The survival value of a brain

Why did Nature give us more brains than is absolutely necessary for our survival? All She had to do was give us enough brains to be able to invent a few stone tools to make up for not giving us claws. That would have been enough to ensure our survival. What makes it more amazing is that Nature generally is very stingy with her gifts. Chimps have just enough brains to survive and procreate. On a good day, the deer can only run fast enough to out run the tiger. So why indulge humans?
A chap named Snell proposed a standard called encephalization quotient (EQ) to compare the brain to body weight ratios among various species. I found the following chart showing the EQ for a few mamals:

Man	7.44
Dolphin	5.31
Chimpanzee	2.09
Dog	1.17ut
Horse	0.86

It basically means that man's brain to body weight ratio is 7.44 times the average ratio for mamals. This really is over kill. 3 would have been sufficient. Look at the state Nature is in today. There is not a single part of her that is not fighting for survival today. And it is all due to the "extra" few ounces of brain matter she granted Man all those milenia ago. The first things man discovered that were more than just survival tools were fire and wheel. That was around 40,000 years ago. Since that day, Man has not done a single thing which has not upset Nature's equations in some way. He has made a mess of whatever he has touched. He is the only species to have single handedly brought the threat of total extinction upon himself. And not just himself, but all of Nature. None of this would have happened if Nature had stuck to her policy of giving just enough resources to enable a species to survive. That one mistake has effectively sealed her fate.

I found a nice article called What is intelligence, anyway? Its discusses the definition of intelligence and explores the relationship between brain and intelligence. The Wikipedia entry for human evolution is here.

Read More

When aliens do attack

Disclaimer: Any offence to any alien who might be reading this post is completely intentional. I just didn’t think you would read it. Any offence to any human reading this post does not matter. You are going to be dead when it happens any way.

What will really happen if we are actually visited by aliens? Last weekend three different alien invasion movies were aired on three different channels at the same time. That was probably a coincidence, but it set me pondering on the issue of alien visits and their likely fallouts. What will these aliens be like? I don’t mean their looks. That’s impossible to guess. It would be great though, if they are not green and full of tentacles – just to spite Hollywood. I am talking about their psychology. What will have motivated them to come to earth? Will they even want to destroy us? Or will they just be curious about us? I would assume that any race that comes to visit us from across space will be technologically superior to us. After all, if we were superior, we would have found them first. Assuming that they are technologically superior, we come to three possible scenarios. First, a very superior race might turn out to be a very benevolent one too. They could be so enlightened that have all become Buddhas. In that case we don’t have to worry. Such a visit will be the best thing to happen to us. But, I don’t think that is possible. For one, philosophers do not make great space travelers. Secondly, any enlightened species will know that meddling in a foreign ecosystem can only harm it. If they are enlightened they will act on the knowledge and stay away from earth. The second scenario is that they will be actively malevolent. In that case we will all be annihilated and earth will be conquered and there is nothing we can do about it. This is the scenario, Mars Attacks presents (somehow, I don’t believe we will live up to the standards Independence Day set for us). It’s possible, but I do not believe it is the most probable scenario. Why would any race travel all the way across space just to destroy an alien world it has had no previous contact with for no reason? The third scenario, and my favourite, is that the aliens will be neither benevolent nor malevolent. I believe that any alien race that finds us would have evolved in their attitude towards space very like our early explorers who set out to discover new lands. They will have set out, at least initially, in the spirit of scientific enquiry, eager to explore the universe. That motive may or may not have been replaced by a less altruistic one (search for new lands to settle in, perhaps). Their attitude towards us will not be very different from our attitude towards, say, the burying beetle. When they find us, some of them will want to destroy us for whatever little profit it will get them, a small minority will want to preserve us and a staggeringly vast majority will be totally indifferent. Our survival will be decided by the fight between the first two groups and not by us. The pessimist in me believes that the outcome will be no different than it has been for the burying beetles. I am inclined to believe that if an alien race does find us and comes to visit us on our own planet, we will eventually come into conflict with it and when we do, we will lose. And the real tragedy will be that they will probably not even realize it.

Read More

My experiments with food: Methi Chicken

I was feeling pretty bored from watching TV all afternoon. So I decided to cook something different. I could not think of anything simple and yet different from regular dishes. Called up my ever dependable mom and asked for recipe which "would be different from what I regularly make but simple enough so that I can finish it in time for an early dinner". She suggested methi chicken. It seemed simple enough to make. It required lots of garlic and methi, both of which I like very much. I thought they would give the dish a pungent aroma - a happy change from the bland burger from McDonald's I had for lunch. And, its very light on the stomach. I decided to go for it. It took me one trip to the local super market and less than an hour of cooking time to make it. Needless to say, it was a huge success. It tasted as good as I hoped it would and better. I have written down the recipe below.

Recipe: Methi Chicken

Ingredients (serves 1):

1. Chicken - 250 gms. (medium to small pieces)
2. Red tomatoes - 250 gms. (same quantity as chicken)
3. Kasoori Methi (dried Fenugreek leaves) - 50 gms. (depending on how strong you want the aroma to be)
4. Onions - 100 gms.
   
5. Garlic - 10 cloves (I used more than that - told you I like garlic)
6. Red chili powder (for colour only)
7. Green chilies (depending on how hot you want your food)
8. Ginger to taste.

Steps:

1. Soak the methi leaves in water for about half an hour.
2. Cut the tomatoes, the green chilies and the onions into very small pieces.
3. Heat oil.
4. Put in the tomato, onion, ginger and chili and a pinch of red chili powder.
5. Stir till the the mixture becomes soft and light brown.
6. Put in the chicken pieces.
7. Add just enough water so that all the pieces are completely submerged.
8. Add haldi and salt to taste.
9. Cover it and cook till the chicken pieces become soft. Stir it from time to time so that all pieces cook uniformly.
   
10. Add the methi leaves and the water they were soaked in.
11. Cover it and let it cook till you get a thick gravy. You must stir it from time to time so that the leaves blend uniformly.
    

About Methi

I looked up methi on the internet and found quite a few interesting facts about it. Its called Fenugreek in English. Its scientific name is Trigonella foenum-graecum. The leaves are used as herbs and the seeds as spice. It was first cultivated in the region near modern day Iraq in around 4000 BC.
In India, methi seeds are mixed with yogurt and used as a conditioner for hair. In Ethiopia, it is used as natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes. In Egypt, methi seeds are prepared as tea, by being boiled then sweetened. Methi has a lot of medicinal properties. It mainly used as a digestive aid. It has been shown to reduce cholestrol and is a potent antidiabetic. It also helps in reducing heat in human body. The Wikipedia entry on Methi is here.

Read More

My experiments with food: Bhuna Khichuri

Last night I experimented with one of the very typical Bengali dishes - Bhuna Khichuri. It is also my favourite vegetarian dish. Khichdi is a popular dish all across India. I know Kadhi Khichdi is a rage in Maharashtra. But like every other pan-Indian phenomena, every region has developed its own variant. In Bengal it has morphed from a simple, healthy, easily digestible, good-for-all Khichdi to Bhuna Khichuri, the ultimate in rich, hard to digest, eat-at-your-own-risk food. I can write a volume on how Bengalis never seem to be able to make simple, healthy food. We cook on the premise that if it doesn't make you sweat when cooking and doesn't make you burn when eating then it ain't food. In fact, Shukto seems to be the only Bengali dish the uninitiated can have without risking repeated visits to the toilet. However, I am digressing.
This experiment did not turn out very well. I am not used to cooking very rich food. I habitually hold back on adding too much oil or spices. And I am always afraid of over cooking. These attributes are definitely not what you want when cooking Bhuna Kichuri. To start off, I roasted the dal a little too much. That by itself, would not have made much of a difference. But then, I used too little oil which made the rice stick to the bottom of the cooker and burnt some of it. I had used very little garam masala and the burnt rice spoiled the aroma. To crown it all, I burnt my thumb on the steam rising from the roasted dal. All in all, a very disappointing result. I haven't lost heart though. I am going to make Bhuna Khichuri again and again till I perfect it. Here is the recipe.

Recipe: Bhuna Khichuri

Ingredients (serves 1):

1. Moong dal - 1/4 cup
2. Rice - 1/2 cup
3. Refined oil - as oily as you want it. (ghee is used traditionally, risk it if you want to)
4. Onions - 2
5. Green chillies - as hot you want to make it
6. Ginger - a pinch
7. Garam masala - ?? (how would I know, I used too little remember)
8. Couple of whole red chilies .
   
9. Haldi - 1/4 teaspoon.
   

Steps:

1. Dry roast the dal uniformly till they are light brown.
2. Soak it in water for some time to soften it. Take care you don't burn your thumb in the steam. Wash dal when it gets cold.
3. Wash and clean the rice.
4. Heat the oil (or ghee if you were brave enough to use it) in a pressure cooker.
5. Add the red chilies.
   
6. Cut the onions, green chilies and ginger and add them to the oil.
7. Fry till the onion turns light brown.
8. Add the dal and the rice and stir so that all of it is uniformly fried. Take care that you don't over fry it. Stop frying just before it starts turning light brown.
9. Add water. Don't flood the rice. Just add enough so that the level of water is about 1 cm above the level of rice and dal.
10. Add the haldi for colour.
11. Add salt to taste.
12. Close the pressure cooker lid and let it cook.
13. Take the cooker down from the fire after 3 whistles. Let it cool before opening it.

About Khichdi/Khichuri

Khichdi is one of the very few Indian culinary dishes which developed indigenously in India rather than being brought over by armies, traders or monks from other parts of the world. In Bengali tradition it is customary to cook khichuri during rainy days. It is also traditional in Bengal to cook khichuri as lunch at most of the popular pujas. Non-vegetarian versions of Khichdi are also popular. Prawn khichdi is popular in Maharashtra, while mutton khichuri is popular in Bengal. This dish has been exported all over the world in many forms - Kushari (the Arab equivalent), Congee (a type of rice porridge eaten in many Asian countries), Kedgeree (the Anglo-Indian version), etc. The Wikipedia entry for Khichdi is here.

Read More

On finally having a single blog

I used to have three different blogs. But that was proving to be difficult to maintain. So, I have finally decided to delete all of them and move to this one. I wanted to use a custom domain name I had registered some time ago. But unfortunately, to do so I either have to use my own FTP server or pay the guys I registered my domain with to make it point to this blog. I don't want to do either. Well, www.rajorshighosh.blogspot.com will have to do for now.
The reason I had separate blogs for each of my interests was that I wanted to organize all my posts by topic and not by date. A bit like a website where you have one page for one topic, another page for a second topic and can navigate between topics using hyper links. Blogger, then, did not have supports for tags and so all that was not possible. Now that it does, I have found a neat trick to do the same. This is how it works:

• Label each post according to its topic.
• Create a linked list page element in the side-bar for links.
• For each topic you are interested in, create a link with the url http://blog_url/search/label/label_name. This is the query Blogger creates when you search on a label.
  
• Click on the link to view all posts on that topic.

I have created a section called LINKS on my side-bar. It contains links to my favourite blogs, etc. I have added three links called BookMarks, Cuisine and Movies. Clicking on any one of them will give you all posts on that topic. It works like quick search!

Read More

Being Rajorshi Ghosh

I am made of the same dust as the stars.

View my Blogger profile.

Read More

About The Blog

Once upon a time long long ago...I used to keep a diary. I hope to revive that habit with this blog. It is not a daily account of my life but rather a scratch pad where I can scribble whatever is on my mind. Movies, books and food are my three passions in life. So I expect most of my posts are going to be about them. I do have the habit of coming up with totally mundane and unremarkable insights about life from time to time. Some posts will doubtless be about those. In any case, whatever I put down here will probably be too personal or too insignificant to be of interest to anyone but myself. If however, you, who are currently reading this, decide to glance through what is in here, I hope you enjoy it.

Read More