Presence 

In the crowd

Like canopies of trees

Minding the space

Always aware, always cautious

Of the other.

The world is the way it is

Formal, courteous, ugly, salacious, pleasant

They debate, they argue, they agree, they disagree

They hug, they fight

And so it goes on.

All the while the roots grow deep to connect

The hyphal network of collaborations

Distributing nutrients and sharing warnings

Stray talks and serendipity

Wise takes and some love

Making the presence all the more precious

As a tree in the forest    

Deconstructing meanings with narrative control

 

Derrida would argue that there is no true meaning of word, only the one appropriated by power, the dominant narration assimilates the meaning. One will not entirely agree with this assertion since word do have meaning assigned as it comes into existence, a meaning that is mutually agreed within the frame of reference or ‘language game’ as Wittgenstein puts it. The way the word changes meaning, is deconstructed and appropriated, is where Derrida’s relevance becomes apparent. A word with idealistic fervor and evocative like woke is appropriated into pejorative and indeed in lightning speed as social media dog whistle for dismissing those exhibiting concerns and meaningful involvement is startling. Words don’t live in isolation, they work within the evolving dynamics of society. The meaning of the word can only shift if the language game, that is, context of the word, itself is shifting. You cannot change the meaning of the word if the context isn’t favorable. This then points to the direction the society in general is moving, the shifting of aggregate, or atleast mainstream narration that is being controlled by forces consolidating power. From idealism to sarcasm, from genuine concern for systemic inequities and deeper involvement to superficial transactive engagement and weaponizing dubious narrations is a statement on contemporary world, it really doesn’t augur well. The movement of meaning is consolidation of intent.  

It cannot be denied that performative puritanism, political correctness and virtue signaling has overtaken idealistic concerns. Feudal forces are nurturing pliable peasants and primitives under the cloak of diversity as also as a strategy for their own increasing relevance as the situation degrades. Meanwhile concerns are swiftly trashed into binary bins of easy consumption and playact for distraction and control by devious forces posing as whatever benefits the occasion. Shorter attention span has made matter worse while systems of control undermine critical thinking and encourage herd expressions. Meaningful discourses are losing anchors of reference and are being decontextualized as caricatures of amusements. This is problematic. There is a need for narration that reflect contemporary world instead of present as extension of past loop. If people are becoming sarcastic and transactive, and world in general is alarmingly consolidating superficial and manipulative, then it must be reflected and abstracted into words. Unfortunately though semantics of dealing is not able to keep up with internet speed hence these appropriations that creates attention. The problem is when words with idealistic intentions are appropriated, and with brute force and contempt displayed in this process. Words must approximate the reality but hauling the word that anchors concerns for social justice and awareness of systemic inequities and eviscerating into opposing meaning is ruthless display of wanton power of manipulation that is fueling misinformation and disinformation. Sarcasm as a mainstay of discourse has dire consequence.

Words are important. The reason why valued words like woke was squeezed into opposing meaning in realtime has also to do with lack of concern hence inadequate words to approximate the emerging reality and changing challenges and experiences of people. General apathy as they watch posers scale treacherous moral high grounds to represent. Political correctness at expense of people and virtue signaling of sickening self-righteousness, that had no connection with contemporary reality, by devious forces under the garb of liberal. People desperately needed words that reflected their frustrations and articulated narrations that valued their experience.  Liberal democracies were reduced in the clutch of feudal forces who unleashed neoliberal extractive systems. The backlash found the way through social media. Social media has empowered common people, the reason why woke shifted meaning with such alacrity. Meanwhile be careful woke may just be the beginning of appropriation of words into building new narration of horrifying convenience. Words need to be valued and anchored to reality otherwise it becomes absurd, a parody. Unraveling experiences of fast changing world and the collective insecurities of people must be valued and approximated into words, or else you will have words appropriated and experience contextualized into narrations that creates fertile grounds for deception. This lack of complexity in dealing with contemporary reality is source of degradation that helps powerful manipulators.

(picture herein is AI generated, refined after few prompts)                  

AI is scaling!

 

Future is not in scaling

 

It is not scaling but optimization. In nature species survive using sophisticated strategies with less and rarely by scaling and growing bigger and bigger or using brute forces. Nature optimizes through utilizing shape and conserving energy. System as it optimizes there is a synergic elegance that sync with forces of nature. Sophistication is simplified play of various complexities. As we move towards quantum the more these nuances are understood better is the chance to tap on to source. I recall mentioning researchers using c elegans as a template to use few neurons to create a neural system for self-driving vehicles (visit me at https://depalan.blogspot.com/2024/05/how-creative-is-ai.html). Imagine the level of sophistication of slime mold that doesn’t even have neuron! Imagine sophisticated strategies of microscopic viruses like bacteriophages and elegant devastatingly brilliant evolutionary response by bacteria. To know that crispr might just be tip of iceberg sends shiver. These species are tapping on iterated strategies evolved for 3.5billion years. Homo sapiens meanwhile evolved only about 0.2millions years. Suffice to add microorganisms work in survival of humans through symbiotic associations, so we too are involuntarily tapping on billions of years of intelligence of bacteria while we study viruses and worms to understand cutting edge evolution.

DeepSeek Chinese AI chatbot is a bombshell, some are calling it sputnik moment. More than an occasion that will spur AI race between US and China -which it surely has as the gap close, what it is indicating is paradigm shift in AI progress (frankly I was expecting Japanese to come with more-from-less AI tech, they really are quite good at miniaturized sophistication!). DeepSeek's R1 chatbot has used fewer and less sophisticated chips that outperforms models developed by OpenAI, Google, Meta and Anthropic across various benchmark and overall quality. It has shaken the AI industry. It questions the focus of AI infrastructure.                   

What a wonderful book!

 

Reading a book is an investment of time and effort. So, you have to be careful what you choose to read. Located in a society with mostly low caliber pretentious writing, the collective premium on quantity rather than quality, it become an arduous task to choose good books. It took me few months of reading the best of Indian writers to realize the pattern that lack the fervor and sincerity, it is a patch up staid work of patronizing and proprietorship meant to awe the herd, an extension of self as entitlement, guardian of society as wise writers and creative people automatically elevated as overseer of wellbeing of unfortunate mass. In this crass conception river is no longer river but god’s braid, land becomes godly mother, trees are undoubtedly god’s miracle…such self righteous sacred sickness...and from this blessedness of profound disconnect from reality they carry persistent civilizational itch and overbearing self-assigned responsibility to search meaning of their goddamn life. Writing in all-encompassing flourish and uncommon confidence lacking qualities and restraints of self-reflection with meagre skills they rush to quainter aspects and bigger questions of life for which they are naturally fated to find answers, existing all the while in plain sight as greatness of ancient mythical wisdom and uniquely gifted cave dwelling ancestors. Having appropriated miracles through words in simultaneous immunity from nuance or empathy they stampede for recognition for their nonexistent abilities, to claw to greater showcase, a grim battle to anchor their mediocrity into rewards, positions, recognitions without which they face abyss of anonymity hence all the attributes and desperations to social climb of middle class -the one that truly connects them to common people by default, and validate veneer of sophistication over crude nouveau rich amass. It is when I read best of international writers that I realized amazing depth of lack in Indian writing -ofcourse with very few and rare exceptions. As a reader it took lot of effort to create framework for accessing better writing.               

I have read the best of fiction over the decades, and shifted to short stories due to personal lack. Recently as reality barge with alarming consequences I shifted to nonfiction to tighten my bearing, I truly thought I am done with fiction. And then I came across Orbital by Samantha Harvey, it is the premise that excited and immediately riveted me. Never have I read a fictional perspective from space, and none written as far as I know. What further fascinated me was that it is not science fiction, I do love to read science fiction but possibilities of factual description from space in the framework of fiction was too good to miss. I have watched NASA footage of earth from space (stunning movie ‘Gravity’ too) as also videos of inside of space station and always wondered about day-to-day life, feeling and thinking through this space capsule observing as they are something very few humans have (few minutes in space left William Shatner in deep sense of sadness and grief “made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound”). A limited writer would’ve messed it up but Harvey is brilliant. “And in time we come to see that not only are we on the sidelines of the universe but that it’s of a universe of sidelines, that there is no centre, just giddy mass of waltzing things, and that perhaps the entirety of our understanding consists of an elaborate and ever evolving knowledge of our own extraneousness, a bashing away of mankind’s ego by the instruments of scientific enquiry until it is, that ego, a shattered edifice that lets light through.” The book is a prose on life from space, a poetry of life in all its fragile splendor. It is quite a thin book (capsulated as a day in space with 16chapters as 16 orbit around earth with sunrise every 90minutes), but I spent near about two months to read it. “Maybe the whole nature of things is one of precariousness, of wobbling on a pinhead of being, of decentering ourselves inch by inch as we do in life, as we come to understand that the staggering extent of our own non-extent is a tumultuous and wave tossed offering of peace.” It is such a beautiful expression that you reread paragraphs, pages and chapters (for instance the last page I read for three days!), and start to have surreal dreams about earth as if moving across the window. This is a defining book in many ways, this book places iconic earthrise picture (William Anders, Apollo 8, 1968) in its entire perspective, overwhelming context. “Before long, for all of them, a desire takes hold -to protect this huge yet tiny earth. This thing of such miraculous and bizarre loveliness. This thing, that is, given the poor choice of alternatives, so unmistakably home. An unbounded place, a suspended jewel so shockingly bright. Can human not find peace with one another? With the earth? It’s not a fond wish but fretful demand. Can we not stop tyrannizing and destroying and ransacking and squandering this one thing on which our lives depend? Yet they hear the news and they’ve lived their lives and their hope does not make them naïve. So what do they do? What action to take? And what use are words? They’re humans with a godly view and that’s the blessing and also the curse.”

“It seems easier on balance not to read the news. Some do and some don’t, but it’s easier not to. When they look at the planet it’s hard to see a place for or trace of the small and babbling pantomime of politics on the newsfeed, and it’s as though that pantomime is an insult to the august stage on which it all happens, an assault on its gentleness, or else too insignificant to be bothered with. They might listen to the news and feel instantly tired or impatient. The stories a litany of accusation, angst, anger, slander, scandal that speaks a language both too simple and too complex, a kind of talk in tongues, when compared to single clear, ringing note that seems to emit from the hanging planet they now see each morning when they open their eyes. The earth shrugs it off with its every rotation. If they listen to the radio at all it’s often for music or else something with an innocence or ultimate neutrality about it…something with a sense of play, of things mattering and then not mattering, of coming and going and leaving no mark. And then even those they listen to less and less”. Reading these lines seems something similar to what you experience in meditative silence in nature, the stillness that lasts in profound awareness and becomes part of your being, an armor against overwhelming crass. But then there is also an inescapable realization “…then one day something shifts. One day they look at the earth and they see the truth. If only politics really were a pantomime. If politics were just farcical, inane, at times insane entertainment provided by characters who for most parts have got where they are, not by being in any way revolutionary or percipient or wise in their views, but by being louder, bigger, more ostentatious, more unscrupulously wanting of the play of power than those around them, if that were the beginning and the end of the story it would not be so bad. Instead, they come to see that it’s not a pantomime, or it’s just not that. It’s a force so great that it has shaped every single thing on the surface of the earth that they had thought, from here, so human-proof.”     

Apart from each and every sentence what I found particularly brilliant was unique take on Apollo11 moon landing, the view of Michael Collins -the third astronaut who stayed behind while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. “Everybody is invisible -Armstrong and Aldrin inside the lunar module, humankind unseen on a planet that could easily, from this view, be uninhabited. The strongest, the most deducible proof of life in the photograph is the photographer himself -his eye at the viewfinder, the warm press of his finger on the shutter release. In that sense, the most enchanting thing about Collin’s image is that, in the moment of taking the photograph, he is really the only human presence it contains.” So is the disquieting reference of Sergie Krikalev -the soviet cosmonaut who got stranded in space for almost a year as Soviet Union disintegrated. “Humankind is not this nation or that, it is all together, always together come what may. He sits in timeless stillness amid the module’s perpetual eighty decibel machine vibration while around him the green Velcroed flammable walls close in airlessly. And each day and week the crack on its hull widens and Krikalev’s smile seems more and more vaunted and more and more godly. Let there be light, he seems quietly to say”.            

     

The great unravelling

 

In the aftermath of World War II, as colonial power retracted, deep state consolidated all across the world. In weaker nations with nascent compromised democratic institutions powerful outside forces arbitrated these consolidations. These seized entrenched channels of colonialism to create post-colonial exploitation couched in language of democracy and liberal values. So instead of nurturing democracy they used democracy as source of control. Democratic values were undermined to consolidate democratic institutions as source of power. It activated feudal framework, regressive institutions and primal associations as easy mechanism to ensnare and control herd. So eventhough people voted, ostensibly to different political parties, it is similar kind of people who get elected with incremental addition that valued status quo, and these elected leaders were further controlled by superstructure of deep state. A clear case of deep state control is spread of neoliberal extractive system that used language of democracy to consolidate and used feudal nepotistic connections to extract. That this extractive mechanism seems immune to immense misery through widening inequality and imminent collapse of climate is telling. They use manipulated media controlled in neoliberal value systems to create and control narrations as also keep the herd distracted. Any aberration is ridiculed and stamped out as threat.

In the garb of democracy with no connection to reality, unhinged in self importance, they promoted extreme as natural choice, extreme crude choice of ‘identity’, extreme form of religions (specifically conveniently constructed ‘minority’ through narration control as their lynchpin of benign caring self in an increasingly apparent compromised self that was easy for common people to decipher). Meanwhile to prevent scrutiny they undermined the ability by degrading primary education and access to health, as the crass spread they positioned as civilized blessed arbitrators. As the misery grew people reacted in ridicule (one word that saw realtime shift into complete opposite of its meaning in shortest of time is ‘woke’, a pejorative sarcasm that consolidated through social media) and as the anguish multiplied opportunistic forces saw the widening gap while the deep state posing as liberal wallowed in self-assured arrogance. Reactionary forces consolidated through majority extremism and calls of sentiments connecting to glorified past that is being threatened. If democracy had percolated through humanist institutions, if liberal thinking had consolidated through quality education, then it would have worked as anchor so as to not allow misuse of democracy couched in language of liberal to nurture any form extremism and regressive values. If liberal was rooted in humanistic concerns and not a compromise to capture power by sinister feudal forces to maintain control under the garb of democracy and high sounding ethical concerns then we wouldn’t be in this impasse in crucial juncture of human history. If systems of control were demystified and negated to help humanistic values to percolate to each individual we wouldn’t have seen en masse regressive consolidation. Liberals were living vicarious life by exaggerating concerns to make themselves relevant. Arrogance prevented awareness of shifting reality -nor were they really bothered as long as anything that gave them traction to showcase carefully tailored benign self -essentially built on misery of common people.             

Make no mistake the opposing forces, although unleashing chaos across the world, is still a binary within the framework of neoliberal value system except that the pretentions of liberal is scaled down or abandoned. The regressive majoritarian is viciously seeking to occupy the centerstage. The viciousness is the key attribute here, it carries the rage of people left neglected and ridiculed, it effectively channelizes the helplessness of common people in an increasingly insular manipulated world. Deep state created system of control and the political parties occupied this spectrum of influence in different shades of opportunism. What Trump represents (as also those with authoritarian tendencies but supported by populace) is the promise of uprooting status quo, the ensuing chaos in the carefully constructed liberal world. There is an unraveling of liberal control deep state, the hypocrisy of those in power in last many decades will be exposed. And I surely hope it is devastating so that we get to reevaluate the meaning and significance of liberty and freedom and how it is consolidated through democratic institutions. The sinister system of control posing as liberal need to be exposed. Since democracy has not percolated this chaos will consolidate another system of control -the conservative religion and opportunistic faith. Secular humanism was misused by sinister forces and has lost ground to retrieve herd. What is clear is that juvenile religion will give ample space for neoliberal system to extract and keep the herd rivetted.                  

Facts matters

 “Journalists have a set of standards and ethics. What Facebook is going to do is get rid of that and then allow lies, anger, fear and hate to infect every single person on the platform.” Marria Ressa (courageous Filipino journalist who runs Rappler news site as she faced death threat from Duterte). Ms Ressa’s statement carry the right emotion and channelize growing concern of obfuscating facts by powerful entities. But she is wrong in her assertion here. Based in India I can vouch that media (within this people posing as journalists) do not have standards nor set standards and will not be allowed to, most don’t even understand nor are concerned about anything referred to as ethics. This is why this statement is so naïve indeed embarrassing, it seems an attempt to salvage semblance of normality in increasingly chaotic by invoking righteousness of past and entitled possessors. This will not do. If you have to safeguard facts then you surely will have to understand the context of mainstreaming facts and the forces at work. Fact is understood by the way it is worked and presented. Traditional arbitrators of facts have created narration that is being strongly challenged thanks to democratization of views in recent times. Views vary facts don’t. But the context of facts and the backstory of power and control that deviously try to align facts with narration needs scrutiny and evisceration. Those posing as media do not have carte blanche over controlling facts. That era is thankfully over, and except few nobody is regretting. The contemporary challenges need new narration that sync with the changing reality, a new means to address evolving complexity. Invoking past as standard will not help, it is simplistic folklore if not devious attempt at control. 

Mainstream media is about control, and within that control creating narration of goodness (consolidated as morals, closely aligning with dominant forces and normalizing systems of control) to gain validity among populace. It surely isn’t about fact dissemination but using the ruse of fact to stream views as it fits their agenda or immediate opportunities presented. With increased awareness common people know the crassness that goes under the garb of media. To expect media to be arbitrators of facts is foolhardy. Facts without context is meaningless. When the meaning is facilitated by narrow concerns and exploitative forces then facts are compromised. Facts becomes means for heuristic opportunism and control by few through everyday events that they carefully choose to focus. The system of control works within the framework of entrenched feudal values as it seeks opportunities to consolidate sentiments for easy regressive link with herd. Mainstream media, especially legacy media, primed in neoliberal value system is here to perpetuate extractive systems. They use language of democracy and euphemism of concern to gain and consolidate their authority through fig leaf of malleable facts. 

There are courageous honest upright journalists in India too but these are not mainstream. They work tirelessly at the grassroot or some subaltern publications (I too worked briefly in these), they question dominant narration as also bravely investigate corruption (in a primitive society that has corruption normalized from sanctum to pyre) and crucial matters that are adeptly avoided by mainstream media since it jostles the applecart of influence. Most are stifled and stamped out by powerful forces entrenched in the system -that mainstream media side with for gain (who carefully work to consolidate influence from proximity of power, through largesse, awards/posts/positions so on). Many of these committed people -who carry true meaning and import of journalism have shifted to online, it is also cheaper, raising issues that matters to common people without fear and have created substantial influence among common people. They are brutally dealt by the system while many are killed, the latest one in bastar recently by corrupt contractors -who are almost always nurtured by powerful forces. What is also to be noted is that mainstream ‘journalist’ (to call these opportunists journalists is a stretch and an insult on idea of democracy) use this opportunity to pose as empaths to vicariously position as active member of threatened section precariously fighting for justice meanwhile quite aware that the truth is anywhere near these posturing. They are just positioning for gain, appropriating someone’s sacrifice to consolidate their stature as also validate the exploitative system through valiant attempts to connect to ethics of dead idealist journalist with their dexterous turn of sentence and semantic flair adept to twist facts to wherever the wind blows, they deem to share these ethics and with narration control they presume they are successful in this con act -atleast to the envy of their close circle. These are fixers, word defecators and loud mouths, well placed in the system to understand the nuance of the game. They cannibalize on society and parasite on people. They perpetuate system of control and streamline primitiveness in the euphemism of modern. These are rotten ooze of festered world.  

Facts are important. Freedom of expression is equally important. In the era of social media nothing can be curtailed. Red line is threat of violence and invasion of privacy, as also rights of children. Social media challenges systems of control by giving voice to common people. It has diluted influence of entrenched interests. So, the question now is what to do when facts clash with freedom of expression? It has to be put in the context that facts weren’t really that sacred till recently as also easily manipulated by working the context, giving prominence to selected facts over the other as decided by few. Some facts were chosen and consolidated into entrenched narrations through views of powerful, it assumed legitimacy and credence over people. What has changed now is faster dissemination and far-reaching debilitating consequences. There are serious attempts by bad players to willfully spread lies and disinformation, incite people with conspiracy theories. There need to be stricter laws to deal with disinformation that create real life consequences. Consequence and context decide severity of punishment. Meanwhile common people need to be equipped in critical thinking as a long-term strategy, and I hope responsible societies are investing in these crucial areas (this blogger created module without much success, mediocre insulated Indians will take time). Twitter/X has created this innovative method of ‘community notes’ without hindering freedom to express. I think it works fine, and has helped to give context and attempts at verified facts. We also need an independent agency (not controlled by powerful vested interests) to provide these services that is also simultaneously open to scrutiny and verification. There is a need for innovative solutions in the fast-changing world. You also need to treat people with respect and empathize with their predicament and concerns -the world is in flux, while severely dealing and persistently negating deconstructing demystifying systems of control. Do not underestimate potential of free thinking. It is what defines a human. 

 

Anchoring ethics in cesspool of moral relativism

 

It is irresponsible to not cherish hard won values that anchor progressive concerns and humanism that form basis of democratic institutions. Democracy values freedom, liberty and equality, and is an evolved system that emphasis potential of each life and offer possibilities of collective advance. Ofcourse there can be restraints for common good, for equity and justice, as also common-sense contextual exigencies. But what must be made unequivocal is that this restraint cannot be under the guise of power or means to control. This is the problem that emerges in irresponsible societies wallowing in hedonistic luxury normalized through transactional and neoliberal exploitative systems padded by benefits from colonial past. This has to be dealt.  

Democratic egalitarian values must be firmly anchored to institutions as it percolates into society and individuals. It is a crime, indeed a crime on humanity, to negate or attempt to diminish these foundational ethics. What is unqualified in this cherished mooring is equality of race and gender (an evolved society will not have such distinctions). There really cannot be any compromise, there is no moral relativism on these crucial matters that hinges fundamental rights, indeed there cannot be any negotiation that diminishes humanity.

Any system that creates ascriptive distinction is threat to democracy. Feudal structures negate egalitarian values while patriarchy infects minds, nepotism undermine equal opportunity. Indoctrination of young minds in exceptionalism of juvenile primitive fantastical conceptions like religion remains a serious threat to humanity. Systems of degradation cannot be and will not be allowed to be source of diversity. Diversity is quaint and nuanced understanding that nourishes societies and strengthen democracy. Diversity of culture that values and respect each life, diversity of ideas that seeks brighter possibilities and question status quo entrenched negations, diversity of expressions of each according to their potential. Advanced societies must value and firmly anchor foundational ethics into institutions while constantly strive to inspire and advance humanity. Society must evolve and synergize with the pace of technology to imbibe the best possibilities. Diversity also means dismantling or actively negating systems of control that doesn’t provide equal rights to individuals. Foundational nonnegotiable ethics means each must have access to all possibilities, for instance what is allowed for males must be equally be allowed to females, any system that seeks to curtail these is a serious threat to humanity (for instance FIFA men's cup cannot be allowed in Saudi unless women's cup allowed - women free to play in any street). Quality education is foundational to inclusive society, there is no space for indoctrination of young minds hence must have access to all possibilities and ability to tolerate differences. The basic identity of a human is to be a human first, to be a fully human. The first task of egalitarian society primed in democratic values is to create systems to nurture this fully human. To be aware of all that is possible. A fully human will naturally be able to negotiate challenges of evolving world and assimilate collective sensibilities. Compromised countries like Britain were exceptionally irresponsible and have severely degraded the world as they attempt to obfuscate human rights, its exaggerated patronizing presence in contemporary scene is due to its colonial past and reach of english.

Historic injustice must be corrected through inclusive systems and surely not by devious morphing and maintaining of extractive exploitative systems as benevolent.  A human must be valued as a human. This is as basic as it gets, and from this foundation inclusive diversity build.

Arise the dreadful

 

Don’t forget and don’t allow manipulators to pose otherwise: this is an orchestrated result of extractive systems actively arbitrated by neoliberal values (that normalizes transactive exploitative relations) supported by fantastical exceptionalism of religion (that consolidates regressive values and isolate from existential reality). The liberal posing narcist dark empaths actively chiseled this binary lacking complexity for ease of narration for selfish reasons to consolidate power while degrading institutions and deviously consolidating very same extractive systems for benefits. The megalomaniacal psychopath is what we get, and if Trump wasn’t there somebody equally toxic would be created, just that social media fast forwarded it. We have moved from assault of attention economy to horrors of AI weaponized intention economy. Meanwhile neoliberal market values and religions continues to snip into foundational institutions like education and society, and indeed severely intrude and crass the meaning of life itself. US is a lesson that is set to repeat in an anchorless world incapacitated to value meaninglessness and enlightened possibilities of individual iterating into collective. Much of world is stuck in sad loop of waste that extractive systems present as glitter.  What should have been a nuisance, a regrettable distraction, the crass is systematically nurtured into mainstream centerstage. 

Woodpecker calls

Like the flameback woodpecker

I relentlessly knock the darkness inside

Zygodactyl toes dearly clasp available logic

While fingers reach to feel the splinters

and sense a deeper pattern

A spiral that keeps churning and churning inwards

Reaching end of all reasons

And form flowers of insane candor

Third millennium thinking

 

We are living in a miraculous but paradoxically perilously fissured world. So, on the one side we have such amazing technological development, access to information and connection to the world that was inconceivable even few decades back, we live incredible time that seems a miracle if you trace two hundred thousand years of homo sapiens evolution. Access to the world is no longer controlled by few, every voice has an opportunity to express and be heard -a qualitative leap from past, they can learn and organize and assert. Traditional forms of authorities and feudal control is getting diluted as virtual world have progressive ramifications on real world. World has become much aware in the last one decade than ever before. Well, people could have taken this path to make world a better place, and really did take some firm steps towards progressive values systems and nurturing inclusive institutions facilitated by technology. What we see however is consolidation of worst expressions of technology tapping primal values and atavistic concerns that bypass progress humanity made in last many centuries and hard-won humanistic values. Primed in extractive systems, neoliberal capitalism and values extrapolated from fantastical religions and juvenile faiths we are being pushed into perilously fissured world. Bad players use these latest technology and access to vitiate the situation for greed and control. They viciously nurture extractive systems to trap people and spread misery. Possibilities of awareness is reduced to targeted disinformation and reality obfuscating misinformation, apathy and irresponsible ways. Life threatening conspiracy theories are spread with earnestness and cunning logical reasoning that impress many. As the world gets polarized, we find on the one side liberal posing dark empath sociopaths and on the other self-assured god ordained psychopaths. We see this template replicated all across the world in varying degree. Psychopaths deem themselves as born to lead hence aren’t really bothered about people or nuances, they use latest technologies as opportunity to access to blatantly control by whatever means -an Orwellian world if you will. While dark empaths are narcist who consider themselves as blessed exceptional people but have to relentlessly pose to gain trust and capitalize opportunity, they work to nurture extractive system for benefits -a kind of Huxleyian world that lull us into complacency since we assume they are here to uphold cherished values and humanistic concerns. They playact with semantics but are least involved, and as people loose trust in dark empath sociopaths – who see themselves as savior in increasingly chaotic world they unleash as liberal while systematically diluting existential concerns of vulnerable people, they feel insecure hence give way to authority figure -the psychopaths consolidate feudal and regressive forces. The shift can be debilitating if the democratic institutions are not resilient which ofcourse is crucially hinged to democratic ideals and liberal thoughts percolating to common people and their interaction to the world. The reason why transactional neoliberal value system deeply violate progressive society so does fantastical ways of religions that isolate from surrounding reality. An unthinking mind sentimentally connected to feudal institutions seeks ascriptive association and is insecure, incapable to assimilate challenges of progressive world hence will find solace in authoritarian patriarchal leaders. Rise of authoritarian is on primal need for safety and not to be mistaken for progressive evolved values of seeking authority of facts to decipher reality for better possibility. The need for authority is to protect their fantasy world, an evolutionary mismatch trapped in thousands of years of brutal hunter gatherer life that seek ‘strong father figure’ leader to sought out problems and take control. Primitives like to wallow in the muck while simultaneously constructing fantasy of spectacular past and nostalgia for this self-consuming myth -very likely genetic imprint traces reminiscing exhilaration of chasing wild pigs or grand celebration of bringing down a mammoth. These evolutionary juveniles haven’t gained sophistication to become aware of enlightened world and possibilities of present.  

Extractive systems dilute facts and subjectify its connection to our awareness of reality. The chaos they create is to seek authority. Critical thinking is seen as threat as it easily exposes them. Science is targeted, and ironically technology is manipulated to question the same. Common people are reduced to herd despite the immense possibility that technology presents to extricate themselves to better ways. Herds are manipulated to be distracted and busied in infighting while the system extracts benefits for few to consolidate control that has now become an existential threat. Even people who attempt to extricate themselves from this overwhelming morass find it difficult to negotiate the perilous journey of seeking what is true. Most of the times their life is hinged on this need for truth to survive. So how do we go about seeking what is true without falling into traps of greedy people, feudal forces of control, our own authority bias, regressive values, overwhelmingly primitive forces that infect democratic institutions and reduce possibilities of better future? Clearly if we don’t have a shared common reality, it is impossible to solve global challenges as a collective. Third Millennium Thinking is a timely book that I ordered online after listening to a talk on Youtube (something inconceivable a decade back, and likely not available in any nearby bookstore hence would have missed the insight while few will be in control of latest knowledge). Written by three authors with wide background as physicist, psychologist, and philosopher this book is sincere attempt to help us negotiate challenges of assimilating information, to ‘create sense in a world of nonsense’. How to navigate better, as an individual and as a society, in this age of information overwhelm? How to make sense of the extraordinary amount of complex, often contradictory information? The book explores scientific thinking and methodology as a means of understanding the world so that we can make efficacious decisions based on this understanding. If the meanings are increasingly unstable atleast we can create progressive cognitive tools to decipher the world. A norm setting exercise, a criteria, to value our critical involvement with the world, to keep our humanity and distinctiveness alive and intact.       

Science is an effective intellectual tool that helped humanity make breathtaking progress and dramatic conceptual understanding in past century, but in recent times these itself are questioned and have become ‘totem of polarization’. The authors try to clarify scientific methodology and attempt to create framework of understanding for common people in tackling and deciphering the challenges in daily life. It is a meticulous work of distinguishing measuring tool from thinking tool, creating parameters for evaluating information on what we know and what we believe. This thinking tool of science is an asset that helped us to make immense progress and hence can help in creating inquiring inquisitive mind to decipher the reality. I recall when we studied science in school we didn’t study ‘thinking tool of science’ that would have helped us to extend this brilliant progress of thinking into everyday understanding of realities of life. This book therefore is also an important document for creating new insight into scientific thinking in formative years. Vibrant societies should be able to capitalize on these to create progressive young minds. Meanwhile the concern now is urgent nature of polarized manipulated world we live in and how systematic sincere dealing of issue with progressive tool will create understanding. This is third millennium thinking.

The book is quite readable and in easy-to-understand language with not much jargons. Neatly divided into five chapters, it deals with science as a tool in building trust in shared understanding of reality hence can guide us in our daily decision making. Good decision making depends on accurate information from reliable experts, a careful consideration of values, and a structure that places the authority to make decisions in the hands of those who will be affected. Science doesn’t work by magic; it works by design. Authority of science comes from relentless self-questioning thus science essentially is a social phenomenon, but a truth hunting collaborative social phenomenon, not a coercive one. It helps us identify shared reality out there in the world. Finding out causation by looking at correlation under the condition of an experiment, standardizing factors. An experiment is when you come from outside the whole system and interfere with to see what happens. Science is not about certainty nor brittle binary views but probabilistic thinking.  Probabilistic thinking helps us to be honest about our knowledge and keep us open minded to productively use knowledge that is uncertain. Probabilistic stance reflects the relationship between our imperfect human understanding and the actual shared reality (well wasn’t it Wittgenstein who said scientific truths could never have absolute validity). In a world of inherent uncertainty scientists are calibrated. We want our experts to be 100percent correct but that is not possible, but we can and should seek experts close to 100percent calibrated. In an uncertain world, we should prize experts who are calibrated. Experts needs to calibrated enough to be trustworthy, but specific enough to be informative. Honest and realistic assessment of confidence can preserve trust in expertise. There is a chapter on how we are fooled by a pattern in random noise, or sieving more data to up the odds so that random noise show some hunted data. Probabilistic thinking, statistically significant, improving predictive/forecasting tools so on are path to understanding. Statistical uncertainty and systematic uncertainty are something most of us are aware of and helps us to identify biases in our decision making.

The world needs scientific optimism -the can-do spirit that the problem at hand is going to be solvable, tempered with measured healthy skepticism. It is to keep alert, alive, and motivated despite setbacks, a cultural antidote to cynicism. I found ‘order of understanding’ quite interesting, not all causal factors in real world problem are equally important -the classification of ‘first order’, ‘second order’, factor so on, while framing an issue. ‘Fermi approximation’ process, a quick and easy on the spot estimation approach, a random estimation based on familiar easier to do as an anchor to probe. An approach to intelligent approximation is a valuable insight. If unsure you can atleast create upper and lower bound estimation, a band of possibility. There is an interesting chapter on what prevents learning from experience, indeed experience is a weak predictor of job performance. The psychological factors -habits, biases-the one that makes systemic error/ingroup/dispositional/confirmation/available heuristic so on can be overcome with scientific methods that includes debiasing techniques like consider the opposite/alternative so on. How science is misused provides important perspective on growing distrust among common populace. From science not done well to pathological science to pseudo-science (uses language of science -the terminology, great sounding words, but not the activity -based in India we see these charlatans all the time!) to fraudulent science. Of these, pathological science is particularly worrisome as it invests in exciting result ignoring data that suggests otherwise. Trying out different analysis until you get the result you want (p hacking, it is not cherry picking) adds to the problem. There are examples cold fusion claims (or recent superconductivity claim -not mentioned in the book but I recall being excited about it) so on.

The stimulating part of the book is the discussion on science methodologies -mental hygiene techniques, that are quite new (and have not even spread to different field of science) so the ‘readers of the book have a chance to get ahead of science world’. ‘Ignorance is bliss solution’ or blind analysis removes biases and remain honest. Blinding is now tried in workplace to reduce discriminations. Blind analysis based expert opinion in court proceeding is suggested. Next, we have ‘open science movement’ to improve credibility and integrity in scientific practice. Preregistration, multilab investigation, open science badges so on are safeguard against confirmation bias. The book move to collective, the groupthink and mob behavior, resonation from social media to real life implication. There are two different kinds of influence in groups, informational influence (strength in argument -ability to merge collective knowledge of the group and use it to reason to a solution) and normative influence (strength in numbers -deference to large block or faction, hence amplify shared bias -which can be removed by diversity). For argument to work there is a need for some kind of shared conceptual system for identifying strong and weak argument and a shared way of assessing. Maths, logic, common knowledge etc. are shared conceptual systems. Good scientific theories can serve as shared conceptual system, provided they have strong internal logic and support of external evidence. Shared conceptual systems can help build trust and platform for interaction. Another is the issue of emotions or extraneous factors that influence; decisions are not based on getting facts of the world alone. The book discusses with example on separating fact from values. Facts are important but claims of fact (fact stories) can be shaped by societal forces making it difficult to separate fact from values. Self-affirmation in case of value conflict is an interesting study, and has been implemented in schools to help students absorb new information. Reflective equilibrium between our judgement about particular case and our judgment of general rules/principles and prioritizing helps in value conflict resolution. There is a role for iterative deliberation concerning values just as there is iterative deliberation to adjudicate among different sources of evidence and expertise when determining facts. Ofcourse deliberation is an important challenge of our time. We have become aware of dangerous potential of the internet to polarize and confuse public conversation; but not yet taken advantage of opportunities for better collective thinking that it might present. Our collective challenge, indeed grand challenge of the times we live in, is to invent new tools that enables to think together productively and make us successful collectively. Productive collective thinking is the immediate need to tackle global challenges we face, importantly to create productive collective thinking environment. Deliberative Polling (developed in Stanford ‘Deliberative Democracy Lab’ by JimFishkin) is a transformative tool for productive collective thinking. So is Scenario Planning, to develop a range of possible futures so that we can test how robust decisions are in these contexts, identifying pending important decisions that need to be made, a useful tool for stimulating careful thinking and planning for future -a frequent goal for collective thinking and decision making. Good Judgement Project (GJP) -a statistical method distilling ‘wisdom of crowd’, is a forecasting technique that is effective collective thinking in action. Collective thinking experiments are now extended to online, DebateCafe is a demonstrative system encouraging people to enter best arguments on both side of the issue to win place in leaderboard. Another is to decompose elements of discussion in, say, news article into small testable part. Does this sentence show evidence of clear probabilistic thinking or is it a probabilistic thinking mental trap like p hacking? Does it have capacity to think the opposite or is it a classical confirmation bias selection of evidence? These could be important addition to education curriculum. Citizen-Scientist are set up to share these kinds of analysis. We want science to not only increase our understanding but also solve problem that is not confined to scientific field but ones with social ramifications.

Managing with continuous adjustment, an iterative solution in an experimenting society that isn’t a static structure but ongoing process, a shift from factual to probabilistic thinking, multilevel nuanced views of emergent problems through constant reality tracking rather than appearing smart expert, zero sum to increase the pie for win-win, involving and trying new innovative collective thinking tool taking advantage of latest technologies, building and rebuilding of trust network, not attention (seeking) economy but trust (building) economy that nurtures new ways to reward open minded collective thinking, experiment with incentives and penalties to reform the pollution of cognitive commons. This is new millennium thinking. A new kind of enlightenment for a new millennium in which we advance global human family.

A brilliant much needed book. Buy it. Read it. Think about it. Try to apply it.  

 

A steady step by qubit and a giant leap in computing

Knock knock, it’s quantum reality at the door! Ah to live in such exciting times!

Google’s Willow is a breathtaking step towards tapping quantum reality (I almost missed this news since I was disconnected from the world for few weeks and took days to get my bearings). The implications of this quantum computing chip are significant. The mind-blowing computation power that it unlocks has paradigm shifting implications. For a start Willow can perform computation that would take regular computers longer than age of universe! (Hartmut Neven founder of Google Quantum AI claims that this “lends credence to the notion that quantum computation occurs in many parallel universes, in line with the idea that we live in a multiverse”).  

Willow is a significant milestone in quantum computing since it removes error rates, and thus makes it reliable. As more qubits are added quantum computing becomes more error prone (these are very fragile even microscopic material defects, cosmic rays and ionizing radiation can destabilize) therefore severely restricting the progress. Willow chip is 105qubit, it has doubled the capacity but what is important is not the number but the sophistication of qubit -vastly improved retention time allowing information to be held for longer time hence stability. Importantly Willow not only reduces error but reduces it exponentially as it scales up! Each qubit addition therefore strengthen reliability; a scalable logical qubit. A benchmark is set. This is stupendous. These are early days but it may not be exaggeration to say (hopefully claims are peer vetted) that this is akin to invention of steam engine or electricity or human on the moon. Technology is unravelling at mindboggling speed this one truly stands out. A giant step towards stable quantum computers. This is moment of reckoning. We are entering a new realm set to unleash possibilities that is difficult to conceive. It would help tackle humanity’s greatest challenges as it turbo charge R&D.

The immediate concern here is of binary computer decryption and imminent collapse of digital world. There are assertions that Willow will not break modern cryptography. Willow will not but few iterative upgradations in a decade or so will surely. The concern also is whether corporate in a neoliberal ecosystem or a state with authoritarian concern (like China or even US under Trump) will reveal that they have achieved Cryptanalytically Relevant Quantum Computer (CRQC) before acquiring sensitive data. The world is shifting fast towards post quantum cryptography to save critical data. The sophisticated math-based algorithm needed makes it inaccessible. Data pirates are out to harvest now and decrypt later. Quantum safe cryptography standards are being integrated into products and systems. State agencies and crucial infrastructure will have to move fast and upgrade all their communication systems to post quantum cryptography.                   

Pulsation

Ocean pound relentless deep crevices in the rock

Caves gouge into the dark

Air diffused in life, the gills, spiracles, trachea

Oxygen scour bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli and attach hemoglobin

The eddies I faintly sense on the nostrils

Is it the trepidation for profound act of life?

Every breath a reminder, a memory

Baton passed from every tribulation in every turn

From molecules to complex to me

Creating this moment

My body is my reality

In this sparkling scene

The earth material dissolves into earth

The star material resonates with stars
A pulsation that is shaped in universe     

ChatGPT's horror

 So, I had taken break for 12 odd days. No connection with the world in any form. I used to do these quite often in the past, if not always complete disconnect atleast partial. In the last few months I found myself working overtime, a kind of frenzied reading and writing. This is quite unlike me, probably I am sensing mortality with body indicating serious signs of breakdown and winding up. So I had to gather myself. Add to it the social media and constant urge to go online and scroll even while reading. I prefer to do nothing, sit quietly, go for long walk in quieter places, observe things and then maybe enter into good reading or scribbling something I fancy. This is the pattern that truly awakens me. And here I am in crowded noisy places, frenzied reading and writing that surely is not the way I am. A break was needed. So, I asked ChatGPT to summarize the international, national and local news for me including prominent obituaries of last two weeks. The generative Chatbot informed that David Attenborough has passed away. Devastated I immediately searched for details, shocking to find that no much attention was given by international media, and soon found that he is very much alive. Horrified by this unpardonable gaffe I confronted Chatbot. The Chatbot nonchalantly apologized "for the confusion" and thanked me for "attention to detail!". Apart from absolute impersonal response the attempt at exclamatory mark to lighten such serious oversight is what left me lost and vacant. Then the realization that it is quite possible for even humans to behave this normally these days. AI is emulating the abstraction of people I come across quite often that has stopped stupefying my sensibilities.