A Fine Balance

Reposting this.  I feel it is the basis of all my writing.

I have strong convictions about achieving balance in our universe, our world, in every aspect of our personal lives.

Googling fine balance today I find a book by Rohinton Mistry.  This is a story from life in India, a single woman, untouchables.  A major quote from the story: "Life is a fine balance between hope and despair."

There is a documentary that I love to recommend to all my friends: "Particle Fever". It is the physical evidence of the fine balance in our universe.  The best physicists in the world got together and built the particle accelerator in CERN, Switzerland.  They tried to recreate the big bang, the event where we all have come to exist.  The physicists had two theories about the nature of our universe: one theory predicted that the universe is symmetric, predictable, ordered.  The second theory predicted the opposite: our universe is all random and chaotic.  To find out which theory is correct they performed the experiment with the smallest atoms that makes our bodies and our world: hydrogen.  They accelerated these hydrogen atoms to extremely high speeds and then smashed two beams together to recreate the big bang.  That is how it all started.  It is the origin of all the matters in our lives.  The physicists then studied all the resulting particles.  They analyzed the immense amount of data and came to this conclusion:  our universe is neither all symmetric nor all chaotic.  They now have to refine each theory: what is the order in the chaos in one case or what is the randomness in the symmetry.  It is a fine balance.

Philosophers have a similar debate: Are events in our lives all predestined, or do we have control over them?  Is there free will?  You will find volumes written and descriptions of the fine balance between the two states.

Some visual examples of fine balance:

Metabolic pathways in our bodies: All the processes in our bodies are in a very delicate balance.  From fat buildup to prepare for famine to utilization of oxygen energy in the mitochondria, all are interconnected.

 A spider web:
It could be pulled a bit one way or the other without disturbing the balance, but if you pull too hard it will collapse, turning into chaos.

A Forest fire in Yosemite: Chaos amidst the majestic redwood trees.

The fire facilitates germination of seeds deep in the earth.

 

In closing I would state that you will find my writing about any subject striving to find the fine balance.  It could be on health and diet.  It could be on the very topics that divide us: Politics and religion.  

Jimmy's Hall, Art, Culture and Religion

This is the story of a wonderful movie I just watched at Laemmle Cinemas: "Jimmy's Hall."  This movie is based on a true story from Ireland in the thirties.  I am telling this story to show one small example of what the ruling class and the church could do in order to stay in power.  Is there any justice or compassion in this story?

These are highlights of the true story: In 1933, Jimmy Gralton, as he was known locally, became the only Irish citizen ever to have been deported from the country when he was forcefully removed and put on a boat to America. He would never set foot in his native land again.

Such severe punishment for his ‘crimes’ seems improbable 81 years on. A dissident voice, Gralton was victimized by the political and religious establishment after daring to establish a dance hall in rural Ireland. A self-educated, community-serving man, Gralton’s hall was built to serve as a venue for the local people of Leitrim.

The youth in the village begging Jimmy to reopen his Hall.

Community dances, singing lessons, poetry appreciation sessions, boxing classes, and debates about workers’ rights were held there. It sounds innocuous. But for the Catholic Church and the Irish ruling class, the hall and the man who built it represented something dangerous and subversive — the fact that the people were beginning to think and act for themselves.

Jimmy and the orchestra

The movie clearly visualizes the story: The church continuously sabotaged Jimmy’s group.  Jimmy’s Hall was burned twice.  When the police came to deport him, his lovely old mother said: “What did I do?  I just gave him books!?”  The lady was running a mobile library.
I think all religions are guilty of ruling societies based on ignorance.  They are stuck in the ideas of tradition and orthodoxy.
I see no other way but for all religions to modernize.  We need to accept the fact that people should be educated.  That knowledge is accessible to all.  That women are equal to men.
Jimmy was talking about jazz and dancing with black people in NY.  "They actually have two legs!!"  I advocate separation of state and religion in Israel.  Although I know that the religious establishment has control over many of the personal laws.  This is despite the fact that 60% of the citizens would like the freedom in making their choices.
The Catholics have the most change to go through.  I know I am very naïve, but there needs to be an end celibacy for priests.  I read that the whole practice came about because they didn't want any land belonging to the church to be divided among the heirs.  This was pointed out clearly in Dan Brown's best seller The Da Vinci Code.
I cannot say how Islam is going to adapt to these modern times of every kid holding a cell phone with knowledge and information right at the tip of their fingers.  But I truly wish to see more justice and equality. 

I’d like to hear more voices like Jimmy’s for progressive politics.  For allowing people to use their creativity and imagination to paint and sing and dance.

Jimmy Gralton represented that alternative voice and finding a space for dissidents — and also seeing them as important alternative arguments — is a major question of our time.

Highlights from the Neues Museum, Berlin

I had two goals when I visited the Neues Museum in Berlin.
The first was to see the bust of Nefertiti, who is considered the most beautiful ever:

She is presented in a glass case and I could walk around and appreciate the perfect features.

The second item was upstairs and was very surprising: The Gold Hat:
מצנפת זהב

The gold hat is a Late Bronze Age 1000- 800 BC artefact made of thin gold leaf. It served as the external covering on a long conical brimmed headdress, probably of an organic material.  Modern scholarship has demonstrated that the ornamentation of the gold leaf cones represent systematic sequences in terms of number and types of ornaments per band. The object would have permitted the determination of dates or periods in both lunar and solar calendars.

Only four of these hats were found and this was the most preserved.

Balance of Freedom and Obedience

We all wish for freedom in some way. When growing up we need freedoms but some discipline is required.  Women flourish when given freedom to pursue their dreams and goals, yet in many cultures they are still forced to submission.  Free societies have more freedoms for their citizens to achieve their dreams and goals, compared with authoritative governments that insist on keeping centralized power and no freedom to the “small people.”

Children like to run around free, explore and imagine. Yet many parents think it important to discipline them: Sit straight!  Don’t speak with food in your mouth!  I find that kids become better adults when they are exposed to many experiences and are given the choices to do the things that ignite their imagination.  The balance of this is to teach some “manners”.  Basically kids need to learn to appreciate other kids and never fear that they would be discriminated against.

Women don’t have any basic rights in so many places in the world.  Even in the Western democracies women had to fight for their right to vote and it took a long process to grant them this right.  Equality is a right that we have to fight for continuously.  I’d like to bring here two extreme examples for women’s equality: Sharol Sandberg, one of the most successful women in social media: married, pregnant.  Sadly she lost her husband.  This is a woman at her best: Shining, active, a role model for many young girls.

Then you can look at this photo of young girls being sold as slaves by ISIS.

In 2015 some men believe that going back to the days of the caliphate is an ideal to strive for.  There are also many other women with no rights and no freedoms: women in India born into “generational prostitution,” and other examples you can watch in the documentary “Half the Sky.”

I believe we would all be better off if young girls would get a similar education to men everywhere.  If they were allowed basic freedoms and given their own choices they would be able to contribute so much more to our lives.  They would be raising the next generation of children the same way: freely encouraging imagination and creativity.

Freedom comes with responsibility. Freedom cannot be guaranteed if people do as they please without considering the consequences.  I will try and address this in a future post.

The Israeli in Berlin

This is the story of my two weeks visit and impressions of Berlin.  I had the opportunity to visit with my old time friend from high school and I was curious how I would feel there.
I had no preconceived notions of this city.  Among my Israeli and Jewish friends there are those who absolutely love Berlin.  And there are those who get completely upset about the very idea of going there.  "Just the sound of the German language makes me shudder!"  

Many Israelis made their home in Berlin, which seems to be some kind of irony.  They like it because of the low cost of living, the atmosphere of art and culture, the relaxed way of life.  I'd like to mention the one thing that is common to EVERY Israeli, it is the Hebrew language.  Hebrew as Ivrit עברית from the root word of crossing over.  Many confuse Hebrew with Jewish or Israeli language.  Other than this language Israelis are all so different: They can be from the east or the west. They can have faith in the Torah and the word god or they can be completely secular.  Yes, it is possible to be a Jewish Israeli and have no faith.  They can be on the right or the left of the political spectrum.  They can be academic or working folks.  If you come to Berlin in the summer they say the second most spoken language here is Hebrew.  And you will find Israelis who come to shop at the all new Berlin Mall.  You may meet Israelis who take a boat ride on the river or go on one of the many guided tours in Hebrew.

Israelis can spot each other just by the sound of one word like shalom.  Five minutes later they will know the family history, what made them come to Berlin, how long they are staying, how many grandkids they have and how much they paid for the shoes for those grandkids.
Nadav was the tour guide on the day trip I took to Dresden.  He came to Berlin to do his PhD on "How democracies deal with terrorism."  He never completed his dissertation, but he now runs the "Insider Tours Berlin" with over 40 Israeli employees and guided tours in Hebrew as well as English.  They all made their home in Berlin and speak fluent German as well.  They have the knowledge and the passion for telling the history of this city: From the atrocities and terror of war to the decades of a city divided by a wall.
http://www.insidertour.com/
My seat mate on the bus to Dresden was Rakefet.  She is spending a year in Berlin with her husband who is working on his Post Doc in history.  They are "modern orthodox" observe the Sabbath and keep kosher.  Their two teenage boys go to a "yeshiva" with only 60 kids in the whole school.  Rakefet is very pleased with the general curriculum of the yeshiva with excellent teachers in all disciplines.  She is also taking lessons in German and can live with the idea that they may stay in Berlin.
The most colorful Israeli I met in Berlin was Haim with the elaborate beard.  He greeted us at the Museum Blinderkerstatt Otto Weidt.  I had to ask him about the meaning of his beard and he happily posed for a photo and told me the whole tale.

Leaving Berlin I had a better understanding of the city.  But I am still not sure if these people are unique in their behavior or we could all follow a similar fate.

Balance of Tradition and Progress

Let's check out the history of human kind.  We evolved from hunters gatherers to modern day internet, smart phones in the palms of our hands and knowledge available to any child.
When do you think we were happier or better off? 
One of my friends is absolutely certain that the hunters gatherers had the best life: roaming the lush forests all day, free in the fresh air, no stress of any kind.  She thought she could convince me of that.  But I am absolutely sure that the knowledge we gathered, our understanding of our world and the inevitability of progress are all pointing out that this life is the best and the only balance that could be achieved between the past and the future.
Let us examine this balance.  First off studies show that the rate of killings in the days of the hunters gatherers was very high relatively speaking.  One had to be extremely vigilant in the forest just to survive day in and day out.  The human population of the world is ever increasing and it would be impossible for us all to live simply today.
I am certain that progress could not be stopped.  We have gone through all these revolutions.  Just to name a few:
The language revolution made homo sapiens communicate and use their collective intelligence to overcome the other humans.
The agricultural revolution made humans stay in homes near their fields. 

The harvesters: Early agriculture in America. 

The print revolution brought the written words to the masses.  Humans everywhere began reading and writing and communication improved.  People started writing novels so human stories were now available for people to read.
The industrial revolution welcomed technology into our lives.  We now know more about the very large the very small stuff:
space, galaxies and planets, atoms and electrons.  Electricity and magnetism.
The science revolution made people realize that we have the capability to understand things beyond our imagination.  Governments and philanthropists started funding research and the march of knowledge is unstoppable.
The internet revolution is the largest most amazing one of all!

Cloud Data:

It is not amazing that we still have wars, power struggles and clash of cultures.  It is the inevitable chaos amidst all the progress.  It is all the in the fine balance. 

There are many predictions about future progress.  The best prediction in my mind is that the future  break through will be in psychology and understanding behaviors.  These understandings will be based on true knowledge of our fight or flight instincts or survival instincts.  True knowledge of evolution of space and planets on a large as scale and our biology on an atomic level.

There will be no justification for a group of people to execute an individual because he believes our planet is round and revolves around the sun.  That individual simply watched the stars with a telescope and knew and understood what he saw.  His knowledge was lost in the balance against those who were fighting for their survival.

I am sure there are many more examples of basic injustices like this.  If we all raise future generations with access to true knowledge there will be no place for such injustice.  

Many groups who try to preserve their traditions are constantly fighting against progress.  Some of these traditions have many positive aspects.  I am certain that respect for the elderly is important, yet in many modern societies youth is revered.  There is a prediction that this reverence for youth will dominate the future of history.  I am very curious to know if this indeed where the balance will end up.

How Often do you Feel Truly Amazed?

I read a number of articles about the feeling of awe, wonder and amazement and I come to the conclusion that it is an important emotion that we don’t think of enough.  It is certain to improve the overall balance in our life.  The feeling of awe is otherwise known as that feeling of “reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.”  It is mind and heart expanding.

Here are some examples that would make most of us truly amazed.  What is most awe inspiring for you? 

A majestic natural landscape -- waterfalls, mountain ranges, vast deserts.

A Sunrise in Yosemite:                                          

 A Lightning in New York:

A painting or an amazing work of art.  This cathedral in Florence Italy:

Santa Croce, Firenze:

The most amazing awe inspiring experience in my scientific life is the solution of the mechanism of large molecules in our bodies.  The most awe inspiring molecule I have been fortunate to study is the enzyme that breaks down ATP and passes the energy to other parts of the cell in the form of a proton gradient.

ATPase: This is a scheme of the different parts of the protein on the cell membrane and inside the cell:

The ATPase at work is the basis of where this dancer gets the energy to dance in such beautiful movements:

To watch a video of the ATP Synthase:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4LgpLM8mpQ

If you are in business you most probably enjoy watching this brilliant gemstone: It took a long natural process to reach this perfection in the structure of this stone.  Then it took many tools and experts to cut it in a way that each facet of the surface emanates the brilliance.

A Brilliant Square Cut Diamond:

In a perfect world all children would grow up exposed to such experiences.  We should all be taught about the wonders of this world, large and small.  

These feeling of awe expands our relationship with time, it inspires creativity, it gives us hope and helps us appreciate life.  It connects us to nature and provides a sense of fulfillment.  It can even be transformative.