Ameet's blog

Brain research has turned a new leaf recently, and is now a hotbed of meaningful research. Some people might argue if it is philosophically possible for a brain to understand itself. But frankly it is already happening. 'Introspection' is going on both in labs & in minds. Ray Kurzweil has projected at TED that we will be able to reverse engineer the brain by 2020. Being in UCSD , the mecca of biotech & neuroscience; I have had the superb opportunity to hear Dr.V.S.Ramachandran speak on his unique research, and the inflection point neuroscience is poised at. One of his most deep findings is " Mirror Neurons ". Do watch a PBS documentary on the same, here . This started from a study in Monkeys. When monkey engages in motor activity (like grabbing a banana), very specific neurons fire up in his cortex. One day accidently, instructor grabbed the banana, and lo behold! Exact same neurons fired in the monkey's brain. Thus monkey went through the 'simulate...

Today del.icio.us brought this delicious treat. Interview of Robert Pirsig , author of " Zen and the art of motorcycle maintainance " (ZAMM for short)! Bob's book is perhaps the most articulate & genuine documentation of quest for meaning in life, I have read. I cant claim to have understood it, but it has given me a superb tool to look at life, make sense of it, accept it and rejoice in it. I can hardly paraphrase experience of reading this book. But let me try. Our actions are guided by either deliberate or subconscious goals. Goals are the ones which lead to a higher 'quality' (perceived value). Quality is simply what we like. In other words, quality/value/passion can not be defined in terms of anything else. It is the very core of our preferences, and has to be accepted as is. It is too sacred to mold into conformity, or taken for granted. It is our dharma. We have to mold our thoughts around it, instead of fighting it. The book shows in a very hands-on ...

Yesterday, I gave a presentation at Udai study group on Pedal Power. I tried to find the various designs, their specs, economic opportunities they can create in rural / off grid areas. Though I barely touched the top of the iceberg, I was dazzled by the scope & diversity of Pedal power. People have been running wireless networks and VOIP telephony in Ugandan villages using pedal power! Here are notes I made for the same. After I posted this entry, I was contacted by Nick from off-grid net , a superb online magazine supporting alternative sustainable lifestyles. Read this story from Ladena, to see how wise economic & technological choices can lead to a 'thriving' life in the middle of nowhere, and can solve financial crisis. Click on the link below to visit this wonderful site.

I am SO proud of these guys ! They are Indian college students, and planning to build a racecar. The car they have built now, combine pulsar absorbers, toyota steering column, and Rickshaw engine. This is true learning and spirit of enterprise at its finest!

Just finished a wonderful game of Soccer. May be it had to do something with the fact that we won :-) But maybe it does not. Because Soccer is not a zero-sum game. I have always been an underdog in sports. And like all underdogs, I always hated loosing. I remember a childhood incident. I was playing cards with my Mami (aunt). It was the simple game of Bhikar-Savkaar. (each player takes turns playing the card on top of his stacks, and if your card has same type as the card below, you win) and I lost... and then I burst up in a fit of rage, tore the cards and shut myself in the room :-) I was angry with this game, with the winner for having won, and mostly with myself for having lost it. So then on, I have tried to avoid games I loose, and found perfect ally in this quote from "Catcher in the rye", as a balm over all past lost games. Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get...

I am reading a book, Grand Canyon: Early Impressions . These are writings of intrepid explorers who saw Grand Canyon, the mile deep furrow in Arizona, carved out by Colorado, literally, the 'red river'. Col. John Wesley Powell made the first river run of Grand Canyon in 1869. Without the buffers of dams, Colorado ran way too fast & turbid than it does now, making its river run almost impossible task. But Powell & his ragtag friends ventured into this great unknown river, and penned his travelogue. The funny thing about this piece is that, it has all the seeds of great novel; heroism, drama, nail biting tension & anticipation, conflicts of egos, judgment as well as trust & steadfast fraternity. But the very fact that it was a nonfiction, and written not as an afterthought but as a daily journal, makes it a dry, barebones, matter of fact document sans verbal embellishments :-) This makes each word & sentence carry its weight in gold, sinking down the mind wi...

Just finished watching this eye opening documentary, and I am choke-full of pity & disgust. Pity for the pettiness with which science & technical jargons are paraded to mask the truth & serve short term economic interests, and disgust for the big behemoths who do so with impunity. People might call this documentary conspiracy theory, but I have seen enough of corporate culture to know that it is not. Let me write a summary for you. Technology for electric car was born in 70s. Like all technologies, this was a serendipitous discovery built in a garage and was disruptive. Disruptive because it gave a new option to the people, which was in long term interests of the environment, in short term interests of people using it for its speed, mileage & convenience. Disruptive also because it would change many games in town, games in which auto companies & big oil would probably loose, and who likes the loosing games? Hence they decided to stop the game. As long as these ...