Power of an Economy

 Power of an Economy

Economics teaches how to manage resources that are scarce. Economics once was human centric. It will talk more about demand and supply in relation to resources based on needs and wants. Satisfying human needs and wants using available resources to maximize satisfaction and score in profits used to be the key element in economics. 

Current day economics has enlarged its scope of analysis and entered many new areas needing economic inputs. Agricultural economics, Climate economics, Water economics, Health economics, Rare-metal economics, Space economics, Military economics, Social-Political economics, and many more. Looks like scarcity is not scattered but spread over everywhere and in all things. 

Any society needs to keep itself economically active and agile. Digital revolution has put more stress and strain on economics both directly and indirectly. Many fields of business went into fold and many new businesses started to unfold. All looks to be an integral part of economics.

Then what could be the real power, the core power factor, in any economic system. Could it be wealth? Could it be resources? Could it be humans? Could it be technology? Interestingly that which keeps itself dynamic will stand a place at the center of any economic system. Anything that remain static will lose its economic importance over a period in time. 

Two significant parameters simply locked itself in a couple in the current economic framework. One is technology and the other is humans. Both technology and humans are dynamic, and both play a significant role in keeping the cycle of economics functional. Imagine two states of affairs, one where technology compliment humans and the other where technology disturbs humans.

Situation where technology compliment humans result is a positive economic health. The same cannot be true when technology causes distress to humans. Economics see negative trends when technology gives distress to humans. 

A society has its own stratification. The society is fit into three segments based on the economic power of its people. This stratification evolved the poor class, the middle class and the rich class. People are mapped into any of these three-class based on their economic strength, in other words, their purchasing power. 

Many nations with a strong middle-class base proved to be a healthy economic state. More this middle-class is kept protected and functional more will be the goodness in economic functions. Any nation that losses its middle-class or any nation that shrinks its middle-class will enter into economic crisis. 

Middle-class people in a society are the core and real power of economics. Any technological initiatives and developments that causes distress to this middle-class will cause a huge irreparable damage to its economic function. It is for the head of states, for the people in power and for the people in technological initiatives to ensure that this resourceful middle-class should not be put to distress, should not be shrunk, should not be made scarce.

The Philosophy of Bonding

The Philosophy of Bonding

The debate on explanations on the famous saying of Heraclitus saying no one crosses the same river twice. It indicates changing waters or the changing times or even the changing experiences. But once a man commits an error on a situation thereafter in a similar situation, he will not commit the same error.

More a man knows more he moves towards the unknown.

Mind is a unique organ that can never be completely understood by its keeper.  All experiences are eventfully coded by the mind, the funniest things in bonding all these codes. If the mind is asked to bond glass tumbler and water, then it easily fits a picture of a water filled glass tumbler. When mind is asked to bond a hand full of jasmine flower it simply bonds a handful of jasmine flowers with its fragrance and color.

In the process of bonding the mind tries to set a pattern already experienced or set a new pattern that will be logically correct and understandable. For instance, mind has experiences wind and mind has also experienced spider web. When the mind is asked to bond spider web and the wind this is a challenge. Mind has never experienced a situation where both the wind and spider web were connected. This throws a discomfort is trying to collaborate the wind and the spider web.

Both the data of the wind and the spider web are part of the data in the mind but yet the collaboration process is not easily achieved. Mind may know a data but still may not know it. This is a paradoxical situation. When the same task is pushed in to Artificial Intelligence the task is well executed by giving an output. Here what the mind could not do is executed by the AI.

Mind always rely on logical connectivity and banks on a good quantum of experience data. But in Artificial Intelligence this need not be present. It was giving an output which may not satisfy everything logically and it may not have experienced it either.

It was a unique experience to request AI to generate images. The task depended on the prompt. A situational prompt was presented and was tagged to “classic painting” it did give a good output. To take the task further the prompt was changed from “classical painting’ to ‘Philosophical painting” or “Musical painting” or “Poetic painting” the output was not the same in all three.

Does these tasks exhibit a limit to the perception formation of the logical mind, if yes, then is not the AI scenario better in task orientation than the mind. AI is capable of connecting two non-related things to give an output which may or may not be logically correct, nevertheless, it completed the task. But when the same task is given to the mind it fumbles to give a logical output. Is the fear of giving an output of two unrelated things based on logical perfection?

Human mind will not cross the same river twice, but AI will not hesitate to cross.

 

The Data of Unfamiliarity

The Data of Unfamiliarity

Familiarity is a set of data already accumulated and processed for knowledge. All living creatures are functioning in a relatively easy environment where all data is processed and stored. These processed Data is stored in a set under Familiarity.

Familiarity gives confidence and a deep sense of the feeling that all is well and nothing to worry. Every interaction of living creatures is processed in swift section of time with the data they encounter, and it is mapped with the library already carrying huge data of familiar and already experienced conditions. This puts the living creatures to quickly recognize the interaction and proceed to the next stage of response. 

The basic algorithm of all living creatures is to scan any interaction for familiarity. If the creature experiences an event unfamiliar then within section of time triggers a response that this new set of data experienced is unfamiliar puts the receiver at crossroads. The nearest possible mapping is initiated to find out if there is any threat. If the answer be in affirmative the creature instantly exits from that interaction. Even if a smallest fraction of the mapping confirms that there is no threat then the next step in progress to approach the interaction with caution is initiated.

When creature moves into the platform of exhibiting caution in the smallest segment of time all sense organs start to transmit all possible data with regards to the unfamiliar interaction to the mind. The swiftness in processing the new data and mapping them into various categories ensures that no unfamiliar interactions are allowed to cause disturbance.

As the mind gets exposed to Unfamiliar Data, such Data gets into a process of quick checking and moving to a new set if it cannot be mapped with any existing set, not even to the nearest proximity. When a similar event to the new batch of unfamiliar data is experienced, the data gets processed to a fully familiar data and moved to a new or appropriate set.

The most interesting part is when two people are exposed to an event where for one person the event’s data are familiar and for the other person the event’s data are unfamiliar. A communication about the data of the event when explained by the person familiar to the event to the person unfamiliar to the event there is new mapping happening. In such a case the person unfamiliar need not wait to experience the unfamiliar event once again to have it processed as familiar data.

Any narrative data of one person gets registered as a familiar data in another person even without experiencing the narrative in reality, but when it is experienced in reality the stored data gets refined to a higher quality data.

 

Global Inventory Management

 Global Inventory Management

Inventories are all items that are listed under merchandise which is used by consumers based on their needs and wants. This inventory will be finished goods for some, work in progress for some and raw materials for some.

Treating our World as one big enterprise and all nations in all continents are networked to this global enterprise. The balancing of equation between Economics and Science & Technology keeps the global enterprise active 24x7.

Nations as a networked unit of the Global Enterprise can use the Inventory on global scale and at the same time also design their own inventory needs indigenously customized. The science of agriculture is one such customized inventory designed and used by nations to keep their independent economic functions active.

Field of medicine has both the regional inventory and the global inventory. Nation like India has their own pharmaceutical inventory in the form of science of Ayurveda and science of Siddha medicine.  Allopathic medicines are the Global Inventory used by all nations based on their needs and wants.

Focus is more on the Global Inventories because of their power of impact on economics of all nations. All nations networked in the Global Enterprise are part of the “Supply Chain Management’. The Supply Chain Management of Global Inventories are neatly planned and executed without any ambiguity.

The Global Inventories keep coming up in a phased manner. Some of the inventories stay for a long period and few others become obsolete and disappear from the inventory list. Few inventories that became obsolete and disappeared were the Radio sets, Typewriters, Telephones, Magnetic Tapes, Floppy Discs, CDs and CD players and Pagers. Few more Global Inventories kept their life intact by adapting to new technologies like in the automobile sectors, telecommunications, health industry, entertainment and household articles.

Who plans these Global Inventories? Are they instantaneous developments from a spark in mind? Are they pre-planned and experimented in R&D centers? Interestingly these inventories follow both the First-In First-Out and the First-in and Last-Out methods. Strangely, these Global Inventories do not suffer a decaying period in shelves unutilized. When a new Global Inventory is planned the old ones are silently removed. Some nation’s pick these removed old Global Inventories and try to generate indigenous inventories to meet their customized needs.

By now it is clear that the Global Enterprise plans its inventories for global market in a neat manner. How does this happen? It cannot be a spontaneous global event for inventory generation. In fact, things do not happen that way in a network of nations with imbalanced economic strength. Where is the planning of Global Inventories happening? How are they triggering global demands and pushing the newly developed inventories? One such Global Inventory developed and simply pushed into the global markets is the technology of Artificial Intelligence. It is for time to decide whether this Global Inventory of AI to stay for long or simple become another obsolete inventory.

Dominating 1.5 Factor

 Dominating 1.5 Factor

Energy is consumed in all activities. Humans use energy in everyday for many activities. Energy drives activities. Energy in discussion is the electrical energy used in human society for various activities. Energy for electricity can be produced from fossil fuels like the coal, crude oil and natural gas. Another way of producing electrical energy is from natural resources like the solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, biomass and tidal waves.

Fossil fuel has created distress in the balance of economic power among nations due to its uneven distribution. The transition in society to abandon fossil fuel and move to usage of natural resources will make all nations equal in economic power.

Energy is consumed in one form or another in producing all goods available in markets. In a store with many unsold products in their shelves will simply mean that energy consumed is stored unused. Care needs to be taken in producing goods to set a balance based on demand and supply. Excessively produced goods only reflect wastage of energy and unutilized energy.

Energy is a product of power and time. With power measured in watt and time in hours, one unit of electrical energy is measured as one kilowatt hour [kWh]. One kilowatt hour is 1000 watt hour. One kg of LPG used is equivalent to 1kWh of energy and 1 liter of petrol or diesel is equivalent to 13kWh of energy. The unit to measure consumption of energy of a nation is TOE [Tonnes of Oil Equivalent] where one TOE is equal to 11630 units of electrical energy.

One issue that has knocked the doors of all nations is the Climate change and this has made Carbon the core, thus the issue now is Carbon. The total quantum of Green House Gases [Carbon dioxide CO₂, Methane and Nitrous oxide] produced and emitted into the atmosphere resulting due to activities is Carbon Footprint.

One unit of electricity consumed result in pushing one kg of CO₂ into the atmosphere. One liter of petrol or diesel consumed pushes 3 kgs of CO₂ and one kilo of LPG consumed pushes 3 kgs of CO₂ into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide stays for many years in the atmosphere causing distress to atmosphere and these causes’ change in climatic conditions.

Based on the global average surface warming the climate threshold is kept at 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Once 1.5 degree Celsius of climate threshold is crossed then climate change factors become irreversible, and consequence thereof will be severe. All nations have started to feel the level of climatic distress through unprecedented rains, floods, hurricanes, forest fire and rise in sea level.

All Governments are taking relentless measures to tackle this climate change issues. Governments have to put in attractive policies to ensure global preparedness to drift away from the 1.5 degree Celsius for good.

It looks like the activities of discontinuing production of small cars, fast paced development in Artificial Intelligence, replacing humans with automated technologies, organic farming methods, shifting to vegetarian food, digital learning, reducing use of paper, population control measures are part of the climate change program to stay safely far away from the 1.5 factor.

The Human Switch

 The Human Switch

It is time to wake up before things get tightened around us. The more we use technology the better life will be. But any technology that turns out to harm life should be discarded at the first instance.

There are two ways of looking at technology when it comes to life. One is to use technology as a tool to live a good life and the other is to simple surrender our lives to technology. In the first case life gets better and better as technology improves with all finer qualities. But in the second case technology plays the role of a spoiler.

Commerce is a business of buying and selling products and services. Technology brings in more flexibility with low-cost options to enhance the art of commerce. But when the same technology turns in to extinguish the foundation of commerce everything around us change.

An existing market can be refined with better standards; markets can be enhanced with healthy supportive tools, markets can be expanded beyond boundaries but when market starts to shrink, when existing markets start to disappear then all factors that depend on these markets suffer.

The rate of change of market conditions and the rate of change of adaptability should get synchronized. If markets, go too advanced giving lesser time for people to adapt will cause fear and distress. People adapt to something and not to nothing. This something should undergo change in a systematically paced manner.

The sudden boom in the implementation and usage of AI tools is too fast and it is way ahead of people who are left behind in adapting to its presence. A mere downloadable presence of an APP in the mobiles does not guarantee that people have adapted and synced with the technology. It is time to distinguish what is essential and what is not essential and for this exercise the economic affordability plays a key role.

To buy a product or service one has to pay for it. If no ready money is available someone lends and push them to buy it through many media campaigns. By purchasing products and services through borrowings we gain the title of ownership and lose to the title of borrower. When we buy a product with available money, we just switch the title of ownership and stay away from gaining the title of a borrower.

All Apps either free or meant to be free with hidden charges are after something in you. It is time to wake up. Use technology only when it is needed. Anything available free is simply taking something precious out of you unknowingly. If any technology is going to change your living conditions use it, if it is going to challenge your living conditions then discard it.

Did you know that when you sleep everything also sleep without disturbing you. To connect and not to connect is the switch we need to use when it comes to technology. There are still lots of people living happily untouched by technology. Out there are lots of living creatures that live a happy life without using technology. Control technology and do not get controlled by technology.

On Freewill and Destiny

 On Freewill and Destiny

Freewill is the power one holds to make own choice and decisions independent of any preset fate. Destiny is events which are beyond control and cannot be changed but just accepted.

Outcome of events happening on account of freewill and on account of destiny sets a never-ending debate for ages. Many believe in freewill, and many believe in destiny, interestingly both walk their respective lives side by side accepting the final outcome as an end product of their choice.

By viewing technology through the lens of freewill and destiny leads to a wider topic for futuristic discussion.

If technology is an act of freewill then its entire outcome produces both favorable and unfavorable results, some are benefitting and some are disturbing. Those who enjoy benefits attribute it to freewill and those who get disturbed prefer destiny over freewill.

If technology is an act of destiny, then its entire outcome also produces both favorable and unfavorable results, some are benefitting and some are disturbing. Those who benefit attribute it to destiny and those who get disturbed prefer freewill over destiny.

Destiny stands unchanged but freewill encourages experimentation. The digital revolution has brought Artificial Intelligence to the foreground. This AI has started to change the way people live. Rapid progress in AI technology has brought distress in social patterns and economic functions.

If AI is an outcome due to developmental process based on freewill then the emerging result should have options of freewill to alter the outcome rather than pushing the outcome to an unchangeable destiny.

If AI is an outcome due to developmental process based on destiny, then the emerging result should have no option for freewill to alter results but simply accept the unchangeable outcome of destiny.

The impact of AI revolution has changed the social lifestyle. Human society is inching towards total acceptance of AI systems through digital patterns of compelling nature. If humans accept these compelling digital patterns in social life, then they step into a circle from which they will not be able to come out.

If AI revolution is a process of destiny, then humans will simple be forced into the circle due to compelling patterns and will not be able to exit. But if AI revolution is a process of freewill then even if they enter into the circle due to compelling patterns there will always be an option of freewill to help them to step out of the circle.

To accept without altering or to alter without accepting is in the hands of the policy makers who design the future. Politicians and Technocrats have to synchronize in designing the future or a "Techno-politician" has to design the future.

Two minds are always better than one, but much will depend on whether they synchronize or not.

On Layoffs

 On Layoffs

In the past few months, the word that went around unannounced but destabilizing all things that were stable was “Layoff”. When it really happens then it should be like a silent wave hitting the dissolving sands. Some may experience the sun as a black disc, and many may not hear even a loud music. The word “Layoff” pins the mind to the self with no physical pain felt even with a huge iron sphere simply hung around the career neck with a chain made of hours and days.

Human life cycle encourages education to get prepared to be used as a valuable workforce. Layoffs actually happen when any establishment runs into economic and financial crisis. It is usual for establishments running into financial distress to ask its staff to leave the job. But what is happening now is simple a major wave of displacement as a result of technological advancement.

One may begin to realize that when works can be executed by AI and machines, then the need for human resources is absent. The question that comes up is” Were the human’s born to work at all?”

Animals were domesticated by humans to assist them in work. All livestock worked really sincerely without any word of burdened pain uttered. As technology developed, these livestock were replaced by machines. No one till today really knows whether these domesticated livestock’s thought this move as a boon or burden. But when the same happens to humans it is seen as a burden. Burden is not for the condition but for the situation. Livestock did not build a committed lifestyle, but humans built a lifestyle which is more demanding in economic terms.

It looks likely that in a futuristic scenario no humans will be needed to work because all essential and necessary functions will be done by AI and machines. In such a scenario what sense will humans hold in designing a demanding lifestyle. Who is to be blamed?

In a world without humans there were many creatures living by following the natural equation without any binding commitments. Human on entering into the world could have designed a simple living like any other creatures. One thing that made humans to run a race chasing what they created and running after what they committed is the invention of the economic system.

If Economic system has caused all the problems, then the same economic system has to solve all the problems too. If humans want to keep the world functioning as earlier, then they have to apply brakes on technological developments. Technological developments at times become poison to the very human existence.

If humans cannot stop the technological advancements, then they have to either abolish the present economic system or develop a new system that will keep the world going happily together in harmony and peace.

It is wise to work for a solution rather than wait for one.

Ai’s Digital Eye

 

Ai's Digital Eye

The foremost objective in the principle of clarity is the nonexistence of ambiguity. It will not be wise to have a system with both clarity and ambiguity. One does not complement the other. When this discussion is done with respect to Natural Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence a sense of uncomforting may shift in.

It will be interesting to find the outcome of a test which will ask the participants to identify the blurred items in a picture. When both Ni and Ai is allowed to make an analysis on a picture with many items and out of this some items are blurred.

Humans will use their intelligence and identify the blurred items with those they would have seen and registered in their mind. Such results will be accurate without giving room for ambiguity. For those items which they may not have seen or registered them at best can assume and give an ambiguous answer.

Ai gives a different result all together; it may be a surprise that all the blurred items would have been read to a spot-on accuracy. The data base they source is wide and fast. The process of matching with options of fitting or not fitting will happen at a great speed.

Anyone accessible to a wide range of data and knowing how to manage it will have greater clarity.