Axiom Of Natural Limitations On Aptitude

Often people are in bewilderment after interacting with individuals with extraordinary aptitude or mathematical ability. After reading their stories or watching their interviews on TV, they find themselves questioning whether they would ever become so “great”. Such incidents sometimes lead to encouragement and at other times, sadly, to depression. With this starts a cycle of sincere efforts and results, filled with expectations to match that extraordinary story. But seldom are these expectations realized. Ultimately, either these culminate in surrender or depression or both. But there is a serious fallacy in the argument that persistent and sincere efforts yield matchless results. Rarely do people realize that a factor, of which they are completely unaware of, has a critical bearing upon their aptitude.

Let us do a case study to understand how this “spectral factor” betrays a considerable fraction of efforts and maneuvers the results.

There is a lot of hoopla about top AIRs in highly competitive examinations like IITJEE and CAT. These examinations basically test our aptitude to work with numbers, formulas, theorems and basic mathematical operations. Not just that, they also set a time-limit disproportionately lesser than what the best of all candidates would take. Now this creates an oppressive exigency of solving some of the trickiest problems. Candidates with this “spectral factor” score unbelievably high and others are disappointed to see their average or poor scores. The latter impute the “not-extraordinary” scores to their coaching, bad luck, distraction during the exam or their unsatisfactory efforts. But trying to score extraordinarily in such exams or to match the performance of candidates scoring unbelievably high is, more or less, challenging the order of nature. The biological setup of the brain has a critical bearing upon an individual’s problem solving ability under extreme temporal pressure. How the biological elements, which work at the lowest level of human problem processing ability, stack up, determines the limits of what an individual can perform based on aptitude.

Thus there is not a great deal about individuals persistently scoring very high marks or getting top ranks in competitive exams or easily making it to IITs and IIMs and Ivy Leagues. They might be very hard working, but even if they prepare moderately, they are bound to score big shots. Behind the scenes is a biological setup that favors quick problem solving ability, even in draconian, time-bound situation.

But this should not make others feel that the genuine efforts they are putting in are futile. As with other laws of nature, exceptions exist, whether we know or not. Space will always develop for the very antithesis of natural orders.

Patents : Taking a toll at innovation?

Today technology giants have engaged themselves in a rat race to patent their product elements, covering almost every aspect of it. From the most obvious to something highly innovative in a product, it is patented, crippling further innovation and improvement as well as obtaining a certificate of monopoly over the production. Yes, I'm alluding to the famous patent wars - Samsung vs Apple. First things first. It is a completely neutral idea - inclinded towards neither of the two. But could you ever make a mobile phone and patent its looks? Patenting its flat or curvy contours! Is this all what is left to be patented? A similar patent infringement, among others, has been filed by Apple against Samsung. These quarrels indicate that even the best market players have derailed from the track of innovation. What they are fighting for is market share, revenue, profits and patents. The temple of innovation that Steve Jobs made of Apple is now squabbling over paltry issues. Should not be these IT goliaths be aspiring to crack bigger innovations and develop smarter technology rather than undoing products made by other companies and trying hard to figure out what to accuse it of as a violation of some patent.

"In a democracy, we all win or lose" - President, Pranab Mukherjee

"In a democracy, we all win or lose". But that doesn't hold for Indian Democracy. Here politicians and the royal class eat the cake, middle class eats the dregs, lower class takes away the cake box and licks the remains and the 'abject indigent class' just looks at the whole drama in bafflement.

Baba Ramdev: Credible Enough?

If Baba Ramdev is to be believed then AIDS can be cured by his yoga teaching and ayurvedic drugs acclaimed by him. In fact he had also said that he detests homosexuality which is not natural and can be cured by his yoga practices. Furthermore he had also claimed that various types of cancers viz. brain, liver, breast, prostate etc. can be eradicated through his breathing practices. By all this, it may soon come to our ears and eyes that yoga and ayurveda are the breakthrough panacea. You are to judge.

Didi's Faux Pas

A very nonsensical and ludicrous misdeed has warped Mamata Banerjee's public image. When questioned by a comman man about what steps she was taking to help the farmers, she got him arrested immediately. This was completely ridiculous and imbecile act of her. She did not even care about the ramifictions its going have. And the expected happened. The incident has spooked defamatory comments from opposition as well as from public.

Olympics and Sushil Kumar

Sushil Kumar rose to the expectations of a billion people. He has clinched a silver medal in 66Kg freestyle wrestling. With this India's medal score reaches a total of 6, which is still a record. Yeah thats the irony. A nation of 1.2 billion will have to carry this until the next Olympics. With USA bagging over a 100 medals and China near to 80, it is an utter ignominy for India. So who is to blame. The government? Who is always to busy doing nothing or gloating over puny successes. Or Media? Who is a cricketomanic. Or its ultimately us who do not want anything to prosper as cricket. Its high time we should respect, encourage and support other sports and for the government to incentivize sports through sports education, training, funding and media coverage.

Teach For India

Teach for India initiative is a highly noble deed towards the empowerment of the children from the weaker societies in terms of education and also opportunities. Since they reportedly have a rigorous selection process which considers only graduates and has reasonable stipends, the initiative is bound to work and ameliorate the pathetic education scenario in India. We hope this programme will lower the high school fallout rate and also incentivize the working class to send their children to schools.