Some questions about our society and environment being talked about in my friend circle.
Manu’s varna system.
Did the varna system proposed by manu allow free transition from one varna to another based on merit at any time ? Specifically, did it allow non-Brahmin or non-kshatriya students to attend gurukul ?
Background :
The spirit of manu’s system (is it part of the vedic system ?) was to segregate society based on personal merit and professional capability, not on family of birth. The reservation system as I see it is to disrupt the barriers created by the caste system for the growth of the lower classes. Can manu’s system be defended somehow ?
Some instances
Drona: pandavas, kauravas, eklavya was rejected in drona’s ashram
Sandeepani: Krishna, balarama (after kamsa was slain, so they had declared they were kshatriyas)
Some other instances of people educated in a gurukul, but their origin is unknown and assumed to be brahminical,
Suravarman, the Yuvaraja, supplied the information: "Sire, the man is a Brahmin, Suyya. They say he wasn't born of a woman's womb. A Chandala woman, named Suyya, found a baby in a dust heap, sucking its thumb in a new earthen pot which had a lid on. The lustrous-eyed babe was not polluted by her with her touch. She had it brought up by a Shudra wet nurse and she gave her own name to the baby. The boy, as he grew up, picked up the Vedas and other learning very precociously. Now he fasts and bathes a lot and leads a very religious life. He goes about saying he has a plan to do away with the floods of the Vitasta. People, as Anandavardhana said, call him mad".
http://ikashmir.net/taleskashmir/2.html
Revenue model for the advertising we see on the internet
Do companies which claim to be driven by advertisement generate enough revenue to cover their expenses for employees, bandwidth and storage ?
How do companies that advertise get money to pay so much ?
How does a search engine company make money, okay how does google make so much money ? :P
Inflation
If the population of the world has gone up just 5 times or so in a century, what are the reasons for inflation of 1000 times or so ?
Why history is important ?
Things I came across while looking for answers to some questions.
What’s true history literally ? Is it like what Duryodhana is believed to have told Yudhisthira that history will be created to benefit the victor and that suyodhana’s qualities and virtues will be buried and forgotten.
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/photographic_evidence_of_vedic_influence.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/solid_evidence_debunking_aryan_invasion.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Indian_caste_system