It is simply not enough just to teach, but to teach the right way is more important. A friend of mine, who occasionally teaches small children, told me that he came across a kid who although in 4th grade did not understand the concept of multiplication. For the kid, the multiplication was a set of, rote learned, tables. That is what he had been taught and that is what he knew.
Looking back, I wonder, when I realized the concept of multiplication (or division for that matter). When did I come to grasp that multiplication is just the same number of items taken many times and tables are just to make the process of calculation faster. I am pretty sure that I did not realize it myself in the 4th standard as well.
Well, I choose to blame this all on the method of teaching that was adopted to educate me. I was told what happens but not why it happens. I was given the final solution but not the concept. I was given the end but not the means. And so was the case with this kid.
Just imagine, if such is the case with a simple multiplication, then what would possibly be happening for more complex things. Will it be far-fetched to say that our education system is optimized to produce mediocrity?
I think we need to instill the urge of asking questions from the very start in the kids. We need to teach how to look for the key principles than just the solutions. Then only we will have a generation that is ever evolving and erudite.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Life, as I view it.
Life is a small word to say but its meaning isn't that small at all. There has been a lot of debate over the meaning of life and, no doubt, a number of wonderful theories have been proposed. And why not, after all so many intellectual people trying to define life. One of the definitions which I like most is "life is not defined by what you did for yourself but by what you did for others".
These words I think reflect the meaning of life in a more elaborate way. Living for oneself may make a man fleetingly happy or give him some material gains but in the long run he fails to make his mark and dies out unnoticed, unmissed and unloved.
Personally I think, that the ephemeral but dazzling life of a shooting star is more meaningful than a immortal but dull and unnoticeable star. It is because the shooting star for all its life time, however small, shined at its full capacity and made a mark in your memory while you can see hundreds of stars daily but do you really differentiate one from other and remember one?
Everybody has his own idea of life, and so do I. I visualize life as a breadth-wise long (virtually infinite) painting with people drawn over it like a crowd. People we know closely are in the front rows of this mob while the distant ones in the painting represent those who are more of an acquaintance. While circles with unnoticeable faces farther back in the mob represent the people which pass before our eyes daily unnoticed.
Further this painting is not static with time i.e. it keeps on changing dynamically. People keep on shuffling between the different rows in the mob. Some come nearer while others fall back. Occasionally some even jump out of the mob to get your full attention before again falling back into the mob and becoming the background. As you notice people and start to know them they move closer to you in the painting while as you forget people they are pushed back in the mob.
Each person in the mob, in himself, is like a book of riddles. More the number of riddles you have solved, more closely you know the person concerned. Some of the riddles are easy to solve while others are really hard to crack, and you never really know the correct answer, for some of the tough ones are the ones which lead to unpredictability of the person. More skilled you are at solving these riddles more the number of friends you make and closer you get to these people.
Having said what I have said, I would like to make it clear that life is not a simple thing to be expressed holistically in words and one has to live it to understand it (or at least get a glimpse of it). But a life with no goal is no life at all.
In India, you can see a lot of people living in road side huts in large towns and cities. These huts are made of nothing but brick and mud and with a roof of plastic sheets and wooden sticks, some of the huts are completely made of plastics sheets and look more like a tent than a house. You can see their children roaming on the roads missing the traffic by inches while their mother in busy doing the household chores on the roadside. God only knows where they go to answer nature's call. The tattered clothes of the children have more holes than threads and you can count on their ribs through the holes. I wonder what is the use of living such a life. On the other hand, what possibly could they do to absolve themselves from this predicament. Their parents didn't have enough resources to send them to study nor did they care about the future of anyone because they had a lot of worries on their present. Regardless, I think it is better to die, trying to improve, than to give up and sit back waiting for the end.
In the end, I will like to make it a point that "life is as you live it". If you want to live it worrying about things that are not under your control then only god can help you, on the other hand you may want to live happily being merry in the sad times as well. It is you who has to make the choice.
These words I think reflect the meaning of life in a more elaborate way. Living for oneself may make a man fleetingly happy or give him some material gains but in the long run he fails to make his mark and dies out unnoticed, unmissed and unloved.
Personally I think, that the ephemeral but dazzling life of a shooting star is more meaningful than a immortal but dull and unnoticeable star. It is because the shooting star for all its life time, however small, shined at its full capacity and made a mark in your memory while you can see hundreds of stars daily but do you really differentiate one from other and remember one?
Everybody has his own idea of life, and so do I. I visualize life as a breadth-wise long (virtually infinite) painting with people drawn over it like a crowd. People we know closely are in the front rows of this mob while the distant ones in the painting represent those who are more of an acquaintance. While circles with unnoticeable faces farther back in the mob represent the people which pass before our eyes daily unnoticed.
Further this painting is not static with time i.e. it keeps on changing dynamically. People keep on shuffling between the different rows in the mob. Some come nearer while others fall back. Occasionally some even jump out of the mob to get your full attention before again falling back into the mob and becoming the background. As you notice people and start to know them they move closer to you in the painting while as you forget people they are pushed back in the mob.
Each person in the mob, in himself, is like a book of riddles. More the number of riddles you have solved, more closely you know the person concerned. Some of the riddles are easy to solve while others are really hard to crack, and you never really know the correct answer, for some of the tough ones are the ones which lead to unpredictability of the person. More skilled you are at solving these riddles more the number of friends you make and closer you get to these people.
Having said what I have said, I would like to make it clear that life is not a simple thing to be expressed holistically in words and one has to live it to understand it (or at least get a glimpse of it). But a life with no goal is no life at all.
In India, you can see a lot of people living in road side huts in large towns and cities. These huts are made of nothing but brick and mud and with a roof of plastic sheets and wooden sticks, some of the huts are completely made of plastics sheets and look more like a tent than a house. You can see their children roaming on the roads missing the traffic by inches while their mother in busy doing the household chores on the roadside. God only knows where they go to answer nature's call. The tattered clothes of the children have more holes than threads and you can count on their ribs through the holes. I wonder what is the use of living such a life. On the other hand, what possibly could they do to absolve themselves from this predicament. Their parents didn't have enough resources to send them to study nor did they care about the future of anyone because they had a lot of worries on their present. Regardless, I think it is better to die, trying to improve, than to give up and sit back waiting for the end.
In the end, I will like to make it a point that "life is as you live it". If you want to live it worrying about things that are not under your control then only god can help you, on the other hand you may want to live happily being merry in the sad times as well. It is you who has to make the choice.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Plagiarism 100%
To state Saurabh's law of "Artistic Acumen Reciprocation" across developed nations and developing nations
"All artistic pieces of developed nations are at all times matched by a corresponding piece of art in developing nation."
The "Authenticity Factor" that relates this is defined below.
Let A be the authenticity factor then.
K = (1 - A) * Art from developed nation + A * Art from developing nation
Where
K is a developing nation dependent constant taking into consideration the technological handicaps.
A is the "Authenticity Index" that ranges from 0 to 1. It is also the inverse of Plagiarism index(P).
'A' should ideally move from 0 to 1, as a nation develops. I was under impression that we were atleast past the 0.5 mark, but following seems to indicate that its still around 0.01 mark.
I hope this is just an out-lier rather than a trend.
"All artistic pieces of developed nations are at all times matched by a corresponding piece of art in developing nation."
The "Authenticity Factor" that relates this is defined below.
Let A be the authenticity factor then.
K = (1 - A) * Art from developed nation + A * Art from developing nation
Where
K is a developing nation dependent constant taking into consideration the technological handicaps.
A is the "Authenticity Index" that ranges from 0 to 1. It is also the inverse of Plagiarism index(P).
'A' should ideally move from 0 to 1, as a nation develops. I was under impression that we were atleast past the 0.5 mark, but following seems to indicate that its still around 0.01 mark.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
What we should remember
[I wrote this article long time back in summer of 2005, and am reproducing here with some modifications.]
Hitler, regarded as one of the darkest chapters of the human history, is often remembered as an incarnation of evil. Some people even believed that he used to exercise black magic and a lot of stories are popular to this effect.
I believe that every great historical event has stories associated with it and it is human nature to spread these stories with added personal views so that finally the truth is hidden like a needle in a pile of straw. Various cultures have a varied amount of stories or myths associated with them. These myths etc. are themselves example of the above stated observation. Yet it can't be denied that these myths or stories keep the memories of the historical event alive and lasting forever.
Many say that what is past should be forgotten and effort should be put in the direction of improving the future. I would disagree with this. Forgetting history is like returning to the age of infancy. All our experiences are made from memories which are nothing but history. So it is idiotic to forget the history. History may help us to realize our past mistakes and prevent them in future.
History should be preserved but only that part be remembered which is useful for us. Future generation should be taught to look at the past events with a mind-set of extracting something useful rather that viewing it as a piece of human triumph or as an example of some misfortune befallen on mankind.
Returning to the topic of Hitler, Adolf Hitler can viewed as an example of a talent that due to lack of proper guidance applied its energies in the wrong direction. A person is affected greately by the society in which he lives . But the way in which he perceives the social interactions are what really contribute to the development of his personality . Rising from the same area of slums a person can work in the direction of improving the society from which he has risen while another person can wreak havoc on the society by avenging the hardships he faced in his childhood.
When I thinks of Hitler, a portrait of cruelty is what doesn't come to his mind. I view Hitler as another human being which can serve as an example of great moral learning. When we view the earlier days of Hitler we see a life marked by the constant peril of war and religious discrimination. Student life of Hitler was not easy as well and he had to sleep as rough many days. Yet we know what became of him later. This is perfect demonstration of the willpower and commitment which can do wonders for anyone.
Hitler was particularly gifted with oratory skills. He was a natural speaker and had the power to influence people such that he nearly came in perfect control of their thought process. What became of Jews in his reign is well-known but why weren't there any oppositions from his supporters or all of a sudden they all became monsters? This can be countered by saying that he was in total control of authority and going againgt him was like committing suicide. But we shouldn't forget that he exercised this authority through his supporters and these supporters blindly believed in him. Their mind was in complete control of Hitler. May be some people will regard this as black magic but I will take it as an example of Hitler's influencial personality. A person doesn't reach the level of authority like that of Hitler merely by chance. There should have been something that took Hitler from a road-side rough to a history creator. Some people will question what sort of history he has created, to them my answer will be that great history is that which is remembered and I don't think that Hitler will be easily forgotten.
Hitler appears to be a man of firm determination. Once he took on himself the opportunity to eradicate Jews from the face of this world he put in all his effort to do so. On one hand this can be viewed as an example of genocide while on the other it can serve to learn that if a person is determined enough to achieve his goals he shouldn't be afraid of going to any length in doing so.
The leadership skills of Hitler are equally important. It takes a lot more than blind believers to make a real leader. A leader has the capability to expand the group of his believers, to effectively manage his followers and to convince the masses that he will lead them in a direction suitable for them. I believe that Hitler possessed these qualities in abundance. People believed him , followed him and gave away their lives for him thinking that they were dying for a worthy cause. Such was the magnetism of Hitler's personality.
So why view Hitler as a dark chapter of human history and close it for future, when there is so much to learn. Life of Hitler should be studied as that of any other great personality and should be analyzed to extract what may be useful for the generations to come.
Hitler, regarded as one of the darkest chapters of the human history, is often remembered as an incarnation of evil. Some people even believed that he used to exercise black magic and a lot of stories are popular to this effect.
I believe that every great historical event has stories associated with it and it is human nature to spread these stories with added personal views so that finally the truth is hidden like a needle in a pile of straw. Various cultures have a varied amount of stories or myths associated with them. These myths etc. are themselves example of the above stated observation. Yet it can't be denied that these myths or stories keep the memories of the historical event alive and lasting forever.
Many say that what is past should be forgotten and effort should be put in the direction of improving the future. I would disagree with this. Forgetting history is like returning to the age of infancy. All our experiences are made from memories which are nothing but history. So it is idiotic to forget the history. History may help us to realize our past mistakes and prevent them in future.
History should be preserved but only that part be remembered which is useful for us. Future generation should be taught to look at the past events with a mind-set of extracting something useful rather that viewing it as a piece of human triumph or as an example of some misfortune befallen on mankind.
Returning to the topic of Hitler, Adolf Hitler can viewed as an example of a talent that due to lack of proper guidance applied its energies in the wrong direction. A person is affected greately by the society in which he lives . But the way in which he perceives the social interactions are what really contribute to the development of his personality . Rising from the same area of slums a person can work in the direction of improving the society from which he has risen while another person can wreak havoc on the society by avenging the hardships he faced in his childhood.
When I thinks of Hitler, a portrait of cruelty is what doesn't come to his mind. I view Hitler as another human being which can serve as an example of great moral learning. When we view the earlier days of Hitler we see a life marked by the constant peril of war and religious discrimination. Student life of Hitler was not easy as well and he had to sleep as rough many days. Yet we know what became of him later. This is perfect demonstration of the willpower and commitment which can do wonders for anyone.
Hitler was particularly gifted with oratory skills. He was a natural speaker and had the power to influence people such that he nearly came in perfect control of their thought process. What became of Jews in his reign is well-known but why weren't there any oppositions from his supporters or all of a sudden they all became monsters? This can be countered by saying that he was in total control of authority and going againgt him was like committing suicide. But we shouldn't forget that he exercised this authority through his supporters and these supporters blindly believed in him. Their mind was in complete control of Hitler. May be some people will regard this as black magic but I will take it as an example of Hitler's influencial personality. A person doesn't reach the level of authority like that of Hitler merely by chance. There should have been something that took Hitler from a road-side rough to a history creator. Some people will question what sort of history he has created, to them my answer will be that great history is that which is remembered and I don't think that Hitler will be easily forgotten.
Hitler appears to be a man of firm determination. Once he took on himself the opportunity to eradicate Jews from the face of this world he put in all his effort to do so. On one hand this can be viewed as an example of genocide while on the other it can serve to learn that if a person is determined enough to achieve his goals he shouldn't be afraid of going to any length in doing so.
The leadership skills of Hitler are equally important. It takes a lot more than blind believers to make a real leader. A leader has the capability to expand the group of his believers, to effectively manage his followers and to convince the masses that he will lead them in a direction suitable for them. I believe that Hitler possessed these qualities in abundance. People believed him , followed him and gave away their lives for him thinking that they were dying for a worthy cause. Such was the magnetism of Hitler's personality.
So why view Hitler as a dark chapter of human history and close it for future, when there is so much to learn. Life of Hitler should be studied as that of any other great personality and should be analyzed to extract what may be useful for the generations to come.
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