OutFocus August 2015 by the Feathers

WHY

WINDOWS 10?

YEAR TWO ISSUE 2 | AUG’15

WWW.ISSUU.COM/THEFEATHERS

“There has been much tragedy in my life; at least half of it actually happened.” — Mark Twain

The architecture of happiness Our happiness is built on a foundation. Much like a building. I have noticed that too many times, we are sad not because things are actually going bad, but because we believe that things are going bad. And by thinking so, we will the negativeness to happen. Such is the power of will. If only we had decided to use all that power in a positive way, we would have built a strong foundation for a happy life. Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

Welcome to OutFocus :) The whole team of the Feathers, and subsequently OutFocus is excited to make a big announcement which is expected to come out next month. Thank you for all the loyal readers, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come this far. Keep following. LLAP :)

Disclaimer: With certain controversial topics, the opinions provided on this magazine are purely personal views of the author. Also, OutFocus assures you, we do not intend to hurt any person/groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feelings. Love, Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

PHOTO:NEENA SABARI MENON

InPix: Joe Belfiore, VP Operating Systems division, Microsoft

WINDOWS 10 AR MUTHU KUMAR

Windows 10 is out and millions of users have planned to treat Windows as a Service are already on board. Here’s why Microsoft (WaaS) which means that Windows 10 will Windows 10 will be the only OS you’ll ever continue to receive updates over time, need.

making it a better OS. Which also means technically, Windows 10 will never be

Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 completely done. It will only keep getting will be the last in its long line of Windows better with time. Here’s the top 6 reasons OSes. Which means, from now on, there will why Windows 10 will be the only OS you’ll be no new release of a Windows OS. They ever need:

SEESTORY

Continuum

Continuum obviously made the first in this list owing to its capacity to make Windows unique from the vast range of other software available in the market. There will be one core for all Windows devices including the PC, Tablet, Phablet, Smartphone, Xbox, Surface devices and IoT (Internet of Things – includes Microsoft Band and Raspberry Pi). So what does this mean? It means that all of these devices work like the same.

Universal Apps

Also related to Continuum, Universal Apps are apps that can be developed for one (PC, for example) of the afore mentioned devices and can be <magically> transferred to another device (Mobile) and it works perfectly. Of course the option belongs to the developer of the app, but if developers decide to jump in with it, this might be the game changer for Windows Mobile.

Cortana

They may call her Microsoft’s answer to Siri, but Cortana IMO is way better than any other personal assistant in the market. She can seamlessly integrate with your daily life, know your routine and even answer specific questions related to your business, say “how is Microsoft’s stock doing today?”. She also integrates with Microsoft services easily like how she can do inline search from Microsoft Edge.

Windows Hello

Up until Windows 10, facial recognition and fingerprint scanners were already popular, but was dependent on 3rd party applications running on Windows. With Windows 10, it’s already in the operating system so you can get it running right away.

It’s familiar

If you’re a Windows 7 user who is not familiar with Windows 8 and the metro UI, you don’t have a thing to worry about because Windows 10 was built to be familiar for both Windows 7 and 8.x users. If you’re a Windows 8.x user and secretly curse Windows for all the bugs that came with Win 8, then this might just be the Holy Grail for you. Plus, all the modern apps now behave like normal windowed apps and don’t jump to full screen until you enable the tablet mode manually.

...and

the whole slew of new features like Virtual desktops, built in OneDrive, Groove music app, Movies and TV and most important of all – the Feedback app! Keep giving back your feedback because Microsoft is listening now, after the whole 8.x fiasco.

We’ll get to the important part to see a few of the common problems associated with Windows 10 and how to solve them. Should be easy enough. I didn’t get the “Get Windows 10 (GWX)” app on my taskbar. What should I do? If you’re running Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, you should turn auto updates on and wait till all the updates are installed, or you can go to Windows update and manually install all the updates. If the GWX still doesn’t appear, you can still download the “Windows 10 media creation tool” from Microsoft and install directly from the tool, or download an ISO disk image and work from there.

I got the GWX app, but I did not get the update. Click on the Get Windows 10 app on your task bar. Click on “reserve my update”. If you have an authentic version of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, this should do it. If you have reserved your update, but didn’t get the update anyway, there are a couple things you could do. You can go to Windows update and check if you can manually start the update process. If it doesn’t show up in Windows update, then you could wait till you get the update (Microsoft is rolling out the update in phases so that their servers don’t crash with the millions of people waiting for the update. If you absolutely can’t wait till you get the update, you could follow the above procedure and download the “Windows 10 media creation tool”. That should work.

SEESTORY

I have updated to Windows 10 and it’s buggy. Some people have reported seeing Blue screen errors (also called STOP errors because they stop the system from working and reboot). This is due to an internal error and Windows is restarting to protect your data from further loss. The only way to get rid of this is to wait for updates. Microsoft is working hard to hand out the most stable updates possible but we have to wait for our OEM to provide us with the necessary graphic drivers that are stable enough. If you’re an NVidia user on Windows 10, you’ve most probably already faced these errors when you wake your laptop from sleep. There’s no work around for it. You just have to wait for NVidia to do the right thing. If you have had the unfortunate discomfort of wanting to go back to your previous OS, you can do it from System recovery. But beware; you can only rollback to your previous OS within one month from the date you upgraded.

Here’s a good one. I WANT TO TURN OFF AUTO UPDATE. Microsoft has made it compulsory to have auto update on. Which means you can’t turn it off from the settings app. This is fine when you have an unlimited data, but if you have a metered connection, you don’t want to let your computer take all the data behind your back. Or you might be one of those people who are worried about the automatic graphic driver and what that might do to your system in case an instable driver gets installed (it happened once on a Technical preview but Microsoft did warn you – Tech Preview is not a complete software). But thankfully, there’s a way to stop auto update. Go to run (Win Key + ”R”) and type “services.msc”. In the dialogue box that pops out, scroll down until you see “Windows Update”. Double click on it. Click on the Startup type and select Disabled. Click “apply”. There you go, Windows can’t update for you anymore.

Cortana says “not available for your country”. Cortana is now only available for the United States and United Kingdom. If you’re outside these countries (and if you’re reading this article, chances are you probably are), you can still get Cortana to speak to you. Go to settings, “region and language” settings and choose your location as United States and language as “English – US”. Now go to Cortana’s settings and turn her on.

INFOCUS

APJ THE MAN OF

LEGEND

INFOCUS

Former Indian President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam died on July 27, 2015, after collapsing during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, India. The 83-year-old, who was rushed to a hospital, had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. A brief Focus on India’s 2020 Dreamer’s “Wings of Fire” Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on Oct. 15, 1931, to Jainulabudeen, a boat owner, and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. Coming from a humble background, he did odd jobs after school to supplement to his father’s income. He narrowly missed achieving his dream to become a fighter pilot.Yet, he specialized in aeronautical engineering at Madras Institute of Technology. After his studies, he joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in the neighboring state of Kerala in the 1960s as one of its first three engineers. A major part of his life was spent at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Kalam is known as the father of Indian missile technology, and came into the international limelight for his role in India’s 1998 nuclear weapons tests in Pokhran, Gujarat. He was known as the “Missile Man of India” for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. One of his significant contributions was working as a project director to develop India’s first indigenous satellite launch vehicle (SLVIII), which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO’s launch vehicle program, specifically the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) configuration. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997, and was the third Indian president to have been honored with India’s highest civilian honor. Kalam once said that like most of the technology he

spearheaded, he himself was “Made in India,” having never been trained abroad. Dr. Kalam held the rare honor of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He served as the principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 and managed departments evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. Later in 2001, Dr. Kalam took up academic pursuit as professor of technology and societal transformation at Anna University, Chennai. He was elected as India’s 11th president in 2002, as the nominee of the ruling National Democratic Alliance. He beat Lakshmi Sahgal for the office. He gave all his life savings and salaries to a trust called PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas), founded by him. Kalam was known for his love for children, and would take time out to interact with young minds during his public appearances. He always encouraged young people to explore the unexplored territories. He wrote 10 books, including an autobiography called “Wings of Fire: An Autobiography” that was published in 1999. In his book “India 2020,” published in 1998, Kalam strongly advocated an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed nation by 2020. It is fitting to sum up with the greatly admired man’s words: “My message, especially to young people, is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.” -Sga Thomas, Associate Editor.

iMAGE: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

INFOCUS

EARTH 2.0: IS THE HUMAN RACE FINALLY

READY FOR THE EXODUS?

InPix: A newly discovered exoplanet, Kepler-452b, comes the closest of any found so far to matching our Earth-sun system. This artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conception of a planetary lineup shows habitable-zone planets with similarities to Earth: from left, Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, the just announced Kepler-452b, Kepler62f and Kepler-186f. Last in line is Earth itself.

INFOCUS

“Where is Everybody?” While watching that big blue vast sky, you must have wondered something. Something stirs your mind while thinking about it deep inside. Fermi had the same feeling. “Where is Everybody ?” and thus a new paradox was coined. The basic points of the argument, made by physicists Enrico Fermi and Michael H. Hart, are: The Sun is a typical star, and there are billions of stars in the galaxy that are billions of years older. With high probability, some of these stars will have Earth-like planets, and if the earth is typical, some might develop intelligent life. Some of these civilizations might develop interstellar travel, a step the Earth is investigating now. Even at the slow pace of currently envisioned interstellar travel, the Milky Way galaxy could be completely traversed in about a million years. But if that is possible then the aliens should have contacted us or we must have contacted them. This has been the base for many science fiction novels and films. Keeping aside the alien argument, many space agencies undertook a herculean job to find a planet which could be habitable like Earth. Astronomers have now confirmed the existence of nearly 1,000 planets beyond the Solar System using highly sophisticated techniques based on measuring minute changes in the intensity of starlight as objects pass in front of their own sun. Hundreds of other planetary candidates are awaiting analysis. However, most of the confirmed exoplanets are gaseous giant planets like Jupiter with no solid surfaces, potentially toxic atmospheres, and that are either too hot or too cold for liquid water and hence life.

On June 23, 2015 NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet in the “habitable zone” around a sun-like star. This discovery and the introduction of 11 other new small habitable zone candidate planets mark another milestone in the journey to finding another “Earth.” Before this, the planet Kepler-186f held the “most similar” distinction (they get the common moniker, “Kepler,” because they were discovered with the Kepler space telescope). About 500 light-years from Earth, Kepler-186f is no more than 10 percent larger than Earth, and sails through its star’s habitable zone, making its surface potentially watery. But its 130day orbit carries it around a red-dwarf star that is much cooler than our sun and only half its size. Thus, the planet is really more like an “Earth cousin,” says Thomas Barclay of the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, a co-author of the paper announcing the discovery in April 2014. While Kepler-452b is larger than Earth, its 385-day orbit is only 5 percent longer. The planet is 5 percent farther from its parent star Kepler-452 than Earth is from the Sun. Kepler-452 is 6 billion years old, 1.5 billion years older than our sun, has the same temperature, and is 20 percent brighter and has a diameter 10 percent larger. In addition to confirming Kepler-452b, the Kepler team has increased the number of new exoplanet candidates by 521 from their analysis of observations conducted from May 2009 to May 2013, raising the number of planet candidates detected by the Kepler mission to 4,696. So Murph, get ready for intellectual travel to a probable Edmund’s Planet. - Sga Thomas, Associate Editor

PHOTO:NEENA SABARI MENON

N U ! FACTS 16

SPOTLIGHT:TV

MICHAEL

OWEN ROSENBAUM Lionel: What did she want? Lex: Forgiveness. Lionel: She must not know you very well. Smallville is an American television series that aired from October 16,2001 to May 13,2011 developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Before the seriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; production Bruce Wayne, chronicling the young protagonistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey toward Batman, was proposed; although that series failed to generate interest, it inspired Smallville. The first four seasons focus on Clark and his friends in high school. After season five Smallville ventures into adult settings, eventually focusing on his career at the Daily Planet and introducing other DC comic-book superheroes and villains. Michael Rosenbaum was born on July

11, 1972 in Oceanside, New York, USA. He is an American film and TV actor, director, producer, writer and comedian. He is best known for his performance for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman television series Smallville, a role that TV Guide included in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville. He has been a regular cast member on two different series featuring Clark Kent (Superman) and Lex Luthor as main characters. He played Lex Luthor in Smallville (2001) from October 2001 to May 2008 and the Flash (Wally West) in Justice League (2001) from November 2001 to May 2006. Fun Fact: He is the youngest actor to play Lex Luthor and He has played Lex Luthor longer than any other actor. - Sga Thomas, Associate Editor.

Nokia announced their latest product - Nokia OZO - a 360 degree camera!

VIRTUALREALITY The promise of virtual reality has always been enormous. Born of technology, virtual reality at its core is an organic experience. Yes, its man meets machine, but what happens is strictly within the mind. It had its crude beginnings. A definition of virtual reality has always been difficult to formulate, considering the concept of an alternative existence has been pawed at for centuries even before 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s we saw first

traces of virtual reality came from the world of science fiction but the closest modern ancestor came to life in the seventies, when a handful of visionaries saw the possibility for watching things on a screen that never ends, but the technology wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet good enough to justify the idea. Later In the year 1991 introducing the VR headsets for arcade games and the Mega Drive console used the LCD screens in the visor,

TALKTHETECH

stereo headphones, and inertial sensors that allowed the system to track and react to the movements of the user’s head. Though complex and at times, esoteric but continued to fascinate a great many people. In early days, virtual reality had always been a promise of the idea which was shrouded, concealed under clunky visuals. Many people who work with virtual reality prefer to use the term ‘virtual environments’ instead. This is a response to a perceived negativity to this technology which has often turned out to be true. There are people who view virtual reality with little enthusiasm and dismiss it as ‘science fiction’, seeing it as having no practical application in the real world. One such innovation which created a possibility in virtual reality is the most sought-after scifi-looking gadget that everyone wants to wear at least once. But its uses are currently limited. Created by Google, Google Glass is smaller and slimmer than previous headmounted display designs. It is very much a prototype, even after more than 18 months of being in the hands and on the faces of tens of thousands of beta testers. Yet another most awaited gadget is Nokia’s OZO revealing a futuristic new camera for filming virtual reality to the originative world, and to define a completely new category of virtual reality OZO aims to advance the next wave of innovation in VR by putting powerful tools in the hands of professionals who will create amazing experiences for people around the world. OZO captures stereoscopic 3D video through eight (8) synchronized global shutter sensors and spatial audio through eight (8) integrated microphones. Software built for OZO enables real-time 3D viewing; with an innovative playback solution that removes the need to pre-assemble a panoramic image.OZO’s filmed content can be published for commercially available VR viewing hardware such as head mounted

displays (HMDs), with immersive, full 360-degree imaging and spatially accurate original sound. OZO also integrates into existing professional workflows and works with third-party tools, dramatically simplifying content production at all stages. Some people identify the birth of virtual reality in rudimentary Victorian “stereoscopes,” the first 3D picture viewers. Others might point to any sort of out-ofbody experience. But to most, VR as we know it was created by a handful of pioneers in the 1950s and 1960s until recently when virtual reality took a completely different turn in being the underlying aspect in this new technology, called augmented reality, which blurs the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell. On the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersive, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world, by adding graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exist. Microsoft HoloLens is the first fully untethered, see-through holographic computer. It enables high-definition holograms to come to life in your world, seamlessly integrating with your physical places, spaces, and things. We call this experience mixed reality also works on the same principle of augmentation. When it comes to imagining the future, talk is cheap. We can study trends, consult algorithms and heed history, but the coming decades will always be a mystery to the logical mind. Not so to those right brained enough to envision something fresh and colourful and maybe a little scary. Seeking the wisdom of the visually enlightened, now here we are in the brink of a delirious technology to imagine a future saturated with virtual reality. - Aishwarya Varadharaj, Writer.

PHOTO:NEENA SABARI MENON

international debt. crisis WHY IT’S BRINGING THE WORLD DOWN Many in this country still believe that an Architect is one who designs buildings and that his sole interest would be focused on design. Well, If I had not met Shanmu Uncle, that probably would be my case. Starting from Maths, traversing to History, Arts, Economics, Sociology, and Philosophy, he would just amaze me. Many evenings we had spent discussing and on one such recent evening I pitched the topic “Greece Financial Crisis.” Yes, I do love Greek Mythologies. Greece has it’s own culture that developed from it’s long history. But recent news, just bugs me. “To put it simply, Like individuals and families

who borrow money to pay for a house or an education, countries borrow money from private capital markets, international financial institutions, and governments to pay for infrastructure such as roads, public services, and health clinics; to run a government ministry; or even to purchase weapons. Also like individuals, countries must pay back the principal and interest on the loans they take out. If a person borrows money, he or she receives the money directly and can use it for purposes benefiting the borrower. But if a country borrows money, the citizens are not necessarily notified or informed of

SHANMUUNCLE

the purpose of the loan or its terms and conditions. In practice, some governments have used loans for projects that do not meet minimum standards of social, ecological, or even economic viability. At times, these loans have been used to enrich a small group of people. In other cases, although the money was used for legitimate purposes, financial conditions beyond the government’s control made loan repayment impossible. When individuals become deeply indebted, we draw a line under the debt. That line is called bankruptcy. It is a line beyond which we do not allow people to fall. No such line can be drawn in international law. But countries cannot file for bankruptcy. There is no such procedure, no arbitrator. At the international level, the creditors, not a court, decide whether and under what conditions to require a country to pay its debt.” “But the creditors must be knowing that a country would become bankrupt ?” “Yes. But if the country produces false documents, produces false statistics ? That’s the case of Greece. That’s what it makes the problem bit complex.” “Complex ?” “In the European Union, most real decisionmaking power, particularly on matters involving politically delicate things like money and migrants, rests with 28 national governments, each one beholden to its voters and taxpayers. This tension has grown only more acute since the January 1999 introduction of the euro, which now binds 19 nations into a single currency zone watched over by the European Central Bank but leaves budget and tax policy in the hands of each country, an arrangement that some economists believe was doomed from the start. Greece became the epicenter of Europe’s debt crisis after Wall Street imploded in 2008. With global financial markets still

reeling, Greece announced in October 2009 that it had been understating its deficit figures for years, raising alarms about the soundness of Greek finances. Suddenly, Greece was shut out from borrowing in the financial markets. By the spring of 2010, it was veering toward bankruptcy, which threatened to set off a new financial crisis. To avert calamity, the so-called troika — the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission — issued the first of two international bailouts for Greece, which would eventually total more than 240 billion euros, or about $264 billion at today’s exchange rates. The bailouts came with conditions. Lenders imposed harsh austerity terms, requiring deep budget cuts and steep tax increases. They also required Greece to overhaul its economy by streamlining the government, ending tax evasion and making Greece an easier place to do business. “ “Would Greece be able to survive these debts ?” So while Greece’s total debt is big—as much as double the country’s annual economic output—it might not matter much if the government did not need to make payments for decades to come. By the time the money came due, the Greek economy could have grown enough that the sum no longer seemed daunting. In the short term, though, Greece has a problem making payments due on loans from the International Monetary Fund and on bonds held by the European Central Bank. Those obligations amount to more than 24 billion euros through the middle of 2018, and it is unlikely that either institution would agree to long delays in repayment.” - Sga Thomas, Associate Editor.

ONE NIGHT STAND ROOPA SHNEE

He kissed her forehead again, inhaling her scent. He has no idea how long this moment will last, she was a lovely being. Her eyes captured him the moment he saw her carefully shying away from him. Those pretty, sad eyes. He satisfied his thirst of lust and bore into those eyes for hours before the time for them to part ways came. It seemed like only moments have passed, and he kept glancing at the wall clock on top of bedpost. Silence echoed the room. Tick tock. Tick tock.

let out a long sigh. As if a slightly increased amount of exhaled air would really diminish her untold burden. She wants the moment to last longer, just this time.

She: He is the only guy who treats me right. He doesn’t judge me for my past. He doesn’t blame for my present. Maybe I have a future with him. Maybe he is the one. He: She seems quite nice. Not like the regulars I have been with. She is different. She makes my heart beat again. I feel a warmth with her. He pulled her towards him,. one last time and A tenderness, which others don’t provide me kissed her. Time slowed down. She was lying with. there with her head against his bare chest. She

SHORTSTORY

The couple in the next room are going at it hot and heavy. Why shouldn’t they. If only man could distinguish between love and lust, half the heartbreaks in this world wouldn’t come into existence. She: Should I tell him that I have feeling for him. So what if it is just one night stand? It just takes that much to develop feelings. Maybe he feels the same. There is just something in his eye, he is different from the rest of the men I’ve bedded. I could sense an aura of sorrow. Should I make the first move? He: I want to keep seeing her. No one can stop me, she doesn’t have to hide herself from me. Her smile. Maybe she might like me. Should I open up and tell her that I like her very much? What’s the worst that can happen. She might judge me. What else?

They say we spend our entire lives rewriting the first poem we ever read, or searching for the first person we ever loved. But some just crave for the first pain they ever encountered. They love to bask in the warmth of the first fire that scalded them.

She: What am I thinking? Of course he despises me. It’s just for one night. How can someone accept a girl like me. I have been with dozens of men. He is a stand-up guy. A respectable guy with a family, wife and kids. Why would he even fancy someone like me. I’m just quenching his lust... Nothing more. He: What was I thinking! Of course she despises me. It’s just for one night. Just because I lost my wife, that doesn’t justify me sleeping around with other women. I was drunk. Didn’t realize the lecher I was. Why would she even fancy someone like me? She might even hate The lighthouse in the distance kept me for doing this. rotating. Incessantly. It never bothered with reciprocation. It never expected any sense He slowly climbed out of her bed and looked of gratitude. It was just there, doing it’s job, back at her once more. She gave a doe eyed irrespective of who needed it, and of- who look at him, her eyes speaking million of unsaid wanted it there. words yet her lips sealed tight. He wanted to kiss her. Not passionately, neither lovingly, She: What does he know about me? Nothing. but with gentleness, care. He wanted to hold Will he ever understand that I was the victim? her. He wanted to kiss her on the forehead I was 9 when my uncle raped me. I couldn’t and take her home. And keep her with him protest it. I didn’t know what was happening forever. Protect her within his embrace. and I couldn’t tell anyone about it. Will he ever understand that the scars that I bear are She pulled the sheets close. Tried to hold of pain and not of passion. My own parents on to his fragrance a little while longer. His didn’t listen to me. He is just some stranger masculinity, his warmth and his existence. I just met. I didn’t choose to become what I To reminisce in the memories of the perfect have turned into today. healer. She smiled within. After decades. A He: I know what she thinks of me. She is lying perfectly carved perfection formed from a here with me, while wishing with all her heart strand of imperfection. for this moment to end. I am just another guy who couldn’t control his libido after all. He let out a sigh. I have never done this at all. I don’t know Reached for his wallet. what got into me today. I tried, I tried to settle A demanding voice said, down after she died. Her own father asked “Sahab, pay me. Not her.” me to move on. We couldn’t make it to the He turned towards the guy who ushered in honeymoon. She would never understand. the next customer to the room. Clearly the night was not over for her.

THE FLOWER OF LIFE IS A PAINTING IN FIRE...

WHY IS HATE AN EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE? AR MUTHU KUMAR

THOUGHTBUBBLE

Evolution was a mystery before Charles Darwin. It continues to be one, even after Darwin stated his famous Darwinian theory of evolution. According to Darwin’s theory, all organisms evolve over time to refine their characteristics and hence ensure the survival of their species. By accident of reproduction, certain genes are bound to change their characteristics once in a while. Sometimes, the changes benefit the organism and sometimes it doesn’t. The negative characteristics are filtered in the next generation. Over time, increasing complexity requires higher level of filtration, and over time, the beneficial genes are kept and the detrimental ones are diminished. This accident is how tiny microscopic single celled bacteria became sensitive to light – and carried the process all the way to giving our marine ancestors, the fish, the ability of sight. It is how invertebrate jellyfish developed spines that lead all the way to us. Examples of how evolution can also diminish unused/ detrimental features are how land mammals do not have fins like their ancestors in the sea or how Homo sapiens lost the tail during evolution from an ancestral ape. I guess the real question that has been keeping me up is why do we, the humans, have several disgusting qualities? Why do we hate? What do we gain from hate, envy and betrayal? Sometimes, these traits make sense in terms of survival. Envy is the reason behind one to want to survive on the onset of competition. While it is no evil on its own, trust, betrayal, hate and enmity are some of the feelings I don’t quite understand. If a man can hate only another man who has wronged him, that is understandable. But human beings are machines of hatred. There is every possible reason for someone to hate someone else. You hate the girl next door for recently buying a new, pretty dress. Love, on the other hand, is very much

understandable. Organisms thrive better in colonies or societies. Companionship is prime for collective growth. Hate on the other hand, causes destruction. So why did evolution make the human uniquely capable of hate? There might be quite a few reasons for this. You might hate your neighbor for buying a new dress because that reduces your possibility of getting a guy to fall in love for you rather than the girl next door. But this reasoning only works in the short term. In the long run, nature doesn’t care whether you get the guy or the girl next door gets. All it cares about is propagating the species. So why? What I think of, is an alarming reason. There is a possibility that detrimental emotions of humankind are not by accident. It might be nature’s way of controlling human population in the world. Think of the other ways that nature does this. Frogs, ducks and mice produce a lot (“A LOT”) of offspring on average. Humans, on the other hand… Not so much. This is partly because the above mentioned animals are prey animals, which means a lot of them get killed, and hence the necessity to produce more. Humans on the other hand, take more energy than any other animal on Earth to sustain. So forgive nature if she thinks that you guys seriously need some sort of control. World wars could do that, don’t you think? My point is not that hate is a necessary evil. I’m saying it might have been. So far. Maybe we are in the throes of a next evolution. One that strives to live together regardless of everything else. We have warred less in the last four decades than ever before in history. What might have been a solution before, needn’t be a solution for ever. But still, did nature devise hate? A curious question, don’t you think? - Ar. Muthu Kumar, Editor.

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