Collaborations among humans

There is a series of interesting articles in The Economist on human evolution. The most interesting point was the observation that human brains are hardwired to detect injustice. This means that even our ancestors could distinguish between friends and foes based on previous actions done by their counterparts. A good deed was returned by a good deed, but selfishness was not favored. Such trust based relationships are not seen in other species at all. In fact, some scientists are of the opinion that the reason for the larger size of the human brain is to enable this collaborative function among humans because it requires more brain processing. So much so, there is a high correlation between the brain:body ratio and the size of the group that a species lives in. For humans, this mean size is around 150, which was also the typical size of a primitive hunter-gatherer group. The rise of a collaborative society based on trust relationships acquired over time, is also considered responsible for the development of language, and consequently, for the use of language for manipulations and politics. All in all, there seems to be a high value in detecting levels of trust and reputations among humans for any kind of communication activities.

Similarity of conflicts in Iraq, with Indo-Pak skirmishes

The resistance of the Sunni population of Iraq to the Shia dominated democratic government has led to an increasing number of skirmishes and demonstrations, and is feared to make the American dream of a democratic Iraq run out of steam. Isn't this very similar to how things would have been in India had the partition not taken place? It will be interesting to see how things unfold over the years to come. Can Iraq surmount the communal resistance and remain united, or will the system break down? This will help us answer the ifs and buts and justifications of the Indo-Pak partition, and whether things would have been better or worse today without the parition.

Snow soccer

A new addition to soccer games - snow soccer! It's basically soccer, but it's played in 30cm of snow. It's real fun - try it some time. The pluses: You get to try out amazing shots with diving headers and Pele style bicycle kicks. The minuses: Nothing really, except that you feet get very cold.

We even have an Orkut community on this: http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=6986020

King Kong, the movie

What do you get when stupid veggie dinosaurs don't know how to run and just keep tumbling upon each other? King Kong.

What do you get when a girl tries to teach a gorilla to say 'beautiful'? King Kong.

What do you get when dinosaurs and gorillas turn into trapeze artists? King Kong.

Oh boy, if you want to do something for yourself, then don't watch King Kong. I was totally speechless after the movie that how could Peter Jackson turn evil enough to unleash this torture upon us innocent mortals of the world.

I wonder where the ugly natives who came in the beginning of the movie, totally disappeared after they sacrificed the girl. And I wonder which garment company made the girl's top because the seemingly ultra slender straps never broke off during her entire roller-coaster rides with the gorilla. Speaking of the gorilla, I wonder where his pee-pee was located - I desperately tried to find it but I couldn't!