What are the 3 monkeys doing?

One monkey is covering its eyes, signifying seeing no evil; one monkey is covering its ears, signifying hearing no evil; one monkey is covering its mouth, signifying speaking no evil. Obviously, the monkey which covers its eyes is shown something evil but it chooses not to see it. This is in line with the original Chinese version of the phrase - see only what is righteous to see (非礼勿视).

The translated English phrase can, however, literally mean seeing no evil in things other people deem evil.

Biased sensing and biased opinion is how I become biased.

Is Nature moral?

Nature has room for tremendous diversity. It allows herbivores that feed on plants to exist. It also allows carnivores that feed on animals to exist. Why can't all animals feed on just plants? Nature is a creator and a destroyer. To me, Nature is amoral, that is neither moral nor immoral.

What are the channels of morality?

Jonathan Haidt proposes the Moral Foundation Theory in which humans are born with a first draft of morality consisting of 6 channels, namely:

1) care for others
2) fairness
3) liberty
4) loyalty
5) respect for authority
6) purity

He finds that liberal or left-wing people tend to value care, fairness and liberty more and value loyalty, respect for authority and purity less. The conservative or right-wing people tend to value all aspect somewhat equally. In other words, liberals care more about equality and individualism while conservatives care more about order and conformity.

What does Dao De (道德) mean?

Dao means the way; De means morality. There are 1001 ways to Rome. Each way entails its own set of morality. I shall find a way to Rome that best suits my morality and talent.

What does the tree canopy tell me?

I can see that there are 1001 ways to reach the top of the canopy and receive the most sunlight. Those leaves at the bottom of the canopy do not get sufficient sunlight and are easily harvested by animals. So what do I do? Perhaps, the next article can give me a clue.

Why does Buddha meditate?

By suppressing his senses and will through meditation, Buddha is able to achieve enlightenment. Is he trying to tell me that there is Nature lying inside me and I am able to let it surface if I can cut off the distraction from the environment or be unresponsive to the environment?

Is system a life form?

What is a system? A system is anything that exists in a physical or abstract form or in both forms. It has a natural tendency to grow and expand and become complex and subsequently fail. It can be a non-living or living object, a society, organisation, institution, business entity, or even ideas like philosophy and religion.

All systems exhibit Nature and have a life span. All systems have another common characteristics. They interact with their environment.

Is Nature creationist or evolutionist?

Nature is a creator and a transformer. Hence, Nature is both creationist and evolutionist.

Does ancestor of bird have a will to fly?

Velociraptor looks very much like modern bird. It is probably able to run very fast and has wing-like upper limbs. Supplemented by these given talent, the will to fly makes flying more probable especially when there is a strong wind which serves as the right condition.

Does fish have a will to come out of water?

Mudskipper is a fish-like amphibian that shows the transition from a fish to other amphibians. It is commonly found in intertidal regions, showing the will of fish to tap resources on land. With the aid of mutation and the favorable environmental conditions, the fish develops the will to live on land.

Does oil have a will?

Oil does not mix with water. Does it have a will to mix with water or go into the space occupied by air? Well,  if I insert a wick onto oil, I see that oil climbs up the wick. And, if I add detergent into the mixture of oil and water and stir, I see that oil and water, with the help of detergent, will mix homogeneously.

Hence, oil as a system does have a will to expand and grow provided the conditions are conducive.

Why do I fall ill?

When I am in the growing stage, the destroyer in me is not strong enough to fend off the destroyer from the environment. So, I fall ill easily. As I reach adulthood, the destroyer inside me is able to destroy the destroyer from outside my body.

If I work too much without enough rest, the creator in me is exhausted and starts to be unable to cope with the destroyer in me, which destroys the creator in me. So, I need to rest for the creator in me to combat with the destroyer in me so that my body is maintained again.

Is qi (气) the abstract form of Nature?

The closest English translation for the Chinese concept of qi is energy, an abstract concept which tends to flow from a place of higher energy to a place of lower energy.

In term of qi, there is an additional concept of yang qi (constructive energy) and yin qi (destructive energy).

What does the concept of entropy imply?

One of the ideas involved in the concept of entropy is that isolated systems tend to become disorderly after achieving some form of orderly state. This means that my body system is maintained in order at the expense of some other living systems via eating them. An air-conditioned room is maintained in order at the expense of disorder in the environment. Is the concept of entropy the reason for the prevalent rich and poor divide?

I reason that a system tends to fail. This tendency to fail is higher the higher the complexity of the system is as the difficulty of maintainence increases.

Does photon have mass?

Initially, I have the impression that photon is just a packet of energy with no mass. But, quantum physics requires that photon has mass. Until now, no one dares to say photon has mass or no mass. Is this another one of the many paradoxes of Nature?

What does wave-particle duality of electron imply?

Electrons, having a very small mass, exhibit both wave and particle properties. This means that electrons can exist either in the abstract (wave) form or physical (particle) form.

The implication is interesting. It implies that Nature can exist in abstract or physical form. It can also reside in a physical form and exhibit abstract attributes.

How does a society resemble the Hindu trinity?

A society starts off in the creator form. It grows and expands and increases in complexity. As it becomes more complex, it becomes harder to maintain it. Then, the destroyer starts to dominate.

If the destroyer utterly destroys it, the society dies. If the destroyer recreates it after destroying the creator, the society is transformed and moves on to the next phase.

How does my body resemble the Hindu trinity?

My body exhibits the creator form when I am growing. The creator creates more cells than the destroyer destroys.

During adulthood, in the maintenance form, the creator creates as many cells as the destroyer destroys. In fact, close to the later part of my life, the destroyer starts to destroy slightly more cells than the creator creates. And, my body starts to shrink.

Near the end of my life, the destroyer overwhelms and my body starts to be feeble and ill. In the end, I die in 1 of the 1001 ways when some parts of my body fail.

How does I Ching resemble the Hindu trinity?

I Ching, the Book of Changes, suggests that Nature consists of a creator (yang) and destroyer (yin). The sign above probably illustrates the existence of yang possessing constructive energy and yin possessing destructive energy in a balanced state giving rise to the form of the maintainer (Vishu).

This is a stable but not eventual state whereby there is you in me and me in you in a highly coupled state. The yang and yin are in a perpetual state of conflict and collaboration.

In the creator form, yang overwhelms and yin is suppressed or present in weak form. In the maintainer form, yang becomes a maintainer and is locking horns with yin which has grown and become strong. In the destroyer form, Shiva overwhelms. And if Shiva also recreates, she becomes a transformer.

What is the nature of Nature?

Will attempting to answer this question make my life better? If so, I will want to spend my whole life answering it.

For a start, I am quite satisfied with the notion that Nature manifests itself as Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer and Shiva the destroyer.

To be fair, Nature is abstract beyond my imagination. It is what I thinks it is.

It is everywhere and resides in everything and I can sense its manifestation.

How to begin?

Frankly, I don't know how to begin. But, I have to begin somehow. Do watch out for the next post. Cheers :-)