Volume 6 · The Unfinished Syllabus · Essay 237

Simpson's Paradox

The Simpson's paradox does not want to confuse you. It wants to show you that your first answer was too easy.

Hold both ends and the puzzle relaxes. The mistake is insisting that only one end exists. Indian philosophy knew this long ago; our epics are full of victories that were also defeats.

The old NCERT textbook, boring cover and all, has outlived a hundred motivational posters. Clarity is the only pedagogy that never goes out of fashion.

Learning is the one wealth that survives every partition of fortune. The name is new; the wisdom stood at bus stops long before either of us.