Philosophy - Do you Believe in GOD?

When I thought the best part of Understanding Philosophy was when the question paper carried a single question : WHY? The perfect answer to the question was: WHY NOT? and the student got full 100 marks 

Now, read on....

When Emma Darwin wrote to Darwin in her letters,  "while you are acting conscientiously & sincerely wishing, & trying to learn the truth, you cannot be wrong," but please dont base all your opinions to the "habit in scientific pursuits of believing nothing till it is proved", in matters of love and faith. On it her husband had added a short note of his own: ‘When I am dead, know that many times, I have kissed and cryed over this.’ A professor of Philosophy speaks to his class on the problem Science has with God - The Almighty.... He asks one of his new students to stand and..... Prof: ‘So you believe in God?’ Student: ‘Absolutely, sir. ‘ Prof: Is God good? Student: Sure. Prof: Is God all-powerful? Student: Yes. Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? (Student is silent.) Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good? Student: Yes. Prof: Is Satan good? Student: No. Prof: Where does Satan come from? Student: From...God... Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world? Student: Yes. Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct? Student: Yes. Prof: So who created evil? (Student does not answer.) Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they? Student: Yes, sir. Prof: So, who created them?  (Student has no answer.) Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God? Student: No, sir. Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God? Student: No, sir. Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter? Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't. Prof: Yet you still believe in Him? Student: Yes. Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Student: Nothing. I only have my faith. Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has. Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat? Prof: Yes. Student: And is there such a thing as cold? Prof: Yes. Student: No sir. There isn't. (The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.) Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it . (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.) Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness? Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness? Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you? Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man? Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed. Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how? Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey? Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do. Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir? (The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.) Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.) Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain? (The class breaks out into laughter.) Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.) Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son. Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive. .... this is a true story, and the student was none other than......... APJ Abdul Kalam , the former President of India

MACROECONOMICS by Suman Kalyan Chakraborty

Here's an honest effort with a lot of research that has gone into the making of this book and my kudos to the author. I provide the excerpt on the treatment of 'National Income, Capital Formation, Government Expenditure, Tax & Transfer Multiplier' which will entice you further on the remark made above.

National income is total amount paid to factors of production. In other words, it is net national product minus indirect taxes.
J R Hicks thinks national income as a collection of goods and services reduced to a common basis measures in terms of money.
GDP is money value of all goods and services produced in domestic territory of a country in a year's time and GNP is money value of national producton for any specific period of time.
NNP at factor cost is volume of goods and services turned out during an accounting year. N.I at factor cost is total of entire incomes earned by owner of factors of production.
Hence, National Income at factor cost = N.N.P - Indirect Taxes + subsidies
Product method issued to finding out market value of all goods and services manufactured during a year.
Income method refers to gross national income obtained by addition of wages, profit, etc. and also income earned by governmnet either from property or through work.
In case of expenditure method expenditure of consumption and investment on finished products by community are considered.
Problems in estimation of National Income may be conceptual (lack of notion), statistical (lack of statistics), practical (ignorance).
National Income Statistics are useful for policy makers for planning purpose.

Ecnomic welfare is that part of social welfare that can be brought directly or indirectly in relation with the measuring rod of money.
Development of a country is a collective effort because of existance of selfish opportunism and power takes.
In case economic development of entire masses is our objective the greater effort is to be emphasized on material development so that it strengthen major determinant of economic progress.
Due to slow growth rate of manufacturing sector, growth rate fo commodity sector is much low as compared to non-commodity sector.
Agriculture is parking lot for poor and share whatever they may grow there. Thus, growth rate of agricultural sector smaller than non-agricultural sector.
Agriculture is the amin support of our economy. About 60 percent of our polulation deriving their sustenance from it.
Declining share of rural population out of total population to some extent responsible for reverse trend in ratio of rural-urban incomes.
Unorganised sector claims to contribute two-third of NDP as it is found not only in unincorporated but also individually owned and operated except public administration and defence.

We should centralise our attention so that rising proportion of employee compensation can be restricted to some extent to avoid adverse effect of inflation and in instignation of cost-push factors to accelerate inflation.
Equitable distribution of national income is indispensable for all round development of an economy. Otherwise fruits of growth will be distributed among few privileged class only.
Unequal distribution of land is only a partial although fundamental index of inequality. Apart from that aset holding and command over other economic resources also leave their impact in spreading inequlity in an economy.
Policies of Government behind redistribution of income is to attain balanced growth, improvemen t of nutirtional levels among poor masses as well as stimulating productive investment.
Estimation of capital formation can be estimated by way of deducting net exports and consumption from domestic product.In analysing trends of saving - it is studied as how dometic saving become enough to finance developmental needs of the economy.
According to our Planning Commission our rate of saving is comparable to rate in middle income and even some high income as in industrialised countries.