Month: December 2024

Today – December 21, 2024 – marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. It was precisely at 1:21 a.m. Pacific time (9:21 a.m. UTC — Coordinated Universal Time.) It’s the day when the North Pole is tilted farthest from the Sun, resulting in the shortest day and longest night of the year. In the southern hemisphere, today marks the summer solstice, their longest day of the year.

From an astronomical perspective, during the winter solstice, the Sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky (from our northern hemisphere viewpoint) and appears to stand still momentarily before beginning its gradual northward journey again. The word “solstice” itself comes from the Latin “solstitium,” meaning “sun standing still.” Continue reading “Happy Winter Solstice”

“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” ― G. Michael Hopf

The decline of the West is evident. In some sense, this is an inescapable result of its own successes in science and technology. The scientific method — and the resulting technologies that that produced — resulted in the incredible increase in material wealth. That immense material wealth, unmoored from an appropriate philosophy that would have provided meaning and purpose to life, has produced a generation that is actively engaged in destroying the foundations of wealth and prosperity it enjoys but has not produced.

But there is hope. The foundation that the West was built on was strong and served to create prosperity. However that philosophical foundation was only adequate for a civilization that was engaged in escaping poverty and managed to do so remarkably well. But that philosophical foundation is no longer suited to a prosperous world. Continue reading “The West is in Decline”

In my tribe, I’m particularly fond of two people: Milton Friedman (1912 – 2006) and James M. Buchanan (1919 – 2013). Both were associated with the University of Chicago. Both were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics: Friedman in 1976 and Buchanan in 1986.

About Friedman, the wiki states: Continue reading “Institutions, not People”

Two of the greatest science fiction writers of the 20th century were Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) and Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – 2008). Their works have enduring value. Based on a short story by Clarke, Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” is among the best in its genre. Watch it if you can. Don’t say, “I’m sorry Atanu, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Asimov and Clarke, besides being great  science fiction writers, were particularly fascinating in their technological predictions. They combined rigorous scientific knowledge with imaginative extrapolation. Their vision of the future could be said to be prophetic even but there’s a distinction between prophesy and prediction.

The methodology behind predictions can usually be explained and scrutinized. Predictions rely on observable, measurable phenomena and logical inference, while prophecies typically rely on claimed supernatural, spiritual, or intuitive knowledge that can’t be empirically verified in the same way. Continue reading “Technological Predictions”

Since time immemorial, we humans have looked up and wondered at the moon, earth’s only natural satellite. We continue to be captivated by the beauty of the moon and the 28-day cycle of waxing and waning. Not just that, the moon has played a crucial role in shaping our planet’s evolution and the development of life itself.

Modern scientific theories explain the origin of the moon and its impact on life on earth. Indeed the moon began with an impact, an interplanetary impact. The leading theory is the Giant Impact Hypothesis. According to that, about 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized protoplanet called Theia collided with the earth. This massive impact ejected a vast amount of debris into space, consisting of material from both earth and the impactor. This debris coalesced due to mutual gravitational attraction over time, forming our moon. This explains several key observations, including the similarity between moon rocks and earth’s mantle composition, and why the moon is relatively large compared to earth. Continue reading “Our Moon”

All things must pass. Paul Krugman is going to retire from being a NY Times columnist after 25 years. Some people claim that being a columnist helped him get the 2008 Nobel Memorial prize in the economic sciences.

I can’t say anything about his NYT columns. I am  not a subscriber. I did catch glimpses of his political position, though. He was totally sold out to the Democratic party. Over the years, he’s infamously made a bunch of poor predictions. I was surprised at his mistakes considering that he was a first-rate economist.

I say “was” because he appeared to have forgotten the economics lessons that he learned and taught to a couple of generations of students — including yours truly. Continue reading “Krugman Retiring from NYTimes”