Is an atheist more scientific or a theist?
Is Atheism also a religion?
Anybody who has studied little advanced Science or Mathematics would know that, it is very difficult to prove that something does not exist or something cannot be achieved. Except in Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, it is practically not possible to prove that something does not exist in any non-trivial case. Even in Mathematics or its related fields, proving that something cannot be done is very difficult, and typically the proof is very complicated.
Whereas proving of existence of something is relatively easy. You just need to find where it is or show one sample of it. Whereas, proving non-existence of anything is practically not possible.
For example, if somebody has to prove that a particular virus is not present in somebody, practically it is not possible. The tests that we have typically finds virus only if it is in millions. If the body has only handful of viruses, and if the blood sample that one has taken does not have those, then tests cannot find it. To really prove that there is no virus in the body, one has to take out the complete blood and test it. By then, the person would be dead. On the other hand, by luck, if somebody gets the blood sample with virus, then they can prove the existence of virus.
To prove absence of a person in a relatively big apartment is also pretty difficult, if you don't have man power or technology. While you are searching, if that person also moves so as to avoid you, then you can never find him/her, unless you have some support. Even if you have lot of technology and many power, you need to prove that, that apartment does not have any place to hide. The most complex thing is, there are magicians who make people invisible for some time. You need to prove that, there was no magic involved there, which is practically not possible, if you have to convince someone who is not into lot of physics. Also, you need to prove that, there is no unknown technology which can hide that person, which is not possible. Physics rules are not applicable at very small or very big scale. If you want to depend on rules of Physics, you need to prove that, they are not using anything that is at the very small scale. We can safely forget scientifically proving the absence of a person in a city. Let's not talk about state or country.
In software development, most of the testers would have irritated by sporadic bugs which comes very rarely. When they file those bugs, the typical response from developers like me is, "Show me the bug infront of my eyes. Then only, I will take it". Obviously, no tester would be happy with that response. If a customer raises a critical bug, and if the tester says, "I have tested it thoroughly and there cannot exist a bug", then either he/she will lose the job or the customer.
But, for atheists, it is perfectly correct to say that, "God does not exist", irrespective of whether they can prove even trivial things or not.
Scientifically, it is possible that, somebody has seen God and is believing. But, Scientifically, it is not possible to prove the non-existence of God. Many people ask Theists, "How can you be a theist, when you believe in Science". I want to ask them back, "How can you be an atheist, when you believe in science."
An atheist is Millinillion (10^3003) times more unscientific than a theist.
If you don't believe in god, be Agnostic, and not an Atheist.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Sunday, June 11, 2017
To the brink and back by Jairam Ramesh.
I used to get frustrated, Whenever I hear from Congress supporters saying, it was Rajiv Gandhi who wanted to bring economic reforms, and after his untimely death, P.V.Narasimha Rao brought those economic reforms.
Jairam Ramesh went a step ahead. He said in his book, "To the brink and back", before the 1991 elections, Rajiv Gandhi cleared three names for the finance minister, I.G.Patel, Manmohan Singh and S.Venkitaramanan. He wrote as if, P.V.Narasimha Rao did exactly what Rajiv Gandhi would have done (including the selection of the Finance Minister).
It is believed that, I.G.Patel was the first preference for P.V.Narasimha Rao. But, he declined and Manmohan Singh accepted it. S.Venkitaramanan was the then Reserve Bank Governor.
In olden days, whenever poets write any book, they start by glorifying their king. In the same way, Jairam Ramesh's book started with the glorification of Rajiv Gandhi.
During the discussion of the reforms in 1991, most of the ministers did not accept the reforms and rejected it. Later Jairam Ramesh added the preamble of praising Nehru-Gandhi family and described as if Nehru-Gandhi family wanted the reforms, and all the ministers accepted it.
I would have liked the book much more, had he skipped the "too exaggerating" praises of Rajiv Gandhi.
Jairam Ramesh went a step ahead. He said in his book, "To the brink and back", before the 1991 elections, Rajiv Gandhi cleared three names for the finance minister, I.G.Patel, Manmohan Singh and S.Venkitaramanan. He wrote as if, P.V.Narasimha Rao did exactly what Rajiv Gandhi would have done (including the selection of the Finance Minister).
It is believed that, I.G.Patel was the first preference for P.V.Narasimha Rao. But, he declined and Manmohan Singh accepted it. S.Venkitaramanan was the then Reserve Bank Governor.
In olden days, whenever poets write any book, they start by glorifying their king. In the same way, Jairam Ramesh's book started with the glorification of Rajiv Gandhi.
During the discussion of the reforms in 1991, most of the ministers did not accept the reforms and rejected it. Later Jairam Ramesh added the preamble of praising Nehru-Gandhi family and described as if Nehru-Gandhi family wanted the reforms, and all the ministers accepted it.
I would have liked the book much more, had he skipped the "too exaggerating" praises of Rajiv Gandhi.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
BJP forming the government without having majority
I saw one major change in the recent elections.
Since, 1996, whenever BJP (with its alliances) become the single largest party/alliance, but get less than the majority, all other parties were getting united and making BJP to sit in the opposition. With the same mindset, I thought, BJP will not form the government in Goa and Manipur. But, I am happy that, the situation is changing.
Of course, 1996 is a very interesting year, where the first largest party was in opposition, second largest party was outside the government supporting it, third largest party was inside the front but outside the government and parties with single MPs got minister posts.
Since, 1996, whenever BJP (with its alliances) become the single largest party/alliance, but get less than the majority, all other parties were getting united and making BJP to sit in the opposition. With the same mindset, I thought, BJP will not form the government in Goa and Manipur. But, I am happy that, the situation is changing.
Of course, 1996 is a very interesting year, where the first largest party was in opposition, second largest party was outside the government supporting it, third largest party was inside the front but outside the government and parties with single MPs got minister posts.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Thanks Suresh Prabhu. My IRCTC account got unblocked
Thanks Suresh Prabhu. My IRCTC account got unblocked.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Dear Suresh Prabhu
[Update: My account got unblocked. Thanks Suresh Prabhu.]
Dear Suresh Prabhu,
Last week, my IRCTC account got blocked. The reason that was given to me was, "Use of autofill Scripts or Enormous hitting".
When we go to the details page second time in IRCTC, the page would be auto filled with the details [By IRCTC]. In that case, we can go to the payment page much faster without entering those details. IRCTC filled the data, and then it is blaming me that, I used auto-fill scripts, and blocked my account. I mentioned the same and their reply was, I was doing enormous hitting during Tatkal timing.
As I have been travelling a lot these days, and I would prefer to travel by train only. Many times, I try to check the tickets availability and the trains between different stations. Again, I have not used any scripts to check these, and I manually done it myself. I don't check the timings while doing it (Whether it is Tatkal timing or not], and I do it whenever I am free.
Blocking my account because, I was doing enormous hitting is completely unethical for many reasons. [I don't know whether I can say it is illegal or not, since, you are in the government, whatever you say is legal.]
If IRCTC is just one of the providers for booking railway tickets, or indian railways is just one of the providers of the railways, then probably, I would not bother with you much, and I would move to the other providers. But, here, IRCTC and Indian railways are monopoly on a basic necessity for most of the Indians. Here, ethically, you do not have right to block the services to particular people for whatever reason.
For most of the major websites, people try to write automated scripts to get the info they want. In those cases, the websites do not block the users. They just block the way of accessing from automated tools. If you think, I have used the automated tools, you should block those tools or change the way you handle those requests, and you should not block the accounts.
Non-technical description of what you are doing is like, I have a very big land next to a high way, and in that, I have a house. I do not have a compound wall or fence or anything. I just have drawn a marking on the land saying the route to come. Let's suppose, if anyone does not come by the marking that I had, and if I arrest them for not coming by that, how ridiculous would it be? If I am expecting them to follow some particular route, then the basic thing that I should do is, I should construct a wall or fence so as, people think that, it is not a route. If there is no fence or wall, they think that, they can come by that. The maximum thing that I can do in that case, telling them to do not come by that. Other than that, (ethically) I don't have any right to do anything else. Here also, even if people use auto fill scripts, you can only tell them to do not do that. You don't have right to disable/block their accounts.
After demonetization by your government, I was unable to book tickets even at railway stations as they do not accept credit cards/digital payment except in handful of railway stations in each state. Because of that, I was unable to book ticket even at the counter. Since, IRCTC also blocked my account, I cannot book online as well. Which means, I cannot travel by train.
Problems like heavy load during Tatkal timings should be solved by non-technical solutions and not by technical solutions. There is a lot of demand for tatkal tickets on weekends, and not many trains are available. The first solution should be increasing the trains. Since, there are many reasons why we cannot increase trains immediately, you should increase the ticket price, even indirectly. Something like, if you want to book tatkal ticket before opening it, you have to pay more price etc.
When my account got blocked, I immediately sent mail to care@irctc.co.in [Which is mentioned in Contact Us]. I did not get reply for few days. Then, I tried to call the customer care number given, and I was unable to get any response. I messaged in twitter to Ministry of railways and I did not get response there also. But, when I sent to you in twitter, I got a reply in half an hour from IRCTC. It is a pretty good thing. But, the bad thing is, for these kind of small things, if it has to go to the union minister, it is going to waste a lot of your time and/or your office's time. You and your office should concentrate on the policies [Including the contents that are there in this] and fix the general issues. Fixing the individual issues would give you lot of publicity, but, that won't do any good for the country.
On another note, the restriction of 6 tickets per month is not at all enough. If you want everyone to move to digital, then there should not be any limit. Even if you don't want to increase the limit immediately, atleast change it to 6 confirmed tickets per month. Many times, I book the ticket and it gets never confirmed, and I run out of the limit.
For many days, In IRCTC, I see some message in Hindi and I had to click on Close before logging in. I don't know Hindi, and I don't know what all the content is there in it, or whether you have put any warnings or not. Please have some respect to the crores of people who do not know Hindi.
I agree that, your government is much better than the previous government. But, if a doctor cures the patient from all the diseases and then kills him at the end, then there is no use. You are doing almost the same thing. You are improving railways in many ways, and you are blocking me from travelling by train. Then, what is the use of the improvement that you are going to do? For me, it is like going back by decades.
Dear Suresh Prabhu,
Last week, my IRCTC account got blocked. The reason that was given to me was, "Use of autofill Scripts or Enormous hitting".
When we go to the details page second time in IRCTC, the page would be auto filled with the details [By IRCTC]. In that case, we can go to the payment page much faster without entering those details. IRCTC filled the data, and then it is blaming me that, I used auto-fill scripts, and blocked my account. I mentioned the same and their reply was, I was doing enormous hitting during Tatkal timing.
As I have been travelling a lot these days, and I would prefer to travel by train only. Many times, I try to check the tickets availability and the trains between different stations. Again, I have not used any scripts to check these, and I manually done it myself. I don't check the timings while doing it (Whether it is Tatkal timing or not], and I do it whenever I am free.
Blocking my account because, I was doing enormous hitting is completely unethical for many reasons. [I don't know whether I can say it is illegal or not, since, you are in the government, whatever you say is legal.]
- How many enquiries can a person make during Tatkal timings and how many did I make?
- Why is there no mention/warning saying, I have been checking too many things during peak lead
- If you want me not do more than certain enquiries during Tatkal timings, you should provide a warning little before the limit is reached, and then not process any more requests till the tatkal period ends. But, you are not doing any of those things and just blocking the account.
- Also, the limit should be high enough that, people can somehow travel by changing the plans. You should not say that, if they cannot get their preferred train, they should just log off and go by bus/flight. If you put a reasonable limit, I might have crossed that limit only once in the last many years. But, if you think, I have crossed the limit more than once, then it only means, you are very unreasonable and you do not want me to travel by train.
- IRCTC and Indian Railways are monopoly. You do not have any right to block anybody. It is like stripping of my basic rights to travel.
- If you expect us to count the no.of requests during Tatkal hours, it means like, you are expecting the runner of a 100m sprint to count the no.of breaths while running.
If IRCTC is just one of the providers for booking railway tickets, or indian railways is just one of the providers of the railways, then probably, I would not bother with you much, and I would move to the other providers. But, here, IRCTC and Indian railways are monopoly on a basic necessity for most of the Indians. Here, ethically, you do not have right to block the services to particular people for whatever reason.
For most of the major websites, people try to write automated scripts to get the info they want. In those cases, the websites do not block the users. They just block the way of accessing from automated tools. If you think, I have used the automated tools, you should block those tools or change the way you handle those requests, and you should not block the accounts.
Non-technical description of what you are doing is like, I have a very big land next to a high way, and in that, I have a house. I do not have a compound wall or fence or anything. I just have drawn a marking on the land saying the route to come. Let's suppose, if anyone does not come by the marking that I had, and if I arrest them for not coming by that, how ridiculous would it be? If I am expecting them to follow some particular route, then the basic thing that I should do is, I should construct a wall or fence so as, people think that, it is not a route. If there is no fence or wall, they think that, they can come by that. The maximum thing that I can do in that case, telling them to do not come by that. Other than that, (ethically) I don't have any right to do anything else. Here also, even if people use auto fill scripts, you can only tell them to do not do that. You don't have right to disable/block their accounts.
After demonetization by your government, I was unable to book tickets even at railway stations as they do not accept credit cards/digital payment except in handful of railway stations in each state. Because of that, I was unable to book ticket even at the counter. Since, IRCTC also blocked my account, I cannot book online as well. Which means, I cannot travel by train.
Problems like heavy load during Tatkal timings should be solved by non-technical solutions and not by technical solutions. There is a lot of demand for tatkal tickets on weekends, and not many trains are available. The first solution should be increasing the trains. Since, there are many reasons why we cannot increase trains immediately, you should increase the ticket price, even indirectly. Something like, if you want to book tatkal ticket before opening it, you have to pay more price etc.
When my account got blocked, I immediately sent mail to care@irctc.co.in [Which is mentioned in Contact Us]. I did not get reply for few days. Then, I tried to call the customer care number given, and I was unable to get any response. I messaged in twitter to Ministry of railways and I did not get response there also. But, when I sent to you in twitter, I got a reply in half an hour from IRCTC. It is a pretty good thing. But, the bad thing is, for these kind of small things, if it has to go to the union minister, it is going to waste a lot of your time and/or your office's time. You and your office should concentrate on the policies [Including the contents that are there in this] and fix the general issues. Fixing the individual issues would give you lot of publicity, but, that won't do any good for the country.
On another note, the restriction of 6 tickets per month is not at all enough. If you want everyone to move to digital, then there should not be any limit. Even if you don't want to increase the limit immediately, atleast change it to 6 confirmed tickets per month. Many times, I book the ticket and it gets never confirmed, and I run out of the limit.
For many days, In IRCTC, I see some message in Hindi and I had to click on Close before logging in. I don't know Hindi, and I don't know what all the content is there in it, or whether you have put any warnings or not. Please have some respect to the crores of people who do not know Hindi.
I agree that, your government is much better than the previous government. But, if a doctor cures the patient from all the diseases and then kills him at the end, then there is no use. You are doing almost the same thing. You are improving railways in many ways, and you are blocking me from travelling by train. Then, what is the use of the improvement that you are going to do? For me, it is like going back by decades.
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