Knowing you have waited enough

Until recently I liked to believe that I have a pretty good estimation of how much time has elapsed between two incidents.

backdrop

I have two options for morning commute to work, metro or bus. Fortunately, both the stations/stops are near each other. Buses usually come at random times while there is ~6 minute gap between two metros. If a metro is going to arrive after > 2 minutes (it has an electronic clock that shows time until arrival), I go to a point midway between metro station and bus stop and wait for the bus. I wait until I think there is 1 minute left for the train to arrive and then I head back to metro station and catch the train. Since I'm confident about my internal clock I don't bother to look at the mobile for time.

Unfortunately, a few times I missed the train. What I thought to be say 3 minutes was actually 4 minutes and so on. How did I lose track of time watching the traffic? Why did my mental calculation go wrong?

theory

Apparently, our brain keeps track of time by the number events registered on the memory[1]. If there are a lot of events happening we think a lot of time has passed (hence the expression longest day of my life.

So I reckon that watching the uninteresting traffic flow my mind registered very few events and I (i.e. my brain) underestimated the amount of minutes passed.

cure

The cure I use is to willfully force myself to add a bit extra time to the mental clock. I don't try to change how my mental clock works but I modify the estimates in between. So when I think it's two minutes, I add an extra minute and proceed accordingly. So far, it seems to be working; although at times this zealous time adding leads to reaching train station a bit earlier.

[1] I heard it on a podcast and was trying to get a definitive research paper source for the study. Unfortunately, couldn't find it after 20 minutes of googling. There are a lot of different theories of how brain keeps track of time. May be I will write about it at a later date.

-- I will leave you with this beautiful track called Salsa Sitar Shuffle

Google Drive & Maps - Display problems, weird multiple symbols displayed

I had the same problem as this person http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/drive/2_2J-z82tvk 

This is probably caused by one of the chrome extensions. Maps and docs work fine in Incognito mode.

short but sweet

Listen to this heart-warming tune by Ben Parker

Theme From 'How Not To Live Your Life' from Ben Parker.

And below is a tune by Lemon Jelly used in the final episode of the Spaced series.

Ponderable quotes

The physical signs of leprosy are a hypopigmented patch and loss of sensation. Now in the so-called healthy society you can see a lot of injustice and poverty, yet you are not moved. You have lost your sensation, your feeling. The mind is so dull, the heart so unfeeling, thick-skinned like a hippopotamus - that's mental leprosy.

--- 

I want to be a man who goes around with a little oil can and when he sees a breakdown offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-colored robes. The mechanic with the oilcan, that is my ideal in life.

- Baba Amte

Sources:

[1] From a book

[2] http://www.rmaf.org.ph/newrmaf/main/awardees/awardee/biography/266

Is God necessary for morality?

There is a very good debate between Prof. Shelly Kagan and Dr. William Lane Craig about "Is God necessary for morality?"

Find it here.

If I were to simplify the two sides, I'd draw parallels between the debate and different parenting styles (Parent == God). On one hand there are parents who tell their kids to behave in a specific way, follow certain rules; not because it is right (which it may or may not be; or it is right, because someone says so) but because the parent commands them so. Alternatively, the parent may reason with the child as to "why" certain things are morally objectionable (in the sense that they may face the consequences if others around behaved in the same way in future). Note the If here. There is no guarantee that immoral actions will be punished either directly or indirectly. It's just a matter of principle not to indulge in them.

It seems to me that for some kids strategy1 might work better ("do it because I say so") at least initially. Kids may fear the punishment by the parent. But in the long term, I think, strategy2 will help because it provides a proper justification, even though it is probabilistic. I agree that this analogy is not perfect in the sense that those arguing for God, say that s/he is omnipresent and omniscient and can punish you, even after you die.

Another parallel can be drawn with criminalizing non-voting in public elections. I think many people will agree that people should not be punished for not voting, but at the same time, it would be better if they voted. From the point of view of a "non" voter, his/her vote wouldn't change election results, which is mathematically true in most elections. But when viewed collectively, it will be disastrous for the democracy if everyone were apathetic towards elections.

I think each of us has an inbuilt conscience that helps us know what is right and what is wrong. So, in my opinion, belief in God is not necessary for morality. But it certainly helps us. In this case, the results matter more than the means.

Further discussion on this debate:
http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=1810
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/contemporary-moral-arguments

Sad day

Dr. Dabholkar was assassinated today morning. I haven't followed his work closely but had listened to a few speeches by him long ago and was impressed with his skepticism and tact of handling questions. People who cannot handle intellectual battles, take weapons in their hands. So much human potential is wasted in the name of religion, it's sickening.

Again I cannot but contrast the situation in India with other countries. Noted skeptic James Randi is celebrated across the USA and rest of the world, whereas we fail to publicize people who are doing similar work in India. If Bill Maher were to perform in India, talking about God, he would sure need an army of bodyguards.

We are tolerant when we should be intolerant and vice a versa. But I have faith in the future, blind one, you say? 

random encounters

So I'm at a purse/bag/pouch and assorted paraphernalia shop buying things for sisters and aunts. When I reach the counter and start taking the money out of my wallet, the owner asks - 

Is that your father?

What a cute question. 

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One thing had surprised me a lot when I heard it from an Indian friend. He said, usually, Taiwanese people take bath at night just before going to sleep. I was like whaa.. Reasoning I was told was that they take their sleep quite seriously and want to feel totally clean before wandering into the dreamland. 

One day, I asked a Taiwanese colleague about it. He confirmed it. Then I asked, "do you ever take bath in the morning at all?" He gave a classic reply - 

Only when I'm lazy.

Typhoon aftereffects

Taiwan witnessed a strong (135 Km/Hr) typhoon named Soulik, on Saturday, 13 July. 

At our place, wind started to blow like a maniac after midnight. Lights went off for a fraction of second multiple times. We felt safe in our apartment, but some people were not so fortunate 

"I was very worried, I couldn't sleep the whole night because the sound of the wind was so loud and my building was shaking almost like there was an earthquake," Taipei resident Josephine Lin told AFP. 

Two people died, several got injured. After Taiwan, the typhoon proceeded towards China where the causalities were far greater. [For more.]

In the morning I went around our place to see the damage. Lots of tree had felled. The local sports park is going to need a lot of cleaning. See pictures below (click to enlarge)- 

Beautiful, eh? I enquired here for its identification.
Let's see if we find out its name.

While we are on the subject of rains and winds, I'll leave
you with one of my favourite sounds on the FreeSound
community. Enjoy!

Observations in Taipei

So back to web logging. Let's see how long this streak goes. Meanwhile deactivated my FB account (Yes We Can!), been active on Quora, G+ and a mostly passive reader on a multitude of StackExchange sites recently. Trying to bring all my friends to Quora and G+. At first it felt good not to waste time on FB, but as days passed reached a state of procrastination-work equilibrium. Morning newspaper routine is replaced by checking hot questions on SE, following up with new updates on Google reader and daily gems on Quora such as How much will it cost to deliver a pizza to the International Space Station?

• Kids make the same sounds while playing as in India. If you are listening from a distance, you cannot tell whether they are speaking Chinese or Hindi/Marathi from the tone of it. Also it seems small kids make the same sounds all over the world.
• Polite bus drivers who greet with Ni Hao (Hello!) when you get in and Xiè Xie (Thank you!) when you get out.
• Most people here don't like window seats in buses. All of them will take the aisle seats (edgehog is the word). Could be because the space between seats is less than normal.
• When I paid (quite handsomely) a visit to the Eslite bookstore I was surprised to see Chinese translations of all the English bestsellers at about half the price of the English ones. Felt sorry that I can't read Chinese, would have saved so much money!
• Wind blows real hard! The whooshing gale sounds make getting asleep easy.
• Everybody is busy on some social network. Buses, trains everywhere. Well, a few of them read a book too but a majority are busy online. There is a ubiquitous V sign that youngsters use when they post pics on FB.
• Local vegetarian food is tasteless, or to be PC let's say differently tasty. So many tea brands on shelves, sadly, none of them taste like they do in India. A post about food later.
• People have bizarre English names. A person I know is called Airforce. Beat that!
• Road work is very quickly finished. If they are digging a ditch in the morning, by evening you are likely to see it done and all covered up again.
• People don't remove shoes/sandals when going inside temples!
• Many people ask Are you vegetarian because of religion? I don't argue and say yes. May be they have a view that vegetarianism has something to do with Hinduism. I wanted to say, No, it's because I'm not used to it and am nauseated by the thought. May be I should tell it next time, at least they will not think that Hinduism is restrictive.

You might also like to see a cartoonist's view of Taiwan A few things that make me marry Taiwan and Only in Taiwan

I thought of finishing each post with a good piece of music (that I did not compose).

Enjoy this remix of Jeeves & Wooster theme! Be patient until 0:48.

"Shivaji: Hindu king in Islamic India" New toy in the hands of vandals

“Just to make things clear, I have not read the book (courtesy Maharashtra govt). Nevertheless, I do not think people should ban the books just because they do not like the content. The book may be biased, even incorrect at places, but then there are many such books around. We need to be more tolerant. Even if one wants to ban the book, they should have a logical argument, which the government obviously lacked and hence lost the case in the court. The Supreme Court verdict (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/SC-lifts-ban-on-Laine-s-Shivaji/644639) has given fodder to the political parties for more vandalism. I mean don't these people have some business (apart from 'Rasta Roko' and Bus burning) to mind? Why can't they vent out their energy in some constructive work? Tomorrow they will say ban all the books by OUP. It's utterly ridiculous.

                                                    
The situation is like 'either you write something praiseworthy about our idols or do not write at all'. Quoting Writer Shanta Gokhale "Today, it is impossible for anyone to say or write anything about Shivaji. It’s almost like 10 people or so have a monopoly over the man [King Shivaji]." (http://bit.ly/9veoRP).

I found following reviews of the book on Amazon (http://amzn.to/bIAtMp) useful and am pasting them here.

Nothing to get too excited about - Written by - Pankaj Saxena

This is not so much a review of the book as my take on the controversy surrounding it and some of the comments in the other reviews on Amazon. Yes, I've read the book. Yes, it's silly in parts. But nothing to get so upset about....

I read with dismay about the ban on this book and the vandalism at BORI, with the loss of so many irreplaceable historical documents and treasures. This is Indian history that was lost forever through senseless destruction, and Indians are the poorer for it. It's a shame that a democracy has to resort to book banning; and so readily produces mindless mobs who wantonly destroy priceless history. Democracy can't exist without the freedom of speech, including speech you consider to be wrong or contrary to your beliefs.

That said, this book is an ill-assorted compendium of half-digested facts and speculation, without any attempt at rigorous scholarship. I know the author has since explicitly stated that it is not meant to be historical; it is in fact a collection of stories about Shivaji -- some historical and documented, others that he heard from his buddies over a cup of tea in Pune. The trouble is that most people *do* see it as a factual account (with authority conferred by the credentials of the author and the Oxford University Press). To some extent, it is the fault of the author for not being sufficiently explicit to begin with, but then again, he probably did not expect such scrutiny from the public.

No one knows the truth except the author himself, but I really do not think he set out deliberately to demean Hinduism or to defend Islam. The hints of cultural smugness, his confidence in the interpretations of Western rather than Indian scholars, and the discussion (funny and inept though it may be) of why Indian scholars might be biased in their accounts, are probably also not deliberate. It is common practice to assume that someone who has nothing invested emotionally in the culture or religion under study is more impartial. This viewpoint ignores any biases that the scholar may bring with him from his own culture, but the assumption is not inherently demeaning or mischievous.

I see more prosaic explanations. First, there is this trend in the West to introduce ambiguity into *all* history. All history was written by humans, who no doubt had their own biases and motives -- so all history is suspect. All history, that is, except physical, archeological evidence. But that doesn't really tell us who the heroes were, and who the villains. I'm sure a healthy skepticism is good for research. Sometimes though, and this book comes across as an example, it is carried to an extreme, resulting in a very flexible history where one man's speculations are as good as another's documented facts; and who cares about the difference anyway so long as you tell a good story.

That brings me to the second reason. Aside from getting brownie points from fellow scholars for being fashionably ambiguous, it also opens up a popular mass-market for your books. Many of the scholarly books that score big with the lay public do so not because of their originality or scholarship, but because they tell a lurid and exciting tale. And anyone who thinks that "scholarly" authors like James Laine didn't have this market in mind is kidding himself. They check their Amazon sales rank as often as any newbie novelist.

The book indeed shows no sensitivity towards Hindu beliefs or culture, but why is that so strange. It was written by a Christian, who at the very least, must believe that Hindus are deluded and must be brought into the fold. By the nature of Christianity (or Islam, for that matter), you do people a favor when you chip into their heathen beliefs and soften them up to accept your God. This is hard for Hindus to understand on an emotional level, since Hindus are typically born into Hinduism, not converted. They have no experience of the missionary-conversion zeal, except as it was done to them by Muslims and Christians.

My suggestion is, get used to it. As India modernizes and becomes part of the global economy, more world attention will be focused on it. You will see much more of this kind of attention, and banning books or destroying manuscripts only gets bad press. Indian historians and intellectuals have their own accounts to give. These are valuable accounts, largely unknown to the West. A century's worth of respectability and authenticity has attached itself to the interpretations of dead white colonial men. It can't be dislodged in a day, and surely never by book bans and mob violence.

Victim of a Massive Misinformation and Censorship Campaign - Written by - Unknown

The first thing to said in a review of this book is that most of the other reviwers are not responding to its contents at all. Indeed, one must doubt whether most of them ever bothered to read it. So, I will begin by assuring the readers of this review that I have in fact read the book and have done so as an educated layman, which is to say, in one of the ways that the author intended and foresaw.

This book is in fact a work of scholarship, which is not to say that it is a documentary history of the reign of Shivaji or a biography of that great Maharashtrian king. Rather, the work is, simply stated, a literary analysis of the texts that have, over a three hundred year span narrated and re-narrated the life and legend of Shivaji. The author is a Sanskritist by training and also knows Marathi. Accordingly he has access to and has actually read the various entextualizations extending from the time of Shivaji's own life through the 18th century hagiographers of the Maharashtrian poet saints to the works of nationalists such as Lala Rajput Rai and Justice Ranade. This reading distinguishes him from most of the reviewers here, who, one seriously suspects, have no such familiarity with the materials in question (though one reviewer implies otherwise).

The book itself is, in truth, an unobjectionable, if somewhat naive and at times spotty, work of discourse analysis in a now long familiar mode. This fact is wholly ignored by the reviewers here, who, if they have in fact read the book, are incapable of making the distinction between such a mode of scholarship, which is fundamentally preoccupied with the ideological preoccupations of source material and/or of historiography, and is not itself an instance of history writing per se. Thus the charge that this is not history is beside the point entirely, as is the reference to Laine's "thesis" which is supposed to be, we can only assume, the "claim" that Shivaji's parentage is in question. No such claim is ever made in this book. Rather, the claim is made that the ideological construction of Shivaji as the exemplar of various virtues according to the predilections of the particular text precludes the possibility of those texts analyzing the reasons for Shivaji's father not being his political or military ally, not being present for much of his youth, and not designating him his heir. (For these latter claims, Laine does provide substantial historical corroboration established through the usual historicist methods of sifting the sources, privileging those most contemporaneous when there is no obvious reason not to do so, seeking corroboration from sources arising from other institutional locations with differing ideological preoccupations, etc.). It is in this regard, and clearly and explicitly so, that Laine retells a joke (most likely told by a Sadavshivpethi brahman, though Laine does not say so) which does in fact cast aspersion on Shivaji's mother's mother by claiming her son to have been conceived out of wedlock. As for the contemporary "veneration" of Shivaji's mother, etc. by (some of) the Maratha community, a veneration said to have been insulted by Laine's work, such matters cannot ultimately guide any scholarly enterprise, any more than a serious scholarly analysis of early Christian writings or the Vedas or the Koran and hadith can be guided by any such concerns.

If people believe that scholarship writing on this subject should confine itself to "the achievements of the great hero who never lost a battle, who was a great social reformer; [sic] who had technological foresight, who gave impetus [sic] to Hindu nationalism and instilled confidence that even in the face of Muslim brutalities [such as?], a Hindu king to be coronated [sic] with full rites" then such people don't know what scholarship is and ought instead to confine themselves to historical novels designed to reinforce their sense of identity. In short, then, Laine's book is just another book, one that makes an able, if flawed, contribution by undertaking a detailed ideological analysis of a single theme within Indian literary practice. The controversy that has arisen around the book, which has resulted in considerable vandalism, assaults, censorship, and unconstrained intimidation of persons in Pune has also had as one of its many deleterious effects, the spoliation of Dr. Laine's career, who, one expects, will not be undertaking further research in Maharashtra anytime soon. People such as those who have written many of the reviews here are responsible for this, as for the effects of their "veneration".