Edward de Bono and String Theory

Every now and then I am sure we hear of analogies that seem to make absolutely no co-relation to the topic of discussion to anyone other than the analogizer [;)]. I once had a friend, lets call her XXX who used to boil down allllllll things known to mankind to a sambar wada problem [XXX if you are reading this, I am not talking about you, its about some other friend who has that sameproblem interesting habit ;)]. We have a long interview process for a candidate and we sit together to decide if the candidate is the right choice. She goes - "He is an idliwala and we want to make samosas!". We have a week long sales meeting trying to see if a product makes sense for India market, she says: "We are trying to sell idli in Chandni Chowk" [which in all probabilities meant that its not going to sell ;)]. I could go and on with how everything from string theory to making tea can all boil down to idli sambhar problem but then it wont leave anything for your imaginations :). It sometimes gets entertaining to watch an analogizer stretch his analogy thin to demonstrate that indeed it does make sense.

The other day in a casual office chat AR says "Retail business is like doctors". No worries... I didn't make head or tail of it either [however if you did, read on to make sure that you got it right and if you DID get it right, Hats off to you for the lateral thoughts (as an aside, the same AR just helped me remember the phrase "lateral thinking" by asking me to google Edward de Bono!)]. Anyways, what he meant to say was that professionally unless you are well known as a Doctor or a Retailer, you dont make a lot of money. He went on to explain the analogy; A small retailer cannot make a lot of profit unless people know him, at which point he can go on to charge a premium for the stuff he has, a smaller retailer needs to offer the stuff at the lowest price he can afford to attract customers. NOW do you see the analogy? Well.. honestly I dont :) :)

On the brighter side however, these analogies truly show how wonderfully human mind works. Relating two seemingly very different things to better understand the problem at hand, to see a pattern in the chaos is a quality of a beautiful mind.

PS: If you are thinking how the image of the brain relates to the post. Well.. Its not about relativity.. is it?

Open your eyes

My boss recently forwarded this video to me. It really is an eye-opener, though it applies to US mainly, whose monetary policies, things that really effect US, the way they live, the food they eat is all governed not by the govt. people elect but by some unelected un-accountable body that can make its decissions autonomously.

Though talking about US, I was forced to think how much are we aware of our financial system, its accountability to us, the people of India. Its time we open our eyes to the facts and stand up for our own good.

Top 5 things that has changed the world in the past 50 years

Besides the obvious food for the body, lunch time for me is the time the mind gets food too. Almost everyday we find a new topic to talk about sometimes philosophical, sometimes technical and sometimes purely random. Yesterday MG generally asks as to what would be the top 5 things in the past 50 years that have changed the way we live. The obvious answers were:
1. ICs [Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments filed a patent for a "Solid Circuit" made of germanium on February 6, 1959.]
2. Internet
3. Mobile phones


Well... Since we couldnt think of anything else that was as dramatic, I put the question forth for you to answer. :)

The ethics and the Sutta

The other day over the lunch Mallaya bidding for IPL players came up; and with Mallaya came his wealth, the way he made money, MG said was unethical, the reason being he was selling alchohol. This basically set the mood for the day's afternoon debate :) which I found entertaining enough to blog about. The topic then formally was, "Should the goverment interfere in the operations of cigerattes/daru companies?". Interestingly I was against the topic... [Interesting because I am a non-smoking tee-totaller :) Infact the only selfish reason I have to be against the motion is that I own ITC(Indian Tobacco Company) stocks ;)]

Anyways, in brief the best points for/against the motion were:
Against :- It hampers the freewill of an individual, we are born with the right to choose for ourselves
For :- If all were to have their freewill then there should be no legal system, let people steal/rape/kill
Against :- Stealing/Rape/Murder affects somebody else's freedom Govt is doing right in protecting it. Drunk driving should be banned because it can cause an accident leading to somebody's death. We accept that drinking is bad because the chances that a drunk person would do something he would regret or cause others harm is much higher then when he is sober but so is a person in anger. The point we are trying to make is, what the Govt CAN do and SHOULD do is to educate people about the ill-effects of Alcohol and Cigerettes instead of trying to stop them from doing it.
For :- Society as a whole takes a course over time, the Govt's role is to shape the course, if alcohol is not available much lesser number of people will drink and consequently they will contribute positively in the society's direction ahead.
Against :- People who dont know what is good or bad for them or who cant control their actions knowing something is not good for them are not the kinds who will take the society anywhere.
For :- [By far the best argument :)] The govt has social responsibilities towards people. It has to ensure that everybody gets proper health treatment/facilities, now drinkers/smokers being worse off than non-smokers and non-drinkers take more money to mantain [>:)] hence economically, for the good of the larger population, the govt should stop the people from being high-mantainence [Credit goes to BS for the wonderful argument]

As you might have noticed that since I was arguing against the motion, the post is biased towards my viewpoint :)

Thoughts?

My birthday

Birthdays are so very weird.... It seems so childish to celebrate one. Though I never have a lot of expectations that I would get a whole lot of wishes but still, somehow it brings joy when someone calls to wish a genuine wish... This time around there were only a few wishes but almost everyone of those was a genuine wish...

I had my first birthday cake.... [With my name on it] Got FLOWERS !!! [From an Aunt!!!!].... A replacement gift [Definition: A gift given with the intention of replacing an older gift which may have been tattered due to continuous use :)].. Books [My... I do give out the ghissu vibes!!]... And friends calling at 12 their local time [Globalization!!!]

All in all it was a nice day and I felt great to have friends caring for me. Little drops of water make a mighty ocean... Little gestures... make us so happy... A few years down the line... when we look back... what we remember are those small moments of joys that someone brought to us... And the moments of joy that we could bring to someone.... And as MS would say, people come and people go... What remains is the footprint they leave in our lives.....

Living a moment

Today I was talking with an office colleague, when this topic came up:
If you were given a choice right now, to go back in the past, without the knowledge that you have lived it once and without any knowledge of anything that has happened, would you take it?

Now, there are points to note about this. Had it been with the knowledge of the fact that you know you have lived this and what you are going to see the next day, it is a naïveté idea. You could go buy shares of google, you could do Hotmail before Sabir did and many more such things. However, knowing that you wont have the knowledge makes it a much different and difficult choice to make.

While we were talking, our MD comes into the conversation, and we ask him the same question, in almost a split second he gives an answer: "I will....". Knowing that he doesnt have the knowledge of the life he lived... Now we were surprised... His logic.... simple... and yet profound.... "Being where I am... at this age... I am thrilled to know that I get to make a journey again... so what if I take the same path... reach the same place where I am today... or take a different path... and be a beggar on the streets.... its the journey... that I find worth the risk... "

I guess age changes the perspective....

As for me... I wouldnt take it.... not now... and not in my foreseeable future... unless I am allowed to retain not the knowledge or the information... but just the wisdom that we gain by living through different experiences... the wisdom that might help me to make choices different from what I did then.... And I think I would take it even if it came for a hefty price.... And even as I say this... his words come back to me... maybe it really doesnt matter... maybe to take the journey again is really worth the risk....