Sudharsan Pandiyan’s Blog

1. The Birth and Function of Morality Almost all evolutionary theories and philosophical traditions converge on one foundational principle: survival. In an environment filled with external threats—predators, climate instability, scarcity, and competing groups—individual survival alone is fragile. Under such conditions, cooperation emerges not as an ideal but as a strategy. Four coordinated hands are stronger than two isolated ones. This marks the origin of morality—not as virtue, but as a behavioral constraint that stabilizes cooperation. Morality, in this sense, is not uniquely human. Wolves hunt in packs, chimpanzees organize in clans, and elephants operate as extended families. What humans did differently was not invent morality, but externalize it—by naming it, teaching it, remembering it, and enforcing it consciously. Morality therefore functions as an early coordination technology. It reduces internal friction, increases predictability, and enables collective response to external...

Every living organism requires energy to stay alive. The same is true for ideas. An idea survives only as long as minds feed it attention. When no one thinks about a concept, it dissolves. When millions desire it, speak of it, chase it, the idea grows into a collective force. In the modern world, a handful of desires have become the central engines of human activity. Almost everyone is pulled by some combination of the following: The desire to live long The desire to be rich The desire to be happy The desire to be desired The desire to be successful Success here can mean anything at all — status, achievement, recognition, validation. What matters is not the definition, but the energy people pour into it. Our education systems, social structures, and cultural narratives channel our minds into these narrow pathways. They direct our thought-energy into sustaining these collective desires, much like batteries powering a machine. It resembles The Matrix , except the sys...

After the Second World War, the world had seen enough destruction to realize that repeating the same mistakes would be catastrophic. The creation of the United Nations marked a shift from confrontation to cooperation. Dialogue replaced suspicion, and diplomacy — not war strategy — became the preferred tool for resolving disputes. This atmosphere of trust gave rise to globalization. Countries began trading more freely, procuring cheaper goods from regions with cost advantages, and weaving new supply chain routes across continents. China emerged as the biggest beneficiary of this shift, transforming itself into the global manufacturing hub for consumer goods. Other nations built their own expertise — some relying heavily on natural resources like oil, others on human capital. With every new trade deal, the web of interdependence grew stronger. What started as a peace-driven movement slowly evolved into the most powerful economic force of the 20th century. A major turning point arrived ...