Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Useless things I learnt

I was feeling a bit nostalgic today, so decided to write this article.The things that I learnt in school were useless.
Tell me how algebra was useful to me in my day to day life.I never go to a shop and tell the shopkeeper that I want to buy x pens. Neither does the shopkeeper tell me that x pens will cost me y rs.
In my opinion, maths in school should only be limited to the four basics: multiplication,division,addition and subtraction.That is it.
Simple equations, quadratic equations,equations of a higher degree.
Well, just one question, when did you ever use equations again after you passed your graduation?
Variables is another concept that I fail to understand. If something is a variable and its value keeps on changing constantly, how can you perform operations on it. And why would I assume a variable in real life?

History was fascinating but what was the practical use of remembering all the dates, and memorizing facts that happened years ago ? What happened happened. It is not going to change by teaching it in school . They teach us history and my history teacher was the one who told me not to cry over spilt milk .Talk about irony.

I was a curious kid and always had doubts.One doubt that is still not resolved is "How can you determine the exact boiling  point of any liquid? Because liquid is boiled in a container and some amount of heat is lost in heating the  container."

College unleashed a whole new load of useless facts. I learnt chemistry(endless nights remembering the chemical formulae and the reactions).
No one knew why we were being taught Chemistry nor did anyone bother to find out. Derivation and integration were interesting , but  to what use. Now, I just see funny symbols and abbreviations around variables.Same with limits.

Many subjects involved experiments in vacuum , but in my life all that comes to mind when I hear the word vacuum is the vacuum cleaner.

Engineering made my belief stronger that the more education you receive, the more you get to learn useless facts. Four years of rot learning about things that  I never knew existed and these were the same things that I wanted to forget once the exams were over.

Insights into a bored mind

Why is it that  we never do what we want to do but act according to the rules? Why do we always give in? I always had a problem following the rules , but then again I am a rule junkie.I like breaking rules.Whenever someone told me "Don't cross the line , the only thought in my mind would be where is the line?"
The line does not exist.We draw the lines just as we draw our own limitations.Our mind is very powerful and we can achieve anything we want.All one needs is the will to do it.Why do you want to do something?       Because you want to, as simple as that .

I do not follow the exact boundaries of the law because I was not consulted while they were being made.The nameless faceless protectors of the normal majority made the rules.If everyone is unique, how can a handful of people decide what is right and what is wrong? I  live my life according to a personal code of ethics.

I believe that the greatest gift we have is the ability to think and to make choices.Unfortunately, this privilege is taken away from us right from childhood.Thanks to conformity, our thinking has fallen into a rut. We end up in the same vicious cycle .

The reason as to why very few people are creative is because we do not have a process in place that is creative.The process needs to evolve. We are what we learn.But our education is based on rot learning.Many times things are forced down on us, or fear is used as an instrument against us.

To be creative, one needs to evolve.If we follow all the rules and the focus is on repetition, how are we going to be creative.One needs innovation to be creative.

Some things are meant to be temporary and they should be kept  that way.One must not make the mistake of turning it to permanence....

Friday, November 12, 2010

Imperfection



So many times we hear someone say, I wish I was perfect. Well, maybe you were not meant to be that way in the first place. Truth be told, perfection is scary.
The idea of perfection is a myth.
The very fact that everything is changing is a sign that we all strive for perfection, knowingly or unknowingly.
Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection that we forget that imperfection is happiness.

I will use a short story to strengthen my point.

In a village, there was a very big mansion which had a garden
There was a caretaker who used to water all the plants in the garden. He used to carry two pots, one in each hand. One pot was perfect while the other one had a crack. As a result, when he used to reach the garden, one pot was full of water while the other pot always lost some of its water. The cracked pot was very sad as no matter how hard it tried , it couldn't be perfect. One day it told the caretaker  to replace it with a perfect pot. The caretaker only smiled on hearing this.
He asked  the cracked pot to have a look at both sides of the path between the water tank and the garden.
It observed that one side had flowers along the path while the other path was empty. The caretaker told the pot" I had plated seeds of  flowers on your side. Only your side has the flowers while the other side doesn't.  Everyday you watered the flowers  unknowingly." The pot felt very happy after knowing this.

What I wanted to tell from the story is that we all have imperfections and it is our imperfections that make us what we are. Your imperfections are what make you perfect.

A big thanks to all my crack pot friends who helped me to realize this.










































Thursday, November 11, 2010

Things that cross my mind when I am bored




 It is so simple to be difficult but it is so difficult to  be simple.

We are born, we live and finally we die.The end is death, no matter what you are or who you are .The journey and not the destination is what makes life worth living. We are so focused on the destination that we miss the journey. We keep on waiting for a big thing to happen and in the process we keep on overlooking the simple pleasures of life.

Do what makes you happy. If it does not make you happy, I do not see a point in doing it.
Chess has always fascinated me and one of the reasons is because it teaches you a very important message about life.

Whether you are a king ,queen or a pawn, in the end you go into the same box. If you take a decision and it is something you believe in and not under the influence of anyone, stick to it no matter what ,and be ready to face the consequences. If it turns out in your favor, good. If it doesn't leave it behind.

Never feel too proud of yourself and think you are the only one who can do it. Nothing is irreplaceable.
 If you do something that everyone opposes and you are successful ,good for you. If not, at least you did what you wanted to. It took me along time to realize that the only thing stopping me is me.

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
 
There are just simple things on which everything is based, supply, demand, and probability.






Sunday, November 7, 2010

Whiners

The title says it all.All of us has had a friend, a colleague or someone in our lives who has a problem with everything.That's right, I am talking about the cry baby whiny ass losers who complain about everything, irrespective of whether they know all the facts or whether they have the slightest idea of what they are talking about.My first reaction to such people is to get as far away from them as possible and as quickly as I can. But things don't always go as per the plan.

These buggers are the world's best critics (at least that is what they think) but what they forget is "they are not perfect either". So ,take steps to correct the problem or learn to keep your opinions to yourself. Nobody gives a fuck about what you think!!!!!Stop giving yourself so much importance.

According to them,the grass is always greener on the other side and everyone is involved in a global conspiracy against them.I was surprised they think so highly about themselves. Actually the part that they think sounds far fetched to me than any global conspiracy.They do not like anybody and let's be honest this feeling is mutual,we don't like them either.

These people are usually self-centered, frustrated, sadistic morons who cannot bear to see other people happy. If you are feeling happy, just one look at them and  the ambivalence starts.You try your best to be happy , but....

If they think you are feeling unhappy, then  they will go out of their way to make you feel miserable. And they will also make you realize that your problem is nothing as compared to theirs. I think they would do very well in the marketing industry as making a mountain out of a mole hill is inherently present in them.

I believe they should be beaten within one inch of their lives, then dipped in the sea (adding salt to their wounds) and left out in the sunlight.(this is Taliban's induction program for those of you who didn't know) .

There you go, now you actually have a reason to whine about.