The one who spoke of coffins is now buried too. The one who wrote of life is now a plume in the sky. The long sunny lunch is now a throbbing headache. The branches are bare in The Gardens Of Leaflessness (#TGOL). But that's okay.

#TGOL (The Gardens Of Leaflessness) --- SynTalk Album

You ran. You now ache. There is a strain. A burn with a kind of aliveness. There is a pharmacy around the corner. You walk in, & ask "Do you have the death-defying The Bionic Body Balm (#TBBB)?"

#TBBB (The Bionic Body Balm) --- SynTalk Album

SynTalk thinks about the Cellphone (the object & the metaphor). The links between multiple human identities (avatars) & social spaces, (terrestrial) fantasy, boredom and ‘shape-shifting’ performative aspects of life are explored from the lens of the Cellphone. SynTalk also examines if there is an addiction-like neurological (pathological) phenomenon afoot as we interact with our phones almost continually, and whether it is possible to understand the rise of ‘Selfie’. The concepts are derived off / from Rizzolatti (mirror neurons), Dunbar (Dunbar’s number), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI; ‘HHI’, UX, Usability), Granovetter (social networks, weak ties-strong ties), neuroscience (labile memory, somatosensory cortex, PFC, Dopamine, Oxytocin), McLuhan (medium & the message), Proteus Effect, and ‘technology appropriation’, among others. We also discuss if there is an epigenetic change happening in our memory. Is it possible for our brains to trust the computer? Does a Cellphone reduce or accentuate alienation in the society, and with one self? Has the Cellphone become a fetishistic object? Where and why is texting popular? Is not forgetting okay? What is the future? Will a new grammar evolve of dealing with Cellphones and other people? The SynTalkrs are: Biju Dominic (cognitive neuroscience, Final Mile Consulting, Mumbai), Prof. Anirudha Joshi (human computer interaction, IIT Bombay, Mumbai), Dr. Vidita Vaidya (neurobiology, TIFR, Mumbai), & Paromita Vohra (film making, Mumbai)

#TCND (The Cellphone Named Desire) --- SynTalk

SynTalk thinks about the role of geography, ecology, biology & human behaviour behind history (both facts & principles). Did environmentally destructed land (like grasslands) lead to invasions? We discuss diverse phenomena such as invasions, climactic changes, agriculture, and burial rituals. Is genetics shaping and changing our collective perception of the past, and is there synchronicity in evolution? The concepts are derived off / from biology (Founder Effect, human genome sequence, single locus polymorphism, dispersal), history (Aryanisation), archaeology (Acheulean, Quaternary, Harappa, Chinese oracle bones), mythology (Vishnu Puranas, Kartikeya), geology (tectonic shift, Lonar Lake, ice-age) & ecology (Tundra, co-adaption), among others. Could the burial of a dead body have changed history and lead to the birth of art? What happened ~200,000 years ago, & how did modern humans evolve ~40,000 years ago? Why does mythology posit something impossible and then we try and make sense of it? We marvel at the link between cows, mango leaves, vitamin B, Indian yellow, ‘Pitambara’, frescoes, & heritage. How does some tribal marriage ritual involve ‘sunglasses’? Why don’t all modern humans produce art? The SynTalkrs are: Prof. Sheila Mishra (archaeology, Deccan College, Pune), Aman Nath (history, architecture, restoration, art, Neemrana Hotels, New Delhi), Anupam Sah (heritage conservation, CSMVS Museum Art Conservation Centre, Mumbai) & Prof. Milind Watve (evolutionary biology, IISER, Pune)

#TGBH (The Geography Behind History) --- SynTalk

SynTalk thinks about the mystery of 'existence' and 'consciousness’. In a sense the conversation alternates between perspectives vis-a-vis ​human beings (meditative, wakeful, dreamy, comatose, paralysed, anaesthetised, unconscious, unarousable, dying, vegetative, & dead), a zygote, fictional characters, amoeba, bats, dust particles, ​tables, the sky, plants, ​and rocks. The concepts are​ derived​ off / from Descartes, William James, Heidegger, ​Freud, Sartre, Turing, Gödel, SN Bose, Chisholm, Libet, and ​Nagel, among others. What is the difference between ‘thing in itself’ and ‘thing for itself’? The difference between "I" and "me”, & a form of internal duality. Is there a hierarchy of consciousness (& how does it become aware of itself)? What is 'being dead’? How does one measure consciousness? We try to understand the difference between the living and the non-living. The degree of certainty, and its link with concepts of possibility, probability, & necessity. The necessity of a nervous system? Is death the loss of intelligence and adaptability? How is it possible to have non-conscious, semantic systems like machines? Does consciousness have any content? The links between Sodium Pentothal, neurotheology, precuneus, subjective certainty, apoptosis, and cogito ergo sum? The difference between consciousness and awareness, and the autonomy of thought from consciousness. ​The SynTalkrs are: Prof. Bijoy Boruah (philosophy, IIT Delhi, New Delhi), Dr. Priyedarshi Jetli (philosophy, (ex) Delhi University, Mumbai), and Dr. Deepak Ranade (neurosurgery, Pune)

#TUOE (The Uncertainty Of Existence) --- SynTalk

SynTalk thinks about the key conditions that characterize and create ‘biological’ life while constantly wondering whether life is a random accident, and if we are alone in the universe (because of a singularity?). What is the future of life? How aliens (if any) are also likely to be carbon and water based, but could be completely different morphologically and functionally. How was the first cell formed, and is this one of the biggest open questions today? The continuing journey after the big bang from the physical to astrophysical to chemical to biological to social evolution (across all species via, say, pollination) way into the distant future. The concepts are derived off / from Darwin, Crick, Watson, Hoyle, Prigogine, Manfred Eigen, Delbruck, Maturana, & Stuart Kauffman, among others. Is it possible to create synthetic life in a laboratory, and does the clue to this possibility lie in the (chemical?) nature of a virus? How does speciation happen? The core significance of the cell being a ‘phase separated structure’ with organizational closure. Is the cell the unity of life? How we do ‘not’ really know where biology ends and chemistry begins. Is life a physical state (just as liquid is a state of water)? The definition of life via replication (DNA, tRNA), metabolism (metabolic charts, glucose) and energy transduction. We discuss the role of glucose as a key molecule for all life, and wonder what it is like for glucose (& other bio molecules) to be ‘outside’ life. How does self organization arise in both physical and biological systems, and how (for example) phospholipids (with hydrophobic tails and hydrophilic heads) organize itself in water? How affinities can emerge between two DNA strands. How life is a dialogical state, and neither the physical equilibrium (oxidized state like carbon dioxide) nor the state of chemical death (‘petroleum state’). How virus ‘lives’ on the border of life and non-life. How all living stems can be characterized using unique chemistry, biochemistry, structure, & function. Why life originated from water? What is the role of weak bonds (in, say, the colloidal state of protoplasm)? How does ‘conscious cognition’ arise in living systems, & what are the links with ‘emancipated reflexive motor actions’, microtubules, dance, lizard, play, & consciousness (Mind from Matter). How does a living system talk to itself (why does a child suck its thumb)? How the feeling of ‘free will’ gives an (illusory) advantage. How life has multiple answers, and an inherent capability to change. How life is an expression of abundance. How a bio molecule is not like a sphere. The future with artificial life, cognitive robotics, & ‘languages in nature’ (of animals & languages). Why we can’t wear a full body armour anymore? The SynTalkrs are: Dr. Pushpa M. Bhargava (molecular biology, CCMB, Hyderabad), Prof. Nagarjuna G. (philosophy of science, HBCSE, Mumbai)

#TAOL (The Architecture Of Life) --- SynTalk

SynTalk thinks about the tantalizing cocktail of poisons, toxins & venoms, and wonders if ‘what does not kill us makes us stronger’. We also constantly explore the striking similarity (in many ways) between medicine and poison (a la the vagueness of the word pharmakon). The concepts are derived off / from Sant Eknath, Parikshit, Derrida, & RG Macfarlane, among others. We peek into the world of snakes, scorpions, bacteria, rats, SNARE proteins, Botox, & bioterror. Why are there poisons in nature at all, and is there a link to the natural tendency towards ecological diversity? Is nothing poison in the world? How ‘the dose is the poison’. We (illustratively) explore the origins, structure, molecular & cellular actions, transmission, and dynamics of the Botulinum Neurotoxin (BoNT). How the Botulinum bacteria can survive for many months inside us (unlike any other bacteria). Do we have to have crime to have a stable society, and do poisonous plants & animals serve a parallel purpose in nature? How scorpion poison can be used to (potentially) treat Brugada Syndrome, and its links with cardiac sodium channel. How it is very difficult to use vaccines to permanently protect against venoms given the speed with which toxins act. We also borrow concepts such as padarth and dravya from vaiseshika philosophy to understand the (beautiful) metaphysical link of poison with the concept of ‘space’. How ‘substance’ is something that has different quality and action. Is venom a highly prestigious molecule for the snake itself for finding prey? How, then, do the non venomous snakes make a living? Why a child is (often) not afraid of a cobra? Is it possible to look at (molecular) structure and predict its (poisonous) action? Is it possible to identify the exact molecule (& not the cocktail) responsible for blocking the pre synaptic receptors? Is a more advanced society more vulnerable to poisons? What does poison look like? Should our nature ‘be’ to understand poisons? The SynTalkrs are: Dr. H.S. Bawaskar (medicine, Bawaskar Hospital & Research Centre, Mahad), & Prof. Bal Ram Singh (biophysical chemistry, indic studies, UMass, Dartmouth).

#TNOP (The Nature Of Poison) --- SynTalk

SynTalk thinks about dying & death from medical, ethical, existential, legal, & sociocultural perspectives, while constantly wondering how & why death is important. Is death ‘master-able’? The concepts are derived off / from Socrates, Glaucon, Epicurus, Jesus Christ, Hobbes, Stalin, Sydney Brenner, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Woody Allen, & Aruna Shanbaug, among others. How the hope for immortality is conceptually similar to the hope for justice? Can we avoid death before old age? How difficult is it to call someone dead, & is death an objective event? How life has changed from being ‘brutish, nasty and short’ a few centuries ago, & how the 20th century was in many ways the century of life. How is mortality different across age groups, and the role played by sanitation, vaccination, and oral rehydration over the years? Is death becoming more medicalized and protracted? Are more people now dying in hospitals? Why is it important to fight child mortality, and why is it likely that this global battle might be won or lost in the districts of India? Why the first month after birth is the most important to prevent avoidable death? Why the inevitability of death need (& should) not prevent appropriate public policy actions. How there is an opposition between life & death. What do we write on the death certificate, and why the cardio-respiratory arrest (for example) as a cause is not sufficient? How ‘extreme old age’ caused the death of Queen Mother? The difference and links between between physician assisted suicide, gradual withdrawal of care, (passive & active) euthanasia, medical care system, oral opiates, life support, & brain death. Why is the brain (stem) death becoming more popular, & possible links with organ transplant. Can there be a technology for death? How differently do people die? Can one prepare oneself to die (via philosophizing?)? What would leading oncologists do when they themselves face a terminal case of cancer? How suicide is the opposite of capital punishment. Do only human beings commit suicide; Why? Is death available to the ‘self’, in a moment when the self knows that it is no longer? How is the post-operative death different? Is the living cell programmed to die? Do we know what life is only through the occurrence of death, & is death a summation of life in some way? Is it important to not allow Market to take over death, just as it has taken over life? The importance of care for the dying? The role of the state in minimizing ‘bad luck’ deaths. How death is increasingly becoming banal and matter-of-fact, but is still (somehow) repressed culturally. Is it alright to have a cemetery in the middle of a university? How to die beautifully? The SynTalkrs are: Dr. Saitya Brata Das (philosophy, JNU, Delhi), Prof. Prabhat Jha (epidemiology, CGHR, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto), & Dr. Sanjay Nagral (surgery, Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai).

#TROD (The Reasons Of Dying) --- SynTalk

Is Colin McKenzie for real? What cannot be faked? Are fakes lies? Can copies be more valuable than the original? What is the test of something being original? Is originality a fact? Is it culturally determined? What are the ethics and aesthetics of fakes? How and at what point do we know when an experience is not real? What about reality that cannot be experienced? Is seeing believing, or is believing seeing? Is ‘seeing’ always ‘seeing-as’? Why do some of us prefer artificial flowers over fresh flowers? Does the idea of the original always imply its opposite? What kind of objects can (cannot) have copies (originals)? Can there be fake words? Or chairs? Is the copy of a copy the copy of the same original? Can there be a fake documentary film? Are there false images for astronomers? How does science ‘handle’ reality? What are the (dis)similarities between archaeology, astronomy and film-making? Is most of reality constructed, and do we really know what reality is? Does reality always depend on the technology available? Do we ‘need’ reality? Can we live (largely) with hyperreal simulacra, & will reality be dispensed with in the long run? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from philosophy (Prof. Sharad Deshpande, ex-University of Pune, Pune), film-making (Nilita Vachani, Tisch School of the Arts (NYU), New York), & astronomy & archaeology (Prof. Mayank Vahia, TIFR, Mumbai). Listen in....

#TROTO (The Reality Of The Original) --- SynTalk

Can suicide bombers be farmed? Who is a terrorist? How are terrorists recruited, trained and incentivized? Do terrorists run out of weapons? What role does leadership play in the success of terrorist groups? What happens when a terrorist group is decapitated? Is it possible to dabble in terrorism? Is a terrorist attack always a mixture of violence and theatre, and always a part of a communication strategy? How are terrorist groups organised? Can terrorist groups maintain armies, and military like organization structure? Is (perceived) grievance a necessary condition for terrorism? Is a failed State and chaos always an opportunity for terrorists? Is warlordism usually the first stage in state formation? Is the State usually complicit in allowing a terrorist group to form? Is war politics by other means? Is terrorism often a result of the orthodoxy asserting itself against a reformation(?)? Are terrorist groups willing to engage in dialogues or surrender when they are in ascendancy? Is the use of force always counterproductive? Can there be just terrorism? Is terrorism inevitable? Will terrorism end as an ideological option in the future? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from political science (Prof. Dipak Gupta, San Diego State University, San Diego), & terrorism studies (Dr. Ajai Sahni, Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi). Listen in....

#THOT (The How Of Terror) --- SynTalk

'What' gives rise to conscious experience? How can we know if consciousness is fundamental, and if can we model it? Why aren't sticks and stones, & tables and chairs, manifestly 'conscious'? Do we really know? Is consciousness the capacity of a system to integrate information? Why is information processing by us (often) accompanied by conscious experience? Why is consciousness generated only by certain parts of the brain? How does one measure consciousness? 'How' does pain exist? Is reality singular or plural? What are the different modes of experiencing? Are only conscious things intentional? Can consciousness be subdivided into different modes? When we are aware, what are we aware of? Can awareness be a felt experience, having nothing to do with knowledge? Can consciousness be content-less or does it always need an object? Can everything be a knower and/or have an experience, & why not? Can we speed up our awareness; why or why not? Is it likely that the nature of matter and consciousness are deeply interlinked? Will the third person and the first person concepts of consciousness converge in the long term future? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from cognitive science & philosophy (Prof. Amita Chatterjee, Jadavpur University, Kolkata), Indian philosophy (Prof. V. N. Jha, ex-University of Pune, Pune), and information theory (Dr. Nithin Nagaraj, NIAS, Bangalore). Listen in....

#TMFC (The Models For Consciousness) --- SynTalk

Do you despise your body? Can the body be a source of transcendence? Can one, however, have nothing but only the body? Are we embedded in this world as bodies with other objects, texts, rituals, spectators, and bodies? Is everybody also a biological, physical, social, & political object? Do you see yourself through the eyes of others? Can there be The (disembodied) View from Nowhere? Is it possible to experience the body as the object and subject fused together? Why do we watch dance? Why do dancers dance, & is any movement dance? Why get into tough postures? Why touch? Can the body be ‘nationalised’? What makes martial arts, yoga and dance similar? Does the body ‘do’ the thinking, & can it (though perishable) think about the eternal (soul)? Is there a homologous relationship between the body (pinde) and the cosmos (brahmand)? If we imprison the body long enough do we also end up imprisoning the mind? Is it possible to leave a manual for dance and martial arts? Is life information? What is the very long term future of (dis)embodiment, ‘presence’, and impermanence? Is the body ready? Might it be bypassed? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts and experiences from philosophy (Dr. Kim Diaz, US Department of Justice, Texas), political theory & poetry (Prof. Bishnu M. Mohapatra, Forum on Contemporary Theory, Vadodara), & dance (Aparna Uppaluri, NCBS, Bangalore). Listen in....

#TCOE (The Conundrums Of Embodiment) --- SynTalk

f(q) = Is soil a definitive sign of life? (#TCAFG)

SynTalk is a freewheeling interdisciplinary talk show with a philosophical approach to understanding the world from a long term perspective.