Cathy O’Neil does a great job of highlighting the dark side of “software is eating the world” as biases are being codified into systems as Weapons of Math Destruction. Multiple examples are used to understand the three characteristics of this phenomenon – scale, opacity and damage. “Algorithms are opinions embedded in code”, and right now, we’re not doing a great job of it.
Even as liberal democracy is broadly accepted as the best form of political order in this era, the threat of fascism looms large. Recent events in US, India, Myanmar etc show how vulnerable we are. Using the lessons from the past and viewing it through a contemporary lens, this book lays out the playbook that fascism uses to thrive.
As the title suggests, this is a view of South India through many lenses – history, culture, society, politics – that have shaped it across centuries. It’s an extremely accessible and insightful read that is bound to give you many a-aha moments.
A well-structured narrative including visual and thought exercises that does a great job of putting forth the perspective that the mind is flat (shallow) and does not have the depths we ascribe to it.
If you’re old enough, you would remember the radiant power of the USSR in 80s India. Archie Brown provides a comprehensive account of what was happening behind the Iron Curtain in that era. A fantastic read if you’re interested in history and geopolitics.