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Showing posts from October, 2014

Three Myths and a Lie : Charbak Unplugged

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The world today is awash in lies and myths, because nothing is what it seems to be. Paid media, biased press -- no one seems to be telling the truth anymore. Is this how it is supposed to be ? As an aside, any analysis of philosophy in India invariably begins with a commentary, or denunciation, of Charbak’s philosophy of extreme materialism -- reenam kritwa, ghreetam pibet! Borrow money and have fun. Now that we have invoked Charbak, let us get along with our thoughts. image from http://thedailybanter.com/2014/03/the-top-10-most-egregious-republican-lies/ There are so many lies floating around that it is not too difficult to pick any three of them. Consider the fallacy of the demographic dividend that has been tomtommed by everyone from an opportunist Nobel Laureate to the semi-literate leftist. The main thesis is that if a country has lots and lots of young people it will automatically become an economic powerhouse. Why? Because young people can work. What it ignores com...