It s all Karma
Economists use production functions to express the mathematical relationship between physical inputs and the total quantity of output produced. A commonly used one is the Cobb-Douglas production function which has the form Y = AK αLβ, where Y is total output, A is total factor productivity (TFP), K is capital, and L is labor. Output elasticities Continue reading "Energy and Production"
The word guru in the dharmic traditions—namely Sanatana, Buddha and Jaina—refers to someone who dispels the darkness of ignorance. Because ignorance is the primary barrier to enlightenment or moksha, the guru is supremely important. Today is Guru Purnima. Hindus believe that on this day Bhagwan Shiva became the first guru (adi guru) when he transmitted the Continue reading "Guru Purnima Greetings"
Any sufficiently deep ignorance is indistinguishable from stupidity. You’d recognize that to be a riff on Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law (1968) which states that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” While Clark’s 3rd law is about perception (how we perceive technology that we don’t understand), my variation is about outcomes: how severe Continue reading "Hydrogen…
Lee Kuan Yew (1923 2015) was the 1st prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. In the very short list of public figures I admire, LKY stands at the very top. Though he led a very tiny city-state (he liked to say that Singapore was only 224 square miles at low tide) his Continue reading "Lee Kuan Yew at the Kennedy School"
4th of July 2026 marks the 250 anniversary of the day Congress approved the text of the Declaration of Independence, and therefore the birth of the United States of America. The Declaration was signed by 56 patriots. By putting their names on that parchment, they were committing what King George III and British law defined Continue reading "Happy 250th"
The word trillionaire has been in the news since SpaceX s IPO a few weeks ago. I have no idea what it feels like being a trillionaire (and I bet neither do you.) A net worth of a trillion dollars is several orders of magnitude above mine and yours. Besides, I have a hard time dealing Continue reading "Large Numbers"
In this piece, I would like to talk about a favorite movie: Witness starring Harrison Ford. The setting of the 1985 movie is Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, among the Amish. I like and admire the Amish. Let me start with a little bit about them. The Amish are one of the most interesting religious communities in Continue reading "Witness 1985"
TL;DR. Wealth is not distributed; therefore the question whether or not wealth is badly distributed cannot be answered without knowing the process that led to the distribution that was obtained. In what sense is wealth distributed? Is there some stock of wealth that a society has that gets distributed to the people of that society, Continue reading "Why is Wealth so Badly Distributed?"
David Deutsch is an awesome thinker. His day job is that of a physicist involved in cosmology and quantum physics. He is considered the father of quantum computing. Quantum mechanics is far above my IQ level; I couldn t possibly understand it. Quantum computation too is beyond my reach. Deutsch is a genuine genius. What was Continue reading "Karl Popper"
I am deeply devoted to music, in any case. So when it comes to devotional music, I am doubly devoted. My music collection has a large set of devotional songs in the Hindu, Buddhist and Christian traditions. They move me to tears and uplift my spirit. Recently I came across a YouTube channel called Beyond Continue reading "Devotional Songs"