Fun to listen, good sense of humor

You are serving the Tamil Community and Tamil literacy a big favor, Please keep it coming, Thanks.

I am a newbie at this podcast thing, and I see these are pretty old discontinued podcasts, and I am not sure about your current ideological orientations. Assuming they haven't changed, I have a couple of criticisms to offer about some of the points you have made in this first episode about historical accuracy and morality. But since you have paraphrased Cho for the most part, I guess my criticisms are directed more at him than you.

It is true that scientific truth keeps changing as new evidences come up. But that is the whole point of scientific research. And thats exactly what differentiates science from faith- you keep updating your view, instead of putting "faith" in something which makes you feel good. No respectable historian will ever dispute genuine evidence based-FACTS that emerge from research, while their INTERPRETATION of the implications that those facts have on the narration of history might change based on their own ideological leanings. The basic assumption that Cho makes in putting forth this argument is that 'a disbeliever is a equal and opposite entity of a believer', meaning the disbeliever has an agenda- that of believing in something else. Which is not true going by the definition of a rational disbeliever.

The second argument by Cho about the benefits of believing that Mahabharata is true. And that notwithstanding the fact that I disagree with the contention going about in the background that "there are EQUAL reasons to believe in the historicity as well as disbelieve" (this goes against the scientific method, and any kind of rational discussions. I mean, what stops one from saying that about absolutely anything that comes to ones mind, no matter how crazy or incredible it is? And by the way, why is it that people have different standards for study of history on one hand , and all other kinds of scientific research on the other hand??). I will pose it as a question: Why does one have to fool himself to BELIEVE in the historicity of the story in order to derive morals out of it? At a more fundamental level, if one has the capability of identifying the good morals and bad morals in a story, it means that he/she is already capable of generating such morals without the help of such stories, let alone believing in their historicities.

Digressing, on the question of morality, one of the main arguments one can give against religion is its presumption about being the sole source of it, or in other cases, claiming that belief in something lacking evidence and deriving morality go hand in hand and one cannot exist without the other.

Regarding your point about aversion towards reptiles (specifically snakes) to be purely a social construct, I think you are wrong. I myself am not an expert in this, but I can refer you to Descent of Man by Charles Darwin. He refers, at multiple places in the book about constructing his theory with the fact that all the Great Apes (including humans) sharing a common fear of the serpents, as one of his arguments. Although in the case of humans who have developed cognitive abilities during the course of their evolution, this fear might have transformed into some fixation and, to one extreme, even vilification in many cultures. It could be very well that its actually the social construct which has OVERCOME this general instinctive fear of snakes in those exceptional cultures that you have talked about, rather than CREATING that fear in the majority of cultures around the world. Can you share links for the references supporting your view?

Dear Mr.Dileepan,

I would request you to hear my latest episodes.. I have come a long way from 2 to 91 ....In this journey , I have corrected myselves a lot...

Please do hear and let me know how you feel otherwise.

Nataraj

kuchh sikhna hai

"வாரம் ஒரு ஆலயம்" சுவார்சமான தலைப்பு. எப்படி உங்களால் மட்டும் சுவாரிசமே இல்லாமல் வாசிக்க முடிகிறது. நீங்கள் பேசும் மொழி எனக்கு புரியவில்லை. இடை இடையே சில தமிழ் சொற்க்களை அவதானிக்க முடிகிறது. so, really, you know (எனக்கு தெரிந்தால் ஏன் நான் இதை கேட்க போகிறேன்) இவை தவிர வேறு வார்த்தைகள் தெரியவில்லை போலும். முட்டிந்தால் தமிழை பேச கற்றுக்கொண்ட பின்பு இப்படியான முயற்சியில் ஈடுபடலாம். உங்களிற்கு ஆங்கிலம் தெரியும் என்றதை மற்றவர்களிற்கு சொல்ல ஆசைபட்டால், அந்த மொழியிலேயே இந்த நிகழ்சியை தரவும்.

திலீபன்
சொந்த இடம்: யாழ்ப்பாணம்
தற்போது: ரினோ, நெவாட. அமெரிக்கா.

உங்கள் முயற்சி தொடர என் உள்ளம் கனிந்த வாழ்த்துகள். நான் கல்கியின் இந்த கதையை 25 வருடங்களிற்கு முன்பு எனது ஊரில் (யாழ்ப்பாணம்) படிக்கும் போது என்ன உவகை ஏற்பட்டதோ இப்போது உங்கள் ஒலி பேழையை கேட்கும் போதும் மேலும் ஒருபடி உண்டாகிறது .

I can't understand theTamil podcasts, but really appreciate your printed information. Please don't stop.
Could you find & give the date of the Kovil structures you so wonderfully describe?

I can't promise that the new episodes will be a frequent or as regular as in the past, but I am determined to revive the process. Stay tuned!