Читать книгу Rise of London Gambler. Second edition - Serik Jumanov - Страница 10

John moved to another flat in a neighbourhood to share a room with Pakistani guy called Emil who worked in a fast-food shop on the ground floor. In the past six months they met in the shop frequently, and one day John saw an ad saying Emil needs a roommate. Rent was £200 per month which was a good deal for him. Emil seemed to be a nice guy, and John decided that he hardly could find a better roommate. Emil was not interested in football but was fun of cricket. He also was a practicing Muslim, a moderate one, not a fanatic, so John had no problem with it. One evening Emil made Pakistani tea which was tea leaves boiled in milk with sugar, and they started talking about religions since they both had something to share.

“What are you doing all the time? Betting? It is not good, brother. Betting is a sin!” said Emil.

“Look, Emil, I believe there is a Creator. Since we live in the world which exists then someone or something created it. The world is like heartless mechanism. For example, the gravity. Anything just drops on the ground, right? No matter, you’re a saint or an evil doer, you just hit the ground. So, I am just not sure the Creator has intelligence and there are heaven and hell etc. Look at this world! How perfect is it? Do you think it may be created by an intelligent and wise person? Yes, laws of physics and mathematics are flawless, but what about society? You know it better than me!”

“Yes, right. But it is people who make society messy. God made everything perfect, it is people and Lucifer spoiled everything. It’s why.”

“Okay, do you remember who Lucifer was? One of the angels, right? Who was created to worship the God and had no own will – unlike humans. Just like a computer. Just programmed. How come he started having his own will?? Can you imagine the computer having its own will? Can your cell phone start having its own will?!”

“Well, I don’t know…”

“So, do you see my point? This is only one of my questions. It’s why I am not into religions. I trust something I can check using experiments or observations. People should have critical thinking, right? I can’t say I fully trust modern physicians too, but they have a more analytical approach to everything, they check and double-check their data and conclusions, it makes me trust them more, but I cannot say they are absolutely right in everything. You know, they develop own vision all the time, they don’t get stuck with dogmas etc.”

“So, what you wanna say? Scientists are right or religions are right?”

“Let’s say, none of them. The truth is somewhere in between, I suppose. I hope in the future they will come to a common solution. At least now they have one common point – definitions of God and energy are just about the same. God was there and will be forever and so is the energy. You can say I believe in energy. Not sure the energy has intelligence, though. Thus, there is no sin, but active and destructive actions since energy cannot judge you. You just get your energy and accumulate it, or you lose it, and that’s the only punishment you get”.

“So, you mean, saintly life is a spending your energy in right way which helps you accumulate more energy?”

“Good point! Probably, yes. Frankly speaking, I’ve never thought what a saintly life is since I don’t dare to be a saint or something. Wait, I need to do something.”

John looked at his laptop and placed the bets on odds he just has found attractive, and relaxed.

“By the way,” he said. “Investing is not a sin, right? You can say I invest in my bets. Any investment involves risk, so it is some sort of gambling, don’t you think? And if investing is allowed, then what could be wrong with betting? I’m not gambling blindly, I’m working hard to analyze the games and make my ‘investments’, but in the other form only! Also, this is absolutely fair business, no cheating. I win money, but it’s not easy. I take risks to lose, and for reward, I get a chance to win some money. It is absolutely similar to investing – except the fact that I am not producing any material or tangible asset. Frankly speaking, this fact is confusing me to some extent, but don’t the shareholders do the same? They invest money only, and then share the profit if they are lucky.”