SAMVAD (Together In Conversation)

Sunil Rao
  • 4.9 (7)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated weekly

Our life experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is important and most of the times we are so indifferent to it. It is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. We feed the hunger blindly. Once the mechanism is brought to our attention and we begin to study it, it is as if a veil has been stripped off ordinary life, and we become freer in our action and choices.

Episodes

  1. 31 Aug

    Internet – Veracity and Virality and Why Everything We do Matters

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the last week of May 2026, I shared an excerpt titled ‘Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters’, which is from the book titled – ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. In his book Brian points that Contrary to our instinctive beliefs, cause and effect are never simple and easy to understand: any specific outcome is dependent not only on what appear to be the major events leading up to it, but also on an array of seemingly insignificant, arbitrary, easily overlooked factors, “flukes”—some under our control, but countless others not. The excerpt highlights that, we, are often oblivious of how small, contingent changes change our lives and shift our societies. Some are random accidents, such as mutations in DNA. Others are deliberate, but minor, decisions we make. They’re happening constantly. We tell ourselves that we’re in control of our lives. The truth is that everything is constantly in flux, including ourselves. We live in a world defined by what we might call contingent convergence, which is broadly how change happens. There is order and structure, but the snooze-button effect is real. That leads to an unsettling, but also exhilarating, truth: every moment matters. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Internet – Veracity and Virality and Why Every Thing We do Matters’, which is from the book titled – ‘LikeWar – The Weaponization of Social Media’ by Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking. This book traces the ways that social media has created a new environment for conflict. Although the truth, in the form of information, is more widely available than ever before, it can be buried in a sea of likes and lies. Internet – Veracity and Virality and Why Every Thing We do Matters Most people don’t ponder deeply when they click “share.” They are just passing on things that they find notable or that might sway others. Yet is shapes them all the same. As users respond positively to certain types of content, the algorithms that drive social media’s newsfeeds, ensure that they see more of it. As they see more, they share more, affecting all others in their extended network. Like ripples in a pond, each of these small decisions expands outward, altering the flow of information across the entire system. Social media algorithms work by drawing attention to content that trends on their networks, even (and especially) when people are outraged by it. The result is the virtual equivalent of a grease fire, where widespread condemnation of something ensures that new groups of users see it and condemn it in return. Because virality is incompatible with complexity, as content trends, any context and details are quickly stripped away. All that remains is the controversy itself, spread unwittingly by people who feel the need to “weigh in” on how fake or nonsensical it sounds. Even as they complain about how big it has gotten, they make it bigger. The internet has become the fastest and largest medium of global communication and is the apex coming together of individual connection and mass transmission. The internet is integral to not just business but also to militaries, governments and activists. Since virality clearly overwhelms truth, what is known can be reshaped. Lines between “war” and “politics” have not just blurred but overlapped completely in each other. Being online puts your attention as the most contested piece of territory. Everything one watches, likes and shares represents a tiny ripple on the information battlefield privileging one side at the expense of the other. Excerpt from ‘LikeWar – The Weaponization of Social Media’ by Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking. I am sure that you will enjoy reading the book and find it thought provoking too; to buy your copy and read a review, you can click on the following link: Books Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.

  2. 24 May

    Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the first week of May 2026, I shared an excerpt titled ‘Control Theory and its Underpinning’, which is from the book titled – ‘Human Compatible – AI and the Problem of Control’ by Stuart Russell. Russell suggests that we can rebuild AI on a new foundation, according to which machines are designed to be inherently uncertain about the human preferences they are required to satisfy. It also points to this fact – ‘If we use, to achieve our purpose, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot interfere effectively…we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire’. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters’, which is from the book titled – ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. In his book Brian points that Contrary to our instinctive beliefs, cause and effect are never simple and easy to understand: any specific outcome is dependent not only on what appear to be the major events leading up to it, but also on an array of seemingly insignificant, arbitrary, easily overlooked factors, “flukes”—some under our control, but countless others not. Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters We’re often blind to the possible jolts until they happen. We follow routines, the world ticks on day by day, and little changes don’t seem to matter. The morning news comes on at seven like clockwork. The commute takes between twenty and twenty-five minutes. From our perspective, the creeps of convergence appear supreme. But then, ever so often, our lives-and our societies-drastically change from the jerks of contingent events. Sometimes, these shifts are the culmination of lots of little changes. They build up over time, until they reach a tipping point, and everything collapses. Other times, seemingly independent individual trajectories become causally interlinked. Imagine a fly buzzing around for hours, exploring empty space, until suddenly it collides with the eye of a motorcyclist, who swerves, crashes and dies. The trajectory of that fly mattered enormously to the life of the motorcyclist, but he was oblivious of the importance of that fly to the trajectory of his life-until it was too late. In that way, we, are often oblivious of how small, contingent changes change our lives and shift our societies. Some are random accidents, such as mutations in DNA. Others are deliberate, but minor, decisions we make. They’re happening constantly. We tell ourselves that we’re in control of our lives. The truth is that everything is constantly in flux, including ourselves. We live in a world defined by what we might call contingent convergence, which is broadly how change happens. There’s order and structure, but the snooze-button effect is real. That leads to an unsettling, but also exhilarating, truth: every moment matters.    Excerpt from ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. I am sure that you will enjoy reading the book and find it thought provoking too; to buy your copy and read a review, you can click on the following link: Books Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.

  3. 5 May

    Control Theory and its Underpinning

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the last week of March 2026, I shared an excerpt titled ‘Thought, Perception and The Hidden Dimension’, from the book – ‘The Hidden Dimension’ by Edward T. Hall. The central theme of the book is social and personal space and man’s (Human being) perception of it.It highlighted that, Communication constitutes the core of culture and indeed life itself and language, is more than just a medium for expressing thought. It is, in fact, a major element in the formation of thought. And finally, Man has elaborated his extensions to such a degree that we are apt to forget that this humanness is rooted in his animal nature. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Control Theory and its Underpinning’, which is from a book titled – ‘Human Compatible – AI and the Problem of Control’ by Stuart Russell. Russell suggests that we can rebuild AI on a new foundation, according to which machines are designed to be inherently uncertain about the human preferences they are required to satisfy. Such machines would be humble, altruistic, and committed to pursue our objectives, not theirs. This new foundation would allow us to create machines that are provably deferential and provably beneficial. Control Theory and its Underpinning In the field of control theory, which designs control systems for everything from jumbo jets to insulin pumps, the job of the system is to minimize a cost function that typically measures some deviation from a desired behaviour. In the field of economics, mechanisms and policies are designed to maximize the utility of individuals, the welfare of groups, and the profit of corporations. In operations research, which solves complex logistical and manufacturing problems, a solution maximizes an unexpected sum of rewards over time. Finally, in statistics, learning algorithms are designed to minimize an expected loss function that defines the cost of making prediction errors The drawback of the above standard model was pointed out in the 1960 by Norbert Wiener, professor at MIT, in his paper titled – “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation”, in his main point stated below: If we use, to achieve our purpose, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot interfere effectively…we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire. Excerpt from ‘Human Compatible – AI and the Problem of Control’ by Stuart Russell. I am sure that you will enjoy reading the book and find it thought provoking too; to buy your copy, you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/books/human-compatible Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.

  4. 29 Mar

    Thought, Perception and The Hidden Dimension

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the last week of February 2026, I shared an excerpt titled ‘Ways to Think About Economy in the 21st Century’, which is from the book titled – ‘Doughnut Economics’ – Seven Ways to Think like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth. It highlighted, “What if we started economics not with its long-established theories, but with humanity’s long-term goals, and then sought out the economic thinking that would enable us to achieve them?”. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Thought, Perception and The Hidden Dimension’, which is from the book titled – ‘The Hidden Dimension’ by Edward T. Hall. The central theme of the book is social and personal space and man’s (Human being) perception of it. Thought, Perception and The Hidden Dimension Communication constitutes the core of culture and indeed life itself. Language, is more than just a medium for expressing thought. It is, in fact, a major element in the formation of thought. Furthermore, to use a figure from our own day, man’s very perception of the world about him is programmed by the language he speaks, just as a computer is programmed. Man’s mind will register and structure external reality only in accordance with the program. Since two languages often program the same class of events quiet differently, no belief or philosophical system should be considered apart from language. Cultural systems pattern (Human) behaviour in radically different ways, but they (Human behaviour) are deeply rooted in biology and physiology. He (Human) is distinguished from other animals by virtue of the fact that he has elaborated what I have termed extensions of his organism. By developing his extensions, man has been able to improve or specialize various functions. The computer is an extension of part of the brain, the telephone extends the voice, the wheel extends the legs and feet. Language extends experience in time and space while writing extends language. Man (Human’s) has elaborated his extensions to such a degree that we are apt to forget that this humanness is rooted in his animal nature. Man (Human’s) has elaborated and specialized his extensions to such a degree that they have taken over, and rapidly replacing nature. In other words, man (human’s) has created a new dimension, the cultural dimension. Man (Human’s) is now in the position of actually creating the total world in which he lives, what the ethologists refer to as his biotope. In creating this world, he is actually determining what kind of an organism he will be. Excerpt from ‘The Hidden Dimension’ by Edward T. Hall. I am sure that you will enjoy reading the book and find it thought provoking too; to buy your copy, you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/books/the-hidden-dimension Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.

  5. 22 Feb

    Ways to Think About Economy in the 21st Century

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the last week of January 2026, I shared an excerpt from a reflective field note titled ‘What AI Can’t and Shouldn’t Replace’. The field note points out that, what we’ll give up for AI if we’re not careful is an essential degree of challenge and struggle in our pursuits which has a refining influence on our beings and defines us as humans. Therefore, we need to keep these systems as useful tools—and not more. Maintaining trust in human judgement is key to preventing them becoming insufficient replacements for our natural intelligence, as imperfect as it can be. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Ways to Think About Economy in the 21st Century’, which is from the book titled – ‘Doughnut Economics’ – Seven Ways to Think like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth, she is an economist whose research focuses on the social and ecological challenges of the 21st century. She is a Senior Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, and a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Ways to Think About Economy in the 21st Century “What if we started economics not with its long-established theories, but with humanity’s long-term goals, and then sought out the economic thinking that would enable us to achieve them?” The author uses a doughnut to illustrate this. The essence of the doughnut is a social foundation of well-being that no one should fall below, and an ecological ceiling of planetary pressure that we should not go beyond. Between the two lies a safe and just space for all. Economy is a dynamic network with myriads of interconnections and feedback loops, many of them in the insubstantial realm of ideas. We must recognize this dynamic complexity and design economic systems which are naturally regenerative. Moreover, that we must change our attitude to growth so as to avoid over-exploitation, while encouraging evolution where it is needed. Excerpt from ‘Doughnut Economics’ – Seven Ways to Think like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth. I am sure that you will enjoy reading the book and find it thought provoking too; to read a detailed review and buy your copy, you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/economy/doughnut-economics Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.

  6. 27 Jan

    AI US and The Road Ahead

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the last week of December 2025, I shared some excerpts from a message that I came across by Dr. Robert Svoboda. He is the first Westerner ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. The key message was – To remain awake without becoming overwhelmed, engaged without becoming entangled, serious without becoming grim. To keep our feet on the ground while the ground itself feels less stable. To remember that attention is a finite resource, and where we place it shapes not only how we see the world, but who we become inside it. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. As we embark onto a new calendar year, there is one thing that has been concerning and exciting to people who look at it accordingly and that is AI (Artificial Intelligence – Large Language Models – Neural Networks) and its effect on our lives. In this episode titled ‘AI US and The Road Ahead’ I would like to draw your attention to a reflective field note by Ella Jane Mortensen who, holds a BA in international studies, specialising in global health, the environment and Europe, with a minor in philosophy, titled ‘What AI Can’t and Shouldn’t Replace’ here she points to something important – like many things, the issue surrounding our use of AI comes down to one of degree. We should think carefully about what we delegate to the machines, and what we keep for the realms of human endeavor. AI US and The Road Ahead Most recently, Kristalina Georgieva; head of IMF told delegates in Davos (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/23/ai-tsunami-labour-market-youth-employment-says-head-of-imf-davos) that the IMF’s own research suggested there would be a big transformation of demand for skills, as the technology becomes increasingly widespread. “We expect over the next years, in advanced economies, 60% of jobs to be affected by AI, either enhanced or eliminated or transformed – 40% globally,” she said. “This is like a tsunami hitting the labour market.” Now to what Ella Jane Mortensen draws our attention to – What we’ll give up for AI if we’re not careful is an essential degree of challenge and struggle in our pursuits which has a refining influence on our beings and defines us as humans. Therefore, we need to keep these systems as useful tools—and not more. Maintaining trust in human judgement is key to preventing them becoming insufficient replacements for our natural intelligence, as imperfect as it can be. In their book The Axemaker’s Gift, Robert Ornstein and James Burke remind us that the adoption of new tools and technologies has always come at a cost, “changing the way humans view their relationships to each other and to nature.” Whether it was the axe, the wheel, the printing press, or the car, these tools help us operate in the world with greater efficiency, while eliminating more basic skills, relationships, or engagements with the world that we used before that new technology came along. Excerpt from ‘AI Can’t and Shouldn’t Replace’ byElla Jane Mortensen. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this post and find it thought provoking too; to read you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/field-note/what-ai-cant-and-shouldnt-replace Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.

  7. 29/12/2025

    A Message for All Times

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Four weeks ago, I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Making Accurate Predictions and Uncertainty’ from the blog-post titled ‘Can We Make More Accurate Predictions in Economics?’ by Ayubkhon Azamov writer, translator and educator with a background in economics.In this episode we drew attention to the point that our true strength lies not in flawlessly guessing tomorrow, but in building systems capable of withstanding whatever tomorrow brings. And getting to the truth of what lies ahead is approached neither with blind faith nor with total skepticism, but with a reasonable balance. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. As we come to a close of another calendar year, I would like to share some excerpts from a message that I came across by Dr. Robert Svoboda. Dr. Svoboda is the first Westerner ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. During and after his formal Ayurvedic training he was tutored in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Tantra and other forms of classical Indian lore by his mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda. He is the author of over a dozen books and has served as Adjunct Faculty at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM, and at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. You can find out more about his work at www.drsvoboda.com and follow him on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. A Message for All times To remain awake without becoming overwhelmed, engaged without becoming entangled, serious without becoming grim. To keep our feet on the ground while the ground itself feels less stable. To remember that attention is a finite resource, and where we place it shapes not only how we see the world, but who we become inside it. Change that comes as a series of low-grade disruptions rather than a clear crisis can cause the nervous system to oscillate between two unhealthy responses. Disengage: Scroll past, numb out, pretend its background noise. Over-engage: Doomscroll, obsess, try to control it all. Both paths lead to burnout, neither brings true balance. Strange times test us both by what they demand we endure and how well we are able to maintain our balance within our endurance. The middle path is not passive. It is disciplined. It asks us to choose when to look, how to look, and how long to look. It asks us to stay present without being consumed, informed without being inflamed. Namaste, Wishing you A Happy New Year!

  8. 30/11/2025

    Making Accurate Predictions and Uncertainty

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week, I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Conversations and Community’ from the book titled ‘The Argument Culture’ by Deborah Tannen, a distinguished university professor in the Linguistics Department at Georgetown University and author of many books and articles about how the language of everyday conversation affects relationships. In this episode we drew attention to the fact that in conversation we form the interpersonal ties that bind individuals together in personal relationships; in public discourse, we form similar ties on a large scale, binding individuals into a community. Community norms and pressure exercise a restraint on the expression of hostility and destruction. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Making Accurate Predictions and Uncertainty’ from a blog-post titled ‘Can We Make More Accurate Predictions in Economics?’ Ayubkhon Azamov writer, translator and educator with a background in economics. In this post he points out that if we accept uncertainty as part of the game and combine forecasting with adaptability, critical thinking, and stress testing, then forecasting ceases to be about fortune-telling and instead becomes a tool for preparing for an uncertain future, with all its surprises. Making Accurate Predictions and Uncertainty From the first farmers who watched the skies for rain to modern analysts armed with complex macro models, humanity has always sought to glimpse the future. Yet, history has shown that even the smartest formulas can’t save us from errors, even though we’d like to think they can. Question the assumptions, look at the ranges, compare the sources, and always have an alternate plan. Then even the most imperfect forecasts will cease to be a source of frustration and will instead become a resource for resilient decision-making: whether in your personal budget, corporate strategy, or public policy. After all, our true strength lies not in flawlessly guessing tomorrow, but in building systems capable of withstanding whatever tomorrow brings. Getting to the truth of what lies ahead is approached neither with blind faith nor with total skepticism, but with a reasonable balance. Excerpt from ‘Can We Make More Accurate Predictions in Economics?’ Ayubkhon Azamov. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this post and find it thought provoking too; to read you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/blog/can-we-make-more-accurate-predictions-in-economics Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!

  9. 09/11/2025

    Conversations and Community

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week, I shared an excerpt titled – ‘The Power of Words – Rhetoric and Reality’ from the book titled ‘The Axemaker’s Gift’ – Technology’s capture and control of our minds and Culture by James Burke and Robert Ornstein. In this episode we drew attention to the fact about Rhetoric, the art of presenting an argument so as to convince the listener, this according to Plato could make “small things seem large and large things seem small by some power of language and new things seem old fashioned and vice versa.”. Another aspect that was highlighted in Georgias writing was, when we communicate, we never exchange the thing but only the word for it, which is always other than the thing itself. So, every word introduces falsification of the thing it refers to, and this means that one can never reproduce reality and that any claim to be able to do so is a deception. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Conversations and Community’ from the book titled ‘The Argument Culture’ by Deborah Tannen, a distinguished university professor in the Linguistics Department at Georgetown University and author of many books and articles about how the language of everyday conversation affects relationships. This book is about a pervasive warlike atmosphere that makes us approach public dialogue, and just about anything we need to accomplish, as if it were a fight. It gives us new ways of resolving our differences and uncovering the honest truth. Conversations and Community In conversation we form the interpersonal ties that bind individuals together in personal relationships; in public discourse, we form similar ties on a large scale, binding individuals into a community. Community norms and pressure exercise a restraint on the expression of hostility and destruction. Many cultures have rituals to channel and contain aggressive impulses. In just this spirit, at a national convention of a political party in 1996 two politicians talked about growing up in small communities where everyone knew who they were. This meant that many people would look out for them, but also that if they did something wrong, it would get back to their parents. If a young person stole something, committed vandalism, or broke a rule or law, it would be reported to his relatives, who would punish him or tell him how his actions were shaming the family. Community is a blend of connections and authority. Excerpt from ‘The Argument Culture’ by Deborah Tannen. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this book and find it thought provoking, to read a brief overview you can click on the following link and subsequently buy your copy too: https://www.deborahtannen.com/the-argument-culture Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!

  10. 02/11/2025

    The Power of Words – Rhetoric and Reality

    Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week, I shared an excerpt titled – ‘The Power of Words – Do We Use Language or Is Language Using Us’ from the book titled ‘The Argument Culture’ by Deborah Tannen. In this episode we drew attention to the fact that when we think we are using language, language is simultaneously using us and it invisibly molds our way of thinking. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘The Power of Words – Rhetoric and Reality’ from the book titled ‘The Axemaker’s Gift’ – Technology’s capture and control of our minds and Culture by James Burke and Robert Ornstein. This book is about the people who gave us the world in exchange for our minds. The gifts we accepted from them gave us the power to change the way we lived, but doing so also changed the way we thought. It is a stunning account of how scientific thinking and technology have gained control over the way we perceive and value the world. The Power of Words – Rhetoric and Reality Georgias of Leontini, was born shortly before 480 B.C.E. in Leontini, in what is now Sicily. Georgias placed into the Greek theatre of ideas some of the fundamental issues in philosophy, with which we still grapple today. His subject matter has an unusually modern ring. One of the Sophists special skills was rhetoric, the art of presenting an argument so as to convince the listener. Georgias invented a lecturing style that involved conducting his lectures in the form of a debate. He would take first one side, then the other, and then give a supporting speech for either side, emphasizing the arbitrary, cut-and-combine nature of language. Plato complained that Georgias’ speeches could make “small things seem large and large things seem small by some power of language and new things seem old fashioned and vice versa.” But this emphasis that Georgias and the other Sophists placed on rhetoric was not just related to swaying political opinion. It came from a realization that the relationship between speech and “truth” is far from simple. Speech is not just a matter of presenting the facts, since considerable reorganization of the “facts” is involved in the way they are selected and sequenced. It was this difference between rhetoric and reality that lead Plato to contrast rhetoric with philosophy and to condemn it. Georgias held that when we communicate, we never exchange the thing but only the word for it, which is always other than the thing itself. So, every word introduces falsification of the thing it refers to, and this means that one can never reproduce reality and that any claim to be able to do so is a deception. But since this is exactly what all words claim, then all words are deceptions. If this is so, then the person who communicates best deceives most. While in the modern world this thought has a faintly political ring to it, the ancient Greeks lived in days before television. Excerpt from ‘The Axemaker’s Gift’ by James Burke and Robert Ornstein I am sure that you will enjoy reading this book; you can buy your copy from the following link: https://humanjourney.us/development/the-axemakers-gift-james-burke-robert-ornstein Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!

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Our life experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is important and most of the times we are so indifferent to it. It is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. We feed the hunger blindly. Once the mechanism is brought to our attention and we begin to study it, it is as if a veil has been stripped off ordinary life, and we become freer in our action and choices.

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