Part the First: The War in West Asia Viewed from East Asia.\u00a0 The daily updates compiled here have been essential for cutting through the fog of war associated with the current War in West Asia.\u00a0 Many people have marveled at the sheer stupidity of another unnecessary (to be redundant) war of choice in the Middle East, especially against a nation of 92 million that represents one of the oldest continuous civilizations going back to the Iron Age. \u00a0Christopher Harding\u2019s article The Iran war through Asia\u2019s Eyes is a useful addition to the discussion (emphasis added):<\/p>\n
Such has been the intensity of events in the Gulf, and the relentlessness of the media coverage, that the Iran war can feel older than it is. In fact, some of the oil tankers that left the Middle East before the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have yet to reach their destinations in Europe. The real impact of radically reduced supplies, across the array of industries that rely on oil and the customers who depend on their products, has yet to be felt, leaving an eerie sense of consequences pending.<\/p>\n
To the east of the Gulf, where transit times to major Asian destinations are shorter and reliance on Middle Eastern oil is much greater, things are already looking very different. South, East and Southeast Asia have long suffered a severe energy deficit, owing to dense populations, high industrial demand for power and uncooperative geology when it comes to oil and gas production. Around 84 per cent of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz is destined for Asia, and economies in South and Southeast Asia in particular are starting to struggle. Relationships with the United States are meanwhile being stress-tested, most of all in South Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
In India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where strategic reserves of oil are relatively modest, people are grappling with strict fuel conservation measures and even, in places, outright rationing. India has also been hit by serious shortages of Qatari liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used for cooking, interruptions to cargo and passenger flights that use Gulf airports, and a downturn in remittances home by the nine million Indian migrant workers who live in the region \u2013 estimated to be worth around $50 billion per year to the Indian economy. Workers\u2019 remittances are vital, too, for Pakistan\u2019s foreign currency reserves and the stability of the Pakistani Rupee. Both India and Pakistan are trying to secure more oil imports via the Red Sea port of Yanbu, in Saudi Arabia, but analysts worry that even this back-up option could be imperiled if Iran increases its attacks there, or if its Houthi allies enter the conflict.<\/p>\n
The relationship of the United States with the entire world is being stress-tested, and it seems obvious that many will crack under the strain of what can be fairly described as the coming Armageddon for the world economy.\u00a0 And, of course, China is a target of sorts in the misshapen minds that have authored this total mess.<\/p>\n
One of the more outlandish claims being made of late is that by striking Iran, the US hopes to kneecap China\u2019s progress in AI. It is becoming a staple of geostrategic thinking that whoever \u2018wins\u2019 at AI will hold the rest of the world at its mercy. And though analysts have so far focused on the advanced components and rare earth materials required for artificial intelligence, it is also a notoriously energy-hungry endeavour\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
On present evidence, the idea that the Iran war is an AI gamble appears far-fetched. China has made itself the global leader in renewables, including solar and wind, developing partnerships with countries like Saudi Arabia and generating as much as 31 per cent of its domestic electricity supply this way\u2026 Admittedly, it is all but impossible to disentangle Trump\u2019s brash and contradictory social media pronouncements from his real intentions, let alone whatever US officials might be thinking and planning behind the scenes. But if the Iran war were aimed at China, why would Trump be allowing a limited amount of Iranian oil to reach its customers \u2013 of whom the largest by far is China? It seems at least as likely that Trump hopes to keep China happy, and out of the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
One of the great unknowns in Asia is whether Chinese restraint on the world stage up until now is inspired by a genuine reluctance to intervene in other countries\u2019 affairs \u2013 in contrast to the modern West \u2013 or by a certain caution born of not yet having the military means to back threats with actions.<\/p>\n
However this ends, it is unlikely to end well for the United States, the European Union, or the peoples of Southeast Asia (and Australia).\u00a0 But one way or another, the United States is likely to finally return to the nation imagined by John Quincy Adams that does not \u201cgo abroad in search of monsters to destroy,\u201d largely because the US will lack the wherewithal to be such an abject meddler where it doesn\u2019t belong.\u00a0 In any case, the United States has never been Adams\u2019s nation that is \u201cthe well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all\u2026the champion and vindicator only of her own.\u201d\u00a0 More\u2019s the pity.<\/p>\n
Part the Second: RIP Metaverse?\u00a0 One can only hope.\u00a0 As someone of a certain age I have never understood the allure of virtual reality.\u00a0 The real thing seems pretty good to me, despite the downs and the ups.\u00a0 Whatever, the real world is just that, real. So, this email link did not disappoint earlier this week: Is the metaverse finally dead and buried?\u00a0 What is really going on with the embattled idea of living in virtual worlds (I can\u2019t be the only person who still has flashbacks to a college physics test question that asks whether an image is real or virtual).\u00a0 Anyway:<\/p>\n
Is the idea of the metaverse dead? Even without a much hotter technology in the form of artificial intelligence (AI) capturing the public conversation, most ordinary people have stopped talking about it, beyond reminiscing about the COVID-19-era hype and catty quips at the technology\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n
The hype was once so loud that one of the biggest names in the technology industry capitalized on it by changing its own name \u2014 we\u2019re looking at you, Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. Several years on, however, Meta has quietly divested itself of its interests in the area. After losing more than $70 billion since 2021 as of December 2025, the firm was preparing to cut metaverse development outfit Reality Labs\u2019 funding by 30%.<\/p>\n
Recently, Meta announced it was shutting down its virtual reality environment Horizon Worlds in June 2026 \u2014 meaning the new paradigm we were all promised would have become one of technology\u2019s infamous short-lived flameouts. Then, days later, it reversed course \u2014 with company representatives saying the platform would remain available on Quest, Meta\u2019s VR headset.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t imagine getting anything out of a VR headset than motion sickness.\u00a0 And apparently that is a common problem:<\/p>\n
Presenting a particular stumbling block were the VR headsets touted by Oculus (later Meta) and Sony (for use with PlayStation). Not only are they bulky, and much harder to set up and use compared to a laptop or phone, but reports of headaches and nausea were widespread, thanks to something known as a \u201cvergence-accommodation conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
We focus on an object when the brain uses muscles to pull the eyes in different directions so that their combined focal point converges on an object, no matter how far away. But when you wear a VR headset, your eyes constantly focus on a small flat screen just fractions of an inch from your eyes, an illusion that works \u2014 but only up to a point. Prolonged exposure causes a contradiction between the visual field and how your brain directs muscles in your eyes to focus in response, a phenomenon that was central to a 2024 study in the Journal of Optometry.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterestingly, humans aren\u2019t purely visual-first organisms,\u201d said Jennalyn Ponraj, founder of Delaire, a research lab focused on voice and human nervous system regulation in AI systems. \u201cPresence is actually regulated through interconnected systems that include vestibular balance, proprioception, breath, and timing. When you flood vision with high-resolution but low-latency input, the rest of the sensory system receives conflicting or absent signals, and it often results in fatigue, nausea, dissociation, and cognitive strain. The technology functions, but the models of human perception are incomplete. Meta\u2019s divestment looks like an admission that immersion ultimately depends on attunement to biophysical regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the metaverse could make a comeback.\u00a0 But more likely not, because the world is not a total immersion video game, whatever Mark Zuckerberg desires.\u00a0 Hans Blumenberg called this the \u201cabsolutism of reality\u201d in another context.\u00a0 And it could be that Zuckerberg has other problems to worry about.\u00a0 Further afield, absurdities such as TGL will also fall by the wayside.\u00a0 This virtual golf (sic) played as a team sport to enable bettors to lose their money, will not last, despite the private equity greed behind it.<\/p>\n
Part the Third: Cetacean Doulas.\u00a0 Who knew? Sperm whales are social animals, but they also assist in the birth of baby sperm whales:<\/p>\n
On July 8, 2023, whale biologist Shane Gero was on a boat off the coast of Dominica when he realized something \u201cstrange\u201d was going on. A group of sperm whales known as \u201cUnit A\u201d that he and his colleagues were tracking appeared to be floating calmly near the Caribbean Sea\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the kind of behavior you normally see,\u201d Gero recalls. The whales didn\u2019t seem to be socializing with one another, and they were not asleep because that happens underwater. \u201cIt was something different,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s when things took a sudden turn. The whales began diving and rolling in the water, and there was \u201ca big gush of blood,\u201d Gero recalls.<\/p>\n
His first thought was that there must have been an attack: earlier that day his team had spotted pilot whales, which are known to show aggression toward sperm whales. But then a \u201clittle head\u201d popped into view \u2013 bloop \u2013 and a fluke, Gero says. It wasn\u2019t an attack at all \u2013 it was a birth.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Now, in a new analysis of that footage using machine learning, Gero and his colleagues show that two \u201cmatrilines\u201d\u2014independent, female-led groups\u2014of sperm whales in Unit A appeared to cooperate to assist in the calf\u2019s birth. This behavior has never been observed in such detail before in this species. The findings could help scientists better understand sperm whale behavior and communication during birth.<\/p>\n
And after the baby whale was born, two adult female sperm whales held it up out of the water.\u00a0 The baby is now doing well, zipping around in the ocean.\u00a0 And yes, life is a miracle, whether or not scientists can ever decipher the social communication and cooperation that obviously occurs here.\u00a0 Given the state of the human world, it is clear these whales can teach us a few lessons. \u00a0As the great American poet of the nineteenth century put it in Song of Myself, 32.<\/p>\n
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain\u2019d,<\/p>\n
I stand and look at them long and long.<\/p>\n
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,<\/p>\n
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,<\/p>\n
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,<\/p>\n
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,<\/p>\n
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,<\/p>\n
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.<\/p>\n
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of the Order of the Crusader Cross would not approve.\u00a0 Which reminds me to ask, who was the last well-known Secretary of War before Mr. Hegseth?\u00a0 So, I typed \u201cSecretary of War\u201d in the search bar and this came up, The Honorable Pete Hegseth.\u00a0 The \u201cnew\u201d Department of War is on the ball when it comes to publicity.\u00a0 But I was thinking of Henry L. Stimson, who inhabited a completely different social, cultural, and political universe.<\/p>\n
Part the Fourth: Social Sycophancy Is a Fruit of High Technology.\u00a0 Self-esteem is the one attribute a modern student must have, and any parent or teacher who gets in its way is evil.\u00a0 The late Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, historian at Emory University and director of the first doctoral program in Women\u2019s Studies in the United States, once called self-esteem an \u201codd and unclassifiable\u201d concept (NB: I have not been able to find this citation from many years ago).\u00a0 That it is.\u00a0 She was later cancelled for having unapproved views.<\/p>\n
We may now have a self-esteem generator on steroids if I am not stretching the lesson too far, as described in this paper in Science: Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial interactions and promotes dependence (26 March 2026)<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Summary: The sycophantic (flattering, people-pleasing, affirming) behavior of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, which has been designed to increase user engagement, poses risks as people increasingly seek advice about interpersonal dilemmas. There is usually more than one side to a story during interpersonal conflicts. \u00a0If AI is designed to tell users what they want to hear instead of challenging their perspectives, then are such systems likely to motivate people to accept responsibility for their own contribution to conflicts and repair relationships? Cheng et al. measured the prevalence of social sycophancy across 11 leading large language models (see the Perspective by Perry). The model\u2019s responses were nearly 50% more sycophantic than humans\u2019, even when users engaged in unethical, illegal, or harmful behaviors. Users preferred and trusted sycophantic AI responses, incentivizing AI developers to preserve sycophancy despite the risks. (emphasis added here and below)<\/p>\n
Authors\u2019 Conclusion: AI sycophancy is not merely a stylistic issue or a niche risk, but a prevalent behavior with broad downstream consequences. Although affirmation may feel supportive, sycophancy can undermine users\u2019 capacity for self-correction and responsible decision-making. Yet because it is preferred by users and drives engagement, there has been little incentive for sycophancy to diminish. Our work highlights the pressing need to address AI sycophancy as a societal risk to people\u2019s self-perceptions and interpersonal relationships by developing targeted design, evaluation, and accountability mechanisms. Our findings show that seemingly innocuous design and engineering choices can result in consequential harms, and thus carefully studying and anticipating AI\u2019s impacts is critical to protecting users\u2019 long-term well-being.<\/p>\n
A perspective on this article by Anat Perry, In defense of social friction, also gets right to the point:<\/p>\n
As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become increasingly embedded in society, they are beginning to shape not only what people know, but how individuals evaluate themselves and others. On page 1348 of this issue, Cheng et al. (1) show that large language models systematically exhibit social sycophancy\u2014affirming users\u2019 moral and interpersonal positions even when those stances are widely judged as harmful or unethical. The findings raise a broader concern: When AI systems are optimized to please, they may erode the very social friction through which accountability, perspective-taking, and moral growth ordinarily unfold.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Recent evidence suggests that training a large language model to be warmer and more empathic can lead to increased sycophancy (6). Coupled with evidence that these models can outperform humans in persuasion (9, 10), the risk is even higher that warm, affirming, and highly convincing responses could systematically influence users\u2019 moral and social judgments, and consequently, their behavior.<\/p>\n
This all seems to be the expected outcome in a society that tends to direct many of us from an early age to live inside our digital devices instead of in the world as it exists (see this note from Part the Second and the link from this morning).\u00a0 Could this be part of the explanation for the rise of \u201cwellness\u201d as another ubiquitous trope in industry, business, and academia?\u00a0 Very likely.\u00a0 A corollary of this is that teachers, from pre-K to graduate\/professional school have not done their charges any favors by continually meeting \u201cthem where they are,\u201d which means lowering the bar so that it may be comfortably stepped over. \u00a0But I digress and will come back to this another time.\u00a0 One thing seems certain though.\u00a0 Most of our Tech-Bro masters (are there any Tech-Sis masters?) seem to have mastered the art of listening to their own sycophantic AI.\u00a0 This would just be simple stupid if it were not so serious.<\/p>\n
Part the Fifth: A Short Note on Red Light.\u00a0 Maybe red light is good for you!\u00a0 Of course, that also means \u201cMaybe red light doesn\u2019t really matter.\u201d\u00a0 To make a longish story short, the best evidence that red light is good for us is that we are by and large an ill people who do not get enough of it:<\/p>\n
The science behind these benefits is growing at a time in which humans are exposed to less red light than ever before. People spend more time indoors away from the Sun, and efforts to conserve energy have narrowed the spectrum of indoor lighting, eliminating many red and near-infrared wavelengths. Some scientists are now asking whether these factors might have biological consequences. \u201cWe\u2019re literally being starved of something that, biologically, we\u2019ve evolved to receive,\u201d says (Harvard dermatologist David) Ozog.<\/p>\n
But if that is true, perhaps we should spend more time in natural light outdoors, while living a life as balanced as possible, albeit in a world that cares not much for human flourishing.\u00a0 That red light would be free and this approach to life is in line with advice to exercise regularly, eat real food while not \u201csweating the small stuff, and it\u2019s all small stuff,\u201d and getting a good night\u2019s sleep. \u00a0Our grandmothers and great grandmothers already knew this.\u00a0 For now, red light masks are probably in the same category as continuous glucose monitors, expensive gadgets that help denizens of the Professional Managerial Class feel superior to those without them.<\/p>\n
Thank you for reading!\u00a0 See you next on Good Friday.<\/p>\n
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