Srinath

"Two golden birds perched on the tree of life: Ego and Self. The former eats the sweet and sour fruits of the tree, while the latter looks on in detachment"

[Navalism @NavalismHQ]

"To me, the real winners are the ones who step out of the game entirely, who don’t even play the game, who rise above it. Those are the people who have such internal mental and self-control and self-awareness, they need nothing from anybody else."

@naval

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

That’s also the reason why they typically need constant supervision

[Navalism @NavalismHQ]

"Children are happy because:
1) They're not self conscious
2) They lack a sense of time pressure
3) They've no goals.

The bottom line is they are living from moment to moment, and the mind is not there to interfere in their bliss."

@naval

[Jayati Deshmukh @jayati2512]

New Post: One must be a lil' crazy to be a Researcher!
https://t.co/L6Xl7jArRp
#research #phd #phdlife #gradschool #AcademicTwitter #Academia

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

When people say they like the brutal truth, it is often the case that they are more fond of the brutality than the truth. --Mark Twain

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

Very important points. We should not be choking ourselves to fight against counterfeiting. Strengthen trade in INR so that it becomes the de facto currency of choice in the region.

[Tenzing Lamsang @TenzingLamsang]

🧵
Indians may not know this but the Indian Rupee over the years had become like a regional US dollar in South Asia with many smaller countries accepting or tolerating it as legal tender.

This greatly helped Indian tourists and travellers whose Rs was readily accepted.

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

@GemsOfHypocrisy @realnileshpawar Sushma Swaraj ji died in 2019.

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

Recognizing this conditioning and taking a few brave steps to discover ourselves, are the first steps we can take towards real freedom. (end)

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

As we go through our lives, building our careers, families, companies, etc. what we are actually building (discovering) is our "sense of self" (contd)

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

The reason why we try so hard to run from ourselves is the deep sense of insecurity that is conditioned into us as we grow up-- where our well-being or even self-worth are conditional upon our performing well on the social stage of life. (contd)

[Andrew Akbashev @Andrew_Akbashev]

All Editors of NeuroImage (IF = 7) resigned because Elsevier didn’t want to reduce the hefty publication fee (it’s $3,450 !!!). And then started their OWN journal!

Just a reminder - the profit margin for academic publishing often reaches 40% (while for non-academic - 15%).

Obviously, who would reduce the profits to 15% only to make authors happy? It’s all about business. Profits should NOT drop.

This is one of the reasons why we have to pay A LOT to publish an open-access #research paper.

Let's look at numbers. NeuroImage publishes ~1,000 articles per year and it’s fully open access. Thus, it gives ~ $3.5 million in direct revenue from APC.

In the letter, the editors say that “the estimates of direct article costs at relevant journals are generally around $1,000 or lower”, which gives you some idea of profit margins just from this journal.

At first, the editors proposed a compromise by reducing the APC to $2000. However, after some “battles”, Elsevier stated that “the APC would not be reduced because they believe that market forces support the current APC”.

Outcome of this situation?

1. All 40 editors have resigned.

2. All editors decided to start a new NON-profit journal “Imaging Neuroscience”:
- It's under MIT Press
- Fees <50% of the current APC for NeuroImage
- The overall scope, quality level and entire editorial team will be the same as previously for NeuroImage
- The APC will be WAIVED for low- or middle-income countries.

My thoughts:

1. It is a great move by the editors. As I know how academics love to disagree with each other, I find this cooperative nature of their efforts mind-blowing.

2. This sets an example of how an editorial team can make their own journal.

3. This can be the beginning of a major shift in academic publishing.
Big changes take much time. But milestone events are often noticeable, and this resignation is clearly one of them.

Finally, all this suggests that prestige of a journal should NOT originate only from the impact factor and editorial board members.

It should be also based on how accessible the APC is for an average research group.

#science #AcademicTwitter

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

It's a small world after all...: Understanding Shruti and Smriti https://t.co/uiwZfqczUJ

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

R K Laxman was clearly India's best political satirist!

[India Wants To Know: India's First Panel Quiz Show @IWTKQuiz]

India's greatest cartoonist RK Laxman was born in Mysore.

Like all cartoonists, he wasn't afraid to take on the establishment.

Here is a thread 🧵on some of his epic cartoons over the years.

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

On the occasion of #RamNavami, sharing one of my favourite songs in praise of Sri Rama. Ramachandraya janaka composed by Bhadrachala Rama Dasu.
https://t.co/GETtddaMmD

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

So talented!!

[Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal]

ये रामायण है पुण्य कथा श्री राम की 🚩

[Srinath / ಶ್ರೀನಾಥ / श्रीनाथः @srinaths]

Now that I have two active accounts, here is how I'll by and large divide my tweets: @srinaths will post on science, technology and research; and @TwoGoldenBirds will post on philosophy, spirituality, and culture.

[Srinath @TwoGoldenBirds]

My former Twitter account @srinaths is now back! It was blocked one fine day, when I could not verify the phone number that I'd signed up with back in 2008!

After so long, the account is back now.