**I watch Nobel peace prize announcement with much trepidation considering history of likes of Kissinger. I am deeply troubled if Trump wins, it will be a debilitating setback (I will quit social media altogether, as it is I am reflecting on it). I shared this with ChatAi, it assured me Trump has low chance -but nevertheless a chance and that is a concern. People with power and influence can do anything they want; they can create their own narration and mainstream it, and even make us learn it. This happens all the time. Validating them with prestigious awards will diminish humanity in no uncertain term. Ideally an award seamlessly appreciates the appropriate.
***it is announced, great news Venezuelan democracy activist Mario Corina Machado. Phew!
****Oops Houston we have a problem!
There is a remarkable material called Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) that is the subject of this year’s Nobel prize in Chemistry. These are self-assembled hybrid material made of organic linkers. What is astounding is that they have very high surface area. These are emulating nature’s building blocks: minerals and organics. These have diverse sustainable applications. Two areas that excites are carbon sequestration and extracting humidity from air.
US is becoming a rogue state as also nurturing ominous agenda
across the world. Something must be done immediately. This everyday infliction
on the world collective must be stopped. It causes untold misery to common
people across the world. Deep state (a consolidation of interest of entrenched elite)
is overwhelmingly regressive and conservative as it seeks to control power
through feudal institutions, entrenched values and nepotistic clout. Incremental
gains of democracy and intrusive decentralizing nature of technology weakens
this clout and strengthens grassroot participation. But deep state remains powerful
and has significant say in mainstream narration, even with changes in political
parties running the government, as also using technology for surveillance. An egalitarian
society will have benign deep state that will diminish into people. Whatever maybe
the case deep state doesn’t compromise on national interest and sovereignty. Even
if the foundation is flawed, state authoritarian or theocratic or corrupt, deep
state doesn’t devalue its integrity as a nation. Deep state in US must realize
that this narcist psychopath is a threat to US. This horror is ofcourse a threat
to the world and has severely undermined collective actions but his role in
substantially reducing US must be understood and noted with alarm. US is now a
laughing stock, has low credibility, and obstinately in the path of self-destruction.
Deep state must take action before it is too late. Post-Trump US must actively
participate in collective actions against common threat. A better world is also
for the good of US and everyone.
The luxury and comfort in which we live in that enhance our possibilities is
not accidental nor is it a god’s gift or a special divine design but consolidation of
best of values over centuries into thinking and analyzing to create systems closer
to understanding of reality to decipher mysteries of nature. This seems to be underplayed by devious
who try to normalize the same regressive -the same pattern, that resisted and undermined humanity’s
progress as diversity. In mediocrity thriving society they create attention seekers
as celebrities to awe common populace as also carrier of expected pliable transactional
values of profit and greed. Best minds shouldn’t be reduced to these kinds of nonsense.
Ofcourse, they had their failing but that shouldn’t be used to titillate or brought
down to crude sensibilities of herd. It is a civilizational loss. Though the
book seems well researched and try to empathize with Rosalind’s short and
brilliant life there are only few pages in this book that really matters. What is
also important to note is that Rosalind’s long and arduous work involved exposure
to Xray this could be a possible reason for her cancer (the book doesn’t mention it),
many early scientists were not aware of the dangers (that includes Curie). So much
sacrifices were made to create the world we live in must be emphasized. World is
a better place because of undaunting efforts of likes of Rosalind.
I also wanted to bring out from
the book on how the best of minds were galvanized into finding the structure of
DNA by Erwin Schrodinger in his Dublin lecture series titled ‘What is Life?’. His
concern was ‘why biology was treated complete separate from physics and chemistry’.
He declared that time has come to think of living organisms in terms of their molecular
and atomic structure. There was no great divide between living and nonliving they
all obey same laws of physics and chemistry. “How can the events in space and time which take place within the
spatial boundary of a living organism be accounted for by physics and
chemistry? ... The obvious inability of present-day physics and chemistry to
account for such events is no reason at all for doubting that they can be
accounted for by those sciences.” Through this influential lecture Schrodinger introduced the idea that life is
characterized by highly organized, non-repetitive molecular structures,
distinguishing living matter from inanimate objects. He also introduced concept
of negative entropy, "the essential thing in metabolism is that the
organism succeeds in freeing itself from all the entropy it cannot help
producing while alive." This series of lecture was published as book and changed
the framework of discourse. Biological problems could now be tackled with
physics, this opened up floodgate for biophysics which gave impetus for eventually
finding the structure of DNA and advancement in molecular biology.
What Schrodinger did at the critical moment in history to galvanize
research beyond silos of physics, chemistry and biology is what is needed to
put in the framework of AI research (Turin’s test set up the standard, the
world is well past it). It seems haphazard and spread out without a clear core
as also the important issue of alignment. How to differentiate life from non-life
in the complex bioAI? A prescient researcher with brilliance of Schrodinger is
needed to consolidate wide range of subjects -from biotechnology to quantum, and
concerns into coherent narration that is scientifically precise and ethically
aligned. What is artificial life? So as to put the core of AI progress into
narrative framework.
Good books enrich human experience and carry sophisticated enlightening thoughts consolidated across time and space. Best minds don’t die they live among us through their writings, their ideas and thoughts. And now, all the evidences suggests that, we have entered a ‘post literate’ society where people suffer from short attention span, they don’t have time to read, to understand. Youngsters are finding it difficult to comprehend complex thoughts. I was reading an article online 'The dawn of post literate society' (by James Marriot) on the seriousness of this issue. I do spend substantial time in reading, even when online, but realize that sometimes I fall into ‘doom scrolling’ without realizing. I see most people hooked to phone screen but didn’t realize that situation is now serious that warrants drastic actions, atleast impressionable growing minds (below 14 years) shouldn’t have access to smart phones.
Humanity’s progress is very much hinged to spread of knowledge through writing that percolated after invention of printing press, books became common place and led to tremendous progress and consolidation of knowledge. Awareness fueled values of argumentation, systemic thinking and cogent thoughts among common populace that led to rapid progress (historian Orlando Figes notes that the English, French and Russian revolutions all occurred in societies approaching fifty per cent literacy). Books were valued atleast until two decades back. Enter smart phone and there is a collapse. The situation has become dire. In West, studies show a decline of as much as 40%, in last two decades! Imagine the situation in other parts of the world. This is watershed moment in history with serious repercussions coinciding with immense challenges that needs deeper awareness, understanding and collective action. There is a perfect storm building up and likes of Trump are warnings of much deeper crisis. The new technology is not evolving to attract us into sophisticated forms of reading and understanding or spreading knowledge. Instead, its aims to distract and keep our attention on inanities. Imagine being cut from best of thoughts and ideas so that you can grow and progress and contribute to human understanding factoring contemporary reality, questioning and refining it. It is as if humanity is being scythed from all sources of understanding. Mind deprived of nourishment and incapacitated to think. We are rightly worried about AI but something significant is being lost at an alarming rate. A generation is growing up as functional illiterates with decreased attention and reduced cognitive ability while grownups have voluntarily stalled their literacy to be credulous medieval peasants. This is post literate society, a collection of diminished human potential that imitate preliterate society in its irrationality and primal urges. It effortlessly moves towards easy emotion satisfying certainties of authoritarian values and feudal concerns. Smart phone is doing what barbarians and marauding invaders destroying libraries did centuries back as they decimate civilization. It has started to have devastating consequences.
We are rightly concerned about books being censored but
not seems to be concerned about best books not being read and enlightening ideas
not discussed. We are already primed for misinformation and disinformation
unless drastic steps are taken to introduce best thoughts and enlightening ideas, and more spaces for people to gather to talk or sit quietly and
prohibits smart phones to experience boredom. Responsible societies must take action. Loss of reading
is not loss to humanity but loss of humanity. We collapse without the understanding
of what defines and sustains we as human, the progress and awareness of complexity
of our reality. There are clear indications that intellectual threshold of societies
are collapsing with impoverished human experience. Without thinking mind humans
are nothing but apes (democracy assures framework for equality, liberty and
freedom, hence possibility of progress that doesn’t really make people equal -there is an effort needed to be aware). Barbarians
with short attention that evaluates every complexity into simplistic binaries
of dopamine saturated cave minds placed in modern setting that it will soon ransack
into nothing. The tragedy compounded as most are incapacitated to even
understand the significance of what is being lost. A world of shallow people
scrolling, repeating, scrolling to ‘smartphone wasteland’.
**
Kongjian Yu’s untimely demise is shocking and deeply felt.
Cognitive complexities arising
from critical thinking is the basis of human progress and compassion. Human
evolution is imprinted with thousands of years of insecurities of hunter gatherer
facing vicissitudes of nature and uncertainties of life. Most animals do exhibit
inductive reasoning -they need specific pattern to repeat to generalize, or
else they will not adapt to survive. So, it is but natural for cave minds to assume
correlation for causation. In much primitive societies even coincidences are
taken as correlation, and further extrapolated as causation with dangerous
outcomes. It is fertile ground for charlatans pawing on primal inductive
reasoning couched in modern language. Astrology is thriving ‘science’ in primitive
societies, crude minds through narrative control consolidate it above everyday superstitions
of common people to milk insecurities and authenticate squatter’s value system
of blessedness and unknowable intelligence. As they say a broken clock is correct
twice a day, for charlatans this meagre premise is enough to work out framework
of deceit and misery. Much of the world was in such dark spaces with few lights
of brilliance here and there. It took likes of Francis Bacon -consolidated
through immensely smart people across the world, to create framework of inquiry
to hinge humanity’s astounding progress. The reason why empirically rigorous inductive, deductive reasoning and
critical thinking is so very important.
Cave minds (primed in hunter
gatherer insecurities) are imprinted to look for easy connection to survive the
situation. That is how they survived sabretooths, infections, venom, toxins…death
stalking in every step for hundreds and thousands of years as they tried to comprehend
the unknown world. Systems like religion are primed in these insecurities to
assert as faith, as values and norms. These primal connections are therefore soul
satisfying for human facing complexities and insecurities of modern world. The lazier
they get expressions are nestled in cave exhibits. With revivalist forces capitalizing
on general lack in common people cave minds are active and asserting their space
for fantastic claims. Likes of Trump and RFK Jr are underbelly of West thriving
on luxury using general discontent of populace -valued in neoliberal transactions
and juvenile superficialities that they are incapacitated to think hence rush
for latest glitter couched in primal connections. RFK Jr in particular has unleashed
forces that undermine foundation of human progress that is set to cause immense
misery. Ofcourse pharmaceutical companies are greedy and predatory but that is a
ruse to undermine system of critical thinking so as to generally vitiate the
environment to control narration (hence all the issues of climate catastrophe,
biodiversity loss, sustainable values etc. can be undervalued for greed). He was
targeting vaccine with pseudoscience dirge from sidelines for some time now. Since
he was presented with position of immense power he has unleashed his devious plans
that sync with fantastical claims and posing as beholder of knowledge beyond the ambit of science. Narcist Democrats are equally responsible for empowering these psychopaths
as also the repercussions of pseudoscience on much of primitive spaces across world.
This is making lives much bleaker in a world that faces climate charged outbreak
of new diseases. Much of the challenges and strife in the world can be addressed with clear
thinking, empathy and awareness of human condition.
**Autism is something that is studied
in detail. It is not a disease but genetic condition that is open for further
research and understanding, and people with severe autism were targeted in past
and faced immense misery (for which humanity owes an apology). So, to target autism
makes JFK Jr a dangerous criminal.
When few people mention it to me I didn’t take it seriously later online self-diagnosis consistently put me in
autism spectrum. Well, since I could remember I liked to be more with myself or very few select people specific to the occasion ("soul selects her society then shuts the door to her divine majority"). I stayed
and worked in extremely crowded noisy places interacting with people -to become
a public speaker was an effort in itself, soon found that speaking to large audience was quite easy, larger the better, but shockingly easier than talking to
one person at a time. Had to take long breaks away from crowd to gather myself (I realize
that when I get stressed, I tend to repeat pattern, and use selective mutism in
unpleasant situations or to cut irritants from one’s life). I recall one of earliest jobs I took up in Madras (now Chennai), I had to teach working of ‘turbo
prop engines’ to pilot trainees of a flying club. I was too nervous and had to take few pegs and stuff mouth fresheners. It didn’t last too long. What I gathered
was my Tamil speaking skills went up by few notches after each peg, something
that is authenticated by IgNobel prize recently!
If you observe Trump, especially in the last few days in the aftermath of killing of right-wing speaker, you will get lessons on narcist psychopath. The “conservative” speaker had reprehensible racist views but wouldn’t want him physically harmed for holding such views, killing is worst act and so brings in the issue of easily accessible deadly weapons in US. His lack of empathy for gun victims can be factored into money and powerful lobby that was propping confident articulate narration to impress the herd. As a human being we condole the dead. And now observe Trump -who was supposed to be his friend and supporter, his absolute lack of compassion, indeed using the occasion for grandiosity, such blatant display is what makes this fellow extremely dangerous. Absolute disregard for the dead confidante (indeed it seems he is perversely energized as if in natural terrain of a psychopath) shows degradation and what monstrosities he is capable to do. Instead of bringing nation together he is sowing conspiracy theories. This fellow can create worst of possibilities and actively participate to perpetuate disastrous consequence to keep himself relevant (Lately he is showing signs of serious underlying health conditions and it's likely JD Vance could be the next President in very near future. Despite his posturing for the herd JD doesn't seem to be that bad a person).
Confident incompetent Democrats no doubt helped not in insignificant way to position a narcist psychopath as leader. Sometime back I discussed this book Corruptible: Who gets power and how it changes us (Brian Klaas) a comprehensive study on dark triad of Machiavellian narcist psychopath who are naturally drawn to power. All across the world narcist selfish people with varying shade of psychopathy are occupying position of power and influence. This also equally true in case of technology (fundamental science and research related areas seem to be few spaces that is low on narcissism since it involves less of human and attention seeking and more of passion to understand) that is meant to monetize hence works with system of exaggeration. All manipulative systems create opportunity for narcist. Egotism is not necessarily narcissism and talented perceptive artists generally do have high degree of awareness of human condition. Low quality art is manipulation space for narcist and they are given credence in society that doesn’t really have nuanced understanding or standards that value complexity. The constructed us vs them binary is fertile ground for psychopaths to slip in as benign saviors.
If you look at human society as a system, it clearly is nurturing worst kind of people into position of power so as to influence course of humanity. It is likely that collective conscience of humanity is in self-harm mode as it has expanded beyond its limit and is severely encroaching into space of other beings and self-sustaining systems on earth. There is an imbalance that is created and it is speculated that narcist psychopath like Trump are universal subconscious of life nurtured to speed up self-destruction of arrogant specie. There doesn’t seem to be any other explanation. It seems to be increasingly beyond our control. There is no thinking, no compassion, no awareness of reality (not even an attempt) as much of humanity is nurtured in denial, kept distracted in greed and gain, incapacitated to think therefore least concerned about collapsing life nurturing systems. Wherein people have all the wherewithal and unprecedented access to knowledge, to learn and know about things, be responsible and take logical meaningful actions to prevent catastrophe. To have compassion for others and other species, be humbled by vastness of universe and uniqueness of life. Why is it difficult to understand?
**Meanwhile corrupt politicians and officials beware there is Nepal treatment on the horizon! Here in India, we have contractor showcasing house made of gold to salivating despicable media -who pose it as India’s progress, while common people die in accidents regularly due to low quality roads. We had uprising against corruption that removed Congress, their entrenched sense of entitlement and arrogance (ofcourse MNREGA and RTI were great initiatives). If BJP is not careful, particularly in the interface between common people and governance, they may find it difficult. The urgency of initiatives like toilets for everyone (campaign against open defecation) could only be shown by people with grassroot understanding, to sense the need for dignity among common people. The reason why BJP is quite favorably evaluated by common people even after a decade despite immense challenges. Meanwhile communists in Kerala have built low-cost flats for fisherfolks -who face continuous onslaught of ocean that left them frequently stranded -this is happening for decades. Such specific targeted small measures have big impact unlike garibi hatao abyaan get together photo ups in starch white khadi.
Let me clarify first that the
word liberal is not as defined in contentious bickering partisan political space wherein
meaning are fixed polarized binary nor is it as appropriated by neoliberals. Liberal
means a space for individuals to express and pursue what they want to. They have
their rights and rule of law to protect them. In a liberal space everyone debates,
discuss and exchange ideas, to be better versions of themselves and a tolerant
progressive society. It makes us understand and tolerate different views,
culture and faiths. There are very few liberal spaces in the world. US surely
has liberal space and means to safeguard; there is a reason why most people
around the world want to migrate to US (atleast till recently). Liberal spaces
around the world are diminishing with increasing intolerance, preconceived notions
through misinformation and disinformation -that gives credence to conspiracies,
lack of open mind and inquisitiveness, and superficial understanding of things.
Limited attention is not providing simplified version but simplistic version that
undermines complexities and nuances of the matter. Liberal space has degraded into
polarized zones with arguments meant to assert one’s atavistic connections and consolidate
primal emotions lacking thinking or understanding of contemporary reality. Liberal
space is increasingly lacking humanity or compassion of the human condition.
Liberal spaces are not a given or
a gift from nowhere but evolved spaces that are achieved after efforts and sacrifices
of generations of brilliant compassionate people from across the world. It is
collective conscience of humanity for a better world. These spaces have to
protected and nurtured if humanity has any chance to progress. Herd churning systems
are emboldening as they misuse and connect through the latest technology, lacking intellectual
vigor and primed in values of exceptionalism and supremacism they degrade with their
presence. As long as it is in the platform of views and expressions we can wince
and tolerate. Liberal space provides for questioning and defending and even ridiculing.
Herd churning systems use liberal space to assert into power and control. Even this
is tolerated afterall it is political expression of people. The problem starts when
they use it to control and diminish liberal space. This is beginning of the end
unless defended with rule of law and asserted with humanity.
The urge for spiritual and faith to
anchor one’s tribulations is an individual matter. What is not individual is
when it is asserted and expressed through systems that alienate one from surrounding
into fantasy hence easily manipulated by devious forces. It becomes sinister
when it replicates understandings (and fractures) that bypass human progress
and increased complexities of contemporary world. Simplistic versions take away
responsibility and fertile human agency into fatalism and fixedness of religion.
This horrendous degradation and dehumanization is an urgent threat to liberal
space and humanity itself.
**Debating from position of power
and entitlement has problems. When your views diminish lives of others, especially
vulnerable, as also seeks the fractures of history (like race) to assert claims that
dehumanizes other then there are consequences. The consequences are always borne
by the vulnerable as the society has not evolved (considering that liberal
space is a modern value system of evolved humans, it takes time to percolates into
individuals and cave dwellers minds). You can even have horrible views like a
child facing sexual abuse should give birth (as is ordained in a twisted
understanding of pro-life in the miracle book) but one has to understand that
these have serious real life consequences on vulnerable and make life miserable.
These regressive values severely undermine and undervalue human progress and
seek to take us back to caves. Ideally basic ethics and common sense should
deal with these fantasies of anachronistic systems that find expressions
through herd. If not, liberal state must step in with protection that asserts liberty
and freedom. If you support guns, and are least bothered about gun violence unleashed
on the community as children and innocent vulnerable die horrendous deaths, then
that view is based on your entitlement -indeed racist, the self-assuredness,
from the comfort that is blind to plight of others, that doesn’t even conceive oneself at the receiving end of the barrel. Well as it turns out you are wrong. You could
also be sacrificed to appease the gun god! In polarized US guns are great equalizer.
There is a bleak hope that this killing will bring sense for stricter gun regulations.
On 9/11 US is again on momentous crossroad.
Israel's attack on Qatar (also attacked by Iran very recently but this
one is qualitatively different as it plays on deep fractures) is especially
concerning and made dangerous by transactional minded incompetent US president
elected by revivalist forces (very much facilitated by self-centered irresponsible posing as liberal opposition). Middle east and Arab nations lack
democratic institutions or progressive values. Rabid religious zealots of this
oil rich region are mostly kept under check by feudal puppet leaders
controlled by West, and thus making the world a safer place -considering what
could be unleashed. Blatant attack like this, by increasingly unhinged
Netanyahu -who should be immediately dealt without any delay whatsoever,
will break that balance. Religious driven semi-literates are now connected
through social media, and unlike a decade back the consequence can be severe
and has possibilities to overthrow regime by popular uprising (as has happened
to corrupt politicians in Nepal, they thought banning social media will solve problem).
Feudal Qatar that lacks progressive values and democratic institutions was
propped up by west as glittering civilized version of middle east…well with space
and time as democratic institutions take root it could even become one. But the
chance of falling into the lap of islamists is very likely considering how
insular world is becoming. Hypocrisy of West is now so glaring with Trump (and
opportunist british elite) that it is shocking. As communist can easily flip into religious
fanatics so too can capitalist hedonist feudal in Arab into barbarian brotherhood. It is time up for Netanyahu before he further perils lives of common people trying to eke out a living in an increasingly hostile world.
UN is incapacitated
Nobody was expecting wonders from
UN in a dangerously polarized world. At the least it was to be a collective moral
authority and arbitrate peace by providing platform and forums for warring agents
to find some sense by discussing or consensus building or atleast taking out their anger by posturing. More than two decades ago there was blatant undermining of UN that
people, including this blogger, strongly protested (I had started to take deep
interest in my surrounding -local, national and international…things that
affected my life directly and indirectly- as also quality of life of common
people across the world. We even arranged signature campaign against war…since
there were no social media, we had to send it to regrettable legacy media). Unilateral
action by US-Britain on Iraq was serious breach of international consensus. Military
actions on terror groups in Afghanistan was needed but could have been under
the aegis of UN. There was consensus among international community and common
people in the aftermath of 9/11. It was a golden opportunity to strengthen UN and UNPKF. What we saw was serious breach of international laws and crimes
against humanity. People around the world were aghast at the arrogance of few
periling the world for their narrow gains and ego. These don’t go away as they build up
general cynicism and distrust.
If UN was strong then terrorist organization like Hamas would have found it difficult to gain foothold. UN would have used its power to stop Israel after initial strikes that debilitated Hamas infrastructure. It is now a genocide. Also, instead of NATO UN would be active to deal with Russia. UNPKF forces (with majority vote, no veto) would be fighting for Ukraine. Importantly rule of law is important, defines democratic liberal nations, that provide opportunities for millions of people to find their best possible self and humanity to progress (there are only few places in the world that provides such spaces). Migrants have important function while people in dire situation must be extended refuge. That in no way justifies illegal immigrants and undocumented refugees (or beyond the capacity that perils common people). Sooner or later this sickening self-righteousness of selfish feudal leaders -who don’t have to face the consequences, will be tapped by devious nationalist forces. These leads to rise of revivalist authoritarian values and diminishing liberal space. Most importantly regressive values of religion cannot be condoned and normalized as diversity, nor can these be extended the largesse of liberal state. Some may say these are subjective. Anything that diminish individual right and freedom is a threat to liberal values. Collective cannot be the reason to diminish liberty. It is only rule of law that can put restrictions. Rule of law that defines ideals of democratic society. As societies evolve even rule of law may not be needed as individual becomes responsible and will be aware when to self-restrain. The collapse of international consensus has to do with distrust at the individual level leading to primal associations devoid of reason and compassion. Rule of law, asserting progressive values and being responsible, is reflected in how nation contribute to collective consensus of the world. Britain is an example of feudal society (eased into neoliberal capitalism greed) that is collapsing in its own self-righteous muck arbitrated by low quality extremely devious political elite who take common people as their entitlement. It is a debating club without any meaning and intent attached to words. It is also time out for Starmer, the reason why Britain is churning out such low quality leaders shows much deeper flaw.
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