Yesterday I wrote about the small stuff. That brought to mind some related stuff that I had written earlier and I thought I would refer to them here, for the record. Adopting Innovations: People, societies, economies which can successfully adopt… Read More ›
Month: January 2005
It’s the small stuff, stupid (once again)
Some months ago, I had recorded here the ideas of the Tathagata (It’s the small stuff, stupid) on the importance of taking care of the itsy-bitsy small bits. Today I was struck yet one more time about that truth. I… Read More ›
The Spurious Pain of Rural Area Development — Part 2
Economic development is clearly possible. Examples of economies which have developed are not hard to find. Western Europe developed following the industrial revolution first and later the United States also developed rapidly. Japan’s development was closely followed by the development… Read More ›
It is morning in Africa
It is morning in Africa and As the sun rises over the plains The gazelle awakens knowing that If it cannot outrun the fastest lion It will be dead. It is morning in Africa and The lion awakens knowing that… Read More ›
Global Disasters, Insurance, and Moral Hazard
Suhit Anantula reports that globally an astonishing US$4 billion has been pledged for tsunami relief till date. That is an incredible amount. Assuming that about 4 million people are directly affected (certainly an upper bound), $4 billion implies a lower… Read More ›
The Spurious Pain of Rural Area Development
The story goes that a man goes to a Chinese acupuncturist for treating his headache. The doctor examines the man thoroughly and then starts to stick needles into the patient’s forearm. “Doctor,” the patient complains, “I have a headache. Why… Read More ›
The IndiBloggies 2004
The IndiBloggies 2004 voting is under way. Some well-meaning person nominated this blog in the category Best Indiblog. I kid you not. So if you are one of the half a dozen readers of these ramblings, and if you have… Read More ›
Learning How to Think, to Fast, and to Wait
When Kamala, the courtesan in Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha asked the young brahmin ascetic what skills he had, he replied that he has learnt “how to think, how to wait, and how to fast.” To my mind, that is a… Read More ›
Where it is folly to be wise …
Calvin: It’s true, Hobbes. Ignorance is bliss. Once you know things, you start seeing problems everywhere… And once you see problems, you feel like you ought to try to fix them… And fixing problems always seems to require personal change…… Read More ›
Forever Trembling on the Brink (Of Numbers)
The extent of the damage and loss of life due to the tsunami has now become clear. Soumen Chakrabarti emailed me and wrote: You recently wrote: That is why I claim that natural disasters like the recent tsunami cannot hold… Read More ›
