Lately I was reading a book and it described many fascinating issues with human civilization and humanity in general. There has always been a battle with science and pseudo-science. The goal of any pseudo scientist or cult has always been to discredit the science and therefore the scientist. It is easy for pseudo science to gain popularity with the common people as the common people don’t like to verify opinions and just like to follow the herd. Also the funny thing is usually pseudoscience does not fear science or the scientist. Why? Because to an honest scientist, if you present new evidence, however cooked or doctored it might be, the scientist will actually pay proper attention to it and consider it a valid hypothesis. Probably will spend a significant amount of verifying and then debunking the concept. Being detail oriented, this will likely take a lot of time, and it would be enough for the pseudoscientist to run amok with his delusional theory and gather a massive following. Once you gather a massive following, then it almost doesn’t matter whether it is right or wrong, as a mass doesn’t care right or wrong! We have seen that during Nazi Germany, we have seen that during the Cold War, and we have seen that during the Cultural Revolution in China.
What a pseudo scientist fears a lot is actually street smart people, for example a stage magician. Actually a lot of pseudoscience has been debunked by stage magicians. This is because a stage magician knows how to hoodwink a large group of people, knows the trick on how to sway human emotion, pretty much the exact thing a pseudoscientist does. The only difference is that a stage magician does it for entertainment and not for any evil.
Just notice how much of pseudoscience we are noticing today. Just get to the internet and you will see numerous ‘evidences’ of covid vaccines being bad, having side effects and people dying after taking vaccines. Exxercation of facts to complete lies. Remember there have been 3B people now fully vaccinated all over the world. Trust me, not even 0.0001% people have any adverse effects. Any vaccine can and will have some side effects. Over the counter paracetamol can have side effects. But does that mean you don’t take it?
Stop reading Facebook and Twitter people. Get the vaccine if you can. Get on with your life. There is no argument to be had with people who don't understand the value of science and technology. You can maybe try one or two times but then just let it go and put them on the ignore list and move on. There are important things to do in life which requires an open mind and determination. We do not have time for the non-sense.
"Many of the best scientists can be fooled by pseudoscience and sometimes devote their lives to it. But pseudoscience is afraid of one particular type of people who are very hard to fool: stage magicians. In fact, many pseudoscience hoaxes were exposed by stage magicians.”
― Liu Cixin, The Three-Body Problem
Once upon a time...
I guess this phrase is somewhat a favorite to almost every kid. Every culture has its own version of folklore - the tales, lore, limericks, all point towards how the culture was built upon. I'm sure many of you are aware of the Disney animated movies that are the fluffier versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Yes, in my part of the world, we have our own versions of monsters, giants, trolls, and witches and so many other mythical creatures, even gods and goddesses.
It's word of mouth, folklore that is. Most of the folklores that you're aware of are either from your ancestors or the books that you have read - the books, however, are only keeping records of those folklores that you may not have heard from your nearest people. The origin may not be what you know of. People would see a wolf lurking in the bushes or forest in the late hours of the night, and to prevent their children from stepping out of the house, they'd create ghosts that would snap their pretty necks. And then there are some stories that have been exaggerated and manipulated to a point where the original story isn't attractive anymore. These myths and folklores are endless, and yet, sometimes it's the truth that is twisted and turned into something else, to satiate our hungry and absorbing mind.
Let me tell you, I'm quite fond of folklore - more than I lead on. But, it never mattered to me if the Prince and the Princess had a happily ever after or the ghosts had made the inhabitants of the castle run for their lives. Each tale held a certain charm, an allure, that pulls you into a world where imagination has no barrier. And to even think that these stories have gone on for more than centuries, circulated from one person to the other, and getting publicized into the modern era is, to the very least, remarkable. In a way, folklore shows the various distinguishable factors in one culture - even though archaic, each is different but sometimes holds certain similarities.
Surprisingly, even if there is a limit to folklore, but the number of tales, spinning and weaving around these tales and new ones getting created more and more, is astonishing. Perhaps, it helps separate one heritage from the other but one can simply enjoy these tales for their significance or simply because they are truly enjoyable and fascinating - the latter would be my case. Come to think of it, would we ever open our minds and create alien stories if a long long time ago if a meteorite hadn't destroyed the dinosaurs? Maybe there's no reasonable explanation for these folklores, but not everything has to have a reasonable justification to be deemed important. And I do believe that these lores are significant - perhaps fear and prejudices had warped peoples minds into creating exaggerating scenarios but it also shows how far we have come from those days to now. Just imagine, Halloween had passed only a few days ago!
- @Hyacinth
Are you living in hope for a change? Are you trying to be a workaholic to avoid your pain? Are you trying to search for hope within the darkness while dying within? “May you please stop hurting yourself?”
May we? চলো।
Dear Death,
I have long awaited for your response; I have been calling onto you for several days now. Can you not listen to me?
You ask me if I am ok; I reply to you, “I’m not” but, you are not here anymore. Why not? Will I not hear you again?
I feel suffocated. Can you save me? I want to embrace you; this life has nothing to give me. My soul is inferior to others. Can you take me away?
I have been trampled, stepped upon, misused, and abused. Can you please respond?
Yours,
Me.
We all struggle, we all struggle HARD. Every single day, while we are asleep, our souls are separated from our bodies, and we are not quite dead, but we are. Every single day the same cycle continues. We are saved every day to make our next day successful, but what are we doing?
In this cycle of living and dying, which one are we able to escape? None, right?
Did you ever think what happens when we die? চলো।
Dear Death,
I can feel that I am about to die, but can you do something about it? Can you maybe delay a little bit?
I want to see my dear ones. Yeah, they are dear to me even though I am not, yet I want to see them. But they aren’t here yet. Can we wait a little while more?
Finally, my sufferings will end, but can I ever make things right again? My timeline is over, I believe. But tomorrow, I’m getting married.
&Maybe it is the right time to take me away. I am unable to breathe anyway. Will anyone miss me? Will I ever be able to fulfil my dreams after dying?*
Yours,
Me.
We are given this tiny life compared to what awaits us, yet we believe that this life is FOREVER long. We tend to get overwhelmed by the chaos; it becomes unbearable. It's suffocating. Yet, the blessing to be able to make change STOPS when we die.
Yes, our hope and dreams connected to others, stop too, but was life meant to be lived for others? "Never let your soul be occupied by another's burden, ease them and ease yourself but do not let yourself be derailed as YOU are YOUR asset for a lifetime."
As we die, we leave all our responsibilities behind, we disentangle ourselves with all the engagements finally but until then, we are to live each day successfully. Each breath is to be a breath that is blessed.
Harming ourselves was never the goal, dear. Connect to yourself, which calls forth your soul to be ALIVE, NOT the opposite. not the opposite. Not the opposite!
Live each day by completing, preaching your blessings than your sins.
{Cover- Source}
Sometimes holding onto something does more damage than letting go. I knew how precious it was, how much value it used to hold in my life. This was irreplaceable by anything; I never thought of losing it. An extreme level of attraction, an extreme level of fear, used to work while thinking of a moment without that reason. But, at a certain point, it started to backfire and began to be the reason for my gradual destruction, a slow but steady march towards the end of my dreams and goals.
What to do? I have taken a deep breath, gathered all the courage I could muster and made the decision to cut off the reason. I know it will hurt, there will be bleeding, but I also knew that sooner or later, it will be healed with much more strength on the wound.
We always tend to move forward in life, right? Who desires to face downfall? I guess none. On the way to our journey, we get hooked on many things that inspire us to keep moving with more enthusiasm, God-given reasons to keep holding onto them. And sometimes, some obstacles that looked like the helping hand but unfortunately turned out to be the hand of destruction. Some think of dragging them as far as they can. And while bearing that extra worthless destructive luggage, we do a lotta damage to ourselves. This is not done. If we can't stand for our own benefits, how would we reach our goals in life? And if we can, then we must grab on to them till the end; otherwise, there is no meaning of leading ourselves to destruction. These are some hard decisions to take, and we must choose to keep surviving in this long run of our survival.
An emotional conflict often arises while choosing, and that's the biggest barrier; if we can overcome that, only then we would be able to achieve our goals.
If anyone calls it selfishness, then so be it. Being selfish isn't always bad, especially when it's a question about saving ourselves.
- @Toushik
Life has its own rules. It is said that, "Whatever you give to life, you will get it back."
So it will depend on you; if you spread love, you will get love back; if you spread hatred, you will get back the same.
This story is written based on a true incident. I will try to highlight the story in an explanatory way.
Hassan is a member of a low-income family. He could not finish his studies due to financial problems. Since childhood, he has struggled and worked hard. So like every ordinary man, he wanted to be rice and well-established.
It's not wrong to dream of a better future, but you should be careful in determining the path you choose for it.
Hasan is also married to a beautiful, simple woman named Jasmine. The couple lived happily and had adjusted to their financial circumstances.
Jasmine, who was a happy woman, never complained about her husband's earnings.
A few years into their marriage, Jasmine gave birth to a baby girl, and they named her Tashfia. And gradually, Hassan’s financial situation improved.
But the human tendency is that when someone has nothing, he wants something, and when he gets something, he wants everything.
Hassan was never satisfied with what he had. He had a thirst for fame, so he chose shortcuts to be a successful man, which radically changed the lives of Jasmine and Tashfia.
On their 15th wedding anniversary, Hassan gave his wife a gift that no other woman could have imagined. He married another woman named Munni, intelligent, brave, educated, and a successful businesswoman.
Hasan's love for his family ended that day. He didn't even care about his daughter, 13-year-old Tashfia. The house of love became the house of quarrel. He did not even think about how it would affect a 13-year-old girl. How would she feel when the father she loved the most didn’t want her or cared for her anymore?
She had lost the most precious relationship of her life.
When Hassan and Jasmine separated, Tashfia had to choose between fame and truth.
A 13-year-old girl's brain matured; she chose the truth and decided to stay with her mother.
Since Jasmine was not educated, she had to face many problems to take care of Tashfia. Hassan never looked after them financially or in terms of love. And over time, Tashfia had grown up, now 23 years old.
Life is a cycle; the first part was over. Now it is time for the other part.
It's time Hassan got back what he had given a few years back.
Hassan never received love and respect from his second wife, nor did they have any children. He felt lonely in his life and realised his mistake.
He apologised to Tashfia for everything, but can one apology change everything?
What about the damage that Jasmine suffered? Tashfia did not do what her father did to her. She knew her duties and responsibilities as a daughter. So she decided to give her parents equal love.
But not every girl is like Tashfia. With different psychology, every child and the way they think are different.
Not every Hasan will get their Tashfias back. So, they should know where their priorities lie.
Yes, money is necessary, but not more than family, and in the end, there is no shortcut to success.
- 
Bisi still remember how nervous she was as she and her boyfriend Tayo waited for the doctor to come tell them the final result of their genotype test. She also remembered how devastating it was for them when the doctor told them that they both were AS, meaning it wasn’t a good idea for them to conceive a child together as that would only result to them giving birth to a child with a sickle cell gene.
And the last thing Bisi wanted was to bring a child into this world to suffer just because of her ignorance. But ending her relationship with Tayo wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. “How do one just call it quit after seven years of being together?”
Tayo had insisted that they both went home and sleep on it and maybe by the next day, there would be a better solution to the situation and Bisi had agreed, even though she knew there were only two ways to go about the whole issue. It was either she choose to overlook the whole thing and continue the wedding plans with the love of her life or she walks away.
When she got home, it had taken her some few hours to ponder on the issue and by the time she came to a final decision, the time on the clock was already 3:27 am.
She and Tayo had met the next day and she had painfully told him her decision. It was better and easier they ended things now that it wasn’t that much complicated, so as not to have regrets in the future. It was a sad decision but Tayo understood her reasons, so they said their goodbyes and never spoke to each other again.
That was two years ago, but even as Bisi sat down in the restaurant, waiting for her new date to arrive, she already had her first few questions with her, there was no way she was making the same mistake twice.
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