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Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness - Part 2

An Artificial Neural Network, the primary constituent of Machine learning and Deep Learning, consists of the neurons, i.e. nodes grouped into Input Layer, Hidden Layer and the Output. The input layer provides the problem while the output layer classifies or finds the probability (like detecting the correct image or recognizing faces or texts). It is the hidden layer that is most interesting. The hidden layers are used in feature engineering to detect more and more features progressively as we move towards the output. This is done through  processes called forward propagation and back propagation. Simply put, the layers are connected to each other and provide input to each other and each input being associated with a suitable weight and accompanied by a bias. The weights are first chosen randomly and then the network is trained on a set of data. More the training data the better it is, as it may minimize the problem of overfitting esp. when there are too many features. The input signa

Theism vs. Atheism - Great Teachers

Another problem that atheism fails to resolve is that of the life of the great teachers, sages and saints who have led a completely unselfish life devoted to the welfare of the others. These set of great figures in history, called great teachers or incarnations, appear only once in say about 500 years, Buddha, Christ, Sankara, Ramanuja, Chaitanya, Nanak, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Sarada Devi being some of them who made a huge impact. If we study their lives carefully we find that these lives are remarkable. They devote considerable amount of time in preparing themselves for their roles and then once they have entered the stage of teaching they devote themselves wholeheartedly to it, setting new ideas and principles. They often bring huge, earth shattering changes in their wakes, changes which are felt quite a few years after they have left their mortal coils. They lead a life of purity, truthfulness, simplicity and attract hundreds during their lifetime and thousands, may be millions,

Theism vs. Atheism - The Problem of Evil

One of the key points of contention between Theism and Atheism may be around the problem of evil. Suffering exists, that's  a natural phenomena of life. How does suffering come to haunt an otherwise placid life is a big riddle. Theists in various cultures have tried to explain it in various ways, and atheists have no explanation. Atheists have taken the existence of evil and the suffering as a natural phenomena, may be linked to desires, may be to the circumstances, buts always explicable through a pure materialistic view point - of inherent tendencies of men, of accidents, of natural deaths and destruction and so on. Every sorrowful event can be explained as one causing problem and suffering but there is no reason to find a meaning in them. One question that atheists tend to ignore are why are there so much varied conditions in life? Why are some born with silver spoon in their mouth while others are born in thatched huts or probably on streets. Why people are born poor and die

Pulwama and exposed Scumbags

Scum Bag # 1: The moral and intellectual depravity of a certain section that claims over whatsapp messages and through social media that the Government perpetrated the killing of the jawans for electoral gains - We cannot get any lower than this. The politicians and political parties that are doing this are the worst enemies of the nation and need to be dumped. The media that is providing credence to such statements need to be boycotted. Silence of the good is no longer viable. If you are silent you are a party to the crime Known perpetrators - 1) Congress's leader in Gujarat and therefore the Congress party as a whole, since no disciplinary step has been taken against her. This can well become Congress narrative in days to come, esp. it being an election year. Also if the Government takes some decisive action the shrillness of such allegations may increase. 2) An IT cell of a political party in Bengal, perhaps TMC, because the whatspp message is being circulated in Bengali 3) Me

Theism and Atheism - few perspectives

One of the numerous whatspp post that I received had been something like this: A Friend: I have stopped believing in God, I think, God & Religion are all created to hoodwink people. These are like Narcotics. Now the friend has an absolute right to become an atheist and state his personal beliefs, perhaps with an intention of instigating some of the non atheists for a debate. But the word "narcotics" is a very strong statement and here his hidden intentions are revealed. Quite sometime ago Marx had called religion to be an opium of the masses. It became a catchy phrase with the communists worldwide. This is also popular among the so called atheists and agnostics. However when a believer may turn unto them and speak out her mind saying that, may be, its just a may be, that their obsession with the world and the worldliness, the materialistic and pure sensual pleasures, is some kind of an addiction too as they are not really able to come out of it for a purposeful life,

Why Narendra Modi has more than an edge over the others

What characterizes Narendra Modi is that he is a master politician, far above his counterparts in shrewdness, in audacity and in boldness, something his opponents and haters would never be able to fathom, nor emulate. Compared to him, Rahul Gandhi who is trying hard to position himself as his main opponent is a child, nay, a baby perhaps. Rahul's job is made harder by the fact that he is lifted up by a gang of sycophants and a herd of leftists, many of whom have little or no connect with grassroots, and of course even less concern for the national interests. Others who are actively positioning themselves as champions of secularism and also supporting him are one whose interests have been most affected by Modi's transparent policies - notably the corrupt politicians many of whom are busy sewing what they call as "Mahagathbandhan". TV channels and other sections of media are busy writing Modi off based on some flimsy pre election surveys or some by election results. B

artificial intelligence and consciousness - Part 1

Artificial Intelligence is a term that is being widely used nowadays but as a concept it had captured human interest and imagination since last two centuries. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was perhaps one of the early thoughts. Robots captured human imagination with limitless possibilities in the last century but the journey has been slow and tedious. Now Machine Learning and Deep Learning, the key ingredients of AI open up the frontiers to new opportunities. Machine Learning with Neural Networks based on Supervised and Unsupervised learning of data depend on a new paradigm called Data Science for training an algorithm with very large set of data so that the algorithm is able to predict results closer to the actual through minimization of errors. Neural Networks that are modeled after the interaction of neurons on human brains extend the possibility. Even though the AI concepts were theorized back in the 1950s and 1960s, the possibility of them concepts becoming practical could hav

Indian Freedom Movement - Great Betrayals

Silver - The spy who did the unspeakable Silver – this was the name of Bhagatram Talwar who helped Netaji cross Indian and Afghan border. Documents unclassified in the 90’s revealed that Bhagataram, an active member of the communist Kirti Kishan Party, was a quintuple agent during the work, working closely with Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. He also worked as a Russian, German, and Italian agent but most likely his allegiance lied with Russia, the communist heaven, even at the cost of his country’s interest. Since Russia was an ally of the British, he and his party therefore actively helped the British by providing confidential information about Netaji Subhas Bose in Germany and other Indian revolutionaries and provided false information to Bose through German agents. Why did Silver help Netaaji cross the border? Reason was simple. At that time when Netaji crossed the border Russia was still an ally of Hitler. In fact Russia had attacked Poland and the Balkan countrie

Indian Freedom Movement Unsung Heroes - Part 1 - Rashbehari Bose

In this narrative we are trying to present some of the facets of Indian freedom movement in which individual as well as the collective heroism and betrayals shaped the dynamics of the overall movement esp. in its later stage. It is upto the readers to decide as to who were the betrayers and who were the heroes. We’ll only present some facts that can be easily verified from various sources but not from the school text history books, nor from the so called “facts” presented by the historians who conveniently forgot to acknowledge the contribution of many who actually shaped the course of Indian history. Among historians perhaps the most honest and accurate analysis came from Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mazumdar which helped us in assessing the facts and discriminating between fiction, propaganda and truth. Let us therefore try to form an independent judgment by going beyond the traditional history books. Bose – The forgotten Hero “ I was a fighter, one fight more, the last and the best.

Sarada Devi and Sara Bull - Part 6

Sara Bull had one daughter, Olea Vaughan, who although not in the scale of Holy Mother’s Radhu, nevertheless was a constant source of her worldly tribulation. Devoid of her father at a very early age Olea perhaps was too submissive to her dominant mother during her early days, but grew to be a rebel during her later stages. There is a pattern here. Both Radhu and Olea were sickly. Both of them suffered from chronic depression and would often react violently. Like Radhu Olea lost her father early enough, like Radhu she was of a rebellious streak, like Radhu she was a source of many troubles to her mother, like Radhu she had many opportunities and open doors to a spiritual life and like Radhu she suffered for her worldly actions and died of tuberculosis. Like Radhu who had Bonobihari who died soon after Holy Mother left her body, Olea had a child Edwina who died young. Their husbands neglected and even mistreated them. But the similarities end there. Radhu was perhaps more unfortunate

Sarada Devi and Sara Bull - Part 5

Another facet of the Holy mother Sri Sarada Devi was that she was immensely practical in all matters, esp. the worldly. To her there was no distinction between the sacred and secular. While it is true that some of her grooming in the practical and worldly matter were done in her early days by Sri Sri Thakur himself, it would not be unfair to claim that her second nature was practicality. Sri Ramakrishna acknowledged it many times, like the occasion when she did not travel with him to the religious festival in Panihati. When Sara Bull had asked her whether Guru’s directives should be obeyed in non-spiritual matters, Holy Mother said that in matters of the world sometimes Guru’s directives can be disobeyed if done in an unselfish way and if personal judgment finds other, more favourable courses. Sara Bull was sometimes overbearing and controlling, esp. in her dealings with Swami Vivekananda in her earlier days when she tried to teach him in some ways of dealing with people in the soci

Sarada Devi and Sara Bull - Part 4

The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi was the very backbone, nay even the foundation and pillar of the Ramakrishna movement. Holy Mother and Sri Ramakrishna are regarded as one and the same by all the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna Himself has proclaimed that he was in her and she was in him – as Shiva and Shakti. So to classify her as spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna as many of the scholars and academicians have done, would be singularly wrong because a consortium is an association of two or more individuals for a common purpose. Ramakrishna and the Holy Mother are one and inseparable, not two individuals in spiritual sense. After Sri Ramakrishna left His body it was left on Holy Mother to carry on the mission in a different way, through the practical demonstration of the motherhood of God. She took the reins of a fledgling organization indirectly, without imposing herself in any way. Yet the Holy Mother’s words were final in all matters. One of the reasons for