Quote of the Day

What the human being is best at doing is interpreting all new information so that their prior conclusions remain intact. - Thanks

Andrew on Fareed Zakaria

Last weekend Zakaria had Tom Friedman, Andrew Sullivan and Shah Rukh on his show.

The Buddha - PBS Movie

Great piece of moving making by David Grubin - Watch it Online on PBS website.

Excellent Criticism of Behavioral Economics

A well thought, simple and honest criticism of nudges (thanks):

"My question is this: why is it that soft paternalism is always applied to areas where the nudgers want more government involvement? Why is it never applied to instances in which government is involved in ways that go beyond what nudging theory would suggest? My guess is that if one thought about the FDA or Medicare or housing subsidies from a "nudge" perspective, the result would be government policy that is much less intrusive than what we have now. Yet we never hear about such implications of soft paternalism.

When soft paternalism is used to denounce irrational state policy, I will take it as friendly to libertarians. As long as it is used only to suggest more arenas for government interference, I will view it as just another rationale for ruling-class hegemony."

Excellent Introduction to Behavioral Economics

Great post but I don't agree with much of the criticism since its too premature and frankly the alternatives sucks. Also the call the hone behavioral economics which is still in it's infancy is simply not prudent - one step at a time.

"Real people are susceptible to cognitive biases that can lead to poor decisions. It’s only natural to want to help them make better choices.

But no one is immune to bias. Not social scientists, and certainly not policymakers. In translating behavioral science into policy, we may be led astray by the very same cognitive defects we wish to correct. New paternalist policies, and indeed the intellectual framework of new paternalism itself, create a serious risk of slippery slopes toward ever more intrusive paternalism.

Instead of a paternalism-generating framework, I recommend a slope-resisting framework — one that stresses private options and opportunities for self-correction, and that emphasizes important distinctions such as public vs. private and coercive vs. voluntary. That doesn’t mean we will never adopt any new paternalist policies. But if we do, we will hopefully stand a better chance of not slipping down the slope."

Catholicism And Transcendental Meditation

Thanks Andrew - This is spectacular. 





I haven't blogged about it yet but I have been going to meditation practice since the past two weekends. I know it's very very premature but my gut tells me and I do feel this is something very very special. Harsh lessons from life has taught me not to expect too much out of anything, so I don't want to elaborate on it for now.

Daniel Kahneman on Behavioral Economics

Quote of the Day

"We're stuck in a position where we know too little to commit to atheism and we know too much to commit to religion" - David Eagleman

Lost and Limits of My Pre-Frontal Cortex

Lost is the only show I watch on TV and the way the final season is unwinding, it has clearly become my all time favorite show. With so much going on - Max, work, home et al, it has become impossible to think and predict the mystery.

In psychology, Miller came up with the magical number seven plus or minus two which is rough threshold level of number of objects the human working memory can hold. The mystery behind Lost is impossible to solve by just thinking. One needs to write it down, may be develop a flow chart of some sort to even begin to connect the dots. I am sure lots of crazies would have already done that. I used to be obsessed after every episode to deduce a theory, driving myself nuts. But this final season is the first season I enjoying Lost with no pressure of thinking.

I don't care anymore:
What quantum physics has to do with philosophies of Jock Locke, Jeremy Bentham and David Hume.
How the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 flirts with Buddhist drama (and/or Hindu Karma?).
The conjunction of Electromagnetism and Bio-tech for a parallel universe.
If any hidden political message between utilitarianism and categorical imperative.
If its about good vs evil or right vs wrong.

I am just gonna sit back and enjoy the show. Thank you J.J.Abrams for driving us crazy for six long years, it was one heck of a ride. 

Btw, fMRI on David Humes last night probably had no relevance to the story line and purely done for the heck of it!! Neurosciencist's dream come to true!!

Unemployed Mirror Neurons and Indian Maids

Amit Verma on the apathy of Indian Middle Class:

"So the doorbell rings and it’s the cook. She walks into the kitchen and asks what I’d like today. I tell her, and then ask, ‘How’s your daughter?’ She hadn’t come yesterday because her daughter had a fall.

‘She’s not conscious yet,’ she says. ‘She’s got a swelling in her brain.’

‘What? She’s in hospital?’

‘Yes, but the doctor says that if she isn’t conscious by this evening, she’ll have to be shifted to another hospital. Chicken or mutton?’

Her tone is perfectly normal, like she’s telling me about her daughter’s school results or something. You’d never guess there was something wrong.

And that’s the life. Another maid, her husband was a drunkard who beat her everyday. You’d never guess there was something wrong.

We’re spoilt, and weak, the urban elite with household help. When life knocks us down we won’t have the fight in us. If someone close to me was unconscious with a swelling in her brain, I’d show it."

Even while growing up in India, I never got accustomed to this attitude and felt there was something terrible amiss. Autistic Temple Grandin wrote about the perpetual threat of workers in slaughter house losing compassion by sheer mundanity of the "task" and probably the same holds true here. May be its an extreme analogy but the science behind it is more or less the same. So much for mirror neurons.