Recently read a highly provocative article on WSJ - "Why Chinese mothers are superior" which sparked so many comments and reads that has become the most read article on WSJ.com and facebook for 2-3 days now. The article is written by a Yale professor of Taiwanese /Chinese descent and argues that "eastern" parenting style of shaming their children to work hard is better than the "often too soft" permissive "western" parenting style. The article is so polarizing and full of stereotypes that I am surprised it passed the editorial filter at the journal. However, it does make a very entertaining read. I guess this is another sign of Murdochification of the journal (similar to what we see on Fox) - Entertainment sells, news /fact don't!
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
I will watch Ryan Seacrest over Maria Bartiromo, anyday!
I am more than happy to switch to E! news and watch some trashy story about a celebrity that I don't care about. At least they don't pretend to be something else. All these years - I used to wonder why would CNBC run "informercials" during off-peal/non-prime business hours; something that have no connection with their branding as a "financial news" channel. Now it all makes sense - both are "high on glitz, low on substance" - one is selling things you don't need, other is selling financial advice that you don't need (and shouldn't use). Watch at your own risk!
If I have to watch somebody yap then I prefer Ryan Seacrest over Maria Bartiromo!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Featured on Silicon India homepage!
My blog just got featured on Silicon India homepage so getting a lot of traffic. Check it out here!
My blog just got featured on Silicon India homepage so getting a lot of traffic. Check it out here!
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Truth is random! (Part 1)
The more I read religious philosophy the more I find it its interpretation fuzzy and self contradictory. But why is it so?
Because any sincere attempt at philosophy has to be comprehensive and has to integrate and interpret all reality and facts of life. The comprehensiveness of such an interpretation has to reflect the nature of reality itself. But reality is self-contradictory or random. We live in a world where a soldier who loves his neighbor to death is ready to kill his country's enemy (who he doesn't even know) without a second thought. The way religious philosophy deals with this randomness is to inject abstraction. For example: God is Great - is as an abstraction. But abstraction needs interpretation to make it useful in practical life. And the interpretation is almost always context driven. So as the context of the reality changes, the interpretation of the abstraction changes to fit the reality. Over time these multiple interpretations bring in the contradictions in religious philosophy.
So in peaceful times say how do you interpret the above abstraction to explain the reality that the soldier really loves your neighbor. It could go something like this: God is Great => so you should love God => Everyone is God's creation => You should love His creation => You should love your neighbor because he is His creation.
But in times of war, how do you explain the fact that soldier is ready to kill people. Here is one attempt: God is Great => Everyone should love Him => So everyone should obey His will => Those who don't obey God's will bring upon themselves the wrath of God => God wants to punish those who disobey His will through His creation => You are God's creation => Your enemy does not obey God's will => You should kill your enemy.
Similar contradictions can be found in Gita (go here).
Go to Part 2 for more...
The more I read religious philosophy the more I find it its interpretation fuzzy and self contradictory. But why is it so?
Because any sincere attempt at philosophy has to be comprehensive and has to integrate and interpret all reality and facts of life. The comprehensiveness of such an interpretation has to reflect the nature of reality itself. But reality is self-contradictory or random. We live in a world where a soldier who loves his neighbor to death is ready to kill his country's enemy (who he doesn't even know) without a second thought. The way religious philosophy deals with this randomness is to inject abstraction. For example: God is Great - is as an abstraction. But abstraction needs interpretation to make it useful in practical life. And the interpretation is almost always context driven. So as the context of the reality changes, the interpretation of the abstraction changes to fit the reality. Over time these multiple interpretations bring in the contradictions in religious philosophy.
So in peaceful times say how do you interpret the above abstraction to explain the reality that the soldier really loves your neighbor. It could go something like this: God is Great => so you should love God => Everyone is God's creation => You should love His creation => You should love your neighbor because he is His creation.
But in times of war, how do you explain the fact that soldier is ready to kill people. Here is one attempt: God is Great => Everyone should love Him => So everyone should obey His will => Those who don't obey God's will bring upon themselves the wrath of God => God wants to punish those who disobey His will through His creation => You are God's creation => Your enemy does not obey God's will => You should kill your enemy.
Similar contradictions can be found in Gita (go here).
Go to Part 2 for more...
Truth is Random! (Part 2)
Having said this, I still prefer religious philosophy over other specific schools of modern philosophy such as socialism, capitalism, secularism etc. These modern schools of philosophy are only a narrow interpretation of the truth or reality. Such narrow focus , makes these schools of thought more palatable and less fuzzy to a rational mind but makes them effectively useless too. Each of these philosophies fail when one tries to extend that school of thought to broader practical situations. Thus the more comprehensive a philosophy is, the more self-contradictory it becomes. I believe that such self-contradiction is important for the survival of a philosophy. The modern school of philosophies are based on rational reasoning and logic and as a result these schools find it hard to accept contradictions. But this also limits their usefulness. However, most of the religious philosophy dates back to pre-rational period in human thought. As a result religious philosophy accepts contradictions without any problems. And this ensures its survival.
This contradiction between religious philosophy and modern school of philosophy in quite well documented. It was Marx who said - Religion is opium of the people. If he was alive today he would find it amusing that his own socialist philosophy has become the new opium of his followers. They have just replaced religion with Marx's philosophy. The results are as bad or worse. Religion survived so many years, Socialism did not - because it was neither as abstract in its core or self-contradictory in its interpretation as religion is! Think about it!
In short, it is said that religious philosophy is the search of Truth. Reality is Truth. But Reality is random, so Truth is random. Which is same as saying - The only rule is that there are no rules - and that is the absolute Truth. So don't take any of this philosophy talk seriously - it is all bullshit, including this one!
Having said this, I still prefer religious philosophy over other specific schools of modern philosophy such as socialism, capitalism, secularism etc. These modern schools of philosophy are only a narrow interpretation of the truth or reality. Such narrow focus , makes these schools of thought more palatable and less fuzzy to a rational mind but makes them effectively useless too. Each of these philosophies fail when one tries to extend that school of thought to broader practical situations. Thus the more comprehensive a philosophy is, the more self-contradictory it becomes. I believe that such self-contradiction is important for the survival of a philosophy. The modern school of philosophies are based on rational reasoning and logic and as a result these schools find it hard to accept contradictions. But this also limits their usefulness. However, most of the religious philosophy dates back to pre-rational period in human thought. As a result religious philosophy accepts contradictions without any problems. And this ensures its survival.
This contradiction between religious philosophy and modern school of philosophy in quite well documented. It was Marx who said - Religion is opium of the people. If he was alive today he would find it amusing that his own socialist philosophy has become the new opium of his followers. They have just replaced religion with Marx's philosophy. The results are as bad or worse. Religion survived so many years, Socialism did not - because it was neither as abstract in its core or self-contradictory in its interpretation as religion is! Think about it!
In short, it is said that religious philosophy is the search of Truth. Reality is Truth. But Reality is random, so Truth is random. Which is same as saying - The only rule is that there are no rules - and that is the absolute Truth. So don't take any of this philosophy talk seriously - it is all bullshit, including this one!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Fooled by Randomness - a must read!
For the last two days I am devouring Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb (link here). It was a recommended book for one of my course work at Wharton. But I never read it during my coursework and only started reading it yesterday. This is a must read for everybody period. It's a shame that I did not read this book eight years back when I started investing - probably would have saved me from losing money in the stock market. Though this book deals with issues and impact of randomness in the stock market, like other great books the lessons can be extended to broader spectrum... More later once I finish reading it.
This book is surely going to be on my all time favorite books list - Below is the complete list. Each of these books have critically shaped my thinking to date. I would definitely recommend these books to everybody but with the following caveat - I cannot guarantee that you will find the following books as impressive as I found them - because as you would notice from the comments below that the impact of a book depends so much on your own personal biases and experiences to that point in your life. Here is the list (in no particular order):
Marriage and Morals - B. Russell - Helped solidify my own rational reasoning on morals and values.
India Unbound - Gurcharan Das - This book is about the struggles of Indian business during the Licence Raj. It opened my eyes to the ingenuity and potential of Indian business and sparked my love affair with it five years back.
The New New Thing - Michael Lewis - Amazing behind the scene look at the hype and company building in Silicon Valley's last boom. Helped put in perspective what I had experienced during the boom/bust cycle in Technology.
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond - History as I was taught and read has been focused so much on the "hows" rather than the "Whys" - this books focuses on why human societies evolved the way they did over time.
The Animal Farm - George Orwell - Altered my views on socialism and communism.
For the last two days I am devouring Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb (link here). It was a recommended book for one of my course work at Wharton. But I never read it during my coursework and only started reading it yesterday. This is a must read for everybody period. It's a shame that I did not read this book eight years back when I started investing - probably would have saved me from losing money in the stock market. Though this book deals with issues and impact of randomness in the stock market, like other great books the lessons can be extended to broader spectrum... More later once I finish reading it.
This book is surely going to be on my all time favorite books list - Below is the complete list. Each of these books have critically shaped my thinking to date. I would definitely recommend these books to everybody but with the following caveat - I cannot guarantee that you will find the following books as impressive as I found them - because as you would notice from the comments below that the impact of a book depends so much on your own personal biases and experiences to that point in your life. Here is the list (in no particular order):
Marriage and Morals - B. Russell - Helped solidify my own rational reasoning on morals and values.
India Unbound - Gurcharan Das - This book is about the struggles of Indian business during the Licence Raj. It opened my eyes to the ingenuity and potential of Indian business and sparked my love affair with it five years back.
The New New Thing - Michael Lewis - Amazing behind the scene look at the hype and company building in Silicon Valley's last boom. Helped put in perspective what I had experienced during the boom/bust cycle in Technology.
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond - History as I was taught and read has been focused so much on the "hows" rather than the "Whys" - this books focuses on why human societies evolved the way they did over time.
The Animal Farm - George Orwell - Altered my views on socialism and communism.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Go, light your bulb!
I was watching Swadesh for the nth time the other day and I have to say I am in love with this movie. Check this song out here - Yeh Jo Desh hai Tera - one of my favorites. Another great moment in the film is when Mohan Bhargava's (Shah Rukh Khan) boss say - Go, light your bulb!
And here is an article on the true life story that inspired the movie.
If somebody likes Gandhi, Forrest Gump and now Swadesh does it say something about their personality - I am sure it does - however I am not sure I am ready to accept the verdict!
I was watching Swadesh for the nth time the other day and I have to say I am in love with this movie. Check this song out here - Yeh Jo Desh hai Tera - one of my favorites. Another great moment in the film is when Mohan Bhargava's (Shah Rukh Khan) boss say - Go, light your bulb!
And here is an article on the true life story that inspired the movie.
If somebody likes Gandhi, Forrest Gump and now Swadesh does it say something about their personality - I am sure it does - however I am not sure I am ready to accept the verdict!
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Planning a 7-day trip to Peru
These days I am planning a trip to Peru during the coming spring break. Why Peru? I have never visited South America. So this we be my first visit to the fourth largest continent by size and the 3rd least populated continent on earth. Of the 12 countries that are part of SA, Peru is the most intriquing. I am a history buff, and Peru offers great choices for somebody like me who has just 7 days of travel time. Peru is the home of the famous Inca ruins that offer a glimpse into the glorious past of Native South America. I plan to visit Cusco, the capital of the ancient empire. If I get time, I plan to hike in the Amazon jungles in the northern part of Peru. Also, Lima with its picturesque beaches will be another attraction.
Tickets:
I bought the tickets from expedia.com. After searching for the best tickets on different travel websites - the usual suspects such as hotwire et. al- including travel agents, Expedia offered the best price. I am taking a Delta flight from Atlanta to Lima. I paid around $600 per ticket including taxes. I think it is a good deal considering I will be travelling in less than 3 weeks from the day I booked the tickets.
Travel strategy:
I connected with few of my friends from Purdue who had visited Peru - Sandeep Jain and Dhananjay Adhikari. Also connected with a fellow Kellogg Admit to the class of 2008, Alejandro, who hails from Lima, Peru. These will be point persons to sanitize my travel plans going forward. I also bought Lonely Planet for Peru - this book was suggested by Dhananjay - he mentioned that it has ton of useful information. Alejandro suggested that I learn some basic Spanish. According to him, I should be fine at most of the touristy places by speaking just English but I might have problems when I travel to other places. So, the next couple of weeks will be spent in going through the books and picking up as much Spanish as possible.
Best time to Travel:
It appears that the best time to travel to Peru is during June to August - The winter season there. This time - Dec to April is the rainy season there characterized by hot weather. Since I dont have much choice now, only time will tell if this time will work for us or not.
Btw, the next continents on my list are : Australia/Oceania, Africa and Antartica in that order. So keep reading this space!
These days I am planning a trip to Peru during the coming spring break. Why Peru? I have never visited South America. So this we be my first visit to the fourth largest continent by size and the 3rd least populated continent on earth. Of the 12 countries that are part of SA, Peru is the most intriquing. I am a history buff, and Peru offers great choices for somebody like me who has just 7 days of travel time. Peru is the home of the famous Inca ruins that offer a glimpse into the glorious past of Native South America. I plan to visit Cusco, the capital of the ancient empire. If I get time, I plan to hike in the Amazon jungles in the northern part of Peru. Also, Lima with its picturesque beaches will be another attraction.
Tickets:
I bought the tickets from expedia.com. After searching for the best tickets on different travel websites - the usual suspects such as hotwire et. al- including travel agents, Expedia offered the best price. I am taking a Delta flight from Atlanta to Lima. I paid around $600 per ticket including taxes. I think it is a good deal considering I will be travelling in less than 3 weeks from the day I booked the tickets.
Travel strategy:
I connected with few of my friends from Purdue who had visited Peru - Sandeep Jain and Dhananjay Adhikari. Also connected with a fellow Kellogg Admit to the class of 2008, Alejandro, who hails from Lima, Peru. These will be point persons to sanitize my travel plans going forward. I also bought Lonely Planet for Peru - this book was suggested by Dhananjay - he mentioned that it has ton of useful information. Alejandro suggested that I learn some basic Spanish. According to him, I should be fine at most of the touristy places by speaking just English but I might have problems when I travel to other places. So, the next couple of weeks will be spent in going through the books and picking up as much Spanish as possible.
Best time to Travel:
It appears that the best time to travel to Peru is during June to August - The winter season there. This time - Dec to April is the rainy season there characterized by hot weather. Since I dont have much choice now, only time will tell if this time will work for us or not.
Btw, the next continents on my list are : Australia/Oceania, Africa and Antartica in that order. So keep reading this space!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Trying to get back to blogging after a long gap. 2006 is on its way. 2005 has been a great year for me. Few highlights for 2005 were:
- I completed my first ever marathon - go here for the blog www.apoorvmarathondiary.blogspot.com
- I got engaged to my girlfriend Ruchita on Dec 29th in Bangalore - Go for photos here:
- I left my company Riverstone after working there for more than five years to join Juniper Networks as a Sr. Product Manager
- I completed my first ever marathon - go here for the blog www.apoorvmarathondiary.blogspot.com
- I got engaged to my girlfriend Ruchita on Dec 29th in Bangalore - Go for photos here:
- I left my company Riverstone after working there for more than five years to join Juniper Networks as a Sr. Product Manager
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Here is my homepage - Beware this is really outdated - all the material is from 2001 and I haven't updated it since
Apoorv's Homepage
Apoorv's Homepage
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