January 2026
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Why Local Knowledge Will Matter More Than Global Expertise
Global expertise values scale, abstraction, and generalization. Local knowledge values context, observation, and lived experience. In stable times, global systems dominate. In unstable times, local understanding becomes invaluable. Climate variation, ecological change, social dynamics, and economic shifts are always felt locally first. Those who understand their immediate environment—its rhythms, limits, and opportunities—respond faster and more Continue reading
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Why Attention Is the Most Contested Resource of Our Time
Wars are fought over territory. Markets compete over capital. Modern societies are increasingly shaped by battles over attention. Algorithms reward outrage, speed, and emotional extremes. Nuance struggles to survive. As attention fragments, shared understanding weakens. This has consequences beyond media consumption. Political polarization deepens. Trust erodes. Anxiety becomes ambient. Protecting attention is not a luxury—it Continue reading
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A Quiet Definition of a Good Life in Uncertain Times
In an age obsessed with speed, scale, and visibility, it is worth asking a quieter question: What does a good life look like when certainty is gone? Perhaps it is not defined by constant growth, but by sufficiency. A life where: Such a life is not a retreat from the world. It is a stable Continue reading
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Why Centralization Feels Efficient—and Fails Under Stress
Modern life favors centralization: large cities, complex supply chains, concentrated institutions. These systems are efficient under stable conditions, but brittle under stress. When shocks occur—war, pandemics, climate events, political disruptions—centralized systems struggle. Recovery is slow, coordination falters, and individuals feel powerless. Decentralization does not mean isolation. It means balance. Smaller systems, local production, diversified livelihoods, Continue reading
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Why the Real Risk Is Not War, But Permanent Tension
Rising defense budgets, geopolitical rivalry, and frequent crises often lead to fears of global war. While such fears are understandable, history suggests a different pattern is more likely. Modern conflicts increasingly operate below the threshold of total war: sanctions, proxy battles, cyber operations, trade restrictions, narrative warfare. This creates a condition of permanent tension, not Continue reading
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Energy, Materials, and the Reality Beneath the Digital World
Much of today’s conversation focuses on digital futures—AI, software, platforms, virtual economies. But beneath every digital system lies a physical foundation that cannot be ignored. Electricity powers intelligence.Metals carry electrons.Infrastructure enables automation. The modern world does not run on ideas alone. It runs on transformers, grids, copper, aluminum, and industrial systems that are slow to Continue reading
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Why Comparisons With the 1920s Are Useful—but Incomplete
The 1920s (Roaring Twenties) are often invoked when discussing today’s world: rising inequality, technological disruption, speculative excess, geopolitical tension, and eventually, the Great Depression. These parallels are not entirely wrong—but they are incomplete. The critical difference lies in flexibility. The world of the 1920s was constrained by rigid systems: the gold standard, limited monetary tools, Continue reading
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Are We Collapsing?
For every generation, there comes a moment when the world feels unstable. Institutions appear fragile, conflicts multiply, economies feel stretched, and the future becomes difficult to imagine with confidence. It is tempting to label such moments as the “end of everything.” History suggests otherwise. What we are living through today is not a sudden collapse, Continue reading
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Reality, As We Make It
Reality is often treated as fixed—something external and immovable. Yet lived experience keeps reminding me otherwise. Reality shifts, quietly, with perception. A recent field trip deepened this realization. Standing before a still water body, I watched a single ripple spread outward. It didn’t merely travel toward the shore; it altered the stillness itself. The surface Continue reading
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There Will Be No One Like You
There may always be someone more beautiful than you.More admired. More noticed. More celebrated. That truth is not meant to diminish you.It is meant to free you. Because beauty can be compared—but you cannot. There has never been, and will never be, another version of you: shaped by the same thoughts, silences, struggles, kindness, and Continue reading
bhaskar saikia 