Here's a collection of my thoughts, ideas and questions which I always considered rather silly to pronounce in public. They've rotten in my brain for a long time and now they demand a new home. What could be better than the World Wide Web?! Some of my thoughts might offend you, in which case, grab a cup of coffee and think deeply about them until you figure out what they mean! (I have a serious problem with those who try to decipher what I say in terms of what they want to hear!)
So here we begin. Silly or not - you decide.
Eating Before Sleeping
They always say eating before going to bed is not a good idea because it affects our sleeping patterns. And it should make sense. But... isn't it true that after we eat a heavy meal we feel more sleepy? This phenomena is observable especially in the afternoons - the "I need to have a nap" kind of feeling right after we finish lunch. So if you are on a holiday and planning to sleep for the next 10 hours... should you or not, eat before you sleep?
To Have Breakfast Or Not?
I am sure you've heard the following line many times:
"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar".
The justification for eating breakfast "like a king" is that consuming a heavy breakfast helps us spend the rest of the day with full energy. Really? I wonder. Because whenever I eat a king-size breakfast, I feel my energy is drained out. So I doubt whether breakfast is really that important a meal. And my doubts were confirmed when I read Harvey and Marilyn Diamond's "Fit for Life" who, too, think that breakfast should not be consumed except for fruits and vegetables.
Public Speaking VS. Conversation
When I was introduced to public speaking, I was told that the easiest way to construct a speech is to follow this model:
Say what you want to say (Opening)
Say it (Body)
Say what you said (Conclusion)
Public speakers swear by this model and I have no doubt in it's effectiveness in making great speeches. But can the same model be applied to everyday conversations? I doubt it. That leaves me thinking whether the mechanics of public speaking are same as that of conversations. While many of you would not have a second thought about it, I think the above model cannot be applied to conversations.
That might be one reason why generation gap fails. When elders communicate with youngsters, notice that they follow a similar model of speech I described above - first they say that they have something to say, then they say it in great length and finally they repeat what they said! And to us, it sounds all too boring and repetitive. "Just come to the point" we think!
Selfishness and Ethics
To me, we can be selfish and ethical at the same time! It's not selfishness but the wrong decisions made on the basis of selfishness (or on the basis of anything for that matter) which creates problems. "Selfishness" is not something we do, it's something we are!. So while we can go to fishing - we cannot go to selfishing (even my word document is showing this as a spelling mistake)!
Ethics, however, springs out from our decisions and actions. Simply feeling ethical isn't going to make us ethical just like thinking about food isn't going to satisfy our hunger. So when we speak of ethics, we are talking about our actions and decisions which will affect others.
In short, we can feel selfish and yet act ethically! So if you think you are selfish, congratulations! You are a human being!
(read Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness to gain a better understanding of this debate)
On being "Who You Are"
Here is a REAL hard-core philosophical question which pops up in my mind every now and then.
They say you should try to be "who you are". What if "who you are" is very dumb and boring? What is meant by "who you are"? Is it a set of traits encased in our genetic code? Or is it the norms accepted by our society? Is being "dumb" a genetic characteristic? Or is it a learned behavior? If it is a learned behavior, generated by external environment, is it justified to make it a part of "who you are"?
I posed this question to a person who has a bachelors degree in Philosophy and History and has earned Harold Parker Award for Excellence in History. And here's an excerpt from the answer I received from him:
"Who you are is partially comprised of what you began with. This nobody can change. It includes your genetic make-up, your family, friends, country, religion, etc. This is your base perspective what has shaped you into the Osman you are today. But it is not who you are destined to be for all eternity. You are free, unique as a human amidst all creation of which we are aware."
Again, if you are deceived by the simplicity of my question or the answer given above, refer to the "Nature versus Nurture" debate which, after hundreds of years, isn't resolved yet!
Thanks!
Thanks for joining me on my trail of thoughts! Hope the ride was not bumpy! Feel free to correct my "Silly Thoughts and Philosophical Musings" into something more sensible! Heck, why not have a collection of your very own silly thoughts?!
P.S. Don't forget to sign up at my website http://www.OsmanSafdar.com to stay up to date with my new articles!
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