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FTOTW – Self Control, Turtle GPS!, Sugar Toxic, African Mother Language…

Filed in General Interest, April 17, 2011, 12:11 pm by

Fine Tastings of the Week

1. RT @ArchanaRaghuram @sciam: most popular on the site now: “How Self-Control Works” by @danariely ~ vv insightful

2. RT @berkun When did girls start wearing pink & boys blue? http://j.mp/i2P6re it used to be reverse http://j.mp/ebHrBo ~ vv interesting

3. RT @sibubk @jeffpalmer: Yikes. Pretty interesting stuff. NYTimes: Is Sugar Toxic? http://nyti.ms/fnOnfc ~ vv insightful.

4. RT @jonahlehrer: The cognitive consequences of architecture ~ vv interesting

5. RT @kum72: Turtles Have A Built-In GPS http://t.co/Nr6oI5Z & humans think they invented it. 🙂 ~ amazing

6. RT @gvaidees: http://t.co/q4ZL7XF Listen: The Humpback Whale Songs That Swept the Pacific. Fascinating. ~ amazing

7. RT @arunavabose: All languages traced to African ‘mother tongue’ ~ Interesting ~ indeed

References

I use a certain ratings scale for my annotations which are explained here.

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FTOTW – Superstar Effect, Giftedness, Biomimicry, Teaching B Students….

Filed in General Interest, April 10, 2011, 8:45 am by

Some of the best links i shared last week. Hope you enjoy it.  It will be very helpful to me if you comment and let me know if you agree with my ratings. For example, if i tagged something “brilliant”, do you agree with it?

1. RT @jackerhack: Why Joel Spolsky never lets employees negotiate a raise. http://bit.ly/dPaNUz ~ brilliant

2. RT @4KM: It’s electrifying: bacteria, it seems, can share energy simply through touch. http://bit.ly/gjRBMP Bizarre! ~ amazing

3. RT @SebastianJ: From CEOs to Opera Singers – How to Harness the “Superstar Effect” http://bit.ly/f4BIvN #motivation ~ brilliant

4. http://bit.ly/e8gP1h Carol Dweck’s perspectives on giftedness & motivation ~ brilliant /via @Brainology

5. RT @gvaidees: http://t.co/uonP2wM Bio mimicry – looking to (processes in) nature to solve design and engineering problems. ~ brilliant

6. /via @mindkhichadi @yarapavan: Scott Adams: what to teach B students? entrepreneurship … http://j.mp/fzJJsz ~ brilliant

References

I use a certain ratings scale for my annotations which are explained here.

 

Comments (33)

The Truth About Meditation

Filed in Science, April 9, 2011, 8:43 am by ,

Very many logical fallacies are mentioned in this post. For a description of these and other fallacies, please see this link. Whenever I talk about breathing exercises, I refer to Pranayama, an integral part of Meditation, without which the benefits of meditation will be even less. – Author.

Author: You know, I’ve been thinking about meditation. I’m wondering how a simple breathing technique – inhale, exhale – can provide all these health benefits that people claim.

Friend: You’re always like this – questioning our ancestral legacy. You attack anything that’s intrinsically Indian. You always do this, don’t you?

A: Nothing like a trite Ad Hominem attack, huh? You’re attacking me and my character – But, that’s not in discussion now. We’re trying to understand if meditation has any benefits other than short-term stress reduction. Let’s stick to the point, shall we?

F: Come on, meditation is not the new kid on the block. People have meditated forever, its our tradition. Its well established.

A: Ah, the Ad antiquitatem fallacy – An Appeal to Tradition. Just because something is part of our tradition doesn’t make it right. We can’t defend something only because we’ve been doing it for ages.

F: So you think meditation provides no benefits? That’s preposterous!

A: First of all, I’m not saying meditation provides no benefits. We all know how stress comes down if we breathe in to a brown paper bag. I’m sure meditation reduces stress in the short term. It can also make sad people feel better by calming them down.

F: Is that all there is to meditation? How dare you impugn meditation? Do you know how many people it provides relief to?

A: Calm down, Anger is another logical fallacy. I’m merely trying to understand if there’s any irrefutable proof that meditation provides other benefits. If it indeed helps people, tell me how. I’m really curious to know.

F: Ok, I’ve heard that it has cured Multiple Sclerosis and even AIDS. How about that?

A: Carl Sagan, in his Baloney Detection Kit says that – Whenever possible, there must be an independent verification of the facts. Now, do you have a link that proves that an unbiased 3rd party of medical professionals has verified these claims?

F: Can you tell me why my claim seems untenable to you?

A: Simply because Multiple Sclerosis in a severe neurological problem, where the myelin sheath covering the neurons degrades. If Multiple Sclerosis was cured, that would mean the Myelin Sheath grew back. I would need a Before & After MRI scan of the patient. Plus, AIDS is an immunodeficiency caused by a virus. I would need a Before & After lab report.

F: Before you proceed, let me tell you that you don’t know meditation can’t cure Multiple Sclerosis and AIDS. It could be true, you know? There’s so much we don’t know about the world.

A: While I do agree that we don’t know enough about the world, let me point out that you just committed the Ad Ignorantium fallacy – An Argument of Ignorance. You can prove your point only by providing supporting evidence, not by taking solace in stating the opponents don’t know for sure if its false.

F: I know that meditation has improved my gastro-intestinal problem. I know people whose memory has improved too!

A: Most – if not all – idiopathic GI tract problems are caused by or aggravated by stress. Meditation aids in stress-related problems too – in fact, its great for that. Short-term memory is another aspect that is worsened by stress. I’m repeating myself – meditation does help reduce stress, I have already conceded that.

F: I know people whose migraine was cured by meditation!

A: Post-hoc ergo propter hoc? Headache reduction followed after the person started meditating, so the meditation cured the headache?  For science to accept that meditation cured a person’s migraine, a proper cause and effect must be established. Do you know for a fact that the patient wasn’t on prophylactics? And how long did you study the patient to ensure that the migraines had indeed disappeared?

F: But you accepted that meditation cures stress-induced illnesses. Are you changing your stance now?

A: While stress could be one of the triggers of migraine, it should not be confused with tension headaches. Migraine is a neurological problem caused by a defect in 3 separate genes. You can’t convince me that breathing in & out cures a genetic defect.

F: I’m sure many studies have been done on the efficacy of meditation. I can pull several studies off the Internet & shove them up your…

A: Its interesting that you mention that. Do you know, they did a Meta Study – A study of all studies done on meditation, around 800+ of them. And they concluded that none of the studies followed proper protocol – and that the study results were at best – inconclusive.

F: Meaning? Meaning what?

A: Meaning, meditation may help patients, but there’s no proof so far – no incontrovertible study done so far. It may be beneficial, but we don’t know for a fact.

F: This is all a conspiracy to discredit ancient Indian medicine. I tell you, meditation works, but these doctors have covered it up. It is so effective, it will be too much of a competition for them.

A: You’re spewing logical fallacies by the minute. This one is called a Conspiracy Theory. To prove a conspiracy theory, its not enough if you assume intent, you have to provide data of a cover-up.

F: But why is it so difficult to understand the benefits of meditation?

A: That’s because there are so many types of meditation, with many variables. Some combine meditation with yoga. Some combine hand mudras with meditation. Others emphasize on focusing on a specific point, while a few others say you must negate all thought.

F: So if someone claims they improved their flexibility or hand dexterity because of meditation…

A: It could be due to the yoga or due to the mudras, not about the breathing in & out. You see the problem?

F: So many people believe in meditation. Can it be wrong?

A: Wow, you did it again – Another logical fallacy. Appeal to Common Belief – Just because many people believe in something, its not necessarily true.

F: But..What about Alpha waves? I’ve heard that meditation increases the Alpha waves in the brain. And I’ve read that alpha waves improve immunity and provide a host of other benefits.

A: Alpha waves are produced when you’re not focusing on anything. You don’t need to meditate for that – simply close your eyes, think of nothing in particular & your brain will generate alpha waves. There’s nothing earth-shaking about them. It denotes an absence of visual processing. There’s no proof that it promotes serenity or creativity. Also, different types of meditation produce different waves. Theta Meditation purportedly creates Theta waves, Zen Meditation produces Alpha and Theta waves, while the Kriya Yoga produces Beta waves.

F: So, even Tibetan Compassion Meditation is useless?

A: On the contrary, its very useful. Its like daydreaming, putting yourself in a compassionate mode, making you ponder about a word. It will bring about behavioral modification.

F: Perhaps meditation provides different benefits to different people. Perhaps some people derive all the afore-mentioned benefits from it. Can we agree to that compromise?

A: Certainly not. That’s another fallacy, called a False Compromise. We don’t have to agree to a compromise, just to avoid polarization. That’s not how discussions should go. We should try to find out what the benefits really are.

F: So what are you trying to do now? Prove meditation is useless?

A: I’ve already agreed that meditation has some benefits. I want to know what people think. Quoting Carl Sagan again, one should encourage substantive debate of a topic by knowledgeable proponents. So my objective is to find out what the readers of this blog think.

Dear readers – This is an open-minded discussion. We’d love to know your thoughts on the subject. Please provide links from independent sources whenever possible.

Comments (0)

FTOTW – Tests Fail, Genius, Khan Academy, Innovation Snobs, Worst Career Advice…

Filed in General Interest, April 4, 2011, 9:55 am by

Prolog

In case you missed the previous week’s edition where i explained the new strategy for this series.

FTOTW

1. RT @jonahlehrer: Why most tests in life, from the SAT to the NFL Combine, fail to predict what matters http://on.wsj.com/g3VjmO ~ brilliant

2. /via @krishvenkatesh Michael Schrage delivers a smackdown on the Innovation snobs http://s.hbr.org/i18c3g ~ vv insightful

3. /via @yarapavan: How to get to Genius? – its about unusual/rare perspectives http://j.mp/eoYDHs ~ brilliant

4. RT @AMAnet: The Worst Career Advice: Do What You Love. (@PenelopeTrunk; BNET) #Career | http://ow.ly/4oFrr ~ vv insightful

5. Salman Khan of Khan Academy at TED 2011 http://t.co/B1nJlQd ~ as a fan of methodological innovation this is #$!#ing  brilliant

Epilog

Any feedback on this edition?

References

I use a certain ratings scale for my annotations which are explained here.

 

Comments (42)

The Bird Cage

Filed in Fiction, March 31, 2011, 9:31 am by

When I started working in Chennai, I rented a small flat in West Mambalam.  I didn’t have any roommates for a while, and Valliyamma, a retired sweeper (janitor) kept me company.  She used to work in the college where my mother was the Principal (Dean). I couldn’t afford to buy a TV for a month, since I had spent all my savings in paying an advance for the flat. Valliyamma used to regale me with stories in my spare-time.  This is one of her stories.

“A long time back, a young girl rent my heart and the wound hasn’t healed yet”, began Valliyamma. I settled myself as comfortably as possible in the sole plastic chair in the room to listen to her story.

Everyone in Tirupur knew the famous lawyer Ramani. Even little children knew his name, as he was one of the wealthiest men in town. Hailing from the orthodox Brahmin community, Ramani had worked his way up from hardscrabble beginnings.  His only daughter Hema was the apple of his eye.

I wouldn’t call Hema a great beauty. She was young, healthy and had a cheerful disposition that looking at life through rose-tinted glasses gives. She enrolled in the local university – where I worked – for a degree.

“What was her major?” I asked Valliyamma. “I’m semi-literate. What do I know about major and minor? Let me continue the story. I’m sure her subject has no bearing on what happened next”.

Ramani was very protective about his daughter. Make that over-protective. She was seldom permitted to travel alone – someone always chaperoned her. She couldn’t visit a friend on her own – her mother or her widowed aunt accompanied her. If she wanted to pray in the temple, a retinue followed her. Even attending the college – but the problem started there, I’ll come to that later.

Ramani enforced a strict dress code – she had to wear a half sari. Always. Her conservative father frowned upon new fangled costumes such as Jeans and Salwar Kameez. And My God, the skirts she wore! Made of silk and embroidered in silver or gold thread, every single one of them. She always looked like a Million Dollars. And the jewelry she had on – the stones always matched the color of the skirt.

And the opposite sex – Hema was prevented from mingling with them. “All this mixing between the sexes – its just makes women perverted” Ramani proclaimed belligerently. Once a young man asked Hema the time of the day. She made the mistake of replying “8:30 AM”. She was grounded for a whole day for talking to strange men.

“Traveling by buses breeds immorality in young girls”, Ramani used to say. So, Hema was ferried on an Auto Rickshaw to college and back – Lest she succumb to the temptations of rakish young men.

But the generally cautious Ramani slipped one day. And on that day, Hema went missing.

“What?? Missing?!” I asked, amidst quickening interest.

You should have seen Ramani then – he was desolated with grief. For a whole month, he and his wife scoured the earth for Hema. The whole town was agog with rumors that Hema had been kidnapped for a ransom.

Initially, Ramani didn’t lodge a complaint with the police, for fear of tarnishing his girl’s name. In the end, he bit the bullet and ushered in the police. It was the cops that found her, ultimately.

One not so fine day, Ramani and his wife made the fateful journey that took them to Hema. The minute he saw his daughter, Ramani suffered a massive stroke. He fell in a heap at his wife’s feet, like a felled tree. He remained bed-ridden for the rest of his life.

Ramani paid dearly for his carelessness, that’s all I can say.

“Carelessness? If his daughter got kidnapped, how is he responsible?”  I asked testily.

Ramani should have paid attention to the auto driver. He was young, but decidedly not handsome, not even in a cheap and flashy sort of way. His face was filled with pockmarks. Perhaps that’s why Ramani never took him seriously – as a threat.

It took 30 minutes to travel to and from the college. People who are cooped up together in a small space – such as an auto – start talking. Talking leads to familiarity – and sometimes, much more than that.

“You mean…”

That Hema eloped with the auto driver, of course.

“How did Ramani meet his fate?”  I asked. “I’m coming to that part now” said Valliyamma irritably.

When the police found Hema’s whereabouts, they took Ramani and his wife with them. Their car couldn’t enter the narrow street in that shanty town full of huts, so they had to walk. And then suddenly, their daughter emerged from a hovel, wearing a tattered sari, bereft of any jewelry. She looked emaciated, as if she had not eaten for 3 days. There was a bruise on her lip and dark circles under her eyes, as though sleep eluded her.

The plight of his daughter shocked Ramani so much that a major blood vessel in his brain burst.

“What about Hema?”

As for Hema – I wish I could stop the story here, but the truth must be told. She found a lowly job in a Cinema Theater – enough to keep her fed and clothed. She didn’t complete her degree, so good jobs were out of her reach.

I sometimes see her there and lend her a few rupees, knowing fully well she can’t return it. Some of my friends buy her a meal or get her the necessities that she can’t afford.

“What happened to her husband, the auto driver?”

Oh, Marimuthu. He turned out to be a drunkard. He sold Hema’s jewelry within the 1st week, under the pretext of buying an auto. He became progressively drunk and disorderly and started abusing her.

Hema soon found out that she had little in common with the semi-educated man from the slums. What can one say? Disillusionment is more heart-breaking than abuse.

I wish her problems had ended there. Under enormous pressure from his parents, Marimuthu soon tied the knot with another girl – an uneducated girl from his caste. Hema was left all alone in the world. She had burnt all her bridges.

Valliyamma wiped her eyes. “Aghast at what she had done to her father, Hema steadfastly refused to take any help from her parents”. I was looking at her intently.

“I’m a simple woman”, she said. “I haven’t read big books. But it seems to me that the biggest gift parents can give their children – is trusting them. For trust roots children, while giving them wings to soar”.