000-tobecategorised
https://theprint.in/opinion/the-psychological-condition-that-binds-modi-gandhi-and-kejriwal/34281/ This is a remarkable coincidence, the three most important players in our national politics referring to themselves in the third person with an air of grandeur. In my recollection we had never seen this in the past — definitely not in the nearly four decades that I have watched politics. Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Sonia Gandhi, all mass leaders, never spoke like this. Nor did Nehru and Gandhi... the practice of referring to yourself in the third person is indeed recognised by psychology and is called “illeism”. ..Illeism is a symptom of discomfort with the self… narcissistic wounds are being defended by identifying with a grandiose false self while the true self is fragile…”
Winner-takes-all is a feudal mindset and it was reflected in the BJP’s cussed denial of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post to Congress, even if it fell below the minimum number of MPs needed. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is too arrogant to respect either the logic of the people’s mandate giving the BJP 282 seats in the Lok Sabha, or humility to accept the reality of its own 48. Kejriwal, with social media and TV prime time as his force-multipliers, functions with utter disdain of the other two.
Modi’s 1st year as a coalition PM: 11 points where he was right, indifferent or wrong & 3 challenges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2UMeUs5vUY
Social platforms have transformed how we communicate, often encouraging users to share without reflection. Rather than appealing to our reasoning faculties, these systems exploit cognitive biases, fostering addictive behaviours that erode our capacity for focused thought. This manipulation of attention has far-reaching implications, not only for individual cognition but also for collective autonomy.
Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court once noted, “Minds are not changed in streets and parks as they once were. To an increasing degree, the more significant interchanges of ideas and shaping of public consciousness occur in mass and electronic media”. This observation underscores a shift from traditional public discourse to algorithmically mediated interaction, where information flows are technology driven.
A darker potential looms in the prospect of technologies capable of influencing, interpreting, or even controlling thought itself—akin to the phenomenon of “Doublethink”, to borrow from Orwell’s ‘1984’, where individuals were compelled to abandon personal perception in favour of officially sanctioned narratives. In such a world, privacy of thought vanishes, replaced by surveillance so pervasive that even dreams or diary entries could incriminate.
The United Nations raised red flags in 2021 about the ethical risks of emerging neurotechnologies designed to decode, predict, or alter human thought. Companies like Meta and Neuralink are racing to develop brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can convert neural activity into digital output in real-time.
These systems could allow users to control devices with their thoughts but they also risk breaching the last bastion of human freedom: the mind itself.
Despite its critical importance, the right to freedom of thought (‘FoT’) remains underdeveloped in both law and discourse.
Importantly, safeguarding FoT is not just the duty of governments. Citizens, too, must recognise its value. Thinking critically is neither easy nor always comfortable. It requires effort, courage, and openness to uncertainty.
As noted, “Relatively few people want to think. Thinking troubles us; thinking tires us.” But the cost of neglecting this right may be far greater. If freedom of thought is eroded by invasive technologies, coercive platforms, or passive disinterest we risk losing not only our dignity and democracy, but our humanity itself. As we navigate the complexities of the digital age, we must ensure that the last refuge of freedom “the human mind” remains protected from prying eyes and manipulative hands.
by Mahima Garg
02/06/2025
India's Adani denies sanctions evasion or Iran LPG trade after WSJ reports US probe https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-billionaire-gautam-adani-comes-under-new-scrutiny-us-prosecutors-wsj-2025-06-02/ By Reuters June 2, 2025
America में अब नए केस में भंयकर फंस गए Adani, जांच शुरू! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyCyhBIwPNY Ashok Wankhede | Ashish Chitranshi
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