I remember as a little kid, when my family and I were about to travel to New York City for the first time. I was absolutely scared to within an inch of my life, convinced that within weeks, I would be robbed, kidnapped and murdered. You see, up until that point, the only impression I … Continue reading Watching International News Worsens Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings
Earlier, I had written about controversial court cases, such as the trials of George Zimmerman, Dominique Strauss Kahn & the Duke Lacrosse Team. We discussed our tendency to jump to conclusions and assume what must have really happened, based on flimsy pieces of evidence and our own preconceived notions and biases. In truth, this isn't … Continue reading We Need to Acknowledge Our Ignorance
When I first heard about protesters in San Francisco attacking Google buses, I laughed. It was the kind of news that sounded too ridiculous to take seriously. I had to double check to make sure I wasn't reading the Onion. I figured it was a one-off event featuring a few hotheads, and that would be … Continue reading A Convenient Scapegoat
Imagine yourself being retired right now. Imagine yourself having been retired ever since your early 30s. Financially secure & comfortable for the rest of your life. You wake up in the morning, any time you feel like it. You have a nice, leisurely, long breakfast. You go for a walk along the beach. You come … Continue reading You Don’t Need a Lot of Money to be Happy
Imagine yourself being tried for a sensational crime, one that has gripped the passions of the entire country. It’s Casey Anthony, Duke Lacrosse and George Zimmerman, all rolled into one. Would you like to be tried in a well regulated courtroom, presided over by a judge, your fate in the hands of a jury that … Continue reading Reinventing Democracy – Election by Jury
It has been 7 months since Edward Snowden’s revelations that the US government is spying on every single person in the world with internet access. Every phone call we send, and every email we compose, is being tracked & stored in a massive NSA database, the size of a small town. When these allegations were … Continue reading We Have Accepted Government Surveillance
I was looking through some old essays and came across the following gem, written in favor of alcohol Prohibition in the 1930s. Needless to say, I found it highly amusing. Alcohol: Been There. Done That For a little while in my teenage years, my friends and I drank alcohol. It was fun. I have some … Continue reading Why we “Need” Prohibition
New Year’s Eve is upon us, and millions of New Years’ Resolutions are being drawn up all around. I’m sure a good number of those resolutions involve succeeding in our careers. I'm also sure that millions of these resolutions, even if we never admit it out loud, are really all about fattening our wallets. Hence … Continue reading The Contented Life
There is a battle raging on within us. A battle between our base instincts and our noble ideals. A battle between the side of us that tells us to lie on the couch, read celebrity gossip magazines, watch TV, surf the web, play mindless games & drink ourselves to sleep. And the side that asks … Continue reading The Battle
After 4 years of being away, I finally found some time to go back to my hometown, stay with my family in the same house where I grew up, and see once again all my childhood friends. I expected it to be relaxing and refreshing, but I was thoroughly unprepared for how enjoyable & blissful … Continue reading Loneliness Is Our Most Toxic Relationship
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch" - Ben Franklin “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” - John Adams Earlier, I had written about the flaws inherent to democracy and … Continue reading The Difference Between Direct and Representative Democracy
As far as heart wrenching stories go, this surely has to be one. Boeing, despite record profits, is arm-twisting its hometown into giving away massive tax breaks; an incredible figure of $8.7 Billion, amounting to 10% of its entire company value. Having obtained that, it is now forcing its machinist union to accept deep wage … Continue reading A Great Society Takes Care Of Its Own
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch" - Ben Franklin “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” - John Adams Today, I'll be making the same argument that the founding fathers did; that … Continue reading It’s Time to Reinvent Democracy
Philosophy. Morality. Utilitarianism. Deontology. These can be pretty heavy stuff, and so abstract that they don't even seem real. Maybe it would help if we tried viewing these concepts in a completely different setting... such as computer programming. Act Utilitarianism: How you write code does not matter at all. The only thing that matters is … Continue reading Philosophy in Programming
The past week has produced a number of interesting articles which have become instant talking points. There was one about the continuing lack of opportunities and hurdles facing women in the sciences. There was another about how rich people subconsciously empathize less towards people who aren’t as powerful as them. As can be expected, both … Continue reading The Deafening Silence Around Animal Cruelty
I was recently reading a book by Nate Silver, “The Signal and the Noise,” and there’s one section of the book that really struck me. Foxes & Hedgehogs. They denote the 2 broadly different personality types that people tend to have. One the one hand, you have hedgehogs who: See the world from the vantage … Continue reading Revenge of the Foxes
It is in our innate human nature, to shield ourselves psychologically from losses. Never mind the fact that it's done and irreversible. We still feel the need to convince ourselves that it wasn't really a loss. That it happened for a reason. That there's a purpose behind it that makes it all worthwhile. As I … Continue reading We Can Only Prevent Loss By Acknowledging and Learning from Them
The past year has been a sobering experience in the dark side of society. I started as a volunteer in CASA, thinking I could make a difference in the lives of underprivileged kids. A year later, one of my youths is still in a dysfunctional situation with severe psychological problems. The other has what it … Continue reading Parents Need to Take More Responsibility For Their Kids
The Trayvon Martin - George Zimmerman trial has just ended, and the righteous outpouring of outrage is dismaying. Every armchair lawyer in the country has somehow come to the foregone conclusion that the verdict is hopelessly wrong, that Zimmerman is truly guilty, that Zimmerman was some racist who was patrolling the streets looking for a black … Continue reading We Do Not Have All The Answers
When I first read about the Syrian government using chemical weapons on their own people, I too was disgusted. The urge to get involved & do something is completely understandable. Which is why, as a global humanitarian, it's so hard for me to say this: We really need to stay out of this conflict and … Continue reading Helping or Meddling
Outlook Zen 