…and here’s another gloomy ramification of climate change.

A big threat from climate change to the marine ecosystem is the increasing ocean acidification. When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, 30–40% of it is absorbed by the oceans. Because of this, oceans, which are naturally alkaline, are becoming acidic over time. Since the start of the industrial revolution, the pH of the world’s oceans has fallen from 8.2 to 8.1. This has led to disastrous consequences for the marine ecosystem (and especially the corals).

Weaker Coral Skeletons

This increased acidity interferes with the process of skeleton making of the corals. The skeleton…

…it’s not just a threat for the future.

Although climate change (to a small degree) is a natural phenomenon, in the recent age, it has grown to be a major concern for the global community. It entails multiple adverse consequences for the planet in the present, as well as in the future. Global warming has increased immensely, and ecosystems all over the world are suffering because of its ramifications. The main cause of this is human activity, which has led to increased emission of greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This explains why global temperature has…

A dive into the political philosophy of libertarianism.

Understanding Libertarianism

Libertarianism, in its simplest sense, means defending or liberating freedom. The influential political philosopher of the 18th century, Thomas Paine, believed that, out of the two different classes of people in the country, one pays taxes while the other receives and thrives upon them. It was the former class that birthed the libertarian philosophy.

The Non-Aggression Principle (NAP)

As per libertarianism, it is the intervention of the government (for example, through taxes) that disrupts the ‘natural harmony’ that exists between productive people. Libertarians strongly believe that any law formulated by the government should not force people…

Why was he unafraid in the face of imminent death?

There are some things everyone is scared of. Spiders, pain, death. But not Socrates (I mean the death part, he was probably just as scared of the other two). In fact, when Socrates’ time came (or was scheduled), he was actually in a good mood. He said that since he’s lived his life in a good way, he had no reason to fear death. For a true philosopher, death was a good thing and should be welcomed.

Socrates' Life

Here’s a recap. Socrates is regarded by many as the founder of western…

Or is it a faux justification for brutality?

It is hard to imagine a world without religion. Religion is almost as old as humanity itself. It is often considered a part of a person’s central identity. Perhaps it’s because we attach so much importance to it that even a small threat to our religious beliefs is considered a great threat to ourselves and our identity.

It is surprising that even though peace is viewed as an ideal state by most, in situations of war, both mass support and participation are present. Man has evolved from being a savage brute to…

A foolproof way to discover what works for you, and what doesn’t.

It is only when we live in accordance with our own values, that we feel happy and content. That is essentially what philosophy means in the personal sense — ‘a way of life’. Everyone is a philosopher in the sense that they have a certain set of values and beliefs that they uphold to be ‘right’ and try to live by.

“Happiness is the highest good”, claimed Aristotle, and philosophy is all about figuring out the way to attain this “highest good”.

So the choice is not between…

..or will we take the last exit?

We are standing at an environment and existence crossroads. Climate change has increased pace and is driving the earth to a tipping point from where there’s no coming back. Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the planet has warmed about 1°C. Making sure it does not warm any more is not our only concern as even maintaining the status quo is dangerous. We need to cut our gross carbon emissions by half by 2030. If we fail, the world won’t be over, but it will be a different one, in which survival…

Not everything can be justified in the name of ‘science’.

Humans, as explorers of earth, have explored and mapped almost every square inch of land on the planet. Every piece of land is either inhabited or controlled , or left unused because of unfavorable climatic conditions. The element of mystery about “What lies beyond the horizon?” is no longer present. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons humans turned to space — to be explorers once again.

The chief grounds for justification of space exploration are:

1. Space is a possible ‘backup’ for humanity.
2. Space Mining — the space has a wealth…