Brown Motion

After the Israeli historian Harari educated us about our species and its origins in easy to read manner earlier this decade, a Brit followed up with a hilarious portrait of our uncanny ability to cock things up. Humans - brief history of how we fucked it all up -  is a 2019 attempt by British journalist and storyteller Tom Phillips to lay bare the truth that we are not all that smart as cracked up to be. Starting with a condensed table of contents that describes an ape falling off a tree 3.2 M years ago after probably jerking off and dying, the species went on to get to present state aka Wise Man (leaving that moniker in doubt) or Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Contrast Yuval Harari's detailed investigations of historic records and some eye opening data points to Phillips' easy going hilarity, the latter was quite an entertaining read. Indeed we as a species still deal with the consequences of what we now see in the rearview mirror of history.  Discovering agriculture, gasolin...

A children's marching band song that is somehow stuck in my head. I have no idea what the words mean but the tune is catchy.  Recently when I read Rihanna was peddling knickers, I somehow thought that she must have a knack for knickers and the tune kept playing in my head.  If that is not whacky what is? What it also tells me is that America is truly land of opportunity for anyone willing to hustle.  A girl from Barbados who allegedly suffered abuse can go from being no one to a pop star and then turn her charisma to selling unrelated goods. There are many such successful business people in America but when I compare to my land of birth aka India, I cannot think of comparable marketers.  I mean if Asha Bhosale or equivalent singer in India started selling their own brand of underwear it would cause a national uproar or even riots. Can you imagine Aishwarya trying to twerk or a Priyanka selling her own brand of Chopra cosmetics?  But it is possible for K...

A book written merely a decade ago - very relevant if you are a parent and want the very best for your child.  Very relevant if you are simply wanting to figure out what to do that might make you happy.  The title 'The Element' refers to the state where every person trying to find what makes them perform their very best, ideally finds themselves in. A race car driver performing on the track, a ballet dancer on stage or a carpenter in his natural element selecting his wood and working with the grain they all can be extremely accomplished and fulfilled if they are in fact in their element. This thesis is also a rant against what our current educational system has become, a ritualistic and mechanised assembly line of students who are forced into conformity and assessed in their capabilities as a result of standardized tests that measure nothing more than the ability of the parent to fork out large sums of money. This is somewhat in contrast to another book I read in parall...

The internet is a wonderful thing.  So is curiosity.  Put two and three together and sometimes you get more than six. I stumbled upon a lot of interesting people and facts simply reading about a subject online.  Only to later discover that I could actually land a book about that subject at the local library. So it was I discovered a Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos (pronounced Air Dash).  Someone who learned about negative numbers at age three, did not ever cook in his lifetime or learn how to tie his shoes till age 11, he was an odd specimen that graced this earth. I recently read a biography about Erdos titled, 'The man who loved only numbers' by Paul Hoffman.  Born to a set of Jewish math teachers, Paul lived the life of a monk in the pursuit of mathematical truth. After reading the book I am still trying to decipher what I had just read and how this amazing mind was able to see what others could not see.  Similar mind bending ideas came to lo...

Would you like to have a chair? That is what Jason Alexander's character made famous in the Seinfeld sitcom asks a security guard at a clothing store.  Does not turn out well for the clothing store.  Guard promptly falls asleep in his newfound sitting appliance and the store gets robbed. Well guess what?  A national grocery chain got sued by one of its cashiers for not offering them a chair to sit on during their cashiering hours.  It is hard on them feet.  Standing and sliding meatloafs, beer bottles and baguettes across the glass reader for five hours straight. I think I can understand that.  I am not sure what the disconnect was in the first place.  A cashier is unlikely to fall asleep with a customer standing in front of them, even if the former was sitting down. Now mind you this goes against what some in corporations across the globe are demanding.  A sit stand desk for all those folks tapping away at computer keyboards.  Reaso...

California.  Land of dreams. Sunshine, Sand and Surf.  Add a smattering of palms to date - eat em or just have one under its shade, and all the botox money can buy to help the stars shine in Hollywood. Land of innovations from putting a computer in your pocket to having a chariot show up on demand and drive without a driver, to finding any piece of information with a voice command, it is everything a marketing postcard might have and then some. Majestic vistas from close to 15,000 feet to hundreds of feet below in a deathly valley in a matter of minutes, snow in season to waves year round.  Can it get any better? It could get worse.  From our politics to our reality check of unintended consequences to the homeless crisis and crap on the street we have of course many faults.  Bribing colleges for admissions (that sent some stars to temporarily set) to cutting off recycling stations; poor infrastructure coupled with gross mismanagement of capex are all but ...

We knew about normal.  And abnormal.  Normally.  But a new contender to the normal has emerged in the past few years.  Ergo the New Normal. What is it?  It is not abnormal.  What you ask? Trumpeting egos. Global Warming.  Or the human ability to figure out that the globe is warming. Quick buck replaced by Unicorns. Drug epidemic. And not just the narcotic kind. Factory grown food. Obesity. Instant attention replaces old fashioned vanity. Digital friends. 24x7x365. Talking assistants powered by a cloud based superpower. Stress.  Lots of it.  As a result of all of the above. Finally, artificial intelligence since clearly the natural kind is dwindling.