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Two Views on Information

In Nexus , Yuval Noah Harari uses the phrase “naïve view of information”. What does he mean by that? It is the belief that information is a good thing, and the more of it that we have/get, the better. Information, in this view, leads to truth which then leads to wisdom.   That is not true. Corrupt politicians get re-elected; film stars remain popular no matter what they do… even when the information is available to everyone. It is because, says Harari, people don’t connect to a person; rather, they connect to a story about the person. ~~   The other view of information, throughout history, is that order is critical for humans to thrive. Chaos and anarchy are to be avoided at all costs. For order (and thus governance) to exist, a group of people need to feel some sense of unity. Hard facts rarely serve that purpose. Good fiction, on the other hand, does the job splendidly. Why? Because the truth is always complicated, messy and has its share of dark episodes. “In ...
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British India and the Partition of Burma

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I realized how little I knew of British India as I read Sam Dalrymple’s Shattered Lands . British India extended from Yemen all the way to Burma, but not as a single continuous landmass, as this map shows. By the end of it all, British India would break into 12 nations, hence the book title.   ~~   The first partition of India was with Burma. As the British came under growing pressure and protests, they considered granting more autonomy to (British) India. But with areas as diverse as Baluchistan, Bengal and Madras: “How would they write a single constitution for a landmass larger and more diverse than Europe?”   It will seem surprising now, but back then, Burma was the largest and richest province in the Raj! So much so that people from all parts of British India flocked to Burma for jobs and better opportunities. Yet Burma was sidelined in Indian politics (it was even called the Cinderella province).   The British felt the Burmese were racially different and felt a...
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Metals from the Ages #3: Iron Age

After the Copper and Bronze Age, Tomas Pueyo goes into the Iron Age . Iron’s melting point is way higher (1538° C) than what those kilns could achieve, which is why it took a long time for iron to be used by humans. As bronze spread and became increasingly important, metallurgy and furnaces improved and we began to stumble upon iron as a byproduct. But: “Iron is harder to smelt, you also can’t work iron cold, and it’s actually softer than bronze! What’s the point, then?”   Iron, unlike the other metals listed so far in the series, is widely available. As opposed to bronze which, remember, needed tin and thus trade lines. Iron has another key property. Mixed with the right amount of carbon, we get steel – stronger, lighter and less corrosive. Since carbon was part of the fuel (wood, coal) used in furnaces, so the chances of stumbling upon steel was reasonable.   Iron and steel “turbocharged” everything bronze had been doing: (1) Tools to clear forests and increase a...
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The Caste Census

The caste census. Not to be confused with the population census. The last caste census was conducted in 1931 under British rule. If it wasn’t conducted for almost a century, why is it being conducted again now?   Advocates for it say it is necessary to know the right numbers to serve as the basis for upliftment schemes and reservations. Opponents say it would only entrench the caste-based identity even further; that it would foment sub-divisions within caste as each group tries to grab a bigger share of the scheme/reservation pie.   Anand Teltumbde wrote a book on the topic titled The Caste Con Census . I haven’t read it and have only read Pranay Kotasthane’s review of the book . Kotasthane says he read the book because the author is a “data science professor, a Marxist”. In other words, a person who understands data and how it can be used, and with a worldview that most of us (Kotasthane included) do not subscribe to. Always good to read the views of someone you do...
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Metals from the Ages #2: Bronze Age

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After the Copper Age came the Bronze Age. Again, it was a “mix (of) history, geography, physics, geology, and chemistry”, explains Tomas Pueyo in his post . But we are getting ahead of ourselves. First mankind had to find tin and lead.     Why those two? Again, from chemistry, same column (group) = similar chemical properties. In this case: “Because you can make them in a normal fire pit!” Lead melts at 327° C. A wood fire easily reaches 600-800° C. If the ore of lead found itself in a pit fire, the lead got separated. “But lead is not very useful because it’s heavy and way too soft. It couldn’t work as a tool or as a hand-held weapon.” The common ore of lead, galena, has traces of silver. It is likely that humans began to smelt galena for the silver and lead was just a byproduct. ~~   Tin has an even lower melting point of 232° C. But it is brittle and rare, hardly a candidate for a useful metal. But in many copper mines, tin is also present. And c...
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IndiGo and the Monopoly Question

Last December, the chaos and flight disruptions created by IndiGo were enormous and terrible. The penalty imposed on them was a paltry ₹22 crore (no prizes for guessing what must have transpired behind the scenes).   The root cause identified by the DGCA (Directorate General for Civil Aviation) though did make sense: “an overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources”. Such an (over)emphasis then “significantly reduced roster buffer margins” and “adversely impacted operational resilience”.   But, while the above reason is valid, it wasn’t complete. IndiGo had clearly assumed the new regulations (on rest hours between flights) would not be enforced by the government and therefore had not prepared to meet them (by reducing flights or hiring more pilots/crew). And why did they make that assumption? Because they held a 65% market share, and they assumed that if they couldn’t/wouldn’t meet the new regulations, well, surely the governmen...
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Metals from the Ages #1: Copper Age

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Tomas Pueyo wrote this excellent post on how metals shaped human civilization. A “mix of history, geography, physics, geology, and chemistry”, as he calls it. The first 3 metals used by humans were… he points to the Periodic Table!   Gold, silver and copper. Why those three? Because, to recap chemistry, same column (group) = similar chemical properties. The similar property of relevance here is that they can all be found in “native” form, i.e., pure form. ~~   When rocks erode, the heavier and inert gold gets left behind, which is why we found gold first. Gold was valuable because it is rare, malleable, doesn’t oxidize, found in nuggets, and yes, shiny. All those characteristics meant it became a store of value. But it was too heavy, too malleable, so it was of no use to make tools.   Silver is more common than gold. But it tarnishes (it reacts with other things). Which is why it is harder to find in native form. Again, not of much practical use.   ...
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