Angels and Demons
i'm in awe!!! been some time since i felt so inspired... just read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons...one word to decribe it... MINDBLOWING!!! u can't help but admire the authour for being able to weave a complex tale of mystery and intrigue around two sensitive issues...science and religion...or betta said the long endless debates and struggles between these two realms of our world...one factual,it's foundations made up of reason and logic....and the other spiritual,it's roots entrenched in the belief tht there's a supernatural power greater than all of life itself...
plus i got to learn so much about The Vatican City....the architecture of it's many buildings, Bernini in particular fascinated me...his ability to design structures in symmetry while keeping in mind the pentagram and duality tht signifies the illuminatis.. the 4 elements of ancient science, earth,air,fire,water....the path of illumination...angels and ellipses and pyramids...the conclave and cardinals and carmelengo... it's simply fascinating!!! one gets the feeling he/she has travelled all the way back into time and learnt the many marvels,secrets and rituals of The Vatican City, the smallest country in the world...=)
as a believer of both science and religion i personally feel tht science and religion shld work together in serving the needs and betterment of mankind rather than existing as separate entities and contesting to take the place of the ultimate truth... such power struggles between these different worlds wld only serve in creating chaos and unrest...in psych we learn abt this phenomenon called group polarization...this simply means tht when like-minded pple come together to discuss issues they believe in, the group as an overall starts to take a more extreme stand in their opinions and beliefs regarding their take on issues such as science or religion... for decades this war between science and religion...this bitter struggle to reign as the ultimate truth as brought about groups of pple of opposite views closer...pple who believe only in the truth of science and those who on the other hand believe only in the truth of religion come to form their own grps respectively and reinforce and validate the beliefs tht are espoused by them...with time group polarization occurs with each side believing in their cause and position more strongly than when they started of... when so much has been put in for a cause it becomes difficult for each group to give up their pride and reach a consensus...
in life most individuals wld aspire to be successful... however, the term success means different things to different pple...success for some is the acquisition of material wealth or attaining higher status/power...for others success is realising one's potential or becoming a betta person...whts all tht i said gt to do wif science and religion? just like how the common goal of success is measured in terms of different aspects and has many definitions, the truth of life similarly can be seen to be made up of many different ways of reasoning...science and religion can both explain the many questions of life... in short science and religion can work side by side and together in unravelling the many mysteries of life...it was this pt i feel the book brought to surface...truly impressive...
another aspect of the book tht intrigued me was the power of symbols...symbols is such a vital part of human life...our existence depends so much on interation and co-operation between one another...and languages,the most predominant form of symbols,facilitates the many interations between man...the book dealt mostly with symbols found in art and architecture but i cldn't help but ponder on the significance of languages...it's amazing ain't it? tht there's so much u can learn frm just a piece of art or a sculpture... no wonder it's said tht a picture says a thousand words... it instills in me a deep respect for artists and performers who express so much...yet they do not speak...everything msg/idea they want to convey comes across as symbols in the form of an art piece or creative expresions such as dance...
religion and science i believe began and evolved over time for one purpose...to reduce the complexities of the world we exist in...to make the many phenomenons and occurences in our life more comprehensible...i liken religion and science as tht which brings light to a world which wld seem dark otherwise... a light tht simplifies and explains...tht which makes us knowledgable and wise...tht which makes life more bearable when facing adversities...tht which serves the fundamental need of humanity...the need to understand ourselves and the world around us...light is light no matter wht it's source may be...as such religion and science tho coming frm different arenas of logic and faith respectively is still knowlege as a whole...is still a key to the absolute truth of our existence...as such science and religion both equally demands reverence and respect from all rather than one being pushed aside in favour of another...
okiez i've written so much....can't believe reading one bk can bring forth so many thots frm me... well thts all for today...gonna go read Dan Brown's the Da Vinci code...i bet it's gonna be just as remarkable as Angels and Demons... adioz amigoz...=)
plus i got to learn so much about The Vatican City....the architecture of it's many buildings, Bernini in particular fascinated me...his ability to design structures in symmetry while keeping in mind the pentagram and duality tht signifies the illuminatis.. the 4 elements of ancient science, earth,air,fire,water....the path of illumination...angels and ellipses and pyramids...the conclave and cardinals and carmelengo... it's simply fascinating!!! one gets the feeling he/she has travelled all the way back into time and learnt the many marvels,secrets and rituals of The Vatican City, the smallest country in the world...=)
as a believer of both science and religion i personally feel tht science and religion shld work together in serving the needs and betterment of mankind rather than existing as separate entities and contesting to take the place of the ultimate truth... such power struggles between these different worlds wld only serve in creating chaos and unrest...in psych we learn abt this phenomenon called group polarization...this simply means tht when like-minded pple come together to discuss issues they believe in, the group as an overall starts to take a more extreme stand in their opinions and beliefs regarding their take on issues such as science or religion... for decades this war between science and religion...this bitter struggle to reign as the ultimate truth as brought about groups of pple of opposite views closer...pple who believe only in the truth of science and those who on the other hand believe only in the truth of religion come to form their own grps respectively and reinforce and validate the beliefs tht are espoused by them...with time group polarization occurs with each side believing in their cause and position more strongly than when they started of... when so much has been put in for a cause it becomes difficult for each group to give up their pride and reach a consensus...
in life most individuals wld aspire to be successful... however, the term success means different things to different pple...success for some is the acquisition of material wealth or attaining higher status/power...for others success is realising one's potential or becoming a betta person...whts all tht i said gt to do wif science and religion? just like how the common goal of success is measured in terms of different aspects and has many definitions, the truth of life similarly can be seen to be made up of many different ways of reasoning...science and religion can both explain the many questions of life... in short science and religion can work side by side and together in unravelling the many mysteries of life...it was this pt i feel the book brought to surface...truly impressive...
another aspect of the book tht intrigued me was the power of symbols...symbols is such a vital part of human life...our existence depends so much on interation and co-operation between one another...and languages,the most predominant form of symbols,facilitates the many interations between man...the book dealt mostly with symbols found in art and architecture but i cldn't help but ponder on the significance of languages...it's amazing ain't it? tht there's so much u can learn frm just a piece of art or a sculpture... no wonder it's said tht a picture says a thousand words... it instills in me a deep respect for artists and performers who express so much...yet they do not speak...everything msg/idea they want to convey comes across as symbols in the form of an art piece or creative expresions such as dance...
religion and science i believe began and evolved over time for one purpose...to reduce the complexities of the world we exist in...to make the many phenomenons and occurences in our life more comprehensible...i liken religion and science as tht which brings light to a world which wld seem dark otherwise... a light tht simplifies and explains...tht which makes us knowledgable and wise...tht which makes life more bearable when facing adversities...tht which serves the fundamental need of humanity...the need to understand ourselves and the world around us...light is light no matter wht it's source may be...as such religion and science tho coming frm different arenas of logic and faith respectively is still knowlege as a whole...is still a key to the absolute truth of our existence...as such science and religion both equally demands reverence and respect from all rather than one being pushed aside in favour of another...
okiez i've written so much....can't believe reading one bk can bring forth so many thots frm me... well thts all for today...gonna go read Dan Brown's the Da Vinci code...i bet it's gonna be just as remarkable as Angels and Demons... adioz amigoz...=)
posted by silent wonderer at 1:35 AM
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