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.
My favorite movie of all time, "Catch me if you can". And recently when I came across a talk by the real life hero of the movie, Frank Abagnale, I had to listen.
An hour later, I was even more in awe of Frank Abagnale than I was after seeing the movie.
This is one talk you should not miss. And in case you've not seen the movie, please do see it. Even before you watch the talk.
On Thursday I was having a cup of coffee at the United Lounge at Dulles Airport on my way back from a meeting in DC. It was just 3 in the afternoon and already a zillion things had gone wrong. My flight was at 10.30 p.m. and was on standby for a 5 pm flight to New York.
A tall gentleman asked if he could sit at the table. "Of course", I said with a broad smile. Its not often that people are polite and ask. Especially in lounges. He had a large musical instrument case. Which he laid down very gently.
I'm an introvert and am unable to strike up conversations. Even with people I know. And I'm not sure what happened. Possibly my curiosity got the better of me. And I asked, "Where do you keep this instrument in the plane ?". He smiled and replied, "Its got its own seat". And added with a twinkle in his eyes, "and I get double miles". I blurted, "Seems like the instrument is more valuable than you.". That was a stupid thing of me to say, but rather than get offended the stranger replied, "Yes. And its 300 years old."
Suddenly I felt like a child who's come across something very interesting. The stranger and his musical instrument. I kept asking questions and instead of asking me to shut the f*** up, he answered all of them.
I learnt that the instrument in the case was a Cello and the stranger was Amit Peled. He played in concerts around the world. He had played at concerts in Mumbai and Pune and was on his way to Geneva for a performance. He was a Professor of Music at John Hopkins. He's originally from Israel. He practices for 4 - 5 hrs everyday. And ...
As we continued to converse or rather me listen to him, totally fascinated, I started to get the feeling that there was something special bout Amit. It was time for me to go to the gate and find out whether I finally got lucky. I thanked Amit and he wished me luck with my flight.
As it turns out, the only thing I was right about was Amit being a celebrity. A world famous Maestro. And the instrument was the world's most famous musical instrument Pablo Casal's cello.
I don't have a ear for music and yet when I heard Amit play I was mesmerized. And listened to the entire performance. And after the performance he was as friendly to his audience as he was to me. I recommend that you watch the complete performance.
Amit Peled: Homage to Pablo Casals – Founder's Day 2015
In addition to being a great cellist, Amit is a phenomenal teacher. He has a wonderful video using a unique teaching methodology of 7 commandments and Emojis for Cello players.
The Cello Emoji Video Guide Amit Peled Cellist
In his "Homage to Pablo Casals – Founder's Day 2015" concert Amit Peled quotes Pablo Casals “Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”
To Amit Peled: "Thank You. Our encounter was inspirational and humbling. You are a Marvel. And my ignorance on Classical Music is a clarion call to fill a large and important gap in my Life. I hope to have the privilege of listening to you play. In person. At one of your concerts. Really soon"
"You're not Open-Minded" I said to a friend during a discussion. He
vehemently disagreed. And this reminded me of several similar
conversations I've had with different friends on different continents.
This
got me thinking. What is Open-Minded ? And while I was quite certain
that the friends to whom I had made those remarks were not open-minded,
the question remained. Was I ?
And on searching I came across an article on Forbes by Ron Carucci. "Think You're Open-Minded? Here's How To Be Absolutely Sure"
Its a must read. Here are a few interesting quotes. " Unity, the intentional welcoming of differences, comes from a true openness to having your mind changed.
People who differ from us reveal who we are. When we avoid them, we stop discovering who we are.
Who
among us would ever say, “Sure, I say I’m open-minded, but I don’t
really mean it. I do everything I can to look like I am open to ideas
and viewpoints that are different than mine, but deep down I really
believe I am right and those that think differently are just wrong”?
Leaders
fail to realize they actually do say this regularly….with their
behavior. In fact, we all do. The recent transition to a new presidency
has revealed how painfully divided we are as a nation, and it has
revealed how horrifically intolerant we are towards those who differ. If
we want a truly re-united country, and if we want truly united
organizations, then we’re going to have to get much better at genuinely
embracing differences.
One problem is that we often confuse unity for uniformity. The Latin origin of the word unite is unus, meaning 'one'. It means to join together, to fuse, and to connect. By contrast, the word uniform has its Latin derivative uniformis,
meaning constant, unvarying, stable, and unchanging. By its definition,
uniformity is divisive. The pursuit of sameness excludes differences.
But uniformity is seductively comforting. We like to be around people
who see the world as we do. We naively think that uniformity, the
absence of dissonance, means unity. But that’s actually the definition
of a cult. The inability of an organization, or a nation, to unite
around its differences is a severe liability. Because when the strength
of that organization, or nation, is tested by external forces, internal
warfare begins and everyone involved is unlikely to fare well. Unity,
the intentional welcoming of differences, comes from a true openness to
having your mind changed.
On a related subject, there's this very interesting Coursera Course by the University of Edinburgh.
From the lesson Dogmatism and open-mindedness in politics, religion, and life Professor Victor Ottati (like Dr. Legare
before) thinks that humility has a lot to do with being open to new
ideas and to things we disagree with. He shows how our ability to be
open-minded is related to our personal traits and to specific
situations. How open-minded do you think you are about politics,
religion, and any other ideas you disagree with?
The Course Intellectual Humility: Science It’s
clear that the world needs more intellectual humility. But how do we
develop this virtue? And why do so many people still end up so arrogant?
Do our own biases hold us back from becoming as intellectually humble
as we could be—and are there some biases that actually make us more
likely to be humble? Which cognitive dispositions and personality traits
give people an edge at being more intellectually humble - and are they
stable from birth, learned
habits, or something in between? And what can contemporary research on
the emotions tell us about encouraging intellectual humility in
ourselves and others? Experts in psychology, philosophy and education
are conducting exciting new research on these questions, and the results
have important, real-world applications. Faced with difficult questions
people often tend to dismiss and marginalize dissent. Political and
moral disagreements can be incredibly polarizing, and sometimes even
dangerous. And whether it’s Christian fundamentalism, Islamic extremism,
or militant atheism, religious dialogue
remains tinted by arrogance, dogma, and ignorance. The world needs more
people who are sensitive to reasons both for and against their beliefs,
and are willing to consider the possibility that their political,
religious and moral beliefs might be mistaken. The world needs more
intellectual humility. In this course, we will examine the following
major questions about the science of intellectual humility: • How do we
become intellectually humble? • What can human cognition tell us about
intellectual humility? • How does arrogance develop, and how can we
become more open-minded? • How do emotions affect our ability to be
intellectually humble?
And finally a TedX on the Subject. Are You Open Minded? Three Ways to Break Thinking Patterns Paul Sloane TEDxUniversityofBrighton While
I'm not sure this is directly related to Open Mindedness, the talk does
have some great ideas to review and update our thinking patterns.
After having gone through all of the above,
my conclusion on myself was 2 fold. I'm not as open-minded as I thought
I was or should have been. And this realization is hopefully the
beginning of a change in the right direction.
And the
second is that it's pointless to tell anyone that they are not
open-minded. Those who are, will be open to listen . And evaluate. And
those who aren't. Won't. Listen or Change. So why bother ?
Last Sunday my nephew Aaron who is all of 9 years old visited us. He spent the first 2 hours in telling me all about the several Apple products. The models, the features, the release years, ...
I was intrigued. How could a 9 year old know all of this. And what else does he know. As it turns out a lot. In addition to knowing a lot about music, the theory of music and was a good piano player. And he could do multiple math problem in his mind. Instantaneously. I was in awe. And checked with his parents how he managed the Math.
They told me that he had attended Abacus Classes for around a year. The classes he attended were ICMAS and this is what they say.
" We Abacus brain Study Pvt Ltd, an ISO 9000:2001 Certified Company engaged in Training and Teaching of ABACUS Education under the brand name of ICMAS for the age group children of 4-14years to enhance their mental abilities which creates and develops innovative and well researched time tested and result oriented concepts and educational products for schools, colleges and corporates .ours is a well recognized company with more than 3000 centers in 18 states across the nation. We are professionals in the field of training and development with result oriented programs full of real life practice sessions, allowing participants to take the maximum benefit in the minimum time. " http://www.icmas.info/about_us
One of the items on my bucket list was to learn the Abacus. And I asked my new genius friend if he would teach me. He readily agreed and became my Abacus Guru.
He initially drew an Abacus on a piece of paper. And when it was becoming a little painful, we concluded that we needed an Abacus. And assumed that there is likely to be a digital Abacus avaiulable for the iPad. And of course it was. Not one but several. We picked one.
My Abacus Guru started his classes by defining what he was going to teach me. He made 3 levels and for each level there would be a short lesson, 2 example problems he would do with me, 4 problems I had to do as a test and then an exam with 10+ questions.
At the end of the 2 hour training, I had learnt to use the Abacus. And could finally cross off yet another item from my bucket list.
And for that a huge Thank You to my Abacus Guru, Aaron.
And for those of you who do not have your own personal Abacus Guru, you can start with this YouTube.
