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The God Delusion
About the book: "The God Delusion"

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I just finished 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins. I thought that Dawkins was quite charming (more so than on The Root Of All Evil) and even witty (maybe more of a reflection of my taste in humour :P). The book proved easier to read than I thought, many parts of it made me laugh out loud and it had many interesting stories and minor tangents.

I guess I am slightly unimpressed because I have heard many of his arguments before and I don't think they are satisfactory in the debate against God and religion. I was hoping for something more. That isn't to say that Dawkins himself could not provide further insight for each chapter, but perhaps he did not have the space in a book that is already quite long. Indeed, he did devote a lot of effort (explanation, examples) to present basic ideas, which is important.

I'm not saying that because I am not satisfied with the arguments that I don't think along the same lines. But it's hard to define religion and it is hard to define God, then argue against them in a way that is accepted by every person. There is just such a range, such disagreement, such denial of each other - that what really is the point?

I guess at the end of the day, the only conclusion I can come up with is that human beings are fallible, stubborn and blind, so of course our ultimate truths and beliefs can be the same.


April 5, 2008 | 1:04 AM Comments  0 comments



The Colour Purple
About the book: "THE COLOR PURPLE"

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I just finished The Colour Purple by Alice Walker (1983)

This novel was interesting, even though it was difficult to overcome the narrative. It was perhaps one technique Walker used to convey how maltreated/misunderstood the black people were: by making the reader consciously aware of the effort we have to make to understand the protagonist, it was bringing out our understanding that perhaps it was that little bit of effort many people were/are not willing to make for people of a different colour.

But was it just black and white-ness that she was confronting? The 'heroine' was a black lesbian woman, from the country, who was uneducated because of who she is and who she was before she was born.

Her life was riddled with tragedy; rape, abandonment, loss, abuse and yet through it all she has her faith. Her belief and trust without apparent return earns her (1) strength, (2) the same belief and trust without return from her sister and (3) a final revelation in how to see the return that has always been there had she looked in the right places - that God was not a (white, male) figure, but instead an amorphous force to be found in the nature of things - the trees, the stars, the wind and herself.

The thing that caught my curiosity was how the enslaved African-American people were not recognised by the native African people as their own, nor owed an apology (of any sort) for their betrayal/abandonment. I don't know if this is true and I am going to find out more about it. I guess I find it peculiar that when I think of Africa, I know of no congruent history. I know of fragments with few links, from the first hominids to Egypt and Caesar to South Africa to Rwanda to slavery to malaria, all of which sum to one thing: my ignorance.

But it highlights the problem I've been thinking about for ages: how to help those who don't want to change. If people's customs and heritage are their most valued assets, then is it right to impose change even if that change is necessary for their survival? I suppose the only thing you can do is offer them that choice - to open that door and it is up to them to walk through it.

I also find it interesting that purple is at one of the limits of the human colour perception, while Shug (sugar as one which can sustain life and Shug as the personification of life in the novel) says, "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the colour purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." As if to say we are not doing life justice if we do not see more.


March 23, 2008 | 5:26 AM Comments  2 comments



Optical Coherence Tomography
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

OCT I was fortunate enough to have a look at the software, hardware of an OCT system today, as well as have my left retina scanned (click image to enlarge)!!! Thanks to Dr. NA, colleagues and also AC, I was able to have this opportunity. Anyway, I remember wondering back during the imaging course why ultrasound was limited to ultrasound - why not shorter wavelengths - and I guess this is the answer. I don't really remembering thinking about it much more than a ponder. I don't really understand the explanation given in Wikipedia, but I'll try again at some point. Anyway, it was uber exciting to see this new machine and what it can do - and v. cool I got to go on it!!!

Resources

In other news, I just discovered some cool books/resources in my house I'm going to have to make time to get through. Some of the coolest ones include "Understanding the Universe" , "Land of the Pyramids" and "Mozart" booklets/DVDs. They're aimed at primary school children, but hey - gotta start somewhere, right! I'm v. excited. Well, if you're wondering what 'serious' books I'm reading, I've started London and I need to finish Wild Swans, which I started a millennium ago. Been meaning to go to the library to pick up some books I thought about at LB.

National Library I forgot to mention that there was this little interview thing that happened last Wed at the Nat Lib about digitisation of national collections. It goes without saying, but the peeps were v. nice and v. interesting. But agreeing to the whole thing made me a bit nervous, because I don't want to be one of those people who seem like they want to get their name/face on everything and really have very little substance. Anyway, all I can do is try my best to be honest and clear about the things I care about.