INDIVIDUAL… Hating words 29 Jan 2024 Do you hate Hinduism/Islam/Secularism/Feminism etc..?Can you succinctly define the concepts or philosophies you hate?If not, you are probably hating only the words and not the concepts.You may not even know…
Education… The Great Debate: Art vs Science? 19 Jan 2024 My friend Nanda and I are often inclined to label anything "Science" because that label gives us confidence that we can learn it as well. I cannot even draw a…
INDIVIDUAL To think or to do? 5 Jan 2024 In his Oral History, Nandan Nilekani shared his experience with programming at IIT Bombay. These were the days when computers were new and slow. You don't have the freedom to…
INDIVIDUAL My rationality dictionary 26 Aug 202326 Aug 2023 I don't remember when I started asking for reasons for the existing beliefs. But I do remember that I had had problematic beliefs before I questioned them. Caste feelings, Religious…
Economy… 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 16 May 2023 Decision-making is hard and sometimes paralysing - in our personal lives and as bureaucrats and heads of nations.To come out of this paralysis, we develop some framework. All data we…
Governance… Revising Pareto – the 80/20 rule 10 May 2023 Pareto rule, famously called the 80/20 rule, says that 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes. Despite being parrotted by many time management gurus, this rule does not…
Governance… 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 9 May 2023 In disaster management, people often use the disaster itself to control the bigger disaster. Especially for forest fires and avalanches. For instance, “Controlled burning” or “prescribed burning” is used to…
INDIVIDUAL Bhumisparsha Mudra 3 May 20233 May 2023 I like a few aspects of Buddhism for its relatability to modern life. I found this sculpture of Bhumi Sparsa Mudra in the last cave of Ajanta and on Leh’s…
INDIVIDUAL… Why anecdotal evidence is BS? 28 Mar 202328 Mar 2023 This is the fifth post in the series of Statistical thinking for a better world. The first four posts are: Beware of fat tails Embracing uncertain life – through math.…