Friday, July 30, 2010
The Real vs Virtual World
It has always been an object of amusement for me to observe the rather striking similarities (and differences) between the real world and the virtual world (virtual here means, the 'online/connected/chatting/scrapping' world)
The virtual world is, at times, as baffling as the real one.. Sometimes all your friends are online and no one cares to ping u, even the ones whom u chat with everyday... and at other times, there is such frantic pinging, that u say 'man, gimme a break!'
In the real world too, sometimes, people who do care for u may not want to talk to u for some really weird reasons, but at other times, all of them seem to be wanting to reach u like mad...
However, there is also a striking difference between these two worlds. In the real world, you mostly know what the other side is thinking through during the intermediate silence.. But in the virtual world, you don't.
For example, an online chat doesn't tell you whether your friend actually laughed at your joke or was by now much fed up with your antics. Chat doesn't tell you if your girlfriend shied away when you complimented her or was busy chatting with someone else when she replied to you with a smiley!
In summary, it is safe to assume that although the virtual world tries to model the real world to a great extent, it is indeed much more imperfect than the real world. It doesn't efficiently model the basics of 'unsaid' words.
And that is the reason why, the communication of any strong feeling in the virtual world should best not be interpreted at all or atleast taken with a pinch of salt. Virtual is not perfect yet. Real is better.
-Dhaval
The virtual world is, at times, as baffling as the real one.. Sometimes all your friends are online and no one cares to ping u, even the ones whom u chat with everyday... and at other times, there is such frantic pinging, that u say 'man, gimme a break!'
In the real world too, sometimes, people who do care for u may not want to talk to u for some really weird reasons, but at other times, all of them seem to be wanting to reach u like mad...
However, there is also a striking difference between these two worlds. In the real world, you mostly know what the other side is thinking through during the intermediate silence.. But in the virtual world, you don't.
For example, an online chat doesn't tell you whether your friend actually laughed at your joke or was by now much fed up with your antics. Chat doesn't tell you if your girlfriend shied away when you complimented her or was busy chatting with someone else when she replied to you with a smiley!
In summary, it is safe to assume that although the virtual world tries to model the real world to a great extent, it is indeed much more imperfect than the real world. It doesn't efficiently model the basics of 'unsaid' words.
And that is the reason why, the communication of any strong feeling in the virtual world should best not be interpreted at all or atleast taken with a pinch of salt. Virtual is not perfect yet. Real is better.
-Dhaval
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Judgement and Prejudice
In the world of too many social bondings and interactions, it is very easy to get biased about a person. Although I do not completely believe in the idea of 'first impression is the last impression', I admit that the 'first' impression is generally the most tender one.. It is like a baby's view of the world - pure, innocent and unbiased which gets defaced by the millions of opinions of the people around you.
It is not that you don't have a mind to have your own opinion of the person, but your thoughts do tend to get shaped by your environment - after all that's how you've grown for years! In fact that would be one of the natural instincts of a social being.
But here is the deal - if you want to judge a person purely to the root, don't go by what people have to say. Follow the first voice of your heart. The second may be tampered by someone's opinion or your own prejudice.
On the other hand, never use a small time interval to judge a person. How can you possibly know the person in, say, a few days or months? You only discover AN aspect of his living.. all the other aspects are left out! For example, a person who seems to talk rubbish at work may not actually be that bad at home or elsewhere, just that he can't frame his sentences properly.. or a person who you thought is moody because he whistles may not actually be that moody at all!
Whatever you see in a person is only one aspect of his life. You can only possibly know other aspects when you stay with him for some time.. That is possibly the reason why your mother knows you the best - because she has seen almost all aspects of your life!
In a nutshell, believe in the first voice of your heart and stand by it until you have discovered the person - don't take hasty decisions.
So next time when you decide to have an opinion about some person, ask yourself if you've really understood him/her.
Remember, it takes years to understand a person... but minutes to misunderstand him!
It is not that you don't have a mind to have your own opinion of the person, but your thoughts do tend to get shaped by your environment - after all that's how you've grown for years! In fact that would be one of the natural instincts of a social being.
But here is the deal - if you want to judge a person purely to the root, don't go by what people have to say. Follow the first voice of your heart. The second may be tampered by someone's opinion or your own prejudice.
On the other hand, never use a small time interval to judge a person. How can you possibly know the person in, say, a few days or months? You only discover AN aspect of his living.. all the other aspects are left out! For example, a person who seems to talk rubbish at work may not actually be that bad at home or elsewhere, just that he can't frame his sentences properly.. or a person who you thought is moody because he whistles may not actually be that moody at all!
Whatever you see in a person is only one aspect of his life. You can only possibly know other aspects when you stay with him for some time.. That is possibly the reason why your mother knows you the best - because she has seen almost all aspects of your life!
In a nutshell, believe in the first voice of your heart and stand by it until you have discovered the person - don't take hasty decisions.
So next time when you decide to have an opinion about some person, ask yourself if you've really understood him/her.
Remember, it takes years to understand a person... but minutes to misunderstand him!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Love and God
.
God is an abstract power. All those who believe in it and call themselves 'god fearing' actually fear a power. The power is central, abstract. It manifests itself into Allah, Jesus, Ganesh, Krishna and all the 33 crore deities that may be there. The belief is essentially one. You may be a Christian, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim or from any other religion. But you believe in the same thing, in the same power.
Love is the same. It is a central abstract power. It manifests itself in the people you love. Your parents are a manifestation of this power. Your guru is a manifestation of this power. The person you love is the manifestation of this power. If you cannot see this power, you probably don't love them. A sense of respect emerges from this manifestation. The respect you wouldn't dare breach. The respect which means more to you than life. This is what I would call a 'love fearing' (analogous to 'god fearing') person.
Love is like god. Anything I love appears divine to me. I see the divine power wherever love resides. Everyday.
God is an abstract power. All those who believe in it and call themselves 'god fearing' actually fear a power. The power is central, abstract. It manifests itself into Allah, Jesus, Ganesh, Krishna and all the 33 crore deities that may be there. The belief is essentially one. You may be a Christian, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim or from any other religion. But you believe in the same thing, in the same power.
Love is the same. It is a central abstract power. It manifests itself in the people you love. Your parents are a manifestation of this power. Your guru is a manifestation of this power. The person you love is the manifestation of this power. If you cannot see this power, you probably don't love them. A sense of respect emerges from this manifestation. The respect you wouldn't dare breach. The respect which means more to you than life. This is what I would call a 'love fearing' (analogous to 'god fearing') person.
Love is like god. Anything I love appears divine to me. I see the divine power wherever love resides. Everyday.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Slumdog Millionares
You know you are better than you are assumed to be. Yet you aren't recognized. Why do people have prejudices? Why does the state of your past behaviour affect the judgement of you today? You aren't being over-confident. You don't say 'I m the best'. You only say 'I am better than you think'. But that is taken as an exaggeration. As if you want to mock someone without having proper credentials to do so.
But then, one day, you make it - and you make it big! All those narrow-minded fellows start worshiping you. But in introspect, you know you haven't changed. You are the same old being. You know you were not boasting, you were only being truthful.
You have got a name: "Slumdog Millionare". There are many of your type: a film industry, two young kids and a nation...
But then, one day, you make it - and you make it big! All those narrow-minded fellows start worshiping you. But in introspect, you know you haven't changed. You are the same old being. You know you were not boasting, you were only being truthful.
You have got a name: "Slumdog Millionare". There are many of your type: a film industry, two young kids and a nation...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hallmark Of Intelligence
.
Human memory is associative. Anything that we remember, is stored as an association with some concept already discovered by us. Isn't it true? Say, you want to set your email account password. Why do you choose the name of your child or spouse? Or some known concept? It is because you associate the password with these concepts. And most of us, subconsciously choose the concepts which are strong enough to remember.
It is like this: If you want to remember a concept A, you associate it with a concept B. And the strength of your memory of A depends on the strength of your memory of B. If memory of B is weak, so would be the memory of A.
This is why you choose your loved one's name, isn't it? Whose name can you remember easily - that of the clerk in your office or that of your spouse? Isn't it obvious that we use the associativity rule everyday in our life?
I just walked in through the door talking over phone to a friend who asked me to meet him in room 212.
I quickly thought how to remember it: 212 is a palindrome number!
Then, in a while, I realized what I had just done. I had associated that room number with all palindrome strings that I had studied long back!
Lets analyze this further. Why did I not take the property of 212 being divisible by 2 to remember it? Because it involves calculations! Human mind would rather prefer to associate than to calculate. Looking at the number (i.e. associating it with its image I have formed in my mind), I can also associate the first '2' with the last one - something I cannot do with the divisibility property.
What happens when you meet someone you have already met? You associate the person with his pre-made image in your mind. Thats why you are in splits when the person changes his appearance suddenly, say, shaves his mustache or goes bald. You do not find a 100% match of the image that you have in mind and what you have just seen. In some cases, you may not even recognize the person.
This also explains why you take time to recognize a person at a distance. Its because you are reasoning with yourself whether this person is similar to the image in you have mind.
Though no one seems to have understood which part of the brain does this associative matchmaking, it is quite clear that this property of individuals imparts intelligence to humans. The better and faster the process, the more intelligent you are.
-Dhaval
Note: This post has recently been published in the hostel magazine of H-1, IIT Bombay too!
Human memory is associative. Anything that we remember, is stored as an association with some concept already discovered by us. Isn't it true? Say, you want to set your email account password. Why do you choose the name of your child or spouse? Or some known concept? It is because you associate the password with these concepts. And most of us, subconsciously choose the concepts which are strong enough to remember.
It is like this: If you want to remember a concept A, you associate it with a concept B. And the strength of your memory of A depends on the strength of your memory of B. If memory of B is weak, so would be the memory of A.
This is why you choose your loved one's name, isn't it? Whose name can you remember easily - that of the clerk in your office or that of your spouse? Isn't it obvious that we use the associativity rule everyday in our life?
I just walked in through the door talking over phone to a friend who asked me to meet him in room 212.
I quickly thought how to remember it: 212 is a palindrome number!
Then, in a while, I realized what I had just done. I had associated that room number with all palindrome strings that I had studied long back!
Lets analyze this further. Why did I not take the property of 212 being divisible by 2 to remember it? Because it involves calculations! Human mind would rather prefer to associate than to calculate. Looking at the number (i.e. associating it with its image I have formed in my mind), I can also associate the first '2' with the last one - something I cannot do with the divisibility property.
What happens when you meet someone you have already met? You associate the person with his pre-made image in your mind. Thats why you are in splits when the person changes his appearance suddenly, say, shaves his mustache or goes bald. You do not find a 100% match of the image that you have in mind and what you have just seen. In some cases, you may not even recognize the person.
This also explains why you take time to recognize a person at a distance. Its because you are reasoning with yourself whether this person is similar to the image in you have mind.
Though no one seems to have understood which part of the brain does this associative matchmaking, it is quite clear that this property of individuals imparts intelligence to humans. The better and faster the process, the more intelligent you are.
-Dhaval
Note: This post has recently been published in the hostel magazine of H-1, IIT Bombay too!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Question
Merry Christmas to everyone!
As the Christmas eases into the warm winter ;) , I wish to ask you all a question that has always bugged me ever since I was a child.
The gregorian calender, as per my knowledge, counts the years starting from the birth of the Christ. That means, the day Jesus was born is supposed to be 1st Jan 0000 (or, maybe 0001). If Christmas is supposed to be the birthday of Christ, then why do we celebrate it on 25th Dec? Shouldn't we celebrate it on 31st Dec / 1st Jan? (Ideally, 12 o'clock)
Why the difference of 6 days?!
-Dhaval
As the Christmas eases into the warm winter ;) , I wish to ask you all a question that has always bugged me ever since I was a child.
The gregorian calender, as per my knowledge, counts the years starting from the birth of the Christ. That means, the day Jesus was born is supposed to be 1st Jan 0000 (or, maybe 0001). If Christmas is supposed to be the birthday of Christ, then why do we celebrate it on 25th Dec? Shouldn't we celebrate it on 31st Dec / 1st Jan? (Ideally, 12 o'clock)
Why the difference of 6 days?!
-Dhaval
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
ok.. long time.. but was seriously, sort of, stuck up in these worldly things called 'exams' and 'assignments'.. :p
If I remember well, last week, I had a deadline to meet *everyday*.. thats too much.. considering every deadline should have taken atleast 2 days so that I could do justice to its purpose..
Seems IITians are anyways too pressed for time... No one wants to meet anyone else... not because they are the reserved lot, but because they have an assignment deadline the next day.. I mean, who would want to miss on his or her assignment to just come and chat with someone? I think we all understand the importance of socializing. But we are helpless.
Hope there are some solutions to these problems.. IIT Bombay, the innovator of solutions must surely generate a plan.. :-) Or can anyone else come up with one? Let us C..
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]