http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2013/01/no_self-respecting_woman_would.html

"Everything you need to know about how the system sees you is expressed in its purest way in ads."

"..the pathology of the generation is narcissism, the ad knows about, and works only on, a society eyeballs deep in narcissism, that requires its identity broadcast by branded objects but validated by other people. "

"the logic has evolved from "you'll feel better about yourself" to "other people will see you as more competent." "

"...my point here is how quickly people have to broadcast  their indignancy"

___
 http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2011/10/how_to_draw_not_about_how_to_d.html

" The problem isn't that you can't express yourself well, the problem, as in drawing, is that you did not perceive well.  You relied on symbols, and they made you feel knowledgeable."

"In other words, in order to become a better drawer, she shouldn't need to practice drawing, she needs to practice seeing."

need to 'break the  heuristic' - the need to use abstractions, long words, words of others to understand our world. need to learn the ability of experiencing the world as is through basic senses rather than abstractions.

narcissus in us

http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/10/the_story_of_narcissus.html A gold mine of insights into our lives - our digital narcissus selves. 

"if no one ever seems right for you, and then the one person who does seem right doesn't want you, then the problem isn't the person, the problem is you."

"Because he never loved anyone, he fell in love with himself.   That was Narcissus's punishment."

"A nemesis is the one who makes you fall in love with yourself.  Without Nemesis, there'd be no story of Narcissus."

"What was wrong was in that instant he experienced her, she stopped being anything else."

" I know what you hope is the answer: anything else besides nothing."

"What kind of a man am I, that attracts this kind of woman?"

the narcissus story is a warning against us doing nothing - not making mistakes, not loving others, not feeling, waiting for perfection.. 

justice

Saw 'Chakravyuh' now - a movie by Prakash Jha who makes entertaining socially relevant films (sometimes in awkward pure hindi). Made me think of,

1. Justice - Is justice retribution? Is justice about ensuring a 'flow' of power, rather than an abrupt transfer of power? 

2. Is it legitimate to allow assertion of power through only a few tools, and outlawing another? In 'unlocking the value' under the soil, money perpetuates true violence as one section of people get incentivized to destroy another segment of people. If 'A' can effect change in life of 'B' without his volition through money, shouldn't 'B' have the complete moral authority to react with any means available? 

Money V/s guns = power v/s power.

3. How long before we declare death of democracy if the gears and wheels of democracy refuse to work with efficiency and in good faith? 

What did i learn today?

I had an idea today - To chronicle what i learn daily. So this blog naturally becomes the dumping ground for not just curiosities but also things that got distilled and that i want to hold on for longer to let them sink in.

So here's 3 things i learnt today.

16th Feb 2013

1. Nudge - Biases that affect our decisions - anchoring, availability, representativeness, Over optimism, Framing, loss aversion.

2. must make mental accounts to mange my money, time, efforts. - venture money, travel money, living cost money, family money, love money.

3. masculinity as entitlement of power.

is there any culture in the world where the pain of mother is given more importance than the arrival of a baby?

42.

Welcome to yet another blog of mine, which shall languish for eternity for want of content as well as readers.. Nevertheless, I shall plod on with my ever famous inquisitiveness. This blog is meant to be an outlet for my restless curiosity. I hope to chronicle here my curiosities, questions in my head.. all that.. except ofcourse those questions which could have probable commercial or academic bearing right away.

So without further ado, here's my first question..
When did the modern (commode) toilet came to be about? why? how did it become mainstream in places not much influenced by westerners (assuming it was invented in west) like China. and what substituted paper for these folks?
:P

the next questions is -
When did Bottled water come to India? How?

q3. What defines and what is the pace of change of cultural practices as against with commercial intervention..