This is a weekly blog that puts forward my thoughts, and my point of view.
You may agree with some. And probably disagree with most. And we can agree to disagree. After all, wouldn't life be boring if we all thought the same way.
Tomorrow I vote in what is the world's largest democracy. Except that not everyone votes tomorrow. Mumbai where I'm from goes to the polls tomorrow. It is Phase 4 of the 7 phased elections. And the counting of all 7 phases will happen simultaneously on May 23rd.
The idea of this blog was to give an understanding of the scope and complexity of the Indian election system. And like in most things, found that others had already done much better a job than I could hope to. Here are a few that will give a very good sense of the Indian elections.
India Lok Sabha election 2019: How the world's largest democracy votes Global News
And for those of you who have Netflix, do watch Hasan Minhaj's take on the Indian election. And while I disagree with several of his points as untrue, you don't need to agree with everything to like the episode. A definite must watch. https://youtu.be/qqZ_SH9N3Xo
If you haven't heard of CRISPR, you should. It could change the human race. And that's no exaggeration, but a series of events that has already begun to take shape. And while you may be tempted to stop after a few minute, its important and I strongly recommend that at the very least you go through all of the below.
Let's start at the beginning.
CRISPR (/ˈkrɪspər/) (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments from viruses that have previously infected the prokaryote and are used to detect and destroy DNA from similar viruses during subsequent infections. Hence these sequences play a key role in the antiviral defense system of prokaryotes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR
What is CRISPR? Paul Andersen
The speaker explains how the CRISPR/Cas immune system was identified in bacteria and how the CRISPR/Cas9 system was developed to edit genomes.
CRISPR: History of Discovery SINGAPORE NIE
What is the formula to discover the next breakthrough? It all begins with observation. In 1987, when a group of Japanese scientists discovered an odd DNA sequence in a type of bacteria, the E.coli. These repeated sequences were something that had never been seen before. They are palindromic, meaning they read identically forward and backward, for about 30 bases, and are separated by spacers of roughly about 36 bases that are not palindromic in nature.
What you need to know about CRISPR Ellen Jorgensen
Should we bring back the wooly mammoth? Or edit a human embryo? Or wipe out an entire species that we consider harmful? The genome-editing technology CRISPR has made extraordinary questions like these legitimate — but how does it work? Scientist and community lab advocate Ellen Jorgensen is on a mission to explain the myths and realities of CRISPR, hype-free, to the non-scientists among us.
How CRISPR lets us edit our DNA Jennifer Doudna
Geneticist Jennifer Doudna co-invented a groundbreaking new technology for editing genes, called CRISPR-Cas9. The tool allows scientists to make precise edits to DNA strands, which could lead to treatments for genetic diseases … but could also be used to create so-called "designer babies." Doudna reviews how CRISPR-Cas9 works — and asks the scientific community to pause and discuss the ethics of this new tool.
CRISPR and the Future of Human Evolution It's Okay To Be Smart
Now that genetic engineering tools like CRISPR allow us to edit our genes, how will that impact human evolution going forward? Are designer babies or eugenics around the corner? Welcome to a world of nonrandom mutation and unnatural selection.
What's fascinated me about the Black Swan theory is how in most cases, several people had seen the signs of the "Black Swan Event", before the event and had both predicted it and monetized it. If that's true, how then is it a "Black Swan" event ?
And while you order and wait for your copy of the book, check out her TED talk.
Why we ignore obvious problems - and how to act on them Michelle Wucker
Why do we often neglect big problems, like the financial crisis and climate change, until it's too late? Policy strategist Michele Wucker urges us to replace the myth of the "black swan" -- that rare, unforeseeable, unavoidable catastrophe -- with the reality of the "gray rhino," the preventable danger that we choose to ignore. She shows why predictable crises catch us by surprise -- and lays out some signs that there may be a charging rhino in your life right now.grey
We need to be cognizant that while we can label events any which way after the fact, recognizing or even having a faint intuition that something could be happening could save us from disaster and if handled well, even result in a windfall.
My kids question several things that we have done and our parents and grandparents and wonder, "How could you'll ?"
These days and thinking about it, probably always there's a debate on Right and Wrong. And it seems frustrating to us that what's obviously wrong to us, is right to a significant and sometime even a majority of people.
This talk by Juan Enriquez is extremely thoughtful and insightful and in my opinion a must watch for all of us.
Is Right and Wrong Always Black and White? Juan Enriquez
In retrospect, it is easy to see how seriously mistaken we were
But at the time there can be extraordinary societal pressures to conform with the norms set by mom, the preacher, teacher, doctor, lawyer, police, and government. Even on a subject as horrid as slavery.
In this context let’s celebrate the heroes who stood up, not judge too harshly those who went along, and have the humility to accept that we too, may be doing things our grandkids will consider horrific...
And while we continue to strive to define what should be right, let us be a little more tolerant of those we disagree with, knowing that only time will tell which is the new Right and the new Wrong.
