DISCLAIMER:This post is just an avenue for venting out my frustration.For all those of you who are genuinely surprised and not aghast that, there are people who gaze at stars,this is not for you.Am happy that you guys think it is uncommon,i find it flattering.As far as the rest of them,please read-on it is exclusively for you!Any resemblance to the below mentioned conversation i have had with any one is purely co-incidental(or perhaps not!)
Person XYZ:So you like Astronomy.!?
Me:Yes.(I am like,oh..no!Not again!)
Person XYZ:But Astronomy!.Why on Earth would someone look at stars!?
Me:Smiling(Obviously fake!)..Well,just for the same reason as you pursue your hobby..[Grr!!]..Btw,that is my standard answer these days..:)
Person XYZ:Hmm..Common..See..That can`t be it..Take my case,For me reading gives me immense intellectual satisfaction..It feeds my craving for knowledge..
Me:[By now,i am more or less ready for combat]..Well..good for you..!I guess i am more or less intellectually-defunct to come up with a "shining answer"...![Point-blank rude and end-of-conversation and mission accomplished.!]
Unfortunately most of the times,people fail to catch the sarcasm and imagine me to be an aimless observer of the night sky.!Well,that is way better than having to make the astronomically-challenged ones aware of the true beauty of sky watching,which is as easy as trying to find the practical proof for Drake`s equation![little-green-men for the uninitiated]
Amateur astronomy happens to be a widely pursued hobby all over the world,but yet people gawk at me even to this day whenever i mention about astronomy like i said i collect human skulls are something!!
So i am s star-gazer..Spend most of the nights looking at the skies searching for cosmic entities.Prefer hunting for comets and satellites to getting hammered at a local pub on Saturday nights..
Well,if you are wondering why am i writing about this.The answer is simple.I am sick and tired of people asking me why do i gaze at stars,what is so intriguing..Isn`t it a waste of time..(And yes,i did feel like giving one-tight-slap to this person,who asked me this..But then my karate instructor always told martial arts is for self defense...:D]..But the icing on the cake for pissing me off royally to have actually prompted me to spend my Sunday afternoon writing about this is,when this intelligent acquaintance of mine asked me ,if i ,"Do tarot-cards as well!!"What the..!!??Getting confused with astrology and astronomy!!That`s it..!I pick up my weapon of choice(my keyboard) and start my battle :-))
So here it goes..Will try to make it as succinct as possible..I can write pages of literary treatises on this subject,but don`t have the patience currently to type one!
First of all Astronomy is the science of looking at cosmic objects through aided or unaided eye or using other parts of electro-magnetic spectrum for analysing objects in space .Astronomy is not the science(?) of predicting whether or not you will have a peanut butter or jelly sandwich for lunch tomorrow!!
Why do i gaze at stars?Why is Astronomy intriguing..?etc..etc..
The answer is simple - "You get more questions in the sky than you get answers".There is no dearth for things you could explore.There is no better playground for the human mind to conjure up the delight of optimal neural usage than analysing the cosmos.You are analysing and observing the very hot-bed of life`s creation.We are all nothing but an amalgamation of star dust.So you are actually looking at where you come from and where you would go.You might spend your entire life scanning the sky with your telescope and yet you would not have covered even one in 10^100 part of what is out there.!After all it is just a guess,you don`t even know how large the universe is ..So isn`t it exciting that you are actually exploring the un-explored ?.The chances of you finding out something whose existence is not known to human-kind upto this point of time is highly probable.After all,which hobby boasts of having no scientific training required for having an ability to make a discovery which might change the face of the world.!?All you require is a keen sense of observation and interest and you could experience the joy of opening upto a higher plane of existence.
Apart from all this,the beauty of seeing a Nebula is something which even a Van Gogh would be nowhere near-to.Pursuing Astrnomy is like reading a magnum-opus which tells the saga of creation and destruction..How could one not like Astronomy,i wonder?..I mean, you get be an explorer,a scientist,an artist,a philosopher and much more..
Isn`t looking at the sky,a waste of time?
Hmm..Waste of time!!Gawd.!!Well,if going to polar expeditions,painting,designing embroidery patterns,clicking pictures of birds,reading about fictitious people,watching TV,growing cacti etc. is waste of time ,then Astronomy is waste of time as well!
So there are people who go on hiking,skiing etc,which gives them an adrenalin rush..How could you not feel your pulse racing when you see a 'Perseid-shower'.?
I have much more to say and perhaps,there are other fellow-astronomers who could articulate way better than i can.No words could ever do justice in describing the art and science of 'star-gazing'.Infact,most of the times,we don`t take the sceptics seriously,but then once in a while,you do feel like standing at the roof-top and shouting and this happens to be one such instance:-).Especially with May-10th being 'Astronomy Day' and all,i though there could not be a better time to write.
7 comments:
Sadly many of us are clouded in our minds by the way we are taught and expected to live and over years we get used to it and find everything else weird. As for astronomy, ya its one of the most intriguing things. Makes me so happy that my area of research is so darn close to it. I wish we can see a supernova explosion in my life. If that is too much to ask for then I would atleast want to see the northern lights and make my own sun-wheel before I die. People who think its a waste of time can return to their clouded minds!
although i dont belong to any cult whose purpose is to insult amateur astronomers , i have to admit that i am one of the persons on this planet who thinks astrology , oops, i mean astronomy at this current stage just isnt as useful. i know its hippocratical of me, being a painter n all, but its just my personal opinion. i will do what i would love to do even if its the most useful or most useless thing ever, even if it makes me feel like i am in a chicken coup where every one is doing the same thing as i(although not for same reasons) or if it is dreaded by most if not all, ............ as long as it pays :) .
i have never gazed at the stars with awe, or wondered wheather we will meet other beings, we already have enough lifeforms over here to deal with... but i can understand what must have gone thru ur head when someone(like me) says that astrology ;) is useless... being a geek,i would get the same feeling when someone would say computers are useless, or i hate computers...
@hvk
You are right about people returning to their clouded minds.If they find-"ignorance to be bliss",why bother to jolt their clouded minds and brains out of it`s peaceful slumber!..lol..
@Darcwader..
My answer to you as always:'You need a higher intellectualy awakening to appreciate what i am talking about..:D"..
Btw,i guess we are even, with me passing 'n' number of snide comments on how useless computers are..:))..
a very interesting read..
and i guess the skepticism about astronomy is also because the apparent kool tag is missing...people are still not open to these kind of activities..
really like the statement " there are more questions than answers in the sky "...very true i guess..i must admit that i am a dudhead when it comes to astronomy..my sister has tried her best to help me make head and tail using her small telescope and all ..
but dont worry star gazing is catching up...and yes the tribe of people who are intellectually awakened is increasing ;) ..so the number of such conversations will reduce :)
lol..keep posting :)
You like Astronomy....YES
Should you care what others think...NO WAY ;-D
Everyone is individual and likes their own thing...but... what I think is those people that have a negative opinion on what others like, are ususally those that have no understanding to what the subject entails. :-D
Thank you very much for visiting my blog and for your comments
@nefariousoutlook
yeah,waiting for the world to wakeup to Astronomy..Btw,hang in there with your sis`s telescope lessons and am sure you would soon appreciate the wonders of the night sky as well.
@Stacy
Well,if ppl are unaware of the subject,it makes complete sense if they talk nonsense.!But i was referring to those who say they know what they are talking abt(?).:D
@darcwader- Its the nature of fundamental (scientifically rather than Engineering) things to not be useful immediately. Its only a couple of decades later that engineers find a way for them to reach the common man. When scientific things are done they seem useless as it takes a spark of brilliance and a timeless idea to find use for it. I am sure people said that Kepler was wasting his time on something useless. Well would we have had satellite communication if it was not for him? Search for extra terrestrial life and exploring deep space might seem useless to you now. Thats because you have not yet seen that spark of brilliance when someone found a stunningly timeless use for the common man from it. And now a days these sparks are coming thick and fast! And if fundamental research ceases then us Engineers will have nothing to do in a few decades. Dont you think?
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