‘WISE’

‘WISE’

Wisdom and truth are rarely popular.

What is popular is rarely wise and true.

Let me state the words of wisdom from the stoic philosopher Seneca about the relationship between popularity and propriety.

"I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know, they do not approve, and what they approve, I do not know."

It takes trickery to win popular approval; and you must needs make yourself like unto them; they will withhold their approval if they do not recognize you as one of themselves. However, what you think of yourself is much more to the point than what others think of you. The favor of ignoble men can be won only by ignoble means.

… if I see you applauded by popular acclamation, if your entrance upon the scene is greeted by a roar of cheering and clapping, marks of distinction meet only for actors, – if the whole state, even the women and children, sing your praises, how can I help pitying you? For I know what pathway leads to such popularity.

I fully concur and endorse every word of Seneca.

Most people in the world are neither capable of nor interested in knowing the truth.

They lack the vision of life and seek instant gratification.

They clamour for lies that are pleasing to them rather than truth that is bitter to them.

They themselves support the wrong people and wrong ideas and then they criticize the very same person and ideas when that results into great miseries for them, rather than blaming themselves for their choices and learn some lessons from their mistakes.

Please read the following anecdote to understand this mystery.

Polyclitus of Sicyon, a famous sculptor, once worked at the same time on two similar statues, one in public and one in secret. For the later he consulted only his genius but for the former he accepted every bit of advice and would make every little adjustment or touch-up that his critics suggested.

After finishing both statues, he exhibited both statues in public, side by side. One statue was criticized, but that had been the fruit of his genius was extolled endlessly.

“Athenians”, said Polyclitus, ‘the statue you criticize is your work, and the one you so admire is mine.” [1]

If you have even the slightest desire to follow truth and acquire wisdom, learn to challenge the popular opinion rather than follow them because what is popular is rarely right.

Footnotes

[1] Practising Spiritual Intelligence

    -Awdhesh Singh

What is Computational Thinking?

There is a wonderful story circulated among physicists that illustrates the answer.

Johnny von Neumann was a great mathematician and a great physicist. So someone (I don't remember who) challenged him with this problem:

Two trains are 100 meters apart, moving towards each other. Each train is moving at 10 meters per second. A bee is flying back and forth between those two trains at 20 meters per second. Eventually the bee will be squished when the two trains crash against each other. When they do, what will be the total distance flown by the bee?

According to legend, von Neumann thought for a moment, and then said "100 meters".

The questioner said, "Correct. But now I know, from the quickness of your response, that you are really a physicist, not a mathematician. The mathematician would have calculated when each bee-train encounter takes place, calculated the position, taken the sum of those distances as an infinite series, and then summed the series. But a physicist would have taken a short-cut; the physicists would have realized that the bee was flying for 5 seconds at 20 meters per second, so it would have traveled 100 meters total."

Von Neumann's purported response: "Oh, that's a clever way to solve it! No, I summed the series."

(For the series solution, and a graphic showing the story, look at Two Trains Puzzle.)

  

  -Richard Muller, Former Professor of Physics,UC Berkeley

Two Points

 Two points:

1. Most of what makes one a “genius” comes after birth. Inborn talent is yet to attain a formal proof of existence, and is usually limited.
2. Most people you call “genius” are simply people who work hard, become famous overnight because of a result they gained out of the hard work (a scientific theory, a company/product, an exam result, etc). People ignore their hard work and see them as “geniuses”.

Let me tell you a secret - NOBODY is a genius. There are people who work hard, and then there are people who lay on the couch and say stuff like “I can never be like them, they’re all geniuses and talented!”.

The term “genius” was probably invented to mask insecurity and laziness - it’s an excuse to justify someone’s mediocrity, sorry to say.

So you got your answer - work hard. Real hard. Talent is like a intercept - it matters initially, but it’s the slope that will make you win in the long run! See everyone you call genius - they work REALLY hard despite being “genius”. Why do you think they do that? Because they know what it takes to become a genius - and won’t give up on that.

  

  -Kalpit Veerwal, 360/360 in JEE MAIN

The Biggest Advantage For a Serious Aspirant of the Civil Services Exam

 The biggest advantage for a serious aspirant of the Civil Services exam is that by the time you finish the syllabus even once, your knowledge base increases dramatically and your world-view becomes more expansive.

Therefore, even if a student does not qualify in the exam, numerous other careers become more achievable. This could include (not in order of preference):

1. The UN Civil Service
2. Global institutions such as the WTO, World Bank, IPCC, WHO etc.
3. The TATA Administrative Service.
4. NGO’s such as Greenpeace, Oxfam, HelpAge etc.
5. Journalism- print, television or internet.
6. Independent think tanks such as Takshila, ORF, Centre for Civil Society etc.
7. Higher education, possibly via the path of Research Assistantship.
8. MNC’s, by supplementing your education with an MBA.
9. Returning to your original stream in graduation.
10. Politics, especially at the grass-root level.
11. Social activist, author.

The point is that even if one door shuts, it is not an indicator of your potential or abilities. No learning ever goes to waste. As long as you stay optimistic and willing to work hard, there are many, many career opportunities that can yield even more success and satisfaction than the Civil Services.

  

  -Brijendra Singh

Motivation f****d up my life for 15 years straight.

Motivation f***** up my life for 15 years straight.

I’ll tell you the story of what happened. Although what I’m going to tell you worked with me, it is proven to be scientifically wrong.

In the late 90s I was fat kid.

A really fat kid. To be specific I was one the 3 obese kids in a school of 300 hormone filled judging assholes.

I was from the 1%, not the Lamborghini-riding, chick-banging 1% you hear in the news, I was at the bottom of the hierarchy, ground zero. That time sucked…big time.

Back then I had a simple idea of how life progressed. How positive change happens. This idea was force-fed to me by movies and cartoons from the day I was born.

“I’m Fat because I’m waiting to get motivated”

So what exactly is Motivation?

What exactly is it that you’re waiting for?

I kept waiting for a long time..years passed. I was not motivated and the result was exactly the same. I was still fat.

Then one day, I asked myself a question.

What’s the difference between Motivation and Excuses?

I didn’t read any journals or papers or googled this thing up.

I answered the question by myself.

I realized that motivation is an excuse and excuses imply that I’m slacking off.

I read this before, I don’t remember where but it makes perfect sense.

If a pretty poster is all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind Robots will be doing soon.

Here’s the clear truth that no one wants to talk about.

Your mind is trying to keep you safe.

• Motivation = Change
• Change = Risk of Danger

Your mind hates nothing more than the risk of danger, so you’ll stay in bed.

The excuses come in the form of very well packaged nice and “positive” kind of words.

Words that will make you feel good about yourself.

Words that make you feel happy even when you slack off.

Making you feel good at staying comfortable in the safety and warmth of your bed sheets.

My life was transformed, but it wasn’t through these words.

• It wasn’t with Motivation
• It wasn’t with Talent
• It wasn't with Perfect Timing
• and it certainly wasn’t with Luck

You will never feel motivated to do the hard things in life. Motivation is not this Magical Lightning bolt that will strike you so you can move your ass and do the hard things in life that everyone else is afraid to do.

It’s not easy to have a good body, that’s why out of a 100 people only 3 of them will have a fit and healthy body.

Sorry to bring up bad news but if you'll wait for motivation you'll wait your whole damn life. Because of this simple premise:

Here’s how I did the transformation

I tricked my mind.

I started from the end, broke down my huge goals into very easy and safe tasks.

After I achieve these small tasks, I increase the dosage.

Back then I couldn’t run..

Instead of saying I’ll never be able to run a marathon this is what I did for 30 days.

• Day 1 goal: Run 500 meters.
• Day 2 goal: Run 520 meters.
• Day 3 goal: Run 540 meters.
• …
• Day 30 goal: Run 1200 meters.

This formula worked really well with me and I applied it to different paths in my life.

I’ll tell you a story of a man in the city of Croton, Italy. This took place more than 2,500 years ago. The same formula made him the strongest wrestlers and athletes of all time, there lived Milo of Croton.

Legends say he could carry a grown bull on his bare shoulders.

He was said to have achieved this strength by starting very early on in childhood, lifting and carrying a newborn calf and repeating the feat daily as it grew to mature bull.

Whether this is a legend or not. It makes sense.

Usually, this story is cited in the context of Progressive Overloading. But I’m citing it here as an anti-motivational story.

As each small task is finished you enter into a reward cycle and your brain gets fixated on dopamine, you feel better.

You grow as you push yourself forward

Not only do you feel better after each task but what happens over time is as you start to see yourself becoming the person that takes action.

“You start to see yourself becoming the kind of person that speaks even though your voice is shaking. You get out of bed even though you don’t “feel” good” (Robbins, “5 Second Rule”, 2017)

You build the skill of confidence and courage, you grow.

Trick your brain

One of the good books recently written on the same subject is The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins.

Your brain doesn’t make decisions based on logic

One of the topics she tackles is that 95% of the decisions we take are based on “How We Feel” at the moment we take the decision and feelings hold us back from risky decisions.

• Do you feel like making that cold call?
• Do you feel like getting up in that cold morning?
• Do you feel like making that 4th set of reps?
• Do you feel like having that hard conversation with your spouse?

The default answer will be a “BIG FAT NO”. Take control and leverage your brain to take action.

If I’ll bottom line this: Always remember motivation is complaining.

You will always feel motivated to do the easy things.

• It’s easy to be motivated to scroll through Facebook
• It’s easy to be motivated to eat a juicy cheeseburger with melted swiss cheese dripping from the sides.
• It’s certainly easy to be motivated to have sex.

This is easy, that’s why everyone is doing this.

7 years ago, two MIT economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee did a brilliant research to understand what are the skills needed for our new economy and what are the factors that will that affect the overall financial outcome of the individual, they wrote their outcome in their comprehensive book: Race Against the Machine

High Skilled Workers

The outcome of this research is that the new-market will only value Highly Skilled Workers, those who are doing complex jobs (i.e jobs that require “motivation” to do).

All other disposable low skilled positions will be automated by software or replaced by robots.

This is no joke, look at Singapore.

So if you are still motivated to scroll through social media yet “don’t feel motivated” to do the hard things, remember this..

The Robots will come for you. That’s motivating enough for me.

-Mahmoud El Magdoub

One Of The Most Damaging Advice Given to Youth is...........

 “Follow your passion” or the similar “Follow your dreams.” I’ve seen this advice lead people into paths in which they could not have productive lives or support themselves or families.

With this advice, many kids will choose to become professional athletes, and then fail. My daughter (Elizabeth Muller) once wanted to become a professional dancer. I think she is very glad now that she instead went to UC San Diego, majored in math and literature, and got a masters degree in international management. (She is now the CEO of our non-profit BerkeleyEarth.org.) One of her friends, in contrast, decided to become a professional bicycle racer (encouraged by her parents) and she now supports herself by selling and repairing bicycles. Nothing wrong with that, but I don’t think it was what she envisioned when she took this career path.

I suggest to children that before they set out on a career path, they consider what will happen if they are the 1000th best in the field. If your field is boxing, you will either be completely out of work, be a sparring partner, or (if you are lucky) be running your own gym. (Or, maybe, you’ll be an enforcer for some mob.) If you are a ballet dancer, it is unlikely that you will be performing; you will probably be teaching children how to dance ballet. If your field is physics or math, you will have very good income, have the respect of your neighbors (maybe they’ll think you are a genius), and a good diverse and productive life.

I suggest instead that you teach children to try to plan their future lives, to design their futures. They should approach it as they would a challenging homework problem. Learn more about possible careers, and what they are like. Don’t choose too early, since many careers (running Berkeley Earth?) are not obvious to a youngster. Get a broad education, and do a good job at it. Study hard and learn. Get familiar with the world. Beware of childhood passions; they are based on a limited experience, and may not be a good choice for a career.

  

 -Richard Muller   Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley

Invest in Your Education

Despite being not well off, they educated me (and my brother) well.

My family isn’t the richest out there - my father is a nurse and mother is a teacher - both in government sector. They had moved in from the village my father is from to city just so that we could gain a good education.

My father was a bright student, but he could not become a doctor because of the abject poverty my grandfather lived in. So he decided to never compromise on his sons’ education (one of his sons ended up becoming a doctor from AIIMS :). We always got new books, got admitted to good schools, and got whatever we wanted. They cut short their expenses and dreams to make sure we get the best education.

Let me tell you an anecdote to answer this better. When I was in class 9, I was selected for the International Astronomy Olympiad camp in Mumbai. In order to prepare for it, we needed to study a book called “Roy and Clarke: Structure of the Universe.” It cost around Rs 5000. At that time, Rs 5000 was a VERY big deal for my family, and I decided against it.

My father ordered me to order it right away without second thoughts. This made me realize how much he cared about our education - and I tried my best to study well.

Today my brother is doing his Masters in AIIMS Rishikesh and holds an MBBS from AIIMS Jodhpur. I am studying CSE in IIT Bombay, and working on a profitable Tech Startup. The single most important reason for that is my family’s committment for our education - irrespective of the financial condition.

Invest in your education - you will not regret it. Buy that book you always wanted. Pay for the course you need the most right now. Attend that coaching if you can. The returns are huge.

  -Kalpit Veerwal, JEE-Main AIR 1, First ever in History to get 360/360 in JEE Main ie 100%

Why Startups/Business Fails?

Up to 6,000 people sold apples in New York during the Great Depression.

Finding a job wasn’t easy. Businesses struggled to sell their products. The apple industry was no exception. They needed to sell their produce to people who had little to no money for food.

How could they do this?

To do so, they started promoting apple stands on the streets of New York.

These simple stands helped the apple industry move the apples that would most probably never get consumed, while it also helped men earn some money.

The program was a huge success. By selling apples instead of begging, this gave men a sense of pride, proving they were fighting for their future.

Soon, up to 6,000 people were selling apples in New York every day.

• Did the 6,000 apple vendors succeed?
• Why would you buy the apples?
• Why would you buy from one seller instead of the other?
• What makes one apple stand unique and better than the that of the competitors?
• If you approached a seller and asked, “Why should I choose you over your competitor’s stand?” What would they answer? You’d be surprised how many wouldn’t be able to give you an answer!

That is why many businesses fail. They can’t answer this question!

Here’s an example that recently blew my mind:

A simple sticker with Mickey Mouse makes a remarkable difference in today's world of abundance.

Many businesses fail because they don’t have a clear differentiation that makes them stand out in the market.

   -Hector Quintanilla

Interesting Psychology of Human Behaviour

 1. Piano step test

Volkswagen once proposed a "interesting theory" that they wanted to prove that people's daily behavior can be better because of their fun.

In Stockholm, Sweden, they transformed the staircase of a subway station into a piano keyboard to see if more people choose to give up the escalator and choose a healthier way to climb the stairs because of the changes in the stairs.

The results showed that 66% of the people chose to give up the elevator and choose the stairs.

Experiments show that we all like to make life a little more fun. As long as cities become more interesting, our lifestyles will be happier and healthier.

2. Racial discrimination experiment
In 1968, after the murder of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, a teacher named Jane Eliot tried to arouse a discussion of racial discrimination, prejudice and discrimination among the third graders of a school in lesville, Iowa.

Because all the children in the class were white, Eliot divided the children into "blue eyes" and "brown eyes".

After the experiment started, the first group of 19 children with blue eyes was the good children group, while the other 19 brown eyes were the bad children group. The good children group had priority to enjoy lunch and toys, while the bad children group not only had no priority, but also could not use the pool or play with blue eyed children, and their bodies were clearly marked.

After the experiment started, 19 children in the good children group obviously began to have hostility and some aggressive behaviors towards the brown eyed children. Their language also changed from the usual address to the discriminatory language, which was very shocking to all, because no one told them to do this.

The next day, the experimental group switched, the results are still the same, and after the switch brown eyes group of children more revenge! In the process of the experiment, there is a little influence worth thinking about, that is, the group judged as good children should be significantly higher in the examination and intelligence level.

At the end of the experiment, Jane explained to the children the purpose of the experiment and what she hoped they would understand. In this experiment of testing human nature, children do feel and understand the feeling of being discriminated against, but the aggression shown by children in the process of grouping is also thought-provoking.

This experiment also shows that when a person's authority is strong enough, it can influence people's thinking. If a leader teaches good, he may become Martin; when a leader teaches evil, he will become Hitler.

3. A smoky room
This is an experiment to test the individual's response in a group. The tester first invites each subject to answer a questionnaire in a room alone, and then puts smoke into the room, When the subjects were alone in the room, 75% of the subjects immediately noticed the smoke within two minutes and reported the situation.

However, when the interviewees were arranged to fill in the questionnaire between the two actors, only 10% of the respondents voluntarily reported the existence of smoke because there were other people in the room. Most of them filled in the questionnaire attentively while covering their mouth and nose, trying to wave the smoke away with their hands.

This experiment shows that when we are in a crowd, our response to an emergency may become slow or even unresponsive. We rely on other people's reactions, and even ignore our own instincts. Other people's negative attitude may lead to your inaction. Don't always assume that others will come forward, because maybe others are waiting for you to take action first.

4. Tumbler experiment
Albert Bandura conducted a tumbler experiment in 1961. He divided the children into three groups. The first group saw an adult fight the tumbler, the second group saw an adult playing with the tumbler, and the third group was the control group, which did not show the demonstration of adults.

The results showed that the group who saw the adult violence against the tumbler was more likely to show violence tendency when they came into contact with the tumbler.

Studies have shown that human behavior stems from imitation rather than internal genes. 

  -Cynthia Stuart

Tithe

 I was meeting with the CEO of a large oil company to gain insight on business. I won't disclose his name but I can tell you he had a net worth upwards of 8 figures. I was excited to meet him and drove over 4 hours to Atlanta to catch him before his flight left.

He was very kind, but you could tell that he was stern when he needed to be. Instead of picking a five star restaurant, he chose a small burger joint.

We talked about innovation, marketing, management, accounting, investing, and a few other things.

We got to the end of our lunch and I asked, “is there any one thing that's contributed to the success of your career?”

Being the CEO of a large oil company, I expected him to say something like:

“Work hard”

“Don't take crap from anyone”

“Profit comes first”

But instead, he said:

.

“Tithe.”

“Tithe?” I asked, a bit surprised.

“Yes, never forget to tithe.”

“Like give to the church?”

“Well, yes that's a form of tithing. But a great way is to give to those less fortunate than you.”

I left our meeting a little confused. I was in the process of starting a business and didn't have much to spare. I thought, “I barely have enough to get by, how am I supposed to give?”

Right at that moment I drove passed a homeless man.

And then it hit me.

No matter where you're at in life, there's always someone doing worse than you.

I immediately drove to Target and purchased supplies to make care packages. I was literally making sandwiches in my car. I put them in bags along with clothes and other items.

I then went around Atlanta handing out these bags to homeless people.

They were just the essentials. Nothing fancy. But from the looks on their faces, you would've thought I had just handed them a gold bar.

I can't explain the feeling you get from giving to those less fortunate, but it's wonderful.

It's something that’s always stuck with me.

And if you dig deep enough, you'll find that every super successful person participates in some form of tithing, whether it be money or simply time.

The reason is not only because you get to help people, but also because it puts you in a state of abundance.

I promise you that for every bit you give, you will get tenfold back.

“Never forget to tithe.”

  -Luke Bray