other side there is a scientist who not only believes but claims that earth is round that means that he has some evidence to prove his point. The claims made by the scientist may be inaccurate but he has given substantial evidence which can be justified. That is why scientists work in laboratories not those persons who have faith. There is one more major role scientist’s play; which is Evolution of life. Every religion tells about how evolution of humans started and every religion has different answers to this. Like what the holy book of Christians the bible says about the evolution of human being is different to what written inside the Quran of Muslims. Their evidences about the evolution of humans are all based on the myths nothing else. On the other hand, scientists have proposed theories with evidences to explain the evolution of human life. The most accepted theory was of Charles Darwin in the 19^th century.

Some people claims that UFO’s or aliens or extra terrestrial exists. Also there had been many claims people made about their encounter with aliens. Is it true? Well 99% of all these UFO’s sighting have been identified as air balloons, military aircrafts or moon in the clouds. Well that 1% can be those people suffering from paranoia. Well even I believe there is another life in this universe but I cannot make a false statement that I have seen aliens to prove my belief is right. Some people might be correct but why should we believe them with any proof. Therefore, your faith cannot be a justifiable source of knowledge for everyone. It has to be accepted by majority of people and this can only be done by providing evidences.

Also in mathematics, faith cannot provide any legitimate source of knowledge. A student of maths using formulas & concepts which has been derived years ago can solve a question. But can a person who hasn’t studied maths in his entire life solve a maths question? I don’t think so. Mathematics is based on the concepts not on faith otherwise every person would have mastered in maths as everyone has faith.

So there is a correlation between religion and faith that is why religion can be seen as a justifiable source of knowledge. But we cannot use it in every field of knowledge as it doesn’t provide any substantial evidence. To be accepted in every field of knowledge you need to provide legitimate information which faith doesn’t provide. Hence, faith cannot be legitimate sources of knowledge in every field accept in religion.    

Conclusively we all should rely on our knowledge which we are gaining from other sources not faith. We all should have faith but only in ourselves and god.

4001 A.D

Once he said, “Being eternal is being god and being him is not easy”. I am Less Wilson walking somewhere in the desert searching for one of the two remaining human controlled city called West Core. I have been walking for a long time, long enough to get my third heat stroke in past 45 minutes. I have had couple of chances to sit under a few palm trees but I could not. Constant walking is making me perspire even more and the water is collected in the small plastic bags tied on both my shoulders which I desalinate by making solar dugs in the sand. I have managed to purify enough sweat water to keep me ticking for another 20 minutes under this brutal sun. Who would have thought 2012 would be the final twist for mankind.

On December 23^rd 2012 Mayan people predicted the world going to come to an end. On 1^st January 2013 the whole world black marked the Mayan history from the mankind history as nothing as such happened. It was probably the biggest practical joke in the history of us; the only good it did was to the director of movie 2012 released in 2010 who made couple of billion dollars out of this hoax of all time. The whole world went back to their usual self which is terrorism, capitalism and imperialism till 2050.

In 2032 a wildlife photographer named Ralph Laruz a South African discovered something really phenomenal but lethal for humans. According to Laruz after 2012 he could not believe the apocalypse prediction by Mayans would be false. He kept on thinking why would Mayan waste rest of civilizations time for centuries after centuries. So he started researching on animal behavior in Amazon rainforests. After 20 years of research work he held a small press conference in Cape Town. He proved the world that all the living creatures on the planet apart from human beings are becoming eternal and they are reproducing at a really steady rate. He also warned the world that humans have only little time, as sooner or later, all the other living creatures would realize that the only source for food would be us left as nothing else can be killed or fed on.

By 2050 everyone had accepted Ralph Laruz theory when the government from all nations in the world started finding dead bodies at every corner of the street hour by hour the number of dead people started increasing. From as cute as Chihuahua to as fierce as Bengal Tigers all started feeding on humans. In next 25 years these events got so crazy that parents started feeding their own young ones to the animals outside their houses to see if they can be tamed again. That is when the remaining ones started believing in apocalypse and the downfall of humanity.

By the end of 3000 A.D. the population of earth had changed drastically as only less than 30 million humans were remaining with the entire world occupied by over 900 trillion of other living creatures. The remaining humans left their cities deserted in search of new habitat where there is less number of creatures or hard to be hunted down by them but they all slowly died as the lack of food made other creatures even more smarter and ferocious. They had figure out the needs of humans where they are going to be found. Like where no meat eating animals live such as goats, sheep, cows and some possibility of vegetation left. So by the end of 3900 A.D. the human count went down less than 25000 all over the planet.

In 3905 A.D. brothers Zaffer and Shaffir established remaining two human cities East Core which is in Judian desert somewhere in Israel and West Core which is in Sahara Desert Africa. Both the cities were protected by 6 story tall and 0.2 mile thick walls with facilities to recycle water and produce organic meals for remaining humans. Every remaining family in the citizen has a book named Afterlife written by the last brothers (Zaffer & Shaffir). If the stories are to be right, then both brothers belong to be descendant of the oldest family in the world. Their family has been surviving on earth since after the apocalypse was confirmed which was in 2075 A.D.

After 25 minutes of excruciating walking in the hottest conditions on the planet I see a Black and white flag waving. I have made it to the great walls, the West core.  

Stranger

I was playing gears of war on play station 3 that night while tripping on some new drugs given by my friend. I had not been high but so focused for a really longtime. Every minute was giving a sensation of an hour as time was passing by really slow. 

At first I thought I was hallucinating but after good 20 minutes I realized someone knocking on my door. I opened my door but did not see anyone outside but the moment I turned my head around, a strange person was sitting on my couch with a briefcase on his lap. For next couple of minutes I tried my best to figure out how did the stranger manage to get inside. The stranger stood up and asked me to not get paranoid. 

I thought I was hallucinating so went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When I came back the stranger was still there and asked me to take a seat and relax as he is not here to cause any problem. My mind was clouded with so many questions that I could not speak. Stranger told me his name is Morpheus and he is a scientist but will not be able to find anything as he did not go to any university or worked in any organization. I was never good in science as chemistry, biology and physics never excited me but I knew he is not here to give lecture. I asked him how he got in my apartment. Morpheus told me that he was here all evening watching me tripping and playing games on PS3. 

I found it very amusing and asked Morpheus to shut the fuck up and come to the point. Morpheus said he has created a potion which he would like to test on me as I am the right one. I told Morpheus that he is looking for Mr. Anderson aka Neo as this is not Matrix and asked him to leave my apartment before I call the security. 

I opened the door for him to leave but someone was already standing outside. “My name is Trinity and I want you to come with us NOW”. I could not understand about anything around me that moment and went to bed as I was sure it was mere hallucination that I am going through. 

Next morning when I got up I saw myself surrounded by hobbits and a ring in my hand.  I again took some sleeping pills knocked myself out. I woke up again this time in Pandora with blues speaking Na’vi shit. I could not bear this anymore, burnt all the dvd’s and took more pills to pass out. I woke up for the last time this time in a white strapped jacket. I saw my mother outside my cell crying. I wish I had taken the blue pill Morpheus, I wish I never took that ring from my uncle and I wish I had not volunteered for Pandora mission. I was too late……

Voyage .....

Sebi always believed in one thing in life, the power of experience is eternal. He used to say, “Experience is like scattered dots on a paper, if not connected together it would not mean anything”. 

Once you have connected those dots you would know the true meaning of life. To prove his philosophy (as Tulip would say) he wanted to experience everything in the world and then somehow connect it together. I was in Morocco when I first heard about Sebi’s Ultimate Bungee Jumping crew in Auckland.  Being a huge fan of Mountains I could not resist myself and got in touch with Sebi’s assistant Tulip. To get to know more about U.B.J and Sebi, I wanted to spend some days in Auckland with him so I called up Tulip. Tulip is Sebi’s only family and love of his life. They have been living together for past 3 years in Auckland, New Zealand. 

According to Tulip living with Sebi 24x7 is the true experience of her life. I have heard many definitions of love in my life but nothing like Tulip’s version of love. As I was on the phone with Tulip these were the exact words she used to describe love, “Love is the eyes of god, always watching you no matter where you are and how you are”. After good 20 minutes of talk on the phone I was convinced that I would not be disappointed in Auckland so I booked my flight. All the time during my flight I acted like a 6 year old kid, unable to hide the excitement. I could not sleep on board as my mind was going off the chart thinking about what is waiting for me on the other side of the globe. There was a point during my flight where I felt my senses were more anxious than me. My ears wanted to hear me screaming from top of my voice while bungee jumping from Waikato River Valley and my eyes wanted to gaze the beautiful mountains of Auckland. After a long excruciating wait I finally landed at Auckland International Airport. 

Outside the Airport there was a car already waiting for me thanks to Tulip, I am already envying Seby. The driver himself was a crew member of Sebi’s team and was really glad to see me. Daniel told me that their office is another 20 minutes from the Airport but assured me that I would not regret a single minute of it. Let me take this opportunity to say that I have never seen such scenic views in my life. I asked Daniel to pull over for couple of minutes at one of such picturesque place. I have been smoking for past 10 years and it has been taking toll on my health for past few months. The moment I stepped out of that car I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was like reaching nirvana as my lungs were completely cleansed. Every blow of wind was stimulating my senses as I was being touched by an angel again and again. After pleasing my eyes with such beautiful outskirts of Auckland I was on my way to meet Sebi, Tulip and rest of the crew. We stopped outside the office which had small hoarding U.B.J on the roof. Daneil introduced me to Rachel another crew member who served me a glass of red wine. Let me tell you I have a really soft corner for red wine and I can tell you it was no ordinary red wine. Aroma of wine nearly made me drown my nose in it and the taste was so exquisite that it made me speechless. Before I opened my eyes again after such ecstasy Rachel told me that Auckland is one of the biggest exporters of wine in the world of past 50 years. 

Finally Rachiel and Daniel took me to Tulip’s room. As expected she was one really gorgeous woman and I took less than 30 seconds to admire her beauty. We all had really interesting and engaging chat about our lives for next hour or so and then decided to leave for the first site for bungee jumping where finally I am going to meet Sebi. It was probably one of the highest points in New Zealand where I would experience my first bungee jump. While crew were setting up all the harnesses for the jump and checking my safety gear I heard someone calling my name from behind. A man sitting on a wheel chair probably in his mid 30s, it was Sebi. I think I took more than 30 seconds to get the correct picture of Sebi in my mind and introduced myself to him. He wished me best of luck for my jump and Tulip pulled his wheel chair little for safety reasons. Here I was standing on the edge of the bridge all choked up from inside. I took a deep breath and jumped. I had less than a minute to interpret ate true meaning of experience in Sebi’s life. 

After returning to Morocco after a week I described my experience to my friends as a leap of faith….not bungee jumping.