Tag Archives: privilege
Science prizes, wealth location and social signals
One count on which I almost always find myself to be an outlier in India is my opinion that the Nobel Prizes and their derivatives belong in the gutter. But while many people in other countries share this opinion of … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Op-eds, Science
Tagged Arindam Ghosh, Infosys Foundation, Infosys Prizes, Nobel Prizes, Prachi Deshpande, privilege, Rajan Sankaranarayanan, research funding, Social Sciences, SS Bhatnagar Award, Swarnajayanti Fellowships, wealth signalling
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Why we need *some* borders between us
Borders are often a bad thing because they create separation that is unconducive for what are generally considered to be socially desirable outcomes. And they’re often instituted to maximise political outcomes, especially of the electoral variety. However, as electoral politics … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds
Tagged #MeToo, affirmative action, borders, deliberative democracy, democratic society, higher education, human spaceflight, leaky pipeline, privilege, quota system, reservations, SpaceX, status quo
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Freeman Dyson’s PhD
The physicist, thinker and writer Freeman Dyson passed away on February 28, 2020, at the age of 96. I wrote his obituary for The Wire Science; excerpt: The 1965 Nobel Prize for the development of [quantum electrodynamics] excluded Dyson. … … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Cornell University, doctorate, Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study, Julian Schwinger, Nobel Prize, PhD, privilege, quantum electrodynamics, Richard Feynman, scientific publishing, scientific research, Shin'ichiro Tomonaga, Vannevar Bush
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The alleged politicisation of science
“Don’t politicise X” has become the defence of choice for a class of scientists and public intellectuals in India whose class and caste privilege utterly blinds them to various inequities in the practice of science – as privilege is wont … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged caste-based discrimination, Chandrayaan 2, gender-based discrimination, ISRO, misogyny, nationalism, Paul Feyerabend, politicisation, politics, privilege, pseudoscience, rationalism, realpolitik, religion, scientism, Tim Hunt
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Some empathy for Treebeard's privilege
There’s a line from The Two Towers (2002) that’s really stayed with me: I’m on nobody’s side because nobody is on my side. It’s spoken by Treebeard, the Ent, to one of Meriadoc/Peregrin when asked whose side he was on: … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged mainstream media, political journalism, politics, privilege, science journalism, The Wire, Treebeard
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Taking the ringdown route to understanding the humans of science
What follows is an attempt to process and understand Cassandra Willyard’s post on Last Word on Nothing, about her preferring the humanised stories of science over the stories of the science itself (“Physics writers, this is how you nab the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cassandra Willyard, emotions, humanisation, humans of science, Last Word on Nothing, populism, positivism, privilege, ringdown, science communication, science journalism, scientism
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Some thoughts on the Mack/Dorigo Twitter exchange, and Zivkovic, Feyerabend, etc.
Aspirants flock to role models. The ‘underlying human’ must not jeopardise their conversation by being a dick. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bora Zivkovic, gender, Geoff Marcy, incommensurability, Katherine Mack, Paul Feyerabend, privilege, sexism, sexual harassment, sexuality, Tommaso Dorigo, women in STEM
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Reporters in Delhi should get a wintertime allowance
No amount of fondness or pride for situating themselves in the national capital can save journalism establishments from the steady toll the city is taking on their journalists. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged air pollution, allowance, classism, Delhi, journalism, labour laws, Lutyens' Delhi, PM10, PM2.5, privilege, public transportation, reporters, winter
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