Skeptic Minds

I came across a forum where people are discussing about the authenticity of their religion. There are so many religions to this date, nearly countless. Some say that their religion has the oldest version of the bible, some say that they can perform miracles. Then one asked, “Is there a TRUE religion?”

I thought about it, I remembered the time when I was at school, a priest told me this. There are three hierarchy of man, and they are the following:

The First hierarchy of man is the “I LOVE ME” - this is a stage in one’s life where one thinks nothing but himself.

The Second hierarchy of man is “PLEASE LOVE ME” - in this stage, the person seeks approval or recognition from others.

The Third hierarchy or man is “I LOVE YOU” - in this stage, the person no longer thinks about himself but others.

The hierarchy of man is similar to the life of a person. When you were born, you think nothing but about yourself, you cry when you feel hunger, or discomfort. And as you grow older, you learn things from school, you try to get everything that you want. Then as you finish your schooling, you seek for a job, you sell your self to companies to hire you. Then you get married and have a child, you give everything you’ve got to your child.

But not all people think about life that way, that is where religion comes in. I remembered when I was in college, in our computer class. We used to have floppy disks then, it was a 5.5″ soft black plastic that can only store 360Kb of data! Anyway, it has a write protect slot there, where you put a sticker on it so that the disk is write protected. Some students don’t know the reason why do they have to put stickers on slot of the disk, where they have to take it off and on again and again. No matter how “technical” our prof explains to them, they still cannot understand why. So, our professor made up an answer to that. He said that, they have to cover the write protect tab because in that slot where the computer virus enters. Until then the students starts to cover the slots with the protect stickers. The explanation was stupid but yet effective.

So, getting back to religion. The purpose of the religion is to accelerate the hierarchy of man. No matter how much you explain to a person to be kind, and love one another, they still tend to do bad things. (why? he did it first! hehehe…) Just like the Floppy Disk scenario, right? Different people have different levels of understanding that is why there are different types of religion.

Getting back to the question: Is there are TRUE religion? my answer is YES. The True religion is the religion that you believe that can make you a better person.

Energy is becoming more and more expensive these days. Whether electricity, gasoline, LPG, etc… the prices always goes up. I’ve browsed a lot of websites claiming they have discovered free energy, or perpetual motion. None of them are real, they just want to make false hopes to people.
Perpetual Motion. It has been a long dream for scientists to discover a device that can produce perpetual motion, since Archimedes to Da Vinci, until now. I also wanted to somehow make a perpetual machine, that is for the benefit of mankind. But it seems to be very impossible for me to attain such discovery. First of all, perpetual motion will defy the law of conservation of energy and the second law of thermodynamics. In layman’s term: Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but it can only be changed from one form into another. And: The ENTROPY of a system that is not balanced, will tend to increase (entropy) until balance is achieved.
It’s really impossible for one to create perpetual motion devices. When you say perpetual motion, it means that it will never stop forever (or at least a decade or two). There are some devices that uses "magnets" as a means of perpetual motion. Yes, it may seem to move endlessly, but wait until the magnets looses it charge it will eventually stop. Permanent magnets aren’t really permanent. You can use it in a few years, reaping the energy from it, but when the magnet’s energy dissipates, it would cost more to replace the magnet than using your household outlet.
Looking at a bigger picture, some say that the Earth is (seems to be) moving around it’s orbit endlessly. But least you know, that the Earth is slowing down. Maybe in a couple of trillion or quadrillion years, Earth will eventually stop orbiting. Well, before that happens our sun will be dead by then. So, even the universe cannot exhibit any perpetual motion, how can we?
Free Energy. This term is very tricky. For me, "Free" means "Free Source" of energy. I can agree to that, there are tons of Free Sources of energy, such as hydro electric Power Plants, geothermal, Solar Electricity, etc… Energy may be free but the facility to extract that free source is very expensive. Especially if you would add the "Standards of Living" of the people who invest on those facilities. All they want is profit. Eventually, energy is not cheap anymore. We are surrounded by limitless energy, from the winds, to the electromagnetic fields of the Earth. We can harvest those, only if the facility to harvest those would be cheap. I know someday, there would be a simpler, cheaper, device that can harvest those free energies

There have been a lot of environmental issues these days. There are a lot of activists that protest here and there, abolishing burning of fossil fuels, etc… I used to be a member of GreenPeace, and Youth’s FACE (For A Clean Environment), that more than a decade ago. I joined that group not because I want to save the environment, it’s because of gaining new friends. I never really cared about what they are doing, I got bored and quit.

Now, I realized what they are really fighting for. Our environment is getting hotter and hotter. Pollution is getting worse. Maybe it’s time to do something to save the environment. I watch Discovery Channel a lot, especially when it comes to new technologies. Though there are a lot of new technologies out there that can help save the environment, but you can see them all only on TV! Where are they? I don’t see them on the streets. They say that this will be the new generation of this and that, this will help save the planet, blah, blah, blah… No matter what devices, technologies they have, they really can’t "save" the planet. You have to get deeper into the problem. The question is: What causes the deterioration of the Planet?

For me the real culprit behind the deterioration of the planet is GREED for MONEY. Not pollution, not the fossil fuels, not the burning of coals, etc… but MONEY. There are a lot of "Free Energy" devices and technologies out there. With free energy, there’s no money in it! Since energy will be free, you can drive your car using atmospheric air, or tap water. Your house is supplied with electricity from wind turbines, or solar panels. With these technologies, how can major oil companies get money from it? Surely, they’ll go down, their debts will be unpaid, economy will be unstable, etc., etc., the bottom line is MONEY.

Not only from the major oil producers, but also for the inventors. Their greed for money is greater than saving the planet. If they are really concerned for the welfare of the planet they would open their plans, schematics, ideas, to the public, so that the public can use, and even improve them in the future. Some major car companies, say that they have invented fuel cells, hydrogen powered vehicles, and they are still in development stage. Why can’t they just open it up to the public, and let the people help them improve their products. Greed, of course. They want all the credit to themselves, and they don’t want their competitors to know their designs.

I couldn’t say all inventors are greedy, there are a handful I know that wanted to open their ideas to the world, but they can’t. The reason… i not quite so sure… they say that something (or someone) is suppressing their ideas (even threatening them with their lives), preventing it to go out in the open… Could their reason be real? I don’t quite believe them…

My part of saving the environment is try, as much as possible, walking. If the place you’re going to is less than 2 or 3 kms, walk. I’m walking from home to work and back, at first it looks very far, until I tried it, and it only took me 15mins of my time. I saved money, saved the environment, and also do some cardio exercise for myself (I lost 3 lbs, a week!). There are a lot of ways of saving the environment, nothing is too small when it comes to saving the environment. And I’ve also learned that saving the environment can also save you money, and give you good health.

Have you had a strange dream that you don’t understand? Here’s a site that can help you interpret your dreams.

http://www.dreaminterpretationhelp.com

I’m one of the interpreters there. If you have questions, you can visit the site or just post a message. Hoping that I can help answer your dream questions.

Here’s another skepticism that we can take into a consideration…

We all know that doctors play a very vital role in our daily lives. They help save lives, cure our illnesses, relieve our pains… etc… Well I’m talking about doctors in an ideal sense. But these doctors are people too, they also eat, drink, sleep, and they also share the same burden that we carry, that is, life is hard. Money is getting harder and harder to earn. Some doctors go out of the country just to have a better income. But what about the doctors that are still here in the country? (by the way, I’m talking about doctors in the Philippines.) Well, they definitely found a way to survive.

The type of doctor that I hate most is the "Commercialized Doctor". What is a commercialized doctor? Here is a short list that would describe a commercialized doctor:
1. who prescribes medicine with a specific brand of medicine.
2. who prescribes or diagnose wrongly, so that you’ll come back after a few days.
3. who is usually out of the country attending seminars, conventions (or should i say "Product Presentation")
4. who is always late
5. who doesn’t explain anything about your illness, instead explaining (or better yet promoting) a medicine that would cure your illness.
6. who doesn’t want to be called on the cellphone.
7. who charges you more than the usual rate.
8. who always resort to medicine rather than natural cure.
9. who prescribes an all-in-one-super-expensive medicine rather individual generic medicines.
10. who entertains medreps in the middle of a consultation.

These are just some of the things I really hate about doctors. Here’s another thing, I see that engineers/architects are far more responsible than doctors. (not that I’m an engineer). Here’s an example, if an engineer or architect builds a building and collapsed, who’s to blame? of course, the engineer or the architect, or maybe the contractor. If a doctor performs a surgery and accidentally cut the wrong vein and the patient dies. who to blame? the doctor will say, there’s nothing we can do, it’s God’s will. I once had a terrible experience with a doctor, I had a cold-like symptom and cough. She said it is a common cough, and phlegm should be expelled so, she prescribed me a mucolytic and some medicines i don’t understand. After a few days, my cough got worse, and eventually, i’ve been spitting blood. so i went to an emergency room in a nearby hospital. I’ve been diagnosed again and it was a post-nasal drip. The ER doctor asked me what medicine i took, and i gave her my doctor’s prescription. The ER doctor looked at it, frowned a little, and said that she’ll change my prescription to a more effective medicine. She never mentioned that the doctor made a mistake. Do you think that is a "Professional Courtesy"? No! I call it a "Professional Cover-Up". I’ve made my own research and discovered that post nasal drip has nothing to do with cough, and taking mucolytic would induce cough, hence scratching my throat and that is where the blood in my spit came from.

I’ve always been skeptical towards doctors. But not all, I know a few doctors who are really good. My son’s pediatrician is a very excellent doctor, as much a possible, she doesn’t want to give antibiotics to my son unless it’s persistent and swelling. She prefers the "old school" remedy. Unlike my nephew’s doctor, just a simple cough, the pediatrician would prescribe cefalexin, one of the most expensive medicine, and one of the most powerful antibiotic, to a 7-year old child.

I know another great doctor, my wife’s OB. She doesn’t charge her consultation and ultrasound very much (at only P400, you get a consultation with ultrasound!) and prescribes medicines very objectively. Unlike other OB’s where they charge consultation and ultrasound differently, sometimes it will take up to P1000!

Aside from doctors, one thing that also bothers me are the medreps. How come medreps can easily avail a car just right after hiring? Where do you think the drug manufacturer get the money to accommodate the medreps’ transportation? of course, the cost of the medicine. you can see the medreps outside the doctors clinic, holding an iphone or laptop, or any expensive gadgets. where do you think they get the money to get those? again… cost of medicine… no wonder why we have the most expensive medicine in the whole world. Another thing, when doctors go to a seminar (product presentation), their trip to other countries are subsidized by the drug company, not only that, even the whole family can go. where do you think they get the money? … cost of medicine… all the doctors, and medreps get all the benefit, while we ordinary people absorbs all the financial burden on buying medicines for the benefit of the doctors and medreps.

Nearly all the time when we pray, we ask for something. But the least we know, prayers are ALWAYS answered, in one way or another. One thing I learned about praying is that God NEVER gives us what we WANT, but He GIVES us what we NEED. You still be careful for what you ask for. Most of us pray for money, house, or even life-long dreams. Now I realized, that is NOT the proper way of praying. Let’s say you prayed that you wanted a house, then He gave you a house, and that’s it nothing more. For me the proper way to pray is ask for something that can help you get another thing that you want. Well actually that is how God works. He doesn’t give you what you want, but he’ll give you what you need; that is what you need to achieve your goals. So, therefore don’t ask for money or house, but instead, ask for patience, humility, courage, confidence, strength, etc… because those are the keys for you to achieve what you want.

Feng shui is a "Theoretical Approach" to practical
living (or common sense.)

I used to believe in feng shui, until they all sucked out every penny I saved
just to be "prosperous". Until I realized that feng shui is just
"common sense" only in a higher level. Here are some examples…

Feng shui: placing a plant (or small fountain) beside your computer reduce
negative energy.
Practical sense: computer monitor (where you work) is very eye straining, your
eyes tend to blink less and dry up. Placing a plant or small fountain helps
humidify the area surrounding your computer and eventually comforts your eyes.

Feng shui: don’t place bed under a beam.
Practical sense: if earthquake occurs and that beam fell, surely, you’re
squished.

Feng shui: lamp post or electrical post in front of your house gives negative
energy.
Practical sense: when storm comes and wipes every standing structure, your
house will be the first to be hit by that post.

These are just examples of the "common sense" a.k.a. "feng
shui" principles. Feng shui puts numbers, symbols, fancy names, formulas,
etc… Just to convince people that they will be prosperous, healthy, etc. etc. etc…

I used to have persistent bad luck, until I consulted a feng shui master. He said
that I was not paying tributes to my ancestors. If I pay him a Php40,000 those
ancestors’ spirits bothering me will be gone, and I can earn that money in a
year in return.

Well, in that the case, I didn’t pay him a single cent - I don’t have that
money! Instead I went to church, prayed for my ancestors, made a small donation
to the charity, and after a week, voila! I’m back in business! And it didn’t
take a year!

What is the purpose of man or
better yet humans, on the face of the Earth? I know that Mother Nature (some
may say God) creates things or beings that must co-exist between each other.
But what beings in this planet benefits from humans? As a matter of fact, all
beings and non-beings in this planet are better off without humans.

Mother Nature
created everything in pairs. Whether there’s a male, there’s a female,
night-day, wet-dry, left-right, up-down, front-back, right-wrong, good-bad, and
many other things. That is to keep up the balance of nature. But wait! What is
the opposite of balance? Its imbalance, surely, Mother Nature also creates
imbalance so that balance can be achieved. Who makes imbalance? None other else
but humans! Our mere existence makes nature more “alive”. We pollute the air, land and seas. But, without
man, this planet may be dead in just a few hundred years.

It was sometime in the year 2002, I dreamt I was in a military-like facility. I met this very beautiful girl, she passed by me and smiled. I smiled back, when the person beside me tapped me and said that she is my daughter. At that time, how can that be? I was married though but my wife is not pregnant, nor any knowledge that I may have a child. It was a dream though. So I went up to her and asked her name, she said "Calista". That is the first time I heard such beautiful name. I went up to the database and found out that her real name is Calista Arzadon.

It was 2004 when my wife got pregnant, it was a  girl. I named her Calista. I kept on dreaming about her until that time. Until one night, I dreamt, she said "I’m sorry I have to leave, my purpose in life is to be a guardian of my siblings. If I stay, one of you will depart." So, to fulfill her purpose in life (or afterlife) at her sixth month in her mother’s womb, she left us. It was on April 13, 2005, i had my first glimpse of my beautiful daughter, she is an angel. Even though she is lying lifeless on the hospital bed, I can see her beautiful smile exactly the way I see it in my dream.

I will never forget her smile. I know she’s out there, looking at us and at her baby brother. Watching, guiding, and protecting us in every way. It’s really nice to have a guardian angel watching over you, especially if you know she’s your daughter.

Wherever you are Cali… We love you…

For
so many years scientists, physicist, and mathematicians try to figure out how
to combine the two theories "General Relativity" and "Quantum
Mechanics" into a Theory of Everything. There are several theories out
there, but not all people agree to some of those theories. Now, here is mine:

The
fact is that the Quantum world is disorderly, and chaotic, while the General
Relativity is very orderly and predictable. What I see here is that “size” has
something to do with it. Let’s have an example: a bird and an elephant. The
bird moves faster relatively from an elephant. Since the bird is relatively
smaller than the elephant, the bird can easily move around, while for the
elephant, it would take it longer. Our universe looks like it is still, but it
is constantly expanding, changing. If we resize our universe to a size of a
quark or even smaller, in terms of our three dimensions, and also
proportionately with time. Then we can see that our mini-universe is just as
disorderly and chaotic as the Quantum world. Some say the Quantum world is
unpredictable. I don’t think so, it is because "time" in the Quantum
world moves so fast that we in the real world hardly keeps up on observing what
is happening in there. Maybe we should view time in a different perspective.

Imagine This

First,
there is Earth, then try to go further away; we see our moon then the solar
system, then the Milky Way. Further we see galaxies and nebula. Still going
further, does our universe looks familiar in the Quantum World? What if we put
Quantum Mechanics into a complete relative stop, will it look like our
universe? Maybe, our universe is just one of the particles of an atom in a
larger world. Also, maybe in every particle there are universes in there.

Do We Have The Right Tools?

We
can teach a dog some tricks, such as fetch, stay, and roll. But, can we teach a
dog physics, or calculus? No matter how hard we try, the dog’s brain are not
“wired” to learn such things. How about us? Are we wired to learn beyond the
limits? Some physicists say we can. Granted that we can study Quantum Physics
further, but do we have the proper tools? I think our math system is not
capable of solving the problems in Quantum world. Just imagine this; using
calculus, one plus one does not result to two, it’s 1.9999… then we just round
it off to two.  Not like the real world where one apple plus one apple
equals two apples.

Math
is not the “real world” it is a logical system that exists entirely in our
heads. If we perform a mathematical operation between an infinitesimal value
and an infinite value, will the result be significant? Scientists set the
standards on when and where the decimals terminates. Then we are limited to the
judgment of those scientists. How are we sure that their “judgment” is correct?
I feel that it is more than mathematics that we need to solve the problems in
the Theory of Everything.

Conspiracy?

Studying
the Theory of Everything maybe insignificant to our daily lives for now. It may
be noble for a scientist, physicist, or mathematician to find out the Theory of
Everything for the benefit of the coming generations. But most of these people
are professors rather a professional. They would make fictional theories that
sounds convincing and asks the government to fund their experiments. That is
where they get their extra money for their glamorous way of life.

The
Theory of Everything is just there waiting… not to be discovered, but waiting
for us, people, to be more mature psychologically, spiritually, morally, and
more responsible. As what a movie said "With great power, comes with great
responsibility." As we all know knowledge is power.