Musings from Jayaram Kasi (Jay) and also factual essays

I had started a brand-new probe on climate, environment and earth. I have already blogged on everything, I am willing to write about me, my opinions and experience. I have already synthesized my world view and best understanding of truth on everything of most importance and interest to me (except this current probe) through my essay writing and research. This therefore is my last major thrust in essay writing and then I will stop. I would have to find a new hobby though!! Photography? Socializing/Vacations/Talk to People/Meet new people (right brain?)? I am glad you enjoyed my work. I take no inputs until an essay is written and then I take inputs. I do my own independent research and strive for balance and accuracy. The inputs may cause me to revise some sections. I rarely comment in public on any subject I don't have a world view on or have not researched. I am selective on what areas I choose to learn, what history I choose to dig into, and what news I choose to consume. I am ef

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 sense

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 solely on me. I was in charge of

As one experiences life, everyone changes to some degree. You know more, you get wiser, you use new tools and techniques, you have more experience, and you acquire new skills. Does it affect your attitudes, behavior and personality? I believe so. But I think your core values do not change because I think they get incorporated into you as a bedrock early in life.  Although my wife and I have very different backgrounds and personality, surprisingly we have, or evolved to have, some very similar values. Let me try to list the common four most important ones (there are others that we have).  1. There is no free lunch. You have to work hard and smart and make the right choices. You are primarily responsible for your own wellbeing.  2.  You are responsible for your own actions and the consequences are yours.  3. Be compassionate and generous to the less fortunate/in need to the extent you can (earlier in life - much less so now since we are retired).  4. Integrity (admission: I do say white

This is really an article that poses a series of logic assertions. It is an exercise in logic/reasoning but is set in a scientific setting. Only the first statement is a statement about science.  The scientific method is a rigorous approach. It really sounds weird, but I can't spot a logic flaw. I suspect there is one. Here are the logic assertions.  A consensus science result may get replaced tomorrow with a better and more accurate result as more data comes in.  This is a fact.   A climate or evolution sceptic for example may argue a particular result they don't like should be ignored because of the above - it may get replaced tomorrow.   But then by this logic shouldn't all scientific results be ignored because the exact same argument applies to every single one of them?   Using this argument, when would a scientific result ever not be ignored because there is ALWAYS a tomorrow all the way to infinity?   That means selective rejection of a scientific result by someone be

Meteorology is from Greek which in Greek means study of things high in the sky. Meteorology is the science that deals with the phenomena of the atmosphere, especially weather and weather conditions. Everyone know what the atmosphere is. In this essay we will drill down more.  We will cover some of the core foundational concepts in meteorology, which are: temperature.  pressure.  density.  the composition and layers of the air in the atmosphere.  Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms (even solids). It is measured by a thermometer. There are three key temperature measures - Centigrade, Fahrenheit and kelvin. Centigrade is the most widely used where water freezes at 0 degree and boils at 100 degrees. Fahrenheit is commonly used in the US. Kelvin is the absolute temperature scale where 0 degrees represent absolute zero where there is no molecular motion.  Fahrenheit = 9/5 * Centigrade + 32.  Centigrade = Kelvin - 273.15.  The pressure of air is