Sundar Sarukkai and Akshat Bhaskar on Philosophy for Children, Technology, and What It Means to Be Human

In this episode of Decoded, Akshat Bhaskar sits down with Professor Sundar Sarukkai, philosopher and author of Homo Philosophicus, Philosophy for Children, and The Cracked Mirror, who studied physics at St. Joseph’s College Bangalore and IIT Madras before completing a Ph.D. in particle physics at Purdue University.

Sundar explains why his move from physics to philosophy was never a change of discipline. It was the same curiosity about how humans think and produce knowledge, pursued with different tools. He tells us about the barefoot philosophers project, which brings philosophy to children in rural India in Kannada and Tamil, including a Tamil Nadu classroom where a student compared atoms to God, and a classmate answered with a local possession ritual.

We then get into technology. Sundar argues that AI and personalized digital media push hyper-individualism, wear down what Ambedkar called fraternity, and are built around control, speed, and efficiency because of who designed them. We also talk about why lived experience belongs in social theory, how traditions like the Bhakti movement and protest songs carried philosophy into everyday life, and why paying attention to language is one of the most practical ways to reduce misunderstanding.

The conversation moves from particle physics labs at Purdue to village schools in Tamil Nadu, and ends on what he sees as the defining challenge of the next two decades: keeping human sociality intact.

Thank you to Deepanshu, Agrima, Anubhav, Aly Muhhamad and Aarav for their help with research, outreach, and questions for this episode, and Nischay for help with Audio Production.

clarity before consensus.