AUGUST 2025: The World Through Words – INTEREST.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is INTEREST.

What could possibly be so interesting about a word that buries (inter) in itself, the remaining portion (rest)?

Well, the answers are many.

Think of family interests, nation-first interests, business sectoral interests, religious interests – Groups of individuals have been united because of their common concerns. In contrast, a false promise or a wrong interpretation of these common interests ended up as inter-generational disputes or ideological chasms, and have led to acrimonious wars.

A liking, or a propensity for a contrarian understanding of nature and human psychology – religious institutions have taken some extreme steps when dealing with such novel interests. Often, they have used proscription, bans, falsehoods and more to retaliate!

Most of us find it difficult to acknowledge when we act selfishly, but when one pursues self-interest, without regard for others, then the world can be a very miserable place for those of us who are not smart.

Interestingly, individuals like you and me are not just excited but have also been obsessed on many matters of curiosity (pursuit of interest).

Interest payments for moneys lent, the interest of investors for handsome returns – the world of finance has always oiled the progress of trade and commerce between communities and nation-states. Understanding and mastering the complex logic and mathematics behind some of the modern banking and insurance products may not be as simple as Shylock’s (a pound of flesh for a pound), but they could turn out to be as deadly! In some instances, individual families and entire communities have been wiped out for not being able to repay usurious terms of interest.