Year: 2021
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Why Would Conservatives Change when Liberals Don’t?
In the debates around “merit”, the conservatives have a very straightforward view – “hierarchy is natural, one should only care about oneself and getting ahead in one’s life”. The liberals, on the other hand, are the confused bunch. They have a hatred for hierarchy, but they live and breathe hierarchy too. They hate that people…
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The Academic Publication Industry is Modern Day Feudalism
Even if the cost of journals were low and affordable, open access to scientific knowledge is the ethically correct and practically useful position for humankind. Internet has made publishing costs near zero. Why do journals still continue to exist? And why are they so expensive to society? A common defense of journals is that “peer…
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The Difference Between a Politician and an Academic in Politics
If academics and politics seem like separate fields to you, that’s because your definition of academics has been corrupted by the academicians you have seen and their self-centredness. Academicians can be of two types. The ones who “care only about science (or “truth”)”. The ones who care about society in addition to science. Those who…
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Anger is a Valid Emotion; Conflicts Bring Real Peace
I have seen “triggered” being used as an insult at social justice activists when they become angry. People hold anger itself as an invalid or incorrect emotional state to be in. That is not very smart. Anger is a perfectly valid emotion. Anger is a reaction to a provocation, hurt, or threat. Anger is a…
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x + y by Eugenia Cheng – a Roadmap to Collaboration Between Social Justice Movements
Spoiler alert: I discuss the central theme of the book x + y by Eugenia Cheng in this post. In the book, this theme isn’t revealed till the middle. In the first chapters, the author explains the context from which the book is written so as to eliminate bias from those who believe in social…
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Hatred Based on Stereotypes Weaken Social Justice Movements
This post talks about stereotypes, emotions, justice, etc from the point of view of a savarna, cis-het male who lives in a metropolitan city. Like the post claims, nobody can eliminate stereotype/bias from their worldview and therefore this post includes some stereotypes/biases too. Trigger warning: Detached discussion of emotions that makes it sound like I’m…
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Changing The “System”
People of all kinds routinely blame the “system” for many things. They’re absolutely right. It is the system that shapes human behavior. In a system where certain behaviors are rewarded, those behaviors are repeated. And vice versa. We are all Pavlov’s dogs in that sense. That’s why awards and honors are instituted. To reward the…
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Why Politics isn’t for the Honest
This is not a pessimistic post. I’ll explain why honest people can’t do well in politics. And then I’ll also urge honest people to be political. When I say politics isn’t for the honest, I mean that the identity of a politician isn’t for the honest. They cannot win elections on their own. They cannot…
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Don’t Let Them Dehumanize You, Doctors!
The society will try to dehumanize you in various ways. And you will feel pressurized to play along too. Don’t let them do that to you, as much as possible. — Every patient comes to you with the expectation of a complete cure. They do not care that you are human. Reset their expectations. Let…
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Giving up Ideological Purism
I used to be a purist. I would think that socialism is better than capitalism and therefore I should myself shun everything to do about capitalism. I would think that free software is better than proprietary software and use only free software everywhere. And so many other “principled” positions. Then a couple of things happened.…