A Big Brain

Cogito Ergo Sum means ‘I think, therefore I exist (am)’. It answers the question of our existence of whether we exist or if we are characters in some chap’s wild imagination. Well now the question is- How do we think? What happens in our brilliant brains that makes us think?

Microprocessors,the brains of computers and smart devices; are made up of millions of components called transistors. Each one just makes one decision- to be in 0 or 1 state. Programmers, with help of complex algorithms employ many of these simple transistors simultaneously to create computing power.

Our brain is made up of 50-100 billion neurons connected together with 1000 trillion synaptic connections as in a microprocessor. If you take a single neuron, it doesn’t exhibit intelligence as such. When billions of them are connected together, something amazing happens- Intelligence.

Now let’s consider another network- the internet. An estimated 1.8 billion users are connected to this big web. Millions are getting hooked up every month. The advent of smart phones and cheap data rates are pushing these figures off the roof. Nowadays there are about 500-700 million transistors in a single processor. If we were to consider the trillions of transistors connected together through the internet, it does come very close to the number of neurons in our brains. Sure, the number of synapses is still very small, but wouldn’t it be enough for primary intelligence?

So the big question is, whether the internet is aware of its self? Can it think for itself? If so, by Cogito Ergo Sum, does it mean that it exists?

-This can be also explained by Swarm Intelligence, like how Craig Reynolds did with Boids to explain flocking behavior of birds-

‘80s

“I pity the fools who were born in the 80s”. Mr T would have said something like that. I bet a lot of people don’t know who Mr T is and that is exactly my point. I felt the first pang of the gender gap when I was talking to my little brother (now not-so-little). I was taken aback by his priorities, because he had them.

People born in the late 80s and the 90s( you can add 3 years to people who were bought up in villages) were exposed to a liberalized India, an India were western culture-aping was possible. This exposure, however small had a profound effect on the kids, they now had a clear direction to follow. The 80s guys are confused; they are stuck in a rut to either adhere to tradition or convention, to shake hands or to hug, Def Leppard or Lil Wayne.

This generation has a constant need of reaffirmation of their acts; they are torn between individualism and obligations. Their tryst with the ‘Culture of self’ has left them shocked and awed at the same time. They envy the people who accomplish that and condemn them for their lack of social sense.

Creating a positive anosognosia which suspends reality or rather becoming oblivious to it, to muster up a list of priorities and sticking to it seems to be the only way this generation can hope to cope.

Fickle

All the women who knew me well have complained that I am a hard hearted man and my allegiance lies with my family and nothing else. They also lament to the fact that I could not form a lasting relationship with anything albeit human or materialistic, it usually followed the lifetime of a fad. So, naturally, I didn’t have an idol, I didn’t have a favourite book, musician or car. I just changed it to suit my latest fad.

These fads are bought about by articles, books, movies, music and mostly images. Capturing a moment in time which can instil the whiffs of inspiration is truly magnificent. To me, it’s not the lighting or the tone of the image; it’s the characters the image tries to define. Here are some of those images

A clown trying to bring some cheer to children who lost their homes to the tropical storm Agatha  in Guatemala. Reminded me that there is goodness in people even in times of turmoil, rather than what Stephen King wants us to believe.

Resistance: An image from the Gaza strip, taught me that its resolve and not strength that matters. A similar image would be Tiananmen square, one which inspired a whole generation

This image represented reality- the shocking reality of malnourishment in India. It broke through the walls of my comfy cocoon and put into perspective the harsh but undeniable reailty.

Greed

1954- Endosulfan, a revolutionary new pesticide was developed

1976- Widespread use of Endosulfan in farms and plantations in India

1979- Evidence of toxicity and bio-accumulation seen with birth of malformed cattle

1990- Children born with limb malformations, congenital anomalies, mental retardation, physical deformities, cerebral palsy,epilepsy, hydrocephalus

15 villages in Kasargod district in north Kerala, owing to the presence of large cashew plantations, were among the most affected. It was described as the biggest disaster since the Bhopal gas tragedy. Endosulfan’s toxicity and its effect on humans are well documented and many other countries had to deal with the same situation.

So tell me, why India is still the largest producer of Endosulfan? We produce a whopping 9500 tonnes of it, 4000 for domestic use and 4500 for export. The companies involved in it are Excel Crop Care, Hindustan Insecticides Limited (a govt. company) and Coromandel Fertilizers. In fact, India went the extra mile to make sure that it was not included in the Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions, which aims to ban the substance throughout. In 2001 the Kerala government banned it in the state, but it is still used in the rest of the country.

Now, think of all the people still exposed to this substance without even knowing the consequences. Think of their children.

If you want to know more about this tragedy you can visit the link below. Be forewarned: It is not for the faint hearted, as the pictures in it are quite graphic

http://www.endosulphanvictims.org/index.htm

Adbusters

A suggestion from a friend introduced me to ‘Adbusters’. The tagline ‘journal of the mental environment’ best describes the magazines intentions. This particular issue talked about Ecopsychology, on how the world is coping with the bitter truth of our increasing footprint on nature, laying the contents according to the Kübler-Ross model or the more familiar, ‘Five stages of grief’- Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

The description for bargaining was what caught my eye. It’s more relevant as the world powers realise their addiction to oil and need for drastic change, case in point- Copenhagen. Freedom and abundance gave birth to generations with bottomless want of consumption, so any restrain would be cutting into freedom- a basic right. Restraints brought about by depleting resources are now more in the form of monetary measures ensuring the ‘poor man’ still struggles in the pit of economic degeneracy.

Bargaining

“In an effort to protect what matters most- we sacrifice our pawns. We lower the thermostat and ease of the gas, surrendering small degrees of comfort and time. We change the colour of our consumption, adopting a greener model of consumerism and transforming each purchase into an act of environmental defence. We pull back, surveying the board and waiting patiently for the technological salvation that will surely be delivered from distant labs and ivory towers. And when all seems lost we pray. We’ll do anything- well, almost anything- to stave off planetary death and protect our role as kings”

The Karzai Itch

Hamid Karzai after taking over the helm of Afghanistan has probably not slept a day. He figures in the news lately as he has become quite a nuisance to the man in the White House. He should be a nuisance, considered that he’s trying to bring in peace into a war torn country.

Afghanistan is a country filled with nomadic tribes, each of these tribes act autonomously over their areas of dominance headed by leaders named elders (probably in Pashto). The country has always been in conflict. In the past 30 years the Soviets tried to capture it, then it had its own brand of civil war which the Taliban won, then the US came in to take them out and hasn’t left it yet. The Taliban still reiterate with small skirmishes.

Karzai, trying to bring peace to the country decided to call a ‘Loya Jirga’, a meeting of the ‘elders’ and has also invited the Taliban. He wants to devise a peace plan wherein all the tribes are pacified.

Now, this puts the US, UK and Pakistan in a pickle. If peace does come out of it, Uncle Sam and the Old Blighty has to bring back its troops putting a halt to their long term plan of attacking Iran (which has one of the largest oil reserves in the world!) and also the huge reconstruction plans of the country by which America’s corporate world can sell off their mediocre goods and use their scrapped off assembly lines to create ‘value’.

Pakistan, of course, has other plans. If Taliban directly talks to the Taliban, they would loose their stronghold over them. So, they demand that Afghanistan talk to the Taliban through the ISI (Pakistan’s intelligence agency) as they finance them and in turn provide Mujahideen to do their dirty work.

The Taliban can either risk it and go to the Jirga hoping they’ll have some say in running the government or continue to be loyal to Pakistan.I hope they do come together for an amicable solution and let peace prevail.

LSD

I usually procrastinate from watching Hindi movies, mostly because I can’t understand the language well. My interest in Love, Sex aur Dhokha spawned when I came to now that it was shot with an amateur camera. The descriptive ‘Amateur’ demeans the actual effort of the director; he’s faced with a bland canvas, unlike the usual background music and soft lenses which the professionals have. So, to effectively paint a scene, the director heavily relies on dialogue and editing, which needs talent.

Love, Sex aur Dhoka is an anthology movie weaving three different stories with each other. The love for voyeurism, brought about by the infamous DPS MMS Scandal of 2004 seems to be the inspiration for the movie.

“Love” tried to portray the relationship between a rich girl and a commoner, the usual Hindi fare, minus the bravado. The story tried to mock the well established romantic genre by bringing in the spoof element unsuccessfully; I tried hard to laugh at the slow running and the exaggerated emoting, in vain. Frankly, the girl in that was pathetic.

“Sex” was much more laudable as the characters did evolve a bit and manage to engage the viewers, but the plot did meander in between, which is quite forgivable. The guard was quite over the top making it feel like a cheap soap opera.  

“Dhokha”, swept everything out with a brilliant introduction and had continued to define the characters well. I loved the TV editor’s role of the ‘bitch’ and the crassness of the pop singer; the scene where he describes his trailer was pushing it though. I liked dhokha, because every character lived by the theme and the story was also able to carry it rather well. Throughout the movie, the attempt to bring about humor was entirely futile

On the whole, I applaud the effort. I feel such experimentations with a powerful canvas such as cinema should be encouraged more.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, you can read the plot from http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/14205/index.html