The Nirmukta Freethought Community

Hi,

I'm Anuj Menon, i work at JNCASR, Bangalore as an R&D assistant.. currently working on circadian rhythms in fruit flies.... and yeah, that's it :P

I'm 24, been a see-saw believer..... i identified as an agnostic, the moment i came across the term... then i came across atheism and was truly stumped... gave it some thought, was in a few freethinking forums and well i don't give a damn about religion, and i identify basically as irreligious. Atheistic for all practical considerations and arguments, irreligious, well.... because i really like to avoid labels

I made a thread before i introduced myself, so maybe that's a little discourteous of me :/

Anyway, you guys are doing nice work and everyone is doing a really good job for themselves and the people close to them in trying and trying harder to get to know as much as one rationally can to learn more about the world, and not take shit at face value. Which is SO awesome!

Yay you! and me, of course :P

P.S. Huge anime fan. HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. Trying to get into more serious manga. Because anime as of now is mostly painful though it's improving in the past 2 years.

P.P.S Really interested in discussions on morals and ethics, because i basically screw up there repeatedly, currently looking into some feminist theory and tossing things around in my head.

P.P.P.S I.Type.A.LOT. Bear with me

EDIT: Bare===> Bear, he he whoops :P

Hey there Anuj, I think I know someone from JNCASR too, in the MGBU unit. Perhaps I'll ping you later in the inbox and find out if you know him too.
So you work on the 24 hour cycles of pazha-ee's? But seriously chronobiology is a great area although my area of focus is infection biology.

Quote: and not take shit at face value. Which is SO awesome!

I know right? We all believe in an evidence based reality. Some people cringe at being termed as atheists, but I don't particularly mind. It's like being called a Anti-Fairy Believer.. That's better than going around proudly proclaiming you are a Fairologist.

Quote: P.S. Huge anime fan. HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. Trying to get into more serious manga. Because anime as of now is mostly painful though it's improving in the past 2 years.

Get the hell outta here! I'm a HUGE fan of anime too! We're going to be best friends I know it.

Quote: P.P.P.S I.Type.A.LOT. Bare with me

I'm somewhat of a grammar Nazi so bear with me. What you suggested may be NSFW

Welcome to the boards and happy posting!

Nick.

Welcome aboard Anuj!

(28-05-2012 04:49 AM)Anuj Menon Wrote:  P.P.S Really interested in discussions on morals and ethics, because i basically screw up there repeatedly, currently looking into some feminist theory and tossing things around in my head.

I am also interested in this a lot. Feel free to start a new thread or add to existing ones on these topics. Looking forward to some great posts!

Hi All

My name is B S Murthy , based in bangalore and i am heading a consulting firm for the last 17 years in the area of HR and Leadership Hiring . Been a non believer and a humanist for the last decade and half . Delight to see you folks coming together and meet all of you for a good discussion ,

Murthy B S
CEO
Leadershipcapital

Welcome Mr. Murthy!

There is a Bangalore chapter http://nirmukta.net/Forum-Bengaluru and a facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/blr.ft/

Happy Posting!
Kanad

(11-06-2012 05:46 PM)Murthy B S Wrote:  Hi All

My name is B S Murthy , based in bangalore and i am heading a consulting firm for the last 17 years in the area of HR and Leadership Hiring . Been a non believer and a humanist for the last decade and half . Delight to see you folks coming together and meet all of you for a good discussion ,

Murthy B S
CEO
Leadershipcapital

(28-05-2012 04:49 AM)Anuj Menon Wrote:  I'm Anuj Menon, i work at JNCASR, Bangalore as an R&D assistant.. currently working on circadian rhythms in fruit flies.... and yeah, that's it :P

(28-05-2012 10:46 AM)nick87 Wrote:  So you work on the 24 hour cycles of pazha-ee's? But seriously chronobiology is a great area although my area of focus is infection biology.

Guys, you may have to brace yourself for conversations with neighbours asking you what you think about the idea that flies maybe unrequited lovers reborn! Check out the plot of this recent movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eega#Plot (Spoiler warning, but ah well!)
It's a pity that the imagination of film-makers fails them so thoroughly that a relapse into such themes as reincarnation is resorted to. It would have been a joke one could laugh off, but for the fact that reincarnation of some or the other is a fairly prevalent belief reinforced by popular culture in our society.

(18-07-2012 07:48 AM)arvindiyer Wrote:  Guys, you may have to brace yourself for conversations with neighbours asking you what you think about the idea that flies maybe unrequited lovers reborn! Check out the plot of this recent movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eega#Plot (Spoiler warning, but ah well!)
It's a pity that the imagination of film-makers fails them so thoroughly that a relapse into such themes as reincarnation is resorted to. It would have been a joke one could laugh off, but for the fact that reincarnation of some or the other is a fairly prevalent belief reinforced by popular culture in our society.

Actually that sounds very interesting
Though reincarnation is heavily used as a plot device, multiple reincarnations as a fly sounds funny... and to add to that, mosquitoes live and breed in filth and spread disease.... that a movie can try and depict them as identifiable characters is commendable

It's also cute to think they make a nice couple even after dying once... no cliche meeting again as humans

(18-07-2012 08:17 PM)Anuj Menon Wrote:  Actually that sounds very interesting
Though reincarnation is heavily used as a plot device, multiple reincarnations as a fly sounds funny... and to add to that, mosquitoes live and breed in filth and spread disease.... that a movie can try and depict them as identifiable characters is commendable

Do you think that the fact that this will be a talking point for sometime, can be exploited by science-lovers to begin conversations about what flies really mean to science? And who better to offer such primers than researchers in fruit fly colonies?

Prof. Eric Lander of MIT offers a fascinating intro to the early history of genetics in the open course MIT 7.012, where the contributions of fruit flies are suitably acknowledged.




As for choosing the right system to study, here's what EO Wilson has to say in this recent TED talk:

Quote:For every problem in a given discipline of science, there exists a species or an entity or a phenomenon ideal for its solution. And conversely, for every species or entity or phenomenon, there exist important problems for the solutions of which those particular objects of research are ideally suited. Find out what they are.

Any volunteers for writing up an intro primer on topics like what a day in a fly colony looks like, what sort of fundamental research is conducted there and why flies better suited for those problems than any other organism?

Oh definitely, I'd love to write on fruit flies

Would give me a chance to look into their history. Though honestly speaking, if we say 'fly' and include almost every insect under it, i'd be dead before i finished it. I know more about Drosophila, than any other fruit fly.

I'll look into it, along with a comparison with worms (C.elegans)... it's a personal interest. I can't commit on a timeframe, but i'll get to it in a few months

I am Eee....
Pazha Ee....

(18-07-2012 10:27 PM)nick87 Wrote:  I am Eee....
Pazha Ee....

I never got what that meant

Pity I have to explain

Ee means "housefly" in Tamil.
Pazha Ee means "Fruit Fly" in Tamil aka Drosophila.

Naan Ee is a Tamil movie with a protagonist reincarnated as a fly.
Since you work with Drosophila I thought I'll make a "Pazha Ee" joke using the movie as a base.

Get it now?