A NOTE ON SOME PICKED UP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION ─From Authentic Records Of Journeys, Into...

A NOTE (EXPANDED) lsquoSCIENCErsquo PICKED UP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTIONS

PickerSubhas Chandra Ganguly 1

A NOTE ON SOME PICKED UP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION From Authentic Records Of Journeys Into Mysterious Regions By Some Wonder-Struck Pioneer Travellers (eg Bohr

Eddington Einstein Feynman Schroumldinger and others) Of Known Authenticity Following The Rules-Book Of lsquoScientific Methodrsquo

By the Picker Subhas Chandra Ganguly

Nature of Scientific Insights LANGUAGEREACH OF lsquoSCIENTIFICrsquo INSIGHTS LIMITATIONS

APPROXIMATETENTATIVErsquoSUBJECTIVErsquo ASPECTS ROLE OF INTUITIONFANTASYIMAGINATION

amp Science Vs MysticismWonder

AWE UNCERTAINTY RELEGION INADEQUACY OF HUMAN FACULTIES IMPENETRABILITY

Advanced warning in place of apology The note below is in the nature of a mildly edited record of some free flowing reveries surfacing in pickerrsquos mind from time to time interspersed with some from among the fragments mentioned above and a

few others including some English translations from original in BengaliTPF1 So it has no finality about it and at times may perhaps sound repetitious [A shorteralternative version of this note can be asked for by writing to the e-mail given above Appendix]

A FEW FROM THE PICKED UP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION

Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind and are not however it may seem uniquely determined by the external world In our endeavour to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch He seeshellip hears but he has no way of opening the case hellip he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility of the meaning of such a comparison Albert Einstein (The evolution of physics by Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld 1938 Cambridge University Press Section I- THE RISE OF THE MECHANICAL VIEW Sub-sec - The riddle of motion Pg 33)

hellipnot only are we free to drop a long-accepted principle when we think we have found something more convenient from the viewpoint of physical research but that we are also free to re-adopt the rejected principle when we find we have made a mistake in laying it aside This mistake may easily come to light with the discovery of new facts A developing empirical science need not and must not be afraid of being taunted with a lack of consistency between its announcements at subsequent epochs Erwin Schroumldinger Physical Science and the Temper of the Age Page 93-94 (Chap V - Science And The Human Temperament)[ GEORGE ALLEN amp UNWIN LTD LONDON 1935) I have approximate answers and possible beliefs in different degrees of certainty about different things but Im not absolutely sure of anything hellipI dont feel frightened by not knowing things by being lost in the mysterious universe

R Feynman During an interview in BBCs Horizon program (1981) In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of familiar life helliphellip It is all symbolic and as a symbol the physicist leaves it

1 Original Bengali versions of the translated (by t SC Ganguly the present Picker) ones (6 in all) can be seen in End Note 1 (P29-31)



The frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant of recent advances A Eddington The Nature of the Physical World Introduction p xiv-xv(Macmillan 1929) The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science helliphelliphellipTo know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beautywhose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties ndash this knowledge this feeling hellip that is the core of the true religious sentiment In this sense and in this sense alone I rank myself among profoundly religious men Albert Einstein THE WORLD AS I SEE IT 1931 ( Ideas amp Opinions- Rupa amp Co India 1989Pg11)

Quantum theory provides us with a striking illustration of the fact that we can fully understand a connection though we can

only speak of it in images and parables ― Werner Heisenberg Positivism Metaphysics and Religion (1952 ) PHYSICS AND BEYOND ( Harper amp Row 1971) Page- 210

For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory regarding the limited applicability of such customary idealizations we must in factturn to quite other branches of science such as psychology or even to those kinds of epistemological problems with whichalready thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted when trying to harmonize our position as spectators andactors in the great drama of existence mdash Niels Bohr Address at the Physical and Biological Congress in memory of Luigi Galvani Bologna October 1937 (BIOLOGY AND ATOMIC PHYSICS Atomic Physics amp Human KnowledgeP20 - JOHN WILEY amp SONS INC1958)

To the present picker the above mentioned lsquoPICKEDUP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION lsquo2 presented together undertwo

sections NATURELIMITSREACH OF lsquoSCIENTIFICrsquo INSIGHTS amp lsquoSCIENCErsquo vs lsquoMYSTICISMrsquoWONDER and to which this is the personal note these fragments are from records or travelogues deeply revealing to the picker of some special variety of expedition These travelogues or records offer first hand accounts of a part of the direct experiences perceptions and the consequent understanding realizations insights in most general terms (ie not in specificities) as presented by a special kind of wonder-struck pioneer travelers (of known authenticity) back from what they report as their repeated thrilling journey-cum-expedition-exploration spread over last hundred years or so These journeys often beset with doubt trepidation faltering steps backtracking and the like was through according to their own description again regions covered with deep unending mystery These regions (not to be found in any tourist guidemap) are called deeper realityrecesses hidden behindinside the apparent physical reality of natureuniverse at macro orand micro level The unmistakably common (or so it seems to the present picker) strain across these travelogues is a overwhelming feeling of awe and wonder before the mystery of these regions and that of utter inadequacy of what one of the travelers(Albert Einstein) has described as ldquopoor [human] facultiesrdquo to unravel this bottomless mystery beyond its ldquogross formsrdquo

2 T But for a few fragments from other sources all other fragments cited in this note are from the two sections mentioned above It is worth

going to those two sections containing a much larger number of fragments only if the fragments contextually cited in this note are felt to have some appeal Those interested to get those two sections are welcome to ask for the same to the e-mail addresses given at the end of this personal note



The rules-book that the travellers according to their own declaration (explicit or implicit) followed in findingexcavating their way through those labyrinth of criss-crossing regions without any known boundary was what inmost general terms is labeled as lsquoscientific methodrsquo3 developed more or less over last four hundred years or so In fact dependabilityvalidity of these reports are judged by brethren of the professional community (made of those called lsquoscientistsrsquo) to which these travelers belong in the light of above rules-book to be followed if not always in words definitely in essence or spirit As to words there is lack of consensus as the fragments will show within the community itself around some of the words usually used in the context of this rules-book as for example the implication of the oft used notions of lsquocausersquo lsquoeffectrsquo lsquochancersquo

Accumulated body of fundamental or elemental insights about the visited regions together with detailed inferences (much much larger in volume) drawn there from following the same rules-book are termed lsquoscientific knowledgersquo And rules-book together with this lsquoscientific knowledgersquo is labeled as lsquosciencersquo4FP4FP

The time span around last four hundred years (roughly from the time of Galileo) or so during which this rules-book has come to dominate the pursuit of knowledge and understanding behind the apparent physical reality of the

3 Innumerable treatises have been written on this lsquoscientific methodrsquo One briefest way to put the essence of this method may be thus ldquoA

method of gaining knowledge whereby hypotheses are tested (instrumentally or experimentally) by reference to experience (data) that is potentially public or open to repetition (confirmation or refutation) by peersrdquo( Quantum Questions ndashMystical Writings of The Worlds Greatest Physicists Edited by Ken Wilber Shambhala Publications MassachusettsUSA1991Page24) Obviously it implies within allowable limits of deviation some predictability whenever required in the corresponding field or domain Some fuller details from different angles of the rules-book may be obtained from the Links 1)httpenwikipediaorgwikiScientific_method 2)httpwwwscientificpsychiccomworkbookscientific-methodhtm 3)httpphysicsucredu~wudkaPhysics7Notes_wwwnode3html 4 This term lsquosciencersquo or lsquoscientificrsquo has come to dominate across all fields or domains of human understanding so much so that long since it has become almost a standard compulsive practice to add this kind of words one way or other at the tail end of the field-name as if as an honorific of many a pursued field of human understanding eg social science economic science political science and the like This is so in spite the fact that generally speaking in any of these kind of fields in its very nature there is hardly any scope for the kind of validityverification test (as briefly mentioned in preceding footnote) lsquoscientific methodrsquo requires with respect to any inference claimed to have been reached through this method Even then in some of these fields to remain true to this honorific attempts at using this method are made for predictions which but for some rare exceptions expectedly turn out to be off the reality much beyond any acceptable limits of deviation If the term lsquosciencersquo at the tail ends were replaced by simply lsquostudyrsquo the corresponding field would remain as valuable as before but without this dubious claim The claim apparently is purported to lend a kind of rigour which is neither possible nor required to the understandings in the concerned field The practice seem to have a smell as if of an wish conscious or unconscious to imitate something considered as a fashion of the time to earn some imaginary lsquorespectabilityrsquo in the eyes of standard bearers of lsquoscientific methodrsquo as well as possibly of lay persons claiming to have lsquoscientific temperamentrsquo The following newspaper article (available on Internet) published around 6-monts ago deals with such like issues in a very real context without explicitly using any term exclusively used in lsquoscientificrsquo treatises lsquoDealing with unknown unknownsrsquo by Andrew Sheng (The Statesman Kolkata 26 October 2012)

(httpwwwthestatesmannetindexphpoption=com_contentampview=articleampid=428409dealing-with- unknown-unknownsampcatid=39perspectiveampfrom_page=search)H



natureuniverse is broadly designated as lsquoscientific agersquo widely and proudly depicted as being at a higher level of civilization as compared with all earlier ages of human history across millennia There are minority dissenting voices too across the continents about this self-trumpeting claim Earlier this broad designation (lsquoscientific agersquo) was confined to western hemisphere But with time as the technology based on detailed inferences gradually spread all over the world the designation seems to have been by and large accepted by the other regions of the planet as well

It needs to be mentioned that a part of the later (roughly from a little before the beginning of 20thPP century)

insights forming the general background of the perceptions reflected in these fragments remained beyond the grasp of earlier travelers as authentic as the later ones At the root revelation about the deeper reality behind the apparent experiencenotion of (1) space and time (Special Theory of relativity) as well as of (2) space time and gravity taken together (General Theory of relativity) on the one hand and reality behind the sub-atomic world (Quantum Theory) on the other heralded these newer insights causing in the process re-appraisal and revision of many of the earlier insights about the universenature But even in this later period the insights as communicated so far by the explorerstravelers corresponding to the reality related to regions of space time and gravity taken together (General Theory of relativity) and insights corresponding to regions of sub-atomic world (Quantum Theory) remain till today mutually ldquoincompatiblerdquo5 In other words ldquoAs they are currently formulated general relativity and quantum mechanics cannot both be rightrdquo6 This is so in spite of ongoing attempts to bring in compatibility through some or other proposed all-encompassing theory (eg lsquoString theoryrsquo lsquoBootstrap theoryrsquo) aimed at receiving the yet to come general consensus of lsquoscientistsrsquo on these proposed theories Strangely enough even then in their respective fields validity of further inferencespredictions drawn from these two un-reconciled insights has been separately ldquoconfirmed to almost unimaginable accuracyrdquo7 on experimental basis All these remind the present picker of following fragments from two among these travelersexplorers

bull Not only is the Universe stranger than we think it is stranger than we can think ―Werner Heisenberg Across the Frontiers (essays amp and lectures from 1948 to 1973 Harper amp Row Publishers 1975)

httpwwwUTHgoodreadscomauthorquotes64309Werner_HeisenbergHTU

bull One may say the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility Albert Einstein PHYSICS AND REALITY 1936 ( Ideas and Opinions - Rupa ampCo India 1989Page 292)

In this context it is necessary to remind ourselves the common message of all these earlier and later travelers which sometimes is missed that complexity of the contours of these regions called lsquoreality behind the apparentrsquo in natureuniverse with no visible border being what it is it can become clearer and clearer in human consciousness only over time spread over millennia and not in one stroke

5 Resolution of Contradictionsrsquo httptheorycaltechedupeoplejhsstringsstring11html 6 The E l e g a n t U n i v e r s e By Brian Greene (Vintage Books1999) Chapter 1 Tied Up with String Page 3) 7 The E l e g a n t U n i v e r s e By Brian Greene (Vintage Books1999) Chapter 1 Tied Up with String Page 3)



This understanding has been very succinctly caught through a beautiful borrowed imagery in the following oft cited statement of Isaac Newton one of the authentic travelers of the earlier period though the citation is done usually and perhaps unknowingly for wrong reason viz as an evidence of lsquomodestyrsquo which almost implies that the speaker for formrsquos sake said something about himself which he believed to be not correct or true

bull ldquoI could see further because I was sitting on the shoulder of the giantsrdquo mdash Newton In a letter (15 February 1676) toT RobertU HookTHU T (known to the formal students of science for lsquoHookrsquos Lawrsquo on elasticity) a contemporary scientist with whom Newton had a far from happy relation

NB But for some marginal difference the words Newton used are very close to utterances coming from different sources of catholic origin during earlier periods On this more can be seen from the Link HTU (httpenwikipediaorgwikiStanding_on_the_shoulders_of_giants)HTU Obviously Newton borrowed this imagery from his predecessors because the imagery must have had a deep appeal to him for communicating what he felt This is perhaps a common experience with many of us on many an occasion

Below is another more direct statement to the same effect from Albert Einstein and a traveler of the later period and his one younger colleague The context was change from the theory of lsquoetherrsquo to that of field in electro-magnetic phenomena

bull helliphellip creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place It is rather like climbing a mountain gaining new and wider views discovering unexpected connections between our starting point and its rich environment But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way ndashThe evolution of physics - Albert Einstein amp Leopold Infeld 1938 Cambridge University Press1938 (In

the sub-section lsquoField and Etherrsquo Under SectionIII -lsquoField RelativityrsquoPg159)

In this context a very relevant example within the very limited understanding of the picker and in most general terms comes to mind Among other things in place of earlier lsquoclassicalrsquo notion (primarily attributed to Newton) of space time mass length which were thought to be lsquoabsolutersquo in character ie independent of observerrsquos location motion etc Einsteins Special theory of relativityrsquo (appearing for the first time in 1905) leads to the notion that none of these attributes is absolute (ie has any meaning without any reference to or independent of some or other observer) in character but is dependent on the relative motionvelocity of the observer with respect to the observed object or the other way round For example mass of an object with respect to an observer is greater when the object is relative to the observer at higher velocity than when it is at same velocity In latter case both can be looked upon at rest with respect to each other In case of length of the object measured along line of higher velocity the case is just the reverse ie length shrinks As to time clock placed on an object or any other change (eg wear and tear) of the placed object or of person (eg aging process) over time would go slower with respect to an observer if the former is at a higher velocity as compared with velocity of the latter Interestingly enough this changes will not felt to be so by the objectperson at a higher velocity For them everything will felt to be as unchanged But and this is of fundamental importance magnitude of these changes in the eyes of slower observer become significant enough for lending themselves to detection through humanly possible observation (even with possible instrumental help) and so have to be taken into account only when the magnitude of difference in



relative velocity approaches the speed of light

At the level of velocity we are familiar with including say even the movements of artificial satellite all the actions taken on the basis of lsquoclassicalrsquo notion turn out in practice or in effect to be as right as before At this level magnitude of change originating in change in relative velocity is so small that it as just mentioned and which bears repetition cannot be detected at all even when aided by any humanly devised instrument and so cannot be taken into account in practice And nor is it necessary for working out the corresponding plan of action So later understanding of the notion of time space etc cannot be said to have nullified the earlier notion about the same in the sense of replacing a lsquowrongrsquo notion by a lsquorightrsquo one in absolute sense Instead this later notion shows the inadequacy and limitation in a very grave fundamental sense of the earlier notion if extended beyond certain range of human experience But within the limits of that range it is the earlier inadequateincomplete notion which is of practical use and not the later one

The overpowering sense of wonder awe inadequacy ignorance limitations of human facultiespsyche humility (Widely and often confused with lsquomodesty8

FPT leading to serious distortion of the spirit of the conveyed message in any context) unequivocally expressed in their respective ways by all these travelers called lsquoscientistrsquo (named after the rules-book they follow) of both earlier and later period verges on special kind of what in all reasonableness may perhaps be called spiritualmysticreligious feeling at personal level before glimpses of the overwhelming impenetrable (ie impenetrable beyond lsquogross formsrsquo) mystery vastness a vastness without end surrounding the regions they could come in contact with at any given moment of time This spiritualmysticreligious feeling as the travelers themselves point out has got nothing to do with organized religion per se of any denomination no matter whether the traveler concerned had formal allegiance (many had) to any of this denomination One such expression found in a letter

bull The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science helliphelliphellipTo know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties ndash this in this this sense sense alone I rank knowledge this feeling hellip that is the core of the true religious sentiment In and myself among profoundly religious men

mdash Albert Einstein letter to Hoffman and Dukas 1946 fromT AlbertHTU Einstein the Human SideUTH Helen Dukas

and Banesh Hoffman eds Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press 198 8 In common parlance unfortunately the word lsquomodestyrsquo which has got more to do with exemplary social behaviour than anything else is often (unknowingly) interchangeably used with the word lsquohumilityrsquo which (like say lsquojoyrsquo) has got nothing to do with social behaviour and is a spontaneous felt state of mind expressed or not one cannot help having while passing through some particular experience In this sense lsquohumilityrdquo is felt before presence of something experienced as invitingly and intensely overwhelming For example it so happens that in the persona of one of the pioneer travelers Isaac Newton this difference surfaced into bold relief Newton as the available contemporary records (eg vide AT_Brief_History_Of_Time by Stephen_Hawking_)T unmistakably show was not particularly known for lsquomodestyrsquo But the few glimpses he gained during his travel into the kind of regions being alluded to in this note generated that spontaneous feeling of humilityexpressed in the two fragments cited above (P4) and below(P7)



A variant of the above (translation from German) found in an article is as below

bull The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science hellip It was the experience of mysterymdasheven if mixed with fearmdashthat engendered religion A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our mindsmdash it is this knowledge and this emotion tlıat constitute true religiosity in this sense and in this alone I am a deeply religious man

mdash Albert Einstein The World as I See It1931 (Ideas And Opinions 1 Rupa amp CoIndia1989)

Another expression from another traveler of the same community (lsquoscientistrsquo)

bull It is a great pleasure to contemplate the universe beyond man to contemplate what it would be like without man as it was in a great part of its long history hellip hellip To view life as part of this universal mystery of greatest depth is to sense an experience which is very rare and very exciting hellip Well these scientific views end in awe and mystery lost at the edge in uncertaintyhelliphellip Some will tell me that I have just described a religious experience Very well you may call it what you will

mdashT RichardTH P Feynman lsquoUncertainty of Sciencersquo Part of a series of three lectures at the University of Washington delivered during April 1963 Published later as lsquo The Meaning of It All Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientistrsquo (penguin1999)

A third and again a partly borrowed oft cited (beginning right from school textbooks) and very eloquent expression though as another above is often quoted for same wrong reason viz as an evidence of lsquomodestyrsquo

bull ldquo hellipto myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me

―T IsaacTHHT Newton as cited in Memoirs of the Life Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac NewtonT (1855)T by Sir David Brewster (Volume II Ch 27) Compare As children gathring pebbles on the shoreT JohnUTH MiltonHTUT ParadiseT Regained Book iv Line 330 (H httpenwikiquoteorgwikiIsaac_Newton)

These are very akin to what has been felt by travelers from altogether a different world viz poets and other litteacuterateur For example following are two such lines (in translation from original in Bengali) from one of Rabindranath Tagorersquos songs

bull Amidst the vast universe vast sky and the eternity I a mere mortal roam around alone roam in wonder

[Free English translation by SCGanguly the present PickerFor Original in Bengali Vide 1 in End Note 1 (P29-31]



A few more lines(in translation from original in Bengali) in the same spirit from the same Tagore

bull The sky studded with suns and stars the universe throbbing with life In its very midst I have found my song So my songs swell up in wonder

[Free English translation by SCGanguly the present PickerFor Original in Bengali Vide 2 in End Note 1 (P 29-31)]

Below are two more passages ( again in translation from original in Bengali) this time in prose of similar import from a novel lsquoAparaajitarsquo (meaning lsquounvanquishedrsquo) by a Bengali novelist (Bibhuti Bhusan Bandopadhyay) of earlier era ie in the earlier part of last century He is known particularly for his deep feeling of kinship with nature as reflected in and scattered all over his writings The passages contain the reveries of Apu the central character of the novel back for a short while to his ancestral village Nischindipur decades after his family had left it during his early childhood

bull His mind became filled up with an indescribable joy hope feeling and mystery His hope is throbbing with life That hope brings in the message of immortal and eternal life through the bitter smell of sun-burnt branches of the wild creepers That hope is heard in the whistling sound from the flapping wings of the flying teals in the blue emptiness No body has the power to deprive him from the right to that life hellip helliphellipHe is the soul on travel from birth to birth His move is along the pathless path from far to faraway and new everyday This vast blue sky countless star world great bear milky way the world of Andromeda nebula ndash this centuries and millennia is the walking path from him That great life untouched by death is spread unaffected before all as the great ocean was before the Newton - let that motion along the path of limitless time remain unobstructed for whole of human race across the ages


bull These days whenever he sits in solitariness it appears to him that this earth has a spiritual face Because of being born amidst its fruits and flowers its light and shadow and because of close acquaintance with the same from the very childhood itrsquos this real face escapes our attention No matter that it is made of visible and audible stuff the truth that it is totally unknown to us and of utmost mystery and that itrsquos every grain is covered with endless complexity do not come under our notice just like that all of a sudden

[Free English translation by SCGanguly the present Picker For Original in Bengali Vide 4 in End Note 1 (P 29-31)]

Like in a few examples presented below in many a fragment from these travelers there is direct reference to their feeling of what they themselves designate as lsquoreligiousrsquo

bull hellipa third stage of religious experience hellip I shall call it cosmic religious feeling It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology hellip In my view it is the most



important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it We thus arrive at a conception of the relation of science to religion very different from the usual one I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notionhelliphelliphellipA contemporary has said not unjustly that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious peoplehelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipThe individual feels the futility of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in the world of thought Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole The beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already appear at an early stage of development eg in many of the Psalms of David and in some of the Prophets Buddhism helliphellip

The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling which knows no dogma and no God conceived in mans image so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists sometimes also as saints Looked at in this light men like Democritus Francis of Assisi and Spinoza are closely akin to one another Albert Einstein Religion And Science 1930 (Rupaamp CoIndia1989 Pg38)

bull For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory we must turn to those kinds of

epistemological problems with which already thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence mdash Niels Bohr Address at the Physical and Biological Congress in memory of Luigi Galvani Bologna October 1937 (BIOLOGY AND ATOMIC PHYSICS ATOMIC PHYSICS amp HUMAN KNOWLEDGEP20 - JOHN WILEY amp SONS INC1958)

bull The general notions about human understanding which are illustrated by

discoveries in atomic physics are not in the nature of things wholly unfamiliar wholly unheard of or new Even in our own culture they have a history and in Buddhist and Hindu thought a more considerable and central place What we shall find is an exemplification an encouragement and a refinement of old wisdomrsquo Julius Robert Oppenheimer TU Science and the Common Understanding (Simon And Schuster Inc New York 1954)Page 9-10

Scientific research is based on the assumption that all events including the actions of mankind are determined by the laws of nature Therefore a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer that is by a wish addressed to a supernatural Being However we have to admit that our actual knowledge of these laws is only an incomplete piece of work (unvollkommenes Stuumlckwerk) so that ultimately the belief in the existence of fundamental all-embracing laws also rests on a sort of faith All the same this faith has been largely justified by the success of science On the other hand however every one who is seriously engaged in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that the



laws of nature manifest the existence of a spirit vastly superior to that of men and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble The pursuit of science leads therefore to a religious feeling of a special kind helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip

A Einstein 24 January 1936 letter in response to a sixth-grader (Phyllis Wright) asking whether scientists pray and if so what they pray for [ lsquoEinstein and Religion Physics and Theologyrsquo (1999) by Max Jammer p 92-93] ( httpsenwikiquoteorgwikiAlbert_Einstein ) Albert Einstein THE HUMAN SIDE new glimpses from his archives (httpwwwHTUwebsophiacomfaceseinsteinhtml)UTH

bull ldquoIn the history of science ever since the famous trial of Galileo it has repeatedly been claimed that scientific

truth cannot be reconciled with the religious interpretation of the world Although I am now convinced that scientific truth is unassailable in its own field I have never found it possible to dismiss the content of religious thinking as simply part of an outmoded phase in the consciousness of mankind a part we shall have to give up from now on Thus in the course of my life I have repeatedly been compelled to ponder on the relationship of these two regions of thought for I have never been able to doubt the reality of that to which they pointrdquoT T

WernerUTH HeisenbergUTHTU UTScientific and Religious TruthTU (1973) (AcrossUT The Frontiers chapter 26

page 213 -214) (TUhttpwwwHUgooglecoinsearchtbm=bksamphl=enampq=Scientific+and+Religious+Truth2C+HEISENBE RGampbtnG=]HU)

Widespread mind-set9 of many of us the well meaning devoted lsquoscience-loversrsquo perhaps is in its mildest form

somewhat analogous to the claim ldquoscientific truth cannot be reconciled with the religious interpretationrdquo as Heisenberg refers to (and obviously does not share) in the fragment cited just above Actual expression of this mind-set is many a time much harsher and almost allergic to the very word lsquoreligionrsquo It may be noted that this mind-set as the fragments above (more can be found under two sections mentioned at the beginning) show does not seem to tally with perceptions coming as they do from some of those looked upon among the pathfinders heralding the lsquoscientific agersquo So these latter perceptions perhaps deserve some attention of us the well meaning lsquosciencersquo-lovers TPF and who can say whether the same may even induce to some re-thinking on the issue

It must be added in parenthesis that there need not be any misunderstanding on this score that this possible or proposed lack of irreconcilability between lsquoscientificrsquo and lsquoreligiousrsquo perception as the fragments above allude to by any means be interpreted as any one of the two can be the substitute for other in this journey of exploration of the mysterious regions of the unknown Each has its own method place and field of enquiry and in their very nature are irreplaceable by the other

From this kind of journey by the travelers to grasp the ungraspable (in Bengali lsquoadharaake dharar chesta 9 In the context of this paragraph starting with ldquoWidespread mind-setrdquo and the related fragments above the paragraph two End Notes 2 amp 3 under the headings ldquoPrivate inner world of lsquoreligionrsquo vs institutionalized denominational lsquoreligionrsquo (P31) amp ldquoGroup violencepersecution is not a monopoly of groups with a sense of religious identitiesrdquo(P32) are among 5 End Notes following the Appendix(Pg27 -29)



karaarsquo) expectedly there are unmistakable differences in perceptions related to many a specificities in terms of allusions pointers emphasize snapshots of reality and the like from different traveler as reflected in different fragments fragments eloquent and colourfull with live intensely individual experiences leaving no scope for oneness in absolute sense in terms of tone and colour across the same

And beyond that there remain unresolved differences some quite serious (mentioned above) some marginal in interpreting the apparent glimpsesinsights arrived at relating to various aspects of the cosmos of which we are a part The fragments here are not meant to reflect or cover these ongoing debates within the community of the travelers except in the form of perhaps some briefcondensed references or vague allusion here and there

Besides there may sometimes be some mildly self-contradictory statements from same traveler in terms of

generalities too It needs to be reminded that with respect to some specifics related to nature replacing on the basis of later observations onersquos earlier expressed understanding by newly arrived one(s) or re-adopting once rejected understanding is as pointed out by Schroumldinger (Page 1 above amp 11 below and) not self-contradiction Also there are sometimes slips in historical allusion These last two characteristics with perhaps somewhat eyebrow raising look about them are simply human and remind us the obvious often missed that travelersexplorers however pioneering their journey in their respective fields are no more and no less than human beings like any of us and are not endowed with any god-like quality of omniscience perfection infallibility and the like even in their respective field of journey and far from claiming any such impossible non-human virtues they were at pains to repeatedly emphasize the opposite viz their limitations as the fragments show

But notwithstanding all these variations a common presence of some identifiable groups of perceptionsideas

sometimes implicit sometimes explicit cutting across all these fragments can perhaps be hardly missed Only some of these commonalities (in broadest sense) the present picker felt to have perceived and is struck with so far are sought to be covered through the fragments presented together under two sections A few among these commonalities are being alluded to in this note in a rather free flowing manner Awaiting a fuller presentation giving relatively more systematic summing up of the same (commonalities) as he understands it at present a summary of these perceived commonalities have been given at the end as Appendix ( Pg 27 - 29) before the End Notes It bears repetition that these fragments are aimed at presenting some aspects of the general message emerging out of the insights and not insights in their specificities (in the form of what are called lsquolawsrsquorsquotheoriesrsquo) except as contextual allusion related to different regions of physical reality ventured into by the explorers

The impression as mentioned in the beginning and which bears repetition these fragmentsrecords seem to convey (at least to the present picker) is one of repeated unending journeysattempts figuratively speaking to grasp what is ever suggestive but ever eluding to the human mind and what is subject as if to play of light and shadow This inbuilt eluding character seems to have been felt by the explorers to be strongly alluring rather than frustrating andor discouraging Nor this running after the same was felt to be in vain On the contrary the records are saturated with profound sense of fascination with this eluding character beckoning ever more powerfully the travelers in renewing their journey again and again stumbling here and there now and then on ever fresh glimpses felt by them to be the



ldquoshadowrdquo of the reality ie mystery behind The following fragments alluding to these characteristics does not contain in the least any tone of disappointment on such counts bull In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of familiar life helliphellip It is all symbolic and as a

symbol the physicist leaves it The frank realizationion that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant of recent advances

A Eddington The Nature of the Physical World Introduction (Macmillan 1929) pagexiv-xv

bull The essential fact is simply that all the pictures which science now draws of nature and which alone seem capable of according with observational fact are mathematical pictures They are nothing more than pictures-fictions if you like if by fiction you mean that science is not yet in contact with ultimate reality Many would hold that from the broad philosophical standpoint the outstanding achievement of twentieth-century physics is hellip the general recognition that we are not yet in contact with ultimate reality To speak in terms of Platos well-known simile we are still imprisoned in our cave10 with our backs to the light and can only watch the shadows on the wall

James Jeans The Mysterious Universe (Cambridge Univ Press 2009 Page-111 First published

1930) (httpdepositfilesHTUcomfilespydzv886z) bull helliphellipin the description of atomic events helliphellip we have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself

but nature exposed to our method of questioning ―Werner Heisenberg lsquoThe Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theoryrsquo(Physics amp Philosophy 1958 Chap 3 - ALLEN amp UNWIN LONDON 1971 Page-57First Published 1959)

(httpwwwHTUgoodreadscomauthorquotes64309Werner_Heisenberg)

bull hellipnot only are we free to drop a long-accepted principle when we think we have found something more convenient from the viewpoint of physical research but that we are also free to re-adopt the rejected principle when we find we have made a mistake in laying it aside This mistake may easily come to light with the discovery of new facts A developing empirical science need not and must not be afraid of being

10 Platos Cave or the Parable of the Cavemdashis an allegory presented by the Greekphilosopher Plato in his work The Republic to illustrate our

nature in its education and want of education (514a) It is written as a dialogue between Platos brother Glaucon and Platos mentor Socrates [469 to 399 BC] hellipPlato [430 to 347 BC] has Socrates [put to death earlier for his heretic views through self-administered poison by Athenian state of the time] describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all (continued to footnote on next page) (continued from footnote in previous page) of their lives facing a blank wall The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows According to Platos Socrates the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand the shadows the wall do not make up reality at all as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners (httpenwikipediaorgwikiAllegory_of_the_Cave) But apparently as the fragments indicate latest realization of the lsquofreedrsquo lsquoprisonersrsquo ie lsquoscientistsrsquo (appearing on 1900 AC) themselves is that their own vision is also incapable of going beyond lsquoshadowsrsquo



taunted with a lack of consistency between its announcements at subsequent epochs mdash Erwin Schroumldinger Science And The Human Temperament Transl- James Murphy GEORGE ALLEN amp UNWIN LTD 1935 Page 93-94)

bull He who finds a thought that lets us penetrate even a little deeper into the real nature of things of nature has been granted great grace helliphellip

mdash Albert Einstein 1925 response to the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (httplvplockyersmiddorsetschukpluginfilephp3230mod_resourcecontent0contenthtmlportal_ks2sciencepg000308htm)

bull Suddenly Einstein looked upward at the clear skies and said We know nothing about it all All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren The real nature of things that we shall never know never

mdash A report from Dr Chaim Tschernowitz one of Einsteins many visitors about a conversation

With Einstein (1931)

(httpwwwfindthatdoccomsearch-9072771-hDOCdownload-documents-einsteindochtm)

Apparently if not evidently these travels according to the above rules-book wereare aimed not at

demystificationrsquo a term often alluded to ndash through widely prevalent misunderstanding it appears - as the goal of lsquosciencersquo but at what is only humanly possible and richly rewarding viz going deeper and deeper into what all the travelers in their respective way has depicted as lsquoeternal mysteryrsquo There is unmistakable or so it seems to the current picker reverberation of the yearning spirit as reflected above in the following lines(in translation from original in Bengali) coming from sources sometimes supposed to be almost of contrary character

bull No matter who of you say what my brothers I want the deer made of gold Yes I do want the gold deer with its restless dancing feet and captivating demeanour Oh it startles evades the eye and canrsquot be tied If ever within reach it dashes out gives the slip and confounds the eye

I shall run behind in vain no matter whether I get it or not Lost within myself I vanish away in fields and forests

[Free English translation by SCGanguly the present PickerFor Original in Bengali Vide 5 in End Note 1 (P 29-31 )]

The lines are from the pen of a traveler of different credential not bound by the rules-book mentioned above These are from a Tagorersquos song

While on this it surfaces to the pickerrsquos mind that perhaps this awareness can be of some help to us to become more open-ended rather than close-ended towards possible breadth of human understanding on other fields and possible wider variety of approaches from which many other understandings on these other fields may emerge And this open-endedness can help us to come out of having a blind indiscriminate advanced (ie before going deeper) all-knowing sneering dismissive attitude towards all other claimed branches of human understanding with no claim of lsquoscientific methodrsquo to back the same even when we know nothing about these branches and the corresponding approaches beyond



hearsay In any such claimed branches one happens to know nothing about lsquoI donrsquot knowrsquo rather than offhand dismissive attitude would perhaps be the more appropriate one

On some issuesproblems related to his personal life the present picker has had the occasion which he is not

going to elaborate on here to come in direct contact with some understandings extent of accuracy of which simply baffled him for the understanding emerged from sources with different approaches in fields not covered by lsquoscientific methodrsquo Facing such experience he had no other alternative but to admit lsquoI donrsquot knowrsquo Much later he came into contact with following fragment from one (Albert Einstein ) of the travelers which seems to lend appropriate expression to what he had felt earlier

bull ldquoWhoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge in the field of Truth and Knowledge is

shipwrecked by the laughter of the godsrdquo Albert Einstein Aphorism For Leo Baek 1953[Ideas and Opinions - Rupa amp Co India 1989Pg28] Here is an evidence that on appropriate occasion the concerned traveller himself remained true to his openly expressed above realization At the request of one author (Upton Sinclair) he once wrote a preface (1930) to a book named lsquoMental Radiorsquo (CHARLES G XHOMASUSA1962 )which seeks to show veracity of the claims of telepathy (meaning lsquoApparent communication from one mind to another by extrasensory meansrsquo-Webster dictionary) referred usually with derision by us self-declared worshipper of science This preface contains neither acceptance nor rejection of the claims made in the book He simply says in this preface ldquo hellip the book helliphellip[I] am convinced hellipdeserves the most earnest consideration not only of the laity but also of the psychologists by professionrdquo Again ldquoIn 1946 in a letter to a psychoanalyst and parapsychologist he commented ldquoIt seems to me at any rate that we have no right from a physical point of view to deny a priori the possibility of telepathy For that sort of denial the foundations of our science are too unsure and too incomplete But I find it suspicious that ldquoclairvoyancerdquo [tests] yield the same probabilities as ldquotelepathyrdquo hellip [Gardner M 1989 Science Good Bad and Bogus Buffalo (NY) Prometheus Books Page 15 as quoted in PHYSICS BEFORE AND AFTER EINSTEIN Edited by Marco Mamone Capria Publisher IOS Press Nieuwe Hemweg 6B 1013 BG Amsterdam Netherlands 2005]

This reminds us that proper appreciation of the profoundly transforming role (both for the better and for the worse) of lsquoscientific knowledgersquo does not necessitate contemptuous dismissal of any other branch of possible human understanding which we do not know anything about

It must also be added in parenthesis that unfortunately but not perhaps surprisingly some practitionersbelievers

of such branches instead of standing on their own leg sometimes yield before the hoopla of lsquoscientific-agersquo and to earn some lsquorespectabilityrsquo in that age begin much in the style of the practitioner of some other branches (rsquosocial sciencesrsquo) referred to in one footnote above(Page 4 ) to attach the lsquohonorificrsquo label lsquosciencersquo to their beloved branch(es) That of course is totally misleading and so un-called unwarranted and unacceptable

In this context it is perhaps not out of place to remember one oft cited dialogue from the mouth of Hamlet in the drama (Act 1 scene 5) named after the same character by Shakespeare ldquoThere are more things in heaven and earth



Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophyrdquo It is redundant to emphasize that there is not the least hints explicit or implicit here that even in cases these other claimed branches andor approaches may have any validity (known or unknown) in their respective field of knowledge these can at all and under any circumstances be considered to be an alternativesubstitute to understanding reached through lsquoscientific methodrsquo And in any case the dazzling technology of the day from its very birth is exclusively wedded to the approach called lsquoscientific methodrsquo These claimed other approaches relate to fields other than those addressed by purely lsquoscientific methodrsquo

Again citing the well-known and conscious fraudulent practices of some of the practitioners in such claimed branches of understanding at the cost of gullible is no acceptable ground for such off hand dismissal beyond saying lsquoI donrsquot knowrsquo that is of such branches Widely known practice of frauds indulged in many otherwise beneficial sub-branches of lsquoscientific knowledgersquo does not lead us merely on that ground to reject or shun those sub-branches as unfounded For example in the field of modern medicines many a drug are released by multinational drug companies in the market suppressing or being vague about the possible adverse side-effects of these drugs On rare occasions when they are caught that becomes big news These may cause justified public campaign against concerned companies but usually not a general lsquodrug boycottrsquo call One is likely get considerable materials on such like issues by searching in the Internet

In continuation of the lsquopictures-fictionsrsquo or lsquoshadowgraphrdquo aspect of the communicated insights mentioned a

little earlier glimpses as expressedcommunicated through words are as the travelers emphatically point out necessarily of approximate provisional uncertain as well as lsquointeractiversquo (between the observed and the observer) ie lsquosubjectiversquo in contrast to widely presumed detached lsquoobjectiversquocharacter For example the few fragments below reflect or hint at some of these feelings perceptions and realizations

bull I have approximate answers and possible beliefs in different degrees of certainty about different things but

Im not absolutely sure of anything and of many things I dont know anything about but I dont have to know an answer I dont feel frightened by not knowing things by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose which is the way it really is as far as I can tell possibly It doesnt frighten me

Richard Feynman during an interview in BBCs Horizon program (1981) (httpenHTUwikiquoteorgwikiRichard_FeynmanU)

bull What we call scientific knowledge today is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty mdash some

most unsure some nearly sure but none absolutely certain TU RICHARD FEYNMAN lsquoUncertainty of Sciencersquo Part of a series of three lectures at the University of Washington delivered during April 1963 Published later as lsquo The Meaning of It All Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientistrsquo (penguin1999)

Uncertainty being alluded to above relates to all fields of insights in general and in that sense all pervading and so

perhaps may be termed as most basic and covering travels in all regions of deeper reality But there is another category of uncertainty which though equally basic is specific to a particular realm of reality which came into full focus only in later phase ie 20th century as mentioned earlier This relates to the sub-atomic world where the very statement about something happening or not happening in that realm is always in terms of probability and never with any degree of certainty and the very act of observation changes some aspect(s) of the reality as the two fragments below seem to



convey bull In the experiments about atomic events we have to do with things and facts with phenomena that are just as

real as any phenomena in daily life But the atoms or the elementary particles themselves are not as real they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or fact mdashT Werner Heisenberg lsquoLanguage and Reality in Modern Physicsrsquo Physics amp Philosophy1958 Chap 10 ( ALLEN amp UNWIN LONDON 1971 Page-160First Published 1959)

bull Nothing is more important about the quantum principle than this that it destroys the concept of the world as

sitting out therersquo with the observer safely separated from it B It is up to him to decide whether he shall measure position or momentum To install the equipment to measure the one prevents and excludes his installing the equipment to measure the other Moreover the measurement changes the state of the electron The universe will never afterwards be the same To describe what has happened one has to cross out that old word lsquoobserverrsquo and put in its place the new word lsquoparticipatorrsquo In some strange sense the universe is a participatory universe John Archibald Wheeler From relativity to mutability [Chap 9The Physicistrsquos Conception of Nature - J

Mehra (ed) p 244 Tao of Physics-FCapra Page 153 Chap 10 The Unity Of All Things]

What is more is that in case of quantum theory which has provided us with many of the tools of modern technology there are depending on the philosophical disposition many a contending interpretations without any overall consensus among the lsquoscientistsrsquo preoccupied with the theme of the same mathematical formulation and experimental observations The situation has been put in a very simple manner thus

bull Nobody questions what the theory predicts only what it means mdashUT Paul Davies - Introduction to lsquoHeisenberg_Physics_and_philosophyrsquo(Penguin edition2000) Page(viii-xi)

It may be reminded that both the approximation and the uncertainty in general about all basic insights and

quantum uncertainty in particular reflected in the above fragments are as the fragments unambiguously points out intrinsic or inherent to the very nature of things and are not due to any current practical limits of human capacity which with improvement of technology may perhaps be at least partially outgrown here and there in future

But a little and necessary diversion is called for here it needs to be kept in mind that there is another kind of

uncertaintyapproximation which cannot be called intrinsic or inherent in nature in the above sense This uncertaintyapproximation is related to practical steps to be taken on the basis of derived inferences from the basic insights and not directly related to those basic insights per se This kind of uncertaintyapproximation surfaces in the form of practical (in contrast to innate) limitation in human capacity or technological limitation to gather all the information relating to all the contributing factors or variables (including those which may sometimes be identified) required to make exact prediction about any observed phenomenon One such example is the well-known uncertainty in weather forecast Another example is prediction of stock prices in Stock market There are others



In continuation of the above diversion there is still another kind of closely similar uncertainty or approximation originating from the same source as above viz practical or technological limitations This relates to the situations when under a well defined practical condition in spite all clearly identifiablecontrollableobservablemeasurable contributing factors technically termed as lsquoassignable cause(s)rsquo being same the resultant outcome is uncertain due to collective intervention of innumerable what are technically termed as lsquoChance causesrsquo By lsquoChance causesrsquo are meant those small contributing factors which though guessable within a limit cannot be either at present or in future accounted for separately A well known although trivial or playful example of this kind is one of predicting the result of tossing an unbiased coin by the same person in any particular throw Here are two more examples not so trivial or playful in nature 1) exact measurement of any measurable attribute (eg length weight) of any object cannot be known for certain 2) Confirmation or otherwise of guessed relationship between two (or more) phenomena or two or more aspects of same phenomenon (represented by symbols called lsquovariablesrsquo) cannot be achieved with 100 certainty on the basis of their respective quantifiable results Under such situations there is no other alternative but to look for some course of action which can be of use with reasonable degree of confidence even if allowing in the process for some possibility of mistake or error however small A separate whole subject called lsquoStatisticsrsquo mainly speaking through mathematical language and with very satisfactory record of performance has grown to address these specific kind of situations though the general term lsquoStatisticalrsquo is used to cover all situations of lsquouncertaintyrsquo (including uncertainty of intrinsic or inherent nature) as mentioned above

After these necessary diversions it needs to be emphasized that this personal note and the fragments (under two sections mentioned at the beginning) this note relates to are primarily about the inherent basic uncertain and approximate character of all human understanding at the most fundamental level alluded to in this note and not about the kind of uncertaintyapproximation mentioned in last two paragraphs

Reverting back to where we left before this passing diversion the limitation or inability of our day-to-day language to directly communicate the hidden reality becomes particularly obvious in sub-atomic ie quantum world as the following fragments from travelers in that region point out

bull hellipthe smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense they are forms ideas which can be

expressed unambiguously only in mathematical languageT QuantumT theory provides us with a striking illustration of the fact that we can fully understand a connection though we can only speak of it in images and parablesrdquoT T ―T Werner HeisenbergHTU PHYSICS AND BEYOND ( Harper amp Row1971 Page- 210)

bull We must be clear that when it comes to atoms language can be used only as in poetryT The poet too is not

nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images and establishing mental connections TUNiels_BohrUT In his first meeting withT WernerHT HeisenbergHT inT early summer 1920 in response to questions on the nature of language as reported inT DiscussionsT about LanguageT (1933)T quoted inT Defense Implications of International Indeterminacy (1972)T by Robert J Pranger p 11 (httpenwikiquoteorgwikiNiels_Bohr)

bull It is true that the whole scientific inquiry starts from the familiar world and in the end it must return to the



familiar world but the part of the journey over which the physicist has charge is in foreign territory Until recently there was a much closer linkage the physicist used to borrow the raw material of his world from the familiar world but he does so no longer His raw materials are helliphellipelectrons quanta potentials Hamiltonian functions etc helliphelliphellip We do not even desire helliphellipto explain the electron A Eddington The Nature of the Physical World Introduction p xiii (Macmillan 1929)

Lest there should be any misapprehension born out of our widely held conditioned misleading view which habitually value lsquosciencersquo as contrasted to lsquonon-sciencersquo for formerrsquos supposedly lsquoobjectivityrsquo lsquoexactnessrsquo and the like it needs to be clearly realized that this real inevitably approximate lsquosubjectiversquointeractive (as contrasted to supposedly lsquoobjectiversquo in absolute sense) aspects of the basic insights when properly internalized is not likely to lessen in the least the perceived immense worth and importance of lsquo sciencersquo in shaping and transforming though whether inevitably or always for the better is a moot question our life

The case in all probability is likely to turn just the opposite Awareness about these aspects may provide the much

needed appropriate perspective and thus may help us to outgrow our acquired and somewhat habitual and delusional mindset in this respect And in the process this awareness can open our eyes (which admittedly is better than closed eyes) in thousand and one ways and thus enrich us further through appreciation of the possible profoundly transforming indispensable role of lsquosciencersquo without any substitute for what it is really worth rather than for what it is not That is also likely to be of help to realize its proper place in the long march of mankind through millennia in search of deeper and deeper understanding of the very universe to which it belongs and of which it forms just a miniscule part

Also this may be of some help to us of to outgrow certain unhelpful unhelpful to ourselves that is mind-set which misses the beauty of lsquosubjectiversquo as against the detached coldness of the lsquoobjectiversquo the kind of beauty which within a limit can be compared with what is found in the world of art and literature Yes within a limit only for in the arena of science ultimate formulation of any fundamental insight even with its lsquosubjectiversquo aspect does not unlike art and literature have the freedom to indulge in fantasy in a way which is deliberately meant to go beyond reality as perceived within the limits of human faculties

This is so notwithstanding the fact and which may sound somewhat paradoxical that capacity to fantasize on the way to arrive at the fundamental insights is of substantial importance as one fragment from among these travelers says

bull When I examine myself and my methods of thought I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant

more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge Albert Einstein Cited as conversation between Einstein and Jaacutenos Plesch in Jaacutenos The Story of a

Doctor (1947) by Jaacutenos Plesch translated by Edward FitzGerald (httpsenwikiquoteorgwikiAlbert_Einstein)

In fact these fragments and some of the corresponding accounts helped the picker to strengthen his belief

gradually growing over decades that contrary to his long back earlier acquired understanding it is as in the case of art



amp literature intuition imagination fantasy and the like and not analysis and logic which play the pivotal role in arriving at any humanly possible basic lsquoscientificrsquo insights Primary role of analysis and logic (indispensably important in their proper places) comes later in deriving the details inferences (much larger in volume) put to use in developing many other branches and the technology associated with the same from these basic insights But even in these latter sub-fields the other lsquonon-logicalrsquo attributes and capacities of mind are under many a situation likely to play a very crucial role in developing anything new in those sub-fields Here are a few fragments communicating such perceptions

bull I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts mdashAlbert Einstein Letter to Michele Besso (8 October 1952) According to Scientifically speaking a dictionary of quotations Volume 1 p 154 (httpsenwikiquoteorgwikiAlbert_Einstein)

bull there is no logical way to the discovery of these elemental laws There is only the way of intuition which is

helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance and this Einfuumlhlung [literally empathy or feeling ones way in] is developed by experience mdashAlbert Einstein Preface to lsquoWhere is science goingrsquo by Max Planck (George Allenamp Unwin1933)

(httpsenwikiquoteorgwikiAlbert_Einstein)

bull Imagination is more important than knowledge Knowledge is limited Imagination encircles the world mdashAlbert Einstein(In an interview with George Sylvester Viereck The Saturday Evening Post 26 October 1929 (httpwwwsaturdayeveningpostcomwp-contentuploadssatevepostwhat_life_means_to_einsteinpdf)

It will not perhaps be out of place to remind ourselves that this lack of objectivity definitiveness (in the fundamental insights) in absolute sense is not same as lsquoarbitraryrsquoand that lsquoshadowgraphrsquo though not exactly the reality (as the travellers feel and say) imitates (and with better and better closeness over time) so to say the reality behind the apparent

And so though interesting enough it is perhaps not surprising that despite this necessarily lsquoapproximatersquo

lsquoshadowgraphrsquo provisional uncertain character interwoven with lsquointeractiversquorsquosubjectiversquo aspect of basic insights into the bottomless depth (or changing the metaphor borderless expanse) of the universe inferences further down drawn from these starting insights do work in practice with a surprising degree of definiteness and lsquoobjectivityrsquo at macro level This is evident from the continuously expanding branches and sub-branches galore of applied lsquosciencersquo and the resultant dazzling technology (both beneficial and destructive) built on the basis of these inferences It may be re-emphasized that even in these branches and sub-branches definiteness is of lsquoa surprising degreersquo and is not absolute A well-known example within the experience of many of us is diagnostic uncertainty in medical treatment

Perhaps it is this apparently definitive certain objective character of the derived inferences as borne out bythe applied lsquosciencesrsquo and dazzling technology based on these inferences at macro level which seem to have somewhatblinkered the eyes of not only the lay persons infected with the malady of flaunting their lsquoscientific temperrsquo but also(and even) those of the makers and implementers of the academic curricula (across the world) in lsquosciencesrsquo as if



disabling the latter by and large to let the learners become aware about the basically shadowyapproximate character interwoven with an element of subjectivity (considered earlier as an absolute domain of art and literature having nothing to do with lsquosciencersquo considered an epitome of lsquoobjectivityrsquo) of all basic human understanding about deeper reality of natureuniverse arrived at through lsquoscientific methodrsquo And thus fostering in the process not only a unmistakably misleading perspective to what they are learning but also considerably reducing the possibility to favour the development of alert mind and sense of wonder predisposed towards listening to the whispering beckoning call fromthe vast mysterious unknown beyond the prefixed boundaries of routine learning and getting enriched in theprocess by having to the extent possible a feel of the profoundly moving human background to the mass of detailsthey have to go through (or lsquoswallowrsquo) during learning

In the above context two fragments of perceptions of one among these travelers Albert Einstein about his

own experience as a young learner in the ongoing from his time till today system of academic science teaching comes to pickerrsquos mind

bull lsquoIt is nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy

curiosity of inquiryrsquordquo (Sometimes wrongly cited as ldquo I t i s a m i r a c l e t h a t c u r i o s i t y s u r v i v e s f o r m a l e d u c a t i o nrdquo )

Albert Einstein reported on March 13 1949 in the New York Times under ldquoASSAILS EDUCATION TODAY Einstein Says lsquoIt Is Miraclersquo Inquiry Is Not lsquoStrangledrdquo

(httpwwwbarrypopikcomindexphpnew_york_cityentryit_is_a_miracle_that_curiosity_survives_fo rmal_education) [ Included in lsquoAUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTESrsquo in Hawkinrsquos book(Pg346) as mentioned with the fragment below]

bull I soon learned to scent out that which was able to lead to fundamentals and to turn aside from everything else

from the multitude of things which clutter up the mind and divert it from the essential The hitch in this was of course the fact that one had to cram all this stuff into onersquos mind for the examinations whether one liked it or not This coercion had such a deterring effect [upon me] that after I had passed the final examination I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year In justice I must add moreover that in Switzerland we had to suffer far less under such coercion which smothers every truly scientific impulse than is the case in many another locality

mdashAlbert Einstein lsquoAUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTESrsquo as included in lsquoA STUBBORNLY PERSISTENT ILLUSION THE ESSENTIAL SCIENTIFIC

WRITINGS OF ALBERT EINSTEINrsquo with an introduction from Stephen Hawkins( RUNNING PRESS PHILADELPHIA bull LONDON 2007

P 345-346)

It needs to be added in this context that mere inclusion of some routine purely formula based unavoidable

reference to some of these basic insights as is the current practice does not basically alter the above picture unless the profound implication of these insights in terms of our understanding of the universe is brought into focus appropriately and integrated into the whole curriculums Now this seems to call for a radical re-orientation of the whole tradition As an example one such reference part of all science curriculums across the planet at higher level comes to mind viz lsquoHeisenbergrsquos uncertainty principlersquo and the corresponding mathematical presentation A comment from a



physicist teacher sounds appropriate in this context ldquostudents learn quantum mechanics prescriptively11

The present picker came across these fragmentstravelogues by fits and starts at different times over decades

the most intense part of this growing familiarity occurring in last 45 years or so ie rather late in life In all probability he came across these not purely by accident but through search partly conscious partly unconscious for something which could address many of his doubts growing gradually over decades about his strongly held earlier almost axiomatic beliefs related to what is termed as lsquoscientific viewrsquo once his life used to revolve around or so it seems to him

These earlier beliefs in their fundamentals were imbibed initially and mainly through academic ambience (as

student) of lsquosciencesrsquo teaching And then it was powerfully reinforced through participation in an arena of social movement that deeply attracted him because of its ideological stance of supposedly lsquoscientificrsquo understanding of society which would pave the way for almost certain (or so it was perceived) liberation from widespread human misery born out of social deprivation These beliefs which in a way had a pivotal role in moulding his both inner and outer life in a fundamental sense relate to the misconception about the character and limitations of humanly possible insights and about latterrsquos field of applicability in most general terms At physical plane as mentioned above these are the very insights different stages of which heralded newer and newer level of dazzling technology born out of utilization of details inferences (taught in academic curricula) derived from those insights and the basic nature of which got pushed behind this dazzle Apparently or so it seems to the picker the lsquoscientific methodrsquo when applied to society was likewise expected to bring about equally spectacular change in terms of human welfare

It goes without saying that choice of the fragments under two sections from which ones in this note are being

cited is purely subjective and was shaped by their special appeal to the picker circumscribed naturally as this choice was by his present predisposition as shaped by his earlier journey through life and by very limited character of his present understanding There is no impossible (impossible to the picker that is) attempt at any exhaustive coverage of the messages sought to be conveyed in the corresponding full accounts

To put in a different way these fragments were picked up primarily for onersquos own sake and this personal note too in a way is more in the nature of self-talking to bring clarity to oneself than anything else All these acts are out of gradual awareness developing as pointed out earlier over decades about the earlier unawareness of depth of onersquos own immeasurable ignorance If in addition these fragments are found to be of some interest by others and can encourage possible mutual exchange no matter whether participants in the possible exchange are in unison with the pickerrsquos current perceptionunderstanding ( which as pointed out in the heading of this note is of course absolutely provisional and cannot have any finality about it) as reflected in this note that will be an additional source of satisfaction In any case these fragments are sought to be shared not with farthest intention of trying to lsquoproversquo anything or of initiating any self-righteous lsquodebatersquo polemical or not Nor for that matter to provide materials for flaunting some lsquobeautiful wordsrsquo with knowing admiration (indicative of absence of pre-disposition to pay attention to conveyed message) as if of some smartclever oratorical performance of the respective perceivers corresponding to the fragments

11 Paul Davies - Introduction to lsquoHeisenberg_Physics_and_philosophyrsquo(Penguin edition2000)Page ix



In this context it is perhaps good to remind ourselves the obvious that the rsquoignorancersquo being alluded to here is about the nature of basic insights and not about knowledge about the massive body of accumulated detailed inferencestechnicalities indispensable in their own right in respective fields and in parts thereof drawn from these basic insights Only a miniscule fraction (size of fraction varies from person to person) of these details can be internalized by any single individual in one life That explains the expanding number of fields and subfields in the arena of lsquoscientificrsquo knowledge with corresponding lsquoexpertsrsquo specialized only in a few of such subfields

In terms of such details poet Rabindranath for example would be justifiably considered an ignoramus as

compared with students in lsquosciencersquo even at secondary level no matter that he dared write a book (in Bengali) called ldquoBiswa Parichoyrsquo (meaning lsquonature of the universersquo) which seeks (with whatever imperfection) to go into such basic lsquoscientificrsquo insights till his time though Rabindranath had no background of institutional training in science Perhaps not having any was of some help to him His attempt was an aftereffect of his coming into contact and the consequent enchantment in later part of his life with some of the emerging basic lsquoscientificrsquo insights about the universe

But for any one with only such lsquosciencersquo background (however lsquostrongrsquo or lsquoweakrsquo) as provided by the prevailing routine lsquoinstitutionalized educational traditionrsquo or under latterrsquos direct or indirect influence and nothing beyond facing for the first time with the fundamental messages of these accounts and getting involved at the same time in the process of possible internalization of the same may (yes lsquomayrsquo no certainty about it) undermine onersquos own acquired sense of axiomatic certain wisdom suffered by overwhelming majority of us the self-declared votariesworshippers of lsquosciencersquo And this is due to our unawareness of our own ignorance about the inherent lsquoshadowyrsquo nature of the knowledge relating to lsquosecretsrsquo of the physical universe And it will perhaps not be very surprising if sometimes this experience is not felt to be a pleasant one And in that case it may perhaps sometimes tend to push us to look the other way so as to avoid this unpleasant sensation

Alternately and which perhaps is more likely for most of us due to the firm hold of the early academic conditioning

the messages contained in the fragments may very well be missed in their real implication leading to earlier mentioned knowing admiration (like for example Oh How well-saidrsquo lsquo How beautifullsquo lsquoWhat modestyrsquo lsquoYes Yes how rightly saidrsquo lsquoExactly so rsquo and the like) of fragments primarily because many the names associated with these fragments are well-known ones in the respective fields In that case there is of course no above mentioned danger of feeling lsquoonersquos own acquired sense of axiomatic certain wisdomrsquo being undermined Two such fragments from Isaac Newton widely cited in this self-misleading spirit have been mentioned earlier in this note Here is another example of such a kind often cited in the same spirit ldquoScience without Religion is Lame and Religion without Science is blindrdquo from Albert Einstein This one-liner termed by the writer himself as an ldquoimagerdquo is at the end of a paragraph in an essay ScienceHTU and Religion UTH (Science Philosophy and Religion A Symposium 1941) But cited without acquaintance with and a feel of the preceding reasoning it is more like a clever sounding clicheacute produced to impress others than anything else

But any attempted internalization even at the cost of initial unpleasant feeling of absolutely certainty being undermined may perhaps help us come out of our delusional propagandist mind-set on behalf of lsquosciencersquo and to properly appreciate the richness of lsquoscientificrsquo contribution for its real worth and its real place in enriching the tradition of



human civilization of which so-called lsquoscientific agersquo is a continuation with as in the earlier periods its both illuminating and dark side That appreciation is likely to discourage the oft found attempt born out of ignorance relating to the very theme one is trumpeting about on a widespread scale at trivializing the civilizations belonging to so-called lsquopre-scientificrsquo ages stretching back to the hoary antiquity

Also this illusory sense (usually of - direct or indirect- lsquosciencersquo related academic origin) of onersquos own lsquosuperior wisdomrsquo accompanied with the sincere intention to lsquoenlightenrsquo the masses may disable the well-meaning social activists to separate the harmful socialreligious customsrituals ( needing to be pointed out so as to help the process of outgrowing the same) from the harmless ones resulting in lumping these together and to go into indiscriminate tirade against both This reflects incapacity to humbly (in place of superiorrsquo air) appreciate the psychological needs these harmless customsrituals may serve for many This disability sometimes leads to the attempt in the name of lsquosciencersquo at interference as if from a pulpit with many a completely harmless socialreligious customsritual which sometimes may play various beneficial roles too like eg adding to harmless joy lessening the pain of loss12 expressing loving concern and the like It also seems to reflect a failure to appreciate many of poetic Imageriesideas of long held tradition associated with some such harmless customsrituals This is so not withstanding the reality that many of the followers of these customsrituals themselves may not be always consciously aware of the aspects they the benefited with Even in latter case campaign (however well-meaning) against or still worse interference with such harmless customary rituals in the name of lsquosciencersquo does not seem to be less unwarranted than to force someone to observe the same against hisher wish as was the usual practice in earlier narrow rural societies in many a regions

To the picker appeal of these fragments lies not in any supposed lsquoauthorityrsquo (which names of many of the associated travelers may smell of) per se behind the accounts but in illuminating live and utterly frank character (hallmarks of authenticity) of the accounts which seems to draw out in bold relief his own regions of deep ignorance which he was unaware of earlier In any case in the context of travelogues it is authenticity and not authority which is of relevance

Above allusions to lsquoinstitutionalized educational traditionrsquo in possibly not a very happy tone has no condemnatory

implication in the least aimed at any one including the professional practitioners within the resulting system eg teachers research workers syllabus makers educational management and the like Latter are simply carrying on as they

12 For example following excerpt (in translation from original in Bengali) from the above mentioned Bengali novel lsquoAparaajitarsquo relating to funeral ceremony conducted according to ancient Indian religious tradition (came to be called lsquoHindursquo tradition much later) of Apursquos mother Sarbajayaa includes a ritualistic scriptural chant of the priest during the ceremony and its effect on the son Apu the central character of the novel hellipthe priest is saying hellip the beautiful message of hope Let the sky be full of nectar let the air be full of nectar let the dust on road be full of nectar let the herbs be full of nectar let the woods be full of nectar let the sun moon and our father in the firmament be full of nectarrdquo

After the day long fasting fatigue and mourning this message truly showered nectar on his mind and he could no longer hold his tearshelliprdquo [Free English translation by SCGanguly the present Picker For Original in Bengali Vide 6 in End Note 1 (P28-31)



themselves were conditioned by this tradition as old as the institutionalized science-education across the planet during their own learning period It only seeks to pose both to the picker himself and to others feeling disturbed by the existing reality rather hesitantly the question whether in the light of the presented fragments here and the corresponding and other full accounts (absolutely ignored shunned except perhaps some isolated mention with extremely harmful tenor of knowing admiration in institutional training in science world over) there is any necessity to explore the possibility feasibility of starting a process of re-orientation of this institutional-cum-academic tradition hinted at earlier This is perhaps dreaming of the impossibility the strength of this deep-rooted tradition being what it is Stillhelliphellip

This absence in academic ambience and the consequent ignorance has spilled over into the lsquoscience-mindedrsquo

populace beyond the academies in general and into the social activism self-declaredly being guided by lsquoscientificrsquo understanding of society with a loud air of superior wisdom in particular with many a time quite distressing and many cases devastating consequences in various forms at personal psychic plane for those who going beyond mere wordy verbal exercises got involved into active participation drawing their inspiration primarily from such lsquoscientificrsquo understanding and without unlike lsquoprofessional politiciansrsquo(of all denomination) having any inclinationdrive from possible personal commandpower over other people

If one goes through the fuller accounts of these travelers from which the fragments have been picked up it will be

seen that none of these accounts contain this widely prevalent superior air towards the past whether of their own land or of others Rather the travelers appear to have a deep sense of the continuity not withstanding the inevitable breaks from time to time with the earlier known phases of civilization across the planet Familiarity with these fragments and of the corresponding fuller accounts may perhaps initiate some process of possible internalization of the corresponding messages of this sense of continuity as well as the accompanying sense of wonder and humility before the vastness and mystery of the universe This is very opposite to an attitude of lsquovictory of sciencersquo over nature through understanding of its workings

The effect on the picker of these gradual revelations has been illuminating but at the same time destabilizing too It gave him some comfort to know that in a different context even some of these pioneer travelers during their own journey through life sometimes had somewhat similar feeling For example in the context of the then new emerging notion of lsquoquantum mechanicsrsquo with which he was not in unison Albert Einstein in an autobiographical account said ldquohelliphellipIt was as if the ground had been pulled out from under one with no firm foundation to be seenrdquo [ fuller version is included into fragments under two sections] Looking back over his own journey through life an English aphorism in a slightly altered version sometimes comes to the present pickers mind ldquoA blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which he is not sure of being thererdquo Here a fragment from a different source he stumbled on about one and a half decade back suddenly comes into pickerrsquos mind and he finds it out

hellip The discovery of truth must be from the subjective side a process of disillusionment The strength of our opposition to the development of reason is measured by the strength of our dislike of being disillusioned We should all admit if it were put to us directly that it is good to get rid of illusions but in practice the process of disillusionment is painful and disheartening hellip

Reason And Emotion by John Macmurry (Faber and Faber London 1995 1stPP Ed 1935) ChapI Reason in the

emotional life Page 9



With a vague feeling about he being somewhat like ldquoA blind man in a dark roomrdquo in search of the ever eluding ldquoblack catrdquo the picker had been picking up fragments having appeal to him from different sources he stumbled on at different times Above was found out from such fragments accumulated over decades

As mentioned at the start these fragments have been grouped and presented in two sections13 under two broad headings (LIMITSREACH OF lsquoSCIENTIFICrsquo INSIGHTS amp SCIENCE vs MYSTICISMWONDER) on the basis of respective central messages as perceived by the current picker in broadest sense But this should not be and in any case cannot be taken as too strict a division Many a Fragments expectedly are overlapping in their respective underlying messages and could perhaps come under any one of the two headings There are a few fragments again which have been put under both the section for the simple reason that they very pronouncedly contain the central messages of both the sections

In addition a few fragments are from composition(s) of some (there must be many others) of those who though

not claiming to have had the direct experience of travel seem to have been able (or so it appears to the present picker of these fragments) to a considerable extent to internalize and communicate the messages sought to be communicated explicitly or implicitly by the direct travelers through their own reports The picker has benefited to a considerable extent from these books and essays and is deeply indebted to these authors Of these a few need special mention

The present picker expresses his special indebtedness to Frifjof Capra for his book The Tao Of Physics parallels

between modern physics and Eastern Mysticism (Flamingo London 1991) in which he with moving passion brings together and sums up before the public eye essence of some fundamental aspects of these messages This is so not withstanding some differing perceptions on those aspects even of those who appear to be on same wavelength with him in terms of generalities This book has played a particularly important role in confirming clarifying and throwing new light on many a growing doubts of the picker accumulated over a long period

Another book or more properly speaking an anthology Quantum Questions ndashMystical Writings of The Worlds Greatest Physicists Edited by Ken Wilber (TShambhalaT Publications MassachusettsUSA1991) with a very helpful introductory beginning (Of Shadows and Symbols) by the editor was of considerable help in knowing something about the above mentioned differing perceptions

The picker is indebted to John D Barrow for his book The Impossibility ndash the limits of science and the science of

limits (Vintage Books London 2005) brought to his notice by his younger friend Sudipto Saraswati after Sudipto stumbled on it in Kolkata Book fair which draws attention to an aspect as the name of the book explicitly states of fundamental importance but is hardly articulated in lsquosciencersquo circles (both inside and outside academics) in explicit manner

Two compositions one shorter viz Introduction to lsquoHeisenberg_Physics_and_philosophyrsquo(Penguin edition2000) by Paul Davies and another longer viz WhatT We Can Say About Reality by Klaas Pieter van der Tempel (Utrecht University

13 In the context of presented fragments under two sections there are two Additional End Notes End Note 4lsquo Perception(s)views unrelated to travelersrsquo Journey into the unknown are not included in the presented fragmentsrsquo (P34) amp End Note 5 lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo vs lsquoopinionrsquorsquoviewrsquo (P36) These are among 5 End Notes following the Appendix(Pg27 -29)



Independent Project HCSSH) were of help in their brief and succinct presentation of overall message relating to ldquobeliefs about science meaning and realityrdquo (a fragment from the latter One) after the later emergence of the two pivotal understanding viz Theory of Relativity (special and general) and Quantum Theory about physical universe

All these books and articles were of considerable help in bringing greater clarity though of course responsibility for any possible omission and commission is solely pickerrsquos Picker will feel grateful to any one drawing his attention to the same Further these books were of almost indispensable help in coming in contact with some these fragments presented below and tracing back the corresponding and other fuller accounts

Another book with one fragment from which the first section of the picked up fragments starts is lsquoTeach Yourself

to Studyrsquo (The English Universities Press London 1945) ndash rather an apparently lsquorun of the millrsquo sounding book ndash by George Gibson Neill Wright The fragment had a deep appeal to the picker as if lending language to some vaguely felt perception of the picker It seemed to focus on something which is usually overlooked The picker came into contact with that book back in 1975 while he along with his wife under compulsion had to fly their home and stay in some secrecy at a friendrsquos vacant house under rather a difficult situation related to civilhuman right activities both happened to be associated with at that time And the fragment got so deeply engraved in his mind thence that it was found out and used for the first time in a piece of writing in rsquo86 ie about 10 years later Here is the fragment

bull ldquohellip philosophy science and scholarship as exist are only humanityrsquos incomplete answers to the young childrsquos questionsrdquo

Search in the Internet (for both fragments and booksaccounts) one of the dazzling technological marvels almost

overshadowing the above mentioned fundamental perceptions heralding the arrival of these marvels was indispensable in getting a considerable number of fragments and the corresponding and other fuller accounts particularly the latter But for the Internet most of the books containing the accounts would have remained beyond the reach of the picker Links to many of these fragmentsaccountsbooks have been given at appropriate places Sunday January 26 2014121956 AM mdash Subhas Chandra Ganguly

B-228 Karunamoyee Hsg EstSalt Lake Kolkata 700091 (The Picker) T

ET-maiTl 1) subhasgangulygmailcom 2) subhas_gangulyyahoocoin

WebsitehttpsitesgooglecomsitesubhascgangulywritingsUTH

Profile httpsplusgooglecomu0116677091262079379720aboutUTH

NB Any possible reader of the above is welcome to write to email-addresses above for one or more of the following 1) A shorteralternative versions of the above note 2) two Appendices(I II) containing a summary of the fragments and an additional note 3) two groups of the fragments (LimitsReach Of lsquoScientificrsquo Insights amp Scienc vs MysticismWonder) of which above ones are the parts 4) Scanned copies of some of the travelogues ie books referred to above along with the fragments



APPENDIX

Some Commonality Across The Fragments Of Perception

As mentioned in the main body of the Note above (P11) and as is to be only expected there are significant

differences in particularities of shades emphasis and glimpses from different traveler in different fragments fragments throbbing with live intensely personalized experience presented under two sections (NATURELIMITSREACH OF lsquoSCIENTIFICrsquo INSIGHTS amp lsquoSCIENCErsquo vs lsquoMYSTICISMrsquoWONDER ) mentioned at the start allowing for no grey uniformity across the fragments And beyond that there remain unresolved differences in interpreting the apparent glimpses and elemental lsquoscientificrsquo insights arrived at relating to various aspects of the cosmos of which we are a part But latter aspects are not reflected in these picked up fragments except in the form of perhaps some vague allusions here and there Also there is no reflection in these fragments of travellersrsquo roleopinionperceptionstance related to issues other than their journeys and glimpses into and the resultant insights about the realms of the unknown as referred to above and below

But a common presence of a few perceptions (not to be confused with lsquoopinionrsquo - vide End Note 5 below) of

the travelers related to their respective own elementalprimaryinitial scientificrsquo insights (relating to reality behind the apparent) of natureuniverse cutting across all these fragments and beyond touched on in a scattered manner in the Note above cannot be missed Among these (as it appears from the fragments to the Picker so far) are

1) Felt limitations of what one traveler (Einstein) has described asrdquo poor[human]] facultieslsquo (cited below) in going deeper into the ldquoimpenetrableldquo beyond its ldquogross formsrdquo leading to ever provisionaltentativesuggestive elusive uncertain character of all elemental primaryinitial lsquoscientificrsquo insights a perception expressed by all other travelers in their own respective ways This is apart from the fact that many secrets of universe may ever remain beyond the reach of human knowledge So the maxim lsquoWhat we do not know today will know tomorrowrsquo is in an absolute sense unfounded

[The notion of lsquouncertaintyrsquo in its various forms as well as that of provisionaltentativesuggestiveelusive character have been

touched on at some length in different context in the main body of this Note above ndash vide P 14- 18] 2) Of these nature-given human faculties it is intuitionimagination and not logic which play the pivotal

role in arriving at the elemental primaryinitial lsquoscientificrsquo insights about the deeper reality of universe It may be of some interest to note that these are the same faculties required for what may perhaps allowed to be called lsquopoetic insightsrsquo too Role of logic of central importance in its proper place comes primarily in deriving further inferences from elementaryprimaryinitial insights though there also the above other faculties have their important roles to play

[Through some widespread misunderstandingrsquo Logicrsquo(lsquojuktirsquo in Bengali) is often and misleadingly alluded to andor emphasized as almost the only andor principal required faculty in the context of lsquosciencersquo andor Scientific Method implying a claim of latterrsquosrsquo superiority as compared to all other methods because of its supposed basis in lsquologicrsquo A very demonstrative example of role of lsquologicrsquo vs lsquoextra-logicrsquo



(not lsquoillogicrsquo) is derivation of theorems in Euclidian Geometry(part of school curricula) through logic from basic axioms which are beyond logic ie where notion of lsquologicrsquo is not relevant Also sometimes lsquologicrsquo is inappropriately used as synonymous with lsquoreasonrsquo a term much wider in its implication ]

3) Felt Limitation of language in expressing these elementalprimaryinitial lsquoscientificrsquo insights (much

fewer in number) in the sense that any such insight expressed through language is necessarily approximate even though derived inferences constituting the major part of the body of lsquoscientific knowledgersquo from the same work wonder in terms of visible dazzling technology (the only implication or meaning of lsquosciencersquo for most people) To put in an alternative way relation between reality behind the apparent and the insight(s) about that reality as expressed through language is somewhat analogous to relation between a territory and its corresponding map It needs to be pointed out that the word lsquoapproximate lsquo in this context is in a sense qualitatively different than the well known inevitable approximate nature of all measurement addressed under the subject-heading lsquoStatisticsrsquo The allusion here is not to measurement but to the very quality of these elementalprimaryinitial lsquoscientificrsquo insights

[If looked in a little different way what has been termed as lsquolimitationsrsquo of language may sometimes also perhaps be felt as lsquofreedomrsquo of the same analogous to that lsquofreedomrsquo in poems where roleuse of language is in its very nature cannot be and is not bound by the necessity for describing the perceived reality per se and thus offering necessarily an wide berth to only possible hints about the same]

4) Inherently interactive (ie opposite to absolutely detached lsquoobjectiversquo usually associated with lsquosciencersquo) nature of elementalprimaryinitial lsquoscientificrsquo insights though interestingly significantly and unbelievably enough (and thankfully too) at macro level that can be and is usually ignored and assumption of lsquoobjectivityrsquo works

5) Reference by many a traveler to similarity at experiential or perceptional plane between the world of

lsquosciencersquo and that of lsquomysticrsquo or rsquoreligiousrsquo entwined with a sense of awe wonder humility (often confused with modesty) and the like before the mystery of the universe hidden both in its expanse (from the observable nearest to farthest beyond the range of observation ) as well as in its constituents (biggest observed to the smallest below the range of direct observation)

It bears repetition that the above perceptions surfaced primarily during the travellersrsquo journey which brought

forth elementalfundamental lsquoscientificrsquo insights travelers consciousness though many of them are equally relevant to inferred ones as well

Broadly speaking elemental or fundamental lsquoscientificrsquo insights refer to Scientificrsquo insights which when first arrived at are not further explicable in terms any other earlier or prior insights though these may become explicable in terms of or be replacedmodified by insights of same category which arrived later As mentioned at various places of this Note as a category these are to be clearly distinguished from further inferred ones many time larger in numbers and which constitute the overwhelming larger part of what is called lsquoScientific knowledge



As to these inferred ones apart from the use of these inferred ones in building of the visibly dazzling technology as mentioned earlier they play a fundamentally important role in replacement or modification of the earlier elemental ones through the process of direct verification by means of either experiments or observation the latter being the case when field of verification being at cosmic level is beyond the purview of experiment(s) If this process of verification produces doubtful andor negative results then the acceptability of the corresponding elemental insight(s) is in question Depending on the situation such results may lead to change of the latter which may mean complete rejection and replacement of the earlier one(s) by a newer one or a replacement accompanied with delimiting the field of application of the earlier one(s)

Five Additional End Notes (referred to on different pages above) End Note No 1

Original Bengali versions of the 6 free translations presented on different pages above Translation (to English) by Subhas Chandra Ganguly the present Picker

1 Page7 above The translation (অনবাদ )

Amidst the vast universe vast sky and the eternity I humankind roam around alone roam around The original In Bengali (মল বাংলা )

মহািবেশব মহাকােশ মহাকাল-মােঝ আিম মানব একাকী ভৰিম িবসমেয় ভৰিম িবসমেয় helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip

- রবীনদৰসঙগীত-গীিতবতানপৰথম খনড [িবশবভারতী গৰনথনিবভাগ] 2 Page8 above The translation (অনবাদ )

The sky studded with suns and stars the universe throbbing with life In its very midst I have found my song

So my songs swell up in wonder The original In Bengali (মল বাংলা )

আকাশভরা সযর -তারা িবশবভরা পৰাণ

তাহাির মাঝখােন আিম েপেয়িছ েমার সথান

িবসমেয় তাই জােগ আমার গান helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip

- রবীনদৰসঙগীত - গীিতবতানিদবতীয় খনড [িবশবভারতী গৰনথনিবভাগমাঘ ১৪১২ পঃ ৪৩০]



3 Page 8 above The translation (অনবাদ )

His mind became filled up with an indescribable joy hope feeling and mystery His hope is throbbing with life That hope brings in the message of immortal and eternal life through the bitter smell of sun-burnt branches of the wild creepers That hope is heard in the whistling sound from the flapping wings of the flying teals in the blue emptiness No body has the power to deprive him from the right to that life hellip helliphellipHe is the soul on travel from birth to birth His move is along the pathless path from far to faraway and new everyday This vast blue sky countless star world great bear milky way the world of Andromeda nebula ndash this centuries and millennia is the walking path from him That great life untouched by death is spread unaffected before all as the great ocean was before the Newton - let that motion along the path of limitless time remain unobstructed for whole of human race across the ages

The original In Bengali (মল বাংলা )

একিট অবণরনীয় আনেনদ আশায় অনভিতেত রহেসয মন ভিরয়া উিঠল পৰাণবনত তার আশা েস অমর ও অননত

জীবেনর বাণাই বনলতার েরৗদৰদগধ শাখাপেতৰর িতকত গনধ আেন নীলশেনয বািলহােসর সাই সাই রেব েশানায় েস

জীবেনর অিধকার হইেত তাহােক কাহারও বঞচনা কিরবার শিকত নাই েস জনমজনমানতেরর পিথক আতমা দর

হইেত েকান সদেরর িন তয নতন পেথ তার গিত এই িবপল নীল আকাশ অগণয েজযািতেলরাক সপতিষরমণডল ছায়াপথ

িবশাল অযােণডৰািমডা নীহািরকার জগত এই শত সহসৰ শতা ী তার পােয়-চলার পথ তার ও সকেলর

মতযদবারা অসপষট েস িবরাট জী বনটা িনউটেনর মহাসমেদৰর মত সক েলরই পেরাভােগ অকষণণভােব বতরমান ndash িনঃসীম সময় বািহয়া েস গিত সারা মানেবর যেগ যেগ বাধাহীন হউক hellip অপরািজত িবভিতভষণ বেনদাপাধযায় [িমতৰ ও েঘাষ কিলকাতা ৈচতৰ ১৩৭৪ ] পঃ ৪৩৩

4 Page 8 above The translation (অনবাদ ) These days whenever he sits in solitariness it appears to him that this earth has a spiritual face

Because of being born amidst its fruits and flowers its light and shadow and because of close acquaintance with the same from the very childhood itrsquos this real face escapes our attention No matter that it is made of visible and audible stuff the truth that it is totally unknown to us and of utmost mystery and that itrsquos every grain is covered with endless complexity do not come under our notice all of a sudden


আজকাল িনজরেন বিসেলই তাহার মেন হয় এই পিথবীর একটা আধািতমক রপ আেছ এর ফলফল আেলাছায়ার মেধয জনমগৰহণ করার দরন এবং ৈশশব হইেত এর সেঙগ ঘিনষঠ পিরচেয়র বনধেন আবদধ থাকার দরন এর পৰকত রপিট আমােদর েচােখ পেড় না এ আমােদর দশরন ও শৰবণগৰাহয িজিনেষ গড়া হইেলও আমােদর সমপণর অজঞাত ও েঘার রহসযময় এর পৰিট েরণ েয অসীম জিটলতায় আচছনন ndash যা িকনা মানেষর বিদধ ও কলপনার অতীত এ সতযটা হঠাত



েচােখ পেড় না অপরািজত িবভিতভষণ বেনদাপাধযায় [িমতৰ ও েঘাষ কিলকাতা ৈচতৰ ১৩৭৪ ] পঃ ৪৩০


No matter who of you say what my brothers I want the deer made of gold Yes I do want the gold deer with its restless dancing feet and captivating demeanour Oh it startles evades the eye and canrsquot be tied If ever within reach it dashes out gives the slip and confounds the eye I shall run behind in vain no matter whether I get it or not Lost within myself I vanish away in fields and forests

The original In Bengali (মল বাং লা)

েতারা েয যা বিলস ভাই আমার েসানার হিরণ চাই মেনাহরণ চপলচরণ েসানার হিরণ চাই

েস-েয চমেক েবড়ায় দিষট এড়ায় যায় না তাের বাধা

েস-েয নাগাল েপেল পালায় েঠেল লাগায় েচােখ ধাদা আিম ছটব িপেছ িমেছ িমেছ পাই বা নািহ পাই --

আিম আপন-মেন মােঠ বেন উধাও হেয় ধাই

রবীনদৰসঙগীত - গীিতবতানিদবতীয় খনড [িবশবভারতী গৰনথনিবভাগমাঘ ১৪১২ পঃ ৩৪৩] 6 Page 23 (footnote12) above The translation (অনবাদ )

hellipthe priest is saying hellip the beautiful message of hope Let the sky be full of nectar let the air be full of nectar let the dust on road be full of nectar let the herbs be full of nectar let the woods be full of nectar let the sun moon and our father in the firmament be full of nectarrdquo

After the day long fasting fatigue and mourning this message truly showered nectar on his mind and he could no longer hold his tearshelliprdquo


পেরািহত বিলেতেছন hellip মধর আশার বাণী - আকাশ মধময় হউক বাতাস মধময় হউক পেথর ধিল মধময়

হউক ওষিধ সকল মধময় হউক বনসপিত মধময় হউক সযর চনদৰ অনতরীকষিসথত আমােদর িপতা মধময় হউন সারািদনবযাপী উপবাস অবসাদ েশােকর পর এ মনতৰ অপর মেন সতয সতযই মধবষরণ কিরয়ািছল েচােখর জল েস রািখেত

পাের নাই অপরািজত িবভিতভষণ বেনদাপাধযায় [িমতৰ ও েঘাষ কিলকাতা ৈচতৰ ১৩৭৪ ] পঃ ১৭০-১৭১



End Note No 2 Private inner world of lsquoreligionrsquo vs institutionalized denominational lsquoreligionrsquo(at their best)

[Refer to footnote 9Page10]

It is necessary to remember that by lsquoreligionrsquo or lsquoreligiousrsquo used in the fragments on pages 6 amp 7 what is being alluded to is some experiential (ie experienced) feelingperception which is individualpersonalprivate in its very nature and can neither be communicated through language except by hints nor be labeled under any denominational religion So this has got nothing to do with formal allegiance to any of the traditional organized or institutionalized lsquoreligionrsquo with varying labels like eg Hindu Muslim Christian and many others These latter ones have their own respective common tradition of rituals of formal worship (accompanied with specially revered public places of worship) of customs observed both at private and collective level by the followers of these traditions

At their very best these religious practices under different denomination are felt to be essential by the respective followers at socio-psychological plane and have very colourful imaginative poetic aspects with their contribution in moulding the rich cultural tradition in many a land Also a spirit of deeply humanitarian and social service is encouraged by the best of all these traditions

At the worst there are many associated with many a label which are connected with power (both state and

private) finance corruption exploitatative social stratification cruelty and the like well known to most of us The present picker does not feel it relevant to go into any details of such roles in the present context

[Noise pollution in the mass religious festivals is a modern day malady thanks to the sound magnifying technology of rsquoscientific agersquo

which was not present in days before the advent of this technology But then such sound pollution is not confined to religious festivals alone but also accompanies any organized gathering of people on different non-religious occasions like eg mass meetings of political parties in India]

This present context is one of underlining the essential qualitative difference between the lsquoreligionrsquo at experiential

level (of the above travelers) distinguished as mentioned above by its necessarily privatepersonalindividual character on the one hand and lsquoreligionrsquo at its best on the other at the level of common practicesdevotion according to rulestraditions as prescribedsanctionedencouraged under different denominational religion of their self-declared followers constituting the overwhelming majority across the continents

End Note No 3

Group Violencepersecution is not a monopoly of groups with a sense of religious identities [Refer to Footnote 9 to page 10]

But even In the context of the denominational lsquoreligionrsquo mentioned in preceding note the tendency (usually implicit) where it exists to look upon in the name of lsquosciencersquo only the religious identity as the exclusive source of the widespread real conflicts misdeeds in the form of discrimination communal violence or persecution



of a minority from a position of power originates perhaps from a seriously flawed or blinkered vision of reality past and present And perhaps it also reflects an unawareness of the darker aspects (none of us can claim to be fully free from these) of human nature cutting across religious national linguistic and many other divide A less blinkered look at the reality may be of some help to see that these misdeeds are not confined to communities with loudly pronounced religious identities alone

Mutual hostility and suspicion and the resulting violence or discrimination among other different groups with a

sense of distinct group identities even when identities like say national linguistic regional skin colour and the like are not at all lsquoreligiousrsquo is too well-known to be forgotten These are as much a communally biased behaviour or communal violence as say Hindu-Muslim riot

And it is also unwarranted to refuse to see that even then a sizable section of the members on all sides of communities in conflict while not renouncing their religious identity do not always share this mutual hatred of their other brethren of respective communities In addition such mutual hostilities among communities religious or otherwise are usually not according to but in violation of the expressed best cultural tradition of the respective communities

Again instances of powers that be not acting in the name of religion persecuting members of some or other labeled (real or imaginary) group the label again being not of lsquoreligionlsquo nature are very much on record One such well-known example within relatively recent history is persecution under the leadership of senator Macarthy the then US secretary of State of the groups seriously raising fundamental questions about many of the pursued state policies home and abroad of the state after labeling them as lsquocommunistrsquo (just a pejorative term for the state) in the United States in 50rsquos of last century

Lastly extent of death destruction and violence the adored lsquoscientific agersquo bigoted has surpassed manifold the extent of the same in any earlier phase of pre-lsquoscientificrsquo age Perhaps the most glaring example usually forgotten is largest known genocide in human history spread over centuries which but for a left out miniscule remnant physically wiped out original inhabitants of two continents (America amp Australia) in the process of capturing the continents by hoards of invaders across the oceans from the West And this took place during and was made possible only by birth and growth of technology associated with emergence of lsquoscientificrsquo era eulogized with unmixed enthusiasm as period of lsquoRenaissance in all standard history book This was very different from both way migrations not of course always peaceful across different regional borders of earth which had been taking place from time immemorial It is true that this continental invasion was sometimes joined with proselytization drive as well by the priests forming a part of the invading team of denominational religion(s) But initial principal drive as is well recorded was for robbing with the help of superior technology the invaded hitherto unknown lands of its supposed mineral sources real or imaginary below the ground

But that by itself cannot perhaps be a reason for any wholesale denouncement of the lsquoscientificrsquo beliefs per se

So question of any lsquoscientificrsquo outlook is of no relevance in above-like situations of violence or persecution



End Note 4 Perception(s)views unrelated to travelersrsquo Journey into the unknown are not included in the presented fragments [Refer to footnote 13Page 25]

The picker feels like adding that perceptions not directly or indirectly related to andor not uttered in the context of

travelersrsquo respective personal experience of travels (which of course includes stages priorpreparatory to the ultimate travels sometimes going far back into childhoodadolescence ) in the regions mentioned in the personal note have not found any place in the fragments presented under two sections mentioned above Just like any other citizen of any country many among the travelers on occasions expressed their respective feelings views on many a social-political-cultural and other issues not related to their journeys this Personal Note dwells on Again the picker is aware that names of a few of these travelers got associated with some public controversy about their social-political role in certain historical context too Also some of the known doings of some of them at personal level may appear questionable to many But here there is no fragment related or bearing evidence to such like things Such like things only show that notwithstanding their pioneeringenlightening role in their respective fields of journey these travelers are just human beings with their respective pre-dispositions (to others liking or disliking) accompanied with both wisdom and many a human frailty (sometimes to extreme extent) shared as mentioned earlier in common with rest or many of us

The wide practice among us to attribute an all-knowing god-like purity perfection omniscience and the like to any of them because of their illuminating perception and understanding related to their respective journey into the unknown seems (rather lately) to the present picker misconceived originating from our own ignorance of human nature Picker now feels that if onersquos reservation even when appearing legitimate about many perceptions views and actions of many of them in other (social cultural political etc) spheres not related to their experiences direct or indirect of above mentioned respective journeys is allowed to cloudobstruct onersquos comprehension and possible internalization of the messages related (again directly or indirectly) to the same then one oneself will be the loser

Following the same trend of thought lately the present picker has a feeling that the prevailing predisposition among us more or less on mass scale of indiscriminately attaching additional weight even to above kind of unrelated perceptionsviewsactions per se just because these are coming from some well-known names is founded on the above mentioned ignorance andor is born out of understandable curiosity about well-known names Of course in case(s) such perceptionsviewsactions had significant effect (favourable or unfavourable) solely because of the well-known name of the holder of the same on the felt reality of the time these do deserve additional weight But these are of importance only when trying to present pen-portrait of the individuals concerned There is not the remotest drive within pickerrsquos mind to make any such attempt

To put it in a different way the fragments do not relate to travelers as persons per se (ie their virtues faults and

the like) but only about their experience of travels as alluded to in this personal note The present picker has not the least interest to make either god or demon of these travelers As mentioned earlier to the picker appeal of these fragments and the corresponding fuller accounts lay in their authenticity beyond doubt and not in the so-called rsquo authorityrsquo some of the associated names may smell of So fragments related to even such issues of importance in their social life have not



found any place in the presented fragments associated with this note In continuation of the above the present picker is reminded of two fragments of perceptions again from a world

other than lsquosciencersquo relating to human nature in the context of persons known for their significant contributionrole in one or other field of human endeavour f ragments which were felt to be very insightful by the picker These are from autobiographical account of a popular (but reportedly not much favoured by literary critics of same language group ) English fiction-writer of 20th

PP century

bull We are shocked when we discover that great men were weak and petty dishonest or selfish sexually vicious vain or intemperate and many people think it disgraceful to disclose to the public its heroes failings There is not much to choose between men They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness of virtue and vice of nobility and baseness Some have more strength of character or more opportunity and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play but potentially they are the samehelliphelliphelliphelliphellip

-lsquoThe Summing Uprsquo By W Somerset Maugham (The New American Library of World Literature Inc New York 1951 First Published 1938) Page36

bull I suppose it is a natural prepossession of mankind to take people as though they were

homogeneous helliphellip It is disconcerting to find that the saviour of his country may be stingy or that the poet who has opened new horizons to our consciousness may be a snob Our natural egoism leads us to judge people by their relations to ourselves We want them to be certain things to us and for us that is what they are helliphelliphellip It is distressing to think that the composer of the quintet in the Meistersinger was dishonest in money matters and treacherous to those who had benefited him helliphellip I do not believe they are right who say that the defects of famous men should be ignored I think it is better that we should know them Then though we are conscious of having faults as glaring as theirs we can believe that that is no hindrance to our achieving also something of their virtues

lsquoThe Summing Uprsquo By W Somerset Maugham (The New American Library of World Literature

Inc New York 1951 First Published 1938) Page47

AT quintetTT isT a musical composition for five voices or five instruments Die Meistersinger von NuumlrnbergT (TThe Mastersingers of Nuremberg) is anT UTHoperaTHU inT three acts written and composed byT RichardUTH WagnerHTU (A German opera-composer of 19th

PP century well-known like

Beethoven Mozart etc across the world ) (httpenUTHwikipediaorgwikiDie_Meistersinger_von_NC3BCrnbergTHU )

Another set of two fragments presented below are like the above two related to essentially the same theme viz nature of possible public attitude to anyone having known significant contribution in any field of human endeavour But this time the fragments are from one among the travelers to the regions referred to throughout this note the only fragments here from such a traveler which are not related to the travelerrsquos journey to those regions The first one is about the widely noted practice of making a godidol of any human beingT

bull Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient opound excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings



through no fault and no merit of my own The cause opound this may well be the desire unattainable for many to understand the few ideas to which have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle

-Albert Einstein THE WORLD AS I SEE IT (Ideas amp Opinions Rupa ampCo India 1989 Pg9)

The second one below from the same person indirectly confirms the essence of the perception in above fragment by pointing out how empty shallow ephemeral and so worthless such idolization may ultimately turn out to be

bull The armament industry is indeed one of the greatest dangers that beset mankind It is the hidden evil power behind the nationalism which is rampant everywhere helliphellipYou believe that a word from me would suffice to get something done in this sphere What an illusion People flatter me as long as I do not get in their way But if I direct my efforts toward objects which do not suit them they immediately turn to abuse and calumny in defense of their interests And the onlookers mostly keep out of the limelight the cowards Have you ever tested the civil courage of your countrymen The silently accepted motto is Leave it alone and say nothing about it You may be sure that I shall do everything in my power along the lines you indicate but nothing can be achieved as directly as you think

Albert Einstein THREE LETTERS TO ERIENDS OF PEACE Mein Weltbild and Amsterdam Querido Verlag 1934 (Ideas amp Opinions Rupa amp Co India 1989TU Pg110)

But as mentioned above and which bears repetition the two sections of the fragments to which this is the personal note are not meant to reflect either the social-political perceptionsroleviewsopinionspositions (degrees awards academic post and the like) or the overall doingscharacter of travelers as persons These fragments are only related to as mentioned at the beginning experiences perceptions and the consequent understanding realizations insights at personal plane born out of their journeyexpeditions into the regions repeatedly referred to above

The picker also feels like remembering and reminding himself that even on the very themes these fragments are related to as far as possible fragments reflecting the lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo rather than opinionview have been picked up though in some cases these two (perceptionfeelings amp opinions ) are so mixed up in the same fragments they

cannot be separated And this leads to the 5thPP note below for a little clarification

End Note 5

lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo vs lsquoopinionrsquorsquoviewrsquo [Refer to footnote 13 Page 25]

In continuation of the last paragraph of the note just above the picker feels like adding that though the words lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo and the resultant lsquounderstandingconceptionrsquo or lack of it are often interchangeably used with the words lsquoopinionviewrsquo latter have fundamentally different implicationconnotation from the former This difference can be neglected only at the cost of clarity of onersquos own understanding related to any theme or experience When something external draws onersquos attention one cannot help having some or other perceptionfeeling at experiential level ie having



perceptionfeeling is not volitional but spontaneous It is true that under certain situation the two (lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo amp lsquoopinionviewrsquo) may get somewhat mixed up in actual expressioncommunication Even in that case also for the sake of better clarity it is worthwhile to try to disentangle one from the other as far as possible It is also true that lsquounderstandingconceptionrsquo if any originating from such lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo is not synonymous with the latter But validity and usefulness (or otherwise) respectively of any lsquounderstandingrsquo and lsquoconceptionrsquo relate even if partially to the corresponding lsquoperceptionfeelingrsquo And in that sense such lsquounderstandingconceptionrsquo can be termed directly

complementary to or associated with something which is not volitional And in that sense sometimes it may be necessary or of help to include both in the same communication

But opinionview the other name of judgment in ultimate sense is lsquoformedrsquo and is volitional though through long

conditioning these may and do sometimes come out spontaneously And here the notion of validity or usefulness or necessity strictly speaking is irrelevant except in some legal context viz context of court In fact picker has come to

realize rather late in life that one may try to learn if one so wishes not to have any opinion on many a matter one comes in contact with And here the picker is reminded of a saying attributed to Gautam Buddha which too the picker to his woe has come to know rather late in life and not earlier ldquoOpinions are like vermin Less the betterrdquo Such an utterance would be meaningless relating to lsquoperceptionsrsquofeeling or understanding The picker is aware that to some all these may sound somewhat hair-splitting analysis over inconsequential But to the picker it does not seem so

Following two fragments are examples of what the picker meant above by distinction between lsquoperceptionrsquorsquofeelingrsquo one hand and viewlsquoopinionrsquorsquojudgment viewlsquo on the other

To the picker the fragment ( a part of the fragment cited on Page 8 above) presented below contains primarily

lsquoperceptionrsquorsquofeelingrsquo relating to lsquoreligionrsquo though there are some views originating from such a perception too

bull hellipa third stage of religious experience hellip I shall call it cosmic religious feeling It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology hellip In my view it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it We thus arrive at a conception of the relation of science to religion very different from the usual one I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notionhelliphelliphellipA contemporary has said not unjustly that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people Albert EinsteinScience and Religion

But the fragment below from the same person is primarily (or so it seems to the picker) reflective of

lsquoopinionrsquorsquojudgmentrsquorsquoviewrsquo on analogous theme in broadest sense as above

bull hellipThe word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish



No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this These utilized interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people helliphellip

T Part of a letter from Albert Einstein (from Princeton in January 3 1954) to Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind in response to his receiving the book Choose Life The Biblical Call to Revolt About three years back the letter was put on auction in London and drew hefty sums from the rival contenders (httpnewsHTUsoftpediacomnewsScience-Without-Religion-is-Lame-Religion-Without-Science-is-Blind-85550shtml)UTH

Subhas
Note
Copyright (c) 2014 by Subhas Chandra Ganguly This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative Commons13Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative License (see httpcreativecommonsorglicensesby-nc-d30us) ) which permits anyone13(if heshe so wishes) to share this article ( including the appendices) provided (1) the distribution is only for noncommercial purposes13(2) the original author and the source are attributed and (3) no derivative works including any alterations are made For any13distribution this copyright statement should also accompany the article without any alteration and in its entirety



The frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant of recent advances A Eddington The Nature of the Physical World Introduction p xiv-xv(Macmillan 1929) The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science helliphelliphellipTo know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beautywhose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties ndash this knowledge this feeling hellip that is the core of the true religious sentiment In this sense and in this sense alone I rank myself among profoundly religious men Albert Einstein THE WORLD AS I SEE IT 1931 ( Ideas amp Opinions- Rupa amp Co India 1989Pg11)

Quantum theory provides us with a striking illustration of the fact that we can fully understand a connection though we can

only speak of it in images and parables ― Werner Heisenberg Positivism Metaphysics and Religion (1952 ) PHYSICS AND BEYOND ( Harper amp Row 1971) Page- 210

For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory regarding the limited applicability of such customary idealizations we must in factturn to quite other branches of science such as psychology or even to those kinds of epistemological problems with whichalready thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted when trying to harmonize our position as spectators andactors in the great drama of existence mdash Niels Bohr Address at the Physical and Biological Congress in memory of Luigi Galvani Bologna October 1937 (BIOLOGY AND ATOMIC PHYSICS Atomic Physics amp Human KnowledgeP20 - JOHN WILEY amp SONS INC1958)

To the present picker the above mentioned lsquoPICKEDUP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION lsquo2 presented together undertwo

sections NATURELIMITSREACH OF lsquoSCIENTIFICrsquo INSIGHTS amp lsquoSCIENCErsquo vs lsquoMYSTICISMrsquoWONDER and to which this is the personal note these fragments are from records or travelogues deeply revealing to the picker of some special variety of expedition These travelogues or records offer first hand accounts of a part of the direct experiences perceptions and the consequent understanding realizations insights in most general terms (ie not in specificities) as presented by a special kind of wonder-struck pioneer travelers (of known authenticity) back from what they report as their repeated thrilling journey-cum-expedition-exploration spread over last hundred years or so These journeys often beset with doubt trepidation faltering steps backtracking and the like was through according to their own description again regions covered with deep unending mystery These regions (not to be found in any tourist guidemap) are called deeper realityrecesses hidden behindinside the apparent physical reality of natureuniverse at macro orand micro level The unmistakably common (or so it seems to the present picker) strain across these travelogues is a overwhelming feeling of awe and wonder before the mystery of these regions and that of utter inadequacy of what one of the travelers(Albert Einstein) has described as ldquopoor [human] facultiesrdquo to unravel this bottomless mystery beyond its ldquogross formsrdquo

2 T But for a few fragments from other sources all other fragments cited in this note are from the two sections mentioned above It is worth

going to those two sections containing a much larger number of fragments only if the fragments contextually cited in this note are felt to have some appeal Those interested to get those two sections are welcome to ask for the same to the e-mail addresses given at the end of this personal note
















bull One may say the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility Albert Einstein PHYSICS AND REALITY 1936 ( Ideas and Opinions - Rupa ampCo India 198992)

























mdash Albert Einstein The World as I See It1931 (Ideas And Opinions Page 11 Rupa amp CoIndia1989)






































































































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note


















5 Resolution of Contradictionsrsquo httptheorycaltechedupeoplejhsstringsstring11html 6 The E l e g a n t U n i v e r s e By Brian Greene (Vintage Books1999) Chapter 1 Tied Up with String ) 7 The E l e g a n t U n i v e r s e By Brian Greene (Vintage Books1999) Chapter 1 Tied Up with String Page 3)





























































































































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note



























































































































of such branches instead of standing on their own leg sometimes yield before the hoopla of lsquoscientific-agersquo and to earn some lsquorespectabilityrsquo in that age begin much in the style of the practitioner of some other branches (rsquosocial sciencesrsquo) referred to in one footnote above( ) to attach the lsquohonorificrsquo label lsquosciencersquo to their beloved branch(es) That of course is totally misleading and so un-called unwarranted and unacceptable












































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note





























































































































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note





























































































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX








































3 above The translation (অনবাদ )










































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note








discoveries in atomic physics are not in the nature of things wholly unfamiliar wholly unheard of or new Even in our own culture they have a history and in Buddhist and Hindu thought a more considerable and central place What we shall find is an exemplification an encouragement and a refinement of old wisdomrsquo Julius Robert Oppenheimer TU Science and the Common Understanding (Simon And Schuster Inc New York 1954)-10









































































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note








































































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note






































































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX
























































5 above The translation (অনবাদ )


























End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note






















































































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note




















Mehra (ed) p 244 Tao of Physics-FCapra 3 Chap 10 The Unity Of All Things]























































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note






























































P 345-346)








































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note






































































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note


















































APPENDIX































































রবীনদৰসঙগীত - গীিতবতানিদবতীয় খনড [িবশবভারতী গৰনথনিবভাগমাঘ ১৪১২ পঃ ৩৪৩] 6 (footnote12) above The translation (অনবাদ )



















End Note No 3


























PP century






















End Note 5





















Subhas
Note









































APPENDIX


















































































End Note No 3


























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End Note 4 Perception(s)views unrelated to travelersrsquo Journey into the unknown are not included in the presented fragments [Refer to footnote 13]











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A NOTE ON SOME PICKED UP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION ─From Authentic Records Of Journeys, Into...

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Transcript of A NOTE ON SOME PICKED UP FRAGMENTS OF PERCEPTION ─From Authentic Records Of Journeys, Into...