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Talk:Confirmation holism

ontological relativism
I am not convinced that “ontological relativism” is the same as the Quine-Duhem thesis – although they are related: the former says that empirical data is not sufficient to make a judgment between theories; the later says that any theory can be made compatible with any empirical observation by the addition of suitable ad hoc hypothesis. These are not the same thing, yes?

I am a bit suspicious of the second paragraph. Occam’s razor is a statement of an aesthetic preference, not a logical principle. It cannot therefore be used as a logical justification for the falsification of a theory, but only to state an aesthetic preference for simplicity.

It is also not possible to say definitively when an addition to a theory is ad hoc (isn’t Special Relativity just an ad hoc addition to Newtonian physics to save it from falsification by the Michelson-Morley experiment?). “Ad hoc” is in this context a pejorative, and as such also expresses an aesthetic preference.

The last sentence is especially contentious. It supposes that there is some measurable quantity, the “degree of susceptibility to ad hoc modification”, that can be used to rationally choose between theories. But the point of the Quine-Duhem thesis is precisely that all theories are equally susceptible.

Otherwise, this is an excellent addition to the encyclopedia. Banno 21:03, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC) Not sure what to do about this, though, since to separate the two would be to break the principle that “one should not multiply stubs unnecessarily” (is this Wiki’s razor?)Banno 21:15, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Agreed on all of your points above, Banno. "Confirmation holism" is the proper term when referring to the "Quine-Duhem thesis" (or "Duhem-Quine thesis" as some prefer). Ontological relativity goes hand in hand with confirmation holism, but is sort of the other side of the confirmation holism coin and is the basis of Quine's "indeterminacy of translation". As to your point about Occam's razor, I agree; it is merely a preference and does not avoid the ontological-relativity/confirmation-holism problem of uncertainty. It is relevant but needs to be fleshed out more in line with your comments. As to your comment about separating the two: we should separate the two even if they are sort of stubs at this point. We'll just have to work on making them unstubbly. B 18:14, Dec 17, 2003 (UTC)

 * Quine-Duhem Thesis (which is roughly the same thing as confirmation holism and has its roots in verificationist holism) is *not* the statement of the underdetermination of theories. This is, interestingly enough, called the Underdetermination Thesis. Most philosophers accept the Underdetermination Thesis, even if they maintain the analytic-synthetic distinction. Ontological relavitiy is something different altogether. Ontological relavitiy is a view about the nature of our reference to objects (namely whether we do so unambiguously). Most of this can be found in Word & Object, though Ontological Relavitiy came after that (1969) and can be found in the essay of that name. Roger Gibson's, "The Philosophy of Quine" explains all of this.

The most parsimonious theory
"...the simplest theory--in this case, the one that is least dependent on continual ad hoc modification--is to be preferred." The criterion that a theory is the 'least dependant on ad hoc modifications' and that a theory 'requires ad hoc modifications the least' is considerably different. So I guess the sentence quoted above shold be removed from the article because it implies that the "best" theory is the one that has so many underlying assumptions in its "protective belt of auxiliary hypotheses" that it can reflect the most criticism to the assumptions without being modified.

Quine-Duhem thesis page
When I came across this page, my reaction was that it will not be helpful to people who do not already know what confirmation holism or the Quine-Duhem thesis is. Hence, I wrote a more introductory piece and installed it on the Quine-Duhem thesis page. There is a still a link on that page to this one. Ivar Y 15:12, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with merging the Quine-Duhem thesis and the Confirmation holism pages. I might have attempted it except that I didn't want to spend the time now to fully understand all the issues discussed on the latter page. The current Confirmation holism page is too short. It may alert the reader to some issues in the philosophy of science but it does little to clarify them. Underdetermination has a separate page in the Wikipedia. A section of the page on Quine discusses his rejection of the analytic-synthetic distinction more fully than is done here. Also, defining confirmation holism as "the claim that scientific theories are confirmed or disconfirmed as a whole" is confusing. Is an alternative confirming half a scientific theory?Ivar Y 15:38, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

 * The claim that confirmation is holistic has a prima facie overlap with the claim that falsification is underdetermined by evidence alone, which is the central claim of the Quine-Duhem thesis. However, confirmational holism appears to make a stronger claim, and for that reason should be treated separately. Consider:

CH1: It is only jointly as a theory that scientific statements imply their observable consequences. CH2: The evidential consequences of an observation should be understood as relating to the theory as a whole. The former seems like it might be sufficient to generate the Q/D claim that evidence always underdetermines falsification. The latter clearly outstrips the Q/D thesis. Moreover, the former makes it clear that talk of falsification of individual statements isn't entirely acceptable, so if the Q/D thesis is to be expressed in terms of the underdetermination of falsification, then it's not clear that its consistent with CH1, which would yield something altogether different from (and seemingly stronger than) 'underdetermination', for example, that it doesn't make sense to talk about the falsification of individual statements. On some of the other points raised above, I think it's fine to mention how Confirmational holism is used as a premise in arguments for the underdetermination of theories by data, ontological relativity, and sematic holism (to mention but three), but it's important that it isn't identified with them (particularly in the case of UTD, as there is a convincing account as to why considerations of confirmational holism suggest that UTD is false). Moreover, confirmational holism is an epistemological thesis, and as such it shouldn't be identified with the thesis of ontological relativity, nor the thesis of semantic holism. JEBM

-- A whole section on Quine's holism would be nice, but it's not the same thing as the Quine-Duhem thesis. The latter stems from the former. Holism (in this context) includes Quine's notions of the web of belief and the potential for assailability of anything, including the laws of logic.

 * Someone has got it correct, but has refused to ideniy themelves so I cannot give them credit. As I like to put it, the Duhem part of Quine-Duhem is confirmation holim, the rest is Quine's verificationist semantic holism, including in the term semantics (following Dummett) the laws of logic and so on. But this is "pan per focaccia", the real problem with this article is that it contains no criticism of confirmation holism. Oh, I know...it's almost universally accepted. Not universally though and this is philosophy, not science. How about expanding on the question of the existence of conceptual schemes at least?? --Lacatosias 10:05, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Let me go make the case a little more clearly for my very strong oppoistion to including "Duhem-Quine thesis" in an artilce on confirmation holism, much less identifying the two as is somewhat carelessly done in the first sentnce of this article.

 * First off, it's important to note that, while Duhem was indeed the first to publish a version of methological holism, the idea was very common at about the time he was writing. Poincaré wrote, in "La Science et l'hypothése": On the other hand, it nust be underscored that it is important not to multiple hyptheses beyond measure and formulate them one after the other. If we construct a theory based on mutiple hypotheses and experince condemns it, which of our premises must ne changed? It will be impossible to decide. (Poincaré, 1902, p. 167)

Duhem beat him out by about 8 years though: in Les théories de l'optique, he wrote, in reference to an experiement conduceted by O. Weiner in 1890 to decied between two theories of the nature of light (that of Fresnel and that of Nuemann), ''That which the expriement of Weiner condemns is not a particular hypthesis according to which the vibration is parallel to the plane of polarization; what it condemns is the set of hypotheses which constitue the theory of MacCullagh and Neumann; it makes us know that this set is in disaccord withthe facts; it obliges us to abandon something, but doesnìt tell us what must be changed...This is not something peculiar to the expriment of MO Wiener, it is general characteristic of the expriemental method; it is never possible to control a hypothesis in isolation, but only the set of the hypotheses - generally innumerable - which constitute the theory. '' (Duhem 1894, p.112) Now, this is obviosly the defifntion of confirmation holism. Quine, on the other hand, deals with something else as well: the meanings of isolated linguistic terms. He wants to know if it possible to decide if a single sentence has meaning in the basis of experience (he is verificationist and does believe that the meaning of larger entities is based on experience, of course) and writes: ''our propositions about the etxrenal world face the tribunal of experience not individually, but only as a set. (Quine, 1951, p.36) This implies, on the one hand, confrimation holism (one does not test a single sentence bit a set of sentences) AND, on the other, semantic holism (meaning does not aplly to single sentences, but invests the entire language). Another passage demonstaring Quine's semnatic holism: The component sentences of a theory simply have no empirical meaning according to the standard of Pierce, but a sufficeienly inclusive portion of it does have them. (Quinem 1969, p.102) Also, as Lakatos, Quinn and Luadan have all pointed out, the confirmational holism of Quine is much more extreme than that of Duhem. The strong these of confirmation holism: no hypothesis is ever falsifiable by experience becasue it is always possible to find an auxiliary hypothesis which can be added to it and alloows the negative result to be coopted. Weak thesis--- a set of empirical data does not refute an isolates hypothesis but a set of hypotheses. Conclusion: confirmation holism has two forms; a weak and a strong form; Quine subcribes to the latter. More imprortantly, Quine-Duhem thesis is a bizarre mixture of semantic holism and confirmational holism. It should have it own sperate article and I will change the first sentence of this article accordingly.--Lacatosias 16:58, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

 * It would be useful to also summarize some of the other historical thinking on the subject, if someone is particularly familiar with it. For example, Quine is sometimes taken as responding to the logical positivists' view of verificationism, but some verificationists themselves promoted views that sound rather close to confirmation holism; for example, in his 1934 The Unity of Science, Rudolf Carnap wrote that verification was not of single statements, but of entire systems of statements. --Delirium (talk) 08:01, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Theories of truth
I'm not sure why there is such an abundance of links to theories of truth at the end of this article since Confirmation Holism is not a theory of truth.

I make a similar point on the Coherentism page where I also ask that there is a discussion of the difference between the Coherence Theory of Justification and Confirmation Holsim - perhaps a similar discussion should feature in this article since it links to Coherentism (despite having never referred to it in the body of the article).

Paucolpitts2 16:16, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Quine-Duhem thesis
Quine-Duhem thesis redirects here, and not to the Duhem–Quine thesis page. Is there any reason for that? I'm changing it, but change it back if there's some reason for it redirecting here. Blue bear sd (talk) 01:30, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Accepted
This is hogwash:

"However, it was eventually accepted that an unknown planet was affecting the path of Uranus, and that the hypothesis that there are seven planets in our solar system was false. Le Verrier calculated the approximate position of the interfering planet and its existence was confirmed in 1846."

I can't believe that the existence of Neptune was not only suspected, but actually "accepted" long before its discovery. Unfree (talk) 19:25, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

"Underdetermination in physical theory" is very unsatisfactory
This whole section is totally confusing: It tells a nice story about some theories (Newton, special relativity, general relativity) and some planets (Neptune, Mercury, Vulcan) - and explains nothing at all. There is a slight feelingthat all that might be, in some mysterious way, connected to confirmation holism by the headline "underdetermination in physical theory" - but underdetermination is only referred to in the introduction as a (it seems unsatisfying) basis of confirmation holism. Nothing more. This is certainly not what an encyclopedia should do: Let its readers guess what is meant by a text. --User:Haraldmmueller 10:41, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Confirmation holism


text:
43 (number)

43 (forty-three) is the natural number following 42 and preceding 44.

Mathematics
Forty-three is the 14th smallest prime number. The previous is forty-one, with which it comprises a twin prime, and the next is 47. 43 is the smallest prime that is not a Chen prime. It is also the third Wagstaff prime.

43 is the fourth term of Sylvester's sequence, one more than the product of the previous terms (2 × 3 × 7).

43 is a centered heptagonal number.

Let a$0$ = a$1$ = 1, and thenceforth a$n$ = $1⁄n − 1$(a$0$$2$ + a$1$$2$ + ... + a$n − 1$$2$). This sequence continues 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 28, 154... . a$43$ is the first term of this sequence that is not an integer.

43 is a Heegner number.

43 is the largest prime which divides the order of the Janko group J4.

43 is a repdigit in base 6 (111).

43 is the largest natural number that is not an (original) McNugget number.

43 is the smallest prime number expressible as the sum of 2, 3, 4, or 5 different primes:
 * 43 = 41 + 2
 * 43 = 11 + 13 + 19
 * 43 = 2 + 11 + 13 + 17
 * 43 = 3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 17.

43 is the smallest number with the property 43 = 4*prime(4) + 3*prime(3). Where prime(n) is the n-th prime number. There are only two numbers with that property, the other one is 127.

When taking the first six terms of the Taylor series for computing e, one obtains
 * $$\sum_{i=0}^{5}\frac{1}{i!}=\frac{163}{60}=2+\frac{43}{60},\ $$

which is also five minus the fifth harmonic number.

Every solvable configuration of the Fifteen puzzle can be solved in no more than 43 multi-tile moves (i.e. when moving two or three tiles at once is counted as one move).

Science
The chemical element with the atomic number 43 is technetium. It has the lowest atomic number of any element that does not possess stable isotopes.

Music
The number of notes in Harry Partch's 43-tone scale of just intonation.

Literature

 * "Number 43", in Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), is one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's most famous poems.
 * 43 is the smallest number that is not mentioned in the Bible.

Mysticism
43 is the number of triangles inside the Sri Yantra.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 43 (number)


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Kashmiri Pandits

The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu Kashmiris native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale of conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during the medieval times. Prompted by the growth of Islamic militancy in the valley, large numbers left in the exodus of the 1990s. Even so, small numbers remain.

Early history
The Hindu caste system of the Kashmir region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the traditional lines of varna were blurred, with the exception of that for the Brahmins. Another notable feature of early Kashmiri society was the relative high regard in which women were held when compared to their position in other communities of the period.

A historically contested region, Northern India was subject to attack from Turkic and Arab regimes from the eighth century onwards, but they generally ignored the mountain-circled Kashmir Valley in favour of easier pickings elsewhere. It was not until the fourteenth century that Muslim rule was finally established in the Valley and when this happened it did not occur primarily as a consequence of invasion so much as because of internal problems resulting from the weak rule and corruption endemic in the Hindu Lohara dynasty. Mohibbul Hasan describes this collapse as "The Dãmaras (feudal chiefs) grew powerful, defied royal authority, and by their constant revolts plunged the country into confusion. Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. Socially and morally too the court and the country had sunk to the depths of degradations."

The Brahmins had something to be particularly unhappy about during the reign of the last Lohara king, for Sūhadeva chose to include them in his system of onerous taxation, whereas previously they appear to have been exempted.

Medieval history
Zulju, who was probably a Mongol from Turkistan, wreaked devastation in 1320, when he commanded a force that conquered many regions of the Kashmir Valley. However, Zulju was probably not a Muslim. The actions of Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389–1413), the seventh Muslim ruler in Kashmir were also significant to the area. The Sultan has been referred to as an iconoclast because of his destruction of many non-Muslim religious symbols and the manner in which he forced the population to convert or flee. Many followers of the traditional religions who did not convert to Islam instead migrated to other parts of India. The migrants included some Pandits, although it is possible that some of this community relocated for economic reasons as much as to escape the new rulers. Brahmins were at that time generally being offered grants of land in other areas by rulers seeking to utilise the traditionally high literacy and general education of the community, as well as the legitimacy conferred upon them by association. The outcome of this shift both in population and in religion was that the Kashmir Valley became a predominantly Muslim region. It was during the 14th century that the Kashmiri Pandits likely split into their three subcastes: Guru/Bāchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Kārkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). The majority of Kashmiri Brahmins are Kārkuns, and this is likely due to the conversion of the majority of Kashmiris to Islam, which led to a decrease in demand for Hindu priests, which led most Kashmiri Brahmins to seek secular employment.

Butshikan's heir, the devout Muslim Zain-ul-Abidin (1423–74), was tolerant of Hindus to the extent of sanctioning a return to Hinduism of those who had been forcibly converted to the Muslim faith, as well as becoming involved in the restoration of temples. He respected the learning of these Pandits, to whom he gave land as well as encouraging those who had left to return. He operated a meritocracy and both Brahmins and Buddhists were among his closest advisors.

Modern
D.L. Sheth, the former director of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies in India (CSDS), lists Indian communities that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "Urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) immediately after Independence in 1947. This list included the Kashmiri Pandits, the Nagar Brahmins from Gujarat; the South Indian Brahmins; the Punjabi Khatris, and Kayasthas from northern India; Chitpawans and CKPs (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus) from Maharashtra; the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis; the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. According to P.K.Verma, "Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.

Exodus from Kashmir (1989–1995)
The Kashmiri Pandits had been a favoured section of the population of the valley during Dogra rule (1846–1947). 20 per cent of them left the valley as a consequence of the 1950 land reforms, and by 1981 the Pandit population amounted to 5 per cent of the total. They began to leave in much greater numbers in the 1990s during the eruption of militancy, following persecution and threats by radical Islamists and militants. The events of 19 January 1990 were particularly vicious. On that day, mosques issued declarations that the Kashmiri Pandits were Kafirs and that the males had to leave Kashmir, convert to Islam or be killed. Those who chose to the first of these were told to leave their women behind. The Kashmiri Muslims were instructed to identify Pandit homes so they could be systematically targeted for conversion or killing.

According to a number of authors, approximately 100,000 of the total Kashmiri Pandit population of 140,000 left the valley during the 1990s. Other authors have suggested a higher figure for the exodus, ranging from the entire population of over 150,000, to 190,000 of a total Pandit population of 200,000, to a number as high as 800,000. The nature of the planned exodus has remain controversial, with the involvement of then Governor Jagmohan in organising a clandestine exodus been a subject of controversy. Many of the refugee Kashmiri Pandits have been living in abject conditions in refugee camps of Jammu. The government has reported on the terrorist threats to Pandits still living in the Kashmir region.

Some Hindus across India tried to help the Pandits. Bal Thackeray from Maharashtra got seats reserved in engineering colleges for the children of these Pandits. He was one of the first persons to help them after which Punjab also followed suit.

In 2009 the Oregon Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to recognise 14 September 2007, as Martyrs Day to acknowledge ethnic cleansing and campaigns of terror inflicted on non-Muslim minorities of Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists seeking to establish an Islamic state.

In 2010, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir noted that 808 Pandit families, comprising 3,445 people, were still living in the Valley and that financial and other incentives put in place to encourage others to return there had been unsuccessful. According to a J&K government report, 219 members of the community had been killed in the region between 1989 and 2004 but none thereafter. The local organisation of pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, said that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 with 75% of them being killed during the first year of the Kashmiri insurgency.

The exiled community had hoped to return after the situation improved. They have not done so because the situation in the Valley remains unstable and they fear a risk to their lives.

As of October 2015, only 1 Kashmiri Pandit family returned to the Kashmir valley since 1990 according to the Jammu & Kashmir government despite the financial assistance being given for rehabilitation. As of 2016, a total of 1,800 Kashmiri Pandit youths have returned to the valley since the announcing of Rs. 1,168-crore package in 2008 by the UPA government.

PRC and the JKMIP Acts
There are zones set up with offices for relief. Many Orders, Circulars and recommendations have been issued for relief of Kashmiri Pandits.

The Jammu And Kashmir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection And Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, provides that "Any person who is an unauthorised occupant or recipient of any usufruct of any immovable property of the migrant shall pay to the migrant such compensation for the period of unauthorised occupation and in such a manner as may be determined by the District Magistrate."

Socio-political organisations
Following the migration of the Kashmiri Pandit community, various socio-political organisations have sprung up to represent the cause of the displaced community. The most prominent among these are the All India Kashmiri Samaj or AIKS, All India Kashmiri Pandit conference, Panun Kashmir & Kashmiri Samiti. These organisations are involved in rehabilitation of the community in the valley through peace negotiations, mobilisation of human rights groups and job creation for the Pandits.

Panun Kashmir has made demands for a separate homeland for the community in the southern part of Kashmir. Ikkjutt Jammu, a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, advocates for two Union Territories in Kashmir, one being Panun Kashmir for Kashmiri Hindus.

Population distribution
According to the 1941 census, there were 78,800 Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley. They were distributed into the two districts of Valley, the Baramulla district, where Hindus constituted 2.1 per cent of the population; 12,919 Hindus out of 612,428 total. and the Anantnag district, where they were 7.84 per cent of the population.

Scholar Christopher Snedden states that the Pandits made up about 6 per cent of the Kashmir Valley's population in 1947. By 1950, their population declined to 5 per cent as many Pandits moved to other parts of India due to the uncompensated land redistribution policy, the unsettled nature of Kashmir's accession to India and the threat of economic and social decline.

In the 1981 census, the Kashmir Division had 124,078 Hindus, the majority of whom were Pandits. Scholar Alexander Evans estimates by 1990, there would have been 160,000–170,000 Pandits in the Kashmir Valley.

Following the 1989 insurgency, a great majority of Pandits felt threatened and left the Kashmir Valley for other parts of India. A large number settled in the Jammu Division of the State and the National Capital Region of India. Some emigrated to other countries entirely. By 2011, only an estimated 2,700-3,400 Pandits remained in the Kashmir Valley.

According to Indian government, more than 60,000 families are registered as Kashmiri migrants including some Sikh and Muslim families. Most families were resettled in Jammu, NCR and other neighbouring states.

Religious beliefs
Kashmir has also been a land of Sun worship with shrines such as Martand Sun Temple established by Lalitaditya Muktapida. Sun worship is believed to have been brought into Kashmir by Kushan kings from Iran. Lalitaditya's predecessor, Ranaditya, is said to have built the first sun temple. Wanvun singing is an integral part of Kashmiri Pandit religious ceremonies.

Pilgrimage sites
Harmukh is traditionally revered by Kashmiri Pandits and in 2009 there was an attempt by them to revive pilgrimages to the site. The Mata Kheerbhawani temple shrine in Srinagar, considered one of the holiest Hindu shrines, saw the largest gathering of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley in 2012. The shrine is located in Tullamulla village, 24 km from Srinagar in Ganderbal district.

Festivals
The Kashmiri Pandits festivals include Shivratri (or Herath in the Kashmiri language) which is one of the major festivals of Kashmiri Pandits. Navreh or the Kashmiri lunar new year is also an important Pandit festival.

Dress
Kshemendra's detailed records from the eleventh century describe many items of which the precise nature is unknown. It is clear that tunics known as kanchuka were worn long-sleeved by men and in both long- and half-sleeved versions by women. Caps were worn, as well as a type of turban referred to as a shirahshata, while footwear consisted of leather shoes and boots, worn with socks. Some items were elaborate, such as the peacock shoes – known as mayuropanah – worn by followers of fashion, and steel-soled shoes adorned with floral designs, lubricated internally with beeswax. They also wear the mekhalā, which is a type of girdle.

There are many references to the wearing of jewellery by both sexes, but a significant omission from them is any record of the dejihor worn on the ear by women today as a symbol of their being married. Kaw has speculated that this item of jewellery may not have existed at the time. The texts also refer to both sexes using cosmetics, and to the women adopting elaborate hairstyles. Men, too, might adopt stylish arrangements and wear flowers in their hair, if they had the financial means to do so.

Music
Henzae is an ancient traditional form of singing practised by Kashmiri Pandits at their festivals. It appears to have archaic features that suggest it is the oldest form of Kashmiri folk singing.

Diet
The Kashmiri Pandits have a tradition of consuming meat, including mutton and fish, but they obey restrictions laid down by the shastras of not eating the meat of forbidden animals such as beef and pork. Frederick J. Simoons says that according to some reports, Kashmiri Pandits also consume fish as part of their diet.

Subcastes
The Kashmiri Pandits are divided into three subcastes: Guru/Bāchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Kārkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). All three subcastes interdine and interteach, but only the Jotish and Kārkun subcastes intermarry.

Krams
Kashmiri Hindus are Saraswat Brahmins and are known by the exonym Pandit. Kashmiri Hindus society reckons descent patrilineally. Certain property and titles may be inherited through the male line, but certain inheritances may accrue through the female line.

Some prominent Kashmiri Pandit krams include:

 * Bhat (or Bhatt)
 * Dhar
 * Lone
 * Kaul
 * Raina
 * Kak
 * Kachru
 * Kichlu
 * Mantu (or Mantoo/Mintoo)
 * Haksar
 * Handoo
 * Ganai
 * Tikoo
 * Tantray
 * Mattoo
 * Pandit
 * Rajguru
 * Bhan
 * Bakshi
 * Bazaz
 * Rather
 * Razdan
 * Munshi
 * Sapru
 * Zutshi
 * Magre (or Magray)
 * Yatoo
 * Wali
 * Wazir
 * Madan
 * Wain

Notable Kashmiri Pandits

 * Motilal Nehru, lawyer and leader of Indian National Congress
 * Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister of India
 * Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India
 * Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, politician and diplomat
 * P. N. Haksar, bureaucrat and diplomat
 * Tej Bahadur Sapru, freedom fighter, lawyer, and politician
 * Tapishwar Narain Raina, ninth Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army
 * Sanjiv Bhatt, Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat-cadre
 * Raaj Kumar, actor
 * Anupam Kher, actor
 * Kunal Khemu, actor
 * Mohit Raina, actor
 * Rajendranath Zutshi, actor
 * Manav Kaul, actor
 * Suresh Raina, Indian cricketer
 * R. N. Kao, founder and first secretary of R&AW
 * Mohan Lal Zutshi, traveller, diplomat, and author, and an important player in the Great Game
 * Sampat Prakash, trade union leader
 * Samay Raina, Indian stand-up comedian

title: Kashmiri Pandits


text:
Virtual Studio Technology

Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware in software. Thousands of plugins exist, both commercial and freeware, and many audio applications support VST under license from its creator, Steinberg.

Overview
VST plugins generally run within a digital audio workstation (DAW), to provide additional functionality, though a few standalone plugin hosts exist that support VST. Most VST plugins are either instruments (VSTi) or effects (VSTfx), although other categories exist—for example spectrum analyzers and various meters. VST plugins usually provide a custom graphical user interface that displays controls similar to physical switches and knobs on audio hardware. Some (often older) plugins rely on the host application for their user interface.

VST instruments include software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizers and samplers. These typically emulate the look of the original equipment as well as its sonic characteristics. This lets musicians and recording engineers use virtual versions of devices that otherwise might be difficult and expensive to obtain.

VST instruments receive notes as digital information via MIDI, and output digital audio. Effect plugins receive digital audio and process it through to their outputs. (Some effect plugins also accept MIDI input—for example, MIDI sync to modulate the effect in sync with the tempo). MIDI messages can control both instrument and effect plugin parameters. Most host applications can route the audio output from one VST to the audio input of another VST (chaining). For example, the output of a VST synthesizer can be sent through a VST reverb effect.

History
Steinberg released the VST interface specification and SDK in 1996. They released it at the same time as Steinberg Cubase 3.02, which included the first VST format plugins: Espacial (a reverb), Choirus (a chorus effect), Stereo Echo, and Auto-Panner.

Steinberg updated the VST interface specification to version 2.0 in 1999. One addition was the ability for plugins to receive MIDI data. This supported the introduction of Virtual Studio Technology Instrument (VSTi) format plugins. VST Instruments can act as standalone software synthesizers, samplers, or drum machines.

Neon was the first available VST Instrument (included with Cubase VST 3.7). It was a 16-voice, 2-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer.

In 2006, the VST interface specification was updated to version 2.4. Changes included the ability to process audio with 64-bit precision. A free-software replacement was developed for LMMS that would be used later by other free-software projects.

VST 3.0 came out in 2008. Changes included:
 * Audio Inputs for VST Instruments
 * Multiple MIDI inputs/outputs
 * Optional SKI (Steinberg Kernel Interface) integration

VST 3.5 came out in February 2011. Changes included note expression, which provides extensive articulation information in individual note events in a polyphonic arrangement. According to Steinberg, this supports performance flexibility and a more natural playing feel.

In October 2011, Celemony Software and PreSonus released Audio Random Access (ARA), an extension for audio plug-in interfaces, such as VST, allowing greater integration between audio plug-ins and DAW software.

In September, 2013, Steinberg discontinued maintenance of the VST 2 SDK. In December, Steinberg stopped distributing the SDK. The higher versions are continued.

VST 3.6.7 came out in March, 2017. It includes a preview version of VST3 for Linux platform, the VST3 part of the SDK gets a dual license: "Proprietary Steinberg VST3" or the "Open-source GPLv3".

VST plugins
There are three types of VST plugins:

 * VST instruments generate audio. They are generally either virtual synthesizers or virtual samplers. Many recreate the look and sound of famous hardware synthesizers. Better known VST instruments include Discovery, Nexus, Sylenth1, Massive, Omnisphere, FM8, Absynth, Reaktor, Gladiator, Serum and Vanguard.
 * VST effects process rather than generate audio—and perform the same functions as hardware audio processors such as reverbs and phasers. Other monitoring effects provide visual feedback of the input signal without processing the audio. Most hosts allow multiple effects to be chained. Audio monitoring devices such as spectrum analyzers and meters represent audio characteristics (frequency distribution, amplitude, etc.) visually.
 * VST MIDI effects process MIDI messages (for example, transpose or arpeggiate) and route the MIDI data to other VST instruments or to hardware devices.

VST hosts
A VST host is a software application or hardware device that VST plugins run under. The host application presents the plugin UIs and routes digital audio and MIDI to and from the plugins.

Examples of VST hosts include media players such as JRiver Media Center and foobar2000.

Stand-alone dedicated hosts provide a host environment for VST plugins rather than use the plugins to extend their own capabilities. These are usually optimized for live performance use, with features like fast song configuration switching.

VST plugins can be hosted in incompatible environments using a translation layer, or shim. For example, FL Studio only supports its own internal plugin architecture, but an available native "wrapper" loads VST plugins, among others. FXpansion offers a VST-to-RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) wrapper that lets VST plugins run in Pro Tools, and a VST-to-Audio Units wrapper lets VST plugins run in Logic Pro.

Hardware
Hardware VST hosts can load special versions of VST plugins. These units are portable and usable without a computer, though some of them require a computer for editing. Other hardware options include PCI/PCIe cards designed for audio processing, which take over audio processing from the computer's CPU and free up RAM.

Some hardware hosts accept VSTs and VSTis, and either run Windows-compatible music applications like Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, Logic etc., or run their own DAW. Other are VST Hosts only and require a separate DAW application. Origin from Arturia is a hardware DSP system that houses several VST software synthesizers in one machine, like Jupiter 50/80 from Roland. Using appropriate software, audio data can also be sent over a network, so the main host runs on one computer, and VST plugins on peripheral machines.

Standard
The VST plugin standard is the audio plugin standard created by Steinberg to allow any third-party developers to create VST plugins for use within VST host applications. VST requires separate installations for Windows, macOs, and Linux. The short history of commercial environments for Linux means few developers have targeted this platform.

Presets
VST plugins often have many controls, and therefore need a method of managing presets (sets of control settings).

Steinberg Cubase VST introduced two file formats for storing presets: an FXP file stores a single preset, while an FXB file stores a whole bank of presets. These formats have since been adopted by many other VST hosts, although Cubase itself switched to a new system of preset management with Cubase 4.0.

Many VST plugins have their own method of loading and saving presets, which do not necessarily use the standard FXP/FXB formats.

Competing technologies

 * Apple's Audio Units
 * Digidesign's Real Time AudioSuite
 * LADSPA, DSSI for Linux
 * LV2, a cross-platform, open source, liberally licensed audio plugin standard
 * Microsoft's DirectX plugin
 * Mark of the Unicorn's Motu Audio System
 * JACK Audio Connection Kit, an open-source sound server allowing flexible audio routing between apps
 * CLever Audio Plug-in (CLAP), a MIT-licensed alternative to VST3

Programming languages
Steinberg's VST SDK is a set of C++ classes based around an underlying C API. The SDK can be downloaded from their website.

In addition, Steinberg has developed the VST GUI, which is another set of C++ classes, which can be used to build a graphical interface. There are classes for buttons, sliders and displays, etc. Note that these are low-level C++ classes and the look and feel still have to be created by the plugin manufacturer. VST GUI is part of the VST SDK and is also available as a SourceForge project.

There are also several ports to other programming languages available from third parties.

Many commercial and open-source VSTs are written using the Juce C++ framework instead of direct calls to the VST SDK because this allows multi-format (VST, Audio Units and Real Time AudioSuite) binaries to be built from a single codebase.

title: Virtual Studio Technology