16. РАЗГОВОРНЫЕ ТЕМЫ К КНИГЕ И.БОГАЦКОГО, Н.ДЮКАНОВА
«БИЗНЕС-КУРС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА»
1. Love in my life (NOT Man-Woman Love).
1. Do you think only humans are able to feel affection to somebody? No, I don’t think so. All vertebrates are able to feel affection to somebody. For example, I had a pet rat that liked to be beside me all day long.
2. And what, in your opinion, alive things (except humans) can feel love? I suppose, all superior vertebrates such as dogs, cats, horses can feel love. For instance, I knew a dog that died of sorrow for her master.
3. What pets and wild animals do you like and dislike and why? I like dogs as they are very loyal and I like cats for their caress. As for wild animals, I like all kinds of wild cats, because they are very adroit and gracious. To tell the truth, I dislike snakes, because they are ugly.
4. Have you ever taken care of any pet, what duties did you carry out and how did you like it? Yes, I have. I took care of my parrot Yashah. I changed water for him, cleaned the cage and fed him. It was rather arduously for me, but I liked Yashah and he paid me back with reciprocity.
5. D’you like the nature and what do you do for its saving? I like the nature very much and I never drop any litter in the forest. When I get grown-up I’ll invent some ecotechnologies to keep the world pure.
6. Do you love your motherland and what do you do for your country’s prosperity? Yes, I do. I love my motherland and I try to study well and to be honest to help my people get rid of moral and material poverty in which a lot of them are living now.
7. What do you do to show your love to your parents? I often get good marks at school to please them; sometimes I tidy up my room and go shopping. Besides, I often tell them words of love.
8. Do you think your parents spoil you and why? Of course, they do, because they adore their only child.
9. Do you always do what your parents ask you to do and why? No, I don’t, though I love them. Sometimes I disobey my parents when they aren’t right, for example.
10. Do you like your sister (brother) and why? Of course, I love my little sister, especially when she behaves well. Sometimes, although, she acts just like a stupid and greedy girl and it drives me mad.
11. Do you ever fight to defend your sister (brother) and why? Yes, I do. I have to do it every now and then to defend my little sister from her nasty pugnacious classmates.
12. You, certainly, like your bosom-friends, but what do you sacrifice for them? I sacrifice my free time helping them with their lessons, personal problems and so on.
13. D’you like life itself and why? Yes, I do. I like life as there are so many wonderful things in this world that they make me forget about all the evil of the human society. Thus, I can’t help delighting the nature’s beauty, the greatness of human’s kindness and the perfection of man’s brain.
14. What do you like in this life best of all and why? Best of all in this life I like to be with my family, because it’s a small world of kind and loving me people with whom I can share all my joys and grieves.
15. Do you like children and why? Yes, I do. But I can’t say why, for certain. Partly, maybe it’s because I’m still a child myself, so I like to play with little ones. Sometimes it’s so sweet to come back together with kids to a wonderland of my own childhood where I used to be so happy.
16. What kind of creative activity do you like and why? I like drawing very much, because I’m keen on it and on an ordinary sheet of paper I can revive the whole new world of which I’m the only master.
17. D’you like active sports and why? Yes, I do. Best of all I like game sports as I like to play, to win, to demonstrate my extreme adroitness.
18. Do you like studying and why? Yes, I do. But I like to study only the subjects I’m good at as they help me comprehend the harmony of nature. Besides, I begin to respect myself much more for my abilities.
19. Do you love art and why? Yes, I do. I like fine arts, but especially I dot on classical music as my soul flies up to heaven with the wings of fantastic sounds. I like late-20 century rock classic too.
20. Do you like reading and why? Yes, I do very much. It’s so interesting to enter the world of other nations, lands and times. Moreover, reading helps us to dream and it’s so pleasant.
21. Do you love God and why? Yes, I do. I love God with all my heart, but no one knows about it. He is always with me and He is the only one I can trust all my troubles to. It’s amazing, but He helps me whenever I ask Him to. Instead, God requires only my love to Him and His creatures. So I do love God.
22. D’you like travelling, how and where? Yes, I do. I like to travel as I like fresh impressions. My best way of travelling is bicycling and I like to explore Moscow suburbs.
2. Man-Woman Love.
1. What is love? I think love is a combination of both mental and physical feelings that makes it impossible for people to live without each other.
2. What does the strength of love depend on? I guess it depends on the characters of those in love and on the external factors influencing them.
3. Have you ever fallen in love? I have fallen in love for many a time since I’m a romantic nature.
4. Do you believe love changes a person and why? Yes, I do. Love helps everybody to expose their best personal traits. When your love’s gone, you return to your previous self.
5. Did you fall in Platonic love? Yes, I did. Last time it was in the eighth class at school.
6. Is it right to make love with somebody without loving the person? If you want to answer the question properly, try to be sincere with your partner.
7. What do you feel when your love to somebody is gone? I feel the total devastation in my soul and nothing more.
8. Three girl-friends from Balashikha committed suicide because of the boy they loved so much. What do you think of it and why? Although it’s not good to say anything bad about the dead ones, I suppose, those girls betrayed the people they were loved by such as their mothers, fathers, grannies and so on.
9. What is the secret of long-lasting love and why? I suppose people are in love till they need each other both physically and mentally. That means their love lasts as long as they can feed their admiration for each other. To have their love long-standing the lovers should be forever inexhaustible in their ability to amaze and admire each other.
10. Does love depend on the educational level of people and why? I figure out, it doesn’t. Educational level has little to do with the talent to enchant or be enchanted.
11. Do you think the ability to love is a gift given to a few chosen and why? Yes, in my opinion, love is a talent given to some chosen people of great soul. I suppose everybody can fall in love for a short time, but only some people are capable of a long-standing love.
12. What should those people do who can easily fall in and fall out of love? I think they should live and love as well as they can trying not to hurt their former lovers.
13. People in show business are often get married for many a time. What do you think of it and why? Well, you know, they are artists and they need everlasting inspiration to create something new. Then when they suffer love losses they work even more successfully on the ground of tragic art. Besides, they usually provide their numerous off-springs with talents, connections, big name and money. So I can’t accuse them.
14. Do you think family life prevents love and why? I assume that in a good family where parents and children love each other and take care of each other everybody is happy and in love. But in a bad family the lack of love and care between parents cankers all the other relations in the family.
15. Would you rather stay single for the rest of your life without having sweet home and children or get married to a person who you don’t love? I’d rather stay single; although it might be that after 15-20 years of desperate loneliness I would change my mind though too late.
3. History.
1. Do you think history repeats itself and why? Yes, I do. Human nature repeats itself and so does the history of the human civilization. People want to get more and more by any possible way including annihilation of each other and the nature around them.
2. What do people usually fight for? They usually fight for sources of living, i.e. land, water, natural resources and, most recently, for energy.
3. Why is it easily possible to set one nation against the other? Well, you know, every nation tends to regarding itself as the best part of the mankind as so does every person. All their merits they attribute to their national superiority and all their faults they blame on some other so-called evil and inferior nations.
4. So you think people will keep killing each other forever? I cherish a hope that our human world will gradually come to living in brotherhood sharing common human moral and cultural values and common prosperous future and the people of the future will only discharge their negative energy through sports competitions.
5. What do you think people should do for it? I assume, they should learn more about foreign culture, language, traditions and a way of life to understand and tolerate the other nation’s world.
6. Chingiz Khan destroyed thousands of towns, Tamerland built hills of cut-off heads, Ivan the Terrible depopulated Russia to one half and Peter the Great- to two thirds. Why do nations honor such tyrants? Those tyrants, I think, created magnificent empires and built up great cultures that exist even now, while millions of those killed have been forgotten.
7. Why do you think the October, 1917 overturn in Russia was successful? I think the October Revolution was successful because the people of Russia were fed up with the four-year exhaustive war that had already taken lives of 4 mln.and maimed another 8 mln. leaving 12 more mln rotting in trenches at the front. The Bolsheviks declared the end of that money-interests war and won the trust and popularity with the majority of the nation.
8. Why did the Bolsheviks win the civil war? They did it because they gave lands to the Russian peasants –the main part of that society and the White Army chiefs didn’t even promise anything like that.
9. Why didn’t NEP exist in the USSR for long? I suppose the Bolshevik leaders were afraid of the powerful peasantry who got a lot from the Soviet power and could have become themselves a new centre of power.
10 .What do you think of the collectivization in the USSR? To my mind, Stalin wanted to submit Russian peasantry and get enough resources for the country’s industrial boom as an economic guarantee of the victory in the oncoming war with capitalist countries. So he first smashed the peasantry leaders (Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev) and rich farmers-kulaks and then forced peasants to form collective farms taking away their land and stock. A severe hunger followed and drove millions to resettle to cities to serve as cheap workforce for the industrial building. Thus, having lost millions out of hunger, in only 10 years the Soviet Union became the second largest world’s industrial power.
11. What do you know about the late 1930-s repressions against intelligentsia in the USSR? I know that Stalin created a vast system of concentration labour camps-GULAG- all over the country to secure his grip on power As a result, about 1 million intellectuals were killed and over 5 million –thrown to the camps and prisons. It was a great blow upon the intellectual and professional potential of the country.
12. What would you have undertaken if you had been the Russian leader in 1985? I‘d have immediately withdrawn the Soviet troops from Afganistan, I would have never ruined our alcohol industry, but would have charged it with higher taxes and would have spent money on health care, education and gradual economic reforms to develop a market economy under a tough state control as in all developed countries.
13. What do you think of the disintegration of the Soviet Union? I‘m sure, it was against the will of ordinary people in all the Soviet republics, because the nations of the Soviet Union had been strongly politically, economically and culturally connected with each other and benefited enormously from their cooperation. I hope these nations will unite again into a strong state.
14. Do you think Russia will ever become as mighty a superpower as it was in the third quarter of the 20 century and why? I keep a hope it will be successful in the realization of its great human and natural potentials to assume a proper weight and role in the world and provide the best living conditions for its people and a long-lasting peace and prosperity all over the world.
4. Politics.
1. Are you interested in politics and why? Not so much, to tell the truth. Most politicians are ready for any kind of heinous actions just to hold their grip on power.
2. Do you think it’s possible to be an honest politician and why? You know, it depends on the society: the more deceptive is the society, the more dishonest are the politicians and their policies.I hope in the democratic, prosperous Russia of the futurehonest politicians will serve honestsociety, fantastic though it may seem now.
3. Is modern Russian political system to your liking and why? It’s not so much to my liking, because it includes a great deal of fraud and lies, hypocrisy and corruption. As a result, in the period of 1991-2006 more than 20 million people in Russia had died prematurely because of deteriorating living standards and collapsing health care system, but I hope, gradually our society will adjust the Russian political institutions to serve the people of Russia.
4. What political party of modern Russia do you like more and why? I prefer The United Russia, because their policies have brought more stability to our life, but I’m aware that it’s just a party of high-ranking bureaucrats and officials without any strong people’s support.
5. Why do you think Russian people are so apathetic in the political life of the country? First of all, they are afraid to be active, because it is (and it was) dangerous in our criminal society and, because people are tired to be deceived and don’t believe any politicians.
6.What do you know about the political system of Russia? I know that Russia is a presidential republic where every four years the presidential and parliamentary elections are held. There are two houses in the Russian parliament.
7.Have you ever heard aboutthe Senate of Russia? Of course, I have. The Senate is the Upper House of the Russian Parliament that represents the regions of Russia and their local interests. The governors of the regions are proposed by the President and approved by local parliaments.
8. What do you know about the Russian Duma? It is the Lower House of the Russian parliament where the main political parties represent the interests of different social groups of the Russian population.
9. Do you think it’s an efficient political scheme and why? I’m sure it’s a very good political configuration for such a vast and multinational country like Russia and it works perfectly in many other countries as it harmonizes both regional and national interests.
10. Why is the political sphere so attractive for people? In my opinion, it’s because the political sphere gives power, power gives money, popularity and respect and, as a result, money, popularity and respect can win you everything even love.
11. What should be done to make the Russian political sphere less corruptive? I suppose, our political life should be more transparent and all bad deeds of politicians must be persecuted and punished properly. But it all will have happened no sooner than the Russian people take their own responsibility for their life and wellbeing.
5. Religion.
1.What is religion in your opinion? I think religion is a historically, nationally and culturally stipulated way of perception of the universe and God by people.
2. What does the choice of a certain religion depend on? I assume, it depends on the national way of life, historical and cultural traditions and geopolitical location of the country. That’s why different nations profess different religions
3. What world religions do you know? I know Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. Besides, I learnt about the great Egypt, Greek and Roman religions of the antiquity.
4. What are the oldest world’s religions that exist up to now? I think they are Hinduism (6 000 years old), Judaism (3 500 years old) and Buddhism (3 000 years old).
5. What are the most popular religions in the world? I know that there are 2 000mln. Muslims, 1200mln Confucians, 1100mln. Hindus and 700mln. Catholics.
6. How many religions can exist in the world and why? As our world is so heterogeneous there may be as many religions in it as people can only imagine, I think.
7. Which religion do you believe is the best one? Since I belong to the Orthodox Church it’s easier for me to assert that it’s the best part of Christianity and the latter one is the best religion of all. But what is true for me isn’t necessarily true for other 6 billion people in the world. Besides, when I think of all the crimes committed everywhere in the world under the names of different religions in the last 5000 years, I realize that religion is a powerful instrument to set up nations’ minds towards or against each other.
8. What do you suppose is common in all the world’s religions and why? I think every world’s religion teaches people to love each other and to do good to each other. As long as these religions have stood a long time-test, they serve properly to basic spiritual needs of people.
9. What in your opinion is the main difference between the world’s religions? I suppose they present just different visions and conceptions of the same universal God.
10. What religious cults in pre-Christian Russ do you know? I know that before baptizing in 988 A.D. Russian people worshiped Perunus, the god of supernatural power.
11. What religious holidays, rites and traditions do you observe? First of all, I was baptized by my parents soon after my birth, and then I always celebrate a New Year’s Day, Christmas, Great Fasting and Easter.
12. What pagan holidays and traditions do you observe and why? I like to celebrate Shrovetide, because it’s very funny and I like Shrovetide pancakes with all kinds of stuffing such as meat and eggs, herring and caviar, cream and jam. I also a bit superstitious and try to avoid black cats, returning to pick up something forgotten after leaving home and I tap wood so as not to cast a bad eye on something successful. Besides, together with my parents I visit my ancestors graves on Easter, that is against the Orthodox Church regulations.
13. How often do you go to church and why? I don’t often go to church, because I’m not a very religious person, but sometimes I do, mainly on great religious holidays and when I urgently need God’s help. And, of course, I’ve always tried to keep God in my heart.
6. Science and technology.
1. Where do you believe science came from? I think it came from religion.
2. Why do you think so? I know it was ancient religious servicemen such as shamans, sorcerers, magicians and priests who first summarized and analyzed the initial practical experience of the human society.
3. Why did the spiritual leaders of early society collect knowledge? I guess knowledge is power and they urgently needed power to unite and lead ancient community.
4. So you think religions gave the world all modern sciences? Not all, but most basic of them, such as math and geometry, alphabet and philosophy, physics and chemistry, astronomy and geography. Besides, sculpture and painting, music and literature grew and developed under the aegis of religion.
5. Why did science and religion part? To my mind, they parted when developing scientific knowledge began to undermine some important religious dogmas and, thus, ruin the power of religion. Besides, some scientists tried to demonstrate that God didn’t exist.
6. Did the scientists of the medieval time manage to prove it? I think, they thought they did, because they had proved that many religious dogmas were false. It became clear that Earth is not flat and it’s not the centre of the universe, that nature and man were not created in 6 days.
7. Why do you think such great scientists as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin were utterly religious people? I suppose they were aware that their discoveries overthrew not God Himself, but our previous primitive conception of Him.
8. Do you like the way science and technology have changed the world in the last 250 years and why? I can’t answer just ‘yes or ‘no’. On the one hand, I like modern, comfortable and dynamic life. On the other hand, progress hasn’t made the humanity any better: millions of people are starving and dying of hunger, wars are becoming more and more bloodshed and lies and hypocrisy are still indispensable attributes of our time.
9. What scientific or technological breakthrough do you regard as most significant and why? I think Albert Einstein’s nuclear physics and quant mechanics research induced the whole chain of revolutionary discoveries in all spheres of science and practice: nuclear energy, computers, gin technology and so on.
10. On the eve of what scientific discoveries are we now? I think in the current century mankind will obtain such unique technologies as hydrogen and fusion energy power, cloning of all types including computer and human cybergs, nanotechnologies for creating any material with certain properties, laser virtual vision and time compression and decompression along with antigravitation.
11. What do you think of oncoming cybernation and why? I’m sure that we can’t stop these processes, we can only slow them or lead them. I believe, in the 21 century A.D. we shall have two parallel trends together: cyberg humanization and human cybernation. That means that robots will look and act more like super humans and humans will use cloned body parts and implanted mega processors and I-ports to upgrade their intellectual and physical abilities. The two civilizations will have to coexist together.
12. Will civilization still be confined within the limits of Earth? I figure out, humans, clones and cyborgs will gradually colonize the universe.
13. Do you think science and religion will combine again and why? Frankly speaking, I’m sure of it, cause both science and religion will change drastically in their apprehension of God towards the evaluation of common principles and conceptions.
7. Demography.
1. Why do you think Russia has been depopulating since 1991? I suppose, it has been a period of a sharp drop in all social standards: incomes, social security, culture and morale, health care and guarantees for the future for 90% of the Russian population. The result is the lowest birthrate and the highest mortality rate since the Great Patriotic War.
2. Do people live long in our country? No, they don’t. Life expectancy has shortened by almost 10 years from 73 in 1985 to 63 (57 years for men and 67 years for women) in 2005. That means 10 generations of Russian people (15 million people) have died out prematurely in1991-2006.
3. Do you know any other periods of depopulation in the history of Russia? Yes, I do. When the Mongols subjugated the Old Russ the 6 million population declined by one third. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible Russia was depopulated by half and in the time of Peter the Great – by one third from 24 to 16 million people.
4. What were the best demographic years in the history of Russia and why? I know that Russian population more than doubled in the second part of the 19 century from 70million in 1856 to 160 million in 1893 and almost doubled in the second part of the 20 century from 180 in 1950 to 290 in 1990. These both periods were the years of relative economic prosperity, especially in the post-Stalin period when 200 million Soviet people got new flats, disease prophylactic system was at its peak as well as numerous social guarantees and in 1960 the most populous in the history of Russia 5 million generation was born which my Dad belongs to.
5. Why didn’t the population of the USSR grow in the first part of the 20 century? As far as I’m informed, it didn’t grow in the first 30 years of the Soviet power because of the Civil war and mass infectious diseases, periods of hunger and repressions, first and second emigration waves and, of course, The Great Patriotic War. As a result, the population of the country in 1947 was at the same level of 190 million as it had been in 1917.
6. Do you think aboard prohibition could help to increase the population of Russia and why? Well, you know, it’s difficult to say. On the one hand Russia looses 2 million aboard babies yearly, but, on the other hand, every time when different countries (Germany, USSR, USA) adopted aboard prohibition laws, they got involved into bloody wars, that caused a fall in their population. Besides, I think women should have a right to plan their families.
7. What, in your opinion, should be done to improve the demographic situation in our country? Of course, the state should support young families with special grants for new-born babies, but the main function of the state, to my mind, is to provide good political, economical and social opportunities for every citizen so that their incomes would be enough to raise as many children as they like.
8. Why do you think women want to have a baby? I suppose, every woman wants to be loved and to have children with the man of her dream. That’s why most women just can’t live without having a full-blooded family. Besides, every woman wants to be a mother regardless of having or not having a husband, because that is her nature. .
9. Why do you think men want to have a baby? It seems to me, they want to prolong their life and their business in their heirs, thus, making happy their lovely women.
10. What do you think of women who don’t want to have children? I think it’s quite excusable for women who belong entirely to their profession and occupation, especially when lives of many other people depend on them. They simply have no time for maternity, so they are as happy as unhappy.
11. What should be done to solve the problem of abandoned children? I believe, the system of school education should actively support the status of a good mother and father. Then the state should provide strong material and moral support for lonely mothers. And the last, but not the least, the abandoned children must be bred in adoptive families only.
8. Economy.
1. Why do people work? I think they work to get money for living, to enjoy their professional skills and the feeling of being in demand with other people.
2. Do you know anybody who are interested in their work more then in the money they get for it? Yes, I do. Most teachers and physicians who don’t take bribes are real patriots of their professions as they are devoted to their work even being badly underpaid.
3. Russia is presently in the 90-th position in the world concerning living standards. What do you think of it and why? I think on the whole we live as well as we work, although some people are underpaid or overpaid. I know that productivity of labour in Russia in 2005 was in service sphere-1/2, in industry- 1/3 and in agriculture-1/6 of the U.S. standards. At the same time we spend 2 times as much materials and 3 times as much energy as they do in the U.S. per unit of GDP. That’s why the average salary in Russia in 2005 was just 1/10 of the one in the USA.
4. What in your opinion should be done to make Russian economy more prosperous? I believe, first of all we should change people’s views and ideology, because people’s mentality is the main staff any economy is made of. No laws, rules or regulations can change anything, if most people do not want to accept them. People of Russia should know that they are the only masters of their prosperity.
5. What do you regard as the main stimulus for the Russian economic revival? I’m sure that it’s just honest competition that delivers high-quality inexpensive goods and services to customers.
6. Why don’t we have honest competition in our country yet? I know that it had been a long and difficult process in every developed country and so will it be in Russia, because most people are afraid to be honest with the authorities and most officials are involved into a system of all-penetrative corruption. That’s why everybody has to lie everybody in this Kingdom of Liehood.
7. Why haven’t natural resources brought economic prosperity to Russia yet? As I figure it out, economic prosperity of a nation has little to do with its natural potential and is based mostly on its human potential. That’s why a number of countries with poor natural resources are, nevertheless, most economically developed, for example, Western European countries or Japan.
8. Do you think Russia will become a strong economic power in the nearest 50 years and why? I have no doubt about it, because Russia is being more and more involved in the global economy, global specialization, global integration and, the last, but not the least, global competition. Consequently, Russia will have to work under the harsh market requirements, producing more goods of better quality with less expenses.
9. In what spheres do you expect Russia will take leading positions in the nearest 50 years and why? I hope Russia will be the greatest world’s electric energy exporter, generating it by using the most advanced nuclear, fusion and hydrogen technologies. Besides, Russia will be the leader of the international armaments market, delivering advanced, cheap and reliable systems of weapons. Apart from it, Russia will assume the first positions in gin and nanotechnology as even now we have a formidable platform in fundamental research in these spheres. And, of course, Russia will be the main cosmic transporter in terms of the Solar system’s colonization.
9. Culture.
1. What is culture in your opinion? I suppose the word culture has two main meanings: the accepted way of doing something (work, rest, family relations and so on) and the way people represent their skills in art.
2. What kind of culture do you regard as the main one and why? I believe the main skill every person should learn professionally is a culture of living in harmony with nature, people and, last, but not the least, with their own selves. It gives everybody a good chance to prosper in their life.
3. Where should children learn these cultures? I think, first of all their parents should teach them almost everything and it requires a great deal of exhausting work. Besides, their kindergarten and school teachers should cultivate a formidable cultural potential of rising generations.
4. How long do you think people should learn culture? To my mind, they should do it to the very end of their life, because, although most cultural traditions are rather conservative, there are so many new IT-cultures you can’t ignore, such as computer literacy, the Internet, i-pod downloading, mobile phones and so on.
5. Do you regard yourself as a traditionally cultural person and why? I hope, I do. I’ve learnt a lot of etiquette, I ‘m fond of classical and modern music, literature, fine arts.
6. Do you regard yourself as an IT-cultural person and why? To tell the truth, I’m only a computer user and I can hardly make any program myself, but I can easily download any kind of information into and out of my computer, i-pod and mobile phone.
7. What do you like most in classical art? I like the harmony of sound in classical music, the brilliance of forms in classical sculpture and the richness of colours and images in classical painting.
8. What do you like in modern art? In rock music I like its might and energy, in painting- its expressiveness and variety of forms and I also like modern art design of cars and planes, buildings and furniture, clothes and electronics.
9. Do you think people are more cultural now than 100 years ago and why? Of course, the elite of modern society is less cultural in terms of languages, musical skills and literature, but, on the whole, modern civilization is much more cultural concerning hygiene and medicine, knowledge in modern science and technology.
10. Do you think people now are less talented in art and culture then they were100 years ago and why? I suppose, they are as talented as their ancestors were a century ago, but now human talent is less concentrated on traditional forms of art and more – on modern art design, so we have a lot of brilliant designs of all kinds of techniques and machinery and less-of music, literature and painting.
11. What is your favourite art and why? I like cinematograph, because films bring in the whole world of colours, outstanding characters, interesting places and situations, wonderful music and acting and a lot of tricks and special effects.
10. The Universe.
1. Do you think we are alone in the universe and why? I’m sure that we’re not alone in the universe as it’s infinite both in size and forms, so there are many spots in the universe where life in all possible forms can exist.
2. Where from do you suppose life came to the Earth? I guess some simplest forms of life such as viruses and bacterium came to Earth from outer space 4bln years ago, while some other living structures had emerged as a result of the terrestrial chemical evolution.
3. What do you think of parallel worlds and why? I think we still know next to nothing about the structure of the universe. Neither do we know about space and time. So it’s quite possible that our world is multidimensional in terms of space and time.
4. Scientists say that our universe emerged about 15 bln. years ago after the Big Bang .What in your opinion was before it? To my mind, it’s a cyclic process and, though, the universe is expanding now it could possibly be shrinking in the previous cycle of the universe history.
5. Do you think it’s necessary to explore space and why? I believe, it’s necessary to explore outer space, because people will colonize it in the future and, besides, you can’t stop humans from investigating something unknown.
6. Do you believe extraterrestrials have ever visited our planet and why? I think we have been watched by some superior civilization. That’s why people often register UFO near military objects, missile ranges and aircraft bases.
7. Why do you think according to many religious sagas and myths gods often travelled on fiery chariots in the sky and sometimes came down to earth? It looks like they used cosmic rockets or something like that for their travelling across the universe.
8. Do you believe that aliens abduct terrestrials from time to time? No, I don’t., because I have never met with any reliable evidence of it so far, just an ocean of gossip and nothing more.
9. What is your favourite book and film about aliens? My favourite fantasy book is Machine Time by G. Wells. and my favourite fantasy film is”Star Wars» series by G. Lukas.
10. When do you think people will get close contacts with aliens? I hope thanks to the galloping development of science and technology mankind will arrive to close contacts with other rational beings within the next 100-200 years.
11. Do you suppose, it’s possible to stop or even reverse time and why. I’m sure of it, because of Einstein’s relativity theory which has proved to be right and because of the latest fundamental theoretical breakthrough in physics and quant mechanics. Time, its pace and direction depend on energy fields. As soon as we can generate powerful energy fields, we will be able to control time and its characteristics.
11. Extraordinary abilities of man.
1. Do you think man is an apex of the universe evolution and why? I’m not sure of the whole universe, but I can ascertain homo sapience has been the most sophisticated creature on Earth so far.
2. Why can some people tell about your past or foretell your future just at the moment they see you? I believe, the British scientists are quite right when they assert that human brain is not only the producer of our knowledge and conscience, but mainly and mostly is a receiver of them. According to Einstein and some latest research all the matter around us is mere information in the form of energy fields, i.e. some data, including the one about the past, present and future. The more powerful is the brain as regards to its biomagnetic energy, the easier it catches and absorbs those data, just like an extrasensitive antenna.
3. What extraordinary ability do you possess? I can feel it when somebody stares at me, sometimes I see prophetic dreams and, besides, I can easily detect a positive or negative aura of a person.
4. Where from do people get extraordinary abilities? I think it may be sometimes a lucky combination of gins or a result of a mental disease like with W.Messing, a personal drama like with M. Nosrtadamus or a stroke of lightning.
5. What extraordinary abilities will people assume in the future? I suppose, people of the future will have genetically and nanotechnologically upgraded mental and physical abilities. They will be able to process enormous amount of information in no time and communicate non-verbally.
6. What extraordinary abilities would you like to have and why? I would like to be wise, because wisdom is the shortest way to success and happiness.
7. Do you know anyone with extraordinary abilities? Yes, I do. My once downfloor neighbour boy could see the inside of the body and could tell a lot about your inner organs and their state and diseases. The doctors called him an indigo-child.
8. Can you hypnotize anybody? I’d rather response when somebody else peers at me intensively, but when I stare at my lovely girl, she usually turns her head to me. It’s really a kind of magic.
9. What do you think of David Copperfield and his abilities? Of course, he is an extraordinary person with great bioenergy, but, to my mind, he is also a talented and highly professional trickster.
10. What should human society do to release talents and extraordinary abilities of people? I suppose, the human society should help everybody to discover and develop their talents and make every person believe in the power of their creative gifts.
12. My generation.
1. How many generations have passed in the history of Russia? As a generation lag is about 25-30 years that means that there have been about 35-40 generations since the time of the first Ruricks.
2. How many generations of your kinsmen do you know? I personally know 4 generations’ representatives: my great grandmother, my grandparents, my parents and my cousins.
3. What do you know about your ancient ancestors? I know that they were merchants and lived in the Ukraine. My great grandparents were born at the beginning of the 20 century and had suffered all the ordeals of the Civil war and The Great Patriotic war. They resettled to Moscow in the early 1930-ties. My grandparents met, when they studied at Moscow State University in the late 1950-ties. They were Komsomol activists and believed in Communism. My parents met at the disco in the late 1980-ties. They built BAM-railway and gathered potatoes being students.
4. What is the main difference between your generation and the generation of your parents? In my opinion, they had communist ideas in their heads and believed in brotherhood of men. We, on the contrary, have only the ideas of a personal success in our heads and hardly believe in altruism. It’s a great pity, though.
5. What are your favourite book and film about your generation? There are not any yet, because we’re a forlorn, cursed generation and so far we’re not in the focus of the great masters of art yet.
6. What would you like to change in the life of your generation? Really everything: we have school and college life without good, kind teachers; TV with pools of blood and spare time without free sports sections.
7. What are the main formal distinctions between the last two generations? I can say that my parents belonged to the last hard-reading generation. We don’t read so much, because we are the first mobile phone, Russian MTV and the Internet generation.
8. Do you think your generation is the best one and why? I’d easily say ‘yes’, but to be impartial, I should admit that we’re no better, than our parents were. We’re just different and so is the time we live in.
9. Every generation proclaim that they are here to save the world and usually fail to do it, except the Great Patriotic war generation. What about your generation? I fear to sound a bit self-assured, but I cherish a hope that we shall save the world from industrial pollution, nature from destruction and society from hatred, diseases and poverty.
10. What kind of your generation activity are you afraid of and why? I’m afraid we shall develop super technologies to clone new kinds of people and cyborgs- the new rulers of the world and that will be the end of a human civilization.
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