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[vincentpanday]

A memory that works backwards Part 5 - Why scientific method?

So in the last post, we discussed what scientific method is - a simple way of thinking that forces you to organise your actions - observe, make an assumption, investigate that assumption, and then conclude if you were right or wrong.

That all seems logical.

But why go through this long process for every little thing?

The time has now come, all over the globe, for people of all types, to make advanced knowledge their own.

There is no longer any restriction. 

It does not matter anymore if you are a female in a society where girls are discouraged from education. 

It does not matter anymore if you are from a poor background with no access to high class education. 

It does not matter anymore if you are a different race or sexual orientation to what the mainstream wherever you are finds acceptable.

All you need is the fire to learn.

If you have the fire, it is all there, right there in your palm. And the world is yours for the taking.

So in this day and age, there really is no excuse for not achieving your full potential.

Scientific method allows you to achieve that. 

Scientific method does not care who you are, what your religion is, or what you look like. 

Scientific method only cares that you apply it correctly. That is all.

And that is the beauty of the scientific method.

Anybody can use it. Anybody can apply it. Anybody can make an invention, or a discovery. 

If you have the ability or the skill, scientific method will get you credit for it, no matter who, what or where you are.

The age has come when anybody can go down in history irrespective of status. All you need is the desire to learn, find your area of interest, and start learning. Life is long, you have time, you will make it. 

Thats why scientific method is so vital.

It is an objective way of thinking. 

Today everything can be learnt. 

So here is how to start.

I am going to take you on a journey. A journey into the past. But we are going to be scientific about it. We will take nothing for granted. We will question everything. And we will learn as we go along. I may not have answers to everything, but I will try. Because we are in it together, you can help. The things that I cant find or explain well, you can help me out on those topics. Remember, the common goal is to push the boundaries of knowledge, together.

On the journey, you may find something that holds your attention. Read about it. Dig in as deep as you can go. You may find that you have a knack for something, and you may have the potential to be a natural expert.

So next time, we have to go back to the beginning.

If I asked you, how far can you reliably go back in history - what would you say?

I started digging deep on this.

I went as far back as the beginning of the Earth. They said it formed 4 billion years ago.

I had to immediately stop and think.

Why 4 billion, why not 5 or 3? 

How do we know 4? That seems like a very specific number to get at.

As I had said, we will not take anything for granted. 

So in the next post, I will answer these questions in a scientific way. And eventually get to you and me, and learn something on the way.

Buckle up!

[vincentpanday]

A memory that works backwards Part 4 - Scientific Method

Today we are going to talk about scientific method. I will try and explain what it is, and in the next article, I will go over why it is so important for all of us.

We use scientific method everyday, all the time. We just dont call it that. I still think it is important to understand it well - because where we are going, we are going to need it, a lot.

Lets say you have a plant - that you think is dying because you didnt water it.

From a scientific perspective, you have already made two steps of scientific thinking. 

The first one is observation. You looked at your plant, likely observed it over a few days. What you noticed lead you to a conclusion. In the scientific world, it would be best to record your observation, the more detailed the better. You might not reach the same standards as Millikan and his Oil Drop experiment, but you can try. So you noted that the leaves were turning brown. Better still, you counted the leaves and found that 10 out of 50 leaves had turned brown. A week later, 10 more had turned brown.

You definitely have got something going. You conclude that the plant is dying and you feel that it is because it is dry, you didnt water it for months. 

This is the second step. You have made as assumption, a hypothesis. So you have developed a cause for the effect that you have observed. You dont know if it right or wrong - thats why we have called it a hypothesis, an assumption.

Now you need to test your hypothesis. So, you start watering your plant. Again, you need to make observations, the more detailed the better. So you keep track of the water you put in, how the leaves are etc.

Your plant comes alive! You were right! 

So you can make a claim in the scientific community - All dying plants can be revived by watering them. 

Because you made meticulous observations, you publish them in full detail. Your peers can check your methods, read the details and ask you questions etc. 

You have now proposed a theory.

Other people in your situation test your theory. Each time someone does the experiment, your theory comes out right.

After a few decades, your theory becomes a law, it has withstood the test of time, with countless people having made the same observations and coming to the same conclusions.

Until one day, one of your peers does the same experiment, and the plant still dies. He is very meticulous and people check and recheck his results - they seem alright.

So your theory needs to be retracted. Thats not a big deal, it is exciting! Just when you thought you knew everything, something new comes along. That is the beauty of science.

Other people start replicating the new experiment, and it looks like a new explanation has been put forward. This particular species of plant also needs another essential ingredient - sunlight.

So now your old theory is modified - All dying plants can be revived by jgiving them adequate water and sunlight.

And so, science moves on!

The screen on which you are reading this is the fruit of a similar scientific thinking.

Tomorrow, I will explain to you why it is so important for all of us to develop a scientific approach, and then we will get our hands dirty into some really interesting stuff.

Sleep tight!

[vincentpanday]

A memory that works backwards Part 3

We moved from Sagar to Talbehat. Talbehat is one of those words that you hear all your growing life but it does not have any tangible meaning. It becomes a comforting word, you can talk to people about, but when you sit down to think, you dont it that well.

There are some Diwali pictures, and that is the artificially induced memory. Small house, happy times. I do remember a playground. Green grass, sunny day, chirping birds kind of memory.

The interesting thing about this picture is that centre of gravity of this memory is very low. Because I was only 3, my view of the world was from a very low point. So the picture is close to the ground. 

And thats why I think the grassy playground in my head seems massive. I think that if I went back today, it would perhaps be a tiddly little patch of grass.

Sometimes I feel conflicted - if I had the chance to go back and revisit these places - would I do it? should I do it?

Is memory sacred? Should it preserved in its pristine condition? So that stories can be woven around those memories, glorification peppered in, legends constructed and posterity left with motivation and wonder?

Or should we, when we can, subject our memories to the rigors of truth? Force our memories to face reality. Take the old treasure of memories from the comfort of the ocean and bring them out to on land - the land of age and maturity, expose them to the harsh climate of overgrown reality, knowing that it will soon crumble, and disappear forever, be replaced by the remains of what imagination had wanted to what life dished out.

In the end I think we are all different. We pick what we want to keep and face what we want to forget.

[vincentpanday]

A memory that works backwards Part 2

so thats what i did...

i decided to did deep... i sat down in contemplation.... a made a mental note of the earliest memories i could gather....

then called my parents... and came up with the chronology.....

i recommend you to do the same.... if you have been fortunate enough... to have your faculties and access to elders....

and this is what i came up with....

i was 3....

the place is called sagar...

it is in madhya pradesh in india.... the ‘middle state’....

a new artillery brigade was raised nearby.... and dad got posted there... and sagar was the nearest town....

it looks like an interesting place... firstly, its got this big lake in the middle....

i tried to trace a feeding river into the lake as i am used to here in the uk... but i couldnt.... then dad told me that it is rainwater fed..... monsoons..... enough rain in one season to last the year.... and defeat the tropical sun....

a temple in the middle... perhaps to appease the rain gods.....

the other interesting thing was the ravines.... 

they are on the left.... hard to say if it was a quarry... or just plain erosion.... but the fun thing is that google had clicked images pre and post monsoon!!....

so you can see vegetation.... and then its not there....

but thats not my memory.... 

my earliest memory is of a school.... old but clean.... small but busy.... i remember asking the teacher to go out for a drink.... 

then losing my way back to class.... and reaching a room that is completely empty.... and a childish sense of being marooned.... overwhelming me.... and i started crying.... eventually found by a dark skinny cleaning lady.... who took me to the teacher....

but i think the damage had been done.... i couldnt stop feeling abandoned.... 

mum and dad have a note from the principle.... from more than 40 years ago.... 

“...he weeps bitterly in class. Please keep him at home for 10 days.”

 ha.... 

infancy....

[vincentpanday]

A memory that works backwards? Part 1

they say that it is a good thing that you cant remember your birth

probably the trauma is too much to take... i should know, considering it is what i do for a living....

maybe it really is a kind of selective amnesia.... an age refined reflex we chose to develop to escape the reality we are forced to face....

or of course, it simply may be that we forget.... and that may be a good thing....

but what if you wanted to remember?

what if you consciously wanted to dive deep...... really deep...

how far could you go.....

is it the same for you as it is for me....

what if we had assistance....

like photographs....

would we confabulate..... would we make up stories..... like my son sometimes does.... its clear that he doesnt remember..... but he will say....’i remember that’.... i am sure he doesnt.... but who knows...

so if we did try... to go far back.... as far as we can..... how would it work....

in the next post.... i will tell you what happened when i tried....

or have you forgotten already.... because all this happened before.....

hasnt it?