Why are the findings of
behavioural science so easily subsumed in popular culture? The use of jargon
marks a discipline for revulsion, more so in a political environment that scoffs
at expertise. For instance, there's so much said and written by experts about
the time it takes to develop a habit, and also the time it takes to get rid of
one; how does this make the leap to an easy dinner table conversation, even in
conservative families? This question is of immediate relevance to my post,
since I have resumed writing after seven long years; I am returning to a
creative enterprise, and it is hard to tell if the hiatus is fatal. I can't intuit
wisdom in these matters. There’s more dignity in simplifying worries to a
friend, than resolving them in credible, but impersonal crannies online- say, a
podcast by a noted behavioural expert, or a journal article. Life has changed a
lot over these years, and the heft of this transition cannot be articulated in
writing- but an authentic resumption accounts for the past; I could begin
unspooling my thoughts with a post on my reading habits, but my preferences are
so seismically different now, that it would disorient anyone reading this post.
I visualise my audience landing on this page to seek respite from the walls
that have been closing in on them in the last three weeks. To first walk them
through my discovery of Nirmal Shekar, and explain how this has culminated in a
tolerance for sterile academic prose… would be an ode to tyranny. I should
abandon the effort- for now. The performance of evolution needs a better stage.
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