Unreal Blog

What is the purpose of philosophy? And why are philosophers paupers?

Read the rest of "Love of Wisdom"

What do we mean by rationality? Why do we think it is a good thing to be rational?

Read the rest of "On Rationality and Delusions"

A review of my forthcoming book, “Principles of Quantitative Development,” to be published by John Wiley & Sons in Feb 2010. This review is written by Shayne Fletcher, Executive Director, Nomura, and author of “Financial Modelling in Python,” reproduced here with permission.

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Blind-sight is an interesting neurological syndrome, and a philosophical conundrum. It shows how we may have senses that we are not consciously aware of. If there are senses that we can be unaware of, how sure can we be of the “sensed”? Or of our “delusions”?

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Here is a concept of God that doesn’t violate the known principles of science, and should therefore be consistent with the so-called scientific worldview. Mind you, plausibility of the concept says nothing about its veracity; but it may say something about it being a delusion.

Read the rest of "A Plausible God"

An unreal review of the book The God Delusion. [...]The book gave me a strange feeling of dissatisfaction. You see, you may believe in God. Or you may not believe that there is a God. Or you may actively believe that there is no God. I fall in this the last category. But I still know that it is only my belief, and that thought fills me with a humility that I feel Dawkins lacks.[...]

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The story of Helen Keller is the story of the dark reality that traps you in the absence of your senses. It is also an illustration of the role of language in breaking out of that darkness.

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Of truth and beauty — in physics and philosophy

Read the rest of "Change the Facts"

This column, published about a year ago in a Singaporean newspaper, is my favorite, my pride and joy. For that reason, I may have sent it to some of my readers before. Here is hoping that you would enjoy a repeat read…

Read the rest of "La Sophistication"

To say that Humboldt’s Gift is a masterpiece is like saying that sugar is sweet. It goes without saying. I will read this book many more times in the future because of its educational values (and because I love the reader in my audiobook edition). I would not necessarily recommend the book to others though. I think it takes a peculiar mind, one that finds sanity only in insane gibberish, and sees unreality in all the painted veils of reality, to appreciate this book. In short, you have to be a bit cuckoo to like it. (If you like the book and still maintain that you are not cuckoo, well, you just feel that way because you are!)

Read the rest of "Humboldt’s Gift by Saul Bellow"

This brief look at possibly the best book I have ever read is perhaps my last post in the book review series. At least for a short while, as I’m beginning to find it a bit hard to keep up with all the demands on my time now, what with my next book efforts and everything. Besides, the books have already said it all better, haven’t they?

Read the rest of "The Razor’s Edge by W Somerset Maugham"

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I did not realize that Catch-22 was caricature, the first time I read it. I thought caricatures are visual. I was wrong, of course. Here is an unreal review of this masterpiece that needs to be more widely read.

Read the rest of "Catch-22 by Joseph Heller"

This post is a collection of reviews of my first book The Unreal Universe. As I’m beginning to work on my second book (Principles of Quantitative Development, commissioned by Wiley-Finance), I felt that these thoughts on my first book might be of interest to some of you.

Read the rest of "The Unreal Universe – Reviewed"

The Age of Spiritual Machines, an insightful book, forces us to rethink what we mean by intelligence and consciousness, not merely at a technological level, but at a philosophical level.

Read the rest of "The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil"

This is going to be my last post of a personal kind, I promise. This French eulogy was an email I received from my friend Stephane, talking about my father who was quite fond of him. Some day I will translate it and append the English version as well. It is hard to translate it right now, but the difficulty is not quite linguistic.

Read the rest of "A French Eulogy"

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, reviewed here more from a philosophical rather than a literary perspective.

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Is man one of God’s blunders? Or is God one of man’s blunders? Why would Nietzsche say a thing like that? Here are my thoughts.

Read the rest of "God’s Blunder"

Richard Feynman on physics and sex. My serious and not-so-serious thoughts on the words of the great man, aptly described as ‘No Ordinary Genius.’

Read the rest of "Sex and Physics — According to Feynman"

This essay (perhaps not right to call it a review) is inspired by Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A modern day classic that hardly needs any more endorsement, this book is bound to change the way you look at the world, and live your life.

Read the rest of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

In The Moon and Sixpence, Maugham chronicles the life and adventures of Paul Gauguin — an artistic genius who stepped outside the bounds of morality to fulfill the yearnings of his soul. This review of mine (which contains spoilers) is more of an account of my impressions of the book.

Read the rest of "The Moon and Sixpence"