[Ravindranath Tk]

Rationalist Challenge to Astrolgers: Predict Indian Election Results and win 1 Million Indian Rupees!

Inbox

x

Babu Gogineni	Apr 26 (2 days ago)
to bcc: me

Please share this latest challenge from Rationalists in India to Astrologers. News Item at the end of this mail.

FIRA, the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations is a Member Organisation of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Prof. Nayak plays a signal role in spreading the scientific temper in India and is its President.

By sharing, you will help some astrologers become even richer, or more likely, you will spread awareness about the hollowness of the claims that the profession of astrology is based on science! 

No astrologer has so far been able to make a successful claim. Their claims that they did predict something accurately are made after the event, and selectively! some years ago I launched a 'Who Wants to be a Millionnaire?' Challenge on behalf of Humanist and Rationalist groups, partnered by 3 TV Channels. We had ZERO entries! Two refused to send in entries, but made predictions on TV - they had to apologise that they got all answers wrong! The Challenge was Headline News on TV9 for the whole day!

But how can they make successful claims, when their 'science' does not know that the Earth is a sphere? Astrologers still believe the Earth is flat. 

For them, the Sun evolves around the Earth. Did they go to school? 
They claim that the Rasi / Zodiac signs have their source in the Vedas. Did they actually ever read the vedas?

Zodiac signs are an import from the Babylonians who also gave us the 60 minute hour. 

Their ancient dismal 'science' does not know about the new planets discovered in recent centuries. They proudly proclaim the nava grahas (9 planets), but the Earth is not amongst their 9 planets. There is more - the Sun, a star, is included in their list as a planet. Even more, the 'planets' have castes! Saturn, that beautiful planet with enchanting rings, is called a sudra planet, a low caste planet!

The astrologers and the University Astrology departments have one more chance to show that there is some substance to their claims which are deluding millions. 

What? Did ISRO scientists demonstrate their belief in astrology? Do not worry about their betrayal of their own science; Read the following 'Objections to Astrology' signed by 186 scientists of repute in 1975. There are several Nobel laureates too amongst them.
http://www.psychicinvestigator.com/demo/AstroSkc2.htm

Babu Gogineni

LS polls: Rationalists offer Rs 10 lakh for accurate prediction of results - The Times of India

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

[Anand Nair]

Thanks Ravi!

As a "control", I feel non-astrologers too should answer these questions (based on a combination of common sense and random guess work), seal this in an envelop, and keep this at some safe place.

After the results are out, our "score" of correct answers can then be compared with that of t he astrologers. Will the average score of astrologers be better than that of the commonsense-random-guesses?

But the only fear is that no astrologer will take up the challenge!

Any guesses?

Anand

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brights India" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to brights-indi...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to bright...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brights-india.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Anand Nair]

Nizar,

Nor do I know who you are! And no, you do not figure in my mailing list!!

You happen to be a member of a group named Brights India, and you would get mails to the group ID sent by all members of this group. In case you have no interest in rational and intelligent discussions, what you need to do is to unsubscribe YOURSELF from the group!

No, you do not need anyone's help to get out of the group. If you go to the bottom of any mail received from this group, you will see the following:-

"To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to brights-indi...@googlegroups.com."

I am marking a Cc of the mail to the group -- if only for a laugh.

Regards,

Anand

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

On Tue, Apr 29, 2014 at 10:03 PM, Nizar <nniza...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Sir,

I dont know who you are and I dont care what you are upto... i have an humble request please take me off from your email list

--
Thanks & Regards

Nizar

[Anand Nair]

Whether or not you get further mails from the group depends on YOU -- and not anyone else. Surely this is not the first time you are getting a misdirected mail because someone mistyped an email id!

Sad that someone else (with an email id similar to yours) is missing out on the interesting discussions in the group!

Regards,

Anand

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM, Nizar <nniza...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for your reply .. to be honest this is the first time i heard abt this group...I didnt ask anyone to add me into this group.. i dont want to know abt this group either...i dont mark CC of this mail to any group.. bcz its not my cup of tea..... hope i wont get any more emails from this group

[deepak p]

There is an option to add people directly without their consent (which google advises, to be used judiciously). Maybe somebody misused this option in the case of Nizar.

[Anand Nair]

Nizar,

Yes "getting out of the group" SOLELY depends on you. Let me repeat what I had already written earlier:-

No, you do not need anyone's help to get out of the group. If you go to the bottom of any mail received from this group, you will see the following:-

"To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to brights-indi...@googlegroups.com."

Still have problems in comprehending? Let me explain in simple words:-

a) No one added you to this group. The reason you got a mail from this groups is because an unknown person with a name similar to yours made a mistake in typing out his email id while seeking to join the group.

b) It is stupid on your part to think of this in terms of a "culprit". There is none.

c) I do NOT address mails to you or any one else. And mail is received by all who are members of this group.

d) You will certainly continue to get mails addressed to the mail id bright...@googlegroups.com till you send a blank email to brights-indi...@googlegroups.com

e) 

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 10:17 AM, Nizar <nniza...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hang on a minute mate... i dont understand how it depends on me? could you please explain? Did i ask anyone of your group mates to add me in this group?.. this first time i am getting mails from you.. you should be aware who u sending mails to.. because its comes off your mail not from your group.. If i were i then i would make sure my mail is not going to get wasted.. so please dont justify your self if you dont have proper reply...  you ask yourself first and look at the mirror who is the real culprit.. i hope you should get an answer

And i dont care who is sad or not.. for me its not even a topic to discuss with useless people.. may be for you... 

[Anand Nair]

To be fair to google, they have clearly indicate the method how to unsubscribe from a group -- in every mail that is sent from a group!

If an email id is known, ANYONE can send an email to that id -- there is no (ethical or legal) requirement to seek the recipient's consent for this. In that situation, why should anyone deliberately add a non-consenting person to a group? If he wants to spam the person (which is an illegal and unethical act) he can do this directly, rather than through a group.

Whereas the recipient cannot prevent an individual from spamming him (other than use spam filters, or in extreme cases, complain to the police), he or she can easily unsubscribe from any group!

Which is google has allowed members to be added to a group even without explicit consent -- with the advise that this be used judiciously.

I must add that it is not wise to look for "culprits" where there is none.

Anand

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

[Anand Nair]

And we are not sharing pornography or xenophobia in this group. Thus it is not a grievous error if an email Id is mis-spelt, and someone (including a child) receives an odd mail from this group!

Those not interested are required to unsubscribe (or write to the group or its administrator), rather than reply direct to another member displaying personal annoyance.

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

[deepak p]

How can you be so sure there is none? I have gotten added to groups without my consent before! And I have reported abuse, and I have heard of groups that have been shutdown by google for abusing the "add members" option. So, if Nizar's was a case of consent-less addition, there could be many more, and it is certainly something worth looking into. 

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 11:19 AM, Anand Nair <asn...@gmail.com> wrote:

--
Deepak P
http://deepakp7.googlepages.com/

[Anand Nair]

Deepak,

Before complaining to google, had you confirmed that your addition to these groups was deliberate mischief, rather than an inadvertent error? Had you taken the normal action to unsubscribe from the groups on your own? Did some one add you back to the groups AFTER you had unsubscribed -- suggesting bad faith?

If you had not taken the actions as above before complaining, I would say google erred in "shutting down" those groups!

The matter is is certainly something worth looking into. What we need to check is how  this Nizar made "sure" that this was a deliberate act by a "culprit".

I can almost bet that if Nizar were to complain to google, this group would not get shut down!

Anand

[deepak p]

Anand, 

When I am added to a group without my consent, I get an email that I have been added to the group. In my case, I checked it, found it to be not at all to be of interest, unsubscribed, and reported abuse (since Google, at that time, clearly said that people should use that option to add people they know, and in my case, I couldnt find anybody in the group I knew - so, it was clear abuse). Infact, I dont know whether the group I reported abuse of, had shut down. But, I know friends who had their groups shut down since they used the feature un-judiciously, and got abuse reported many times. 

You and me are sure that this group wouldnt shut down if Nizar complains, simply because one abuse report isnt redundancy enough to conclude abuse. However, I was saying that given this case, one cannot rule out the possibility of somebody having used this feature to add many people. If so, it is certainly worth looking into before it is too late (the naive Nizar isnt shrewd enough to unsubscribe or report abuse; but, there could have been others). In any case, there is no point adding people to the group unless they are interested in the theme/content. And I am fairly sure that google wont allow me to subscribe asn...@gmail.com to any group, unless I am signed in as asn...@gmail.com ; so, your hypothesis that somebody with a similar mail id subscribed nizar wont hold. 

As an aside, you were saying you were sad about somebody missing out on a lot of interesting discussions in this group. I wonder what discussions you are alluding too, since it has been ages since there has been any discussion in this group, as far as I can remember. 

Deepak

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brights India" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to brights-indi...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to bright...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brights-india.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Anand Nair]

Nizar,

I have now resolved the mystery!

No, you are NOT a member of the Brights group. You got my mail as I had (carelessly) clicked on "reply all" (rather than on "reply") to a mail from Ravindranath Tk (tkravin...@gmail.com) that was addressed to the Brights group and some other individuals. Among the addressees was  "nizar.m abdulla nizar" <nizarm...@gmail.com>. This is different from your email id ( nniza...@gmail.com), but it seems you got this mail forwarded from the other id.

Now, you may resolve the issue direct with Nizar M Abdulla or with Ravidranath Tk! Hope there is no further need to continue with this correspondence with me!

Regards,

Anand

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Nizar <nniza...@gmail.com> wrote:

your arguments doesnt make any sense to me... i got a mail from your id... so i replied to you not to send any more mails to me and please take me off... it doesnt matter for me who is looking after your mail... how could i know ur mail is managed by somebody else.. even if like that how could i get reply from u? i am getting reply from u now that means you are checking your mail frequently not ur team member.. thats the reason i am getting reply from u .. otherwise i wouldnt have get any reply... i dont knw ur personal mail id... please keep that in ur mind... i just replied to a mail that i got from this (asn...@gmail.com>).. y would i send a mail to u without any reason.. 

dear mate,

What did i request? I requested you to stop emailing me from ur mail that i recieved... if i were you what would i do? I do apoligise and accept my mistake and take the person off... instead of doing that you are after excuses... u not even ready to accept ur mistake n u r trying to blame.. hey.. i got mail from ur id..u must remember that... if u dont understand this i know what kind of person u r... u have no dignity... no humanity.. u just argue without any reason

On 30 April 2014 11:48, Anand Nair <asn...@gmail.com> wrote:

Nizar,

The only way you can stop getting replies from me is to STOP sending mails to me.

Remember that it was you who sent the FIRST mail directly to me, in response to a mail that I had sent to a group (rather than to you).

Also note that you took some care to address to me personally. If you had normally "replied", your mail would have gone to the group, and not personally to me.

It is very unlikely that a mail correctly addressed to brights-indi...@googlegroups.com would bounce. But if that has happened, it is for you to write to google customer support rather than bother ME with your annoyance!

Regards,

Anand

http://WatchMyHealth.com/

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 11:22 AM, Nizar <nniza...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mate i have sent a mail to the given email id and unfortunately its failed.. please dont mail me again... this is ridiculous and annoying.. thanks

[Muralidharan E.M.]

Dear Anand, Deepak and others,

The  spate of  exchanges between Anand and Nizar is unfortunately  the only activity that we have had for a long long time. As  the moderator I admit I have only watched the discussion going down and  have not done anything to revive the group. In its early years  we did have some very useful and interesting discussion. Can we do that again? 

I thought one reason why the group went into hibernation was that Facebook groups became a more popular media for such discussions. I did start a Facebook page  for Brights India. but did not send invites. Anand has the Brights Facebook  page by then and I thought it served the purpose. 

So if you all feel there is a need to get some activity in the group please initiate it and the message from Babu Gogeneni is a good enough point to start this.

Regards

Murali

[Ravindranath Tk]

A good suggestion