Why is everything a competition?
Everything is a competition in life. To make the most money. To be the smartest person, or to have the best job. To go out and protest so that your views will be heard instead of someone else's. But my question is why. Why do people feel the need to compete? I'm your average guy. I love sports. Playing, watching, cheering. But I never figured out why people need the competition. Everybody wants to be the best or have the best. Why can't they just enjoy what they have?
What are the differences between childhood now and 50 years ago?
1.we got spanking for being bad compare to today's 2.we had to go to school or get spanking 3.we did our chores and homework and went to bed after some tv 4.don't remember meds stuff but remember getting shots in my butt 5.all kinds of chores 6.didn't have money to spend 7.wore hand me downs Hope I help....=)
What is the relation between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu?
Sri Shankaracharaya ji once explained “Shivaya Vishnu roopaya , shivarupaya Vishnuve , shivashca hirdhayagam Vishnu , Vishnuscha hridayagam shive “ Meaning :Shiva is in the form of Vishnu, as Vishnu is in the form of Shiva . Shiva is in the heart of Vishnu as Vishnu is in the heart of Shiva. ONE CANNOT be without the OTHER.They complete each other's existence and that of Universe too.Lord Vishnu controls the phenomenon of Operating and sustaining the Universe once created by Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva destroys/ changes forms of Universe to provide path for the next creation. It is pointless to compare the trinity of Brahma ji, Vishnu ji and Shiva ji as Universe stops existing the moment any one of the three phenomenon is not in place as every moment the Universe is sustained , created and destroyed. We can see the three lords as bodily manifestation of these three phenomenon . They exist together and at the end of it all the whole cosmos goes back to Shunya. Speaking of the relationship in between them, it is best explained through a few examples:Vishnu Ji in the avatar of Lord Rama prayed to Lord Shiva at Rameshwaram before going to war with Demon Ravana, Lord Shiva being also the God of war and destruction.There is also this story where it is believed that Lord Vishnu meditates and makes offerings to Lord Shiva every day. Amongst the various offerings to the Shiva Linga he also offers 1000 Kamal (lotuses). Once, while going through his daily rituals Lord Vishnu went short of one Lotus flower , Lord Vishnu then ripped off one of his eye and offered it to the Shiva linga as the 1000th Lotus . ( Lord Vishnu is also known as 'Kamal-nayan', the one with Lotus like eyes)Lord Shiva was saved from his own devotee Bhasmasur by Lord Vishnu in Mohini form. The story goes like this, appeased by Bhasmasur's austerities Lord Shiva decided him to grant a boon of his choice . Bhasmasur asked for the power to burn anything he places his hand on. As soon as the boon was granted he tried to put his hand on Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva had already granted the boon and hence would have to burn himself had Bhasmasur succeeded in doing so, but, doing so would mean the end of whole cosmos. Lord Vishnu then in his Mohini form came to the rescue and made bhasmasur put his hand on his own head and thus got Lord Shiva out of this tricky situation.
What advice would you give to a Computer Science major student that you wish you were given when you started learning Computer Science?
Never rely on your education only. Classes are can sometimes be too bland or too theoretical. A lot of CS programs don't even teach what you will do working in the industry.Take Math and problem solving seriously. You use the same skills in programming every day.Focus on the big picture generally - learn the big concepts of computer science, don't get caught up in language specific details.Polish your communication skills. Never excuse yourself to not be social and outgoing because you are a 'computer science nerd'.Work on a balanced healthy lifestyle in eating and exercising. Do not give the excuse again of 'I'm a computer science nerd'.Work on side projects/other interests. The best programmers don't only program. They learn about other topics they are interested in. Programming/Computer science is only a tool like writing or speaking; it must be applied to some area. Forget GPA. Keep above a 3.0 or 3.5 if you must. Work on programming Go to hackathons. Two points for this - socializing, networking, working on projects.Always try and apply for things you don't think you are qualified for. Do not skip out on the career fair, especially if you are a freshman. Be informed of programs like Google Engineering Practicum and Google Summer of Code.Talent is overrated as always. Think of the best programmer you know. A year of hard work can put you on their level.Start competitive programming as early as possible. Master one programming language for interviews.Concepts in computer science aren't mastered in one go. Repetition is important. Consider being a TA for a class. Patience is key to intuition.Have an online presence and blog.Work on hot area topics. Make some apps in data science, machine learning, computer vision, or map reduce just for experience.Work on a fast breadth-first search rather than a fast depth-first search. Do research. Then work for a big company. Then work for a startup. Then work on nonprofits/open source.
Atheism :the belief that there was Nothing and Nothing happened to Nothing?
@welltravelledprog - When you look at a lot of creatures such as zebras , turtles , butterflies , bees , lady bugs , leopards ,etc you will notice amazing color patters drawn onto them.Who drew those? Does nature have a “taste” in colors , and does it know which colors go together nicely? Does it know how to draw geometric and beautiful shapes ?
Will we ever know what happens after death?
We already know what happens at death. We lose consciousness, our brains die and can't be restarted and it's over. It's just that some of us don't want to believe this is true. My mother died tragically when I was 18 and a lot of people told me she was still alive in the spirit realm to make me feel better. I investigated this carefully. I read widely about it. I made friends with university occultists and christians and went to prayer services and seances. I watched people cast spells and opened myself to god. For a little while I believed that my dead mother had sent me a message. Then I overheard a friend admit that he had faked the message in a seance to make me feel better. It was all like this. All fakery, self delusion and wishful thinking. You just need to be strong and accept the truth that there is no after life over the comfortable delusion that there is.I am not claiming that I can prove that there is no afterlife. I am simply saying that it's a big claim and needs solid evidence before I can believe in it. If it was true then there should be lots of communication from the dead to the living but there is no evidence of any. Instead there is lots of evidence of people fooling themselves and others with fakery.Some people say that reports of Near Death Experiences show that there is life after death but medical researchers have been able to repeatedly create near death experiences in people who are not dying. This is compelling evidence that NDE's happen in a living brain that is shutting down not something that happens after the brain has ceased to function. See http://io9.com/5916403/how-to-ha...
Is “Art of Living” a scam?
I have been to the art of living's happiness progrm a year ago. Let me tell you this, the day I attended the first class, I was extremely impressed on how the teachers were so smiling and “wise”. I was in a very bad place then and I was desperately seeking for help. So when I came across these people, it felt like magic. (I even wrote a article for them on how amazing they were, if only I knew)Even after I finished the happiness course I continued to stay in touch with the teachers and volunteered for one of their flash mobs. Where I went around in the park asking people to join this organisation as it would make all their sorrows disappear. (My sorrows didn't. But I refused to believe that the organisation was fake because I was hell bent on finding someone to cling onto and a place to fit in.)That day, as I was walking around in the park I started to feel weird. The fact that I knew I was lying to people and yet went around telling people that the course was magic! There were a lot of volunteers too. The day passed and I went back home feeling bad and ashamed.But my last straw was when I recently talked to my teacher. I receive magazines every month or so from the organization and I read an article where I found a paragraph that claimed people who are very comfortable being alone are egoistic. So I messaged the teacher with a screenshot asking the teacher to clarify my confusion on this statement. Do you know what the teacher said?“Stay alone and be happy, it can happen in advanced course (another one of their “magical” courses) come and do.”That's it. No discussion. Nothing. I sent the teacher a huge paragraph on this topic and that was the reply I got. It seems like the teachers there are hell bent on getting people to join the courses than to actually help them!I might be biased by my experiences but nonetheless those are my experiences. Ever since then, I stopped having any kind of faith in the art of living organisation. I say, go experience it yourself and then come to a conclusion. But according to me, its fake.