RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Genius, said Arthur Schopenhauer, the great philosopher, is the ‘completest’ objectivity; a decided predominance of knowledge over will. It holds up to us the magic glass of all that is essential in the clearest light. So much so, what is accidental, or foreign, is automatically left out. Genius, added Schopenhauer, is not merely […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR The idea of being conscious and having sensory qualities, or perception, are independent of each other. This is autonomous of the sensory qualities that we all know — physical stimulus, physiological response, communication, psychological, or emotional experience. What does this signify? That our sensory qualities, whatever their character, or essence, are distinctive of […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It is rightly said that objects imitate life at the material level. In addition, they fulfil a psychological need. This prompts us to reorganise ourselves with good things in our wardrobe, or new shelves, too. It is, therefore, not surprising that one may opt for an expensive mobile phone as a substitute for […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Sachin Tendulkar was one of cricket’s greatest ever composers. He brought to the game a new symphony — the music of the spheres. The first lyric for him took place through initiation; the second in execution. It was from there the song and stroke of the willow followed — thanks to his own […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Life, in simple terms, is wholeness of being. In ancient cultures, the butterfly, the exquisite glider beyond compare, symbolised such wholeness. The wise, old Greeks contended that the gorgeous butterfly represented our soul, the symbol of life and its wholeness. They also believed that the multihued insect’s decorative wings represented change. One could […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Our brain has a fundamental influence on our ‘mindful’ experience, not to speak of conscious responsiveness. It has a demonstrable pattern, or synergetic symmetry, no less. Yet, when consciousness is ‘measured’ in conventional parlance, the emergence of conscious experience seems mystifying. The argument is simple; also profound. While it is agreed that our […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR You are what you are isn’t as simple as it sounds. This is because who we are is based not just on our identities, but also our dreams, hopes, intelligence, memories, the world around us, and neurobiology. Neurobiology is the study of the nervous system and how the brain works, its anatomy, physiology, […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR We should not — in a few things — outgrow the ‘child’ residing in us when we grow up. Kids, for instance, have an unfettered gift to expressing their emotions. Psychologists say they possess a distinctive ability to react to actors’ emotions on television. They also seem to instinctively recognise facial expressions and […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR For a man who did not relish writing, Octavio Paz, Mexico’s most renowned poet, simply savored and enjoyed its result, be it plaudits, or brickbats. He never used the good old typewriter, the word processor, or computer. He always wrote by hand — the creator’s most simple, yet powerful tool — the oracle […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It’s obvious that vitamins and minerals ought to be a part of our wellness cover — like life insurance — in health and illness. Here’s why — vitamins are a cluster of organic nutrients found in plants and animals. They are called essential vitamins. They are vital for regulating the chemical progressions that […]