tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979458973577483784.post8083533035295244279..comments2021-02-22T02:00:31.818-05:00Comments on Brain Waves of Unknown Frequency: The Consequences of Choice (Part 2): Why China is overtaking the US and leaving behind IndiaSrikanthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383973129727546727noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979458973577483784.post-81300662944210231502010-03-19T00:24:37.665-04:002010-03-19T00:24:37.665-04:00Actually I did not think about how choices become ...Actually I did not think about how choices become available until you asked. Have you read the 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost:<br />"TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, <br />And sorry I could not travel both..."<br />It makes you think that the choices have already been laid out and that you have to make a decision when you get to the intersection. But fortunately or unfortunately that is not to be the case. You said "somehow most decisions converge to picking one or more sticky choices", but this whole drama is enacted only in your head. And just like in the case of decisions converging, the diverging of choices are also played out in our minds.<br />You create them every time you stop and think, when you are not certain what you want, or when you don't have enough information about the possible result of the choices. Thus Frost continued:<br />"And be one traveler, long I stood <br />And looked down one as far as I could <br />To where it bent in the undergrowth..."<br /><br />What my friend Vishnu pointed out is indeed true but, you can reason out the choices only if you sufficiently sure of their consequences. Like in Matrix-3 where the Oracle tells Neo,"We can never see past the choices we don't understand" and follows it up with "No, you've already made the choice. Now you have to understand it". For example when you are driving to your friend's place, you don't stop at every intersection to deliberate what you should do because you have answered both questions... i.e. what do you want? (get to friend's place) and which path takes you there (direction to destination/what awaits you at the end of that path).<br /><br />Having said that an important revelation just dawned on me. Subconsciously and at a subtle level I have been writing my own life story here. ;P<br /><br />Now coming to your second question...<br />I believe it is indeed true that there no cohesion because of the fact that there is no central authority to enforce choices on the people. It is impossible to have 100% of the population to be happy with what is chosen for them, but one can always work for majority. Still you don't dole out the options directly. You first gyrate people towards a common platform by striking on sentiments before enforcing the restrictions. A precious opportunity to achieve that was squandered away in 1947. Now that it was wasted, some minority groups are being influenced towards the very same possibility.Srikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08383973129727546727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979458973577483784.post-69222192856489654242010-03-13T19:11:32.235-05:002010-03-13T19:11:32.235-05:00Even when there are umpteen choices, somehow most ...Even when there are umpteen choices, somehow most decisions converge to picking one or more sticky choices. As a precursor to your theory, I could go about asking how choices become available and whether choices are specific to environments. In the case of India and China, I am tempted to ask ... is India always at unrest because nobody cares to unite to pick one good choice? I wonder ...Vidhyaahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09563308696423153993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979458973577483784.post-6290655731351338462010-03-12T17:44:27.723-05:002010-03-12T17:44:27.723-05:00can we really reason out all choices?can we really reason out all choices?Srikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08383973129727546727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979458973577483784.post-27506987409051900062010-03-12T12:19:58.580-05:002010-03-12T12:19:58.580-05:00Srikanth, in Matrix II - there is a plot which exp...Srikanth, in Matrix II - there is a plot which explains the nuance of choice in a society (reasoning is similar to yours). Personally, if you reason out before each decision there will be only few or no choices .Vishnuvardhanan Vijayakumarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076672567720231339noreply@blogger.com