u/LingoNerd64

Image credit https://www.pesec.no/24-most-common-logical-fallacies/amp/).

TLDR This post is about the many logically fallacious ways humans behave and how to identify those fallacies.

A great number of ways exist in which thinking goes totally and majorly wrong. It happens all over the world and for the most part, academic degrees make little difference to this. I will just state the few most obvious ones:

Ad hominem: Targeting the messenger instead of the message. I say "This state's economy is bad" and get the reply "you are a blind moron who can't see other states and cities".

Availability heuristic: going by just our own life experience and what ideas are already available in our limited domain rather than trying to get more information. Example: "I'm poor and all those who aren't poor are the ones who make me poor and are classist".

Bandwagon Effect: just because a lot of people believe in it, this must be true. All popular superstitions fall under this category, including those that seeped in from outside - such as black cats crossing one's path and the number thirteen being unlucky.

Burden of Proof: this is not a fallacy but a statement which means that the person making the more illogical claim should furnish evidence to support that claim rather than the other party who makes a scientific counter claim. Atheists say this all the time about religious people.

Confirmation bias: The tendency to just seek confirmation for our existing views and rejecting all evidence that goes contrary to them. For example, I only consider examples of violent or rowdy people from a community that I believe is just violent terrorists.

Conformity bias: the tendency to conform to our socio-economic and educational level beliefs even if those don't agree with our logic, simply to remain in our comfort zone. Example: I am Hindu, therefore I must go to the mahakumbh despite the crowd and stampede risks.

False assertion: making false claims either deliberately or from ignorance. Example: I say "Hindutva is a political ideology just as capitalism also is" and you say "No, it's totally about being sanatani".

Occam's razor: this is the logic by which you "shave away" irrelevant facts to look at the core paradigm. It isn't a fallacy but a tool to guard against fallacies. It's the same as saying "I shall not look at the caste, region, religion and social class of my teacher, I shall only see what s/he knows of the subject".

Passive aggression: those who can't counter any compelling logic with their own logic, will show their displeasure in other ways. Silent downvoting is the perfect example.

Selection bias: Collecting data in a way that ensures we get only partial information. Example: I fish using a two inch mesh net and then conclude that the sea has no fish smaller than two inches.

Slippery slope: the tendency to blow out of proportion some events, minor or not so minor, to a fallacious doomsday conclusion. Example: I shall never travel by flights because they crash. Fact: flying is the safest mode of travel by any measure.

Stereotyping: the tendency to lump together all people in a given category without accounting for diversity and individual differences, e.g all South Indians only eat rasam sambar idli and dosa. Fact: most north Indians are clueless about the vast range of southern cuisine.

Tu quoque: or "you too" fallacy. I say "party X has historically done a lot of damage to the country" and you say "so has your BJP, they are even worse" - without even knowing if I support BJP at all or not.

There are many others but these are the main ones the left wing uses to attack us. I am listing them here for our better awareness of their tactics.

It seems to have bitten and infected across the entire country. This sub is from a different region than Bengal but the malady is exactly the same. The context is some well known business personality from the same community as Siya Goyal who said that parents should give leeway to their children regarding marriage as long as they were Hindu vegetarians. That's a perfect normal expectation.

এটা হঠাৎ আজ ইউটিউবে দেখলাম এবং এই কথাটা সত্যি। আমাদের আর্য ঐতিহ্য নিয়ে মাতামাতি না করলেও চলবে, কারণ ওই কথাটা কাশ্মীরি এবং পাঞ্জাবিদের ক্ষেত্রে প্রযোজ্য।

বাঙালির চেহারায় ভালো মত আদিবাসী এবং মঙ্গোলীয় ছাপ আছে। বলার জন্য আমি কুলীন ব্রাহ্মণ কিন্তু আমারও রক্ত হয়তো ৬০ শতাংশ আদিবাসী। তাতে আমার কোনদিনও কোন অসুবিধা ছিল না আর এখনো নেই‌, কারণ আদি এবং অকৃত্রিমের মার নেই ‌

This is the Bengal of Sasankadeva and Raja Bir Hambir Malladeb. The foreign usurpers came later, bringing with them an alien culture and language. The Indian story is the same to various degrees.

I have personally noted the sudden flurry across the western border to reclaim the Hindu past. Even Reddit isn't immune to that with subs called ancient PK and the likes. Ancient? Since 1947?

It's simple. An arm detached from the body becomes maggot infested and decays. The body recovers and lives on. The arm has no real identity of its own but the body certainly has.

I have no love lost for online hype and hysteria, but the cultural appropriation attempt is very real and ongoing. They are even trying to lay claim to Sanskrit, Mahabharata and Panini.

The term I-phobia is now thrown into the mix as a first line of defence. It had been a carefully constructed drive based on victim mentality, hyped by the Brit left wing since 1997 and pushed even harder since the infamous 9/11. Specific cases like this cultural appropriation is their second line of defence.

This isn't a trivial matter and none of us should treat it as such. For reference, the link below is to the 1997 Runnymede report where the I-phobia word was invented and made mainstream.

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61488f992b58e687f1108c7c/617bfd6cf1456219c2c4bc5c_islamophobia.pdf

Few glimpses. We stayed at the Royal Gitanjali Resort in Mandarmani and drove down for an evening visit to Digha.

আমি হিন্দিভাষী অঞ্চলেই সারা জীবন থেকেছি এবং নানা ভাষায় কথা বলে আমার শৈশব কেটেছে। বাবা বেনারস হিন্দু বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে ইংরেজির অধ্যাপক ছিলেন। তাঁর ইংরেজি ও বাংলা বইয়ের এক বিশাল সংগ্রহ ছিল, যার কিছু এখনও আমার কাছে আছে। সেই সব বই দুষ্প্রাপ্য, এখন আর প্রকাশনে নেই।

আমার ইংরেজি বইয়ের তুলনায় বাংলা বইয়ের সংগ্রহ খুবই সামান্য, কিন্তু আমি এটিকে আরও বাড়াবার চেষ্টা করছি। ছোটবেলায় আমি শুধু এই বইগুলোই নয়, আরও অনেক বাংলা বই পড়েছি, এবং শুধুমাত্র তার সেরা বই সব আবার সংগ্রহ করতে পারলেই এই সংকলন তিনগুণ হয়ে যাবে। সমস্যা একটাই, আমার ঘরে বই রাখার জায়গা আর বিশেষ নেই।

TLDR: check there second and third photos for a brief version.

Context: revolutionaries are usually seen by ruling powers as anarchists and even terrorists. However, given the racism and exploitation of the erstwhile colonial regime, armed struggle was inevitable. People know Gandhi from India but such figures as this young girl are forgotten.

Pritilata Waddedar (originally Dasgupta), 1911 - 1932 was a close associate of the revolutionary Surjya Sen. She was born in undivided Bengal, in Chittagong. This archived photo seems to be her only surviving one. I have written about her ideal - Laxmibai, the queen of Jhansi, earlier in this sub.

She was bright and her parents gave her the best possible education. She was schooled in Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School in Chittagong, where her imagination was fired by the Rani of Jhansi's life story. She graduated school in 1928 and went on to the Eden College in Dacca (Dhaka) where she topped the Dhaka board in the Intermediate exams.

She then graduated from Bethune college in Calcutta (Kolkata), but her revolutionary ideas caused Calcutta University to withhold her degree, which was awarded posthumously only in 2012. After graduation she returned to her native Chittagong.

She started working as a teacher in the local English medium school and also joined the independence movement. That's when Surjya Sen heard of her and wanted her to join their group. She met him in their camp, where there was opposition to recruiting women from a prominent associate of Sen, but Sen had the final say because women could safely operate as arms couriers without making the colonial police suspicious.

Sen and his group decided to take out Craig, the Chittagong Inspector General. The job was given to two men but they shot an Indian, the superintendent of police in Chandpur by mistake. They were both arrested in 1930 end and sent to the colonial Alipore Jail in Calcutta, awaiting their sentence of death by hanging. Pritilata was in Calcutta at the time and met them in jail.

In 1932 Sen planned a strike on the Pahartali European Club which sported a sign "Dogs and Indians not allowed". For this operation, Pritilata was the chosen leader. She dressed as a Sikh man for the operation. They first set fire to the building which had 40 people inside, Indian servers and some European police officers who were armed.

As they started shooting at the building, the police shot back. Pritilata took a non-fatal bullet wound in trying to provide cover to her fellows but couldn't escape herself. In order to evade capture, she swallowed a cyanide capsule that she had with her as an emergency escape. She was just 21 and undefeated in death.

Yaa Asantewaa (1840 - 1921) was the queen mother of the Ashanti / Asante empire, now Ghana. She was nominated by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpase, the ruler of the empire. She is best known for leading what is now known as the war of the golden stool. It actually amounted to a war of resistance against the British colonials.

The golden stool was (and still is) a sacred object for the Ashanti people, a symbol of the divine blessing on their ruler. No one sat on it or used it as a throne but it signified the empire itself. When her bother died, Yaa nominated her grandson as was her right but the British governor exiled him to Seychelles. She then became the regent of her brother's traditional domain.

But then the governor demanded the golden stool itself as a move to usurp the empire. This could not be allowed under any circumstances. No foreigner could have the sacred stool, so Yaa gathered the regent kings and said that the sacred object was only money for the white man but she wouldn't pay them a dime. She said if they couldn't fight this, they should exchange their loincloth for her underwear.

All the regional kings then chose her as their leader, a first for any woman. From March 1900, the rebellion laid siege to the British fort at Kumasi under her lead. The fort still stands today as a Military Museum. Eventually the Gold Coast governor sent a force of 1400 to quell the rebellion. During the fighting, Queen Yaa Asantewaa and fifteen of her closest advisers were captured and exiled to Seychelles. By then, 2000 Asante and 1000 British were dead.

After this the Asante empire was annexed and it became a British protectorate. But when they demanded the golden stool, the real one was hidden and a copy was handed over. Some 20 years later a group of black railway workers discovered and vandalized the real stool, after which they were all judged and executed by the Asante. At this point the British realized what the Asante could do for it and gave up their quest for the sacred object.

Nana Yaa Asantewaa died in exile in the Seychelles on 17 October 1921. Three years after her death, King Prempeh I and the other remaining members of the exiled Asante court were allowed to return. King Prempeh I ensured that the remains of Yaa Asantewaa and the other exiled royals were returned for a proper royal burial. The sacred stool is still used as a symbol to coronate Asante kings and Yaa Asantewaa is highly venerated as the leader who stood up and led the entire nation against white colonials.

It's a good thing. They have been turning a solemn occasion into a source of noise pollution. I was in Mandarmani last year on Muharram 10 / July 6 (Ashura) and was driving down to Digha. I passed by several massive speakers with extreme power amplifiers. Even with all windows closed, the car was shuddering.

There are advantages to big cities, but I won't get this back again.

Had to compress substantially, so some resolution is unfortunately lost.

This is my second post after Durba Banerjee, the first indian female commercial pilot.

Pritilata Waddedar (originally Dasgupta), 1911 - 1932 was a close associate of the revolutionary Surjya Sen aka masterda. She was born in undivided Bengal, in Chittagong aka chattagram. This seems to be her only surviving photo. For those who don't want to read, the second and third photos summarise the story.

She was bright and her parents gave her the best possible education. She was schooled in Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School in Chittagong, where her imagination was fired by the Rani of Jhansi's life story. She graduated school in 1928 and went on to the Eden College in Dacca (Dhaka) where she topped the Dhaka board in the Intermediate exams.

She then graduated from Bethune college in Calcutta (Kolkata), but her revolutionary ideas caused Calcutta University to withhold her degree, which was awarded posthumously only in 2012. After graduation she returned to her native Chittagong.

She started working as a teacher in the local English medium school and also joined the independence movement. That's when Surjya Sen heard of her and wanted her to join their group. She met him in their Dhalghat camp, where there was opposition to recruiting women from Binod Bihari Choudhury, but masterda had the final say because women could safely operate as arms couriers without making the colonial police suspicious.

Surya Sen and his group decided to take out Craig, the IG of Chittagong. The job was given to Ramakrishna Biswas and Kalipada Chakraborty but they shot Tarini Mukherjee, the superintendent of police in Chandpur by mistake. They were both arrested in end 1930 and sent to Alipore Jail in Calcutta, awaiting their sentence of dеаth by hanging. Pritilata was in Calcutta at the time and met them in jail.

In 1932 masterda planned a strike on the Pahartali European Club which sported a sign "Dogs and Indians not allowed". For this operation, Pritilata was the chosen leader. She dressed as a Sikh man for the operation. They first set fire to the building which had 40 people inside, Indian servers and some European police officers who were armed.

As they started shooting at the building, the police shot back. Pritilata took a non fatal bullet wound in trying to provide cover to her fellows but couldn't escape herself. In order to evade capture, she swallowed a cyanide capsule that she had with her as emergency escape.

There are memorials to her in her native Chittagong and a school in her name at Panikhali (Ranaghat), but India as a whole has largely forgotten this valiant 21 year old. This post is a tribute to our unsung revolutionary heroine.