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Showing posts from 2016

The idea of 'luxury' and the way in which consumers are manipulated.

Humans really love to stand out from the crowd. They will go to any extent to make sure they are noticed. It is no surprise that we wield materialism like a sword against society. The elusiveness of having something that others don't is commonly noted in a world as materialistic as this. Although it's becoming more evident, it's not new. We've seen crazy feasts, jewelry and other artifacts documented all the way from the reigns of kings and queens. Sure, by analyzing this phenomenon on the surface I can say that the physical appeal is what really entices us, but is it really all of it? No. There's a much deeper, elaborate social and psychological construct at play here, and unless you read between the lines, you will probably miss it. Think about it, why would people pour thousands of rupees into an Armani suit or an LV purse? Sure, you could know the time by staring into a cheap five hundred rupee watch, but no, we want to invest in that lucrative ninety tho...

The Intriguing Placebo Effect

The Placebo effect has intrigued doctors, philosophers, and laymen alike. If you don't know what it is, it can be briefly described as: " a beneficial effect produced by a placebo drug or treatment, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must, therefore, be due to the patient's belief in that treatment. " So, essentially what it is is a belief in a fake treatment that ultimately leads you to being cured just because you believe it. In other words, we trick ourselves back into health, proving that the brain is an extremely powerful entity. My classmates who take Psychology will probably know this already, but the thing about topics like these is that unless you're involved in studying it seriously, it's not something the ordinary person would know. Simply, the placebo effect states that people think something is better just because they are coaxed into believing it. One of the greatest examples of the placebo effect is...

Let's talk about Aleppo.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. People really don't care as much as they think they do or as much as they pretend to. We take quickly to the internet to change our display pictures to show solidarity with the victims of attacks in Paris, Boston or Brussels. We hashtag #PrayforParis and yet we let a mass genocide happen right in front of us, and that too for five years. Talk about Aleppo. Cry for them like you cried for Paris or New York. Are they not important because they're Arabs? Or is it because they're Syrian? Do they matter less than an American/French person? They post goodbye messages on the internet every day and we don't even know what is going on there. What's going on? Aleppo is a city in north-western Syria. Before the war, it was the most populated city in the country. Now, it's a battleground, between Bashar Al-Assad's government and the anti-government rebels. The eastern half is controlled by the rebels whil...

The Indian outlook on sports

Reflecting on our disappointing performance at the Rio Olympics just a few months ago, it's safe to say that Indians generally tend to think that sports are not "worthy of being careers". The Rio Olympics began and concluded in August this year, and India managed to only secure 2 medals. In addition to this poor tally, we were also told stories about how our bureaucrats and representatives did everything but what was necessary to support our athletes, from strolling the beaches instead of attending the events and making the athletes sleep in economy. Now I don't want to talk about the whole thing because it'd be a worthless re-run of my blog "India in Rio". The point that I'm trying to make, though, is that these issues are still running strong, whether or not we choose to forget them. I remember how everyone was running around talking about how much of a shame it was that our government didn't invest in our athletes. Now, I'd be surprised...

The Psychology of External Validation

A recent conversation intrigued me to explore this topic, and I find it perhaps one of the most relevant ones I have written about. So, here goes. I've known people who always get hundreds of likes on their posts hours within posting them. I have never been one of these people. I've never received many likes or shares, and when I was in my younger years, it was hurtful, in a way. I used to see my posts and shares sit on my wall for days with only a few likes, and back then, it was painful for me, so to say. It made me doubt my worthiness, and created a feeling that no one cared about what I had to say. I used to post a lot on Facebook just to see how many likes/shares/comments would accumulate in a few hours. I would be disheartened when that number didn't live upto my expectations. I'm sure some of you have had this feeling, and it's okay. Why? Why, just why is it like this? Why do we doubt our worth, why do we feel so bad just because someone didn't press...

The Internet of Things: Smart Home Tech

Smart home technology may just be in its growing years, but there's still a lot of powerful, efficient equipment that you can still use to make your home a little more "smarter". Before I get into it, I'll answer the question, "What are smart homes and how do they work?". Essentially, a smart home is quite obviously a house that is linked together with household stuff that can talk to each other through the internet, and can give you the ability to switch off/on things at home, regulate the temperature, all at your fingertips. The "Internet of things" is a phrase used to describe products that can be identified over a digital network and are connected to one another. Think of it like a web, where every point is in someway connected to the other object, no matter how far it may be kept, as long as it is connected to the same network. So in essence, your air conditioner could talk to your digital door lock, so that as soon as someone enters, the A...

Our growing dependence on technology may be our greatest weakness

Here's an essay I had written for my Grade 10 assignment. I think it's still pretty relevant, and before it gets lost in time on my hard drive, I'd like to share it with you. Our world has grown over the past hundred years in an unimaginable direction. Even though we still have to discover plentiful about this planet, we have managed to supply ourselves with bare necessities, such as food, water, shelter and security. Matter of fact, not only bare necessities, we have managed to provide ourselves by using our wit with most of the luxuries available at our disposal. However, the increase in machines within our homes themselves has a large impact on how we live our lives. Some aspects of technology have become household items, such as the television, or the fridge. Even though it seems that some are necessary to survive in this world, we may have crossed the line between necessity and luxury. In a fast-paced world such as ours, technology is present everywhere. From...

How the Hubble telescope changed Astronomy + Beginning with Astronomy

From the beginning of the human race, to nearly only 400 years ago, everything we knew about space would be observed from the naked eye. Then Galileo came up with his telescope, and the world awakened. We learned Saturn had rings. Jupiter had moons. Within just a few years of that, our entire understanding of the Universe changed. In the next few centuries, telescopes became more complex, of different sizes, lengths, and powers. Hubble is up in space, the ultimate viewing spot. Unhindered by weather, light pollution, or any other inconveniences, it is used by scientists to study the great cosmos. For 26 years now, the HST (Hubble Space Telescope) has been enthralling us with its spectacular images of nebulae, galaxies, and other space phenomena. Against a stunning backdrop of thousands of galaxies, this odd-looking galaxy with the long streamer of stars appears to be racing through space, like a runaway pinwheel firework. However, the telescope does more th...

Why video games aren't all bad

Well, here's a topic, or probably the topic closest to my heart. The pros and cons of video games have been debated for 10-15 years now, and there's been a lot of studies, for both sides of the coin. We've all heard the typical blames thrust on video gaming. Addiction, increased aggression, and various health consequences such as obesity and repetitive strain injuries. However, how many people actually know the upside of gaming? In grade 10, I had conducted ~8 months of research into this, for my personal project. I'll quickly sum up the most important parts of it and then leave you with the entire video I had created. Patience and peserverance - The world of gaming and many games, in particular require you to do things repetitively to master them. It's ironic, because that's how real life works. Until you do a task over and over, with diligence, you cannot become better at it, and cannot fully master it. In gaming, this term is grinding, adapted from t...

Wartime affairs: India vs Pak/China

Considering I've studied quite a fair bit of history in the last two years, and the fact that it's my subject of Higher Level study for the next two years, I think it puts me in a good position to write on war affairs. With tensions heating up along the LoCs and LACs (Line of Control/Line of Actual Control) with Pakistan and China, the Indian army is ramping up its forces in massive proportions. So I'll start this sensitive topic with a rundown of the types of war assets that are deployed at wartime. Infantry: Perhaps the most common type of war assets since time immemorial, the soldier has been the symbol of war since the dawn of war. For most of human history, wars have been fought with soldiers. Depending on the period you choose to focus on, infantry have been equipped in different ways for different things. Nowadays, infantry are used for quick deployment, for areas that cannot be accessed by other types of units, and for deploying a wide variety of tactics ...

Why programming is becoming fundamental

So we all tend to throw the word 'hacking' around, pretending to know what it is or how it's even done. How much do we know about it, though? Well, hacking is a popular example of technology being misused. While hacking isn't always done with malicious intent, most times it is, resulting in news headlines everywhere. Let's consider for a second, the possibilities of everything we can do if we put our home technology to good use, and that's with programming. Most people don't really understand how the computer works internally, and this is one of the greatest tragedies of our generation. If everyone actually knew how to develop things using a computer, we could have been virtually 50 years ahead in terms of technology. Contrary to what people seem to think, programming isn't hard. Everything you need to begin programming is just a click away, and depending on which language you choose to learn, you can download the respective resources. One of the...

Air travel: Why it isn't as bad as it sounds

The last few years, mainly 2014 till the present haven't been the most 'ideal' years for aviation. From the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 to the deliberate German-wings crash, incidents like these are enough to make even the most avid travellers ponder about the safety of air travel. Admittedly, the last few years have seen some serious crashes, but when you look at things comparatively, aviation's safety record is getting better, not worse. Statistically, in the year 2015, there was only one commercial plane incident in every 4.5 million flights. Those odds are very slim, and generally mean you're not going to get into an accident anytime soon. On average, you would need to fly every single day for approximately 55,000 years to be involved in a fatal accident. Let's understand this better. How about we put the odds of everyday activities and them killing you in perspective? Being assaulted by a firearm: 1 in 358. Being electrocuted: 1 ...

Why global warming is a real problem

I'm sure you've heard enough of this garbage. Blah, global warming, that one thing you learned in school and keep hearing from time to time. Ask yourself, how many times have you taken it seriously? Probably not many. NASA says the current trend of climate change is significant to note because it is the fastest rate of C02 (carbon di-oxide) emission rate in the last 1300 years. That's a lot of years. Fortunately for us, in the 21st century we have these amazing things called satellites, ever heard of them? Probably not. You guys most likely spend your time doing weird things like paying your bills and breathing oxygen. Boring life. No, but seriously, advanced satellite technologies have allowed us to analyse earth like never before. We have satellite data from the last 20-30 years that has made us much more capable of understanding and dealing with the situation. NASA says, "The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the ...

India in Rio

If you've been following the Olympics, you probably know it's not been a great year for India. At the time of writing this post, we've won only two medals, a silver and bronze, respectively. In fact, looking at the numbers, this is India's largest contingent of athletes being sent to the Olympics. From athletes being offered only peanuts for food to Indian politicians strolling around on Rio's beaches, it's been a tough and disappointing year. Antics like Vijay Goel's social media blunders, which include mixing up athlete's names, photos and misspelling star athletes' names are just few of the things going wrong this year. Meanwhile, a nine-member team representing the state of Haryana arrived in Rio “to encourage the Haryana players.” However, the group, led by the state sports minister Anil Vij, has been noticeably absent at key events—even those involving their state’s athletes. Instead they were found sight-seeing and frolicking on Rio’s ...

A beginner's guide to Astronomy

Around this time, last year, I bought my first telescope. It was a fascination that was brewing inside me for quite a while before I dived into actually ordering it. If you've been keeping up with this blog from the beginning you can probably infer that I love space. I've often shared many images that I've taken and other people's work too, and they have always elicited the reaction 'I would love to come over and see that on a telescope!'. I've been writing space blogs and articles for a while, long before this blog existed, too. As much as I try to sell Astronomy as a hobby to others, I hope that one day I'll have a group of people to go stargazing with! Well, if you've been trying to get into astronomy, this blog should help you out with the basics. Too many newcomers to astronomy get lost in dead ends and quit in frustration. It shouldn't be that way. Perseid Meteor Shower that happened on the weekend of 13-14th August 2016 ...