Die Philosophie der Freiheit II (Essay von Deepak Loomba). The Philosophy of Freedom (An essay by Deepak Loomba)

This essay is dedicated to Austrian Philosopher-Reformer Rudolf Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (1861–1925), who wrote Die Philosophie der Freiheit (The Philosophy of Freedom). Who followed in the footsteps of thinkers like Kant & Fichte in the area of epistemology (Theory of knowledge). This essay is a small humble cantilever projected on the solid columns that thinkers like Steiner created. 

    I am the N^th writer-thinker, who is applying his mind on the concept of freedom. Nonetheless, I bid in this short essay, to open a new window to the beautiful landscape of freedom. Every phenomenon in the universe differs depending on the location & conditions of the observer. Every new thought on freedom is discovery of another new position, a new angle & position from which to view the same statute. Thus, making the comprehension of mankind more circumferent & encompassing.

 NO CHOICE, NO FREEDOM

    No freedom exists in all such cases, when there is neither a choice for an event to happen or not, nor to happen in a different way than that in which it would happen would no freedom/choice be exercised. Therefore, lack of choice is lack of freedom.

 FREEDOM IS SUB-OPTIMAL

    Everything that occurs along the path-of-least-resistance is spontaneous. Spontaneous is that which will occur by itself without need of any energy input from outside. Like a river flowing from the mountains to the ocean or high potential electric charge falling from sky onto earth as lightening or the universe expanding. Indeed, all of these will happen even if we (living-beings possessing intent and capability to apply force & effort either to resist or reverse spontaneous change or conversely, accelerate it) disappear from the universe leaving in the wake of such annihilation only non-living objects and materials. Since no additional energy is required for a phenomenon to occur along the path of least resistance, such a path of its occurrence is the optimal one. Spontaneity is optimal in nature because it always takes the 'path of least resistance'. Any path proscribing this path of least resistance therefore, automatically becomes sub-optimal.

    In a world, where there is nothing non-spontaneous, everything occurs by second law of thermodynamics (increasing entropy) that too by a deterministic path of least resistance. How then could we detect non-spontaneity and in consequence intent in a universe of spontaneity? The necessary condition for intent to be detected is digression from the path-of-least-resistance  and optimality.

    The moment something sub-optimal happens, the necessary conditions (not sufficient) for intent to occur are fulfilled.

     First draft of definition of freedom according to me is, 

"the capability of an entity, system or phenomenon to occur, change or behave in anyway, other than the one in which it would in absence of intent/effort/additional-force/additional-energy applied."

    In case everything occurs spontaneously, along the path-of-least-resistance, choice ceases to exist, because spontaneity is optimal and unitary. Lack of choice leads to termination of freedom.

FREEDOM IS INEFFICIENT, EXPENSIVE & ENERGY INTENSIVE

    The closer one is to the path of least resistance & spontaneity, the lesser are the choices and chances of deviation from the optimal, unitary path and lesser is the freedom. 

    Therefore, any major deviation from the path of least resistance stands for freedom. Though it also means that the chosen path proscribes the path of least resistance and will hence cost in energy addition or subtraction from the system both of which need efforts/intent and energy. Therefore, intent and freedom of choice are indeed inefficient. The higher the inefficiency, the farther one is from the path of least resistance and hence freer. 

    Aforementioned makes it apparent that freedom is directly proportional to deviation from the path of least resistance, and consequent lack of efficiency.

    Freedom needs decrease or unnatural increase of entropy to happen, therefore needing input of energy in a system, such that higher the freedom, 

    Second draft of definition of freedom according to me is, 

"Freedom is the extent of deviation that an entity, system or phenomenon undergoes from the spontaneous, most efficient & optimal path of least resistance." 

     The farther the deviation, the more, exercised freedom.

UNREASONABLE RESIDENCE OF FREEDOM

Reason (Immanuel Kant's, 'Critic of Pure Reason') is an attribute of knowledge, while knowledge is applicable only on recurring processes & phenomena. All such processes that do not recur are not subject to the domain of knowledge as they cannot be objectively measured or re-observed (as they occur only once). Reason, therefore, is the salience of known (among recurring) and thus, path of least resistance. Suboptimal deviations that are freedom are always unreasonable. And it is so because in the new, the unknown, and the uncertain resides freedom. The farther one explores freedom. the farther one needs to digress & deviate from the path of least resistance and hence the higher is the energy and effort requirement along with higher uncertainty and lesser control (as control too is limited to the recurring & known).

High degree of freedom therefore needs a very high energy and effort to be invested.

 FREEDOM IS STOICHIOMETRIC

There are indeed two ways for anything to occur - recurrent or non-recurrent. Purpose and desire are the inhabitants of recurrent. In my book "Awareness & Consciousness - Discovery, Distinction and Evolution. The New Upanishad" (ISBN: 978-1692201227), I have distinguished between these three from a physical and phenomenological points of view. They are an outcome of recurrence, there can exist no purpose in something that will never ever happen again. As the process of purpose discovery itself requires recurrence.

    Freedom therefore, resides in deviation from the recurring - the property to deviate from the process, the way it would occur if nothing is done & no intent is applied. Concomitantly, it is apparent that non-recurring is unknown and uncertain - the two properties of randomized events (stoichiometric events). 

    Indeed, freedom is, as it might seem strange & counter-intuitive, independence from recurrence & reason. This means that anything which is done with some reason in mind is not exercise of freedom at all, it is taking the known path of knowledge & reason.

FREEDOM DWELLS AT THE FRINGES

Freedom is propensity of a conscious being to undertake deviations from that which is recurring or that which would happen if no deviation would be undertaken.

Observe a flock of birds flying attentively. The network mesh principle induces organized flights through proclivity of each bird in a flock to maintain the distance it has with neighbouring birds. This principle ensures that they fly together, concerted in same direction. The maintenance of distance from neighbours is a state that each bird of the flock resides in. Freedom for him is restricted to little auto-correcting digressions from a course set, not by him.

    The birds on the fringes, especially the front-line are the ones, who possess highest freedom that can effect the course of the flock. These are the birds that lead and could technically change the course of flocks.

    It is the birds in the leading position that exercise freedom not the ones that follow.

LACK OF CAPABILITY TO EXERCISE CHOICE THROUGH INFORMED DECISION-MAKING IS LACK OF FREEDOM

Availability of choice, but lack of capability to exercise that choice for reasons that are discriminatory for a specific category of entities, while some other category are equipped for apt decision-making too is lack of freedom for the discriminated category. In the case of the flock of birds, each of the birds embedded in such positions that they fly with birds all around them, still have the capability to dive or rise (change the vertical plane of flight) but they are incapable of exercising these options as they are pre-programmed to fly within the confines of the flock.

“Quite similarly, it is only those that think of the new & unexplored, non-recurring, uncertain, unreasonable & purposeless, and over & above - intensively apply energy & effort on doing so, experience freedom.”

Those following, utilizing the path of least uncertainty and resistance, are merely wandering in the realm of reasonable, known and recurring and only think they are free. In reality, they are not.

“Freedom exists; but only in the unknown, uncertain and unreasonable.”

 

In Russian

 Это эссе посвящено австрийскому философу-реформатору Рудольфу Йозефу Лоренцу Штайнеру (1861–1925), написавшему “философию свободы” (Die Philosophie der Freiheit). Кто пошел по стопам таких мыслителей, как Кант и Фихте в области эпистемологии. Это эссе представляет собой небольшой скромный кантилевер, спроецированный на прочные колонны, созданные такими мыслителями, как Штайнер.

Я непервый писатель-мыслитель, который применяет свой ум к понятию свободы. Тем не менее, в этом коротком эссе я предлагаю открыть новое окно в прекрасный пейзаж свободы. Каждое явление во Вселенной отличается в зависимости от местоположения и условий существования наблюдателя. Каждая новая мысль о свободе — это открытие новой позиции, нового угла, с которой можно рассматривать тот же самую скульптуру. Таким образом, делая понимание наблюдателя о скульптуре более всеобъемлющим.

НЕТ ВЫБОРА, НЕТ СВОБОДЫ.
Никакой свободы не существует во всех таких случаях, когда нет ни выбора, чтобы событие произошло или не произошло, ни произошло бы иначе, чем это произошло, если бы свобода/выбор не осуществлялась. Следовательно, отсутствие выбора-это отсутствие свободы.

СВОБОДА ЯВЛЯЕТСЯ НЕОПТИМАЛЬНЫМ
Все, что происходит на пути наименьшего сопротивления, спонтанно. Спонтанным является то, что произойдет само по себе, без необходимости какого-либо ввода энергии извне, подобно реке текущей с гор в океан, или высокому потенциальному электрическому заряду, падающему с неба на землю в виде молнии или расширяющейся вселенной. Действительно, все это произойдет, даже если мы (живые существа, обладающие намерением и способностью применять силу и усилие, чтобы противостоять или обратить вспять спонтанное изменение или, наоборот, ускорить его) исчезнем из вселенной, оставив после такого уничтожения только неживые объекты и материалы. Поскольку для возникновения явления по пути наименьшего сопротивления не требуется дополнительной энергии, то такой путь и его возникновения является оптимальным. Спонтанность оптимальна по своей природе, потому что она всегда идет по “пути наименьшего сопротивления”. Поэтому любой путь, обходящий путь наименьшего сопротивления, автоматически становится неоптимальным.
В мире, где нет ничего непроизвольного, все происходит по второму закону термодинамики (возрастание энтропии), который тоже детерминирован путем наименьшего сопротивления. Как же тогда мы можем обнаружить непроизвольность и, следовательно, намерение во Вселенной спонтанности? Необходимым условием обнаружения намерения является отклонение от пути наименьшего сопротивления и оптимальности.
В тот момент, когда происходит что-то неоптимальное, выполняются необходимые условия (не достаточные) для возникновения намерения.

Первый проект определения свободы, по моему мнению, таков:
“способность системы или явления возникать, изменяться или вести себя в любом случае, кроме того, в котором оно было бы при отсутствии намерения/усилия/дополнительной силы/применения-дополнительной-энергии.”

Если все происходит спонтанно, по пути наименьшего сопротивления, выбор перестает существовать, потому что спонтанность оптимальна и едина. Отсутствие выбора ведет к прекращению свободы.

СВОБОДА НЕЭФФЕКТИВНА, ДОРОГА И ЭНЕРГОЕМКА
Чем ближе человек к пути наименьшего сопротивления и спонтанности, тем меньше выбор и вероятность отклонения от оптимального, единого пути и меньше свобода.
Поэтому любое серьезное отклонение от пути наименьшего сопротивления означает свободу. Хотя это также означает, что выбранный путь обходящий путь наименьшего сопротивления и, следовательно, будет стоить прибавления или вычитания энергии из системы, которые требуют усилий/намерения. Поэтому намерение и свобода выбора действительно неэффективны. Чем выше неэффективность, тем дальше человек от пути наименьшего сопротивления и, следовательно, свободнее.
Из вышесказанного становится очевидным, что свобода прямо пропорциональна отклонению от пути наименьшего сопротивления и, как следствие, недостаточной эффективности.
Свобода нуждается в уменьшении или неестественном увеличении энтропии, поэтому требуется ввод энергии в систему, так что чем выше свобода, тем выше требования энергии и усилия.

Второй проект определение свободы по мне,
“Свобода — это степень отклонения объекта, система или явление проходит самопроизвольно, самый эффективный и оптимальный путь наименьшего сопротивления.”

Чем дальше отклонение, тем больше осуществляется свобода.

БЕЗ-РЕЗОННОСТЬ — ЭТО РЕЗИДЕНЦИЯ СВОБОДЫ
Разум (Иммануил Кант, “критик чистого разума”) является атрибутом знания, в то время как знание применимо только к повторяющимся процессам и явлениям. Все такие процессы, которые не повторяются, не подпадают под область знания, поскольку они не могут быть объективно измерены или повторно наблюдаемы (поскольку они происходят только один раз). Разум, следовательно, есть проявление известного (среди повторяющихся) и, следовательно, путь наименьшего сопротивления. Неоптимальные отклонения, которые являются свободой, всегда вне области резона. И это так, потому что в новом, неизвестном и неопределенном заключена свобода. Чем дальше человек исследует свободу, тем дальше ему нужно отклоняться от пути наименьшего сопротивления, и, следовательно, тем выше потребность в энергии и усилиях наряду с большей неопределенностью и меньшим контролем (поскольку контроль тоже ограничен повторяющимся и известным).
Поэтому высокая степень свободы требует очень больших затрат энергии и усилий.

СВОБОДА — СТЕХИОМЕТРИЧЕСКАЯ
Действительно, есть два способа возникновения чего либо — повторяющийся или неповторяющийся. Цель и желание — это обитатели рецидива. В моей книге “Осознание и Сознание — Открытие, различие и эволюция. Новая Упанишада” (ISBN: 978–1692201227), я провел различие между этими двумя с физической и феноменологической точек зрения. Они — цель и желание появляются в результате повторяющих явлений. То. что никогда не повторится, не может быть целью. Поскольку сам процесс обнаружения цели требует повторения явления.
Свобода, следовательно, заключается в отклонении от повторяющегося — то есть отклонение от процесса, как он произошёл бы, если бы ничего не делалось и не применялось никакого намерения. Вместе с тем очевидно, что неповторяющиеся, неизвестны и неопределенны — это свойства рандомизированных событий (стехиометрических событий).
Несмотря на странность и противоинтуитивность, свобода-это независимость от повторения и разума. Это означает, что все, что делается с какой-то причиной в уме, вовсе не является проявлением свободы, это принятие известного пути знания и разума.

СВОБОДА ОБИТАЕТ НА ОКРАИНАХ
Свобода, это склонность сознательного существа предпринимать отклонения от того, что повторяется, или того, что могло бы произойти, если бы не предпринималось никаких отклонений.
Внимательно наблюдайте за стаей летящих птиц. Принцип сетки сети побуждает организованные полеты через склонность каждой птицы в стае поддерживать дистанцию, которую она имеет с соседними птицами. Этот принцип гарантирует, что они летят вместе, согласованно в одном направлении. Поддержание дистанции от соседей-это состояние, в котором каждая птица стаи. Свобода для него ограничена небольшими автокорректирующими отклонениями от заданного курса.
Птицы на окраинах, особенно на переднем крае,-это те, кто обладает наибольшей свободой, которая может повлиять на ход стаи. Это птицы, которые ведут и могут технически изменить ход стаи.

Птицы находящиеся в лидирующем положении, которые имеют свободу, а не те, которые следуют за ними.

ОТСУТСТВИЕ СПОСОБНОСТИ ОСУЩЕСТВЛЯТЬ ВЫБОР ПОСРЕДСТВОМ ОСОЗНАННОГО ПРИНЯТИЯ РЕШЕНИЙ-ЭТО ОТСУТСТВИЕ СВОБОДЫ
Наличие возможность, но отсутствие возможности осуществить этот выбор по причинам, которые являются дискриминационными для конкретной категории субъектов, в то время как некоторые другие категории оснащены для принятия адекватных решений, является отсутствием свободы для дискриминируемой категории. В случае стаи птиц, каждая из птиц, встроенных в такие положения, что они летают с птицами вокруг них, все еще имеют возможность нырять или подниматься (изменять вертикальную плоскость полета), но они неспособны осуществлять эти варианты, поскольку они заранее запрограммированы летать в пределах стаи.
“Точно так же только те, кто думает о новом и неизведанном, не повторяющемся, неопределенном, неразумном и бесцельном, и сверх того — интенсивно прикладывает энергию и усилия для этого, испытывают свободу.”
Те, кто следует по пути наименьшей неопределенности и сопротивления, просто блуждают в царстве разумного, известного и повторяющегося и только думают, что они свободны. На самом деле это не так.
“Свобода существует, но только в неизвестном, неопределенном и безрезонном.”

Автор: Дипак Лумба (dl.dstl@gmail.com)

Consummation of Pakistan’s marriage

Author: Deepak Loomba

Being a ‘khalis’ (pure) Punjabi, born & brought up in the northern Indian state of Punjab has its own benefits & drawbacks. Benefits - hosts are generous in offering alcohol & non-vegetarian food, knowing our predisposition to it, Punjabi pop music (which I neither listen nor appreciate much as I love folk songs) occupies the entire room. Drawbacks - they want one to start dancing in a fashion that pendulates both hands in sync, between one’s shoulders on one side & the sky on other. The more the line of to & fro movement of hands deviates from the perpendicular to the ground, the higher the tipsiness. Punjabis are perceived as happy-go-lucky people even within India by habitants of other states. And true it is. Being a frontier state and having borne the brunt of invasions, all of which came from the west, we value moments of life more than most others. Unscarred to lay our lives for the cause of the nation & its defense (we regularly do that), we make every moment count, till alive. Making us generally hard-working, risk-taking & merry-making.

And there is another characteristic that most other Indians rightly incriminate Punjabis in - our concern & on the state of affairs in Pakistan. They are right and there is a reason. When the British partitioned India, it was Bengal & Punjab that were torn into two, notwithstanding a shared culture, language, traditions etc. 

Occasionally, watching Pakistani soap operas is fun, foremost, because they are qualitatively better than Indian, secondly because it confirms that on the other side of the border, live people, who think, speak & shout just like us.

Many times I feel sympathy for the people of Pakistan, who have been forced to divorse their mother tongue 'Punjabi' in favour of so-called elite Urdu. They have been sold a buncombe theory that all of them arrived on horseback from Arabia & were the rulers of India. Truth is - India had muslims much before Arab & Persian invasions. And the majority of Pakistani Muslims are natives - our blood brothers, who adopted Islam for various reasons, not the least, its promised equality among all men & equity, which lacked in Hinduism & unfortunately got borrowed into Indian islamic culture along with those, who joined Islam to shun this ill.

Mine is the last generation that was brought up being narrated stories of Lahore, which was the cultural capital of not just united Punjab in undivided India, but indeed was the most important & largest city in the entire upper half of India. My father did his FA in Lahore & used to often say that had Lahore been part of India, Delhi would have not been the most important city of Northern India. Lahore would have been as important or more important than Delhi, quite like Mumbai is today commercially and industrially more important than Delhi. We all felt a romantic magnetism towards Pakistan, especially Lahore. We loved a fight in cricket or hockey with Pakistan. And I am sure the love-hate relationship was reciprocated with equal fervour.

We fought four wars, Punjab being the front in three of them. I think that too was forgiven & forgotten by both sides. But then the Mumbai Massacre happened in 2008, which changed something in how we all Indians - even Punjabis feel about Pakistan. Something changed that day forever, even amongst Punjabis. Men have been going to war for various causes and not just few of them were ridiculous. Secondly, others' cause is always ridiculous, and one's own, genuine. Thus, to kill each other on the battlefield makes the dead of both sides martyrs. War & death therefore, can be forgiven and forgotten. But the Mumbai attack was cowardly, below the belt punch, which made us lose hope. Indians, Americans, Israelis were the main targets, accounting for 151 of 166 dead, though German, Australian, Canadian, French, Italian, British, Dutch and Japanese too lost people. 

Pakistan through 51 years since its inception in 1947 had loathed every time Indians referred to them as 'lost blood brothers'. They felt that their separate Muslim identity - the basis of creation of Pakistan is compromised with our desire to unite into a large nation or at least a close comity. Notwithstanding the wars, most of us, especially Punjabis, fantasied an undivided India at best and a peaceful collaborative Indian subcontinent some day, assuming that the people of Pakistan (especially the ruling Punjabi elite) will one fine day realize that bonds of culture last longer & are stronger than repulsion of religious disparity. Pakistan disliked our expression of brotherliness and revolted to our claim of being a single civilization-nation as the Indian subcontinent, even if it came at the cost of being two nation states.

But in the 2008 watershed, when 100s of innocent commoners were butchered by Pakistan establishment trained mercenaries & the way Pakistan State and media behaved thereafter, I think we all gave up the idea of a united India or united Punjab. Pakistan succeeded in convincing us they are no more like us. 

Most in Pakistan fail to recognize the chasm that the Mumbai 2008 attack created in the minds & hearts of Indians. None of us, anymore desire to ever see Pakistan as a part of undivided India. Even the Punjabis are convinced that Pakistan is a failed state, people bigoted - cumulatively a lost cause, for themselves. With advent of social media, we got exposed to occurrence of forced conversions & forced marriages of minority girls against graveyard-like silence of Pakistani majority.  Utter lack of human rights for ethnic minorities added to the disenchantment with the country & the people it represents, who we felt no more represented the rich, large-hearted & upfront Punjabi culture.

Minorities are being squeezed all over the world and India is no exception. But there has never been even a single case of oppression against minorities in Punjab. In another article of mine I claim that India is genetically plural and I strongly stand by it, notwithstanding, which Government is in power. Having said the aforementioned, a stab in the back (Mumbai Terror Attack) is not what Punjabiyat stands for. I firmly believe that the major reason for abject failure of Khalistan movement (Separatist movement in Punjab, fuelled by Pakistan in 80s as a part of the ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’ strategy) too was that the Punjabi psyche can justify an open armed revolt, but not the treachery of terrorism.

I believe we harbour sympathy for the people of Pakistan, therefore all Punjabi Prime Ministers of India, whether Dr. Manmohan Singh or Mr. I. K. Gujral tried their best to settle disputes & improve relations. But no more is Govt of India, in concurrence to the general wishes of the people of India (Punjabis incl.), have the desire to ‘understand’ the problems of Pakistan. We had a tendency to ‘understand’ that Pakistan is ruled by Army & that the Army is rogue and keeps toppling civilian rule and that terrorism is not state sponsored…. etc. Consequently, our ‘understanding’ the Pakistan situation led to elimination of any need by its regimes & people to change. Like all ‘understanding intellectuals’, we got into the causation dendrogram, thus realizing that there is a cause behind every cause for Pakistan to do that which its establishment & politicians have been doing for three decades (first fueling terrorism & separatism in Punjab (in 80s) & now in Jammu & Kashmir and the dastardly Mumbai, Pathankot & Uri attacks) and no one to affix the blame on. Thus, status-quo continued. Why should an alcoholic change his ways, if his spouse is very understanding?

What the current Modi Govt. did, I believe is a great favour to the people of Pakistan. After the Pathankot attack, he learnt the hard way that the mould of Pakistani thought is cast. By downgrading diplomatic ties, snapping trade & cultural relations, exposing the corrupt puppet regime internationally, propped by the Army that covertly sponsors terror, kills its own citizens (in Balochistan & FATA, parts of Pakistan) & lastly by ensuring a tit-for-tat to Pakistani Army (by expanding the possibility of armed conflict under Nuclear Umbrella), he left no space for the Pakistani ‘establishment’ to maneuver or claim any victory or bravado in front of its people. Concurrently, I think the message went straight & knocking to the people of Pakistan - India is no more interested in Pakistan per se, and surely it is no more interested in being the perpetually understanding spouse of an alcoholic. If the Pakistani Army is to be reigned in, it is not the Indian Army’s job at the cost of its lives, it is the job of the People of Pakistan. India exited the ‘understand the causality dendrogram’ mentality and has stated with clarity that nothing other than deliverables bother it. Else, India means to have no truck with the State of Pakistan.

Half a week ago, Nawaz Sharif, erstwhile, thrice elected, thrice ejected, Pakistani Prime Minister, currently exiled in U.K., but politically still relevant and strong; vocally & publicly, accused the Pakistani Army Chief & ISI Chief (internal spy & political sabotage agency) of ruining the nation through the puppet Government of cricketer Imran Khan. This was historical & hence almost every online and television channel & newspaper worth its salt showcased a full programme or episode on this event. Rightly so, never preceding this moment in the 73 year history of Islamic Republic of Pakistan was the Army given a bloody nose by its own people - all the more from a leader of Punjab origin to which the entire ruling elite belongs.

In this backdrop, I saw Jyoti Malhotra’s programme #GlobalPrint on the youtube channel ‘ThePrint’ (promoted by veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta). Jyoti in her programme narrated about the momentous events unfolding in Pakistan, where the entire democratic opposition has come together titling themselves as Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and seem to be bidding their supremacy over the Pak Army. I got interested to investigate whether the indifference I experience towards events in Pakistan reflects my personal disenchantment with it or is a similar view shared by others. I decided to analyse Jyoti’s programme to confirm or negate my apprehension of lack of real interest in India about Pakistan. Her programme was ideal, because she made a positive, balanced plea to her viewers that we should be concerned with what is happening in Pakistan, in contrast to the disinterest that the Govt. of India is showing. I thought, analyzing the comments on her talk and the viewer statistics could provide interesting insights, because her plea stood out in the programme as a background note.

Her programme titled “By naming Pak Army Chief Bajwa & ISI head Faiz Hameed, Pak Opp hopes to confront demons within” is available here.

I first analyzed a dozen of her program-episodes on international issues (across last year) by viewership and the number of people, who take the trouble to comment. This is a critical measure of a programme's success. Commenting takes a lot of energy and effort of the viewer, therefore, higher comments (trolls excluded) mean high engagement. She has a viewership of an average of 37000. Three programmes, which saw a dip in viewership were all on issues relating to Pakistan. If these outliers are excluded her average viewership on programmes of International Geopolitics jumps to ~45000. This clearly shows that Pakistan is no more a priority issue for Indians amongst other international ones. In terms of percentage of people commenting on the viewed programme from among the aforementioned dozen (I studied 226 comments which were expressed within the first two days of programme, because these are regular loyal viewers of hers while trolls were completely absent). 

Average commenting percentages (people who decide to comment on her programmes) lie between 0.5% to 1.5%. The investigated Pak programme garnered comments from 1.3% of viewers. Making it an averagely viewed programme with 36402 views, while comments were on the higher side, vis-a-vis previous two, Pakistan-featuring programmes both of which had 0,64% and 1.05% of viewers commenting. Again, the people commenting on the Pak programmes are much lesser than other programmes on Russia, US, China or other major powers. A detailed table (sheet 2) is available here. Trolls are almost absent on her show (making her programme good for analysis).

I further investigated and analyzed the comments on the aforementioned specific programme featured today. Following is the quintessence of the report which is generated from a total to 113 comments made and close to 223 likes expressed on the comments:

1	Negative views about the episode	86
2	Positive views about the episode	27
3	Indifference to Events in Pakistan	23
4	Viewers considering Pakistan as wastage of time	29
5	Viewers to whom Pakistan matters both negatively or positively	61
6	Likes that the comment got	323
7	Likes (on negative views about episode)	268
8	Likes (on positive views about episode)	55
9	People who like the idea that Pakistan no more matters to them	206
10	People who like the idea that Pakistan matters to them both positively as well as a nuisance	117
11	Commenters to whom the programme on Pak matters though negatively	62
12	Commenters & those expressing ‘likes’ to negative comments and the fact that Pak does not matter to them	206
13	Commenters & those expressing ‘likes’ to positive assessment of episode and believe that Pak matters to them	55

CONCLUSIONS:

~76% of the commenters have a negative view about the programme on Pak. 

46% (86 of 113) of the commenters were either indifferent or felt that Pakistan is a waste of time as a topic & felt it mattered not to them. 

54% (61 out of 113) of the commenters were those to whom Events in Pakistan or Pakistan itself seemed to matter but of these only 27 (23%) were those who viewed that doing an episode makes sense. Therefore, the overwhelming majority has a negative view of showcasing a programme framed on Pakistan.

Of the 323 likes, overwhelming 268 (83%) liked negative views on doing an episode on Pakistan or Pakistan itself and only 55 (17%) were supportive of the programme.

What stands apart are following two - 

86 (76%) of the 113 comments either feel 

indifferent to Pak news (23 nos = 20%), or 

feel Pak a wastage of time (29 nos = 26%), or 

feel Pak matters negatively (nuisance) (34 nos = 30%).

While a detailed tabulated analysis is available here (sheet 1), there is one straight and immediate take-away: 

“I am not the only one, most people in India are disenchanted and no more interested in what happened in/to Pakistan & it does not feature anymore in interesting topics in India. Alas! the subcontinent stands divided. Pakistan has succeeded in chiseling itself as a nuisance state, to be maintained pole apart, in the Indian as well as the Punjabi psyche. Pakistan’s marriage to religiosity & division that started with partition of India in 1947 seems now consummated. My beloved, Lahore (its people), seem lost for this life.” With 70 years of perseverance, Pakistan has alienated its blood brother India (& Punjab). What a tragedy, that a people, who were our own shall be at the mercy of the Chinese Army along the CPEC, Indian Army along LOC & their own army inside Pakistan.

Conclusive result of aforementioned is that Indian public, at large, will no more stand in the way of Govt. of India, which neither intends to engage Pakistan, nor shall it let Pakistan redo a Mumbai attack, as India will not shy from taking coercive military action against Pakistan for a moment and Pakistan knows that very well. Thus, neutralizing the nuisance generation capability of Pakistan, which will finish Pakistan Army's moral capacity in public opinion. On this account the Govt. of India has to be appreciated. Best indicator is Pakistani media & establishment hate them.

Increasing gap in semiconductor industry

It is no secret that notwithstanding major spending, which by some claims is more than 50 billion USD, mainland China is still far from catching up with Taiwan and US duo together. The marginal technological complexity in further increasing the density of transistors on a semiconductor chip, is far from the grasp of China, which is a lone wolf in this area; while West is migrating from 7 nanometer resolution to 5 nanometer resolution. The big three – Japan, South Korea & the United States of America are far ahead quantitatively as well as qualitatively.

Semiconductors are a subset of a larger sector of science & technology collectively referred to as material science & technology. Inorganic semiconductors (especially Silicon) are the harbingers of future dominance.

FAB – IS NOT A PANACEA

Often Silicon and Silicon Fab are considered to be the panacea. This can only be the view of the uninformed or naive. Both Taiwan and South Korea have large Fabs. Yet, they are no match to the superiority of US and some selected EU nations (mainly Germany, to lesser extent France). Reason being - a Fab is like masonry, while cement and brick material research & production as well as scaffolding, cranes & lifters are still confined to manufacture in US & Europe. Undoubtedly, Fabs are a part of the supply chain, which has materials & tools as its foundation. I bet, that most in India do not even go as far as materials and tools in India, when it comes to semiconductors. They are hitched on ‘Fabs’. Not knowing that without an integrated capital machinery Fabs & materials ecosystem, strategic Fabs alone, will be nothing more than another naïve approach.

WHY INDIA ISN’T A PLAYER?

Under a poor research and development policy, inadequate, under-funded and worse – public R&D infrastructure, attracted more of the mediocre while a minority of outstanding scientists could not push the under-throttled locomotion of material science & technology. We either have none or poor quality resources in the area of material science. Traditionally, Russia and United States have been at the forefront. Taiwan and South Korea are more of the production giants, while R&D is still limited. China is catching up with US and Japan after heavy investment in material science industry; though it is to be conceded that the distance between the US and China is pretty substantial.

India has tried approaching the issue of development of semiconductor & material science Industry a few times by offering various incentives, but failed miserably. Erroneously, general view of material science is that it is all about semiconductors; and that of semiconductors is – it is all about silicon. This is very far from truth. Material science includes – (i) inorganic materials: crystal growth, special alloys, special inorganic materials, specialty gases, specialty chemicals, technical textiles etc.; (ii) Organic materials – special polymers, organic semiconductors, organic specialty textiles etc. And we perform abysmally poor in all of them. Literally all, barring none.

Einstein said repeating the same experiment expecting different results is silly. But we have been smartly (according to ourselves) packaging and repackaging the same old story and repeating it time and again. Offering Intel, AMD or real estate companies (Jaypee) to build Silicon Fabs in India. That is where our understanding & vision of semiconductors and material science ends. The result is known.

There is no doubt that material science industry at large requires State support. Nowhere has it grown with Government subsidies. The risk and reward ratio is highly skewed towards former making the sector high-risk low reward industry. Thus, having a viability gap for most, which needs to be funded by the State. Aforementioned is a necessary condition, not sufficient.

Public sector effort is a fundamentally flawed approach for lack of efficiency in decision-making in an immensely techno-commercially dynamic area, owing to public accountability. Secondly, merit & entrepreneurial zeal is sifted off in public sector enterprise, which is critical in pushing the limits of material science. I have never been able to understand why the Government does not allow the Public Sector Management, like private sector, to take home 10% of the profits. Just one single policy decision will make the prospective ventures more efficient, and attract the best talent. The earnings of Government through taxes and dividends will only go up for sure. While those who still linger on at the edge of existence, should then be sold out. Anyways, I desire not to digress from material science and semiconductors. It is high time visionaries are brought together, who have understanding of the material science industry and a sensible mechanism is created to make semiconductors and other material technologies happen in India. Else we will have no option but possess tanks but not know how to produce titanium alloys, try making fighter aircrafts without knowing how to manufacture composite bodies, keep on importing drones, fail to make reliable aircraft and helicopter engines, fail to make 50 years old basalt fibre material for composite tanks and special fire-resistant textiles, fail to make a single silicon solar cell wafer ‘fully’ in India, make a single space grade gallium arsenide solar cell in India, make an advanced heat pipe in India, even make a 60 year old Bismuth telluride Peltier element (used in car refrigerators & will be critical in next orbit of electronic cooling) in India, or even a Gallium nitride LED or a single chip that goes into the smartphones. Forget about meta-materials, diamond, advanced polymers, memory materials, smart materials, nano-materials and other advanced technologies, which will form the foundation of human life within next one decade. Can you imagine that India does not even have a Fab to manufacture red laser pointers (they are Gallium Arsenide lasers – a material for which Zhores Alferov my mentor got a Nobel Prize in year 2000 and was work done by him in 50-60s); every LED street light and LED home light in India is made from Gallium Nitride light emitting diodes, not one chip being manufactured in India, we do not manufacture a single LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for a phone or Television, we do not manufacture a single lithium ion polymer battery in India (from material point of view). We have failed to indigenize 30-40 year old technologies like Mercury Cadmium Telluride detectors which are critical for every long range rocket or missile which guards India; not a single photo-detector for a night vision goggle.

Only when COVID came knocking, did the sleeping giant – Govt. of India, realized that India has little to no manufacturing of technical textiles. And the material needed for PPE kits is not available in India! I can keep on writing few more pages, but to no avail.

DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO ACCELERATING BODIES ONLY INCREASES

My worry is that the distance between India and US, Russia, China, Japan, Germany, France, South Korea and Taiwan is increasing with every passing day. Technological development and advancement in material science might come to a point where India might just never-ever be able to catch up. According to me, we are tethering unbelievably close to that point of no-catch up.

The world, we like it or not is moving toward inanimate technocracy – a society in which dispassionate AI systems will govern rule of law. And technology Companies will be as good as Governments in themselves. They are already shuttling the millennia old system where the currency was controlled by the sovereign, by issuing Bitcoins and lot of other competing crypto-currencies. Traffic systems are already unmanned and penalizing on slightest deviation from laid norms. Army-Airforce-Navy too will inanimate, progressively. In the world to come, there will be technological sovereigns and technology vassals and the judgment of sovereignty will be made not by direction or status of technological progress, but by the pace of it. India is standstill, while others are accelerating at increasing pace, leading to geometric increase of gap amongst the forerunners and static India.

I can narrate my own personal experience – I created India’s first Gallium Nitride Fab in Gandhinagar, Gujarat making a major investment, after I returned to India few years ago. We GaN Fab (Gallium Nitride is the second most important semiconductor preceded only by silicon), strategically and commercially critical for India. We created it as a vertically integrated Fab, and were the first ones to establish a commercial size material growth (Gallium Nitride Crystal Growth) facility. Having erected the facility, we were not supported by banks or other financial institutions with working capital. I knocked every possible door in India from the highest offices to those of relevant Ministries, Niti Aayog, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India. behemoths in research and development from defense & space sectors; thinking that defense establishments are importing Gallium Nitride devices and are at constant mercy of US suppliers for critical equipment like High power devices, radio frequency devices needed for radars, synthetic aperture radars, radiation resistant ICs etc. The tragedy is that on one side Government is pleading with Western Companies to come and establish semiconductor plants in India, while a niche high technology startup, the only one in entire South Asia with peers only in US, Russia, China, Germany; which bet big investment on path-breaking material science enterprise – built without a penny of Government support or subsidy, is tethering to existence, and facing, nothing but State Apathy. The Government does not realize that its industrial and semiconductor policies with plush-officed investment promotion agencies, manned by fluently English speaking elite MBAs is useless. Serious Semiconductor Companies, many of whom are good friends (the fraternity is small) whom we approached for investment, candidly commented that if the fate met out to you, who invested put his money where one's mouth is has been a still-born, for lack of Govt. empathy and support, that too in amounts, which are paltry compared to Silicon Industry, we really so not see any sense in depending on state pleasantries. In this fact lies the kernel of failure of ‘Make in India’, ‘Assemble in India’, or ‘Service in India’ (that will be next slogan).

Apathy to our investment and project (http://www.dnsl.in) at all levels top to bottom has been shocking. Because industry-welcoming in India seems to be nothing more than a window dressing – the Government is running an advertising campaign for a service that does not exist!

I mourn not just the good money invested and idling, but the vision-stripped character of ours as a society. If all the support pleading emails, requests for appointments to make our case, written to each and every Secretaries, Cabinet Ministers, Departments in India are gathered in a book, it surely will be a 500 page ‘Book of State Apathy to strategic investments’. And that too in a sector which the Government touts at the most crucial after oil and gas.

India is standing on a platform, the train from which is already in motion and we are close to the last wagon. Either we jump on to the last boggy as a nation, state and society, else we will be a technological vassal.

THE WAY OUT

We are the only ones in Independent India’s history, who put their money where their mouth is & have a first-hand private sector experience of pitfalls & challenges of establishing semiconductor Fab in India.

• Economically, there is no need for Americans, Japanese, Koreans or Taiwanese to come and invest in India because labour is not a cost component of any consequence at all in Automated Semiconductor Manufacturing of current day and time. So cheap engineering labour advantage of India is diluted. Quite on the contrary India should be attracting talent globally, as we do not have the school of thought in material science.

• It is a strategic sector investment, US big-heartedness of transferring technology to East Asia made on assumption that they are not smart and inventive to surpass them has proved US wrong in case of China. US understands it created its own monster. They will not repeat the mistake for India. 

• Global EoI to establish Fab in India is good. But if one thinks strategically, why should I help my customer to become my competitor, while the customer has openly demonstrated that he has no capability to be a competitor on its own. Attitude would be very different, if I see that my customer is with his sound and creep business philosophy weaning away my customers to his small exclusive shop, while still buying bulk from me. So I cannot stop selling him bulk because he is a source of growing revenue, but I also clearly see that with time he will become my competitor. That is when I would decide to invest in my customer and be a part of him to avoid losing future profit even if the revenue subsequently is lost.

• Along with EOIs we need to do in private sector (Public accountability in tech is at cross purposes as tech today needs very fast & risk-driving both poisons to public sector) - Our first main purpose is technology. Silicon Fab is not viable, if not executed at scale. So we should first start a State-of-the-Art small unviable plant, which will not make economic sense, but the expenses will be affordable, and Govt. subsidizes all the losses. We can bring a consortium together which will be ready to invest in case Govt. bears the viability gap. Spend 3-4 years on honing our skills doing utterly cutting edge job of only piloting chip-manufacturing for the most advanced Companies in shortest duration and lowest cost to attract the best chip designers. Once we are sensibly established in this market, we make the next big push to create a global scale Fab. In 6 years we will be a force to reckon with. I would be ready to devout rest of my life to make it happen in India.

• Funding or subsidizing absolute technology is completely illogical.

Crux

1.         We will have to develop the semiconductor base in both Silicon & Compound Semiconductors by ourselves, by buying experts & small technology components abroad. There is no inductive logic for a foreign Company to construct and operate a Fab in India while it is much cheaper to expand existing which are anyways under-utilized.

2.         We will need to develop a precision engineering & specialty chemical industrial capability within India else, we will be hampered at the next stage – which no expert ever utters - we might be sanctioned (implicitly or explicitly) from buying sensitive capital equipment that enable State-of –the-Art technology development.

It is the hard way, but all other ways have yielded no result in last quarter century that India has been wanting to have a semiconfab here. And we see no logic in repeating the same approach that yielded no result in past.