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What I’m trying to do is something impossible, but none the less, I will give a crack at it, give it the old college try. You may ask if it is lunacy but I argue it is not, for the advancement of human civilization comes from travelling between the know and the unknown. If you can spare me a minute or two maybe we can even explore the unknown unknowns beyond the known unknowns.
About five hundred years ago, the empiricists and the rationalists use to argue about how we, homo sapiens, know something; is it from looking around the world and finding out facts? Or do we innately know things intuitively from our instinct? This epistemological question troubled the greatest minds of the time including people like Newton, Hume, Descartes and Spinoza to name a few. These people created the greatest works in philosophical history trying to solve this epistemological problem but none of them cannot proof, without a doubt, that their side is right. For those familiar with this, we see that Kant came along and tried to put the two seemingly incompatible views together. I’m not saying that Kant solved the problem but I would argue what he was trying to do was commendable, a very heroic effort. He tried to do the impossible and, thereby, moved the conversation forward. I’m guessing the ancient Hindus also struggled greatly with this epistemological question, hearing what Sadhguru is saying.
In life there are many things which are true and virtuous in their own right but is incompatible with another thing which is also true and virtuous in it’s own right; like general relativity and quantum mechanics, evolutionary theory and genesis, string theory and geometric unity, nationalism and communism, free market economics or socialist economics and so on.
With my limited knowledge which I have gathered from my friends, school, my silly adventures and a short time in college; I think we need to do what Kant did and try to combine two seemingly incompatible theories and move civilization forward in a positive direction.
Stephen Hawking tried to unify General relativity and Quantum mechanics. Did he succeed? No, he failed to created the Theory of Everything but his heroic attempt push the field of physics and cosmology forward to places it has never gone before!
In music, it is easier to combine different styles of playing. Jazz goes great with classical, the blues goes great with rock, the sitar sounds amazing in a western beat and I bet the improvisational carnatic licks would sound delicious in ‘So What’ and ‘Giant Steps’. But, I must admit the fusion of ideas is harder in physics and political theory.
But nonetheless, we must try to do things not because they are easy but because they are hard. The people of India have done things which is hard, tedious and difficult. I bet the Desi dance will be even more fun in the future!
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