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Nudge (A commentary)

  Nudge  By Richard Thaler (A commentary) It should have been titled libertarian paternalism!  When we talk of freedom of thought, are we truly free thinking? The nascent thought that emanates in the core of our neural network finds expression in action not unlike a seed nurtured into a sapling. This nurturing of the thought that takes place is a culmination of all the cumulative influences borne by the psyche. The thought is individual as far as it originates in an individual. But after that it is subject to the influences experienced from the birth onwards. What we really mean by freedom of thought is the freedom to express it! Liberty of action has its basis in freedom of thought. People consider libertarian behavior as their birthright. They would like to live life on their terms unfettered by the written and unwritten rules of social niceties and norms. However people do not live in cocoons. They are a part of society where each one's action has a bearing on ...
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Touching the void

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  Touching the void (adapted from a true story) Joe and Simon, two friends, fellow mountaineers, set out to climb an obscure unclimbed peak in the Peruvian Andes. Theirs was the classical Alpine style of attempting the peak. This meant they would be on their own, totally unsupported. All their needs taken along on their backs in their rucksacks. No backup. Neither of supplies nor of help or rescue. They had only each other for support. The confidence in each other’s abilities was complete and so was their trust. They would back each other to bail them out of trouble on the mountain any day. Initial few days were spent in looking up at the mountain from their base camp which they set up at the foot of a moraine beneath the glacier over which they planned to approach the mountain. The mountain looked stunning and unclimbable from what they could see from their location. However one couldn’t really know unless one tried and that’s exactly what they wanted to find out. A way to the t...
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