Category: Philosophy
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The Science of Seeing Caste in Everything
There are topics where caste is traditionally invisibilized/erased. Thanks to social change, people are able to stand up and assert and call out caste in many such topics these days. When that happens, the typical savarna response is to call it “unscientific”. I’ll give two examples. Example 1 Shilpa wrote “Mahishasura: The Demonized Hero of…
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1kg Equity Please
When there is a power-cut and kids are annoyed, we tell them “Here’s 10 rupees, go to the shop and buy 1kg current (electricity)” The kids immediately get it. You can’t purchase electricity like that. It is not an off-the-shelf good. But when it comes to equity (equity as in “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion”, not the…
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The World is Malleable
TW: Mentions a techbro There is a 90 second video of Steve Jobs on the internet from the time SJ had a beard and lots of hair. In that, in less than 2 minutes, Steve Jobs makes an elevator pitch for a life that’s full of agency. I’m embedding it here so you can watch…
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Privacy is not the Goal
In and around free software circles there are several activists who fight tooth and nail for privacy. They frequently take extreme measures to protect their privacy, like avoiding all kinds of conveniences, and sticking to workflows and tools that majority of people do not use. I am quite uncomfortable with such “privacy-maximization” movements. There are…
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All the world’s a stage
I have this weird issue. I tend to be non-conformist. I notice the performance of societal roles. I am more painfully conscious when I have to perform societal roles myself. The first time it became a real problem was when I started practicing medicine. You just can’t be yourself in the consultation room. Doctors have…
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Nirbhau Nirvair Niramaya
Ajay (AN) introduced to me the above words at Kozhikode during the mid-annual mfc meet last year. It means without fear, without hate, with love. The last one was added to the Sikh saying by AN themself. When I met AN at the meet, I was brimming with negative energy (likely hatred) at the institutions…
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Love is Enough
“You need power only when you want to do something harmful. Otherwise love is enough to get everything done.” ~Charlie Chaplin Judah (JP) sent me that quote in response to a question that I had posed JP. The question was something like this: “You need power to do things and attain change. But power is…
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Finding Direction When Being Pragmatic
You remember how I embraced pragmatism and started chasing power? There was one problem. When you start chasing power with the idea of wielding it for social justice, when and where do you stop chasing power and start wielding it? Take Praveen’s comment for example One possible answer can be that you start wielding…
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Why I am Back on WhatsApp
Long time readers of this blog knows that I have a very strained relationship with WhatsApp. When I deleted my WhatsApp account a couple of years ago, I was at a place where personal productivity was the most important to me. For example, I wrote this: Thirdly, and most importantly, people are unable to work…
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Achieving God
The success of experiencing what I did and am trying to share with you through this post will depend on how detached you are from your mind. (In doubt? Read the post The Secret to (Infinite) Happiness) Earlier I told you about the happiness you get out of the realisation that you are neither your…