Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Love and Truth
Wow, what a journey. Love came pouring in giving immense freedom, as one unconditonally accepted the shadow self - tasted true freedom for the first time it seemed. Love comes before truth, because truth reveals itself only when fear transforms itself into love. Love remains the same always, but what is true changes as our world changes with love. When we fully transform with love, there is no more a need to be untrue. But just being truthful does not guarantee love. We always face a choice in every situation - we can choose to see the higher out of love, or we can choose to see the lower out of fear. Truth is a journey made on the vehicle of love. The journey goes through many landscapes, it shifts directions, and it transforms, but the vehicle remains the same.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Why consumers in a free-market society should meditate?
The mainstream economic models typically assume that preferences or utility functions of human beings are static and unidimensional. Hence, actions of others never influence or change the shape of our utility function. Though exceptions exist, for example, the work on conspicuous consumption by Thorstein Veblen as far back as 1899, and Kenneth Galbraith’s ideas on want creation, most of the mainstream general equilibrium and game theoretic models continue to use static and unidimensional utility functions. For readers with no background in economics, a utility function is just a relationship that tells us the level of satisfaction or happiness derived from a given set of actions, consumptions, or relationships.
In reality, our utility functions behave in a far more complex manner. Our stochastically evolving multidimensional utility functions are influenced by thousands of subtle messages received daily by our brain from our peers, media, and society. In fact, almost every person and institution that we interact with is engaged at some level in "changing" our utility function. Hundreds of billions, perhaps trillions all over the world, are spent in trying to change our utility functions.
Here are some examples:
1. Tapes by Bin Laden are designed to increase hate in the utility functions of extremist Muslims.
2. Ads of "beautiful and cool" people drinking coke or smoking cigarettes are really less about communicating information about these products to our logical upper brain, but MORE about influencing our emotional middle brain (i.e., amygdala, the center of the emotional brain) by associating "beautiful and cool" with coke and cigarettes. Even if we, or our kids, don't think much when we watch these ads, these deceitful ads (ugly people smoke and drink too) succeed in changing our utility function at least at a subconscious level. Empirical evidence suggests that weights related to preferences reside much more in the middle brain than the upper brain (i.e., the neocortex, or the logical brain). The huge marketing industry is continuously targeting the middle brain, using beauty, humor, or anything that works, in the most deceitful ways, as we all know.
3. This type of deceitful advertising is especially troublesome when big pharmaceutical companies like Merck market their drugs directly on TV with images of cures totally dominating the images of side effects. Do these companies ever show someone suffering from the side effects? Basically, these companies succeed in making one give more weight to the cure and less weight to the side effects (which are very often dangerous for many drugs) by using these ads. These companies wouldn't be spending billions on these ads if these ads didn't work to influence the weights in our middle brains. After all, our doctors have all the "logical" information about drugs.
4. When we say a nice Hello to someone without 100% meaning it, we often do this to make sure that their utility function does not alter its weight towards us, and keeps thinking of us in a positive manner. Much social etiquette is designed to help us influence the utility functions of others, to make them think of us in a positive light.
5. Much expenditure we engage in like buying a convertible BMW or a cool looking house is often to influence the utility functions of "others." I am not saying that some of us don't derive any pleasure out of living in a huge house. But much of this pleasure has also to do with making others utility function VALUE us, based on what we own. So much of our unquestioned life style is basically to change the weights in the utility functions of others whom we interact with. This is also called peer pressure.
6. Churches and Temples are places where we are persuaded to change our utility function, by putting more weight to "good" actions, good relationships, and good consumptions, and less weight to the "sinful" ones.
7. Parents, Teachers, friends, society, media, almost everyone is trying to change our utility function.
Despite the fact that almost every person or institution we interact with, is busy changing the weights in our middle brains using subtle ingenious methods, the mainstream general equilibrium and game theoretic models assume static and unidimensional utility functions related to our "small individualistic non-changing selves."
If we already know that part of living with other humans on this earth is to get totally bombarded with everyone's efforts to change our utility function, then we have two choices:
1. Live "unconsciously" so that anyone can enter our middle brain anytime using devious methods and influence us in very subtle, but politically correct ways, which make us think that "we" are in charge.
2. Live consciously by going deeper and exploring our middle brain using techniques such as introspection, meditation, reflection, reading, etc.
If we follow the first method, then we are at the mercy of everyone telling us how to live and how to be happy. If we follow the second method, we can perhaps learn how happiness is always within us if we understood who we really are (the big selves) regardless of superficial changes in our outer circumstances. Then our middle brain learns to follow a utility function that implicitly gives more steady weights to people and things that really matter and remove all the superficial things that it is bombarded with all the time.
In reality, our utility functions behave in a far more complex manner. Our stochastically evolving multidimensional utility functions are influenced by thousands of subtle messages received daily by our brain from our peers, media, and society. In fact, almost every person and institution that we interact with is engaged at some level in "changing" our utility function. Hundreds of billions, perhaps trillions all over the world, are spent in trying to change our utility functions.
Here are some examples:
1. Tapes by Bin Laden are designed to increase hate in the utility functions of extremist Muslims.
2. Ads of "beautiful and cool" people drinking coke or smoking cigarettes are really less about communicating information about these products to our logical upper brain, but MORE about influencing our emotional middle brain (i.e., amygdala, the center of the emotional brain) by associating "beautiful and cool" with coke and cigarettes. Even if we, or our kids, don't think much when we watch these ads, these deceitful ads (ugly people smoke and drink too) succeed in changing our utility function at least at a subconscious level. Empirical evidence suggests that weights related to preferences reside much more in the middle brain than the upper brain (i.e., the neocortex, or the logical brain). The huge marketing industry is continuously targeting the middle brain, using beauty, humor, or anything that works, in the most deceitful ways, as we all know.
3. This type of deceitful advertising is especially troublesome when big pharmaceutical companies like Merck market their drugs directly on TV with images of cures totally dominating the images of side effects. Do these companies ever show someone suffering from the side effects? Basically, these companies succeed in making one give more weight to the cure and less weight to the side effects (which are very often dangerous for many drugs) by using these ads. These companies wouldn't be spending billions on these ads if these ads didn't work to influence the weights in our middle brains. After all, our doctors have all the "logical" information about drugs.
4. When we say a nice Hello to someone without 100% meaning it, we often do this to make sure that their utility function does not alter its weight towards us, and keeps thinking of us in a positive manner. Much social etiquette is designed to help us influence the utility functions of others, to make them think of us in a positive light.
5. Much expenditure we engage in like buying a convertible BMW or a cool looking house is often to influence the utility functions of "others." I am not saying that some of us don't derive any pleasure out of living in a huge house. But much of this pleasure has also to do with making others utility function VALUE us, based on what we own. So much of our unquestioned life style is basically to change the weights in the utility functions of others whom we interact with. This is also called peer pressure.
6. Churches and Temples are places where we are persuaded to change our utility function, by putting more weight to "good" actions, good relationships, and good consumptions, and less weight to the "sinful" ones.
7. Parents, Teachers, friends, society, media, almost everyone is trying to change our utility function.
Despite the fact that almost every person or institution we interact with, is busy changing the weights in our middle brains using subtle ingenious methods, the mainstream general equilibrium and game theoretic models assume static and unidimensional utility functions related to our "small individualistic non-changing selves."
If we already know that part of living with other humans on this earth is to get totally bombarded with everyone's efforts to change our utility function, then we have two choices:
1. Live "unconsciously" so that anyone can enter our middle brain anytime using devious methods and influence us in very subtle, but politically correct ways, which make us think that "we" are in charge.
2. Live consciously by going deeper and exploring our middle brain using techniques such as introspection, meditation, reflection, reading, etc.
If we follow the first method, then we are at the mercy of everyone telling us how to live and how to be happy. If we follow the second method, we can perhaps learn how happiness is always within us if we understood who we really are (the big selves) regardless of superficial changes in our outer circumstances. Then our middle brain learns to follow a utility function that implicitly gives more steady weights to people and things that really matter and remove all the superficial things that it is bombarded with all the time.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The Sacred Union Within OneSelf
The inner and the outer worlds are reflections of each other. Similar to the outer world, the inner world is a society crowded with many small selves. The inner male and the inner female, the purpose driven mind and the loving heart...the Yin and the Yang of our fragmented selves. For many, the inner polarities are felt as opposing forces, that fragment and destroy oneself. For some this inner war becomes so violent, that it drives them insane. However, with awareness and meditation, the inner polarities start recognizing, and then slowly supporting and loving each other. As the inner male starts loving the inner female, and the inner female starts loving the inner male, an immense freedom arises within oneself. This spiritual alchemy, the sacred union within, gives birth to the Big Self.
The small self loves by filling its emptiness.
The big self loves by sharing its fullness.
The small self loves by filling its emptiness.
The big self loves by sharing its fullness.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Game of Love and Freedom
Most people understand only two types of games. Games in which competition wins, and games in which cooperation wins.
The more gross games of life on the lower levels of maslow hierarcy are best played with the spirit of competition in which free markets do well. The subtle games of life on the higher levels of maslow hierarcy are best played with the spirit of love in which cooperation wins.
But games dont have to be divided only between cooperative and non-coopearative game theory models.
By allowing "multi-dimensional utilities," one can play a third type of game in which cooperation results endogenoulsy even from non-cooperative game theory. This game encourages both love and freedom.
Communism is a game in which "love" is forced by the method of cooperative game theory. Capitalism is a game in which "freedom" is sold to individuals with unidimensional utilities using non-cooperative game theory. Since love can never be forced, and unidimensional utilities are unreal, neither system has brought lasting peace and well-being to humankind.
Allowing the third type of game using non-cooperative game theory with multidimensional utilities allows freedom and love to co-exist. In this game one loves out of one's freedom, and feels free because one is loved.
Sooner or later humanity has to shift to the third type of game. This game is a lot of fun, as games were meant to be!
The more gross games of life on the lower levels of maslow hierarcy are best played with the spirit of competition in which free markets do well. The subtle games of life on the higher levels of maslow hierarcy are best played with the spirit of love in which cooperation wins.
But games dont have to be divided only between cooperative and non-coopearative game theory models.
By allowing "multi-dimensional utilities," one can play a third type of game in which cooperation results endogenoulsy even from non-cooperative game theory. This game encourages both love and freedom.
Communism is a game in which "love" is forced by the method of cooperative game theory. Capitalism is a game in which "freedom" is sold to individuals with unidimensional utilities using non-cooperative game theory. Since love can never be forced, and unidimensional utilities are unreal, neither system has brought lasting peace and well-being to humankind.
Allowing the third type of game using non-cooperative game theory with multidimensional utilities allows freedom and love to co-exist. In this game one loves out of one's freedom, and feels free because one is loved.
Sooner or later humanity has to shift to the third type of game. This game is a lot of fun, as games were meant to be!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Poverty of the Soul
At a Hindu ceremony held on April 19th, on the Virginia Tech campus, 33 candles were lighted, including one for Mr. Cho, who shot himself after his deadly killing spree.
“He also was a lost soul,” said Kusum Singh, who helped organize the Hindu ceremony to memorialize G. V. Loganathan, 52, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Minal Panchal, 26, an architecture student from Mumbai, India.
Is it simply the lack of love and belongingness that allows extreme psychological poverty to arise in some cases, which leads to crimes such as murders and mass killings? Do happy and loving people ever go on a killing spree? Extreme psychological poverty exists in all nations - and perhaps even more so in richer nations, as they get obsessed with material well-being.
“He also was a lost soul,” said Kusum Singh, who helped organize the Hindu ceremony to memorialize G. V. Loganathan, 52, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Minal Panchal, 26, an architecture student from Mumbai, India.
Is it simply the lack of love and belongingness that allows extreme psychological poverty to arise in some cases, which leads to crimes such as murders and mass killings? Do happy and loving people ever go on a killing spree? Extreme psychological poverty exists in all nations - and perhaps even more so in richer nations, as they get obsessed with material well-being.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
The End of Poverty
In contrast to the failed small-self "structural adjustment" economic programmes of the World Bank and the IMF, Jeffrey D. Sachs offers a new paradigm of Clinical Economics based on his work in Bolivia, Poland, India, China, and Africa. In his book, The End of Poverty, he offers big-self solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that affect the world's poorest nations. This book is one of my all time favorites.
In April 2004, and again in April 2005, Professor Sachs was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time.
In April 2004, and again in April 2005, Professor Sachs was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
The Other Omar
He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool...shun him.
He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is a child...teach him.
He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep...wake him.
He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise...follow him
Omar Khayyam, Philosopher
Here is my exposition of the wisdom of Omar Khayyam, the great mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, writer, and a poet from the 11th century Persia, especially applicable in these times of insane rulers and warmongers.
1. Fool. Fools have either been not exposed to the world so they are innocently foolish, like a 3-year old child who burns himself by climbing on to a burning stove, or they are people with petty egos or small selves. Once the small-self shell becomes hard, it is hard to penetrate the shell. Then the small self lives in its own world, and has no clue about what others think of the self or how others think of the world. Most fundamentalists living in different parts of the world from Afghanistan and Iraq, to the deep red states of America, are either innocently foolish and/or are trapped in their small selves. They don't know that they don't know.
2. Child/Student. How does a child/student come to "know" that he does not know? Lets say a child puts his finger on a burning stove, but for some reason the finger either does not burn (the child is gifted), or the finger burns, but the child experiences no pain (e.g., some problems with nerves). In either case, the child does not learn that a burning stove can hurt. The child does not know that he "does not know." But if the child had experienced some pain, he would have come to know that his knowledge of burning stoves was incorrect. So life is a great teacher and experiencing life in a normal manner allows one to become a student, both humble and aware. But what if one could not experience life in a normal manner? What if one grew up like George W., and didn’t have to pay for the mistakes made in one's younger years? Then one would lose the opportunity to transform oneself from a fool to a student.
3. Asleep. As a student, one accumulates much knowledge. But now the danger is that one may fall asleep with that knowledge. One may no longer remember that one knows. This happens to people, who after graduating from school don't use much of what they learnt. One has to actively apply one's knowledge either consciously or subconsciously to not fall asleep. Also, some basic instinctual knowledge is simply wired in our brains, but still some encouragement is needed for its fuller development. One may also be born with some innate talents, but restrictive economic/political systems, authoritarian upbringing etc., can prevent these talents from coming out. In this respect, the free market system in America with much focus on individual freedom allows the talents of some of the population to be realized. There are many talented people "asleep" in other nations ravaged by war, poverty, dictatorships, communism, and other authoritarian regimes. We need to have a foreign policy that empowers the moderates around the world including in nations like Cuba and North Korea for these talented people to wake up. That is our biggest hope for transforming these nations from the inside, like we transformed China with Nixon's policies.
Finally, many accomplished people in science, business, media, and politics tend to fall asleep. For example, many reporters and editors of the mainstream media are simply asleep. They learnt a lot in their schools, but have satisfied themselves by reporting and writing just to make money without going after the most accurate and important stories, which require much effort and integrity. Similarly, many orthodox medical practitioners (not the researchers) are asleep. Doctors hardly read new research on a regular basis and often prescribe "new" drugs based on the sales pitch of the pharma representatives. Then, after side effects or injuries are revealed, they switch to prescribing the next brand of profitable/patentable drugs.
4. Wise. Few in this world are wise. One has to go through all other stages of being a fool, a student, asleep, and perhaps then wisdom dawns. Being wise is a continuous process, one has to be continuously aware of the whole process of life. Simply playing out one's small self-drama does not allow one to be wise. Having intense awareness about life at many levels, both from within and without, allows one to be wise. And, its not just the awareness about the observed world, but also the observation of the "observer," that allows wisdom to get rooted. And, much wisdom simply comes from experience, and making peace with one's own life. Interestingly, many fools think that they are wise. This is because when you do not know that you do not know, then it is much easier to fall in the trap of thinking that you know that you know.
He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is a child...teach him.
He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep...wake him.
He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise...follow him
Omar Khayyam, Philosopher
Here is my exposition of the wisdom of Omar Khayyam, the great mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, writer, and a poet from the 11th century Persia, especially applicable in these times of insane rulers and warmongers.
1. Fool. Fools have either been not exposed to the world so they are innocently foolish, like a 3-year old child who burns himself by climbing on to a burning stove, or they are people with petty egos or small selves. Once the small-self shell becomes hard, it is hard to penetrate the shell. Then the small self lives in its own world, and has no clue about what others think of the self or how others think of the world. Most fundamentalists living in different parts of the world from Afghanistan and Iraq, to the deep red states of America, are either innocently foolish and/or are trapped in their small selves. They don't know that they don't know.
2. Child/Student. How does a child/student come to "know" that he does not know? Lets say a child puts his finger on a burning stove, but for some reason the finger either does not burn (the child is gifted), or the finger burns, but the child experiences no pain (e.g., some problems with nerves). In either case, the child does not learn that a burning stove can hurt. The child does not know that he "does not know." But if the child had experienced some pain, he would have come to know that his knowledge of burning stoves was incorrect. So life is a great teacher and experiencing life in a normal manner allows one to become a student, both humble and aware. But what if one could not experience life in a normal manner? What if one grew up like George W., and didn’t have to pay for the mistakes made in one's younger years? Then one would lose the opportunity to transform oneself from a fool to a student.
3. Asleep. As a student, one accumulates much knowledge. But now the danger is that one may fall asleep with that knowledge. One may no longer remember that one knows. This happens to people, who after graduating from school don't use much of what they learnt. One has to actively apply one's knowledge either consciously or subconsciously to not fall asleep. Also, some basic instinctual knowledge is simply wired in our brains, but still some encouragement is needed for its fuller development. One may also be born with some innate talents, but restrictive economic/political systems, authoritarian upbringing etc., can prevent these talents from coming out. In this respect, the free market system in America with much focus on individual freedom allows the talents of some of the population to be realized. There are many talented people "asleep" in other nations ravaged by war, poverty, dictatorships, communism, and other authoritarian regimes. We need to have a foreign policy that empowers the moderates around the world including in nations like Cuba and North Korea for these talented people to wake up. That is our biggest hope for transforming these nations from the inside, like we transformed China with Nixon's policies.
Finally, many accomplished people in science, business, media, and politics tend to fall asleep. For example, many reporters and editors of the mainstream media are simply asleep. They learnt a lot in their schools, but have satisfied themselves by reporting and writing just to make money without going after the most accurate and important stories, which require much effort and integrity. Similarly, many orthodox medical practitioners (not the researchers) are asleep. Doctors hardly read new research on a regular basis and often prescribe "new" drugs based on the sales pitch of the pharma representatives. Then, after side effects or injuries are revealed, they switch to prescribing the next brand of profitable/patentable drugs.
4. Wise. Few in this world are wise. One has to go through all other stages of being a fool, a student, asleep, and perhaps then wisdom dawns. Being wise is a continuous process, one has to be continuously aware of the whole process of life. Simply playing out one's small self-drama does not allow one to be wise. Having intense awareness about life at many levels, both from within and without, allows one to be wise. And, its not just the awareness about the observed world, but also the observation of the "observer," that allows wisdom to get rooted. And, much wisdom simply comes from experience, and making peace with one's own life. Interestingly, many fools think that they are wise. This is because when you do not know that you do not know, then it is much easier to fall in the trap of thinking that you know that you know.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Campaign for a Violence-Free Stress-Free America
The Art of Living Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary gala on March 28 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, to highlight the critical role human values play in the eradication of violence and stress. The event is a platform for prominent leaders and decision makers in the fields of politics, business and civil society to draw attention to what leaders and ordinary citizens can do together to achieve a Violence-Free, Stress-Free America.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Vacation for the Soul
Looking for an exotic and affordable vacation? Indulge your body and soul living in an open Casita in the tropical hills close to a virgin beach with the most amazing and beautiful people from around the world. Try soccer, yoga, cleansing, meditation, delicious raw foods, silent retreats, massage, dancing, horse riding, swimming, loving, and living in a magical place called...
Pachamama
Pachamama
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Transformation by Death
Death comes in many forms, a divorce, losing a family member, an insult by someone, or living with a disease. Can one die to the past moment by moment, so that every new moment is fresh and alive? Learning to die gracefully, without fear, without emptiness, without hatred, and without anger is the quickest way to discover the big Self.
How to Change the World?
Spiritualize Politics, Socialize Business, and Secularize Religion
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Humanitarian
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Humanitarian
Truth is a Pathless Land
Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophic knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the mirror of relationship, through the understanding of the contents of his own mind through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection
Man has built in himself images as a fence of security - religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man's thinking, his relationships, and his daily life. These images are the causes of our problems, for they divide man from man. His perception of life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. This content is common to all humanity
J. Krishnamurti, Philosopher
.
Man has built in himself images as a fence of security - religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man's thinking, his relationships, and his daily life. These images are the causes of our problems, for they divide man from man. His perception of life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. This content is common to all humanity
J. Krishnamurti, Philosopher
.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Expressing the Infinite
A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus the mystic who tries to speak logically and formally of unity consciousness is doomed to sound very paradoxical or contradictory. The problem is that the structure of any language cannot grasp the nature of unity consciousness, any more than a fork could grasp the ocean.
Ken Wilber, Philosopher
.
Ken Wilber, Philosopher
.
Metaphysics of the Infinite
Zero and the infinite are two sides of the same coin. The utlimate reality includes all, and is made up of nothing. Enlightenment is finite disolving into the infinite, either by becoming nothing or by becoming everything.
Small self belongs to the finite. No self belongs to the infinite.
So how can one reach the infinite?
There are two paths. One can become smaller and smaller and simply disappear into nothingness. This is the approach of Zen, which through insight negates all identification in order to experience the ultimate nothingness or nirvana.
Or one can expand oneself and become bigger and bigger, until one loses all identification with anything smaller than the infinite. This is the approach of christianity, which through love can make one infinite and experience I AM everywhere.
Small self belongs to the finite. No self belongs to the infinite.
So how can one reach the infinite?
There are two paths. One can become smaller and smaller and simply disappear into nothingness. This is the approach of Zen, which through insight negates all identification in order to experience the ultimate nothingness or nirvana.
Or one can expand oneself and become bigger and bigger, until one loses all identification with anything smaller than the infinite. This is the approach of christianity, which through love can make one infinite and experience I AM everywhere.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Mathematics of GOD
The mathematics of GOD is based upon three premises.
Premise 1: Existence is Infinite
Premise 2: The total Joy and Pain in existence are equal and opposite
Premise 3: GOD experiences infinite joy
Let the word Joy signify all positive states of being (like love, happiness, bliss, etc.), and the word Pain signify all negative states of being (like fear, anxiety, suffering, etc.). Under the above three premises, consider two types of existences.
Under existence A, God and Devil exist as equal and opposite. Though, both are infinite, God experiences infinite joy, and Devil experience infinite pain. However, such an existence would be devoid of any compassion for the devil, who would suffer eternally.
Under existence B, the infinite universe is made up of time, space, and other dimensions, in which joy and pain are distributed across infinite living beings (bacteria, plants, animals, humans, etc.) over infinite time and space. Each of these living beings experiences finite amounts of joy and pain.
Under existence B, all living beings, except GOD, on avearge experience x units of joy and x + e units of pain, where e is a very small number close to zero. For example x = 100, and e = 0.00001. Since 100 is almost the same as 100.00001, living beings on average experience almost the same amount of joy and pain. Without experiencing the pain, they could not know joy (premise 2, above), so they don't mind experiencing both in almost equal amounts.
Since the universe has infinite living beings, and since each living being on average has a deficit of e, representing a little extra pain over joy, GOD must experience infinite joy to balance out the infinite pain resulting from the product of e and infinity. This makes premise 3 consistent with premises 1 and 2, and yet no single living being experiences infinite pain under existence B.
This is the magic of GOD's mathematics. It explains how the infinite joy consciousness of GOD is created from a finite joy/pain consciousness of living beings. Under existence B, there cannot be a hell of eternal suffering (Christianity is wrong about this), as it is not needed for the existence of GOD.
Finally, as mentioned in many spiritual traditions, the inifnite living beings can get enlightened and merge into GOD.
The consciousness of the infinite living beings separated from GOD to allow the game of joy and pain.
Since, we are all GOD separated from itself, we go back to GOD, upon our enlightenment.
We as finite beings are necessary for the infinite GOD to be.
Premise 1: Existence is Infinite
Premise 2: The total Joy and Pain in existence are equal and opposite
Premise 3: GOD experiences infinite joy
Let the word Joy signify all positive states of being (like love, happiness, bliss, etc.), and the word Pain signify all negative states of being (like fear, anxiety, suffering, etc.). Under the above three premises, consider two types of existences.
Under existence A, God and Devil exist as equal and opposite. Though, both are infinite, God experiences infinite joy, and Devil experience infinite pain. However, such an existence would be devoid of any compassion for the devil, who would suffer eternally.
Under existence B, the infinite universe is made up of time, space, and other dimensions, in which joy and pain are distributed across infinite living beings (bacteria, plants, animals, humans, etc.) over infinite time and space. Each of these living beings experiences finite amounts of joy and pain.
Under existence B, all living beings, except GOD, on avearge experience x units of joy and x + e units of pain, where e is a very small number close to zero. For example x = 100, and e = 0.00001. Since 100 is almost the same as 100.00001, living beings on average experience almost the same amount of joy and pain. Without experiencing the pain, they could not know joy (premise 2, above), so they don't mind experiencing both in almost equal amounts.
Since the universe has infinite living beings, and since each living being on average has a deficit of e, representing a little extra pain over joy, GOD must experience infinite joy to balance out the infinite pain resulting from the product of e and infinity. This makes premise 3 consistent with premises 1 and 2, and yet no single living being experiences infinite pain under existence B.
This is the magic of GOD's mathematics. It explains how the infinite joy consciousness of GOD is created from a finite joy/pain consciousness of living beings. Under existence B, there cannot be a hell of eternal suffering (Christianity is wrong about this), as it is not needed for the existence of GOD.
Finally, as mentioned in many spiritual traditions, the inifnite living beings can get enlightened and merge into GOD.
The consciousness of the infinite living beings separated from GOD to allow the game of joy and pain.
Since, we are all GOD separated from itself, we go back to GOD, upon our enlightenment.
We as finite beings are necessary for the infinite GOD to be.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Big-Self Capitalism
The poem I wrote in the previous post captures the essential reality of all great civilizations, from Hindu (the “untouchables” suffer even now after three thousand years), Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Mogul, to the modern European/American. Each and every civilization was built using the blood and sweat of the lesser human beings. Modern nations and modern economic systems evolved from this broad human reality. The original cause behind the fatal attraction of the proletariat to communism was centuries of exploitation by feudalism and capitalism. Communism was simply a revolt by the masses. Like any revenge of the mobs, it was a release of anger, hate, and insanity by big parts of humanity. And, of course, revenge is often crueler than the exploitation that causes it. Science, communication, and weapons made it possible for the proletariat and the insane rulers in their “name” to kill twenty million in Soviet Russia, sixty million in China, and few more millions in other countries. Trying to achieve the impossible task of making all human achievements equal, communism led to the repression of all freedoms, economic, social, and spiritual.
In contrast, free-market capitalism worked well in spreading democratic values and general uplifting of the living standards of many people, though many were exploited and left behind. Two essential instruments of capitalism were innovation and exploitation. Historically, exploitation was not only its main instrument, but was often used as the bow that shot the arrow of innovation. Some men could think because others toiled in slave labor. The biggest exploiting groups gave birth to the greatest innovators. This continues even today, may be in more subtle forms, even though after FDR’s New Deal and advancements in technology, there was hope that innovation would replace exploitation as the main instrument of capitalism. Curiously, libertarians such as the famed economists Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, and the pop philosopher Ayn Rand spent their whole lives preoccupied with the instrument of innovation, never acknowledging seriously the instrument of exploitation in the success of early capitalism.
The interaction of innovation and exploitation creates three forms of capitalism. Small-self capitalism, which increases efficiency mostly by exploitation (of workers, customers, and the environment). Modern capitalism which increases efficiency using both innovation and exploitation. And, big-self capitalism which increases efficiency mostly by innovation. The influence of money on government is highest in the stage of small-self capitalism, and lowest or non-existent in the stage of big-self capitalism. Only a complete elimination of the influence of money on law-makers can guarantee that laws against exploitation can be effectively passed without being blocked by the exploiters. In the 20th century, the western countries moved from small-self capitalism to modern capitalism. The big question confronting most industrialized nations today is whether we can move from modern capitalism to big-self capitalism in the 21st century?
In contrast, free-market capitalism worked well in spreading democratic values and general uplifting of the living standards of many people, though many were exploited and left behind. Two essential instruments of capitalism were innovation and exploitation. Historically, exploitation was not only its main instrument, but was often used as the bow that shot the arrow of innovation. Some men could think because others toiled in slave labor. The biggest exploiting groups gave birth to the greatest innovators. This continues even today, may be in more subtle forms, even though after FDR’s New Deal and advancements in technology, there was hope that innovation would replace exploitation as the main instrument of capitalism. Curiously, libertarians such as the famed economists Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, and the pop philosopher Ayn Rand spent their whole lives preoccupied with the instrument of innovation, never acknowledging seriously the instrument of exploitation in the success of early capitalism.
The interaction of innovation and exploitation creates three forms of capitalism. Small-self capitalism, which increases efficiency mostly by exploitation (of workers, customers, and the environment). Modern capitalism which increases efficiency using both innovation and exploitation. And, big-self capitalism which increases efficiency mostly by innovation. The influence of money on government is highest in the stage of small-self capitalism, and lowest or non-existent in the stage of big-self capitalism. Only a complete elimination of the influence of money on law-makers can guarantee that laws against exploitation can be effectively passed without being blocked by the exploiters. In the 20th century, the western countries moved from small-self capitalism to modern capitalism. The big question confronting most industrialized nations today is whether we can move from modern capitalism to big-self capitalism in the 21st century?
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Wounds and Scars
Once upon a time lived two tribes
The men of first tribe were unhappy and evil
The men of second tribe were happy and noble
One day the evil struck the noble
Took over their land
Raped their wives
And enslaved their men
The happy tribesmen now worked twelve-hour days
Under the threats of hunger, fear, and pain
The physically strong were kept alive with food and shelter
The weak ones abandoned without any care
The unhappy tribesmen were freed of bodily labor
They could now pursue thinking and contemplation
To the unhappy tribe were born the children of privilege
To the happy tribe were born the children of misfortune
Over time these children bore more children
The bodies and minds of the two tribes adapted to their new roles
Institutions developed to help strengthen the new realities
Both tribes forgetting how they came to be
The children of the unhappy tribe had minds full of wonder
The children of the happy tribe had hearts heavily burdened
The children of the unhappy tribe created science and technology
The children of the happy tribe watched with envy
The children of the unhappy tribe celebrated life
The children of the happy tribe feared for their lives
Centuries later children of the unhappy tribe discovered
The many injustices of their ancestors
Their hearts filled up with undeserved emotions
Of sadness, remorse, guilt, and anger
They freed the children of the happy tribe
And shared with them a piece of their pie
But their acceptance came from a heart of contrition
Not a heart flowing with love and benediction
The children of the happy tribe wanted affection
Not the pity arising from the historical infraction
Though their wounds were beginning to heal
They could not see blinded by the scars
Some children of the unhappy tribe saw the scars
Quickly announced that sharing of pie created scars
So the children of the happy tribe were abandoned
With their partially healed wounds and their visible scars
The men of first tribe were unhappy and evil
The men of second tribe were happy and noble
One day the evil struck the noble
Took over their land
Raped their wives
And enslaved their men
The happy tribesmen now worked twelve-hour days
Under the threats of hunger, fear, and pain
The physically strong were kept alive with food and shelter
The weak ones abandoned without any care
The unhappy tribesmen were freed of bodily labor
They could now pursue thinking and contemplation
To the unhappy tribe were born the children of privilege
To the happy tribe were born the children of misfortune
Over time these children bore more children
The bodies and minds of the two tribes adapted to their new roles
Institutions developed to help strengthen the new realities
Both tribes forgetting how they came to be
The children of the unhappy tribe had minds full of wonder
The children of the happy tribe had hearts heavily burdened
The children of the unhappy tribe created science and technology
The children of the happy tribe watched with envy
The children of the unhappy tribe celebrated life
The children of the happy tribe feared for their lives
Centuries later children of the unhappy tribe discovered
The many injustices of their ancestors
Their hearts filled up with undeserved emotions
Of sadness, remorse, guilt, and anger
They freed the children of the happy tribe
And shared with them a piece of their pie
But their acceptance came from a heart of contrition
Not a heart flowing with love and benediction
The children of the happy tribe wanted affection
Not the pity arising from the historical infraction
Though their wounds were beginning to heal
They could not see blinded by the scars
Some children of the unhappy tribe saw the scars
Quickly announced that sharing of pie created scars
So the children of the happy tribe were abandoned
With their partially healed wounds and their visible scars
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The Intellectual and the Wise
An intellectual circles around and around to prove a premise hidden in the emotional middle brain.
The intellectual is very skilled at hiding the "emotional" origins of the premise, not only from others, but even from himself, by using logical arguments of the upper brain.
The premise invariably is rooted in some small-self identity of the intellectual (i.e., American, conservative, liberal, etc.).
But how long can one move in circles? Five years, ten years, fifty years? Whole life?
A wise person quits circling around, and moves inward, towards the very center of the circle, right into the middle brain.
The wise one sees the small self.
In that seeing both the small self and the premise lose their grip.
Meditation is seeing directly into one's middle brain, with a silent upper brain. It is the journey of a small self into the big self, a transformation of the intellectual into the wise.
The intellectual is very skilled at hiding the "emotional" origins of the premise, not only from others, but even from himself, by using logical arguments of the upper brain.
The premise invariably is rooted in some small-self identity of the intellectual (i.e., American, conservative, liberal, etc.).
But how long can one move in circles? Five years, ten years, fifty years? Whole life?
A wise person quits circling around, and moves inward, towards the very center of the circle, right into the middle brain.
The wise one sees the small self.
In that seeing both the small self and the premise lose their grip.
Meditation is seeing directly into one's middle brain, with a silent upper brain. It is the journey of a small self into the big self, a transformation of the intellectual into the wise.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Living 100%
A divided Self consists of many small selves pulling the consciousness in opposing directions. The consciousness of a divided self may range from simple indecisiveness, to chronic procrastination, to paranoid schizophrenia.
Insanity is total separation of small selves. Self-actualization is total integration of small selves. A self-actualized human being is fully integrated in body, mind, and spirit. Such a being lives 100% moment by moment.
The small selves must be loved unconditionally for them to die and merge into the big Self. For example, the gluttonous over-eating self must be loved unconditionally for a compulsive eater to go beyond the guilt of overeating and thus, attaining freedom from addiction to food. The guilt of eating too much keeps one trapped in eating without awareness. By enjoying food 100%, eating slowly with full awareness of the taste buds, allows one to eat less. This applies to all mental addictions from food and love to money and career. Enjoying life 100% is the easiest way to find the balance and harmony that is beyond the grasp of small selves, but is the very nature of the big Self. Loving a small self unconditionally and totally is the way to allow the small self to merge into the big Self. Conscious death of the small selves is the birthing of the big Self. Loving every single small self within, deeply and unconditionally, however bad, ugly, evil, unworthy, the small self may seem, is the quickest path to big Self-realization.
Only a big Self can live life 100%
Insanity is total separation of small selves. Self-actualization is total integration of small selves. A self-actualized human being is fully integrated in body, mind, and spirit. Such a being lives 100% moment by moment.
The small selves must be loved unconditionally for them to die and merge into the big Self. For example, the gluttonous over-eating self must be loved unconditionally for a compulsive eater to go beyond the guilt of overeating and thus, attaining freedom from addiction to food. The guilt of eating too much keeps one trapped in eating without awareness. By enjoying food 100%, eating slowly with full awareness of the taste buds, allows one to eat less. This applies to all mental addictions from food and love to money and career. Enjoying life 100% is the easiest way to find the balance and harmony that is beyond the grasp of small selves, but is the very nature of the big Self. Loving a small self unconditionally and totally is the way to allow the small self to merge into the big Self. Conscious death of the small selves is the birthing of the big Self. Loving every single small self within, deeply and unconditionally, however bad, ugly, evil, unworthy, the small self may seem, is the quickest path to big Self-realization.
Only a big Self can live life 100%
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
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Sunday, September 24, 2006
Einstein's Advice for George W. Bush
Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Global Warming: The Scientists versus the Conservatives
Global warming is an important but confusing issue for most people because this issue has economic significance, but perhaps not as much statistical significance. Conservatives claim that statistical significance of the relationship between human action and global warming cannot be demonstrated. Much of the scientific establishment opposes this viewpoint. However, the scientific community needs to rethink how it approaches this issue.
The first thing that must come to the mind of any scientist when confronting an issue that is economically significant but statistically insignificant, is the concept of POWER. Lack of power is called “type 2 error” in statistics.
Type 2 error measures the probability of “failure to reject the null hypothesis,” given the alternative hypothesis is true. In the case of global warming, "lack of power" is the error related to the failure to reject the null hypothesis that “no relationship between human action and global warming exists," if the alternative hypothesis that "human action is causing global warming" is true.
Scientists don’t have to prove that human action is causing global warming at 95% level of confidence, even if this can be proven. All they have to do is demonstrate the “lack of power" in the conservative argument. Just because some hypothesis is statistically not significant at 95% level of confidence, does not make that unimportant in an economic sense. And given what is at stake for humanity, the huge economic significance cannot be ignored, even if the effects of global warming are statistically significant only at say 50% level of confidence.
An economically significant event that is statistically insignificant at 95% level of confidence still calls for an effective response. For example, if there is only a 40% chance that one may die after eating food in a restaurant, one would still not eat there, regardless of the fact that the null hypothesis that "the restaurant food does not cause death" cannot be rejected at 95% level of confidence. Economically significant events don’t have to be always statistically significant at 90% or 95% level of confidence for them to deserve an effective response.
The global warming debate is different from debating whether one should devote one's entire life in preparation for not getting hit by lightening. In this case, the probability of being hit by lightening is virtually zero, and so it is unwise to devote significant time and energy to deal with such an occurrence.
I don't think any climate scientist thinks that the probability of the entrapment of greenhouse gases causing severe damage to earth is so small, that no action is warranted. And yet "no action" is the typical recommendation by most conservatives and their think tanks. These conservatives are hiding behind the claim of statistical insignificance, while cleverly evading the type 2 error related to economic significance of the severe damage that can result from entrapment of the greenhouse gases.
The intellectuals are divided as “small selves” on the issue of global warming. The conservative small selves are obsessed with statistical insignificance, while the environmentalist/scientific small selves are obsessed with statistical significance. Both need to come together by focusing on the issue of “lack of power” or the type 2 error to resolve this debate. Just like buying insurance or creating conditions for elimination of terrorism (and not creating more terrorism as being done at present) are right responses for statistically insignificant but economically significant issues, taking concrete steps to significantly reduce greenhouse gases is urgently needed to avoid a potential catastrophe in the making.
The first thing that must come to the mind of any scientist when confronting an issue that is economically significant but statistically insignificant, is the concept of POWER. Lack of power is called “type 2 error” in statistics.
Type 2 error measures the probability of “failure to reject the null hypothesis,” given the alternative hypothesis is true. In the case of global warming, "lack of power" is the error related to the failure to reject the null hypothesis that “no relationship between human action and global warming exists," if the alternative hypothesis that "human action is causing global warming" is true.
Scientists don’t have to prove that human action is causing global warming at 95% level of confidence, even if this can be proven. All they have to do is demonstrate the “lack of power" in the conservative argument. Just because some hypothesis is statistically not significant at 95% level of confidence, does not make that unimportant in an economic sense. And given what is at stake for humanity, the huge economic significance cannot be ignored, even if the effects of global warming are statistically significant only at say 50% level of confidence.
An economically significant event that is statistically insignificant at 95% level of confidence still calls for an effective response. For example, if there is only a 40% chance that one may die after eating food in a restaurant, one would still not eat there, regardless of the fact that the null hypothesis that "the restaurant food does not cause death" cannot be rejected at 95% level of confidence. Economically significant events don’t have to be always statistically significant at 90% or 95% level of confidence for them to deserve an effective response.
The global warming debate is different from debating whether one should devote one's entire life in preparation for not getting hit by lightening. In this case, the probability of being hit by lightening is virtually zero, and so it is unwise to devote significant time and energy to deal with such an occurrence.
I don't think any climate scientist thinks that the probability of the entrapment of greenhouse gases causing severe damage to earth is so small, that no action is warranted. And yet "no action" is the typical recommendation by most conservatives and their think tanks. These conservatives are hiding behind the claim of statistical insignificance, while cleverly evading the type 2 error related to economic significance of the severe damage that can result from entrapment of the greenhouse gases.
The intellectuals are divided as “small selves” on the issue of global warming. The conservative small selves are obsessed with statistical insignificance, while the environmentalist/scientific small selves are obsessed with statistical significance. Both need to come together by focusing on the issue of “lack of power” or the type 2 error to resolve this debate. Just like buying insurance or creating conditions for elimination of terrorism (and not creating more terrorism as being done at present) are right responses for statistically insignificant but economically significant issues, taking concrete steps to significantly reduce greenhouse gases is urgently needed to avoid a potential catastrophe in the making.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The Blindness of Small Selves
John Godfrey Saxe's ( 1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend,
It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"
The Third approach'd the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," -quoth he- "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," -quoth he,-
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said- "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," -quoth he,- "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL,
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean;
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Small Selves
Do we ever keenly observe our many selves within and without? Why do we get attached to the identities that separate us into nations, religions, races, and economic classes? Dosen't such attachment make us insensitive to the pain of others not included in our identity. For example, as an American, does one feel the pain of 600,000 Iraqis who have died since the Iraq war began in 2003? As a radical Islamist, does one feel the pain of the thousands of Americans who died on 9/11? As someone from the Indian upper middle class, does one feel the pain of the poor Indian farmers, more than 15,000 of whom commit suicides annually?
Why do we humans split ourselves in such a manner, that we stop feeling any love for another who is not a part of our "small selves?"
As individuals with small selves, we seem to recognize multiple personality disorder only when it becomes pathological. But what we may think is normal may not be so different from what is pathological, when seen from the viewpoint of the one who is fully self-integrated. A self-integrated being sees our insanity in the same way, as we see the insanity of the pathologically insane.
How can we recognize this insanity of being split, when everyone around us is also split?
This is the challenge of meditation.
Meditation is not an effort to become the whole. Meditation is the simple non-judgmental seeing of one’s fragmentation.
In that seeing, the first act of wholeness begins...
Why do we humans split ourselves in such a manner, that we stop feeling any love for another who is not a part of our "small selves?"
As individuals with small selves, we seem to recognize multiple personality disorder only when it becomes pathological. But what we may think is normal may not be so different from what is pathological, when seen from the viewpoint of the one who is fully self-integrated. A self-integrated being sees our insanity in the same way, as we see the insanity of the pathologically insane.
How can we recognize this insanity of being split, when everyone around us is also split?
This is the challenge of meditation.
Meditation is not an effort to become the whole. Meditation is the simple non-judgmental seeing of one’s fragmentation.
In that seeing, the first act of wholeness begins...
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Self-Integrity
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Maximize Shareholder Wealth or Self-Utility?
Standard textbooks prescribe shareholder wealth maximization as the main goal of financial management. Yet, mangers are known to give themselves huge pay packages, often at the expense of shareholder wealth. This behavior is traditionally known as "agency" cost in the business literature. Agency costs exist due to only partial observability of managers' actions by the shareholders, and loopholes in the legal infrastructure. The traditional solution to this problem is to give managers bonuses and options to align their interests with the interests of the shareholders.
However, any human behavior not recognized and accepted, only creates higher order perversions. Free human beings living in free markets must rationally maximize their own self-utility. Maximizing shareholder wealth cannot be an absolute rule, but a constrained maximization, which should be subordinate to maximizing one's own self-utility. For example, if two choices both give self-utility of 100 units each, but the first choice makes shareholders richer, then the managers take that choice. Of course, due to unobservability of the managers actions by shareholders, often managers will and do maximize their own utility, at the expense of shareholder's wealth.
The ex-ante knowledge that shareholders have the right to fire or sue managers, generally keeps the managers behaving in line consistent with shareholder objectives. But its almost tautological that managers always maximize their own self-utility, even when they increase shareholder profits with some self-imposed constraints or objectives (arising due to self-integrity or greed). For example, for some managers the constraint of not hurting a worker is not a serious issue (encouraged by the draconian anti-labor laws in some states, which impose only a small monetary fine for killing a worker even with an intentional safety violation), while for other managers, not hurting another goes beyond their "small-self" fiduciary duty to shareholders, to serve their "big-self" human responsibility.
Modern capitalism sprang from the twin forces of innovation and exploitation, both feeding and reinforcing each other. These forces framed the laws of many western nations. So for example, if one knows as a manager that some labor practice causes serious arm injuries, but keeping that labor practice maximizes shareholder value even after paying for all monetary expenses for the arm injuries, then it becomes one's fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value.
But what is legal is not necessarily what is ethical. Ethics relate to one's SELF-DEFINTION, while law is defined with respect to the system. Ethics are a function of one's individual utility function, while law is created by the dominant forces that come to rule the govt agencies. If one lives under the tyranny of Saddam, then what is ethical may be very distant from what is legal. Similarly, just because Blacks or women or men without property were not allowed to vote legally in 18th century did not make that ethical in USA. So if our rich, racist, but intelligent founding fathers designed labor laws that basically hurt the workers (small monetary fines in some states even for killing workers with intentional safety violations that maximize profits), and we continue to practice those laws, then we may end up hurting the workers to serve our fiduciary duty, but our ethical human Self may revolt at that idea.
If our human Self is much bigger than our identity as a manager at a company in a system designed to hurt the workers (e.g., meat-packing industry), or the customers (e.g., pharmaceutical industry), or the environment, it is very desirable for us to question our fiduciary duty and behave in accordance with our larger human responsibility. If we are willing to take the chance of getting sued by the shareholders or fired by the shareholders, we can see it as very ethical to try and stop practices that are known to hurt the workers, or the customers, or the environment.
Of course, if we abuse our power and spend company money on installing the most expensive diamond studded carpets in our offices, then we will most likely get fired. But since we know that that outcome is a possibility, we will most likely not engage in such actions using our utility function. But we still use our own utility functions to make such decisions and not the shareholders' utility function. Our utility functions calculate, ex-ante, the possibilities of getting fired or sued or whatever, depending on the actions we undertake.
So in conclusion, we may very often see it as our BIG-SELF HUMAN responsibility to serve the exploited workers, naive customers, and the environment, and not solely focus on maximizing shareholder wealth, by taking the chance that we may get fired or sued. Of course, we do what we can to increase shareholder wealth to the extent it does not compromise with our self-integrity. No one can force one to maximize someone else's utility. One may feel "self-richer" in not compromising with one's integrity, than someone else who may be a millionaire but may injure or kill a couple of workers every other year.
However, any human behavior not recognized and accepted, only creates higher order perversions. Free human beings living in free markets must rationally maximize their own self-utility. Maximizing shareholder wealth cannot be an absolute rule, but a constrained maximization, which should be subordinate to maximizing one's own self-utility. For example, if two choices both give self-utility of 100 units each, but the first choice makes shareholders richer, then the managers take that choice. Of course, due to unobservability of the managers actions by shareholders, often managers will and do maximize their own utility, at the expense of shareholder's wealth.
The ex-ante knowledge that shareholders have the right to fire or sue managers, generally keeps the managers behaving in line consistent with shareholder objectives. But its almost tautological that managers always maximize their own self-utility, even when they increase shareholder profits with some self-imposed constraints or objectives (arising due to self-integrity or greed). For example, for some managers the constraint of not hurting a worker is not a serious issue (encouraged by the draconian anti-labor laws in some states, which impose only a small monetary fine for killing a worker even with an intentional safety violation), while for other managers, not hurting another goes beyond their "small-self" fiduciary duty to shareholders, to serve their "big-self" human responsibility.
Modern capitalism sprang from the twin forces of innovation and exploitation, both feeding and reinforcing each other. These forces framed the laws of many western nations. So for example, if one knows as a manager that some labor practice causes serious arm injuries, but keeping that labor practice maximizes shareholder value even after paying for all monetary expenses for the arm injuries, then it becomes one's fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value.
But what is legal is not necessarily what is ethical. Ethics relate to one's SELF-DEFINTION, while law is defined with respect to the system. Ethics are a function of one's individual utility function, while law is created by the dominant forces that come to rule the govt agencies. If one lives under the tyranny of Saddam, then what is ethical may be very distant from what is legal. Similarly, just because Blacks or women or men without property were not allowed to vote legally in 18th century did not make that ethical in USA. So if our rich, racist, but intelligent founding fathers designed labor laws that basically hurt the workers (small monetary fines in some states even for killing workers with intentional safety violations that maximize profits), and we continue to practice those laws, then we may end up hurting the workers to serve our fiduciary duty, but our ethical human Self may revolt at that idea.
If our human Self is much bigger than our identity as a manager at a company in a system designed to hurt the workers (e.g., meat-packing industry), or the customers (e.g., pharmaceutical industry), or the environment, it is very desirable for us to question our fiduciary duty and behave in accordance with our larger human responsibility. If we are willing to take the chance of getting sued by the shareholders or fired by the shareholders, we can see it as very ethical to try and stop practices that are known to hurt the workers, or the customers, or the environment.
Of course, if we abuse our power and spend company money on installing the most expensive diamond studded carpets in our offices, then we will most likely get fired. But since we know that that outcome is a possibility, we will most likely not engage in such actions using our utility function. But we still use our own utility functions to make such decisions and not the shareholders' utility function. Our utility functions calculate, ex-ante, the possibilities of getting fired or sued or whatever, depending on the actions we undertake.
So in conclusion, we may very often see it as our BIG-SELF HUMAN responsibility to serve the exploited workers, naive customers, and the environment, and not solely focus on maximizing shareholder wealth, by taking the chance that we may get fired or sued. Of course, we do what we can to increase shareholder wealth to the extent it does not compromise with our self-integrity. No one can force one to maximize someone else's utility. One may feel "self-richer" in not compromising with one's integrity, than someone else who may be a millionaire but may injure or kill a couple of workers every other year.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Rich and Poor
Though outwardly few are rich and many are poor, even the few rich are inwardly as poor as most of the outwardly poor. What makes one rich is not just wealth and power but the richness of the inner Self. A self-rich person can never be a slave to another. She cannot do anything that sacrifices herself for another's utility, whether it is the King of Saudi Arabia or shareholders of Halliburton. A self-rich person empowers other selves, because the wealth of selves multiplies when you make others inwardly richer. Self-richness can happen to anyone, anytime, from mother Teresa to Warren Buffett, from a stripper to a bartender. Effort is the method of becoming outwardly rich, effortless seeing of oneself is the way to become inwardly rich.
What is No Self?
No-Self consciousness is experienced when cravings and aversions arising from a small self end. No-self moments happen unexpectedly, since expectations are creations of a small self. A melody heard after many years, a beautiful sunset seen on a vacation, an unexpected gift from a stranger, all lead to the experience of the no-self moments. Meditation can make the most ordinary moments seem extraordinary because it shifts one's consciousness from the cycle of small-self desires and frustrations to the enjoyment of pure witnessing of that which is unfolding. This witnessing has no ego, no personality, it just IS. The only difference between ordinary existence and extraordinary living is that no-self moments happen rarely and accidentally under the former, and frequently and consciously under the latter.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Self-Cooperative Games
Most people understand only two types of games. Games in which competition wins, and games in which cooperation wins.
The more gross games of life on the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy are best played with the spirit of competition in which free markets do well. The subtle games of life on the higher levels of Maslow's hierarchy are best played with the spirit of love in which cooperation wins.
Communism is a game in which love is forced by the method of cooperative game theory. Capitalism is a game in which individuals are free to maximize their unidimensional utilities using non-cooperative game theory. Since love can never be forced, and unidimensional utilities are unreal, neither system has brought lasting peace and well-being to humankind.
But games don’t have to be divided only between cooperative and non-cooperative game theory models.
By allowing a multi-dimensional utility, such that one's utility is a positive function of another's utility, one can play a third type of self-cooperative game in which cooperation results endogenously even when individuals behave in rational self-interest. Economists don’t have a monopoly on the definition of “rational,” and their small-self attempts to define “rational” have kept them imprisoned in their prisoner’s dilemma games. The schizophrenic nature of the Nash equilibrium in a prisoner’s dilemma game is easily seen once humans embrace their big-self multidimensional utilities.
Self-cooperative games allow both love and freedom, as they use multidimensional utilities and are free of any force of coercion by the government agency. In these games one loves out of one's freedom, and feels free because one is loved.
The challenge for economists and politicians is to create conditions through human values-based education, elimination of poverty, etc., such that the self-cooperative games don't devolve into self-destructive games in which one's multidimensional utility is a negative function of another's utility.
The number of people playing self-destructive games has grown exponentially (e.g., terrorist groups, communal rioters, revengeful nationalistic citizens, etc.) over the past quarter century. Unless economists and politicans acknowledge the existence of multidimensional utilities in the real games played by human beings, they will fail in solving the problems of war and terrorism.
Only if we acknowledge that multidimensional utility functions exist, can we take appropriate actions to encourage such utilities to have positive weights for others' utilities? Creating conditions that influence multidimensional utility functions to have positive weights of others' utilities is needed as much as increases in the GDP. Unfortunately, economic and political thinkers remain obsessed only with the latter.
The more gross games of life on the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy are best played with the spirit of competition in which free markets do well. The subtle games of life on the higher levels of Maslow's hierarchy are best played with the spirit of love in which cooperation wins.
Communism is a game in which love is forced by the method of cooperative game theory. Capitalism is a game in which individuals are free to maximize their unidimensional utilities using non-cooperative game theory. Since love can never be forced, and unidimensional utilities are unreal, neither system has brought lasting peace and well-being to humankind.
But games don’t have to be divided only between cooperative and non-cooperative game theory models.
By allowing a multi-dimensional utility, such that one's utility is a positive function of another's utility, one can play a third type of self-cooperative game in which cooperation results endogenously even when individuals behave in rational self-interest. Economists don’t have a monopoly on the definition of “rational,” and their small-self attempts to define “rational” have kept them imprisoned in their prisoner’s dilemma games. The schizophrenic nature of the Nash equilibrium in a prisoner’s dilemma game is easily seen once humans embrace their big-self multidimensional utilities.
Self-cooperative games allow both love and freedom, as they use multidimensional utilities and are free of any force of coercion by the government agency. In these games one loves out of one's freedom, and feels free because one is loved.
The challenge for economists and politicians is to create conditions through human values-based education, elimination of poverty, etc., such that the self-cooperative games don't devolve into self-destructive games in which one's multidimensional utility is a negative function of another's utility.
The number of people playing self-destructive games has grown exponentially (e.g., terrorist groups, communal rioters, revengeful nationalistic citizens, etc.) over the past quarter century. Unless economists and politicans acknowledge the existence of multidimensional utilities in the real games played by human beings, they will fail in solving the problems of war and terrorism.
Only if we acknowledge that multidimensional utility functions exist, can we take appropriate actions to encourage such utilities to have positive weights for others' utilities? Creating conditions that influence multidimensional utility functions to have positive weights of others' utilities is needed as much as increases in the GDP. Unfortunately, economic and political thinkers remain obsessed only with the latter.
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