Finals - PHILOSOPHY

Context

Introducing, The Creator. They're mostly a regular person, with one exception - they are capable of building self governing simulations, with sentient beings.

These simulations are functions that, once set up, cannot be influenced or changed. It can only be set up in the beginning, or switched off, to erase it completely. Only one can be made and run at a time. Every simulation is akin to an experiment, with The Creator having the best intentions but ultimately, having little control over the varied reactions that may occur.

After several years, they complete their most ambitious project yet - a planet called Thera. All elements are in place, and they press run.

The Creator tunes into Thera regularly. They watch the sea creature evolve into people that wear denim jackets and sunglasses, over the next several billion years. People eventually create nation states, have governing bodies at all levels, and international bodies for cooperation. They have factories and online shopping and free market economics. They have families, heartbreaks, hopes and dreams. They fall in love, have children, listen to music, and pay fines for skipping red lights. The Creator has developed immense compassion and love for Thera, the kind one would have for their own child. They dedicated all their time, effort, and attention in setting the stage for such evolution.

As the years pass, The Creator realizes that People on Thera are capable of as much destruction as they are of love. From the innocent insect, to the unsuspecting rhinoceros, to their own kind - all hunted down with every sophisticating machinery. There is war of all kinds, injustice, and oppression - immense damage that cannot be taken back. This saddens The Creator, as it would someone who may be watching their own child lose their way.
While there is still just as much love, hope, strength, and effort reflected in the people of Thera, there is also cruelty, prejudice, pain, and suffering.

Thera has become a place of intricate, complicated dualities. Where there is anger and selfishness, there is also compassion and community. The people of Thera have been mining and clearing and hunting its resources at a scale that was previously unprecedented. With the struggle for resources increasing, there is a war brewing on the horizon.
However, there are also the highly skilled, passionate, and intelligent, protesting, inventing, developing, and conversing, trying to change what goes on.

The Creator faces a difficult dilemma.

Germany is one of the countries that are most dependent on Russian natural gas. While the country has made notable strides towards reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, for instance by decommissioning coal power plants, the Ukrainian conflict has put that into jeopardy. Natural gas coming to Europe from Russia has slowed to a trickle, as Vladimir Putin has weaponised his control over this resource.
In Germany, like other European nations, this has raised the costs of manufacturing goods, reduced production, made an economic recession imminent, and put Germany’s ability to provide citizens with adequate energy and heat this winter, at risk. Acceding to Putin’s demands to normalise natural gas imports, would have
grave consequences for Ukraine.
Conversely, if the country were to pivot to using fossil fuels again during such uncertainty, it risks falling dramatically short of its climate commitments, setting back the progress toward carbon emission targets by a considerable amount, and set a percent which other Western nations might follow

The ""sole purpose doctrine"" in nuclear warfare, refers to the policy of using nuclear weapons only to counter the use of nuclear weapons by other states. It specifically constrains states from using nuclear weapons in response to severe forms of non-nuclear weaponry, like large-scale conventional bombs,
and chemical/biological weapons.
Nuclear technology has evolved significantly in the last few decades. Today, countries like Russia and North Korea pose the active threat of using tactical nukes - low powered nuclear weapons.
The Democratic Party had made shifting the US nuclear defence policy to the sole purpose doctrine a central promise of Joe Biden's presidential campaign

Environmental migrants are people who are forced to leave their home region due to sudden or long-term changes to their local or regional environment. These changes compromise their well-being or livelihood, and include increased drought, desertification, sea level rise, and disruption of seasonal weather patterns. This number is
expected to grow, as climate change accelerates.
Environmental migrants are not covered by the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which is designed to protect those fleeing persecution, war or violence. The 146 countries that have ratified the Refugee Convention are obliged to protect refugees that are on their territory in accordance with its terms.

The UN agencies most involved in refugee rights, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Development Programme, believe that the term “climate refugee” should not be used to describe those
displaced for environmental reasons.
The UNHCR already struggles to provide adequate support for the world’s 22.5m refugees (from war and persecution). During the Syrian refugee crisis, it admitted to being “stretched to the limit." Moreover, the process of renegotiating the existing refugee treaty or creating a new one could take decades.
Experts also worry that political opportunists, who regard the current refugee convention as being too generous, would use its renegotiation as an opportunity to dilute current obligations. Perhaps more importantly, some of those affected do not want to be called “refugees”. The former president of the central Pacific nation of Kiribati, Anote Tong, resisted the label, stressing that
his people wished to “migrate with dignity”.

Earlier this year, the United Nations published data to show that India would surpass China as the world's most populous country by 2023. According to the 2018-19 Economic Survey, India's demographic dividend is shown to peak around 2041, when the share of the working age hits 59%. With increasing automation and predictable economic effects of an ageing population, the question which policy makers are struggling to answer is whether incorporating population control measures within India's population policy is an appropriate move, or remedying India's decreasing fertility rate which has dropped below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman, is more important, to ensure that the viability of India’s economic productivity is not hampered is any way.

Increasing numbers of universities around the world have started following relative-grading policies. These policies take students' marks, and grade individual candidates according to where they stand in the overall distribution of their cohort's marks (eg: Top 3 percentile of students get an A+, while the students in the percentile to 55 percentile range get a B+). The alleged intention is to prevent grade inflation (the tendency of work of a similar quality to be marked higher over time), thereby standardising grades across time.

South Korea deployed extensive digital surveillance technologies to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Their tracking strategy relied heavily on its digital infrastructure. Authorities accessed a wide range of data — smartphone location history, credit card transactions, immigration records, and CCTV footage — of confirmed patients to compile meticulous logs of their travels and contacts.

A is a Dalit woman working in a male-dominated factory in Uttar Pradesh. The only other woman working with her at the factory is B, a woman from an upper caste. B belongs to a caste-conscious family where marriage, commensality, and even friendships are determined by the caste of a person. Notwithstanding her socialisation where caste as an identity marker was ever present, B, despite having knowledge of A’s caste identity, has never displayed any prejudice towards her. In fact, she has been A’s most fierce friend and confidante who has helped A navigate through a male-dominated workspace. A is an introvert and a recluse with almost no friends — B’s friendship is a monumental source of comfort, love and sisterhood for her. No one other than B has any knowledge of A’s caste.
Both A and B do the same work at the factory - being the only 2 women, they are assigned the task of leading important computer processes. They are also the only 2 people in the factor who know how to do this work, which requires extensive training, specific knowledge, and has a steep learning curve. The factory manager, aware of B’s upper caste status is partial to her — grants her leaves without cause, assigns her better work, and excuses her mistakes more easily. As A’s friendship with B deepens, so does her resentment and envy — she learns that the only way to climb the rung in the factory is if B loses her job. When B gets pregnant with her first child, she asks for maternity leave and requests the factory manager not to replace her in the meanwhile. A is put in charge in the interim, fulfilling their role exceptionally.
When A visits B’s house she observes that B is facing pressure from her mother-in-law to not rejoin work after delivering — “focus on motherhood”, “being a mother should be your priority now”, “the baby needs the mother’s attention”, “your body won’t be ready for it” are some of the reasons her in-laws put forward. In the presence of her in-laws, B turns to A for support — “A please explain to her that it will be fine.” Without A’s support here, B will have to succumb to familial pressure and give up her job. A is in a dilemma.

Somatic gene editing allows specialists to change the DNA of the cells of an organism to treat disease, or even to try to
enhance that person's genetic makeup (affect the outcome of developmental disorders/physical disability) in some way.
The changes made in these cells would be permanent but would only affect the person treated, and cannot be passed on
generationally.
Based on current technology and its limitations, aspects like race and gender cannot be changed.

Scholar and essayist Nassim Taleb writes that, “Stoicism is about the domestication of emotions, not their elimination. If we can remain steady, if we can corral and control our emotions, no matter what happens or how much external events may fluctuate, there’s no obstacle that can undo us, no triumph that can overinflate us."

During the period of the Partition of Bengal in 1905 by Lord Curzon, rabindranath Tagore provided active leadership to the Swadeshi Movement (swadeshi means ‘of one’s own country’, and here, by extension, refers to self- sufficiency) advocating boycott of British goods and promotion of indigenous products. However, Tagore gauged that the movement failed to take into account the enormous losses that small traders, mainly Muslims, incurred as a result of this. His novel, Ghare Baire (The Home and the World, 1916) is particularly poignant in its depiction of traders, harassed into giving into the demands of the public to burn their stocks of British goods in a highly spectacularised, ritualistic manner. But while nationalism remained an issue Tagore returned to throughout his life, his own involvement in the nationalist movement in India fluctuated, largely because of the ideological differences he had with its leaders.

Dalit leader Rajendra Pal Gautam's resignation from the Delhi Cabinet after the BJP kiced up a political storm over his renunciation of Hindu deities at an event to embrace Buddhism has highlighted that the Aam Aadmi Party is walking an ideological tightrope. The party which once put very little premiumon ideology is now being seen to try and balance it's Hindutva and Ambedkarite politics. Gautam's resignation comes at atime when the AAP is trying to consolidate its voter base among Hindus and Dalits. Kejriwal's party was seen to employ Hindu symbos and icons most readily in the 2020 elections and is now attempting to forge a link with
Ambedkar. In the 2021 budget the Delhi Government allocated 10 crore rupees to conduct programmes in honour of Ambedkar, in January of 2022,
pictures of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were installed in all government offices in Delhi.

Grassroot sports: sports popularly known and played at the community level - kho kho and kabaddi
Elite sports: sports like golf, F1 racing, and tennis, usually requiring significant capital to participate in

Violence among spectators of team sports has resulted in extensive damage to property, injuries and deaths of persons - not only those involved in fights but also innocent bystanders. Abusive behaviour in the stands has been a result of a culture of aggression promoted and sustained in many sports, especially football. While security elements have been increased, many beleive that atheletes have to be roped in to
help solve the problem.

The adversarial system of criminal justice requires a judge to adjudicate cases solely on the basis of the prosecution's ability to showcase the defendant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt (that is, proving that the defendant's culpability is the sole logical possibility). The judge is not allowed to actively participate in evidence finding, ask probing queqstions to witnesses and base their judgments on their understanding of the answers they receive, etc. An inquisitorial system of criminal justice allows the judge to actively participate in the trial, evidence gathering, questioning, etc. to uncover the ""truth"" in a given case.

The economic life of India-administered Kashmir was stifled when
India’s parliament abruptly moved on August 5, 2019, to remove the region’s political autonomy. Tourism to the valley, renowned worldwide, collapsed further along with the general economy, as the pandemic swallowed the world in 2019. Manoj Joshi, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi opined, “The valley is in a state of political coma. It is sufficiently disturbed to prevent any private investor from taking the risk of investing north of the Banihal Pass,” which marks the entrance to the Kashmir Valley. He further added, “I don't expect much foreign investments coming in. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, there is not too much Indian private investment coming in, either.”
Other economic hurdles include the worldwide surge of inflation,
which has not spared Kashmir. The central government’s National Statistical Office reported a 7.2% inflation rate for the region in June, slightly higher than the 7.01 rate recorded for the country as a whole. Unemployment remains stubbornly high. The Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent think tank, calculated the region’s unemployment rate in July at 20.2% the second highest of any state or union territory in India. Traders associated with tourism still have huge liabilities, including loans that have to be repaid. It is pertinent to note that political unrest stemming from the revocation of Article 370 continues to persist.

A masterpiece is a creation in visual art that has been given immense critical praise, and has been assigned high monetary value; it is especially considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship.
Artistic masterpieces generally hold significant value as
representative works for the cultural period that they represent.

The Undateables is a British reality television series that follows a range of people on dates who have long term conditions, including: disabilities, developmental disorders, and learning difficulties.
Born This Way is an American reality television series featuring seven adults with Down syndrome who work hard to achieve goals and overcome obstacles.
Love on the Spectrum is an Australian reality dating television show that follows the adventures of seven people with autism, as they explore the dating world.

Ai-Da is the world's first ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist. She can make drawings, paintings, and sculptures. She is able to draw people from sight with a pencil using her bionic hand and cameras in her eyes.