Random ramblings

Deciding which films to watch Should we go by film critics and their ratings? The only true measure of a film’s worth to a viewer is the utility it produces for her. This is a deeply personal and subjective measure and will necessarily vary between individuals. Remember that friend who is a sucker for rom-coms, however cheesy? And those others, bright folks by all other accounts, who repeatedly fall for neuralizers and infinity stones. By extension, the same holds for film critics. Whatever some of them may believe, they are not higher order beings, and are likely to succumb to the same subjective influences as all the rest of us. I am sure many of us have unwittingly subjected ourselves to the torture of watching films from a critic’s “top 10” selection. Still, there is this pervasive belief that critics are somehow able to identify the films that you’ll like, as against viewer ratings which are produced by “ordinary”, “uninformed” folk, and are therefore useless. S...

Eggs, meat and happiness If it doesn’t kill you, it may at least make you happy! The reason that I decided to spend some time pondering this meaty question is that as of today, no one can say for sure if cholesterol in food is good or bad for you. The scientific evidence is all over the place and the community is divided, with equally vociferous opponents and proponents for restricting cholesterol in diet. And the divide is bitter: learned people are ready to bite each other’s heads off at the mere mention of the words cholesterol, eggs or red meat. As a result, the hapless lay person has to contend with recommendations ranging from sticking to the staid “egg-white” omelette, to drinking clarified butter for breakfast. This situation doesn’t bode well for anybody’s health, physical or mental. In my considered opinion, when there is this much uncertainty about the metabolic consequences of any food, there is only one question that needs answering: Does it make the consumer ...