The University Campus

Iranian Street Uprisings

2022-12-18T21:00:00.002+01:00

I remember in 2011, among circles of friends or international co-workers, we sometimes discussed the so-called Arab Spring. Back then, people were excited that these series of bottom-up social uprisings would bring a whole wave of democracy and liberalism to the Middle Eastern countries and wipe the long-standing dictatorships; some of whom backed by the western states, as well. I was personally not very hopeful that Arabs would be rewarded with any freedom in results of their noble endeavors, even if they succeed toppling down their strong dictators or authoritarian regimes. Eleven years thereafter I, in my lack of hope, was arguably right. Egypt is more oppressive, Iraq is much more chaotic and not that democratic and free, Libya is a failed state, Syria is in civil war, and so on.

You see, democracy and liberalism are not achievable over night, rather are the results of decades of social evolutions (and not revolutions), during which democratic institutions are developed and nourished. Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder in their studies "Democratization and Civil War" (2008), using a statistical analysis, argue and confirm their hypothesis that in the aftermath of the collapsed authoritarian regimes and in the vacuum free from a centralized power and order, an initial stage of chaos is inevitable.

Only a strong leader or powerful political opposition group may bring this boat of the revolution back to the shore safe and sound from that chaotic journey. However, dictators and authoritarian regimes are normally effective, through years of being in absolute power, in eliminating all notable leadership in the oppositions.

The Iranian authoritarian regime, over four decades, has eliminated or politically paralyzed notable opposition including all technocratic leaders, political elites, social leaders, even most notable religious leaders. It is hardly arguable that the Iranians, mostly millennials, have achieved much in collapsing the Akhunds' authoritarian regime thus far, however even if they truly succeed, I am sadly not optimistic that it would be much of an achievement en route to freedom and liberalism; should anyone care in the first place.

Numerical Fraud

2022-12-17T21:18:00.004+01:00

When you see someone uses numbers and percentages while arguing about something, you need to ask yourself, and ask them if time and place allow, first to give you the exact address of the survey or research or other forms of publications where these numbers are coming from. Second, we all need to know that some percentage says very little, even despite being large, sometimes of any association between two factors, issues, or phenomenon.

Statisticians apply complex mathematical and econometric models over “large” and multi-faceted data just to be content with some ceteris paribus relationship between two factors, meaning everything else constant (i.e. ignored). Then they use other complex mathematical tests to reject themselves, within some statistical confidence, e.g. 95% (by the way, that doesn’t mean they would be 95% sure). Only then, they may say there might be some correlation, and not causation, between the two factors.

Let me put it this way, it’s way more efficient to say your opinion about something if you have the courage and not be afraid of being incorrect. Do not be tempted to deceive people with numbers. That’s fraud.

Group Identity

2022-12-16T21:16:00.001+01:00

Among the many reasons I despise group identities, because of which and with reasonable pragmatism, I am willing do anything to avoid being associated with such identities, are the most often-seen properties of such identities, that is neglecting the evils and weaknesses and shortcomings of the groups, while only ever and everywhere bragging of and showing off the virtues of it.

But I also understand that any hope of a group that has an ability of self-criticism, or at least an ability of being objective with its “good” and “bad”, is a hope in vain.

Groups, religious or nationalistic or linguistic or ethnic or you name it, are founded based on a principle of “we-are-essentially-and-necessarily-better-than-them”; and hence that is the morality of it. You can’t speak reason with a group representative, who is “morally superior”.

All too human

2022-12-11T21:15:00.001+01:00

We humans are so strange creatures. We are afraid of living alone, mostly because we are incapable of taking care of ourselves but also because of the stigmas around that person who is lonely.

But again, we despise each other and each others’ habits and way of living. We create religion just to show our hate towards the other religions, we become fascist to kill others, we start the cult of veganism because we don’t like others’ food, not that we really embrace the discomfort of getting ourselves separated from the modern life; which has supposedly destroyed the planet. We hate our roommate’s music, and they sufficiently hate back our stuff…

We humans are strange. I personally don’t hate us for that. It’s just the way it is.

Family

2022-12-03T21:14:00.001+01:00

The purpose of establishing a family is not happiness, has never been in fact; though it has been used as a means to achieve happiness as well.

Family is the nucleus of the traditional society built on a patriarchal system, where the skeleton has been land ownership transferred to successors through the name of the patriarch. The larger the ownership, the higher demand for a stronger family.

If you have a choice, seek your quest for happiness anywhere but in a founding a family, not unless you have a lot of property!

Dumbness and Questions

2022-11-30T21:13:00.001+01:00

A question can not be “dumb”, “stupid”, or in general bad. That is conceptually and technically contradictory to state.

Stupidity (or equivalently dumbness) may exist in behavior or in a statement, where an incoherent and inconsistent conclusion from a set of prior knowledge, or such judgements having a set of prior knowledge, exists. Another word, knowledge comes first, stupidity could potentially come next. Reversing this process is technically problematic.

Purpose of a question by design is to seek knowledge. Not unless seeking the knowledge is regarded a questionable act, calling merely such pursuits dumb is by itself incoherent, inconsistent, and may well be called “dumb”.

Standing useless

2022-11-27T21:11:00.001+01:00

To be a populist, argue in a way that is leaning towards one side of the social discourse, and take your position steep.

Fast way to be unpopular or ignored all the way is to “uselessly” stand somewhere in the middle struggling to convince the society that there may be more to the truth than where each side stands.

Like no other force

2022-11-26T21:08:00.001+01:00

There is a good amount of evidence* that shows women like men’s vulnerability, but they don’t respect it. Men showing vulnerability appears “beautiful” to them so long as it is only said and not shown.

Women do not like men to be invincible because that state of men will be too confusing for them. They despise that confusion and lack of clarity but at the same time are pulled by its strong gravitational force.

------------------------------------------

*I don’t know I just hope there is, otherwise I’m screwed.

World Cup 2022

2022-11-21T21:06:00.001+01:00

The opening ceremony of the World Cup 2022 Qatar was disappointing.

This ceremony is typically perceived as a chance to show off greatness and celebrity and eminence of culture and way-of-life of the host’s; a commemoration of the history and background of its people and its land.

Qataris could have done a better job of showmanship of illustrating more exotic themes such as those of “One-Thousand-and-One-Night” and the like.

Trying to convince the West that you are a culture of tolerance and pluralism is a pathetic and pointless and lame attempt.

Be yourself, and if you are “bad”, be one very well.

... I see nothing

2022-11-20T21:03:00.001+01:00

Social uprisings against autocratic dictatorships on the streets are emotional, are personal, exciting, full of heat and anger and sacrifices, and the more it ages the hotter it gets, more personal it becomes.

Such uprisings most often lack effective leadership, whereas dictators often have done well in eliminating any notable opposition. In such absence, uprisings are not meaningless but very well pointless.

The cause may be good but a good cause needs a battle well fought. More importantly, leaders are needed in the aftermath of the battle.

Very a few of uprisings have led to freedom, liberty, and democracy, if any at all.

At the end of that tunnel of uprisings, I see nothing.

You still can give up

2022-11-19T21:01:00.001+01:00

You give up because you still have other options, or you think you do.

I never give up, not because I am such a determined person necessarily, but because I see no other way out, and I know it.

Human vs the Sacred

2022-11-14T20:59:00.001+01:00

There is noting sacred about the so-called “declaration of human rights”, or allow me to put it this way, I hope not. Calling it “human” would be followed immediately with the idea that it is against the sacred past; the past that was magical and godly and metaphysical, and sacred.

Humanism, risen on the ruins of the gods, was flourished with the idea that pursuit of knowledge and ethics can originate not from the god, whereas “the god was already dead”, but from reason based on facts, more importantly and more precisely, our current understanding of the facts.

Human understanding could be diverse and and potentially subjective despite the ever struggle to avoid and evade such errors of the latter; whereas the former, i.e. the diversity is helping him or her to see the many aspects of facts.

Sacred is one but human is many; the sacred, if you will, could be the many a human.

You leave

2022-11-13T20:57:00.001+01:00

“… this is what we always do, we always go in with our ideas change the world, and then we leave. We always leave. But the ball keeps on bouncing. “

-----------------

Charlie Wilson at Charlie Wilson’s War.

This movie was released in 2007. I wish Americans learned anything from the past.

Not too expensive

2022-11-10T20:55:00.001+01:00

Nothing would have been too expensive if knew I would only live by end of the night.

…

I was helped to wake up at around 2 in the morning by a drunk one screaming loud outside my window and thought how poor was I sleeping!

Angry

2022-11-06T20:54:00.001+01:00

You spoke loud but said nothing…

Economics of Love

2022-11-05T20:52:00.001+01:00

The application of supply and demand dynamics in economics could be extended, not with much efforts, to other realms of human behavior such as supply of and demand for attention, interest, passion, and love; whereas is it not the case that demand and supply of such so-called non-material needs or wants of man are not independent of his spirit that follow an unbelievably predictable tendencies.

One could see that the price and value of love and passion and attention that an individual supplies are not from intrinsic properties of such emotions but follow certain and sufficiently finite set of external factors. These factors determine the economics of love, which may include level of supply, availability of supply of substitutes, i.e. love and attention from elsewhere, among others…

I must stop drinking...

There are more important things

2022-10-20T20:49:00.001+02:00

Our attitude towards “the different” should be embracing not repulsive, and from tolerance not obligation.

I’d rather be embracing differences of ideas not appearances. In the so load age of expansive data, it is an exceedingly difficult task though to be heard.

Watching the Rings of Power, one can not ignore how ludicrous it seems the creators of the series try to be politically correct by mingling facially different races in one village or even in one family.

That’s highlighting the insignificance as the cost of neglecting the importance of the differences of ideas.

Relationship

2022-10-19T20:48:00.001+02:00

Being in a relationship is in a sense like having a trade position in the financial market; the moment you start hoping the situation get better, you should get out.

Pop-up quiz!

2022-10-12T20:41:00.001+02:00

There is a bank-run. Everyone is in the state of panic, and on the run to the bank, both figuratively and literally. You’re the last rational individual in town. What would you do?

Bankers and good and evil

2022-09-29T20:36:00.001+02:00

If the bankers are the "villains" of the society because they are making money from others wrong financial bets (i.e. decisions), imagine a doctor making money from others' wrong physical bets or a cleaning service staff making money from others' poor behavior, and so on.

Bankers don't care to be morally judged because their honesty, contrary to society's views about them, is socially naked and unsophisticated. A doctor's dishonesty is socially complex and their self-made ethics is injected to and deeply blended with our mental blood vessels.

There is no right and wrong, THAT can not be critically re-evaluated, and its necessity not be reconsidered, and its structure not be reconstructed.

Inactive

2022-09-22T20:33:00.001+02:00

A wise one does nothing, where inactivity produces the least loss most probably.

Failure

2022-09-16T20:30:00.001+02:00

Lesson lead to knowledge, mistakes to expertise, but only , and once the time arrives, this is failure that is the only path to wisdom.

Kittens

2022-09-10T20:20:00.006+02:00

"[...] every kitten grows up to be a cat. They seem so harmless at first. Small, quiet, lapping up their saucer of milk. But once their claws get long enough, they draw blood."

---------

Frank Underwood

Don't leave us behind

2021-04-20T08:44:00.003+02:00

I remember when Karzai refused to sign the long-term US-Afghan security pact back in 2012, there was not even a single person admiring him, in Afghanistan or internationally. Everyone called him a traitor. He thought though, very transparently, that the history is on his side. Global superpowers leave, you are left with the label of "puppet" on your forehead, forever.

The U.S. leaves with ZERO boots left behind because, exactly, they were defeated. They run away from the battleground of liberalism with tails between their legs. This is cowardice. If the U.S. didn't fail, they would keep their military presence in Afghanistan forever; that was what and why all Afghans wish for by signing of that security pact. Well, looks like Karzai was more of a realist one, 9 years ago.

Where are all those chants of democracy and liberalism? Where are those NYT writers, who are criticizing 24/7 everything Chinese and Russian?

Americans have a choice in future, to either leave us alone with our own, let it be barbaric, culture, government, and lifestyle, or when it destroys that, to accept responsibility to replace it with something solid, let it be a forever endeavor. Don't leave us with a vacuum of chaos!

Irresponsible superpower

2021-04-19T10:50:00.000+02:00

There is no such thing as "deep tribal society" in anyone's genes. I am no expert in sociology but I guess people join a group because they have to, because they want to protect themselves in times of conflict. Much like in some Brooklyn's gang neighborhood, or whatever it's called. In good times, when the sun is shining, wind is winding, business is as usual, AND, the skirts are short enough, no one cares about tribe; no one cared about ethnicity in Afghanistan.

The problem is this isn't the first time the U.S. goes somewhere, practices its military prowess, and when its taxpayers' short-lived attentions turned to something else, they leave, leaving a whole nation in misery. Because politicians see that they can't cast any more votes out of such topics like Afghanistan. No imperialist superpower in the history, since Alexander the Great, has been behaving such irresponsibly as the U.S., today.

They had so many chances in 2002 to turn things in the right direction. They chose not to. They chose to pick the most corrupt warlords to make them leaders, ignoring qualified, talented, good Afghan people. The U.S. cultivated, nurtured, and strengthened an administrative culture of corruption in Afghanistan by DoD contracts. Because it was more convenient for some administrative officials or CIA operatives. In Taliban's era, shopkeepers left their shops unattended to go for midday prayers, and no one was even thinking of looting the shop. Try that now!