Krishna And Kalyavan

Today I was watching Mahabharata on TV. Today's episode was about Krishna guiding Kalyavan towards his (Kalyavan's) death. For dummies like me who are wondering who Kalyavan was.. He was a bad man. 

Arjuna is perplexed at Krishna, who instead of fighting Kalyavan, actually withdraws towards a cave.

Krishna explains to Arjun why he maneuvered Kalyavan into a cave where a Rishi was doing Tapas completely covered by a cloth. Kalyavan, who has sworn to kill Krishna, thinks that it's Krishna who is hiding under the cloth and kicks the person inside the cloth cover, thus waking up the Rishi who, in his wrath, kills Kalyavan.

Krishna explains that this is fate, that Kalyavan was fated to die this way. True, perhaps. God of course created all of us and is omniscient. He knows what has happened and what will happen to every thing and living being in the universe(s).

If I wrote a software program, I would probably know the meaning of each statement and perhaps even know how efficient each part of the program and which part would consume a lot of resources and so on.

But then if I start ascribing piety and evil to each component of the program, it is weird. I created the program - I am responsible for how each part of the program performs. I cannot distance myself and say "this is evil".

If destiny is true, how can we ever ascribe good and evil to people around us? We are destined to behave in a particular way. People are not responsible for what they are destined to do. Our behavior itself, good or bad, is an "Act of god". 

How do people believe in destiny (and hence, in absence of free will) and also simultaneously believe that some people are good and others are evil and that they are responsible for what they are? 

I am surprised - how does Krishna believe in this fallacy? He is supposed to be knowledgeable, if not, an avatar of God.

I am shaking my head. Some things don't seem to make sense.

Quote from http://cicn.vanderbilt.edu/images/news/psycho.pdf: 

"Gage’s story became a classic of neuroscience because it revealed that behavior, which seems a matter of personal will, is fundamentally biological."

Quote from http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/intro.asp#.VSE5ltyUdrw: 

"Everyone emerges from childhood with one of the nine types dominating their personality, with inborn temperament and other pre-natal factors being the main determinants of our type. This is one area where most all of the major Enneagram authors agree—we are born with a dominant type. Subsequently, this inborn orientation largely determines the ways in which we learn to adapt to our early childhood environment. It also seems to lead to certain unconscious orientations toward our parental figures, but why this is so, we still do not know. In any case, by the time children are four or five years old, their consciousness has developed sufficiently to have a separate sense of self. Although their identity is still very fluid, at this age children begin to establish themselves and find ways of fitting into the world on their own."

I had shared these thoughts with BR, a friend of mine about a month back. I got a reply today. I am posting the same here..

The other day i did not answer 2 or 3 of your questions. (1) Destiny and Freewill. (2) The very first creation by God. (3) Our actions - God's or ours?

(1) What you meet in life is Destiny. How you meet it is Freewill. Destiny may or may not be subject to change. It is the choice of the individual but however it is, it is predestined only. An illustration-In a temple, people receive "prasad" at the end of their prayers Irrespective of its taste,it is consumed by one and all WITHOUT COMMENTS. The reason being that it is considered as God's Blessing.Similarly,our experiences in life are 'prasad' only. Whether they are favorable or unfavorable to us, they have to be consumed (swallowed if they are unpleasant) WITHOUT COMMENTS. They are His Blessings only, some in disguise, for unknown reasons. For one with a correct understanding, a life full of sorrow will not anger him/her because he/she knows that whatever happens IS for their ultimate good. (2) As followers of Sri Aadi Sankaracharya who propagated Advaita philosophy, we all are part of (Ansh, in sanskrit) The One and only Reality. According to this philosophy, the Reality or Truth is only One Consciousness or Awareness. There is no duality meaning creation, world etc. is only a myth. Even the Trinity- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are CREATED because of the will of The One Supreme Being. This Supreme Being is beginningless and endless, birthless and deathless. Hence, the question of the first creation does not arise at all. But even then, we have been given the names of the first couple in Brahma's creation as Manu and Satrupa. It can be taken that our presence here is because of them who were the first couple after creation to beget progeny.
(3) Whatever are one's experiences in a lifetime is according to the doctrine of karma.The law of karma is the application of cause and effect in this world. One's happiness or suffering are the inevitable consequences of actions in a previous life. Similarly, actions performed in this life determine those of the next. Hence, the pains of this life are self-inflicted, they have to be accepted with calmness and resignation.Thus one is free to rise or fall in their evolution.If we learn to live rightly here, we are spared grievous suffering in a future existence on whichever plane we may land. The rewards and punishments are not by the whims of God, which most of us believe to be.". I reap what I sow." It applies equally to one and all without even a trace of partiality. God is not responsible for our actions, He gives results to actions governed by the law. Hence He is responsible for the results of actions.
Another clarification;
Sri Krishna is considered to be 'Poornaavataar' among all Incarnations, meaning, A complete Divine Incarnation-human +divine at its fullest. He also behaved in compliance to the Supreme, not according to His wishesJust as we worship our own religion but respect other religions as well, just as we love our own mother but respect others' mothers as well, we must adore our favourite deity without an aversion for other deities (of other religions too)..

Hmmm. BR, What do I make of this?

Additional reading:

1. http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/03/criminals-who-are-they.html
2. http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2014/10/krishna-villain.html

Intelligence Types - Sensing And Intuition

I used to think intelligence has got to do with iNtuition. True, but this is abstract intelligence - meaning an ability to infer, figure things out through induction or deduction about abstract things.

Solving problems effectively can also be through Sensing. Today I was watching a movie "Shanghai Knights" where two guys try to get into a closed house by picking the lock - supposedly a difficult lock. The third guy in the group throws a stone on the glass door and helps all of them get in. It started me thinking.

I am also reminded of an incident in one of Asterix comic books. Asterix is probably N while his dear friend Obelix is, well, not so. Once while in Rome, incognito, searching for a person, Asterix keeps thinking trying to figure out a way to determine where the person could be. Obelix meanwhile gets hold of a guard and shakes and slaps him up and asks him where that person is and the guard blurts out the location. Asterix watches this incident dumbfounded.

When you want to get a done, you can use your senses and figure out an effective solution instead of trying to do the abstract theoretical way.

A friend of mine has a son and a daughter. The son is an S and the daughter (I think is) an N. When my gave a problem to her two children, the daughter thought for some time (using her N perhaps) and decided she couldn't solve it. And stopped making any further effort. The son was confidence personified. He knew he would get it. (Granted, I don't know whether the son or the daughter solved it finally.)

Being intimately aware of the environment through his senses, an S has immense information to solve the problem. Many an N perhaps is incapable of solving small problems which is a piece of cake for an S.

While S and N are called perceiving functions, perhaps they are problem solving functions also. Each one provides a different kind of method to address problems. Perhaps the S way is unsophisticated. And perhaps the N spends a lot of time trying to solve simple problems. 

There is a story in Hindu mythology. Shiva and Parvati hold a competition for their two sons Ganesh and Kartjik. The one to go around the world first will be the winner. Karthik had a peacock as his vehicle. And he climbed on it and got going fast. Ganesh had only a mouse as his vehicle. He remembered that a person's world is his parents. So he circled his parents and declared himself the winner. His parents couldn't fault his way.

There are 2 ways to get get hold of an invention. 

• Invent it yourself, the hard way, the way Hank Rearden did in Atlas Shrugged. 
• Or blackmail the inventor to give it to you - as the antagonists did in the same novel. Rearden was an N. The latter were S.

S is good at finding an informal shortcut using his senses. An N is good at improving efficiency using classic rigor. An S may make a better lawyer than an N.

Problems can be solved using either of S or N. People use whichever comes easily to them.

I can't help but wonder whether the points above could be attributed to P and J instead of to S and N.

Additional reading:

• http://www.celebritytypes.com/blog/2013/06/8-common-typing-mistakes/
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/02/intuitive-or-sensing.html
• http://personalitycafe.com/myers-briggs-forum/44315-reversing-stereotypes-smart-sensors-dumb-intuitives-2.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
• http://www.slayerment.com/which-smartest-mbti-type
• http://www.slayerment.com/blog/becoming-attorney-game-life
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/03/feeling-or-thinking.html

Protest By Women In India About Rapes - India's Daughter

A friend sent me this picture.

This is a wrong analogy. Do we remember the Muslim guy who was eaten by a tiger in Delhi zoo because he fell inside? the response in the picture forgets that the environment outside is looking to eat you... just like a tiger or a thief or a rapist.

Just like it's unsafe to go drive a bike without a helmet or leave the house unlocked, it is unsafe for women to venture out in skimpy clothes. This doesn't mean that thieves have a right to steal from unlocked houses or for people to rape etc.

We are confusing culpability and safety. Plenty of houses are robbed when the house wasn't empty in the first place. But you won't go on a tour leaving your house unlocked, will you? And then be indignant that your house has a right not to be "molested"? 

The persons who rape or steal have something wrong in them. Something wrong in their wiring. Read this to get an idea about criminals.

But it behooves us to take necessary precautions and keep our doors locked and cover ourselves while outside. Expecting that thieves or rapists should have high morality is impractical.

This is not an issue solely relevant to women. If men venture into dangerous areas unmindful of dangers and expecting "tigers" to not eat them (or criminals not to rob / murder them) because they don't eat tigers - doesn't sound sensible. 

Some men, the criminals, are no different from tigers. 

If a man got eaten in the Sunderbans or killed in a Maoist area, what is the police going to do? Arrest all the Maoists and tigers? Prudence is essential.

Additional reading:

1. http://swarajyamag.com/culture/indias-daughter-the-problems-i-see-with-it/
2. http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/politically-incorrect/mere-sapnon-ki-rani-not-to-be-wooed-but-raped-killed/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOI
3. http://m.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/ban-on-indias-daughter-no-leg-to-stand-on/article6972021.ece/

Thinking Woman And Feeling Man

http://www.thepeopleprocess.com/articles/thinking-woman-feeling-man.php

But I don't agree that F makes a man a wimp, that he won't have killer instinct. It is my strong belief that F is what makes a person (man or woman) a go- getter, if combined with a strong Mars (energy). And Mars has nothing to do with T.

Look at the CEO's, rapists, murderers and see if you find T there or F there.

Tests To Find Your MBTI Type

Tests to find your type (in order of how I was comfortable taking them, most first. Comfortable meaning the options make it easy for me to choose with less ambiguity/doubt):

• http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
• http://www.worldpersonality.com/test/#btn
• http://kisa.ca/personality/
• http://www.mypersonality.info/test-personality/
• http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
• http://similarminds.com/cgi-bin/jung2.pl

How do you find out dominant, auxiliary, tertiary and inferior functions: 

The dominant and the inferior function will both be introverted or both extroverted depending on whether a person is IXYZ or EXYZ. The auxiliary and tertiary functions will both be the opposite (meaning extroverted for an I and introverted for an E).

T, F are the judging functions while N, S are the perceiving functions. 

         Extraverted function                           Dominant Function

If a person is J: Judging function Y        If a person is I: Introverted function

if a person is P: Perceiving function X    If a person is E: Extraverted function 

Example 1: INFP

• Because of the P, the person will have the X (=N in this case) as the extraverted function.
• Y (=F in this case) will be the introverted function. 
• Thus the person has Ne and Fi as dominant and auxiliary functions.
• The dominant function will be one of X or Y and will be that one which is introverted because the person is an I. Thus Fi is the dominant function(and its mirror opposite Te as the inferior function).
• Ne will be the auxiliary function (and its mirror opposite Si as the tertiary function).

Example 2: ESTP

• Because of the P, the person will have the X (=S in this case) as the extraverted function.
• Y (=T in this case) will be the introverted function. 
• Thus the person has Se and Ti as dominant and auxiliary functions.
• The dominant function will be one of X or Y and will be that one which is extraverted because the person is an E. Thus Se is the dominant function(and its mirror opposite Ni as the inferior function).
• Ti will be the auxiliary function (and its mirror opposite Fe as the tertiary function).

Example 3: ENFJ

• Because of the J, the person will have the Y (=F in this case) as the extraverted function.
• X (=N in this case) will be the introverted function. 
• Thus the person has Fe and Ni as dominant and auxiliary functions.
• The dominant function will be one of X or Y and will be that one which is extraverted because the person is an E. Thus Fe is the dominant function (and its mirror opposite Ti as the inferior function).
• Ni will be the auxiliary function (and its mirror opposite Se as the tertiary function).

I have shown the details for each of the MBTI types here. The data is presented in a tabular format in Google spreadsheets and you can play around by filtering on various columns (not recommended for F's!)

If someone has Si (perceiving function) as the dominant function, what type is he? Because the dominant function has i, the person is introverted, X=S. So,The person is ISYZ, we need to find Y and Z. And Y is the extraverted function. If the person is J, the extraverted function will be the judging function (F/T) and the introverted function will be the perceiving function (N/S). Therefore he is a J. Hence the person is ISYJ, where Y, the judging function, can be T or F. Both ISTJ and ISFJ have Si as the dominant function.

Additional reading:

1. To find your enneagram type: http://pstypes.blogspot.in/2009/11/pstypes-enneagram-test.html
2. http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
3. Sample test result: http://www.worldpersonality.com/result/?chksum=848ab2c5bc5b9335bd69d47585c9f6ce#btn

INTJ

Understanding INTJ's (MBTI)

Posts on understanding: 

INTJ's: "The Secret Lives of INTJs" (this is a book), 2, 3, http://annesquared.com/2013/07/30/intj-humor-wit-and-sarcasm-or-we-are-not-known-for-tact/ (some nice articles in this site).

A quote on INTJ from http://www.typelogic.com/intj.html "This (issues in interpersonal relationships) happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. :-) This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete', paralleling that of many Fs -- only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness."

This is one of the most accurate articles I have read about this personality: http://tuskasc.com/things-that-you-dont-know-about-an-intj-1/ (parts 2, 3 also.)

Quotes from this:

"People who play mind games, engage in power play, act superior, vain, superficial, liars, cheaters, over smart people or plain a**holes turn them off easily and they avoid them at all costs."

"Even in adolescence they are regarded as "old souls" due to their austerity, seriousness and for being obsessive perfectionists."

"INTJ's seem to get respect and admiration without trying, wherever they go, even though they hardly interact. However other attention seekers might not like this and try to challenge them in some ways to challenge their superiority. The clever people see their innate fairness, consider this as their [INTJ's] weakness and they try to trap the INTJ's by playing mind games or verbal sparring. They try to belittle / defame / accuse them when they are perceived as threat. The INTJ's realize their true intentions quickly, loathes the petty and trivial interests of such people and acts accordingly. Depending on the situation, in such circumstances the INTJ might erupt into great rage and do shocking things in complete uncontrolled blind fury where they don't spare anybody nearby."

"An adult INTJ operates in two modes all the time - thinking or analyzing. He can be completely oblivious of his surroundings when he is in the "thinking mode". When he is in the "analysis mode" he is actively observing (Se) and noticing every small detail around him. Then this information is fed into his imagination."

"Others try to use an INTJ by carefully crafted lies and manipulation. Hence their acts of manipulation treachery, lying, cheating, betrayal disgusts an INTJ and makes them lose their faith in humanity. They may consider leaving everything and seek a reclusive life in some unknown corner of the world where nobody would bother them."

I am exceedingly surprised that the author has typed Ayn Rand as ISTJ considering that the heroes in Atlas Shrugged did exactly what is mentioned in the previous para and the author obviously identifies herself with the heroes. By no stretch of imagination can I think of Ayn Rand as ISTJ.

Why INTJ's are thought of as a**holes without sensitivity: https://plus.google.com/+WillBurns/posts/CqfBKyKgGiG - very nice.

A colorful set of do's and dont's while dealing with INTJ's are here. A few are listed below.

Do you really, truthfully want to know if those jeans make your ass look fat? Normal person’s response: “Um, no, you look fine. Really.” Honest person’s response: “Well… maybe a different belt would help?” INTJ’s response: “No, it’s not the jeans that make your ass look fat; it’s your fat ass that makes your ass look fat.”DON’T take 100 words to say what could have been said in 10. Content-free speech will cause an INTJ to zone out faster than repeating yourself.

A nice quote from https://psyphics.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/infj-vs-infp/

"Ni searches for depth, meaning and significance in the world. It can be thought of an elastic web of insights that is constantly being refined and expanded. The goal of the function is to filter out biases and refine perception to arrive at the “one truth”. Monism, the notion that there is one truth is at the core of Ni. For this reason, it may be mistaken for Ti, especially in INTJs and INFJs with under-developed Fe. However, Ti can be conceptualized like a solid grid of principles and rules that serve as a filter function to determine if the provided data is true/valid or false/invalid. The difference here lies in the fact that Ti works similar to a mathematical function, an input is given, Ti processes the logic and returns an output. Ni, on the other hand works similar to a fine tuning radio or a camera lens that is constantly readjusted to get the right data. When it is not active in the external world, it enriches the INFJs internal world with imagination, philosophical insight, fantasy, poetic ideas and a never-ending curiosity about why things are the way they are."

INTJ's are usually better described by Enneagram type 5. One might want to check that.

Additional (excellent, especially the first few links) reading:

• https://emspeaks.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/how-not-to-be-hated-by-an-intj/: Very nice
• http://theventurouslife.blogspot.in/2012/12/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-intj.html
• http://thomaslauer.com/start/How_to_handle_an_INTJ
• http://www.quora.com/What-does-it-feel-like-to-be-in-a-relationship-with-an-INTJ
• http://tuskasc.com/traits-of-the-mbti-intuitive-and-uranus/ - Uranus in astrology as the cause of Intuition (conclusion about Uranus' placement didn't make sense to me)
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/04/fi-vs-fe-mbti.html
• http://www.infpblog.com/relationships/myth-of-the-soulmate/
• http://www.intpexperience.com/
• http://www.alansjourney.com/perfect-partner-for-an-intp/
• http://theventurouslife.blogspot.in/2012/12/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-intj.html
• http://uncabob.blogspot.in/2011/01/how-to-seduce-intj.html

Feeling Or Thinking

Just like Sensing and Intuition (in MBTI) are different, the judging and perceiving preferences are also very different. Thinking and Feeling have similar differences:

1. The question: Is there a purpose is asked by a Thinking person. To a feeling person having a logical purpose is unnecessary. While an aesthetic appreciation is fundamental to an F. 
2. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, the opinion that something seems "contradictory" occurs to a thinking person. An F would not have the need to be rationally consistent. A contradiction is taken to be a serious issue by a T. An F does have contradiction as part of his value system.
3. "Have faith" are key words of an F. 
4. F's would hate to slot people and objects into defined categories. T's would be naturally inclined to slotting.
5. F's (especially extroverted and perceiving) would come across as very empathetic. T's (especially introverted and Judging) would come across as unempathetic. A Judging personality is much better off combined with a F than with a T. FJ's would come across as more pleasant than TJ's.
6. F's (especially extraverted ones) would make great lawyers. T's would make good judges.
7. An F is usually extremely sensitive to physical pain and there is high need for comfort. A T usually is/does not.
8. An F knows the value of packaging and communicating a message appropriately. This does not come naturally to a T and it's not part of his value system.
9. F has affection, love, fear, greed etc. T does not feel these much. T respects.
10. When asked to compare two things, T is likely to use a tabular representation (unlike the F who is generally uncomfortable with the process of identifying parameters where the two things differ). An F is more likely to give an essay type answer.
11. When someone mentions a problem, a T would try to find a solution for the problem. An F is likely to say something context independent like (in Tamil) "உங்க  நல்ல மனசுக்கு எல்லாம் நல்லபடியா நடக்கும்" or (in English) "I don't know why such things happen to good people. But be patient. Things will definitely work out for you.". I say it's context independent because it can be used no matter what the nature of the problem is.
12. Today i was watching the movie Jayamkondan where a mother says about her daughter "அவளுக்கு தர்கரீதியா பேசத்தெரியும். அனால் தர்மரீதியா பேசத்தெரியாது" - meaning the daughter can argue a point well but she doesn't know right from wrong. I guess she implied that her daughter was a T and not an F. I don't agree that F are more moral than T. They definitely feel more for a person's problem than a T would. But that doesn't make them more moral. 
13. T is perfectly happy if a rule (even a complicated one but one needs no human intervention / interpretation) can handle difficult situations. F will be aghast thinking of a rule being empowered with handling complex situations.

These do not mean that F people are in any way inferior to T or vice versa. The two are different just as left handed and right handed people are different. Shaking hands is just a little more awkward between the two.

In schools, we encourage children to be J's regardless of whether a child is naturally a J or a P. P nature is discouraged in students. This is rather unfortunate. It is the P nature which helps people to become more adaptable and adjust to circumstances. I wish we had a curriculum in schools which appreciated appreciation of the P nature. J's who had been achievers academically in school have a hard time coming to terms with the open ended nature of the world we live in. It's a severe shock to J's which they are unprepared for. 
I wish the people who define school curriculum take this into account. Adult life doesn't need as much of finishing all homework in time and passing exams. Granted, a J student cannot be changed to a P but at least he needs to know what he hasn't got and that P is very important for a happy life.

Additional reading:

• http://introspective-to-a-fault.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-word-on-empathy.html - Waitress - Manager example is nice.
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/02/intuitive-or-sensing.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/02/entrepreneurs-and-employees.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
• http://www.slayerment.com/blog/becoming-attorney-game-life

Logic Puzzle

What is the logic here? https://fbcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-0/1743548_10152204070577777_1459267932_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoiYiJ9&oh=94cd56a08a6fdf1d01458586a2dd0046&oe=558646A3&__gda__=1433626748_be2565e5be6b98f90a1644b4162b38e7

ATF

ATF - fuel for aircrafts - price has increased to about Rs 50 per liter as per today's news. And I read today that 737 aircraft fuel economy is about 0.17nautical mile/liter = 0.31km/liter. And this translates to a fuel cost of Rs 150/km for the aircraft.

And they say, fuel costs are about half the total cost. So the total cost is about Rs 300/km. Passenger tickets cost about Rs 6/km for travel within India. So if each aircraft carries 50 passengers paying full fare, the airline breaks even. Since airlines seem to be performing poorly, are 100 seater aircrafts carrying less than 50 to 60 paid passengers?