Random Thoughts

I've been reading more and more of late on Physics and Physicists and the sorts of work conducted in the recent past. I had come across this Airtel ad a while back which goes into some detail about the many people who have made India what it is and it got me thinking... what will be the names they use in the future? The ad is a bit off... for example, there were many others (like Tesla and Marconi) working on radio communication during the same time as Bose... It is truly amazing to me to look into the fascinating contribution of physicists from India. People such as Jagdish Chandra Bose and his namesake Satyendra Nath Bose (after whom the quantum physics particle boson is named) have made incredible contributions to our understanding of our world. But they are just some of the great names that come from the sub-continent. Still others like Ramanujan show a fascinating side of humanity; the need to learn, the need to be curious. I am a big fan of the advertising agency that does Ai...

I've been thinking a lot about why people do what they do. And the conclusion I have arrived at isn't one that surprised me nor do I think it will surprise many (or any if there are any) of the readers out there. People are almost always motivated by self-interest. While that probably isn't a revelation of any sort, I wonder why so many people couch it as some sort of altruistic thing. There have been many recent narcissistic activities I have seen including the minister in the Indian state of UP who has decided a police force is in order to protect statues of herself. Statues that apparently cost $1 billion. I don't know about the math, but this cult-ish activity of erecting statues of oneself usually ends up with someone else coming in and taking down the statues by force. Remember Saddam Hussein's statue? So, why do I care about all this? I guess I don't really. I feel bad for the tax payers of UP for their money being spent on such silly activities, though ...