When faced by a problem, it is often observed that the psyche of people makes them look for the source of the problem in a person rather than a cause.I was once told this anecdote in one of my classes, and since then the anecdote has left a huge effect on how I used to perceive things, and how I have gradually begun to understand them.
The anecdote goes like this:
'Not long ago, a team of Japanese corporate magnets visited an Indian firm from the same sector on a visit. The Manager of the firm wanted to show them the best picture of themselves and so prepared a splendid tour through the corporation. After a day long tour, they all met in the evening in a posh plastic hotel for a lavish dinner. By the time the desserts were served, Manager decided that before Japanese leave he should gain something in return from them too. So he ventured to ask a question to the Japanese CEO of an International Giant. He asked,"We Indians and you have almost similar machinery, skilled labour, capital and working methods, then how is it that you always manage to stay ahead of us?"
The Japanese took sometime to think and then solemnly answered in an unwavering deep tone,"My friend our facilities, money and skill might be similar but I have observed something today. I must tell you, when faced by a crisis or problem, we tend to try and think in terms of 'what' and you tend to think in terms of 'who'. That my friend, might be the difference." '
Well this anecdote gives the simple reason for all the problems we as citizens or mere human beings face. More often than not in the sense of injustice that we feel, we end up blaming someone else for the problems we mutually might be suffering.To this day nations fight to overthrow a dictator, calling him a tyrant... Only to replace such a dictator with another individual, who on the longer run more or less becomes another tyrant. I do not think it is the individual to blame, it is the power.
Corruption and loss of integrity is something which can be called a weakness in human nature surfacing due to undesirable vested powers on an individual. We must suffer the subjugation of our own conscience when it is over-ridden by the undeniable temptations that power brings with it. Whoever denies that can either be a impractical hypocrite or an extraordinary moralist, with the latter being a rarity.
'Power corrupts' is a concept which can be applied to almost all the individuals, except a few. Most mortals don't come with the necessary moral package to defy the temptations!
Now the question I would like to ask here is, What are we as citizens and individual human beings doing here, with a "LOKPAL BILL" or probably with slogans of "SAARE NETA CHOR HAIN"?
Aren't we being plain hypocrites?
I don't blame the politicians for going corrupt, because had it been me or you or anyone of us in their position, 9 out of 10 people might be lured too. Such is the nature of material lust.
What I ask is, is it not enough to have pointed fingers at individuals for more than 100 years now? Is it not time to think beyond the two points we have always restricted upon, which are:
first - The moralistic Utopia that we believe in, where every individual is morally, ethically and spiritually impossible to corrupt; and
second - In case some people go corrupt, it is their own inherent lack of moral fibre punishable by law but not the flaw in the system.These are the only two things we have always observed!
I believe that we need to learn some great deal from the Problem-solving and Decision-making techniques of huge corporations. Problem-solving is not putting the "guilty" to the guillotine, but rather making a system with minimal susceptibility for producing guilty stock.
We, as public, on the other hand, are obsessively over-ridden by the vicious cycle of giving power and then ostracizing the tempted, which will always be the case.Now Lokpal shall come, and on a longer run, I perceive it to produce the most obscenely perverse scams of corruption ever, as POWER CORRUPTS!
It is high time, the word "Reform" took an objective outlook, rather than a subjective outlook.We must reform the system, not add to its rumble list, another rotten egg! The mistake is not of the individuals, but the system, and as long as system is not reformed, it is bound to produce a never-ending livestock of corrupt individuals.
So, I would like to conclude with the lesson I learnt from the that Japanese guy's perception:
"Analyse WHAT the problem is and direct your energies to solve it, rather than analysing WHO the problem is and directing energies to blaming and ostracizing him/her."
Sometimes, it is good to learn from others....
- Karthik Adithya Singaraju
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
On the Wishes of Independence...
In these 64 years into what all perceive to be 'independence', we have only travelled from being ruled by white babus to now our own native babus. And the stupid system called democracy/socialism which designs our lives has over the years gone from bad to worse, lately. It would be far more sensible to spend this day discussing, talking and analysing the "progress" rather than just a gloat about a make-belief utopia that surrounds this day. True independence day to me would be when the system breaks down, to protect the people, and do nothing more or nothing less.
True independence is when one gets the free will to choose his trade, his love, his property and his identity. True independence would be when all could see at each other and not stimulate any emotion, any feeling of hatred, of dislike, of disgust.
True independence would be when the prejudice could be weeded out, not from our books, not from our laws, but from our thoughts, our minds and hearts.
True independence for me would be when one sees other for what they are, but not what their colour, their caste or their religion is.
True independence is where we need no leaders, where we need not rely on any big brothers to represent us and lead us (which now they do as 'ruling').
Independence from the helplessness that we experience while paying our petty bribes. Independence from the helplessness when we see apathy all around, and the mad rat race to make it big with the money, and the ruthlessness with which people trample over others, just to climb another insignificant and meaningless step of what is perceived to be 'success'.
The many independence days we celebrate would be meaningless when we know that few who are there to feed children with our money are letting the children starve.
The celebrations would be gross insensitive acts of apathy clear in its cruelty when we know there are amongst us who can't seem to be able to afford a three-course meal and we would feast on a supposed victory back in 1940s.
Life is unjust, but the means of this group of people living as Indians is not small. If independence be truly achieved, the means ought meet the ends, or it is a failed purpose.
I do not see Gandhiji smiling from his after-life. His soul, I believe, lives in India, and amongst Indians. And I am very sure it is weeping. It must be in anguish, though I think Gandhiji had made this prophecy. One of the few true leaders, who unlike many other pretending 'freedom-fighters', who were merely trying to get the power, did try to make this nation a 'Ramrajya' had known all along what was going to become of this nation. A mere shadow of what he had envisaged.
So, to me it would just be a ridiculous hypocrisy if someone came and wished me, or if I were to wish someone a 'Happy Independence Day'.
People do not comprehend the paradox, the irony, and the hypocrisy entailing that greeting. Hence this August 15th, I would say, time would be better spent trying to answer a few of the complicated questions, the whole of which are so gargantuan in volume that it would be imprudent for me to even attempt encasing them in a single article.
True independence is when one gets the free will to choose his trade, his love, his property and his identity. True independence would be when all could see at each other and not stimulate any emotion, any feeling of hatred, of dislike, of disgust.
True independence would be when the prejudice could be weeded out, not from our books, not from our laws, but from our thoughts, our minds and hearts.
True independence for me would be when one sees other for what they are, but not what their colour, their caste or their religion is.
True independence is where we need no leaders, where we need not rely on any big brothers to represent us and lead us (which now they do as 'ruling').
Independence from the helplessness that we experience while paying our petty bribes. Independence from the helplessness when we see apathy all around, and the mad rat race to make it big with the money, and the ruthlessness with which people trample over others, just to climb another insignificant and meaningless step of what is perceived to be 'success'.
The many independence days we celebrate would be meaningless when we know that few who are there to feed children with our money are letting the children starve.
The celebrations would be gross insensitive acts of apathy clear in its cruelty when we know there are amongst us who can't seem to be able to afford a three-course meal and we would feast on a supposed victory back in 1940s.
Life is unjust, but the means of this group of people living as Indians is not small. If independence be truly achieved, the means ought meet the ends, or it is a failed purpose.
I do not see Gandhiji smiling from his after-life. His soul, I believe, lives in India, and amongst Indians. And I am very sure it is weeping. It must be in anguish, though I think Gandhiji had made this prophecy. One of the few true leaders, who unlike many other pretending 'freedom-fighters', who were merely trying to get the power, did try to make this nation a 'Ramrajya' had known all along what was going to become of this nation. A mere shadow of what he had envisaged.
So, to me it would just be a ridiculous hypocrisy if someone came and wished me, or if I were to wish someone a 'Happy Independence Day'.
People do not comprehend the paradox, the irony, and the hypocrisy entailing that greeting. Hence this August 15th, I would say, time would be better spent trying to answer a few of the complicated questions, the whole of which are so gargantuan in volume that it would be imprudent for me to even attempt encasing them in a single article.
Monday, August 8, 2011
On the Art of Extrapolation...
Taking stock of the situation with the use of an art learnt while studying Physics seems to serve me pretty well, which being the art of extrapolation... I want to dedicate this piece to the art that I hold very dear to me and prize.
Back in the days when I studied quantum mechanics, particle science, atomic chemistry and modern physics in high school, I realised two fundamental things -
1) Every phenomenon in the world is based on a firm ground called "the ideal case"; and
2) The various phenomenon based on the same 'ideal case' are the "real" variants affected by the circumstantial parameters.
The next thing I observed was the fact that most of the theories that were explained in Physics and Chemistry were designed on two basic ingredients - Assumptions and Extrapolations, which were of course later tested and verified scientifically. Then again, there were many theories which remained what they were, mere "theories", but still considered with great weightage, like the whole Wave-Particle ambiguity over the nature of matter. No one seems to know for sure what exactly matter is, but yet, the assumptions and conjectures seem to be revered and appreciated as intellectual wealth.
An intriguing factor in determining, visualizing and making REAL progress in the field of science seemed to lie in the ability to assume the unthinkable and extrapolate on it, apply blind assumption and materialize results realtime. And this very brave act re-enacted countless number of times seemed to have led to the gargantuan progress of science.
Naturally my thoughts drifted to the possibility of applying the same to various other thinking processes, for science is but another stream of thinking based on a lot of numbers and of course, imagination.
Thereby applying the same art of assumption and extrapolation in other fields would in fact, I thought, help an individual find an accelerated way of understanding the intricacies of many fields and arts, sciences and subjects, ideologies and specializations.
I realized the potential of the ability to extrapolate and tried using it in various situations. Some would call it thinking too much, but I think this is REAL thinking. Wherein you do not need to spend years researching, studying, and learning the intricacies of a single expertise but rather try to listen to the gists, listen to the synopsis of the abstract sciences, philosophies, arts and trade, make a few assumptions and extrapolate your thought on the little pattern that you catch from the experts.
Though through this technique, I haven't been able to get the hang of any single subject in great depth or minutest of details, I certainly have managed to broaden the perspective, the base of the various fields I have touched upon. Though I might not specialize in anything else, I can prize the fact of my ability to extrapolate.
And in the German way of Gestalt Psychology, as an Extrapolator, I think, by knowing various pieces of the jigsaw, ever so minutely, as you can, you can at least gain the ability to complete the puzzle and win the game...
As in the game of life, the world, the mankind, "The Picture is the sum total of all the Individual Pieces".
© Karthik Adithya Singaraju
Back in the days when I studied quantum mechanics, particle science, atomic chemistry and modern physics in high school, I realised two fundamental things -
1) Every phenomenon in the world is based on a firm ground called "the ideal case"; and
2) The various phenomenon based on the same 'ideal case' are the "real" variants affected by the circumstantial parameters.
The next thing I observed was the fact that most of the theories that were explained in Physics and Chemistry were designed on two basic ingredients - Assumptions and Extrapolations, which were of course later tested and verified scientifically. Then again, there were many theories which remained what they were, mere "theories", but still considered with great weightage, like the whole Wave-Particle ambiguity over the nature of matter. No one seems to know for sure what exactly matter is, but yet, the assumptions and conjectures seem to be revered and appreciated as intellectual wealth.
An intriguing factor in determining, visualizing and making REAL progress in the field of science seemed to lie in the ability to assume the unthinkable and extrapolate on it, apply blind assumption and materialize results realtime. And this very brave act re-enacted countless number of times seemed to have led to the gargantuan progress of science.
Naturally my thoughts drifted to the possibility of applying the same to various other thinking processes, for science is but another stream of thinking based on a lot of numbers and of course, imagination.
Thereby applying the same art of assumption and extrapolation in other fields would in fact, I thought, help an individual find an accelerated way of understanding the intricacies of many fields and arts, sciences and subjects, ideologies and specializations.
I realized the potential of the ability to extrapolate and tried using it in various situations. Some would call it thinking too much, but I think this is REAL thinking. Wherein you do not need to spend years researching, studying, and learning the intricacies of a single expertise but rather try to listen to the gists, listen to the synopsis of the abstract sciences, philosophies, arts and trade, make a few assumptions and extrapolate your thought on the little pattern that you catch from the experts.
Though through this technique, I haven't been able to get the hang of any single subject in great depth or minutest of details, I certainly have managed to broaden the perspective, the base of the various fields I have touched upon. Though I might not specialize in anything else, I can prize the fact of my ability to extrapolate.
And in the German way of Gestalt Psychology, as an Extrapolator, I think, by knowing various pieces of the jigsaw, ever so minutely, as you can, you can at least gain the ability to complete the puzzle and win the game...
As in the game of life, the world, the mankind, "The Picture is the sum total of all the Individual Pieces".
© Karthik Adithya Singaraju
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