Atanu Dey on India's Development - Latest Comments

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

vishal — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:57:39 -0000

good relations cant be proceeded without letting old bitterness go away. I guess what britishers did to us was no less than the above issue. even we are paying for thier exploitation today also. this pakistan and bangladesh are creations of their only. secondly it is not about an Indian Pakistani or Bangladeshi but the govt which ruled them..

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

sudhav — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:08:46 -0000

Gandhiji philosophy also came from the Jain religion. It is unfair to criticise him too harshly. Of course he made mistakes... but have you tried to do something which involves getting 300million people behind you, to overthrow a mighty imperial power. Let's not underestimate his achievement, especially as he was working with Nehru.. who was a bigger spanner in the works.

Re: Why a Vote for the AAP is a vote for the Congress

Jash Dholani — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:06:03 -0000

80% of urban middle class votes for BJP, and that is exactly the field of influence of AAP.
^^That's an argument of one of my online friends, not me. I am an utter Modi supporter.

Re: The IITs are not really what they are cracked up to be

VasuHarsh — Sat, 11 May 2013 23:24:21 -0000

I just loved the analogy between stadium and indian competition... Good article... thumbs up to the writer!

Re: How New Zealand Tamed the Great Depression

Film Making Institutes in Indi — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:43:16 -0000

Every body like film and acting. Here you can find best Top Film Making Colleges in India

Re: The IITs are not really what they are cracked up to be

Indra_85 — Sat, 11 May 2013 05:27:39 -0000

IITs and Ivys produce super number crunchers, algorithm-suckers, beasts who thrive in the world of kernel programming and low level I/O........all this is cool. Algorithms lie at the heart of any sound and successful business idea. However, one does not need much of a grand education (branded or otherwise) to think of the next cool business application. Branding of education is an unfortunate consequence of the "business of education", something which private US schools are very deep into and something that the IITs try keeping pace with through their glorious alumni. Instead, those schools which produce outcomes of practical usage (if not too deep into number-crunching) stand higher in my opinion. As an example, UC Irvine doctoral student Roy Fielding proposed the concept of REST which is something of a backbone of APIs.. what were the glorious IITians or Cornell grads doing then? Branding up their super-hyped orientations and graduation ceremonies?

Re: Open Thread: Say what you will

Sambaran Mitra — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:56:54 -0000

Some questions about food security bill:
1. Can right to food remove incentive to work? If not, why not?
2. When government buys food in large quantity, it introduces market distortion in food prices. Is that good for farmers/agriculture?
3. How much money is required to fund the food-security-bill today? Can you put the amount in perspective with some other government expenses?

Re: The Islamization of India

TheMindset — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:45:09 -0000

CounterJihad works..Muslims don't understand love,peace,coexistence or tolerance. They only understand brute force . so give them
Look what Sri Lankans are doing to them . just do it here

Re: Open Thread: Say what you will

Karthik Singh — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:11:06 -0000

http://mypraxeology.blogspot.c...

See this guy here is a making a case against Modi because he thinks he is pro-Big government.
Have a look at it and write a refute if possible because Sanjeev Sabhlokh has shared this on FB.

Re: A Day of Bramha

Amit Gupta — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:54:12 -0000

A day of Brahma is 1 Kalpa and so is the night. Thus, Brahma's 24 hour day = 2 Kalpas.

1 Kalpa = 14 Manvantar.

1 Manvantar = 71 Mahayuga

1 Mahayuga = Sum of all 4 Yuga = 4320000

thus, 1 Kalpa = 4294080000

Re: Wuellenweber: “Mother Teresa: Where are her millions”

Go — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:41:52 -0000

Kick these missionaries out of India.

Re: Wuellenweber: “Mother Teresa: Where are her millions”

Go — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:37:53 -0000

All the christian missionaries are mafias with their head quarters based in Rome...

Re: India is a Democracy — but that’s not all that it is

Sudarshan Gaikaiwari — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:35:03 -0000

I think the point you make here is also from the book "Why Nations Fail" which you had also linked on your blog. I also like how you point out that is either "Congress rule or BJP rule". I think this is why we need an "Aam Aadmi Party" administration to make a switch from the extractive institutions we currently have.

Re: The Islamization of India

vikrant — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:39:54 -0000

i totally agree with you but look at the westernisation of our culture our ignorant young people they dont have muscle to protest they will just simply convert as aurangzeb made hindus convert to islam forcibly or islam made iran iraq egypt pakistan kashmir and now kerala to adapt islam

do you really believe shivaji, rana pratap, brave sikhs will be born again on this motherland?

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

AG — Mon, 06 May 2013 05:32:05 -0000

I always pray that India finds it in her to be strong, fair and just. peace, then is an obvious outcome

Re: “The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems.”

Substance McGravitas — Sun, 05 May 2013 14:03:05 -0000

When he talks about the illegitimate use of force by government he ONLY means the federal government; he's perfectly fine with state governments doing whatever they like. He's a Republican in the south: what that means in context is not having the federal government intervene when state governments find a way to allow discrimination.

Re: Open Thread: Say what you will

Anirudh Acharya — Sun, 05 May 2013 06:35:56 -0000

OK. Thank you.

Re: Open Thread: Say what you will

Atanu_Dey — Sat, 04 May 2013 20:02:38 -0000

Anirudh,

By vocabulary, I don't mean the names of objects and concepts. Just by knowing the name of something does not give you an understanding, as Feynman says so eloquently.

By vocabulary I mean that you understand what the word means. Knowing the meaning is not the same as looking up the dictionary definition of the word. If you read recent blog post, note what I said: I first learned the word in school, then in college I understood the meaning, and later still I got the concept. It is when you understand the concept can you reasonably claim that you have acquired the vocabulary and hence it is yours.

Also, I don't claim that an increase in vocabulary has anything to do with intelligence. That's something that you have somehow arrived at.

So that I don't repeat myself, please see this this old blog post of mine where I explain what I mean by vocabulary.

Here's an example of what I mean by vocabulary and how all learning is ultimately learning vocabulary.

"Regression analysis reveals how the dependent variable is related to the independent variables but one has to be remember that correlation between them does not imply causation nor the direct of causation."

That sentence makes sense only if your vocabulary includes the words used. You can just look up the dictionary meaning of the word "regression" or "correlation" but that does not mean you will understand the sentence in its entirety. You actually have to learn what regression is and what correlation is -- knowing those concepts is what vocabulary is.

Once you understand the concepts, you own those words, and therefore can construct meaningful statements using them.

Incidentally, that's precisely what Feynman was saying. I first posted that interview of Feynman in Aug 2006. See this

Regards,
Atanu

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

NaMo_fied — Sat, 04 May 2013 18:18:32 -0000

Thanks for calling that moron Mohandas K Gandhi and not "mahatma" because he was anything but that

Re: Three Lessons of Development Economics, or Why Utsav Mitra is Mistaken

Samir — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:52:37 -0000

If policymakers are to be blamed, then the entire society must be blamed.

People in power get replaced all the time. A party is replaced by another party, a coalition by another. A generation is succeeded by the next. Why is that generation after generation of leaders failed to deliver? Seventy years is quite a long time to solve long term problems. Police reforms, electoral reforms, urbanization, access to water, poverty, healthcare, liberty and justice, gender equality, .. ad infinitum.

Who we choose to follow, in whom we repose our faith, reveals much about us as a people. If we are under-performing as a nation, then we are choosing the wrong people. If we are consistently choosing the wrong people, then something is wrong with our values, beliefs and motivations.

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

Atanu_Dey — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:51:41 -0000

Hi Indradeep:

Thanks for the explanation. Like 99.999 percent of the population, I am quite ignorant of the social and cultural norms in biblical Middle East. Like the others, I can only understand the words to mean what they appear to mean.

Turn the other cheek has been understood to mean that one should attempt to overcome aggression by shaming the aggressor and one should not resist evil -- especially because it says "that ye resist not evil."

Now if "resist not evil" does not mean "resist not evil", it gets confusing.

In any case, I don't really care who said what and in which context that was oh so enlightened. All I am concerned about is what is the right thing to do -- if one wants to reduce conflict around one. I argue that the best way is what Confucius recommends and "turn the other cheek" way is the worst.

Regards,
Atanu

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

Atanu_Dey — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:43:06 -0000

Gandhi got his ideas from the Christian bible. A lot of nonsense that he propounded came from that source. If he had actually understood the message of the Bhagavat Gita, he would not have done as much harm to India as he did.

India has had the misfortune of having terrible leaders.

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

INDRADEEP GHOSH — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:37:14 -0000

Not sure if this is true, but a Christian pastor, whom I respect, explained it to me thus:

In Biblical times, when A struck B on the cheek, A would typically use his right hand and the slap would be back-handed, so that the back of A's right palm would strike B's right cheek. If B were to turn the other cheek, he would be inviting A to now use his left hand, but in that time and place, the left hand was typically used to perform ablutions after going to the bathroom so that by turning the other cheek, B would be embarrassing/discomforting A and most likely deterring A from striking again. Therefore, turning the other cheek had implications beyond what a literal reading might suggest.

A broader point: Social norms have to do with right versus wrong. Cultural norms have to do with meaning. If I drive a car well past the posted speed limit, I would be violating a social norm, but if I drive a car with a bumper sticker that said "I be the Messiah," I would be violating a cultural norm.

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

Rohith — Sat, 04 May 2013 12:23:46 -0000

Actually, many heroes in Indian movies follow this Confucius principle.
Even with Punch dialogues. I see this in every telugu movie where hero's
introduction song will have lines similar to this principle where he
promises to be good to those who do good and vanquish those who do evil.
During these lines, the hero will be cheered.

I have no idea
why the same people who cheer and make the cinema a hit are unable to
send the same signals that even Govts will be cheered if they do similar
thing.

Also. doesn't all Indian epics more or less say the same
thing? then where did Gandhi get such idea that we should be passive in
the face of aggression?

Re: If you want peace, prepare to be ruthlessly just and fair

Atanu_Dey — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:52:35 -0000

I suppose one can read whatever one wants to in any statement, in that case. Language, reason, logic, consistency -- all discarded to support one's prejudiced position.

Here's where that phrase originates from. It is Christian doctrine. "That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

You have decided that it does not mean what it says. The doctrine is asinine and you want to get into logical contortions to make it mean what it does not. Congratulations.

Now here's an example. The statement says, "Sell all your possessions and give it away to the poor."

Let's see what it means. It means, "Always make sure that the water in the bath is lukewarm by testing it with your little finger."

Fuck logic, meaning and sense. They are hinderances.