Education is meant to understand.
To bring in full estimation of you as an individual placed in time and
context, and the implication of it. It is to equip you to wrench your indelible
impression from billions of lives, linking vibrant minds of past with evolving present, and to weigh in on
ideas to weave a vibrant world. Education extends the link of humanity towards possibilities. Education is the vibrant
sense of presence. It is an awareness on what is to be a human, the precious individuality and freedom. A good education grants freedom.
Good education though is rare, and is
impossible in the ecosystem of market driven needs and when valued with certainties
of religion. Education therefore becomes a ritual, and is stuck in the basics of
literacy without any potential or hope. Learning becomes a ritual. The ritual
of feeding and regurgitating, which then is evaluated for merit and use. Literacy is a ritual of learning the rules, prevailing facts and empirical evidences.
Literacy equips us to be educated. When literacy fails to assimilate education is
reduced to ritual. In the process the human is reduced and becomes scheme to
work on the ritual for the systems that benefits. It is weaponized to meet the
aspirations of middle-class insecurities. It creates thriving beggar’s mindset.
Middle class here is not entirely
an economic classification based on income so on. It is a mindset. A mindset
that has overwhelming presence in society hence majoritarian thus deciding
tenor of given society. Lacking deeper understanding or thinking, carried by
exigencies of situation, they are mired in insecurities and battered by
tribulations of life. They desperately seek security and stability. Hence, they amass (many
billionaires and millionaires are beggar minded rich people. They just worked
the system to amass money or power or luxuries but their mind is still middle class, trapped in insatiable middle class needs). They strive as pallbearers of dying inconsequential traditions and degrading culture of sentiments attached to inherited -atavistic residue that they carry to deal with ever changing world. They shape the world in this conservative restricted ways lacking sensibilities to value progress or capacity for nuance. Lacking reflective thinking or self awareness they are incapable to evaluate
meanings or egalitarian options. Ill-equipped for long-term awareness they look
for quick fixes and easy solutions. So, when abstract or existential presents
itself it scares them into the lap of sureties offered by juvenile faiths and nostalgic warmth of inane. Instead of
education equipped steps towards egalitarian self-awareness they seek simplistic
versions to satisfy their primal needs. The human is reduced in the ritual to
maximize for the system. Middle class needs are easily dealt within the matrix of
the self-consuming system. Art, literature and commerce attunes to satisfy and
gain from them. Middle class hence becomes the standard bearers. Thus, the
overwhelming mediocrity in every field that strives on middle class aspirations, from entertainment to literature to technology. The space for excellence
shrinks as middle class expands. They create their own heroes in their own
image, aspirations, and celebrate. Entertainment creates narration that eulogizes their staid ways as virtue, religion adds morals to this morass of prefabricated
world.
They create myths of stability
immune to chaos of life. They thrive in hierarchal systems and ritualistic repetition hence seek surety of authority, if not an all dictating god -and their
agents, then atleast a leader exhibiting sure footed tendencies. The pleased and pleasing are in a loop. Middle class
therefore degrade democracy and egalitarian ideals by encouraging authoritarian tendencies. The reason why J.Krishnamurthi -philosopher educationist, worked
education to remove all forms of authority. He was concerned about Indian tradition
that allowed for ritual, belief and unquestioning devotion. His idea of education
was ‘critical looking’ -much immediate than critical thinking, and a step towards
‘choiceless awareness’ that harbingers inquisitive ways. He valued holistic education
as essential for an “inner renewal that can effect social transformation and
indeed lead to societal change”. Before I continue on this let me add when I was
in my late 20s I took out some time to try to understand the whole idea of
education and search innovative means of pedagogy (I was into bit of teaching so
thought of exploring it in depth). I read few thinkers as also visited few
places across the country which explored these ideas. I did read Montessori,
and found influence in Indian thinkers like Aurobindo (did take few classes at Mirambika in Delhi),
Tagore (visited Shantiniketan in Bengal few times, he was quite influenced by Renaissance
and the Age of Reason as also best of Indian thoughts), Krishnamurthi (spent few days at Rishivally, Andhra) as
also Vivekananda, Osho, Russell (Education and Good Life) and Rousseau. Rousseau’s Emile is quite influential and
foundational in many ways. His concern of education was not to create “magistrate,
nor soldier, nor priest” but “primarily, a man’, or shall we say a human. Tagore
too concerned education with humanism “freedom and creativity are linked in
Tagore’s thought, one conditioning the other. The more people go beyond the
limitations of their animal nature, the closer they come to humanism, freedom
and unity and are then able to develop their creativity”. He valued education
as “clear stream of reason” that “has not lost its way into the dreary desert
sand of dead habits”. It is quite clear that insecurities of middle class have lost
the potential of education and inherent values of humanity into “dreary desert sand
of dead habits”. Valued books are being banned in spaces that once gave hope. Vibrant ideas censored by religion and market. Human being are loosing connection with their reality and are dehumanized into systems.
When Apollo 11 landed on moon in 1969 Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to disembark, he said these memorable line "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". That truly was a giant step for humankind, so is the recent installation of Webb telescope or CERN experiments -though some disappointment for particle/experimental physics. Sputnik in 1957 and Vostok with Yuri Gagarin in 1961 though clouded under cold war animosity these too were giant step for humankind. These achievements are common heritage for humanity. Things have changed in recent times. Most recent attentions towards space are not benign nor for the benefit of humanity -although the euphemism is compelling. Market capitalism has churned out regrettable billionaires with severely limited intellect or responsible ways while they vandalized earth. The spectacle is choregraphed for the spectacular effect. Branding itself is a justification for higher intent. Market has projected these as smart solutions with obvious reference for billionaires as saviors. In this ecosystem of self-obsessive valuation of world everything is tagged and resourced to be exploited. Meanwhile severe climate breakdown and catastrophic effect on people and biodiversity is channelized as viral videos or mother nature’s wrath so on without any context or horrendous reality that humanity is being exposed. Market capitalism, religions and politicians have deep investment to keep the herd distracted as long as they can. Severity of climate breakdown though is causing consternation among increasing populace, they are jostled out of market goodies filled dreamworld choices into flash flood, heat waves, forest fire, very soon spiraling food prices. They see temples, mosques, churches, so on wash away, faith in material not holding, cozy negotiated sureties disappear, while politicians stutter. They are scampering for new narration to contain the herd. Incapable to factor reality herd will seek redemption in myth and fantasies, this momentary distractive respite is the peace that faith mongers offer.
Two hundred
years back naval and navigation technology became more sophisticated. Some countries
were able to reach far off places and use advanced armaments to capture land
and people to exploit for resources. Sophistication of technology did not advance
humanity. It led to slavery and wanton exploitation. It led to colonization. Technological
sophistication is not same as scientific achievement. Scientific achievements necessarily
advance humanity. Science by its very framework is humanist. Technology meanwhile
is a tool. It is limited by the humans that use it.
It was quite an exciting night at World Athletics Championship at Budapest Hungary on the banks of river Danube (yes they do play Strauss' Blue Danube and it reminds me of iconic scene from Kubrick's Space Odyssey 2001. Recently I also happen to watch a rare Hitchcock black and white comedy on Strauss II and how he created this music -not sure whether it's historically accurate depiction nevertheless it was really not the kind of movie in Hitchcock genre). So, the longest men's event 10,000m and shortest, or shall we say fastest, event 100m were at display. Running is sports at its best.
Climate change is sharply spiking temperature
across the globe in the last few years -despite cooling La Nina, the situation
is spiraling at an alarming rate with El Nino consolidation. With ocean absorbing additional heat from global warming El Nino is becoming intense. As you can see suddenly
monsoon rains have vanished, and if ever erratic, intense, lasting for short
period, and then the sky is clear as ever. Rain these days carry ominous threat
of deluge. Rain no longer is languorous drizzle that invites for a long walk among
the rain soaked trees, cycling along brimming rain carpeted oceans, boating in the backwater…rain
these days are dreadful possibilities of floods and landslides. Rain is harbinger of tragedies. Summer is heat wave.
There is a character in The
Book of Laughter and Forgetting (by Milan Kundera) Mirek who remarks that
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against
forgetting”. One of the pernicious attempts of herd controlling systems is to make
people forget. Controlling and manipulating memory is an assault on being a human.
Species evolve to survive by awareness of surroundings, lack of awareness and incapacity
to sense evolving habitat will make them vulnerable hence extinct. Memory is
significant aspect of consciousness and helps to evolve new thoughts and ideas hence
limited awareness and flawed sensing leads to controlled. Lacking discerning
skills sycophancy acquires survival template. Individuals many times try to forget
injustice to seek solace. Forced to forget -by herd controlling totalitarian
forces -whether State, Religion or Market, through control of state
institutions or deep entrenched systems, redacted history, supplanted myths of
glory, narrative will to power and entitled worldview, redundant degrading choices,
is to deceive basic sensibilities that define being a human and is to deny
diversity of human experience.
As the world gets connected and
individuals get atomized through technologies, ideas and aspirations as also
social conditions, we find that humans are also inexperienced in this emerging,
seemingly alienating, context of life they find themselves in. This moment is
what we got. This human condition is explored by prescient minds, and will have
to be experienced to value life, its meaning and meaninglessness, possibilities
and impossibilities. We will have to shed primal practices and medieval
securities that have lulled us to uncertainties of life and omnipresent chaos
in the horizon. Ensuing arrogance and entitled place in the life scheme is
challenged and falls short of every scrutiny reality presents. Irony -of
existence, is what is experienced, and very soon we realize that this is the defining
human condition. The improbable irony of being alive.
Irony irritates certainties -that
define herd controlling systems. So instead of creating awareness, exploring
ideas and frameworks of aesthetics to explore and evolve with amazing
opportunity presented, what we get is insidious attempts to manipulate and
control by nurturing herd valuing systems. Instead of aesthetics of diversity
and myriad expressions that coalesce into collective synergy what we get is grotesque
fantasies to ensnare and dehumanize -to impose systems on others and silence
them into submission. It is an attempt to provide easy solutions to existential
uncertainties of contemporary world and eternal absurdity. It is an attempt at
pandering egos of herd controllers and the worst of humanity at the expense of
common people. It is a vulgar imposition of herd will on common people.
Some extremely devious people are
working to normalize herd controlling systems specifically religion -which
works in tandem with power (State) and money (Market). Also, communism
(referred to as Left) has the habit of identifying with herd (in the garb of
minority) -in an enlightened society religion cannot be defining factor at all
since it rarely evaluate human being as human. Minority voices are undermined
when religion usurp this space. In the dialectical materialistic version of
history humans are just pawn. In this scheme eventual emancipation is that of
humanity lacking humans but comrades. This reductive obscene version of human
is not unsimilar to what religion or market proposes. These are fake binaries
to control for power. It also needs to be pointed out that not all religions
are same. This semantic generalization is flawed. It doesn’t really factor in important
aspects of journey and contexts of each religion and their impact on the individual
and the world. You cannot codify each religion into same scale. Ofcourse this isn’t
about showcasing superiority and exceptionalism but to bring out critical
aspect of understanding. What need to be made clear though is that whatever the
context of each religion in the evidence of contemporary world it has more nuisance
value than anything else and is a persistent threat to humanity. This
anachronistic pestilence has been segregating, dehumanizing and degrading, and
over the centuries and decades some religions were challenged and hence evolved,
or interpreted to update, with the need of the time. While some have stuck in
space time warp to ensnare common people into ever widening medieval mindset
immune to contemporary reality hence present a constant threat. The progress we
have made has much to do with ecosystem that some religions have provided or
tolerated or help ignore. Christianity, has seen criticism, reformations and debate -working on rationalism and reason, hence
relatively tolerant space, as also protest and assertion of common people to
support the best among them against the onslaught of juvenile premise that they
started to ridicule. Sacred was also profane. These ecosystems have elemental
impact on the way people pursue their thoughts, deliberated and decided. Likes of Francis Bacon was impossible in any other ecosystem hence rapid progress of human civilization. Judaism too provided an ecosystem that nurtured best of humans as is evident from
contribution to humanity. Let’s be clear these scientists or philosophers were
not practicing religion, nor did gave a damn about religion, but they benefited
from the ecosystem which quite clearly many religions were incapable to provide.
Buddhism invested in humans to provide subtle expressions and peaceful
meaningful life for centuries. Zen is pinnacle of possibilities of human mind. This
is not about Christianity or Judaism or indeed Buddhism -to take few examples, what
is clear from the contemporary evaluation of religions is that they are firmly
rivetted in juvenile premise -that surely is dehumanizing and degrading, and capitalize
on insecurities of people. Buddhism is as violent and viciously herd churning
as any other including Hinduism -brutalities against which it was proposed (if
temples were destroyed by Muslim invaders -nothing wrong in the context of the
time indeed welcomed, then study must be conducted regarding Buddhist temples
destroyed and appropriated by Hindus). In the contemporary evaluation, by the
very definition and premise, all religions without exceptions are dehumanizing and prey on human insecurities and uncertainties of life.
They have no value for human being, and seek to control and propagate. They
hold nothing for humanity to face the challenges of future nor add any value to
progressive thoughts. Faith as it exists in religion -anchored in miracles and instructive ideas of many centuries back, is not compatible with critical thinking gained from contemporary understanding. Modern mind and social relations cannot be trapped in juvenile conceptions and regressive value systems that it perpetuates. Herds live in glory of past and have fantastical fatalist
view of future, an outcome of lack of application of mind. They are provided all the
answers. This surety adds to the danger. They are no longer human but herd
waiting to be instructed, and at the most they can contribute is by innovating
within status quo needs, some incremental money savers or staid creative
expression to be good herd members and reaffirm herd values. Sometimes we do
come across surprisingly subtle and elevated creative expressions attributed to
religion (in the contemporary world, not what happened few centuries back which is entirely different context) that one doubts can really emerge from juvenile
controlling narrow premise of religion. These elevated experiences are
spiritual that precedes religion. These yearnings are part of human
consciousness hence cannot be appropriated by religion as religious experience.
What is not confined cannot be part of narrow systems and its simple
elaborations and prescriptions written when people lived in caves. Religion is
too small a space for immensity of life.
Religiophilia, particularly Islamophilia, of the West has become serious threat, and has potential to undermine all the amazing progresses made by humanity over the centuries. Appropriating progressive semantics to nurture religion is a new low. They have used UN to institutionalize degrading values (UN has become sideshow for redemption while they exaggerate cold war relic NATO). Burning specific book may not be an aesthetic expression of protest nevertheless it is an indelible part of freedom and what it is to be a human. OIC inciting violence is a serious breach and characteristic pattern that should be worrying, and they should have been warned -it fulfills definition of inciting terrorism. A book or any fantastical myth or ritual or cow cannot be under any circumstance valued over human life. These primitive brutal ways have no place in civilized settings. It is a blatant use of religion to bludgeon and blackmail. It can be said with much certainty that contemporary Islam, specifically sunni version, has created an ecosystem that pose as a threat with least of contribution to humanity. Not that other religions are not a threat. Religious nutcases in every religion and region have created barren pockets of depravities across the world. They demand exceptionalism and consider themselves as superior as if god is on direct call with them. While some carry gun in the name of god to kill people others carry caste to eviscerate soul. It’s a severe mental crisis that instead of being pointed out as absurd is being validated as freedom. Attack on Iraq -leading to killing and maiming of millions of innocent people, complicity of media in ‘sexing up’, greed for fossil fuel, inability to prosecute Blair, has made monarchist Christian feudal compromised Britain particularly vulnerable. Pretentious western elite are using common people across the world as fodder. West is seeking redemption through islamophilia. It’s a serious breach. Spread, reach, money, as also lack of meaningful revolt or protest within the religion -trapped in brutal medieval setting, makes Islam -specifically the sunni version, a serious threat to idea of progressive world. It has emboldened regressive violent forces in other religions, cults, as well as the state. You cannot hide behind Islamophobia -it can only be dealt case by case basis; no religion can be given carte blanche against criticism or scrutiny. We are not fodder for religious supremacist nutcases nor are we ready to sacrifice democracy and liberty -hard earned values that defines each human on this planet, and all the possibilities of future, for regressive values posing as diversity. No religion is sacrosanct nor sacred. What impacts humanity is open for questioning. All the technologies that empower me, and common people around the world, right from internet to each and every part of laptop or mobile phone I use- the electrons to satellite, the ideas and thoughts behind it, has not come from Saudi -despite the fact that it’s one of the richest societies (its contribution to humanity woefully lacking nor do we expect anything much in future, and there is a reason. It’s quite likely they are investing hugely in western media to work the narration), it has come from open societies that nurtured inquisitive values and potential in human beings through critical thinking, reasoning, debate and differences. All the ideas and systems that nurture me, and common people across the world, like democracy, liberty, valuing contrary ideas and egalitarian thoughts, asking every possible question that arise in mind, reading wide range of books -and not to follow any one book or scripture or idea but to understand, seeking answers and accepting with scrutiny, respecting human irrespective of gender or region or race, being empathetic and be aware of human frailties and contemporary realities, has not come from any Mosque (or Temple or Church or any herd churning pit and its pedantic sickening morals). That doesn’t mean everything about religion is crap some mentions are poetic, amusing, and interesting insights. Nothing more can be granted to it. Period. Religion by its very premise is a threat to humanity. Be very wary of herd controllers who use benign ideas and progressive semantics to degrade the world. There is money, control and power riding on posturing. A society that protects most vulnerable thoughts, contrarian ideas, and nurture weakest person to his/her fullest potential, is deemed advanced and progressive, is richer to contemporary realities and equipped to face future complexities. Most importantly we must not forget, they will make every attempt to make us forget -that is first step towards being controlled. We must read, objectively verify, critically scrutinize, and understand. We are mere mortal to seek truth we can only try to understand and value as much this miracle of life.
I asked for ChatGPT's response by feeding my article (earlier blog "Mere technicians are not scientists"). Though it was critical of my stance but when i provided the context (since it cannot read pictures, nor did i mention details in my writing -actually i am quite tired of elaborating their antics, they have been doing it for long and every time breach is large) as also mediocre Indian media lacks the caliber. This is the response of ChatGPT (what i like about ChatGPT is that it is always succinct and to the point):
...media coverage plays a significant role in shaping public perception and discourse on various issues, including the actions of scientific institutions and professionals. When certain practices, such as carrying miniature models of rockets to temples for blessings, are not critically covered or are normalized in the media, it can indeed contribute to a lack of balance in the public's understanding of the situation.
Media organizations have an ethical responsibility to provide objective and unbiased reporting on all matters, including those related to science and scientific institutions. When there is a failure to critically examine practices that may raise legitimate concerns, it can hinder constructive discussions and accountability.
A lack of critical media coverage may lead to the normalization of certain actions, making it challenging to address potential breaches in professional conduct or conflicts between religious beliefs and scientific principles.
Kuhn elaborates that scientists
normally don’t aim to invent new theories they attempt to “force nature into the
performed and relatively inflexible box that paradigm supplies”, he calls it
normal science as against paradigm-based science. The area investigated by
normal science are, ofcourse miniscule, with “drastically restricted vision”. But
these are born “from the confidence in a paradigm” and is essential in the development
of science. By focusing on small range of relatively esoteric problems the
paradigm forces scientists to investigate “some part of nature in detail and
depth” that would otherwise be unimaginable. Also, some scientists have great
reputation, not from novelty of their discoveries, but from “the precision, reliability,
and scope of methods that they developed for the redetermination of a previously
known sort of facts”. So, there are three classes of scientific problems: determination
of significant fact, matching of facts with theory, and articulation of theory.
There are extraordinary problems, and their resolution is what makes scientific
enterprise worthwhile. They though emerge only on special occasions prepared by
the advance of normal research. Inevitably, therefore, the overwhelming
majority of the problems undertaken by even the best scientists usually fall
into one of the three categories. Kuhn elaborates on commitments without which
no man or woman is a scientist. The scientist “must be concerned to
understand the world and to extend the precision and scope with which it has
been ordered” which must lead to “scrutinize some aspect of nature in great empirical
detail”, and if the scrutiny displays “pockets of disorder” then it must
challenge to “refinement of observational technique” or to a “further articulation
of theories”. Kuhn importantly brings another aspect of normal science, that of
puzzle solving -a problem characterized by more than one assured
solution. For instance, Japanese space agency’s extremely sophisticated scientific
mission Hayabusa2 discovery of uracil from Ryugu (a near earth asteroid found
within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter) was an attempt to solve puzzle
of origin of life.
AI is emergent no doubt, complexities were already observed much earlier through AlphaGo and AlphaZero game machines. There are discussions on ChatGPT (GPT4), frankly my earlier interaction with these were quite disappointing but recent involvements have made it clear that, even though there are deficiencies, they exhibit nuanced capacities and recognize pattern in what is entirely subjective -that these are sophisticated to elevated sensibilities is what makes it enchanting. The other day I gave ChatGPT an old poem to evaluate from my blog that was written almost fifteen years back. Frankly I don’t like to revisit old writings of mine since I find many quite embarrassing. It is only in the last eight or nine years that I have really found the grip, and yes some linguistic caliber to reflect reality after years of persistence. Therefore, it was quite surprising that I found what was written fifteen years back quite riveting, and really neat effort. So, I decided to put it to ChatGPT for evaluation. This is the poem:
Someone in the crowd
When the face in the crowd
looks no different from me
and
so do all the faces.
Actions of speech, laughter, sadness
and silence
is someone else’s
and also mine.
The questions asked
spins in a vacuum
but still no one is without answers.
A dull ache up the body
confirms it once again
that
I too have become someone in the crowd.
Like massacred bodies
tossed into mass grave
and later dug out
as skeletons
all white bones
all hollow skulls.
Lump of hair
shreds of cloth
and nobody to mourn.
This a part of ChatGPT’s response “The use of vivid imagery, such as the faceless crowd and the comparison to massacred bodies, creates a powerful and haunting atmosphere. The poem's structure, with its concise lines and fragmented thoughts, contributes to the sense of disconnection and anonymity conveyed throughout”. What really got me was this line “While this fragmented style contributes to the poem's introspective and disjointed atmosphere…”. Now, I rarely write poems with such short lines, but somehow when I wrote these fifteen years back, I felt reason to write this way. It was some intuition of the context of the situation. You generally go with the flow, and then work for appropriate words and typos, then you reread as a reader or second person, third person so on. That is how it is worked. This poem had the stark context of people killed in Bengal (likely dumped in mass grave), the “fragmented style” and "disjointed atmosphere” it created was intuitional. That ChatGPT was able to perceive this is what makes it amazing. It gives me goosebumps. Clearly it is not a stochastic parrot, these really aren't random probables there is something deeper at work.
Open societies value all the progress that is precious for humanity and holds a beacon for dealing with complexities of present and future uncertainties. Open societies nurtures individuality and liberty of each human, and rights and freedom to explore their potential. It provides positive frame and synergy for individual to assimilate, contribute and value life on earth. Open societies are benchmark of human progress, it provides nurturing space for differing thoughts, ideas, creative abilities and expressions. It is a precious space for pinnacle of creations of body and mind, that feeds and nourishes. This precious space must be cherished, valued and protected. Future of humanity is very much hinged on it.
There is a serious threat to open
societies by systems that nurture uncouth, primitives and increasingly belligerent
herds. There are also powerful entrenched greedy people who want to keep narrative
control to their fancy and assert their entitlement by mollycoddling this
vicious threat to humanity. They use common people as fodder as they position for
deeply troubling morals while tightening narration control. It’s the same narrative
control they used when natural resources were used as buffer to pander the worst
under the garb of economic progress and prosperity while they wallowed in hedonistic
plunder and wanton consumerism. Last few decades are testament to this
ransacking of common resource by few. These market capitalist decadence were carefully packed as liberal values
and expressions of freedom and choices offered. With natural resources
depleting at fast pace while biodiversity losing its resilience at an alarming rate
the hypocrisy is in the open. They can no longer distract or create subjective
perceptions to scuttle the reality. Life giving systems are collapsing in
realtime. Climate change is systematically unleashing the breakdown for us to witness
and rue. What logical minds and insightful people (essentially byproduct of
open society) were predicting -with well researched facts and evidence, is now unfolding. It took a while for even those posing as ‘liberal’ media to acknowledge
(since it reduces easy benefits and exploitative connections) while market media
still posits these as quirks of fate and dire consequences of unknown to work on
the fear as motive to attract eyeballs. (I was reading about oligarchic oath that
finds mention in Politics by Aristotle “I promise to be an enemy of
people, and to do my best to give them bad advice”).
When members of closed societies
-a magical (read religion) collectivist primitive, enter open societies and are
encouraged and patronized to cherish their primitive association and dehumanizing value system
instead of evolving into better as the opportunity presents this then is the
first step towards assault on open society. An open society cannot survive by
tolerating the intolerance of intolerant. That is not social contract nor is it
rational choice or expression of freedom. Ideally as open societies evolve individuals
find their synergic associations the problem is when outsiders enter, not as vibrant
individuals like European migrants to US, but as herd representing the
collective primitive. These primitives will exhibit themselves as vicious herds
if not dealt since they are incapable to handle freedom nor equipped to be responsible.
Narration of exceptionalism enters through miracle books and scriptures that
infects into herd with that the impossibility of being a human while primitive
conceptions of patriarchy gets embedded into feeling of natural authority. Education
has a significant role to prevent these degradation. Remember about 2400years
back when the brilliant philosophers in Athens worked on ideas of democracy
-that had far reaching influence on progress of humanity (imagine the fertile egalitarian
smart minds of ‘School of Georgias’ -among many who made these valiant efforts,
they developed fundamental tenets of anti-slavery, of rational protectionism,
anti-nationalism -a creed of universal empire) oligarchic controlled Spartans saw
it as a threat and took measures to “the arrest of social change, and to fight
the universalistic imperialism of Athenian democracy” into their society which
included making primitive traditions and taboos more rigid, taking anti-humanitarian
steps i.e. 'to shut down all equalitarian, democratic and individualistic ideologies',
imposing anti-universalism ('uphold the differentiation between your
tribe and all others, do not mix with inferiors'), and lastly mastery -'dominate
and enslave your neighbors'. History doesn’t matter when it is about humans we are
dealing with -essentially self aware precious presence -an outcome of vibrant open society, since they have
evolved into vibrant sophisticated complex present. History repeats when it is held by primitives
since they remain trapped in the miracle books of anachronistic religions and market
capitalism greed bubble. Lacking any discerning quality of being a human the herd, the primitives, repeats the loop of history incapable and incapacitated to learn or understand or apply their mind. Beware of the
forces that nurture these they are constant threat to open society. Onus is on us
to see that primitive forces are negated at every step. The only faith that
matters is faith in humanity.
Historical perspective seems to
be valued. This despite the fact that history is always redacted by powerful arbitrators
to create narration of control. History is subjective to who is in control, hence
it is rarely about common people or issues that matters to them or defines the
society (nor is it about egalitarian progression of humanity or logical evolution
of knowledge or wisdom). History is about control, and it varies with the heuristics
of contemporary needs and haggling power. These infect international to national
to local, so European history becomes world history while happenings in Delhi
or other power centers becomes Indian history. It is as if history of human societies are
defined by sociopath dynasties, greedy psychopaths and salivating power brokers who bring in the morals. Shockingly this degraded extrapolated power matrix of
few philistine charlatans of past and their narration is postulated as history to evaluate present
whether issues of Russian invasion of Ukraine or whatever is the next flash
point for eyeballs.
We need to be extremely wary of power play of redacted history into contemporary issues. Fault lines of the past are false narrations for the present. There are no follies in history (since it’s dealing with complexities of the time) but in historians. History cannot really teach us anything (as it is redacted, and devoid of complexities of contemporary context) but can make us aware of immense absences hence must be allowed only minor influence on contemporary discourse. We must also have critical thinking to negate things that never happened and acute sense and wisdom to perceive what is happening. There is a precious space between real and unreal. We shouldn’t be lulled by lazy version of history by equally incompetent contemporary arbitrators worried about eyeballs and attention span hence simplistic version of present. It's impossible to sow fertile imagination of future in the barren land of decrypt past. Dynamic complexities of present make future increasingly vibrant to human ingenuity and uncertain challenges. This is something AI -fed on consolidated history and pattern herein, cannot conceive. It’s this that makes us human. Only humans can attempt to deal complexities of present and speculate vibrant paths of future.
So, in my earlier blog I mentioned
about the year 2012, and the coincidence of generative algorithm and CRISPR
Cas9, as also add to it the doomed year mayan prediction, apocalyptic movie 2012
so on. It’s quite clear that generative algorithms have potential to create serious
havoc in the society, keep in mind how humanity was found wanting to deal primitive
recommender algorithm. Generative AI can be pernicious as it weaponize misinformation,
disinformation, trust on which facts are exchanged and opinions shared. What is
seen as amusing tech toy has potential to create devastating dilution of
democratic institutions and fragile setup of social contract on which society
hinges. Crispr tech is equally significant, it has revolutionized the dealing with
life form, that has amazing benefits and also potential to create havoc -specifically
tampering germ cells that can alter offspring as also cripsr gene drive -that can
wipe out whole specie (ofcourse fast breeding short life cycle species). These are
as significant as atomic energy. There was a world before atomic energy and then world after atomic energy. The world was not the same again. Humanity has acquired the potential to
annihilate itself (ofcourse there are benefits of nuclear energy). The world
also changed in 2012. There was a world before generative AI and Crispr tech. There
is a world after Generative AI and Crispr tech. So that is an interesting
coincidence, as also the call by developers of both these tech to stall.
