Musings from Jay (blog site permanently frozen 11/05/2024 morning)

One thing you do in retirement is consume media.  For print media, we have digital subscriptions and read Washington Post, NY Times, Economist and the local paper Star Advertiser. We also have the local paper delivered to our door.  There are actually three separate choice dimensions for watching media and over time these three dimensions will become independent although there could be bundles offered by vendors with multi-selections from all three dimensions if it makes business sense. The industry is in a state of flux.  The choice dimensions are: 1. Content you want: (video show, video show bundle, video channel, video channel bundle, audio/music, audio/music bundle, audio/music channel, audio/music channel bundle) 2. Device you want to watch it on: (TV, Mac, Windows, android cell, apple cell, other hardware) 3. Data transmittal method to device: (through physical portable storage, antenna, through cable signal, through streaming signal, via browser, via Chromecas...

Here are the 4 essays that were topics that came up during discussions with my friends. They are very personal in nature and highlight my own personal life strategy that I have mostly followed.    ------------------------------ Thoughts on ethics   People put together their life strategy as they go along in life. An important component of that is your ethical compass . Ethics provides a framework to your life and anchors you.   Many people get their ethics from religion/culture (often called morals ). Many others get it from values imprinted into their minds in childhood which really tend to stick. I do get it from childhood (in India ) imprinted values as one source, but also from reasoning after interacting with westerners. Here are some thoughts on how values form when growing up:  https://jaykasi.blogspot.com/2024/05/how-are-values-formed.html   My ethics blends ideas from both eastern dharmic living (many imprinted) and western ideas...

I looked at consciousness a bit and wrote 4 essays in my blog. But I did not really find the subject illuminating or thinking about it too fruitful, and it did not grab my interest as a subject worth further study on my part using methods I use.  Here are the 4 essays.  Consciousness 1: The neural correlates of consciousness (neurological perspective) (v1.0) Consciousness 2: Evolution and consciousness. (Evolutionary perspective) (v1.0) Consciousness 3: Who am "I"? (Psychological and Eastern philosophical perspectives) (v1.0) Consciousness 4: What is self-consciousness? (western philosophical perspective) (v1.0) What is the understanding I personally took away? I personally think that only you subjectively can know about your consciousness.  Deducing consciousness, say of a dog looking at a mirror and gauging its reaction to his image to make inferences about its consciousness is far less persuasive.  Is AI conscious? A google AI researcher was fir...

I spent a lot of time in the past understanding politics, govt, economics, finance, and international. Once I understood what I wanted to know, I dropped it. I think age 70 is a good time to let go of politics, economics, govt, finance and international if possible. They disturb your mind, and this is the age for calmer thoughts and endeavors. One should continue to observe these things but with much more detachment. No interest in discussing such topics with anyone going forward. These blogs are it on such topics. We are retired in Hawaii .   These days I am disconnected from the job market, stock market, bond market (a non-callable FDIC insured CD held to term behaves very differently than ordinary bonds), real estate/mortgage/loan market (your home is where you live possibly for life), and largely unaffected by interest rates until close to the end of the next president's term. Debt is 125% of GDP. A number of other countries are in worse shape, and they don’t have the uniq...

This essay is roughly in the realm of epistemology (closest I could find in philosophy). It describes the “algorithm” I use to acquire knowledge. Conversing with friends is not a knowledge acquisition exercise but an exercise in having fun or a social interaction!! Information is strings of zeros and ones. Knowledge is information which is the closest you can get to the truth. How do you know if a result, finding, or statement is true? You do that by examining the source and method and judging your confidence in that. You are not going to independently ascertain it. You accept it if you accept the source and method used in arriving at it. Logic has an extremely solid foundation, and you can accept a logical statement or reasoning. Science is based on the scientific method which is an extremely solid foundation, and you can accept that. Political science and economic science are also sciences and can be accepted. Math has an extremely solid foundation and can be accepted. Your se...

There are many perspectives on how values form. Here is my perspective.  Value form when you are younger, and they tend to really stick.  Nobody taught me hard work and integrity. I learnt it by observing dad. I observed how he climbed his way up from a poor PWD officer in Nagpur to the head of south India sales region in Kirloskar. He did it with hard work and integrity and determination.   I also saw how he interacted with everyone - never bad mouthing anyone and handling himself with integrity in all his interactions.  I observed everything he did and processed it. I adopted that in full. That was my role model. I learnt it.  Nobody taught me self-responsibility. I learnt it at IIT (collage). I was alone and independent far away from home staying in a hostel. I learnt and internalized and concluded that your parents sheltered you in the past but going forward I was an independent agent and whether I succeeded or failed or achieved happiness depended sole...