Life of Pi -3: Reason

The parents are very different than their culture. The people around them are believer who like to follow tradition. They rely on belief and they are ready to follow what their ancestors told them to do. The parents, on the other hand, believe in reason, rationality and science. Pi is born in the middle and boundaries of these two opposing paradigms. This is what makes him unique. He had to balance between the two. According to the father, if Pi can find a good solution through reason and rationality, that would be great. If he cannot find the balance, then Pi must choose one, only one, and stick through belief rather than be confused in moving between many.

In conclusion the parents gave him the following formulas:

Reason=Thinking Rationally=Science=Doubt

References with comments:

Science =reason, it has the knowledge of what is out there (20:24)
Religion=believe (opposite of reason), it has the knowledge of what is inside

Believing in everything at the same time is like believing in nothing at all (19:50) = the keyword is believing, if you want to believe, believe in one think... otherwise use science and rationality to understand the world

Start with reason, science has taken us further than religion did in 10 thousand of year (20:05) = science is source of knowledge, religion source of ignorance

I'd rather want you believe in one thing I disagree with than to accept everything blindly (20:32) = think rationally

There are far more than this that address parenthood and relationships

A mouthful of water will not harm you, but panic will (5:16) = fear and panic kill.

Life pf Pi -2: God

In this post, I will discuss the issues of God and Religion. These are apparent topics in the movie/story

God: 

A case of number: The very first idea I grasped from watching the movie the first time was trying to give some explanation to God. Clearly the movie relates that the Gods of all religions is one and same. Each manifest him in their own way. Using the name Pi suggests that math has to do with it. One major difference between the different religions is the number of God they worship. Islam worship, Christianity worships 3 in one, while Hindus have many. Does the number have to do it? Is this why the author used Pi as a name? Is it symbolic that Math (aka logic) can explain it? Is this why the father suggested that if you want to have a belief it should be based on rational thinking (aka logic?)

Each one makes his own God: One obvious conclusion about God is that God is perceived as the individuality wants to perceive Him. This was obvious at the end when Pi asks the writer "Which story [of the two versions] you prefer? (1:56:30)  The writer replies: "The one with the Tiger, That's the better story". And Pi replies: "Thank you" (indicating he made it up and he is proud of his creativity)... "and so it goes with God!" So, people tend to choose the version of God that makes a better story for them. We choose the God that suits us... powerful message.

Religion

Religion is counterproductive: To him, religion is darkness although it advocates light (14:30). Religion is a link to the past (15:05). Both anecdotes indicates that religion blinds because it focuses on the past.

Believers must have guilt feeling: In his argument, religion promotes guilt feeling. God sacrifice the innocent to save the guilty (17:05).

Each religion has its own benefits  Hinduism =knowledge, Christianity=Love, Islam=serenity and brotherhood (from 17:48 to 19:00).

Life of Pi - 1: Overview

My son pushed me to watch Life of Pi... and he was right! I watched twice, once as a download, and since I liked it and wanted to discuss it with my son, I watched in movies to contribute to its financial gain.

Since my son is really busy and cannot find time to discuss it with me, I will jot down some thoughts in preparation for our interactions. It will be divided over few posts.

The cinamatography

The cinematography is superb mixing reality with the wider space. I did not find the 3D made any difference. 2D would have been as good. The Direction is great. Since I did not read the book itself, I would like to know if the movie reflected all the ideas in the book.

One scene I like is the pristine piscine especially when Mamaji was swimming and you can see the sky from under the water...(6:20-6:40).

I like how facial expressions between writer and pi, between the father and mother tells a lot of meaning (10:00-11:00) The swimming fish (1:21:00) The nautical-cosmic world (1:22:55-1:25:55)

I will talk about other issues in later blogs. For now, check the movie trailer:

My US Trip, 2012: 17 Jul to 4 Aug, 2012

On June 28th, 2012, I set out to make my Grande US Tour. I tried to capture all the trip on Latitutde with my cel phone. You can see full dates and travel there. Here is a summary:

Part 1: East bound - June 17 till July 11, 2012

I drove eastbound to meet y wife and mother in law. Drove alone. Dates are captured through Latitude.

Fort McMurray > Lac Labich > Cold Lake > Meadow Lake > Green Lake > Prince Albert > Melfort > Yorkton > Russell > Portage La Prerie > Assiboea > Winnipeg > INTO US through ND  (Jul 1) > Grand Fork, ND > Saint Cloud > Minneapolis > Eau Claire > Edgerton > Jefferson Park > Chicago (Jul 2) > Hammond IN, > Lasing MI (Jul 3, saw Hani) > Ann Arbor > Detroit - > INTO CANADA through ON > Windsor, ON >  Kingsvile, ON > London, ON > Burlington (Jul 5 Saw Elache's) > Deseronto (See Norm) > Greater Napean > Odessa > Kingston > Fort Menry > Ottawa (saw El Barbirs and picked up my Mother-in-law) > Kingston (8 Jul) > Toronto > Burlington (picked up Sana)

Part 2: Trip with Sana and my Mother in Law  - July 11 - 21, 2012

The spike between Buffalo and Washington is due to lack of Communication Signal. Bell Canada did not work as promised.

It started on Jul 11 after Sana arrived by pane to Hamilton airport and we spend few days as a arge family.
Burington > Niagara Falls > INTO US through NY > Buffalo, NY > Garden View, PA > Loyalsock, PA > Washington DC (13 Jul) >  Baltimore > York > Petersbourgh > Reading > New Jersey (no signal) > New York City > Orangeburg (16 Jul, did service to the car) > Hariman > Middleton > Port Jarvis > Binghamton > Syracuse > Alexandria Bay (17 Jul, had a relaxation)> Back to Canada through Kingston >  Great Napean (19 Ju) > Etobicke > Burlington.

Sana leaves to Fort McMurray aon July 21 and I continue the trip on my own.

Part 3: My solo trip through US - July 21 - August 4th, 2012

I drove through the East and Mid West in the USA. My trip took this route

Notes:
a. I am listing the cities I stayed in for more than 3 hours.
b. the +'s indicate how much I enjoyed the experience in that city
c. the -'s indicate how much I hated I hated it.
d. Check my latitude record on Google for exact dates and routes.

Toronto > Buffalo, NY > Erie > Cleveland-  > Columbus+  > Cincinnati > Louisville ++ > Sheperdville > Elizabethtown > Nashville+ > Dickson > Memphis -- > Whitehaven > Grenada > Jackson > Brookhaven > Hammond > New Orleans +-+-++ > Houma > Bayou Cane > Gray > Lafayette > Houston + > Corisiana > Dallas ++ > Denton > Oklahoma City > El Reno > Shrebrook >  Amarillo >  > Roswell > Albuquerque > XXXX > Santa Fe + > Walsborough > Pueblo + > Coorado Springs ++ > Denver +++ > Chienne+ > Casper > Sherdan, CO > Great Falls > Medicine Hat > Lethbridge > Calgary > Edmonton > Fort McMurray (Reached on Aug 4th to reunite with Luay)

[I just noticed that y cell phone did now capture any of my trips in New Mexico... strange!]

With this trip, I can confirm that I have visited all US states except fot Alabama, Georgia and Alaska. Us chapter is closed.