Thoughts vs actions

I believe that its a persons actions that define him (or her), rather than his thoughts.

There are many examples that oppose this belief, but most of them assume that thoughts will eventually effect the person's action. For the time being let's focus on the example that forced me to write this blog.

Sometimes I make friends, after considering the purpose that that friendship is going to solve. I had a discussion regarding this with one of my close friends and he was almost devastated by the thought. "How can you do this? ... this is so mean"

Well, consider this blog my defense or whatever.

I believe, once you make someone a friend on purpose, you have not violated any morals. The simple reason: you have done the same actions that you would have done if you would have tried to make him a friend without any purpose.

However, the true test begins when your purpose is solved and the friend needs you. At this time if you try to help your friend with the same ability as you would have helped any other friend, the you are doing good by my moral standards.


PS: Beware, I do make friends just to expand my network, especially among girls.

Purpose of life

Note: This is a 143 line conversation that happenned on Vikas Chauhan's facebook wall. I have kept this as archive, though some of you may find it interesting. The original conversation has 160 comments. Some of the comments here are edited and deleted, to avoid redundancy. I agree, that the derivation of conclusion is based on certain assumptions and can be questioned at certain points. However, I strongly believe that the conclusion is quite intuitive and can be proved using similar sequence of arguments as followed in the conversation.

What is the purpose of life ? Can science answer that question or we have to go to religion to answer this ?

• Vikas Dhiman i believe ... it is to make world a better living place ... sort of. and yes science can answer this ... mainly sociology and psychology. But we need a premise.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i think...life is our own...purpose of life is to live for oneself..n realise our dreams :) (though not at others cost)..
  
  at all others fronts...i m still seeking an answer
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan I think religion also answers this , but more in abstract kinda way. For eg. making yourself and others happy. Any one agrees me on this ?
  

  
  
  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i do agree but i have questions....if life's purpose is this, why dont must of us actually realise this?
  

  
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan Many of us do realize this.And by the way as Vikas said, its to make our world a better place. I don't know how many people realize that either. Humans are not perfect and there are exceptions.
  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman
  

  ‎>>"realize your dreams"
  I have many dreams and I know I can't fulfill all of them ... how should I choose one ? I think the answer is to go where abilities, resources and interests match.
  
  
  >> "making yourself and others happy" 

  
  

  You can't make everyone happy. Making myself happy may make someone else sad. Where to draw the line ?
• Vikas Chauhan
  

  >> You can't make e...veryone happy. Making myself happy may make someone else sad
  Making myself happy may make someone else sad
  True, but as I said, humans are not perfect and I will try to do things to maximize the number of people who are happy. And, I think that would be the right thing to do .

  
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal ‎@VD..yes, dreams wud always b in direction of our interest..however, resources can b considered a limiting factor..abilities is wht we continuously seek to increase
  @VC..but to maximize tht..u might urself becum sad..thn wht do u do?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> I have many dreams and I know I can't fulfill all of them ... how should I choose one ?
  Then I think you would have to narrow down the meaning of "dreams" a little bit.I mean think only of things , which you aspire to do.
  

  
  
• Gautam Suryavanshi Purpose of life is to EXPLORE new, unknown things and venture boldly into unknown territories....
  

  
  
  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> but to maximize tht..u might urself becum sad..thn wht do u do?
  Well, it again depends on the person. Some live for others. Some live for themselves.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal are we on the right track?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> Purpose of life is to EXPLORE new, unknown things and venture boldly into unknown territories....
  Same as "To make our world a better place"
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal unknown territories doesnt mean making the world a better place...get a cue from "127 hours"..
  well gautam cud point better in which direction was his intent
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎@Nidhi
  yes true. I am unable to converge on a single point here.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal so everybdy is havin its own perceptions and different dreams!!
  does this make sense?? or are we still divergent?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan hey , I thought "venturing into unknown territories" means "to try to discover new unexplored things" :)
  
• Nidhi Agarwal exactly...but they need not be of good to the society
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> so everybdy is havin its own perceptions and different dreams!!
  may be true. For some like insects, its "surviving this world".
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman
  

  ‎>> n once u achieve thm, thn u cud aspire for new ones
  the question remains same... which one first

  
  

  
  
  Gautam's example is pure example of an individual's dream.
  
  Let's also consider the second part of the question. Can science answer this question ?
  I mean, if the purpose of everyone's life is to realize his own dream. Can you scientifically justify that or is it just arbitrary ?
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal which ones first?? thts upto individual choice i think
  2nd part of question
  dont have any scientific justification :(
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> the question remains same... which one first
  difficult question . It's a vicious cycle.
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> I mean, if the purpose of everyone's life is to realize his own dream. Can you scientifically justify that or is it just arbitrary ?
  May be to some extent, based on your personality ( which can be scientifically analyzed )
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman
  

  ok ... i have been thinking of a premise that can lead us to a conclusion on moral questions in scientific grounds.
  Consider two societies, that have been preached there purpose of life. One got 'realize your dreams". Other got "make yourself and others happy". By Darwin's natural selection, one of societies outlast the other after 100 generations. Which society was the one to do so ?
  

  
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal obviously second society
  

  
  
• Vikas Dhiman because "realize your dreams" is more selfish way of living ?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan exactly. This way, one will repeatedly tread on the path of other .
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal now let me tell another scenario...in a classroom a prof is teachin..said the marks will b awarded on an equal basis (i.e. everybdy marks averaged out)...n from tht day..nbody worked..and the class performanance went down n down..
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal can such a class b happy n survive??
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ‎@Nidhi: captialism vs socialism
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal social good is a misnomer....for every action we say we did for others, thrs one own selfish ground hidden deep inside
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i was tryin to just give another svenario....tht holds the same ground as the previous scenario
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman right ... Still you said that the second society will outlast the first
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal outlast doesnt mean shine bright thru!!
  

  
  
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  Nidhi Agarwal thr needs to be evolution and progress and shd nt b stagnant..tht was my point
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> thr needs to be evolution and progress and shd nt b stagnant..tht was my point
  even if that progress is at the cost of other lives ?
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman evolution and progress are synchronous .. . the power society will survive
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan means the Darwinian approach ?
  

  
  
• Vikas Dhiman ofcourse, survival of the fittest ...
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal even if that progress is at the cost of other lives ?
  darwin theory said this..yes
  

  
  
  
  
• Vikas Chauhan This way, only reason coming to mind is "Purpose of life is to survive"
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal no..evolve too!! we did evolve n tht why we survived n are rulin this world
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan thought that evolution and survival are two sides of same coin.
• Nidhi Agarwal but when we resolve this..i guess we will hav answer to the first
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman being selfish isn't the best thing to do on narrow mindset ...
  

  
  
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  Vikas Chauhan But narrow mindset encourages selfishness. Isn't it ?
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal selfish..doesnt mean to do harm to others,.it means to think of oneself first when u have to make a choice..
  n when one keeps evolving..only thn one can survive in the actual sense ( else its just the breath taken in n out)
  
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  Vikas Dhiman consider a team ... where each one think about the best of his on self (on a narrow mindset) ...
  another team where each one thinks of the best of the team ( still the best of his own self but on a broader mindset)
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman the best part of Darwin's natural selection is that you have to think about coming generations ... not just yourself.
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan second team wins. Its good for every one in the team in long run
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman right a broad minded selfish person ... is still selfish ... but that morally correct.
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan Yeah, correct. But the correlation in that case is usually less.
   
• Nidhi Agarwal wht do u mean by correlation is less?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan I mean correlation between "broad mindedness" and "being selfish"
  

  
  
• Vikas Dhiman let's go back to the two society example ... to understand how darwin theory do not encourages selfishness.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i guess he is sayin tht broad mind and selfish approach is two diff..n not one..is this wht u r saying??
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman by an 'broad minded selfish person" , Imean, a person who understands that harming the team may harm himself.
   
• Vikas Chauhan But isn't "survival of the fittest" somewhat contradictory to "not being selfish"
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan I mean mightier life destroys less feeble life.
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ‎>> But isn't "survival of the fittest" somewhat contradictory to "not being selfish"
  
  I have a counter example of that. But I may be wrong.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal please post the example
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ‎>> I mean mightier life destroys less feeble life.
  A might society destroys feeble society.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i hav one thing..mighty life destroyed feeble only when their own existence was at stake
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ‎>> i hav one thing..mighty life destroyed feeble only when their own existence was at stake
  or if there is a resource crunch
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan yes, consider the food chain for eg
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan A tiger can't survive without eating meat.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal if mindless destruction does on for pure pleasure...nobdy wud survive...but we r not taking into account
  >>resoirce crunch is okay
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal yes..n if he doesnt eat the deer..the deer wud destroy the forest vegetation
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal he is important for the food chain ecosystem to be maintained..this has happened in real life n i hav actually read about it in the paper..so even a tiger eatin a deer is neceesary for maintaining the ecosystem
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan But think of one thing. The deer must have a purpose of it's existence. It's not just there for being eaten by the tiger :)
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan or may be it's there for the very same purpose. I honestly don't know
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal thts called survival of the fittest...well, let me think
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman Both could fit into the society at the same time. We are talking about competing societies here. Deer and tiger are not competing societies, they are interdependent.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal nopes..competin in the way vikas chouhan is talking about
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan yeah, like humans . I got swayed away in those other discussions.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal like humans...wht do u mean??? :P
  

  
  
• Vikas Dhiman competing in the way that if dear works hard enough...he will eventually eat the tiger ... :)
  
  

  Vikas Chauhan I mean competing societies.
• 
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal well well..one answer...the deer might b thr for tht purpose only.
  if the deer works hard enuf, it will run faster n escape the tiger
  
• Vikas Chauhan yeah, but tiger will chase the dear :). It''s his purpose.
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ‎>> if the deer works hard enuf, it will run faster n escape the tiger
  that's why deers are able to co-exist in the jungle
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal right..everybdy has a different purpose of life
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal we got back to square one..i guess
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ya ... i was about to share an example
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan Isn't that all can be broadly classified under the same purpose . i.e. to "survive this world"
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎@Vikas
  go on. We are waiting
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal m holding my tongue
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman We have two competing societies ... both underwent slavery ... one had "self-less" people like Bhagat Singh ... other did not. Which one is more suitable for Darwin's natural selection ?
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal wht "self less" people like bhagat singh can do in slavery??
  

  
  
• Vikas Dhiman that's the example where Darwin's natural selection do not promotes selfishness. because it forces us to think about our grand-grand children.
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman Motivation
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan So, the bhagat singh one will survive ?
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman believe me or not ... a feeling that someone died for cause can make that cause popular.
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman i think so ... you may contradict me.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal go ahead
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal how does this relate wid pupose of life??
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman So as a conclusion... we should have a purpose in life that makes this world a better place for "my" grand-grand children
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎@Vikas, I was somewhat confused there ( regarding the true process of natural selection ), so for the time being I am just following you :)
  
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  Vikas Dhiman that includes morals like planting trees ... living in peace ... inventing technology ... earning more money ... finding a good mate ... etc.
  
• Nidhi Agarwal we wil discuss the natural selection on a diff thread..
  
• Vikas Chauhan Well, about the other side, i.e religion
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal right..so some dreams n some duties
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal religion talks about all duties to the human kind
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan and science about dreams ?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan so, that means science and religion both have equal place. Or may be 70:30 combination.
   
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  Vikas Dhiman i used only darwin's theory to prove my proposed purpose of life. didn't I ?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan yeah, that's what I was also trying to say.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal science does not say about dreams...but we have drawn some conclusions in the beginning...we r going back there
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan not science, but our thoughts and behaviours, which can be analysed scientifically.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal we r talking about abstract question...purpose..not life..answer wud b drawn frm conclusions
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎@Nidhi, yeah, but we also asked overselevs, whether religion has some part to play
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan even if that's 10% or so.

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman i think religion was a result of unconcious natural selection ... societies started making rules ... the societies that survived ... there rules were termed as religion
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan ‎>> the societies that survived ... there rules were termed as religion
  brilliant answer.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i think religion was formed by power hungy people who thought tht they cud either lead people to believing their won views..by making them fear the unknown
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman ‎:)
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan But I think, religion is not all about rules.
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan It also teaches somethings which all would agree with.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal its about views
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan Specifically the "good things"
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal all would agree wid what??
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan I agree with the scientific approach only, since it's proved that religion is byproduct of evolution only
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman i think he means to say help others, live in peace
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan yeah, exactly
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal agree on tht point
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal yes n even this is taught by science,,,evolution rules :) not survival of the fittest but a diff one..harmony wid ur surroundings..more so a philosophical one
  

  
  
• Vikas Dhiman exactly .... evolution rules
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal so well..now we all r on the same ground!!
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan philosophy is somewhat different kind of science, albeit more of psychological nature. So yes, true.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal hmm
  n have our answer to the post above?
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan purpose of life is to "evolve" :)
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal agreed!! n evolution in everybdy's terms in diff..yet it is party society n partly our own gud
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman
  

  ya .. i think the result is a mix of dreams and duties ...
  but I would also like to formalize it as a definition.

  
  

  
  
  The Purpose of life of a humans is to live in such a way that his coming generations have a better way to live. He should work in a direction where he can give his best. Of course that should be in line of his interests, so that he can give maximum output. Though resource and abilities will always help you in narrowing down your interests.
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan very true
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman would anyone like to make amends ... to rephrase the definition ?
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal have a better way to lige and enjoy his life to the fullest.
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan I think it's fine. What would you think ?
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal i hope it doesnt sound controversial
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal duty , dreams n a bit of fun :D
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan And evolution incorporates all living live forms also.
  

  
  
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  Vikas Dhiman The Purpose of life of a human is to live in such a way that his coming generations have a better way to live. He should work in a direction where he can give his best. Of course that should be in line of his interests, so that he can give maximum output. Though resource and abilities will always help you in narrowing down your interests. Rest and fun are a necessary part as they will help you not to get bored or demotivated, again maximizing the output.
  

  
  
• Nidhi Agarwal wow..cool!! agreed!!
  

  
  
• Vikas Chauhan agreed.