Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness

Self Ownership - A Novel Idea?

by Anisha Kahai

Why is the simple philosophy of Liberty so hard for so many people to get? Isn't it the most natural, logical way to think? Here is an elegant attempt at making these ideas accessible.

New Year hopes for Sanity

by Reena Kapoor

Happy New Year to all! 

Hoping for a year where calm, cool heads prevail and we don't make bigger messes out of the mess we're already in.  Less said the better except that I hope this malaise will lift and evaporate because more libertarian voices among us will be heard.

One such suprising one is of Clint Eastwood on the "pussy generation".  I point you to his recent interview in the Esquire magazine. Worth a read, entertaining and mostly right on.  Enjoy!

The Europeanization of America?

By Anisha Kahai

Insightful piece in the WSJ on what's ahead if (or should I say when?) Obama becomes president. Pete Du Pont predicts that "...Mr. Obama will most likely be our most liberal public policy president since Franklin D. Roosevelt." Here is an excerpt from his article:

We Feel Fine: Plumbing Emotion Repositories

by Anurag Wadehra

In the new, on-line connected world, there are art forms emerging that are hard to anticipate.

Here is an example of a curious study: collection of on-line statements containing the text "I feel...". http://www.wefeelfine.org/ Stripped of full context and cloaked in anonymity, this collection can make you pause and reflect on slivers of feelings confessed on the Internet.

Another new experiment by the same creator Jonathan Harris is captured in his talk as well.

One may argue endlessly whether such collage is art - or merely a laundry list of human feelings plucked out of ether. What is certain is the possibility that plumbing repositories of on-line communications can lead to rich, fascinating study of the human condition.

Multiculturalism's Real Victims

by Reena Kapoor 

A shocking story in the New York Post last week by John P. Avlon about an "honor killing" in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia where a Pakistani named Chaudhry Rashid strangled his 25-year-old daughter Sandeela Kanwal with a Bungee cord in her bedroom because she wanted to end her arranged marriage. The incident is shocking but what's really unconscionable is the lack of outrage and minimal coverage it is receiving. The American left's inane commitment to multiculturalism and its concomitant moral relativism has predictably resulted in a outrageous reluctance to pass judgment on another culture.  As Avlon correctly points out:

An Inspiration in Life & Death

by Reena Kapoor

Randy Pausch the professor at Carnegie Mellon who became famous for his last lecture passed on today because of complications from terminal pancreatic cancer.  If you have not, you should watch his last lecture ("Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams").  It will always be an inspiration on how to face life with grace and courage in the face of the worst adversity. 

If I believed in God I would invoke her right now to bless his soul.  However Prof. Pausch remains immortal - in the best and only way possible. Here are a few pearls from his last lecture:

Distracted!

by Anurag Wadehra

The fact that we have an ocean of information at our fingertips is not a source for solace but the root of chronic anxiety for many. We live interrupt-driven lives where mobile calls, SMS beeps, email alerts and now always-on-net iPhone make us flit from one subject to another - with little time for reflection and even less for cognitive processes that require sustained attention. To stumble on the quintessential "Aha" moment, we need concentrated, free play - a state described as flow - which is rare to achieve when we are distracted.

In God's name!

by Reena Kapoor

Sujit Saraf is an exceptional man for many reasons. He is a prolific playwright, the founder & artistic director of Naatak a San Francisco bay area theatre company, a published author and the owner of a piercing intellect that would have irrationalists of our day simply quake in fear.  In this brilliant piece Our Gods on Earth: A Rationalist's Dilemma in The Siliconeer he takes to task the plethora of godmen and godwomen that plague our culture. While many of the charlatans mentioned hail from India they seem to find a comfortable home in America; the parallels to the "debate" on intelligent design are not lost on Sujit either (Sam Harris, anyone?) 

Think for your life

by Reena Kapoor

Being intelligent, successful or even a scientist by profession does not preclude people from behaving like unquestioning sheep in many realms of life. A reasoning mind and evidence-based thinking can follow an orthogonal axis. That's because people often compartmentalize their lives; they may ask tough questions before making a financial investment decision yet will blindly sign a petition to ban water. 

To the degree that we buy into pronouncements and conclusions without evidence is the degree to which we are all susceptible to charlatans, religion and bad governance. There is no escape from reality except to grab it and deal with it using the only tool we have - rationality!  So next time ask your priest, your favorite politician and the guy who peddles a new medical cure for evidence for their claims. And while you're gauging the evidence keep one hand on your wallet. This is simple advice that delivers powerful innoculation from being taken for a ride!

One step toward enlightenment

by Reena Kapoor

Interesting new findings from Pew Research Center about Americans' non-dogmatic approach to religion. A majority of those who are affiliated with a religion, for instance, do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. And almost the same number believes that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion. This is good news.

However, religion still continues to play an important role in people's lives. Check out the link above for more but here is the key chart.