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Nothing has changed. The govt. has gotten better at media manipulation, and/or the media has decided it is easier to get into bed with the govt. Reliance Jio In

by sn41 8y ago

Nothing has changed. The govt. has gotten better at media manipulation, and/or the media has decided it is easier to get into bed with the govt. Reliance Jio Institute has been declared an "institute of eminence" on par with IISc, and above many IITs. The industrialists hailed demonetisation. Ordinary citizens have few opportunities to enter the stock market, since it is inundated with foreign institutional investors, who may withdraw money at the drop of a hat, thus increasing volatility. There is no critical analysis allowed or taken seriously. Pre-2016, I was depressed at the turn of events. Post-Trump, Post-Brexit, I just think this is the new normal for the planet. Aggressive stupidity is the way forward. That said, money-making opportunities are present, as they always were.

djaychela 8y ago
> Aggressive stupidity is the way forward. Probably the most concise and accurate summary of the situation I've read. (Particularly as someone in the UK who's doesn't want to leave!)
eahman02 8y ago
Those who don't think the way you do are not "aggressively stupid", they just have other interests. That kind of dismissal doesn't help anybody.
- King-Aaron 8y ago
  Personally I see it as an existential observation rather than a dismissal. On the whole, the actions of both the voting public in many countries, let alone the politicians that they vote for, do seem to be displaying an increasingly aggressive level of stupidity. Or possibly, if not stupidity, one could more accurately call it apathy.
  - eahman02 8y ago
    Think of it the other way: for some people, the public has voted very stupidly for a long time, and now they are starting to get straight.
    - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
      Or politicians are starting to deliver on their stupid promises.
    - not_kurt_godel 8y ago
      And yet those people are people whose core beliefs - or at least, the manifestation of those beliefs into policy - are, for the most part, largely objectively wrong.
hesarenu 8y ago
IITs attract the best students because of the opportunity it provides. But on its own is it know for it's academics? Do they carry out high calibre research?
- sn41 8y ago
  I'd say they are better than Reliance Jio institute when it comes to high calibre research.
  - hesarenu 8y ago
    That does not say much.
    - sn41 8y ago
      Sure, you're right. My original point was to point out the hypocrisy of the government policy. But you have raised a related point about IITs. Aside from being underfunded (in comparison to global standards) there are systemic issues with IITs which make it underperform in research - first, they were designed as undergraduate institutes. The administrators constantly harangue, and block the ways of the colleagues who want to do research - for example, disallowing travel during the semester etc. More importantly, the best PG students in India do not go to the IITs. They go to IISc or abroad. It is the PG students who do most of the research in a university, not the UG students. Think of this: no teaching university in the US is a top-tier research university. When faculty systematically underperform in research over 60 years, when many of them were good researchers before they join the IITs, and many of them continue to be good researchers after they leave the IIT system, we need to rethink. Faculty must be allowed to do research 90 % of the time, travel freely, and spend very little time on teaching/administration. You can't have your legs in both the boats.
      - vkerlo 8y ago
        It's to be mentioned that the Reliance Jio Institute is a proposed one and doesn't exist yet.
heavenlyblue 8y ago
To be fair, being from a Russian family and having re-watched quite a few news programmes from the 90s I was amazed at how liberal the media was back then. I did not expect that. It's absolutely not the case anymore, but I can definitely say that the quality of the TV production was raised significantly. Well, you know where the money goes to.
codeisawesome 8y ago
Please do expand on that last sentence :-) what are the general principles you see?

by sn41 8y ago

djaychela 8y ago

> Aggressive stupidity is the way forward. Probably the most concise and accurate summary of the situation I've read. (Particularly as someone in the UK who's doesn't want to leave!)

eahman02 8y ago

Those who don't think the way you do are not "aggressively stupid", they just have other interests. That kind of dismissal doesn't help anybody.

King-Aaron 8y ago
Personally I see it as an existential observation rather than a dismissal. On the whole, the actions of both the voting public in many countries, let alone the politicians that they vote for, do seem to be displaying an increasingly aggressive level of stupidity. Or possibly, if not stupidity, one could more accurately call it apathy.
- eahman02 8y ago
  Think of it the other way: for some people, the public has voted very stupidly for a long time, and now they are starting to get straight.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Or politicians are starting to deliver on their stupid promises.
  - not_kurt_godel 8y ago
    And yet those people are people whose core beliefs - or at least, the manifestation of those beliefs into policy - are, for the most part, largely objectively wrong.

hesarenu 8y ago

IITs attract the best students because of the opportunity it provides. But on its own is it know for it's academics? Do they carry out high calibre research?

sn41 8y ago
I'd say they are better than Reliance Jio institute when it comes to high calibre research.
- hesarenu 8y ago
  That does not say much.
  - sn41 8y ago
    Sure, you're right. My original point was to point out the hypocrisy of the government policy. But you have raised a related point about IITs. Aside from being underfunded (in comparison to global standards) there are systemic issues with IITs which make it underperform in research - first, they were designed as undergraduate institutes. The administrators constantly harangue, and block the ways of the colleagues who want to do research - for example, disallowing travel during the semester etc. More importantly, the best PG students in India do not go to the IITs. They go to IISc or abroad. It is the PG students who do most of the research in a university, not the UG students. Think of this: no teaching university in the US is a top-tier research university. When faculty systematically underperform in research over 60 years, when many of them were good researchers before they join the IITs, and many of them continue to be good researchers after they leave the IIT system, we need to rethink. Faculty must be allowed to do research 90 % of the time, travel freely, and spend very little time on teaching/administration. You can't have your legs in both the boats.
    - vkerlo 8y ago
      It's to be mentioned that the Reliance Jio Institute is a proposed one and doesn't exist yet.

heavenlyblue 8y ago

To be fair, being from a Russian family and having re-watched quite a few news programmes from the 90s I was amazed at how liberal the media was back then. I did not expect that. It's absolutely not the case anymore, but I can definitely say that the quality of the TV production was raised significantly. Well, you know where the money goes to.

codeisawesome 8y ago

Please do expand on that last sentence :-) what are the general principles you see?