| | | Good morning! | | | | ONE  (Source: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP) What is the internet doing to our brains? Nicholas Carr famously asked in a 2008 article in The Atlantic with the SEO-friendly headline: " Is Google Making Us Stupid? " It isn’t Carr’s argument that it is — only that the Internet, and new technologies, are changing the way we think. Interestingly, 2008 was also the year that saw the emergence of the first real smartphones, which literally put the Internet in the palm of everyone’s hand. The 2000s was the decade that saw the launch of popular social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter included). And, in India, it was also the decade that saw the emergence of the mobile Internet boom, courtesy cheap data packs for phones. Which is why it is worrying that a new study, of teenagers in India and the US, finds that smart phones are making young people angrier and sadder. As a report in HT put it: "The younger the age at which a person gets a smartphone, the poorer their mental health and well-being, said the report from Sapien Labs — “The Youth Mind: Rising aggression and anger”— released on Thursday. It added that the feelings of aggression, anger, and hallucinations that are rising most sharply with each younger year are associated with the progressively younger age at which children are acquiring smartphones." The Sapien study added that we are in “the midst of a youth mental crisis”, one caused primarily by early access to smartphones. But it’s complicated. As that report in HT said: "Smartphones have become the primary avenue to the internet for many young people, especially in developing (but digitally connected) countries such as India, and open windows to education that may otherwise be difficult to access. But they also expose young people to social media, with its attendant ills, and make them possible targets of online scamsters and predators." | | TWO  (Source: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship — it seeks to end it — has agitated a class of Indians (not as much as it would have once done, but still, significantly enough ). It has prompted a rush of reports (very likely exaggerated and possibly fake) on how women are opting for C-sections to deliver pre-term babies ahead of the deadline. And it has dominated conversations (again, not as much as it did once) in certain circles in urban India, especially Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. That’s because birthright citizenship was the cornerstone of the American dream for many Indian techies. Here’s how it worked. Step 1: H-1B visa. Step 2: have a child in the US; birthright citizenship means the child is a US citizen. Step 3: Get a green card on account of relationship with a legal US citizen (the child). On a related note, at one time (perhaps in the 2000s, even early 2010s), any attempt to crack down on the H-1B visa regime would have seen Indian companies up in arms. If that’s not happening any more it’s because most of these companies have moved beyond H-1Bs. Many hire local Americans (there’s really no difference in salaries at that level); and the compliance costs (and risks) immediately become lower. But for many H-1B families, the end of birthright citizenship is the collapse of their American dream. It is very likely Trump’s order will be scrapped by the courts; not even the US President can rewrite the Constitution by decree, which is what he has sought to do . | | THREE  (Source: Altaf Qadri/AP) My colleagues in HT's data team led by Roshan Kishore put out an interesting piece on the upcoming Delhi elections — to my mind, it’s the most interesting piece on these elections to be published by anyone, but I may be biased — this week. It analysed the role of migration (something often ignored in elections). It also looked at how Delhi’s political epicentre has moved to the city-state’s peripheries, from its centre. Finally, it tracked the proportion of poor people in constituencies, and found that this was higher in the peripheries. Putting it all together, Roshan and his team surmised that the AAP’s focus on welfare had succeeded in consolidating what was previously a fragmented vote in the peripheries . | | FOUR  (Source: Niharika Kulkarni/AFP) Years ago, I was in a conversation with a management guru (a proper one, not one of those charlatans that can be found in in-flight magazines and TV studios) who was speaking about spirituality, then stopped and said, “… but why am I telling you all this; you are Indian; you people are so spiritual." I had to regretfully point out to the man (he is an American), that most Indians are religious, not spiritual, with many also not being smart enough to know the difference. But it isn’t just the realm of spiritualism that religiousness encroaches upon; science is also often a victim. I was reminded of this by the conduct of V Kamakoti, director of the premier Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, one of the best engineering schools in the country (and the world). After his comments about the benefits of cow urine went viral, the good professor (of computer science) clarified that his statements weren’t about politics, but based on science — but it can also be argued that they are based on his beliefs. Many Indians (including this writer) are believers, but it is important to separate faith from science. So, yes, prayers help (I really believe so), but a broken bone requires a cast. More saliently, there are no miracle cures for cancer or snake bite (if so many traditional remedies for snake bite work, it is likely because the snake was non-venomous, or the bite was dry). It is worrying when men of science — his position definitely makes Kamakoti one — push snake-oil cures. And it is especially worrying when people in high positions — and Kamakoti is definitely in one — cannot reconcile their faith with their science. As an Op-Ed in HT put it, scientific temper and social benefit must be the only holy cows. | FIVE  (Source: The Band/Capitol Records) For people of my generation and musical preferences, The Weight is as much an anthem as Ripple . On Tuesday, Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of the original line-up of the band responsible for the former, named, simply, The Band, passed on. Like the majority of the members of The Band, he was Canadian — which is ironic in some ways because at their peak, no other band defined the Americana genre as well as The Band — and his instrumentation (piano, organ, accordion, and, rarely, saxophone) gave the band its unique sound. So, this week, I have been listening to the album I’d pick four times out of 10 as my absolute favourite, The Band’s Music From The Big Pink . | | | | Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? 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