AI hits photography

 As is the case in many fields, AI has created turmoil in the field of photography. The photographic society that I belong to has created an edict that if a photographer is caught submitting an AI generated image in a competition, he/she will be barred from future competitions.

 

Now, here is the problem. Most photographs that are entered into competition are modified in some way using post-processing software, such as Lightroom or Photoshop. These, and other such software are being enhanced so that they can benefit from AI capabilities. So, many images already have AI incorporated in them. 

 

Where do you draw the line?

 

The person running our camera club, an accomplished photographer himself, is putting together a position paper for the photographic society on what should be acceptable and what should not be. He is going through all types of details but looking at what he has created so far, it is impossible to judge if an image was AI generated or by a person.

 

One possibility he is examining is that AI images generated using text prompts should be banned. That would permit AI assisted postprocessing software to pass the muster. 

 

Are we splitting hairs here?

 

How is the judge going to know what was the genesis of an image? Was it created in a camera and modified, or it came out of a computer?  If latter is the case, it is being banned at the moment. One solution maybe that the camera makers will provide a digital proof, like a watermark in the old days, on all images that started from camera. Or, they will be honest and only submit camera generated images.

 

Afterall, what are we judging, is it the image or the process used to create the image? Why is it important for an image to be born inside a camera? Why can’t the judge just look at the end product and say if he/she likes it or not? 

 

I belong to a photo sharing site called Flickr. Many photographers (image makers?) post AI generated images that are gorgeous in their own merit. Some are impossible to distinguish from real photographs. I indicate my “fave” to those images just as if they are taken conventionally. There is no other way.

 

Will the photographic club become an image maker club? Will the future awards be given to the image makers, who may not be photographers?  

 

Will they even be humans?

 

The next phase of retired life

 

A few years ago, I had written a couple of Blog Posts on how to lead a well -balanced life, particularly a well-balanced retired life.  I had introduced a 2x3 matrix, reproduced below, indicating various activities that need to be performed, even each day, in order to live a contended retirement. 

 

 

The activities are self-explanatory so I don’t need to dwell on them further. I have used this model to lead a comfortable and fulfilling retired life for over a decade. Now, as I am in the second decade, and look further in the future, I am wondering how long can I sustain this way of life, particularly in the days when deteriorating health may prevent some of the activities. 

 

The first one to be affected would be the Fitness activities. We spend so much time outdoors so curtailing them would not only affect health but also require other activities to fill the time that opens up. Hopefully, these would not stop, given the advancing medical care and our determination to continue. Maybe, there will be fewer hiking and biking activities but walking can continue. My father did until well in his nineties. 

 

There is almost nothing that can prevent some of the fun activities to continue, however, travelling is something that may lose luster. For people like us who have already travelled a lot, the marginal benefit of additional places to go to may not outweigh the effort involved in doing so. Some of my friends of our age have already “retired” from extensive travelling, preferring to derive happiness from local exploration. 

 

The left brain and right brain activities should dominate the next phase of retired life. There are plenty of resources available for learning and experimenting. My father kept on writing his autobiography well into his nineties and I do not think I should do less, if I live that long. Of course, one can be afflicted with a disease such as Alzheimer’s that will prevent proper functioning of brain. Even otherwise, the capacity of brain to absorb new information and learn new things will go down. I will have to deal with it, I suppose. However, as long as I remain curious, that will be enough motivation to continue.

 

Finally, the top two boxes. As far as spending more time with family and friends, of course.  However, the problem is that your children and grandchildren have their own lives. We will be included in their activities but will be prepared for spending a lot of time alone, even if it is at one of their parties. A better bet is friends who are of the same age. They have time and desire to participate in similar activities. At some point, it may not be a bad idea to live in a community of other retired people, however much we have resisted the idea until now. As an option, there are virtual “Villages” springing up and our town has one. They connect members into a group where they can socialize with each other, thus allow getting old living in their places.

 

The giving back activities can also continue but health may prevent driving to places that are not close by. Yes, financial contributions can continue, even accelerate, but that won’t occupy much time as volunteering.

 

Many people find religious activities as one avenue to get fulfilment and pass time during the later phase of retirement. Besides occupying available time, it serves many purposes. You can get a better perspective of life through reading and absorbing scriptures. There is camaraderie of friends and family. Also, you learn to accept that it is perfectly OK to spend time doing nothing.

 

For me, or someone like me, becoming religious would be a big change. After a lifetime of atheism, and believing only what can be explained scientifically, finding solace in religion would require a major change in thinking. 

 

There are some who occupy an in between place and become spiritual. While I am keen to read and absorb wisdom of the ancient folks, I do not believe in spirit and will have the same resistance as becoming religious. Besides, listening to the modern-day gurus and babas is not my cup of tea. My loss, I am sure.

 

It is not a bad idea to think of the future before it arrives. That way we can make rational decisions when they need to be made. 

 

However, there are so many unknowns that it will be difficult to chart a precise course. 

Success!

 A few months ago, we had a “Golden Jubilee” class reunion. It was an enjoyable experience and meeting my old classmates, many of them after decades, was priceless.

Several classmates made interesting comments that emphasized the fact that they were the “back benchers” of the class, always getting into trouble. Almost invariably, they were made by folks who have achieved financial success. The implication being, “See, I have been more successful than you—the “topper””.

 

Several thoughts come to mind:

 

First, there is no strong co-relation between academic achievement and financial success. In fact, it may be reverse. I always remember a joke told by one of my friends. He said that if you divide the class into four quartiles, based on academic performance, those in the first quartile will become researchers and professors, the second will produce manager who will manage those in the first quartile, the third will become politicians and control the first two, and the fourth will become gangsters who will manage all of the above. A joke, for sure, but with a kernel of truth.

 

Second, some of us conducted a survey of our classmates in which we asked them what factors do they attribute to their success. Most of the factors had to do with their ability to interact with people and communicate. Hardly anyone mentioned academia. 

 

Third, one should not assume that the only definition of "success" is “financial success.” Most of our classmates are successful in their own way, even if they are not rich. They have set about goals in their lives that are not related to accumulation of wealth and achieved them. For example, one of our classmates, and his wife, have devoted their lives to rural development in India and affected so many lives.  Even though they are not wealthy, they are successful.

 

Finally, on personal side, I was one of the “toppers” and went to great schools. That helped initially in my career, but coming from a family that eschewed wealth, I never set that as a goal. Having "enough" was enough for me. I feel successful even though I did not become as wealthy as some of my classmates. I have had a good life and feel very satisfied. 

 

That’s what matters.

International travel

This summer, it seems everyone is travelling internationally. Some are taking cruises, others are hiking in the Andes, and some other are posing in front of Angkor Wat. What is interesting is the ways of travelling they select, each with its own pros and cons. Here is my attempt at creating a structure around the ways to travel, especially overseas. I have divided the travel type into five categories, starting with the least expensive and ending with a sky-is-the-limit option.

 

1. Backpacking: This used to be the right of passage for young kids about to enter college or work life. You carry everything with you, including sleeping bags and even a small tent. Then, buy a passage to the area you want to see and put out your thumb. It still is the least expensive way to travel. However, nowadays one does not see that many hitchhikers. Maybe they have graduated to the next level or created some hybrid. 

 

Pros: Least expensive and brings you closest to people of the country you are travelling. Since the schedule is flexible, there is time to stay in a place longer than you were planning to. 

 

Cons: Needs physical fitness and endurance. Also, a little risky. Finally, may not be able to get to a place that easily as you have no control on who will give you a ride and to where.

 

2. Independent planned travel: In this mode, the backpack is replaced by a suitcase and a small backpack. Now, hitchhiking is not an option but taking public transport is. Overnights are in less expensive hotels and meals are in local restaurants. This is more luxurious than the previous category but requires planning. Thanks to the availability of online tools, such planning is not difficult. In this mode you can go to whatever place you want to go to and stay as long as you want, unlike the situation if you are in a tour (the next category). This has been our primary mode of travel and we spent more than a year doing it in 2019.

 

Pros: The places you want to go to, the accommodation that you prefer and food you want to consume all are under your control. You have a good chance of meeting local people and fellow travelers like you. 

 

Cons: Needs planning and adjusting as the airlines and other modes of transportation make changes in their schedule. Some risk as you are by yourself in case of medical, climate or political emergency. 

 

3. Tour: This is the most common mode of international travel. There are tour companies that cater to all types of travelers going to all different places. The trips are land based, river based or ocean based. Some are combination of all of them. The itinerary is fixed, and you are with a large number of fellow travelers, some of your own choosing. In case of a cruise, you do not need to pack and unpack every day. 

 

Pros: Not a very expensive way to travel. Requires almost no planning. You can enjoy the company of friends of family members. 

 

Cons:  Being herded through sights of interest. Almost no chance of getting to know the local people. Limited choices for accommodation or food. 

 

4. Upscale tours: I separate them out because there is a segment of the tour industry that caters to the well-heeled customers. The size of the vessel will be small (in case of a cruise), cabins more luxurious and itinerary more exclusive. For a land-based tour, this may involve, for instance, going to exclusive campsites to see animals, instead of the runoff the mill variety. The tours to the Arctic or Antarctica also fall in this category. 

 

Pros: For some destinations, this may be the only way to get there (like the polar trips). Also, for areas that do not have as good an infrastructure, and limited appeal, these types of tours make it possible to visit without too much hassle. Finally, additional luxury may be preferred by some travelers. 

 

Cons: Expensive. Also, limited possibility of mingling with the local population if there is any. 

 

5. Ultra-luxury tours: These are the one where a private jet whisks you from one attraction to another. Today it is Easter Island, tomorrow, Taj Mahal. In three-weeks all the prestigious destinations are covered. The bucket list checked off. 

 

Pros: If checking of the bucket list is the idea of travel, this may be the way to go. You will get pampered and since your tour company has its own jet, there will be some flexibility in the schedule. (“Can we stay one more hour and see the sunset?”)

 

Cons: Outrageously expensive. Missing the whole point of enjoying a place as only a few hours are spent. Hardly any chance of mixing with anyone except the fellow super rich travelers. 

 

Now this is a simplistic way to categorize the ways to travel. There are several nuances:

 

Frequently, one person from a group of friends puts together a plan and essentially acts as a tour guide. If the group is large enough, he/she negotiates with hotels so the group receives the same treatment as a regular tour group. This travel in that case would resemble the third category, except it is not a recognized company organizing the tour.

 

In many situations, even independent travelers take local tours. There is no easy way to visit nearby places otherwise, and the money you spend stays with the local folks (not an international tour company). This is something we have done frequently in our travels.

 

Age has something to do with the mode of travel you select. Generally, the first mode is for the young folks and the last two may be for older, more financially stable folks. Also, the level of interest comes into play. If all you care about is “doing” Paris or Vienna, why would you bother to learn about those places and deciding how you can best enjoy them?

 

Oh, well. The world has come a long way when international travel was just for the very rich. It is great that people can and do explore the different corners of the world. Only then can they gain some understanding of different places and folks. 

 

This is crucial if we ever want to have peace in the world. 

Confluence of tipping points

 Our civilization does not develop linearly. There are tipping points that change the trajectory in a drastic way. Think of the World Wars. After the second one, and the birth of nuclear age, people decided that there has to be a better way to solve the world’s problems than getting all of us involved in a major war. After all, with nuclear weapons, the third World War can wipe out humanity. The result, relative peace for the past 75 plus years.

 

One of the next tipping points that can affect trajectory of civilization was when the Human Genome Project was completed in early 2000s and the human DNA was sequenced. Armed with the capability of reading the code of life, scientists of all types have unleashed a torrent of innovations that would cure diseases, address infertility, solve crimes, and even figure out how humans migrated in the past. 

 

What is interesting today is that we are confronted with not one but several tipping points at the same time. Each likely to cause a significant change. The first two on my list are major and have direct impact right now. The second two can have a profound impact on our lives moving forward. The last one will take some time to mature, but can portend the beginning of a new phase of our civilization. 

 

1. Climate Change

 

This is one of the most important tipping points. After years of ignoring the problem or calling it a hoax, there can be little doubt that climate change is happening. Just look at the evidence: Temperature is rising rapidly around the world, wild weather is happening almost everywhere, Greenland icesheet is melting at an alarming rate and the glaciers are disappearing. Of course, there are still those who believe that all this is caused by natural cycles and the earth has undergone periodic heating and cooling. Sure, it has but not at this rate. In thousands of years, not twenty.

 

The impact of this tipping point may be devastating. All the way from making this planet uninhabitable to creating major disruptions in the way our civilization functions. Agriculture in many parts of the world will be severely affected, and so will be the living spaces. This will cause wars fought over a scarce commodity---water. The migration problem, already a serious concern in Europe and United States, will certainly get worse as desperate people try to enter these affluent areas of the world. Heat is known to cause death, but the “super heat” will be devastating, not to mention massive flooding that is already taking place. 

 

How will we cope with this disaster we have brought upon ourselves is anyone’s guess. Will some drastic measures (such as the attempts to reduce greenhouse effects by seeding the atmosphere) work? Is there any possibility that the situation will stabilize, and even reverse course due to the actions to reduce greenhouse emission being undertaken, now that most of us have woken up to the unfolding calamity? 

 

2. Artificial Intelligence

 

Another tipping point with potentially huge impact is Artificial Intelligence. This technology has been around for many years, but it took a while to figure out that machine learning is the way to go, and not a rule-based construct. With the arrival of ChatGPT a few months ago, the die was cast. Now most of us can have a machine that shows intelligence that only humans could until now. 

 

This tipping point has received a mixed set of reaction. Some folks believe that AI will increase productivity and efficiency of our economy and make the tasks done by humans much simpler, just like many advances in technology have.

 

The others are scarred stiff. They see an existential threat to our civilization. An extreme scenario is that AI, working with robots, will take over, much like they do in movie “Terminator”. Humans will be nothing but a fodder to be sacrificed. 

 

What will happen eventually may be some of both. It is inevitable that AI will have a profound impact on everything from the jobs we perform to the education we receive. Almost no job is immune to encroachment by AI. If what you are doing can be done by AI, maybe not as well but adequately well, what would prevent a future boss from replacing you to save cost? If what we teach prepares you for current jobs that may not exist in the future, what will we teach you? 

 

Even creative arts will be invaded. Already an AI system has helped create Beethoven’s tenth symphony, how can music composed in the future not be affected by AI? Even now, Hollywood writers and actors are on strike and one of the guarantees they seek is that they will not be replaced by AI. 

 

Of course, AI will have additional impact on our civilization. As it is, separating fact from fiction is difficult, what will happen when fiction is so well depicted that most people will think it is fact? How can an election take place when you have no idea what the actual candidate said or did when fictitious ones are running around looking and talking just like they were real? What about fraud? 

 

This is a scary tipping point because of all the uncertainties surrounding it.

 

3. Automation in Transportation

 

Imagine a day when the trucking industry would be drastically changed with trucks driving without drivers. Autonomous trucks will ply the highways carrying goods from all over the place. Also, who will need to be taxi or Uber driver when self-driving vehicles appear to drive you around any place any time? Finally, personal vehicles? Maybe some will be around, but if a vehicle can appear anytime you want, why bother with the hassle of owning it? Just imagine the consequences if the personal vehicles, the mainstay of American household and industry were to disappear. 

 

Some of us had a preview of this tipping point more than fifty years ago while doing research in the transportation area. That is when the essential elements of a driverless vehicle were being introduced and tested. We didn’t think it would take this long before we would have autonomous vehicles running around. However, they are here, at least on an experimental basis, and the implications will be profound.

 

4. Remote working

 

There was a slow progression in working remotely until 2020 when Covid hit the world in full force. Then the whole world went into a remote working mode. Now, with Covid receding, the business world is no longer operating on remote workers. Some companies want the employees to come to the office at least some days of the week. However, the cat is out of the bag. No longer will employees wonder if their employers will be productive while not in office. 

 

This will have an immediate impact on whether a company should keep offices. What will happen to those tall buildings with shiny façades in downtowns? What will happen to the downtowns when people disappear? Some cities like San Francisco are already feeling the impact of hollowed out downtowns. Is that just the beginning of a massive change in urban infrastructure?

 

Once again, this is an area where I had a preview of things to come. While working at Arthur D. Little, a consulting firm, I did a study almost thirty years ago of what would be the societal benefits of telecommunications substituting transportation. I estimated the benefits; in terms of pollution and energy reduction, productivity increase, and infrastructure maintenance reduction; from mostly unheard-of things like telecommuting, teleshopping and teleconferencing. The findings were reported widely and was one of the elements in public sector spending on high-bandwidth telecommunications network. The conversion from transportation to telecommunications stayed at a low level until Covid hit and there was no choice. Now there is no turning back.

 

5. Commercialization of Space Travel

 

My final tipping point is related to something considered frivolous by many if not most people: Commercialization of space. Several firms, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and such, have already sent civilians to space and are about to start regular launches for the well-heeled folks. The going up and down type of space travel will soon morph into a visit to a space station, much like what was envisioned in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then will come travel to a colony on moon and then, some decade later, to Mars. Fanciful, yes, but when I was growing up, even travel by an airplane was fanciful. Now, everyone does it. 

 

People of the future, my grandchildren included, will see the early 2020s as when space travel stopped being just for astronauts and started catering to civilians. 

 

It is hard to speculate how each of these will playout. It may be that some of the advances will affect others. For example, AI will help create technologies to mitigate some of the effects of Climate Change. People displaced by rising water and unlivable temperatures may get employed through remote work openings. This will reduce hardship on them. If earth becomes unlivable due to climate change, some fraction of humanity may travel to a geo synchronous orbit, Moon or Mars. The survival of homo sapiens may depend on them. 

 

Yes, science fiction for now, but a real possibility 50-100 years from today.

Happiest country

 Recently, Finland was voted to be the happiest country in the world. 

 

According to Guardian in reporting the story: “The world happiness report, now in its 10th year, is based on people’s own assessment of their happiness, as well as economic and social data. It assigns a happiness score on a scale of zero to 10, based on an average of data over three years. As well as a personal sense of wellbeing, based on Gallup polls in each country, the happiness score takes account of GDP, social support, personal freedom and levels of corruption. The country of vast forests and lakes is also known for its well-functioning public services, ubiquitous saunas, widespread trust in authority and low levels of crime and inequality.” 

 

United States was ranked 16^th in the same report. However, I would much rather live in the good old USA than in Finland. There are a couple of strong reasons:

 

First, my view is biased by the fact that I am an immigrant of color. US is a country of immigrants and no one can rightfully claim a superior position just by the fact that they are the original residents of the country. That is no one except a small minority of Native Americans. That would not be true in Finland. You will always be “different” from the population that has not immigrated to that country. 

 

Second, and a more important reason, is the variety that US offers compared to Finland. The variety of population, for example. This melting pot has people from all over the world, and not just in token numbers. For example, the city of Los Angeles has a vast population of Latin Americans, and the texture that provides to the overall life here cannot be matched by a relatively homogenous population of Finland. People bring languages, food types, lifestyles and celebrations. 

 

The geography of this vast country is also varied. One can go from the desert of Nevada to the forested New England, from the mountainous Colorado to the plains of Kansas, from tropical climate of Florida to Mediterranean one of Southern California. Variety in Finland? Not so much. 

 

I am reminded of the commercial one sees for happy retirement…lazing around on a hammock on a sea shore. What could be better than a worry-free life like that? Not for me.  I would get bored out of my mind in a few days.

 

To me, variety of experiences is key to happiness. US provides that. Yes, there are huge problems…guns, racial divide, income inequality, and such. However, I would much rather have those than living life in a country voted to be the happiest. 

 

Content Indigestion

“Content” means a lot of things and they are created by professionals and amateurs alike. The professionals create books, magazines, courses, movies, TV shows, music, and so on. The amateurs take photos, write Blog Posts, make music, and such. They then make this content available through channels such as emails, text-messages, social media posts, and occasionally, even phone calls. What gets distributed is not necessarily original. More often than not, it is someone else’s content that is forwarded. 

 

I feel that there is an imbalance between the amount of content that is being created and served, and what a person can consume. 

 

It is a recipe for creating content indigestion.

 

Just see FaceBook (if you are a member). For me, on any typical day, there are posts from at least a dozen friends from all over the world, each making 20-30 photos available for visual consumption. Then there are emails. I probably receive at least a hundred of them. Most are useless but, many not so and would be interesting to read. Include to this mix of content I get, text messages and group chats from people all around the world. May be hundred or more, and some with “must see” and “must read” attachments.  

 

This is just the “amateur” side of content that I receive. if I include the professional content, the glut is staggering. There are hundreds of channels and the number of TV shows and movies you can see, is simply mind boggling. Add to these, books and courses on every subject conceivable. I am not into watching sports, but it seems there is no end to how much time you can spend watching that form of content. 

 

Then there is the fact that my attention span for consuming content is reducing, thanks to instant gratification I have come to except from my electronic friends, such as the iPhone. The result, I cannot consume what is being offered and feel guilty if it is from a friend or family member with the “must see” of “must read” message attached to it. I have FOMO---the fear of missing out. I must be missing something important or interesting in the content that I skip.

 

Besides being a consumer, I am also a producer of content. Yes, I am as guilty as the others in posting pictures on FaceBook. Although, I am not much into forwarding content, I do that too sometimes. I write a monthly Blog and produce content for that. I participate in group emails and texts. As a producer of content, I feel that my stuff is not getting as much attention as it deserves. My “brilliant” Blog Posts get hardly any traffic.

 

From a personal standpoint I need to manage content indigestion in several ways:

 

·      As a creator of content, I have to assume that most satisfaction I will get is in creating the content, not in getting accolades from others for what I have created. I need to let go of my ego that is tied to receiving “likes” and “faves”.

·      As consumer of the content, I should not feel that I am missing out on something in the content I don’t consume, whether served by a friend/family member or a professional. 

 

I think we are still in the beginning phase of content imbalance. We will need to take action to ensure that content indigestion does not become content constipation ;-) 

 

Now, I hope that at least someone will read this . If not, I had fun writing it.

  

Tree falls in a forest

 “If a tree were to fall in a forest where there are no human beings would there be any sound?" 

An average person on the street was not aware of this old philosophical question, however, he (or she) clearly remembered what the Great One had said when asked about existence.

 

“Remember you are all in a simulation. One day, you will jump from simulation into reality, which will be constructed out of pictures you take and post them. If you miss doing that for a specific experience, there will be a gap in reality for you. The experience without any posting is like a tree falling in a forest without anyone hearing it. Just like that tree did not make sound, your experience will not become real.”

 

Each person had a smart phone implanted on his head. At any moment, he had to think picture and a photo would be taken. Touching the forehead would make that photo appear in multiple social media. When the simulation was over and humans transferred into reality, that experience would count. 

 

The Great One was also keeping a count on how the posted pictures were received by the audience. More “Likes” it got, higher will be satisfaction derived out of the reality depicted in the posting. To be fair, each person could receive only as many “Likes” as he gave.

 

Each day in the simulation was a scramble. Not only each individual had to remember to record and post every experience during the day, he had to take time to admire and “Like” other postings. Without that, he would receive very few Likes and even if that experience became reality, it will not be very satisfying. 

 

Often, this involved back tracking to go back to the place and experience that you forgot to record. Afterall, no record, no reality. If that experience cannot be recreated, that’s too bad. It will not exist.

 

There was no privacy. Since, each experience had to be recorded and posted, an individual had two choices: 1. Record and post it without any inhibition, or 2. Accept the fact that it would not become reality.

 

This drove a lot of people into deciding that reality was not worth pursuing. Also, there was no proof that what the Great One was saying was the truth or a ploy to control the population. 

 

That made people think, who was the Great One? Nobody had ever seen or heard him. He communicated directly through the implanted smart phone. Who was he? Could he benefit out of what was going on? 

 

Thus began the questioning and eventual beginning of a new age of human existence in which people decided that there is no need to record and post. They were already living in reality.

 

The tree can decide to fall wherever it wants without worrying about anyone listening to its sound. 

The earth is flat

  

 

We Jains have a very ancient history getting back to thousands of years. Almost everything worth discovering was discovered by Jains. You would know this if you just read our scriptures. That fact has been buried first by the other Indian religions and then by all those Western people who did not want to see us Jains thrive.

 

One essential discovery of Jainism is that earth is flat. Just listen to the eminent scholar at Jain pilgrim Center of Palitana in Gujarat. As reported by a reputed journal, India Today, Lalit Shah, a guide and scholar at the Shri Jambudweep Vigyan Research Centre, which houses a planetarium displaying the flat earth says, 

"The earth is flat and it doesn't rotate." 

 

“Shah is also fairly certain the universe is shaped like a man standing in the Vaishakha position, arms akimbo. Within this structure, the universe is divided into 14 levels or Choudrajlok (14 kingdoms). Madhyalok, or the middle level, is where Jain cosmography has located man. This is Jambudweep where mother earth - flat as a pancake, still as the sphinx - can be found.”

 

You might ask how can that be? You have seen photographs of earth as a sphere taken by those astronauts on their way to moon, many decades ago. My question to you is do you have any idea of what Photoshop can do? Yes, Photoshop was around during that time. The good folks at NASA colored a ball to make it look like earth and Photoshopped it. You are an idiot if you believed that it was a real picture.

 

About all these airplanes that claim that they can continue going in one direction and emerge from the other side---did you know that they go in one direction and when they reach the end of the earth, they secretly turn around. They do that at night so nobody can see them. Then they come from the other direction. It is all marketing and you fell for it. 

 

Fortunately, YouTube has plenty of videos that you can watch and convince your-self. Just watch this one to start: https://youtu.be/Un_S0uU87f4.   

 

This one is only one and half hour long and you have to watch it to the end. It is expertly delivered by a scholar. It is Part-1 of three videos, each about the same length. 

 

You don’t have time? What is wrong with you. As an engineer and scientists shouldn’t you look at all sides of the story? Get off your pseudo intellectual horse and watch these videos, god dammit. OK, you prefer a white guy delivering the proof that the earth is flat, because you don’t trust us Jains or even Indians telling you that? 

 

There you go. https://youtu.be/e5ACN9iF8Jw

 

This video one has a bunch of white guys proving that earth is not round. Without doubt. When you finish watching them, come back to me. I will send you more videos. The nice folks at YouTube keep sending me videos after videos all proving the same thing.

 

Unless you hate Jains and Indians, you have to be convinced at this point that the earth is flat. I am taking this trouble just for your own good. I don’t want one of my friends going around telling everyone that earth is round.

 

 

What a wonderful time we live in?  Once you hold a belief, you will find plenty of evidence to prove it is correct and confront those who don’t agree.

Go slow my life

 Go slow my life, I still have debts to pay,

some pains to heal, some obligations to meet;

 

While walking through you (my life), I offended some, some got estranged;

I need to appease them, and make the crying laugh;

 

Some desires are to be fulfilled; some work has to be done;

Unfulfilled desires deep in my heart still need to be buried;

 

Some relationships ended up breaking, some fizzled away;

The wounds of these broken relationships still need to be healed;

 

You (life) go ahead, I am coming; what will I get in leaving you?

The one who has the right to my breaths has yet to be convinced;

 

Go slow my life, I still have debts to pay,

 

I came across this interesting Hindi poem (translated by me) by a well-known poet, Gulzar. It touches upon the basic question of what remains to be done at a late stage in life. 

 

As far as nature is concerned, you are done doing your duty once you raise your children. After that, it is just a bonus period. For most of us seniors, we are at that stage and we may be looking at several decades of life ahead of us. 

 

We think about the coming years as the time when we can do what we want, within our health and wealth constraints. In my model for retirement, I have created six buckets for potential things one can do that include right and left-brain activities, spending time with friends/family, giving back the society, keeping fit and enjoying the pleasures of life. These activities might keep us busy during the rest of our lives.

 

However, to tell life to go slowly implies that we wish we had even more time than what is coming. According to the poet, we need that extra time because there are so many tasks that need to be done. These are tasks to “pay our debts” --- for obligations we have incurred and pains we have caused. Also, we need extra time to bury the desires that are not yet fulfilled.

 

He tells us to focus on people---friends and family. All the rest is not important, at least not worthy of a request to life to go more slowly. Many of those activities are related to unfulfilled desires that need to be buried. 

 

One final point, for many older folks, there is a desire to have life go faster and not slower. These people are in poor health or poor situation where they feel they are being burden to their families. They may be in disagreement with what Gulzar is saying.

 

So much depends on what life throws at us during the autumn/winter of our lives. However, when we have ability to make choices and take action, it is good to keep these words of wisdom in mind. 

Nostalgia

While I celebrate the availability of:

 

·      Thousands of channels to watch on TV, I am dismayed that very often we feel that “there is nothing worthwhile to watch,” and remember the days when we eagerly looked forward to the next episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

 

·      Endless on-line courses, from geology to history, from science to art, I am dismayed that I have lost ability to focus on one subject at a time, and remember the time when the only way to learn something was in a classroom and we had to focus on that one subject.

 

·      Instantaneous news, “Breaking news”, I am dismayed that the focus is on sensational news, and remember the days when the news presentation was much thought through.

 

·      Multiple news sources, I am dismayed that they start to look alike, and remember the days when we only watched Walter Cronkite to get “authentic” news.

 

·      The availability of zoom, I am dismayed that the ability to interact face to face is getting lost, and remember the days when I looked forward to an event because of the opportunity to mingle.

 

·      GPS for going anywhere at any time, I am dismayed that my ability to navigate is lost (creating a mess if by any chance the GPS is not available), and remember the days when I used to land at the airport, rent a car and then figure out where I was going based on paper maps.

 

·      Any music any time any place, I am dismayed that my ability to enjoy spontaneity and randomness of a radio is now lost, and remember the days of listening to “Binaca Geetmala” every Wednesday on a radio in India.

 

·      Easy and free connectivity with anyone in the world, I am dismayed that the face-to-face conversations have become now a rarity, and remember the days when the family members interacted with each other at a gathering instead of being lost on their iPhones.

 

·      The vast amount of content created/forwarded by friends/family…must read articles, videos, tik-tok, Instagrams, FaceBook, photo albums…I am dismayed that there is no easy way to prioritize what I should hear and watch, and remember the days when receiving a clipping by mail was an event.

 

·      Digital photography which allows me to create “slideshows” of my travels rather rapidly and share with far flung family and friends, I am dismayed that hardly anyone is interested in watching them, and remember the days when actual slideshows were often the reason that family/friends got together at our place.

 

Perhaps I am now old enough that nostalgia about the past is more significant than the possibilities of the future .  

Happiness equation

 I have a simple equation that captures the reason of being happy in a situation:

 

Happiness = (Reality- Expectation) x Attitude.

 

Both reality and expectation are composed of multiple factors. Take for example, the location you select to live. In that case, reality may include year-round weather, closeness to a city, possible outdoor activities, the quality of the neighborhood, the quality of school system, job opportunities, and so on. There will be a corresponding set of expectations. 

 

So, the happiness equation is really a sum of reality minus expectations for every factor important to you.  A positive outcome means you are happy, a negative, unhappy and zero indicates an equanimous situation. 

 

This gets amplified by attitude. A person with a positive attitude will amplify factors that are positive (i.e., reality exceeds expectation), and ignore those that are negative. The reverse will be true for a person with negative attitude. For them, it is the negative factors that matter and worthwhile whining about. The positive factors don’t matter much. 

 

Expectation is very important in deciding happiness. If it is low, one can be happy more easily, and the reveres is true if it is high. That applies to every factor, not just lump sum. So, one would have an expectation for what the weather or the neighborhood should be like, and so on. 

 

What factors to include in this equation depend on the stage of your life. The expectation related to job opportunities will disappear as a factor once you retire. During that phase, the expectation related to weather may become more important. To be more accurate, each expectation has a weight attached to it, which changes depending on phase of life. 

 

The level of expectation you have for a specific factor is also dependent on how competitive you are. For example, if you want to keep up with the Joneses, you may establish a high expectation for, say, the size of the house you want to live in. Not that you need it, but because your friend has one. In that case, a perfectly reasonable but small house will bring unhappiness. 

 

Finally, there is a time element associated with the happiness thus calculated. It declines over time. As the newness wears off, a perfectly good situation may start getting boring. Unless, of course, attitude kicks in and puts sanity back again.