Feb 2022 Roundup
Micromobility, American imperialism, and much more
Hello, once again and welcome to the 2nd roundup of the year (the first one can be found here). February was once again packed with a ton of interesting resources and learnings across diverse fields. As always, I’ll condense it down to the five most engaging pieces with a bonus reward for those who make it to the end.
I was fortunate to have come across Horace Dediu’s talk called The 10 Micromobility Commandments. If you’re wondering what the heck that is: micromobility (I’ll call it MM so my fingers hurt lesser) is just plain simple mobility at a smaller scale. Planes are macro, bicycles are micro. Now, this talk was just fascinating because Mr. Dediu goes against the grain and asserts that instead of building out heavy infra in order to transition from our current fuel guzzlers to EVs, we should rather focus on MM. That’d be much more climate-efficient and won’t require massive investments that become tomorrow’s sunk costs and stifle innovation because we just can’t destroy something we sank a hella money into. But more intriguing than all of this is the ‘Small is Big’ idea. Tracing curves over the last decades, we can see the predominance of ‘small’: time spent on machines is the highest for the smallest devices (phones), time spent on phones is highest for the short-duration sessions (<5 mins), and in mobility, short trips make up the highest % of all trips. By putting a mind in our bicycles and scooters, we can build better cities where these smarter, faster, environment-friendlier machines address the bulk of the demand. We’re probably going to see an MM revolution (or are in the middle of one) but like many revolutions, it’s probably not visible!
What utopia looks like Over the last year or two, I’ve come to appreciate the value of grappling with philosophy and, more importantly, thinking like a philosopher. The moment you adopt the Phil mindset, your outlook is very different. Every idea or assertion is like a stack of turtles- it sits atop several other facts and assumptions, each of which needs to be thoroughly interrogated before coming to a conclusion. Compared to our impulsive conclusion-jumping, this seems like a thoroughly stretched affair. But it is essential, considering how so many of our assumptions are either plain wrong, acquired via conditioning we’re not even aware of (how we unconsciously end up mimicking our friends), anachronistic, or just blindly acquired because they’re cultural norms without ever getting questioned (like giving a massive farewell party just because others did it, even though you’re broke AF). Our job is to investigate the ideas- to peel the layers and ask how the underlying assumptions hold up to reason. When I have a certain idea, I sometimes try to take the opposite stance and argue in its favor- I even visualize a particularly brutal & smart debater and see if my thesis can stand their scrutiny. Another great idea to get better at this is to begin writing- to put together an essay that details your ideas. Writing is a tool for thinking- and I’ve noticed so often that in the process of trying to put together a coherent thread of arguments, one can start seeing through the chinks in their own armor and spend more time on thinking. If you’re intrigued, read this highly useful article on how philosophers think.
Gotta work those grey cells, son Like many of the tabs festering on my browser, this one just sat there and aged for many weeks before finally getting some attention. I’m glad I gave it a shot though. We all know how fears of technology are not recent but have existed for centuries. Interestingly, this fear goes back 2000 years to the Roman empire. when slaves were treated not as humans but simply as automata who would do any kind of physical work (practically for free). This was the equivalent of low-cost machines that’d ‘automate’ tasks and undercut many other workers, leading to fears of competing with elites who owned these ‘machines’ and resulting in the formation of worker guilds. To do anything new, it’s important to see these recurring patterns of technological fear in history. It’s fascinating to learn how even inventions like the bicycle or anesthesia instilled a sense of unease and were fiercely resisted- the reasons cited would make us laugh. But look at it this way- some of our fears about the tech that seems to be a few decades off today may similarly provoke laughter and odd looks from our grandchildren when they become commonplace, which is why it is so critical to learn from history, have a little bit of humility in our opinions about new technology and try to decipher the unchanging tenets of human nature which probably result in an eternal recurrence of similar reactions. If you like nerding out to the future of tech, give this podcast a shot- it’s short and quite engaging.
Having read Vikram Sampath’s brilliant biography of Veer Savarkar (quick review here), I decided to listen to one of his debates, where he duked it out with none other than Mr. Shashi Tharoor, the flamboyant intellectual who has often destroyed his opponents with his arguments and his viewers’ brains with his diction. Oh boy, this was a discussion par excellence. Sampath argued that India’s history needs to be reclaimed from Delhi- and from the restricted and contrived narratives that emerged from left-leaning historians after India achieved independence. As a result, many figures who made immense contributions to our struggle (think Bose, Savarkar, et al) have either been ignored or even demonized. With the new government, many of these figures are being re-evaluated, which explains a flurry of new books hitting the market, analyzing the lives of these figures as they sought to liberate the country. The debate also lingers on whether we should uncover the truth hidden in our past or let the sleeping dogs lie, lest we open up fresh wounds and risk getting into new conflicts on religious and political lines. It was a conversation we’d do well to listen and reflect on, for it highlights many things that we’re oblivious to about Indian history. Besides the moderator’s shoddy attempts at stoking nasty arguments, it is a delight to listen to two fine minds discussing how one must look at and evaluate the very subject of history.
While the world is going nuts about Russia’s invasion and rooting for a Western victory, it is useful to understand the nature of American geopolitical activities ever since WW2. In this short but insightful video, a historian tells us about their doctrine- which more or less amounts to colonization and imperialism for their own benefit. The Cold War was their effort to fight the forces of decolonization- and a power that attempted to challenge their global hegemony. I learned about gunboat diplomacy and how the US war machine is the thing that really backs the dollar in David Graber’s excellent book called Debt: The First 5000 Years (mentioned in 10 Ideas from 2021). This video further expounds on their disgusting strategies to coerce nations for private gain, all in the guise of ‘peacekeeping ops’. But we’re not sure how long the hegemony and the petrodollar system might last, as is being fomented by threads such as this one. Ray Dalio, in fact, believes that the US is in the pre-final stages of a cycle that culminates in civil war. When this man talks about the big cycles of history, I listen. Here’s an excerpt taken from his new book on the factors that indicate the arrival of a potential internal conflict. Excellent stuff- makes me want to pick up the book real soon.
Now, I cannot just have ideas in my articles, so here’s the silliest Tweet of the Month for your viewing pleasure:
Thanks for reading till the end. If you learned anything new or interesting in February, please share it in response to this email (or comment on the site). Cheers!
Appreciate the diversity of topics you have covered here. Keep up the good work!
Learned something new. I even shared it on a group.