The other day I learned that David Sedaris, one of my favorite American essayist and public speaker, does a very peculiar thing. These days he lives in England, which is not particularly peculiar. His peculiarity is that every day he… Read More ›
Month: June 2017
Is it hot enough for you?
Today was hot. It was 102°F in San Jose, CA, my fair city. That beat a 1945 record for the day of 99°F. I kid you not. Here’s a screen capture of the weather here. (For those of you in… Read More ›
Thomas Sowell on Intellectuals and Race
Prof Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University is an American institution himself. He is arguably one of the finest contemporary intellectuals. An economist by training, his output of books and articles is prodigious. A brilliant mind and… Read More ›
Miscellaneous Quotes
The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with… Read More ›
Ask Me Anything — The Silicon Valley Founders Edition
This is inspired by my friend Rajan Parrikar’s post “Portraits of Success.” He references Carolyn Caddes‘s book, Portraits of Success – Impressions of Silicon Valley Pioneers (1986), which is a photographic tribute to the pioneers of Silicon Valley. Among those featured… Read More ›
Economic Principles and Immunity from Silly Ideas
A reasonable way to think about any subject — science, engineering, technology, economics, etc etc — is to base the analysis on fundamental principles. It’s like using maths, starting with axioms and logically deriving theorems that can then be said… Read More ›
The Decline and Fall of Bengal
A long time ago, maybe a thousand years ago but certainly a little over a hundred years ago, Bengal was remarkably prosperous. Something happened that led to its transformation from past prosperity to present destitution. What was it? A natural… Read More ›
Role of the Government in a Free Society
Merely because governments routinely undertake to do a large number of things, most people tend to assume that it is not only legitimate for governments to do so but also believe that only governments can, should and must do them…. Read More ›
