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.
Freia and I were watching an Ellen clip of an interview with a prodigy. That's when Freia mentioned that a friend of hers had appeared on the Ellen show. And she showed me the clip on YouTube.
The person was Sara Sakowitz. And it became quickly apparent that Sara too was a prodigy who at 20 had achieved more than most of us manage in a lifetime.
I won't bother trying to explain what she does. I'll allow you to discover it yourself.
The last couple of years, there's been significant number of people and media India talking about "intolerance" becoming a part of an ugly side of Indian Society. While some part of the issues and incidents highlighted are political in nature, I think that in several cases, unfortunately there is merit to these allegations.
What is even more concerning is that this phenomenon seems to be rearing its ugly head across the globe. In Asia, Europe, America, ...
And this is when it becomes important for us to understand the Paradox of Tolerance and make a decision. Who are we and what do we want to do?
“
The so-called paradox of freedom is the argument that freedom in the sense of absence of any constraining control must lead to very great restraint, since it makes the bully free to enslave the meek. The idea is, in a slightly different form, and with very different tendency, clearly expressed in Plato.
Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.
- In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols.
We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.
” - Karl R. Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/25998-the-so-called-paradox-of-freedom-is-the-argument-that-freedom
For the audio-visual minded, here's an explanation of the paradox.
What is PARADOX OF TOLERANCE?
All of this leads to a fundamental question. Why should we be just tolerant. Can we not be accepting. And like most thoughts, someone, somewhere has already answered it. Extremely well.
Tolerance is a dirty word Andrew Sayer - TEDxSemesterAtSea
And while we are on paradoxes, it would be great to check out 25 of them in 6 minutes. 25 CRAZIEST Paradoxes That Will Blow Your Mind
Recently Reia spent 2 weeks volunteering at a public school run by "Muktangan". She enjoyed her time there and was very excited by the time she spent at the Muktanagan school and with the kids. Her last day was supposed to be Tuesday, while the other volunteers were to be there till the end of the week. The kids requested Reia to come back for the other days, since they had not completed a "Thank You" card that they were making for her. She was touched. And of course, went back for the rest of the week.
While sharing her experiences with us, one thing she mentioned stood out to me. "I wish my teachers used these techniques while teaching us". Considering that she was part of the privileged lot who went to a private school, the comment about a public school stood out. More so, since the public school system in India unfortunately does not have a good reputation and the dream of most parents is to put their children in private schools even when they may not be able to afford the significantly higher fees.
I asked for some examples and she gave me 2. I loved both of them. The first was the methodology used to quieten the class. As with all children the class is typically noisy when a teacher enters. But unlike most schools, they do not ask them to be quiet or some such in an angry tone. Instead they draw a circle on the board called the circle of silence, and as the circle is completed, the kids who are engaged in the drawing quieten down until there's complete silence when the circle is completed.
The second is getting kids back on track when during the class they get distracted. The teacher starts singing, "Are you listening, are you listening.". And the distracted kids are suddenly engaged and reply in unison, "Yes, we are, yes we are". These are seemingly simple things. And yet not so commonly used. Like Reia, I too wish my teachers used some of these techniques.
They adopt and use what they call a "New Model of Education".
"Muktangan is a new model of education providing quality, child-centred, inclusive English-medium schooling to thousands of underprivileged children in Mumbai. We are truly "education for the community by the community," integrating the training of teachers from the same neighbourhoods as the students, creating empowered change agents.Check it out."
No amount of admiration for the founders is sufficient. Elizabeth and Sunil Mehta started Muktangan in 2003. And what started as a small initiative has grown into a major success that has brought quality education to tens of thousands of kids.
And in addition to that they are also great people. Although I've not had the privilege of meeting them, Reia is full of praise for the dedicated couple and went so far as to say, "Sunil is the nicest, funniest, person I've met and reminds me of Daddy". And no, the Daddy is not me. She's referring to
my Dad, her granddad who she adored.
On behalf of Reia and the thousands of children whose lives you'll have touched, to Elizabeth and Sunil, a BIG THANK YOU.
You can learn more about Muktangan, their mission and what they do at their website. http://muktanganedu.org/
You may have come across news that Bitcoin was going to be forked and that a new currency "Bitcoin Cash" was being introduced. The change was scheduled to go live on August 1. And it did.
Several questions immediately come to mind. "What's a fork ?"; "What happens to my Bitcoins?"; "What's Bitcoin Cash". Since I knew nothing about any of this, I looked to the experts and they were able to answer all of the questions. I'll allow them to answer your questions.
August 1 BITCOIN FORK Explained! BTC and BTC Cash Explained! What Should You Do?
Every new event is a threat. And an opportunity. Here's a take on how you can capitalize on this opportunity. A bit late to capitalize, but interesting to know.
How To Capitalize on The Bitcoin Fork
And for those of you who are interested in a detailed explanation, this is a great video.
Bitcoin Fork? What is Bitcoin Cash? What should You do?
And for those who don't yet know what finally did happen, here's the good news. Everyone gained. Today Bitcoin (BTC) hit its all time high and was trading at US$ 3,255. Bitcoin Cash, the currency Bitcoin holders got at a 1:1 ratio was trading at US$ 218.96. A huge win-win for all crypto-currency holders and specifically Bitcoin holders.
