Humans are good. And the moon is made of Green Cheese

A friend of mine is a teacher at a school in Govandi. Govandi's Shivaji Nagar area was one of the worst affected areas in the 92-93 riots. The area is a shantytown with a predominantly Muslim population. My friend happens to be a "Hindu". So the day before the verdict, he was taking his class as usual, talking like a good teacher is supposed to talk, by looking all around the class and pausing ever so slightly to establish eye-contact with every curious child before moving on to the next. Some miscreant, at this point in time, threw a stone at their classroom which landed on the roof. That lead to the plaster on that small part of the ceiling falling off and making a loud exploding noise.

My friend tells me, "I was looking at this one child who was deeply engrossed in what I was saying. And the way he jumped up from his desk and fell down, with fear looming large on his face, I've never seen anyone so scared."

Another co-teacher of his lives in that area. She's a "Hindu" as well. A couple of days before the verdict, she was visited by these four or five goons of the local Shiv Sena group, who were apparently making a list of all the Hindus and Muslims in that area.

A few minutes back, I came across this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/world/africa/04congo.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

When these things appear in the papers, you tend to look at them very objectively. Death counts are mere statistics to buttress and argument or to effect a new policy. We are mere armchair philosophers who barely have an idea of how ugly things can get and how forced people are to react in the ways they do.

I have a very cynical view of humanity. I cannot understand how it is that most philosophers still view human beings as fundamentally good. I guess we're just too caught up with the idea of us being special.

You know, we have these urinals for toilets where we are supposed to stand and pee against a wall, much like dogs do. Quite a few people despise this because it is animal-like. I like the idea of peeing against a wall. I feel that it strips away all those layers of impressions we have about us being special and superior to all other beings. Should we be special just because we exist in a certain way?