Idle musings

      Yesterday (06-May-2026), during my post lunch casual browsing, I came across a tweet about Donald Hoffman and his interface theory of perception. As https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119170174.epcn216 informs us, the theory is that (here I am quoting from the link) "our perceptions have been shaped by natural selection to hide objective reality .... "     The theory zapped me! What we see, hear, feel, taste and smell may be unreal! So why does the greenery in the park near my house look so refreshing?! The theory has its critics, of course. It is not proven and could be completely wrong. Still, it provides fascinating possibilities.This was the sci-fi movie "Matrix" couched in scientific jargon!     My thoughts went to the concept of "maya", https://www.britannica.com/topic/maya-Indian-philosophy introduces the concept well. Here also, there is the idea that the world is unreal! The parallel struck me.     I read abo...

     It was a Thursday evening. My wife had left my mother at my aunt's place. "Shall we go to Ooty or Wynad this weekend?", I asked. "Are you  joking?! There is no way we can get accommodation during the weekend!", was her spontaneous response. As always, she was right. The hotels that looked good in Wynad were all booked. Udhagamandalam (the newer name of Ooty, a hill station in southern India) had more options, but here also the popular hotels were all full. I did some more browsing to check about transport since I don't drive much. I found a KSRTC bus that left Bengaluru at around 7 am and reached Udhagamandalam at 2:30 pm. "We could go to Ooty", I informed. "Now you tell me! I am supporting a summer camp in April. I thought I could plan activities during the weekend. Let me see, I will tell you tomorrow.", my wife said in a tone that brooked no argument! I silently nodded and agreed - it was the wise thing to do!     I took the Monda...