September 07, 2018 Friday
Bedtime Story
Why Human Apes Concoct Fairy Tales
As a single individual there is no one to
match Dawkins in the Western World to match his relentless effort to promote
reason and rational thinking and bringing science closer to the understanding
of the general public.
Human apes being what they are I do not
expect him or his likes to make much of a dent in the belief system of the
masses, particularly when most of the nation states are failing their
constitutional promises of taking care of their citizens (for reasons that
can’t be pinned down anywhere or to anyone specifically as it’s a joint failure
of citizenry themselves).
In such a case scenario the mind of the
human ape is left with no choice but to invent some kind of perfect savior to
simply go on existing.
It is simply asking too much of the average
apes to accept the reality and yet go on leaving their ordinary lives; the
reality is so discordant from the utopian imagery that we are fed as children
that if one were to accept it the mind would either take you the Buddha way or
force you to take the extreme step of committing suicide in despair.
The sheer lack of purposefulness of our
existence accompanied with relentless misery all around us should be adequate
enough to drive any rational thinking ape to end his existence (many do with
the reported world rate being 10.7 per 100,000 population).
The fact that most of us do not end their
lives or go into depression can only mean two things.
Either most apes do not care to ponder deeply
about their existence and their insignificant place in the universe; survival
and family raising (reproduction) keeps them perhaps too occupied.
Or as Mon Ami puts it so well, to be able
to merrily continue our banal existence after knowing the reality is the
ultimate example of the ability of human mind to live with contradictions or
cognitive dissonance as it is called in fanciful physiological parlance.
Now enough has been said about my heroes
though I will never lose an opportunity to return to them and their incredible
writings whenever a chance presents.
We need to return to the painting Polyptych
of Perugia and see what it has to offer us on the subject of perspective.
The perspective part in this painting that
depicts the Annunciation is a passageway of a series of arches placed atop the
main act.
These series of arches that seem to go on
endlessly inside the painting is truly a masterpiece of rendering of
perspective especially considering that in those times such kind of depiction
were rare or almost never to be seen.
I will try to send you an electronic or
rather digital version of this masterpiece if I am able to get my hands on it
tonight.
The other notable work of Francesca where
he has used linear perspective is the Flagellation of Christ.
If the former painting depicted the
Annunciation which broadly is the description of the origins of Christ then
this painting is based on the Passion which is the short description of the
final moments of his life.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
This is only the top part of the whole Polyptych sans the act of Annunciation
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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