Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankariya's Academy. Displayed on the list of news articles taken for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the timestamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description box and also in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. This news article talks about the recent presidential election in Belarus and the protests that followed the elections. So in today's discussion, we will see about Belarus from geographical and political perspective. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See, we can look at Belarus almost in centre of Europe but towards Eastern Europe. It is east of Poland and it also shares land border with Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. As you can observe in this map, it is surrounded by countries. Therefore, it is a landlocked country. Its capital is Minsk, which is located in the centre of Belarus. Now in this, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, these are countries which are members of North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO and they are also members of European Union. However, Belarus along with Russia and Ukraine are not members of both NATO and European Union. This is an important fact for us to take. Now because of its geopolitical location, Belarus is an important trade and transport route between Europe and the common wealth of independent states. Now as you would have guessed by now, because of its proximity to Russia, Belarus was also a part of Soviet Union as well. Initially from the year 1772 to 1917, Belarus was part of the Russian Empire. Because of that, Belarusian territory was a scene of battles between German and Russian forces during World War I from 1915-16. Even for a brief period, the Belarusian territories were occupied by German forces until the year 1918. Then in 1919, Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic was created. In 1922, Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic became a part of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. That means in 1922, Belarus became a part of Soviet Union. Then again during World War II, Germans invaded Belarus. The city was occupied by Nazi Germany till the year 1944, when it was liberated by the Soviet troops. Then if you come to 1990, Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted declaration of state sovereignty. Consequently, in the year 1991, the declaration was given the status of constitutional law. Now this move, it virtually proclaimed the independence of Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. Following this, the name of the state was adopted as the Republic of Belarus. Now as we know, in December 1991, the dissolution of Soviet Union was officially announced. But since independence, Belarus has retained close ties with Russia, which is its most dominant neighbour. Some even called Belarus as the junior partner of Russia. In 1994, Belarus adopted its new constitution that introduced presidency. Now after this, the first presidential election was held in which Alexander Lukashenko became the first president of the Republic of Belarus in the year 1994. And then consequently, in the very next year, 1995, parliamentary election was also held. So as a whole, we know that the Belarusian government, that is its council of ministers, is made up of prime minister of Belarus, the deputies and ministries of the prime minister. The government is accountable to the president and its powers are determined by the constitution. The president is the head of the state. Now under the constitution, judicial power in the country belongs to the court system. Now its parliament is known as the National Assembly, which acts as a representative body and legislative body of Belarus. Since the year 1994, presidential elections were conducted for around five times, once in 2001, then 2006, then 2010, then 2015 and recently in August 2020. Now we also saw very recently about parliamentary elections that took place in our neighbouring countries Sri Lanka. Now come to Belarus. From 1994 till today, Belarus is run by the same president, who is reportedly called as an authoritarian and autocratic president. As we saw, he is Alexander Lukashenko. Now because of this, Belarus polity is known as the last remaining true dictatorship in the heart of Europe. Now in the August 2020 election, Lukashenko won 80 percent of the vote. This election result has led to protests in the country, which is the news yesterday, today and it will continue for next couple of days. Now the main rival of the president, Ms. Svetlana Tikkonoskaya, refused to accept the results and according to election officials, she received only 9.9 percent of the votes or close to 10 percent of the votes. See the last election took place in 2015 when Lukashenko was declared as winner with 83.5 percent of the vote. At that time, it did not attract this much opposition because there were no serious challenges at that time. But still, even at that time, election observers reported problems in the counting and tabulation of votes. But this time, the election campaign saw the rise of Ms. Tikkonoskaya after her husband was arrested and blocked from registering for the election. Immediately, to take that place, she stepped in and went on to lead large opposition rallies. The election was held in the middle of growing frustration at Mr. Lukashenko's leadership, particularly in the context of the government's response to the COVID-19 crisis. This is because the president has downplayed the outbreak, even advised citizens to drink vodka and to use centers where steam baths could be taken to fight the disease. Because of these reasons, many believe that it is impossible for Mr. Lukashenko to have a landslide victory. As a result of all these things, Ms. Tikkonoskaya's campaign said that it would challenge numerous falsifications in the vote. Many allegations have been put on the election process, like severe restrictions on ballot access for candidates, prohibition of local independent observers at polling stations, which is very important, then intimidation tactics employed against the opposition candidates, and also detention of peaceful protesters and journalists. This has created the doubt of widespread vote rigging in the poll and has led to protests and demonstrations. But Belaris government is resorting to violence to suppress the protesters. Even the government has shut down the internet to hinder the ability of the people of Belaris to share information about the election and also about the demonstrations. So now today's news is that Ms. Tikkonoskaya has fled abroad for the sake of her children. But both Tikkonoskaya and Belaris authorities have told that she had not been forced to leave. Many countries, including United States, you know individual European Union countries, they have expressed support for the demonstrators. These events are being closely watched by Russia because the oil exports of Russia, they reach the west through Belaris. Belaris is an important route for transporting Russia's oil exports. Know that Belaris has been regarded as buffer zone country against NATO and against the western influence. It is said that the west has been trying to lure Belaris from Russia's orbit. So these events are crucial and important for Russia also. We can draw a parallel even with Russia as well because Russian President Mr. Putin is also ruling for a long period. So with this we come to the end of analysis of this news article. In this analysis we discussed Belaris, its geography, political history, and recent developments with reference to their elections. Now let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article discusses about daily number of COVID-19 infections in South Indian states. With reference to Kerala, it states that, apart from rising COVID-19 infections, the state is also fighting dengue and leptospirosis. In this context, let us discuss in detail about these two diseases. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. First, let us discuss about dengue which is a mosquito-borne viral infection. See the virus which is responsible for causing dengue is called as dengue virus or denvi. This virus belongs to Flaviviride family and there are four distinct but closely related serotypes of the virus. These are called as denvi 1234. Recovery from infection is believed to provide lifelong immunity against that particular serotype. However, subsequent infections by other serotypes, they increase the risk of developing severe dengue. Now that this disease is widespread throughout the tropics and it is common in more than 100 countries around the world. Almost 40% of world's population, they live in areas with a risk of this disease. Now let us come to the transmission part. This virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes, mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and also Aedes albopictus. The transmission by Aedes albopictus is noted for a lesser extent. These mosquitoes are also vectors of chikungunya, yellow fever and zika viruses. Note that human to mosquito transmission of this dengue virus is also possible from people who are viremic with dengue virus. Now apart from this, there is also evidence of the possibility of maternal transmission that is transmission from a pregnant mother to her baby. Now when pregnant women are infected with dengue virus, babies may suffer from preterm birth, low birth weight and fetal distress. And coming to the symptoms of dengue, there will be a high fever which will be accompanied by symptoms such as severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting. Occasionally, dengue develops into a potentially lethal medical complication which is called as severe dengue. Now this may also cause complications associated with severe bleeding, impairment of organs or plasma leakage as well. Now with reference to treatment, there is no specific treatment for dengue fever. However, fewer reducers are there and painkillers are there that can be taken to control the symptoms of the muscle pain and the fever. The best options to treat these symptoms are acetaminophen or paracetamol. Now let's come to leptospirosis. See it is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Discussed by bacteria of the genus leptospira, know that humans become infected by this bacteria through direct contact with urinof infected animals. Bacteria enter humans through cuts or abrasions on the skin or through mucus membranes of mouth, nose and eyes. Not that person to person transmission of leptospirosis is possible but rare or rarely observed. Now coming to symptoms, leptospirosis can cause a wide range of symptoms which includes high fever, headache, muscle pain, chills, vomiting and jaundice. It is very clear that many of these symptoms can be mistaken for other infections as well. Some of these symptoms we saw with reference to dengue as well and with reference to leptospirosis they also say that some infected persons may have no symptoms at all. Now with reference to this disease it is reported that prevention is always better than cure because the risk of acquiring leptospirosis can be greatly reduced by following some healthy practices. For example the individual should not swim or wade in water that might be contaminated with animal urine or they should eliminate contact with potentially infected animals then they should have protective clothing or foot wear particularly when they are exposed to contaminated water or soil because of their job or recreational activities. Now leptospirosis is treated with antibiotics you know particularly doxycycline or penicillin they should be given early in the course of the disease. I know that there is also intravenous antibiotics which may be required for persons with more severe symptoms. If not treated this disease leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis which is nothing but inflammation of membrane around the brain and spinal cord, liver failure, respiratory distress and it could also be fatal that is it could lead to even death. So these are some of the information with reference to dengue and leptospirosis. Now let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is with reference to Pulikat lake or Palaverkard lake. Researchers say that the Pulikat lake derived its name from a vernacular name Palaverkard which means plans with many number of roots and these are plans which are mangroves with aerial roots called as pneumatophores. The news article states that the director of fisheries has sent a proposal to national bank for agriculture and rural development in Abad for sanctioning funds to open the bar mouth at Pulikat lake permanently. See a bar mouth refers to a natural opening that helps the flood water to get drained into the ocean or sea and Pulikat lake in this regard it acts as a buffer to retain accumulated flood water till it gets discharged into the sea during the monsoon period and also during cyclones. The bar mouth of the lake gets closed almost every year because of sediment deposition and this makes it difficult for the fisherman to go for fishing either at the lake or in the Bay of Bengal. In this context let us discuss about the Pulikat lake. First let's see the brief history of Pulikat. See this region in Tamil Nadu it has a colonial history behind it. The Portuguese first established their control over the region since the year 1502. Later they were overthrown by the Dutch. They established their settlement at Pulikat in the year 1610. Then the Dutch built Fort Gildria at Pulikat in 1613 and in the beginning Pulikat was the headquarters of Dutch in India. Later they shifted their headquarters to Nagapatnam in Tamil Nadu in 1690. Many invaders have took possession of Pulikat. The last was the British rulers. The Britons they occupied Pulikat in 1825 AD and therefore it became an integral part of Madras presidency. Now let's come to this lake. See it is the second largest brackish water lake in our country. The largest brackish water lake is Chilika Lake which is located in Odisha. Pulikat Lake is located on the boundary of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It is famous for its wonderful flora and fauna. The large number of migratory birds they visit this lake during the winter. Though various bird species are seen, the flamingos are significant as they will be significant in number in the areas or swamplands adjacent to the lake. And every year during the month of January-February, Andhra Pradesh state government organizes a flamingo festival for tourists and visitors at the lake. The article states that Pulikat Lake gets fed by river Arani. Now this river Arani it originates in the eastern Ghatsa of Andhra Pradesh, then flows to Tamil Nadu and finally joins the Bay of Bengal. These are some of the important information with reference to Pulikat Lake or Palavirkad Lake. We saw about the brief history associated with this place and also the importance of the lake as well. Now let's move on to next news article. This editorial is with reference to findings of a new study conducted by Institute of Health Metric and Evaluation. The study was conducted to forecast population levels in different countries across the world. In this editorial, the author talks about the findings of the study with reference to India. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. First, let's see some important predictions about India by this new study. See, the study forecasts that Indian population will attain peak by the middle of this century. That is, it will attain a peak population of around 164 crores or 1.64 billion in the year 2048 and this will be from the position of 138 crores in the year 2070. And by 20100, the population is projected to decline by around 32% to 109 crores or 1.09 billion. It could even be as low as 72 crores as well. To substantiate this, the Institute of Health Metric and Evaluation predicts that by the year 20100, the total fertility rate of India will be 1.291. So that means on an average, Indian women will have only 1.29 children by the year 20100. The calculation while taking average gives 1.29. So this will result in a sharp decline in the population of India. And this decline in population is expected to begin around the year 2046. And interestingly, China's population may go as low as 45 crores by the year 20100. In this article, the author compares the predicted fertility rate of India with that of United States and France. See, US has a predicted fertility rate of 1.53 and France has it around 1.78. So this is more than the fertility rate that is predicted for India, that is 1.29. This literally means Indian women will execute their reproductive rights in such a way that mostly they will have a single child. Now, what is the underlying condition for this decline in the population by the year 20100? We know that every woman must have two children in order to replace herself and her husband. But if the fertility rate is 1.29 as estimated by Institute of Health Metric and Evaluation, then maybe each couple will not be able to replace themselves. And this will result in a sharp population decline. And how did this institute reached to this estimation? The author tells that the Institute used data regarding current contraceptive use in the National Family Health Survey and also it took data with reference to the potential for increasing the contraceptive use. However, there have been some questions with reference to the reliability of this study. For this purpose, the author compares the projection of the Institute with the UN projection with reference to India. Now, United Nations World Population Prospect Report 2019, it stated that India will overtake China as the most populous country by around 2027. Now, take that the population of India last year is 137 crore and India is expected to add 27.3 crore people by 2050. And India will remain the most populated country in the world till the end of this century. That is, India's population will be 164 crores by 2050 and by 200 Indian population will reach 145 crores. Now, comparing the Institute of Health Metric Evaluations data with World Population Prospect 2019, the author states that the IHME projections are almost identical to UN projections till the year 2050. That is, the UN projects that India's population will be 164 crores by 2050 and IHME projects 161 crores by 2048. But when we compare both projections for the second half of the century, that is from 2050 to 2010, the projections diverge. Now, why is this divergence? Part of this divergence may be due to the Institute's excessive reliance on data with reference to current contraceptive use in the National Family Health Survey and also with reference to the potential for increasing the contraceptive use. But according to the author, some researchers show that contraceptive use estimated in the National Family Health Survey is poor or the contraceptive use in the NFHS is poorly estimated. And this is the reason why Institute of Health Metric and Evaluation forecast very little fertility by the year 2000. So this resulted in a divergence in predictions of UN and IHME. But there is one thing to note. Both the projections suggest that India's demographic future contains a peak and subsequent decline of population and this is driven by a sharp reduction in fertility. This is one common trend that we can observe from both the studies. In this regard, Arthur analyzes the trend in fertility rate of India since 1950s till now. She also tells the reason why there was a change in the fertility rate. Arthur tells that in the 1950s, India's total fertility rate was nearly six children per woman and today it is 2.2. Arthur tells that the family planning and forced sterilization during the emergency period and also during the period between 1960 to 1980, it had only a small difference in the decline of fertility rate in India. Arthur states that the decline was just 17% in that period. That is from a total fertility rate of 5.9 in 1960, it was dropped only to 4.9 in 1980. For that matter, the Arthur tells that the policies designed to punish people with large families was largely ineffective. Even today in some states, for contesting in Panchayati Raj elections, persons from large families are not permitted. And the authors of the opinion that coercive family planning and forced sterilization should not be adopted. And between 1992 to 2015, the total fertility rate fell by 35% from 3.4 to 2.2. She tells that this was mainly due to other factors. Now, what can be the factors which led to this decline? It is the socio-economic transformation of India since the 1990s, which has played a very important role. See, agriculture became an increasingly smaller part of Indian economy since the 1990s. Previously, a family needs more members to work on field, but now the scenario has changed. And now, school and college enrollment has grown sharply. Also, employment in the treasury sector or service sector has increased. Now, this has led to increased standard of living. So, in this regard, parents seem to demonstrate increased commitment to family by reducing the number of children. That is, now they invest more in each child in terms of their education and other needs. And this is called as aspirational revolution by the author. Now, if you take the literature on fertility decline in Western countries, the decline is because of retreat from the family. However, Indian parents seem to demonstrate increased commitment rather than decreased commitment to family. And this increased commitment to family is visible by reducing the number of children and by investing more in every child they have. So, these are some of the information with reference to the forecast of population trend in India and also the reasons behind it. Now, let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article states that a confidential report was made public by some members of the Center's High-Level Committee on the Implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord. They told that the reason for making it public was because of government's disinterest in processing their recommendations. Now, in this context, let us discuss in brief about Assam Accord and some of its key provisions. See, it is a kind of memorandum of settlement among the Union of India, Government of Assam, All Assam Student Union, then All Assam Ganasangaram Parishad in the presence of then Prime Minister Rajiv on the 15th August 1985. It was signed so as to put an end to the agitation that was launched by all Assam Student Union and other indigenous organizations that demanded identification and deportation of illegal immigrants in Assam, almost all of them who came from the East Pakistan or a later period from Bangladesh. Now, this agitation is an anti-foreigner movement. This agitation went on for six years from 1979. Now, coming to important clauses, one of the important clauses is Clause 5 which deals with the issue of foreigners, that is detection of foreigners in Assam, deletion of their names from the voters list and their deportation. Accordingly, illegal immigrants who entered Assam till December 31, 1965 were to be granted citizenship with voting rights immediately and those illegal immigrants who came to Assam between 1966 up to March 24 of 1971, they were to be disenfranchised. This group of people was required to register themselves as foreigners in accordance with the registration of Foreigners Act 1939. They will not be deported and they will get voting rights only after the expiry of 10 years from the date of their detection or declaration as foreigner and all those who came on or after March 25, 1971 were to be detected and deported from India. We can understand that the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act contravenes this clause as it stretches the cutoff date till December 31 of 2014 and it also states that persons belonging to six religions from three countries Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh other than Muslims shall not be treated as illegal migrants. Now, the news talks about Clause 6. According to Clause 6, constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assamese people. Now, Clause 7 deals with government taking the opportunity to renew the commitment for speedy all-round development of Assam as to improve the standard of living of its people. It also states that special emphasis will be placed on education and science and technology through establishment of national institutions. In fact, the agreement in the end stated that an IIT will be set up in the state of Assam. Then, Clause 9 deals with security of international border and Clause 10 states that there will be prevention of encroachment of government lands, tribal bills and tribal blocks and this will be strictly enforced. And we call Assam a card put an end to the anti-foreigner agitation or anti-foreigner movement. This is mainly because of Clause 13 and 14 which deals with restoration of normalcy. It stated that all Assam student union and all Assam Ghana Sangram Parishad call off the agitation, assure full cooperation and dedicate themselves towards the development of the country. And in return, the central and state governments agree to few considerations mentioned in Clause 14 of this appointment. So these are some of the important provisions with reference to Assam Accord. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. This news article talks about an understanding arrived between Taliban and government of Afghanistan and how this understanding helps India in achieving few long printing demands from oversight. We know that prisoner exchange is happening between Taliban and Afghan government in accordance with the United States Taliban As per the recent understanding, Afghan government has decided to release 400 Taliban militants who were convicted of serious crimes. This understanding was arrived at Loya Zirga which is a traditional Afghan meeting of tribal elders and other stakeholders which is sometimes held to decide on controversial issues. Recently a three-day meeting was held wherein they discussed about prisoner exchange program. Now if you remember on August 4, 2020 the Hindu newspaper reported that two Indians addicted by the Taliban, they returned to Delhi. At that time, Ministry of External Affairs thanked the government of Afghanistan for their constant and unfavoring support in securing the release of Indians. Their release was helped by Eid ceasefire between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Who are these individuals and how they were addicted by Taliban? See the hostages were Indian citizens who were part of a group of seven employees of Indian engineering company called KEC International. This company was developing a power project in Afghanistan's northern Baglan province. The development efforts were hampered by Taliban in so many ways and the team and went to the extent of kidnapping and abducting Indians who were involved in developing the power project in Afghanistan. This happened in the year 2018. Since they were held as hostages for a long period of time, we were requesting the government of Afghanistan to secure the release of Indians from the Taliban. Four of them have returned earlier in last year in 2019 and two of them returned with the recent Eid ceasefire which was reported as the third ceasefire in the conflict between Taliban and the Afghan government since the year 2001. However, one of our men is still in the control of Taliban as a hostage and Indian diplomats are hoping that the release of 400 Taliban from Afghan prisons will include securing the release of the last hostage as well. So in this way, the reason understanding through Loya Zilga is helpful in getting our men back from Afghanistan. With this, we come to the end of analysis of this article. Now let us move on to next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session, the practice questions discussion session. See this map based question. Consider the following countries, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine, Lithuania, which is the correct order of countries if one moves from north to south. So among the given countries, Ukraine is in the south. So you can eliminate options A and B. Now Latvia should be in the north. Therefore you can eliminate option C. So the correct answer is option B, 2, 4, 1, 3. So see this previous year question that was asked in the year 2017. Three statements are given which of the above statements are correct. In India, the Himalayas are spread over five states only. Western guards are spread over five states only. Pulikat lake is spread over two states only. Which of the above statements are correct? See the first statement is incorrect because Indian Himalayas, in other words the Indian Himalayan region is spread across 11 states and two union territories. The union territories being Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The states being Uttarakhand, Himachalpadesh, West Bengal and all the northeastern states. And in Assam, we can see it spreading across Dima hasaw and Karbi Anglong. And in West Bengal we can see the regions spread over Darjeeling and Kalimpank. So overall the Indian Himalayan region it stretches across a length of 2500 kilometers with width of 250 to 300 kilometers. First statement is incorrect, eliminate options A and D. Now we have to just find out whether second statement is correct or not because anyway third statement is correct. If you observe options B and C. See western guards are spread over five states only. This statement is incorrect because western guards cross six states in India which are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. So second statement is incorrect. Therefore the correct answer is option B, three only. Pulikat lake is spread over two states. They are on the position Tamil Nadu. Now see this question consider the following Dengu, Zika, Yellow fever, Chikungunya. Which of the above diseases have common vectors? See all these are viral diseases which have common vectors that are Aidas muskitos. So the correct answer is option D. Now if you take West Nile virus it is transmitted by Kulaks muskitos and in case of malaria it is transmitted by Anophilus muskitos. This question is with reference to World Population Prospects report. They are asking it is released by the correct answer is option A, Department of Economic and Social Affairs of United Nations. This question is with reference to Assam Accord. Two statements are given. They are asking which of the given statements are correct. First statement it provides for restoration of normalcy where all Assam students union, all Assam Ganesh Sankaram Parish, which are parties to the accord and were involved in agitation, agreed to call off the agitation, assure full cooperation and dedicate themselves towards the development of the country. Now this statement is correct. This is as per clause 13 of this accord. In second statement the union ministry of defense will be the nodal agency for the implementation of the accord. This is incorrect because clause 15 of the accord states that ministry of home affairs will be the nodal agency for the implementation of the accord. Therefore only the first statement is correct. The correct answer is option A, one only. With this we come to the end of today's The Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video click the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil services exam preparation.


What are you doing to her back there? It does look like he's doing something to Fairies back there. Naughty, very naughty. Hey, welcome back to our Stupid Reactions of Corbin. I'm Rick. You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter. I'm all juicy, gaunt, dent. Thanks on Patreon. Follow us on Twitter to account. Subscribe if you haven't. And hit the like button because it helps the algorithm. Feel better? Yes. And today we're doing a movie review of the film that you all know because you read the title of the video. I would hope so unless you can't read. My name is Conn. My name is Conn. Yes. Starring Dupika Batakon. Yep. And Abe Vagoda. And this is actually our new cardboard cutter. You can't see it very well because it's very large, but I did not know it would be this large. And something you don't know is we have a stage hand back there. My wife is holding that properly for us, aren't you, babe? It's basically her favorite threesome. Yep. And... I'd watch that threesome. And so, yeah, obviously, Bathan just came out, the new Shadow Con film. He's trying to return after four or five years. Yep. And directed by Siddharth Andhra, I believe. Yes. Director of War. War. And wrote the story as well. Yes. Produced by Aditya Chopra and composition composer is... I thought it was... I thought it was... Oh, yeah, it doesn't... Well, no, it does. Ankit Balhara, Sanchit Balhara, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani. And then starring Shahrukh Khan, Dupika Batakon, and Johnny Abraham are your... And Dimple as well. Yep. Are your three main ones. And then there's other people in there that we won't get into because of the spoilers. Yes. Yeah, there's some surprises. But it's obviously... It just came out. And everyone in India has already seen it. I mean, I guess technically we probably could spoil it, but for the people that have not, we're going to do non-spoilers just because it just came out. And then if we want to get to some spoils, we will get into that and we will tell you before we do. But my expectations for this film were basic. I think I've said all along we're war and a little bit better. I think it was probably my expectations. Well, I was expecting war and a little bit better. I think it partially lived up to that and partially not... I mean, I don't know if it did not live up to that. I think it was just the film partially I didn't enjoy as much as I'd enjoyed the other parts of the film. Agreed. And I think we'll get into that a little bit. But overall, I think I overall probably enjoyed the film. I think the menu it gave you in the trailer is just... It's what you got. Yeah, you go up to that drive-through. You're going to get in the bag will be what you saw on the menu. I wish they kept a little bit more of the kind of essence of, like, I'd say the first three-fourths of the film towards the back half. Yeah, it's really a tale of two halves. And as a whole, the analogy I gave for it is so I don't eat at McDonald's except maybe once or twice a year. And when I go, it's because I want the McRibs and I love their fries. But because I know it's not good for me, I don't enjoy eating McDonald's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the one or two times a year I go, I regret it afterwards, but I'm glad I went. I'm glad I went. I enjoyed myself, but I'm reminded of why I only go once or twice a year. That's really how I felt. And it is very much a tale of two halves. I think it's a tale of three-fourths because actually there's parts of the second half that I... Yeah, if the second half were as good as far as the comedy and the flow of the story and some of the things not getting out of hand as far as straining credulity, if it had stayed like it was in the first half, I probably would have enjoyed it even more than I did. Yeah, I don't even know if it's the straining of credulity because obviously it tells you right away what kind of film it is. There's one thing in the spoilers I want to talk about. And we will. But obviously this film is one of those films that you go to watch Shahrukh Khan. Yeah. You go to watch Deepika and John Abraham as well. Yeah. In a whole bunch of other things. It's a lot of fan service at moments. Yep. A lot of blowing things up. A lot of blowing things up. And in the beginning, it even kind of shows you the lack of logic, per se, that you're going to get into very quickly. Very quickly. With like something John Abraham does without giving anything away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, okay, that's what this is going to be. Yep. I think where it lost me was, I think, when it just, it lost almost all the humor for a good while. That's the word. And not that this is, I would call it a comedy, but it lost its charm maybe. That's the better word actually, yes. It lost its charm. It almost became just a bad mission impossible film, taking itself way too seriously for what I wanted. Yep, totally agree. And that's towards the back half. I think the last fourth of the film, more. Because there's parts, I wouldn't say it's full second half, because there's a part like right after the interval. At the interval, yeah. It was absolutely amazing. And I loved it. And that still had the essence of it. And then it kind of brought it back. And there are post-credit scenes as well. Yeah, hanging around for those. Not the very end, but there's two post-credit scenes. But yeah, you'd say that, right? It's like. Yeah, absolutely. My biggest gripe is that, not that it's like, obviously, I knew going in that it was not going to be a film that I was like, oh, logic, it's amazing. There's films and there's movies, and then there's just pure entertainers. This is one of those. And just a pure entertainer. The same way, this might even have, obviously, even more outlandish things happen for it, but I knew that going in. I was expecting it. They basically, I'm sure some of the production meetings were, OK, what else can we do? Not what else can we say, it was, OK, what else can we do? What else can we do? And which I would con said in interviews, every 15 minutes, you wanted more action. That's basically how it happened. Well, it's wall-to-wall action. Basically, once again, if you were expecting a lot of story of like, it kind of goes from plot point to plot point to plot point to plot, you expected it. Yeah, and it's kind of spaghetti plot points. Nothing really holds together so much. But that's not what this movie is. We knew that going in. That would have been a bonus if it had a really strong story. Yeah. And not that it didn't have a, I thought, parts of the story were real enjoyable. Well, they made sense. And there were some nice twists. Yeah, it's just in the last fourth, I think it started taking itself way too seriously. And it still had all those outlandish things. And so the fact that there wasn't that charm and humor in like the last fourth, and it was like all this outlandish things happening all over the place and all that. And I was like, I'm not as interested anymore because the charm isn't there. Yeah, there comes a point when I'm eating McDonald's and I may not be done with the food and I'm done eating. And that's what happened to me the second half. I was ready to be done. I can deal with that because I enjoyed probably most of the film. And that's probably what I was expecting. The first half for me was the presentation. And I really enjoyed the Shah Rukh Khan in terms of like his, in a big action film, being his uber charming self, hysterical self, sarcastic, like especially in the first half, what they did with his character was really enjoyable. I was all on board. I enjoyed the audience's reaction to a lot. Like there was a guy next to me that was losing his mind. Every moment he was the guy that cheering in the first few years. And he knew the words to the songs. He knew the words to the songs. Like any plot point that happened that it was like the most obvious thing coming. He was also like, oh my God. And so he was really into it. So that was really enjoyable for me. And that's why I wanted to go to a showing that was a little bit later but it had much more of the audience because I knew that was the style of film. And it did, but I also, for the amount of people that were in there because it was, they were late. But very, very late. Some were 15 minutes late. But for as many people that were in there, I was really again, surprised at how laid back and quiet the majority of the people inside were. There were a few shouters and screamers. But for the most part, it was kind of low key. I think that's just probably the inner eyes. That's what I was saying in Johnny coming down. Like what in the world? Yeah, and like all the main actors, I thought did well. I enjoyed all of them in terms of like for what they wanted to do. Deepika obviously is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Yeah. One of the most gorgeous people on the planet. And they outfitted her in that. Oh yeah, in costuming. Even if it was cold somewhere. She was wearing a bomb girl outfit.  That's why I'm using multiple terms. She clearly is not concealing her identity. No, ever. John Abraham, I thought did well as a villain. So did his makeup people on his abs. He didn't need it. I don't know why they did that. And I enjoyed his background music, especially like he had like a background theme. I enjoyed that one. I thought a lot of the background music was real nice in the film.  As long as you know you're getting McDonald's meal. Don't expect a film. Don't just go in expecting a fun time. And it actually helps if I knew going in, no spoilers, but if I knew going in, hey, be prepared for the second half to lose its charm and its humor. That would have helped because the lack of it is pretty stark compared to the first half being so charming. That was one of my favorite things, the walk away was from that. The first half had a lot more humor in it than I thought. Yeah, it had a lot of fun. Didn't take itself so seriously. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I mean, even like there's moments that like something happens and they kind of almost turn to the audience tongue-in-cheek is like, yeah, that just happened. Yeah, there's a lot of wink-wink nudge-nudge to the audience and turn like old references to old films, which is amazing. Love that. And there is, well, there's several things I wanna discuss, but they're spoilers.  Really over-the-top action film.  You'll be annoyed. Yeah, you'll be very annoyed at the amount of over-the-top-ness that this film is. But if you can set your expectations cracked, if you've seen war, set your expectations there. I think that's probably a good barometer for this film.  But we're gonna get into some spoils here because there's some stuff that I'd like to talk about. So this is for everyone who's seen it at this point. So once you've seen it, mark the minutes and come on back and we can talk about this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Majul, you said those. So there were a couple things. Well, the first one was, as far as the straining, the credulity, I love how in the first half, John Abraham has the power to hold the cables that are connected to two helicopters. He's so strong. And pull them down. I loved it. And connect them to a van. But in the second half, he can't pull himself up from hanging over the wood. He's very tired. He must have been exhausted. Yeah, and I thought he had been disemboweled by John Abraham. I guess I was mistaken. You were mistaken. I heard and saw Jumbu and this, but I guess it was just a flesh wound. It's just a flesh wound. Just a flesh wound. Just a flesh wound. Yeah.  Yeah, and I loved, I loved how everything was just available for everybody. There was an extra pair of flight wings for SRK. Gotta do it. Topeka just happened to have some speed skates laying around. She's a very good skater. Very good skater. Also why wouldn't she have just left that at the bottom of the ocean? I don't know, because you gotta save that and bring it back, because you don't want to give all the fish smallpox. I don't know. I wouldn't let the thing drop down to the bottom of the ocean. Literally it was under ice and it was pretty deep down there. I loved how when they got out of the water, it was not even like cold immersion. No blue lips. He didn't even need to change his clothes after that deep dive into the Arctic. Some stuff in spoilers, once again, I actually really enjoyed Salman Conn's cameo. That was great. Obviously, once again, this is spoilers. He had pretty extended cameo and in one of the post-credits scenes. I thought their chemistry and their humor together. And obviously, I knew that he had a cameo. Rick did not. Oh, you did? Yeah, I did. I didn't know. Because I know this is the spy universe, so the next one's gonna have Rithic tighter. And I know it is the spy universe, for sure. And I know they mentioned Rithic's character. He never showed up, but he has mentioned his character multiple times in it. But I really enjoyed Salman Conn's, like the fight scenes with him. And then their dialogue was very funny. Very funny. At all times, but especially at the end. Yeah, when they're talking about this for 30 years, maybe we should stop. Oh, look, help me get up on my back. Who's gonna take over? How about that guy? That guy? I can't do it. What about the other guy? No, not that guy. He doesn't have enough style, man. Are you kidding me? He doesn't have. The thing I loved about that, above all, is I loved. It's been pretty stereotypical in the history of Hindi cinema that if you're a star, you don't share screen time with the other stars. I love that Salman Conn was willing to share screen time with SRK in SRK's film. That was a really gracious thing to do. And very wonderful to see that change, where now big name stars can come together and do what they've done with the Marvel universe and other things here. Yeah, I think they've been friends for a long time. Sure they have. And then they've done multiple films together. And so this is just another thing. And I think obviously YRF probably compensated them quite well. Quite well. Because I basically said, Shahrukh Khan, you're gonna be in that Tiger film, right? That comes out this year? Yep, yep, yep. I'm definitely gonna be able to do that. Yeah, there will be reciprocity. But I actually really enjoyed his cameo. The fight scene was fun. Their dialogue the entire time was very funny. I like that he stopped at the coffee shop. And though I didn't get the reference, I still liked Kukukukukuk. My name is Karen. Kukukukuk. I love you. I died. That was a great moment. I died. Obviously the dar line that he basically just said verbatim to one of the characters was a lot of fun. Basically everything in this film like knew they were gonna figure out all the plot points. But like once again, they did all that basically tongue-in-cheek. Shower Con was basically saying all this. He's like, oh, we could open it, blah, blah, blah.  Yes, it's I'm making an action movie. I'm gonna do everything I've ever wanted to do in an action movie. And that's all this is. Yeah, yep. And you do that all the time? I do.  No, it's ADD. What were we talking about? What were we talking about? This small film we just saw called Patan. What? Yeah. Salman Khan. Was he there? Yeah. Oh wow. Rithik was there too, did you see him? Did he? Yeah. Oh, you missed that? No, I didn't. Pankaj was there too. Was he? He was. He played the role of Deepika. Amazing transformation. Yeah. The guy is a shape-shifter. I thought it got way in the last fourth, I think maybe a little more than the fourth after basically the cameo of Salman Khan. Because that was in the second half. That was in the second half, but I agree. After the cameo, it went south pretty fast. Yeah, and because it started doing so much. It got way ahead of like, okay, now there's jet packs, now there's small packs. Now there's, they're in an ore, but then like now they're skating. And now we're on a train and now we're on the ice and now we're in the air and now we're on a helicopter.  Of course, just normal tires, yes. Yeah, it's, of course they're doing that. Everybody does that.  She just came out on skates, keeping up with people on motorcycles. And Jim can't do one pull-up. Jim can't do one pull-up. Jim can't do one pull-up. Strong guy, he's got four arms that can cable pull two helicopters, but he can't do a pull-up. Yeah. And so I think that for me, and I guess obviously for Rick as well, is probably, I just, I wish it would have kept that heart and that humor and that charm of the first half. And I know you have to get to a big climax in the film, but it just kind of lost me for what it was. Yeah, agree. And maybe obviously it was just that part was like, there's like the fans now want big action and that's how anything has to do it.  And so it was forgivable. It was silly. It's like, okay, no one can do that, but this is so fun. It lost its fun factor for me. And I felt some of the modeling kind of manipulation thing of, there's kids on this plane and then they show a kid on the plane. We know there's a kid on the plane. Yeah, I do. But yeah, that's where it lost me as well. But I don't, like I said, overall I think I enjoyed myself and there was one other thing I wanted to mention before I end it. The tap dance sequence by Nawaz Adansadiki. Oh, that was great. Amazing. Yep, on the snow. I've never seen anybody tap dance on snow, but Nawaz, he can do anything. Yes, he can. No, there was something else I wanted to mention. The mermaid number that was led by Radhika Apte. No, the, you'd watch that though. Oh, I thought 1000% would. Heck yeah. I can't remember what I was gonna say. It was a critique I had. Mamoudi's submarine, that sequence. Were he in Mahanlal or doing that tango underwater? You know how, oh no, that one looks like Bill Gates. She does a quick forget. No, this is what I actually, this is actually what I wanted to say. The, are you done? Yeah. Yeah, the, some of the, obviously, and I think I saw it in the trailer, so the CGI wasn't the best at all times. Oh no, no. You could, like, they went all in on helicopters and they didn't know it.  You can, obviously, I think they were just trying to make it as big as possible. And it's so interesting because films that like RRR have such, maybe it's just cause the spy story is so played out that the spy film, breaking into the safe and he didn't get some extra clothes. Yeah, spy films are so played out and RRR obviously is such an original story and the VFX works so well in that film and maybe it's just the South Indian films maybe can do mass a little better sometimes than, well if you're comparing this to RRR, that's a very big full-throated RRR. Yeah, cause obviously that's, it's hard to compare anybody to SSRJMULE, and what he can do with big mass entertainment. Absolutely. But this one had definitely a Bollywood feel as opposed to like- This is a big time. If anybody in America has not seen an Indian film and they know Bollywood and they see this, it's gonna be what they expect. Except not as many songs. True, there are not as many songs. There's only two songs. Yeah, which is unfortunate actually. Yeah, I thought of used a third song. Maybe in the second half that would have helped to keep it together. With Sam and Khan on the train. It's probably gonna be in Tiger. Maybe. Anyways, let us know what you thought of Pathan and what you thought, why we're idiots, why you loved it, why you hated it, why you are just indifferent to it, why you didn't see it and why are you watching the review if you didn't see it? Yeah. That's weird. That's very weird. Let us know what you thought about it down below.


Hi, this is your host Satil Bharati and today we have with us Robyn Jean, Executive Director of OpenJS Foundation. Robyn, first of all, it's nice to have you on the show. Thanks, Swapnil. It's great to be here. Thanks. Tell us a bit about the OpenJS Foundation. What is the goal of the Foundation? Well, the goal of the OpenJS Foundation is really to be that neutral home for JavaScript and web technologies. And really, what does that mean? And it means that once a piece of technology becomes really big and important in this world, it's nice to have a neutral organization to help take care of it. So where the IP is, where the brand is, where the team that supports it from IP, legal, marketing. So we have a great group of independent folks from several companies who take care of those important technologies. So think Node.js, Appium, Dojo, WebKit, AMP, Electron, lots of great projects. When we look at open source, I mean, I am self-taught. A lot of maintainers of many major projects are self-taught. Some have degrees in medical science, but they are maintaining their projects. So what is the need or importance of training and certification, especially for open source projects, when anybody can learn things on their own? Yeah, well, that's a great question. And it's something that the industry really thought about when they put together the Node.js certification that our OpenJS Foundation helps run. And the JavaScript ecosystem is really large, but with Node.js in particular, it had reached this level of maturity and implementation in large enterprises that they thought now is really a good time for there to be some level of standardization of skills. And actually, if you think about that, a certification exam really does sort of level the playing field on those skills. So you can have a degree from the top computer science university, or you could have gone to boot camp or been in medical science, as you mentioned, but you can take that certification exam and employers and those in the community know that you sort of have that basic level of skills. One more thing is that most companies as part of the ecosystem, they have their own training and certification, but those trainings are more or less like designed for their own products. But I think what is also important is to know the basic technologies, not a product so that you can move from one company to something you become expert of the subject, not of the product. That's right. And the exam was designed actually by a group of technologists from a variety of companies and a variety of open source projects. So if you think about what you're being tested on, it's very pragmatic. It's really they're testing your understanding of key technical scenarios and not puzzles or twisters or anything else, but it's really sort of scenario based. Since you're talking about that, I am also curious if you can go a bit deeper into what approach did the community take in developing these exams? Yeah, so there's two exams. And actually, I think it started as one. And I think the community thought it was just too large. It would have been like a five hour exam. These exams are two hours. So we have the OpenJS, NoJS application developer exam, and we have the OpenJS, NoJS services developer exam. So the app exam is really several, I think it's about 28 smaller questions that sort of take five to 10 minutes a piece that tests your basic skills in building a NoJS app. Now, the services exam is different. It's about these test questions could be 15 to 30 minutes a piece. There are fewer questions that you follow over that two hour period. And it's really about building the server and sort of that backend app experience. So when the again, when the team put it together, it was born out of a NoJS interactive conference in Austin a few years ago, and they got together in GitHub. They put together some key principles and started designing. And then, and then just one more thing after after sort of the community gave the feedback, the folks took it to the Linux Foundation, who are really kind of world class and developing training and certification programs. And together with OpenJS, we all worked with NodeSource and NearForm who are experts in the space. And so they really helped sort of bring that certification experience to life. One more thing is that who can take these exams? Is there any minimum qualification or expectations? You know, it's interesting. You know, I think a junior developer, it may be difficult, but the exams are for anybody in the world. And you can take them from their VPM base, you can take them from almost every country. We also have them in Chinese. But the idea is we also have a training program that goes with it. And so you can learn at your own pace. And so if you have some, you know, really great some JavaScript skills, you probably could take those training programs and do just quite well on the test. A lot of folks buy it, you have a year to take it and you have a free retake if you don't pass the first time, we have a 68% pass rate. So you can learn at your own speed or you can buy the exam or the training in an exam package and take it at, you know, whenever works best for you. Something is happening, especially with this pandemic, that is, first of all, people are working remotely, companies are looking at, you know, remote worker, which also mean that you no longer have to look for talent in the local area or in a specific area. You can hire anybody from anywhere in the world. And if you look at open source, that's the whole idea of open source as well, you know, people from around the globe are contributing. How does this fact that now industry is looking for remote working further help your mission? Well, you know, I was actually at an in-person conference last year before lockdown and I had the opportunity to talk to a number of recruiters. And this was in the Bay Area, of course, where, you know, everybody thinks all the great work happens. But actually, this the remote workplace just really does demonstrate that developers are essential around the world. There's great companies innovating around the world. And these recruiters told me that Node.js is one of the top two types of developers that they're looking for. So I think this just opens up a world of opportunities for folks wherever you may be. One interesting thing is particularly in the field that we are in is that new technologies, new paradigms, new jargons, new buzzwords keep coming up on weekly basis, becoming really hard to keep up with everything. So how do you keep up not only with these technologies, but also ensure that people are, you know, when they're taking big exams, it's about the latest because when they go and work for a company, they are going to work on the technologies that are still in the very early phase of development. That's right. Absolutely. Technology moves fast and we hope these exams move with them. We have a great, again, core team of experts. And we just announced recently that we just upgraded the exam from Node 10 to Node 14, which is the latest long-term version of Node. And the idea is to keep them evergreen from the training and the certification and any translations we do. So whatever you're tested on will be the most current version of Node that your employer would likely want you to use. That also leads to a different question, and which is since new technologies are coming up. So if somebody took an example, let's say today, is there any expiration date? Because in two years, there will be new technologies. So whatever certification they have today may only be available to talk about that. So when you're certified, you get a digital badge and you can put it on your GitHub repo and you're linked in and it's valid for three years. And we'll just see how it goes. We're open to certifying in new technologies. And I know Node is looking, Node is over 10 years old and they're looking for the next 10 years. And our job at the OpenJS Foundation is to help keep Node and all those other technologies sort of safe and modern as the world moves forward. Awesome. Robin, thank you so much for taking time out today and talk about not only the foundation, but also the role of training and serving and I look forward to talk to you again. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much for having me.


I just can't help but listen and observe. Why do they believe what they believe? Are they delusional? Insane? What does insane even mean? Is their mind somehow broken? Or perhaps, what if they are the sane ones and I'm the insane one? Now I don't think they make compelling arguments, but perhaps that's because my mind is broken, not theirs. Is there any way I can prove otherwise? After worrying about these questions for years, I finally settled on a conclusion. As far as I can tell, there's only one objective standard for insanity, rejecting the laws of logic. All other standards are merely social conventions. Now I don't say this because I'm partial towards logical reasoning, I mean quite literally, if somebody denies the laws of identity and non-contradiction, their minds can be considered broken.  Let's call him Joe. We know a few things about Joe.  And number two, he believes it because of a dubious methodology, i.e. his dog told him so. So is this enough information to determine whether or not Joe's mind is broken? I'd say it's certainly not, just because somebody believes something that nobody else believes doesn't mean that they're crazy, nor does it even mean that their beliefs are wrong. Plus, the majority of people arrive at their beliefs through a dubious methodology, whether it's blind faith or simply poor reasoning skills, that doesn't mean they're all insane. So we need more information. Imagine that Joe sincerely didn't know that believing what your dog tells you is a bad methodology for critical reasoning. So you explain why, and oh, he goes, gosh, I see your point of view, and he changes his mind. Now, if anything, Joe has demonstrated that he's a rational person. He's changed his mind because of a better argument. Now, at this time, imagine you explained the errors in his reasoning, but he wasn't persuaded. He told you no, no. The reason dogs are trustworthy is because of the arrangement of the stars. When they're aligned, then you can trust the animals. Now, this is a crummy counter-argument, but it's still not enough to say that Joe is insane. He could just be deeply confused about the nature of the world. You might say Joe is ignorant or closed-minded, but that's also true of the majority of people. I mean, how many people have tried to persuade stubborn old grandpa that his beliefs are false? If he doesn't budge, it seems peculiar to conclude that he's literally crazy. However, if we add one more detail, we might push Joe closer to insanity. Let's say that no amount of reasoned discourse would ever change his mind. So instead of putting forward poor arguments about the alignment of the stars, imagine Joe rejects the very principle of persuasion. He says there's literally no argument which could ever change my mind. To me, this gets closer to the edge of sanity. It puts him beyond the reaches of reason and rationality. However, it's at least conceivable that one can be sane and yet not be persuaded by rational discourse, and here's how. Consider a Buddhist who is convinced that the truth must be experienced, not communicated. Language to the Buddhist is usually a distraction, and therefore a monk might very reasonably reject the principle of persuasion altogether. Now, does that make him crazy? Probably not. Contrast these examples with an explicit dial of logic. Imagine a female friend comes up to you and says, I am pregnant. Naturally, you celebrate with her, and then she says, I am not pregnant. Well, what do you think? Well, maybe she's just pranked you. So you ask, wait a second, are you pregnant or are you not pregnant? She responds, I am pregnant and not pregnant. You can tell she isn't joking. She's serious. So you have a dialogue. You say, hang on, you can't be both pregnant and not pregnant. It's one or the other. So let's start over. Are you absolutely sure that it is true that you are pregnant? She says, yes. You respond, okay, well then it must be true that you aren't not pregnant if you are pregnant. If you're actually not pregnant, then you wouldn't be pregnant in the first place. And she says, no, I am both. It is true that I am pregnant, and it is equally true that I am not. It is true and false at the same time. Now, what would you conclude? You might start seriously thinking that your friend is nuts, her mind might be broken, but you decide to try one more time. You say, my friend, it is not possible for something to be true and false at the same time. If it's true that you're pregnant, then you must actually be pregnant. You can't be not pregnant and pregnant. What we mean by not pregnant is precisely the opposite. It is the negation of being pregnant. And she concludes, no, my friend, you're just using logic. I embrace the logical contradiction. I am large. I contain multitudes. Now, as far as I can tell, this person is objectively insane. It's not because of her conclusions per se. Anybody can have accidentally contradictory beliefs. It's because of her rejection of logic. It's the ultimate methodological mistake. By rejecting logic, she's not only beyond the reach of reason, she's beyond the reach of internal coherence. Not only will she never be persuaded by another argument, her own arguments aren't even internally consistent. They are explicitly irrational. They cannot make any sense. While the Buddhist, by contrast, might believe that the truth is more accurately understood in silent meditation, the insane person thinks there is no such thing as truth, an explicit self-contradiction. The Buddhist might think reason and logic will never reveal the experiential truth about the world. And the insane person thinks reason and logic are self-contradictory and so is the world. As I've written about before, logic underpins every belief, every methodology, and every thought. It is necessary and inescapable. Logic is necessary for comprehension of any sort, and it is what all arguments ultimately appeal to. Therefore, rejecting the rules of logic is identical with rejecting sanity. And by rejecting the rules of logic, I mean denying the self-evident truth that things are the way that they are, and they are not the way that they are not. If somebody cannot accept this, then their mind is not working correctly. They are insane. Because human actions follow directly from our beliefs about the world, you cannot predict how insane people will act. There's no sensibility. There's no consistency to their beliefs. So there's nothing holding them back from completely impulsive or erratic behavior. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that everybody who is insane is erratic, but I'm saying the potential is there. They aren't ultimately grounded. There's no belief holding them back from acting in accordance with an endless string of non-sequiturs. If I'm correct, then we do have an answer to the disturbing questions about our own sanity. How can we ever know if we're crazy?  Well, the answer is clear. Think about the laws of logic. If you accept that A is A, things are things, then you must have some measure of sanity. Granted, being sane doesn't mean that your conclusions about the world are right, but it does mean that your mind is fundamentally not broken. Plus, acknowledging the laws of logic gives you common ground with other people, regardless of how different two people's worldviews are. They can always point to the inescapable laws of logic as something that they agree on. So contrary to popular opinion, sanity is not determined by social convention. Even if all but one person rejected logical rules, that one person would still be completely justified in calling everybody else insane. Now that one person might not be very popular, but at least he would be right. of a more rational worldview. To read this article or to learn about my books, check out steve-patterson.com.