This is a weekly blog that puts forward my thoughts, and my point of view.
You may agree with some. And probably disagree with most. And we can agree to disagree. After all, wouldn't life be boring if we all thought the same way.
Just being there was an experience that was momentous yet difficult to put into words. Maybe a few pictures will be able to convey what words cannot.
This was one thing I do not understand. What exactly was an Albert Einstein saying doing here at Gandhi Smriti.
At the end of this brief walk through history, I left determined to practice one of Gandhi's most powerful thoughts "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Recently my brother Don and his family, along with 2 other families made a trip to Ladakh to volunteer with a Non Profit, 17000 ft foundation. www.17000ft.org
The cost of setting up a library is an expensive proposition. And it has several limitations. Only 1 person can borrow a book, updating with new books periodically is difficult. You need space.You need ...
This set off a thought process. There has to be a better way. And that thought led to HOPE.
HOPE stands for the hope of getting education to the billions that don't have it, a few thousand at a time. HOPE is also an acronym for
"High-speed Outernet Powered Education."
In the era of the Internet and the almost ubiquitous availability of educational content, we seem to have forgotten accessibility. A relatively small % of people have access to the Internet. And a small fraction of that have access to sufficient bandwidth and data to be able to read and view educational material.
HOPE brings the Internet to those without access in the form of the Outernet. Here's a brief presentation on the concept and a prototype.
We'd love to have your feedback and support on the project. Please contact me if you'd like to be involved in the HOPE Project and bringing a life changing Hope to the billions.
I've been watching National Geographic's Brain Games episodes over the last few months and have been fascinated. Especially about how little I knew. About the Brain. How it works. How we perceive. How we ...
Until earlier today I saw a very interesting episode. All episodes were interesting, but this raised a few serious questions. The episode was titled "What You Don't Know". (Season 2, Episode 6)
It's about the misconception that we understand everything that goes no around us. However science shows that we know a lot less than we think we do.
In fact, psychologists have a name for it. "Illusion of Knowledge"
Shankar Vedantam, a NPR Science Correspondent says, "
In everyday life, we constantly come across problems we can't solve and if we were honest with ourselves, we'd admit it. But the reality is that we don't. Psychologists call it "Illusion of Knowledge"
The brain is wired to try and provide an answer. Its a survival mechanism to make you feel more in control. Nobody likes to walk around feeling lost and clueless, especially with things we think we should know.
The best way out is to challenge it to get specific details on how a specific object works.
"
2 of the examples it gives is the everyday zipper and cycle. We all think we know how they work. Try drawing and explaining a working model and we'll soon realize, "We thought we knew".
Do check out, not only this episode but others of Brain Games". Its anything but Games.
And whilst on the subject of "Illusion of Knowledge", check out Jason Latimer's take on the "Illusion of Knowledge". Completely different but equally engaging and thought provoking.
Seeing beyond the illusion of knowledge: Jason Latimer at TEDxWallStreet
This week I'm in San Francisco visiting Freia who's doing her internship. She sent me a link to
"A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving". Sounded intriguing, but what was even more interesting was that it was from the New York Times.
And if you haven't, do spend some time and read the complete article. Explains the reasons why not only why we behave the way we do, but also why Governments and Corporates behave the way they do.
And whats the most interesting is that all of this is based on an experiment carried out in 1960 by English psychologist Peter Wason. That leads us to the next question, "Why don't we learn?"
