How did human being first discovered God?
Well, the journey began with a book, book on Rajayoga, written by Swami Vivekananda. And though there were multiple places in that book where I just felt enormous resistance or unwillingness to continue reading, I somehow could read a major part of that book.
The book had a line which said that God was first found by ancient statisticians. Just in case these words come as flattering for any disciple of mathematics or statistics, I must say that at that moment, I just did not agree with what was written.
I had seen students and teachers of mathematics. And I can assure you that they have no chance. For them to detect or understand the existence of God is merely a matter many many lifetimes. I looked at the book and wondered which statisticians was this man talking about?
I knew when I became one. I was teaching statistics to AS level students and the the topic was Normal Distribution.
Normally I would never start my class with any answer. I would not give away easy bits of information. I am a very kind and affectionate teacher, but I hell challenge my students to find the knowledge. If you do not find it, at least you must become eligible by longing to know. On that day I asked, what is normal?
I mean really, what is normal?
By definition, everything which follows the norm is normal. But then, what is the norm? Despite of centuries of western science, modern mathematics, industrial revolution, economic parity and disparity, two world wars, we as mankind, have not yet figured the norm of life. What is normalcy about life?
I also ask a very similar question to all my psychiatrist and psychologist friends. They talk about diseases, trauma, disorders. But no one tells us what is healthy mind. I mean those who call them psychologists, owe it to us. They must explain their notion, their criteria of calling a mind healthy or not healthy. But guess what, they all avoid this question.
I shall definitely write a story on healthy mind. But this one is devoted to those ancient statisticians, who found a mention in speech of Swami Vivekananda.
The fact that we do not have much clarity about what is real meaning of normal, makes it more interesting and curious about the concept of normal distribution. The other two popular probability distributions are binomial and Poisson. Binomial distribution is called binomial because it is composed of two terms. Bi means two and nomy is terms. Two terms involved, hence binomial. That sounds reasonable.
Poisson’s distribution is called so because it was put forth by a mathematician named Poisson. This makes more sense. But what on earth would makes someone term a probability distribution as normal?
To make it worse, the calculations of normal distribution involves checking this above table. This is really bad way of dealing with a problem. I think if you solve a few problems using binomial distribution, you will love it and then this normal distribution might seem abnormal. But it has a curve. And it makes a lot of sense.
Normal distribution is a based on a bell shaped curved. The peak shows that point where it is most likely that a particular thing will occur. And that value is mean. Those who have forgotten, mean is average value. It is generally found by adding all the values and then dividing the sum by the number of values.
But then, at the mean value, why does the probability curve show highest point? This peak indicates that this value is most likely. The probability is highest. But why and who decided that the mean value shall have highest probability?
Well, we can check. If there is a test carried out. And we plot a graph of marks obtained by students, then highest number of students are found in the range where mean exists. And without exception, the graph falls almost equally on either sides of the peak.
Take a soccer player. If you plot a graph of his number of matches on X axis and number of goals per match on Y axis, then again you will find the same pattern. The graph shows peak right at the mean or average of goals per match. And the curve becomes evenly decreasing on both sides.
It was about 3000 to 5000 years ago that mathematics was an amazing boom in India. It was after a profound work on mathematics, humanity turned towards working on science, philosophy, economics and art. Asia was the sole place of such insight then and the best vibes for curiosity and discoveries manifested on there. If you understand what is recited in poetry, you shall know its significance.
So the mathematicians about 5000 years back, wondered that if you note the number of vibrations of winds of a bee in one second, and plot its graph, you shall see that it matches with now known normal distribution curve. But hang on, two things sometimes resemble. It does not prove anything.
But then the rainfall over entire monsoon season also showed same graph. The amount of crops lost to insects and mouse over many years also showed same pattern. The number of times a good singer would sing in a day also shows the same. If the average is 2 ragas per day, then the average is most frequent. And more than 2 or less than 2 finds a decline in the graph just like the bell shape.
Those were the times when Shiva was the only God worshiped in India. Check his adobe in Himalaya, you would find his carved statues in the pose of meditation. It might only be a coincidence that the Normal distribution curve fits his posture just right. Have a look.
But then this can be only a coincidence, right? Actually no. The shape of all ancient temples in India resemble the meditation posture of Shiva. Some believe that his adobe in Himalaya, the Kailash mountain also has very similar shape. Shiva is not a human being of emotion or thought. Shiva is what is the manifestation of free will. What ever that exists, is by the will of Shiva. I find it curious that the normal distribution curve stands applicable to every pattern of life, animate or inanimate. The same holds for the doctrine of Shiva. And their postures fit so well, I think it is just amazing.
But the statisticians were not admirers. They were scientists and they were not going to get drifted with any resemblance. But then one kept wondering, as to how is it possible that the pattern of vibrations of winds of a fly and pattern of amount of rainfall over the rainy season, still show the same graph? How can two absolutely irrelevant objects behave the same way?
And more interestingly, the it is not about the winds or rains. You can take average daily temperature or humidity or the number of bolts manufactured correctly, take anything but the given curve fits everything.
The statisticians had to admit that the only reason why the working pattern of a clock, of rains, of winter of winds of a fly or anything can be about God. I mean if everything in this creation behaves the same way, with the same pattern, this can not be a coincidence. The existence of similar pattern of creation shows that everything is created by the same process. This process or the one who beholds this process was called God.
Swami Vivekananda had got it right. Ancient eastern statisticians had not realized God, but had discovered his existence.
