360 Degrees Plus

The credit of this blog goes to Mr. Hamza and Mr. Kamran, students of PAF KIET, who raised the question in my class and incited me for the idea to write this blog.

This is an extension of my previous blog ‘360 Degrees’, wherein I have documented the answer to a question “what is the difference between ‘Vision and Imagination’?”, in the form a blog.

This time again I was asked a question by one of my students during a lecture, while I was explaining the concept through the diagram [similar to the one above, except the ‘observation part]. He came up with the question; where is ‘observation’ in the pic and I was kind of lost at that time and thought, how on earth, I didn’t think about it in the first place. I am now documenting my answer with more elaboration, explaining the significance of colors used for making this pic.

Again, I may be wrong, and would love to read your comments for clarifying my understanding.
[The picture above is my brain child, it clicked my mind when the question was raised].

Everything is data for a kid until the age of 5 or 6 years. The arc representing data has been colored red, as it reflects danger and the understanding of a kid about that data could not be taken as authentic, at this very tender age. The data is way too difficult for the kid to comprehend and the meaning s/he could get out of that data could be dangerous.

When s/he starts schooling s/he is disseminated with information [which is wrongly perceived as knowledge by most of the people, specially the parents] until 12th grade. The yellow color in the pic depicts that by now, s/he has developed in him/her self an understanding of the information s/he has acquired, and is now getting ready to converting it into knowledge, through practically experimenting/implementing the information into his/her daily routine.

The knowledge arc is depicted in green color, as s/he has been through data [red color] and information [yellow color] and is now ready to face the challenges of life [ready to go, depicted by green color].

Once having enough knowledge, by virtue of age and been through enormous experience over time, s/he has wide ocean of wisdom [blue color] in front of him/her to explore and find ‘self’ through reflecting and self actualization.

The line demarcating the circle of ‘360 Degrees’ through the center, cutting it half up with Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom and half down with Imagination and Vision, is ‘Observation’ [360 Degrees Plus, depicted in various colors], as it is observation of the colorful world around him/her, which is enabling a kid to have a deep insight [through observation] into data and convert it into information through schooling, with the help his/her teachers and based on his/her personal life experiences, to convert that information into knowledge.

The journey to understand life begins with imagination [depicted in maroon color, as it can be useful, if proven, scientifically and/or logically, or may be dangerous, if based only on personal biases], which is the driving force to understand data, information, knowledge, and wisdom, through observation. Again it is the observation, which enables him/her to open up a whole new world of wisdom while visualizing life through his/her mind.

Everyone has his/her vision [depicted here in white color], that vision would be small if s/he is limiting himself or herself only to data, it grows with information, knowledge and wisdom.

Vision is seeing the invisible, and invisible is only visible when there is light all around, and light is depicted with white color. White color also reflects, that there is no ambiguity and the person can only be clear about his/her purpose of being alive is through acquiring knowledge. Knowledge is wide spread all around and we can get that knowledge by making use of imagination through close observation.

The real vision is completed when the circle of life is completed after the completion of 360 degrees through imagination, and you get wisdom, that’s why Einstein once said:

Yet another student came up with another explanation of ‘observation’ line and told me that it touches all the arcs in the diagram, showing that data, information, knowledge, wisdom and/or imagination can have meaning, if and only if, we observe everything with deep thinking, to understand the hidden meaning of life, thus comprehending the very purpose of our existence.

PS:
Since this blog is the continuation of my previous blog adding OBSERVATION as the addition, I like to add one final point here:
“That is one of the reasons why, we have OBSERVATORIES, which are a huge source of information gathering. The information thus gathered, when processed at the ground station, will open up a whole new world, full of wisdom, before us.

Sajjad Hussain

Pyramid of Knowledge

While studying management, I use to wonder, why the management model is always a pyramid, on top of which there is always a one man (CEO) of the company. Another thing used to boggle my mind was that if it would have been a rectangle or square, what would have gone wrong and then came the idea of coming up with this blog.

During school days a kid is taught a number of subjects, like language, science, arts, literature, music, history, civics, religion, maths, and quite a few others depending on the country where he is being taught. At times the books he is to carry along out weigh his own weight. I use to think how a kid could learn these many subjects, when we grown up adults do not comprehend quite a few simple subjects.

As he keeps progressing towards his higher education, the number of subjects being taught, starts reducing, and when he goes for the highest degree (i.e. PhD), he is only required to study one subject and that also, not the whole of it, but a part of it, at a micro level.

Is it not unfair with the kids. Would it not have been better if he would have been taught one subject in his first year of education, two subjects in 2nd and so on, as shown in the diagram.

But then after having a deep thinking, I came up with the answer, that the learning capability of a kid is far more than an adult and as he grows in age the learning curve starts decreasing and thereafter, he is only able to make analogies based on his learning and experience over the years to draw conclusions. If we deviate from the usual method of learning as is being practiced across the globe, we will have a whole generations of individuals having a myopic view of the world.

The pyramid thus formed will be unstable as shown here under in comparison with the usual method of education.

The capability of a kid at the initial learning stage, although is greater than a full grown adult, but his ability to make connections of various subjects to draw conclusions to solve problems is limited.

The kid in his early stages of life is only taught to play with data and gradually bombarded with information. Making use of the mind when he is able to process the information is able to convert it into knowledge through the ability to make analogies and draw conclusions. This ability comes at a very later stage in life through education and experience. The pyramid thus formed is highly stable as the base is wide and strong.

When one reaches on top through knowledge, he gets the capability to see, what others can’t see and that is called VISION and the person having that vision becomes a VISIONARY.

Sajjad Hussain

Operations Manual

Whenever I buy electronic gadgets, I find something really amazing, that with every such purchase, included in the pack is an operations manual, which I have never used prior to operating that gadget, as most of the time, I have a fair idea as to how to operate it.

I think the operations manual is included in the pack for every one to make use of it and get a thorough understanding of the gadget operation. If we manage to operate the gadget according to the manual, we may increase the life of the gadget.

In almost all the religions of the world, we see that, they all have their divine scriptures in the form of guidelines for living life. Which in a way, we can say is the the Operations Manual for Humans. But we, as Humans, seldom make use of those scriptures to mold our lives, according to the guidelines written in them.

If somehow, we manage to make use of the divine scriptures, in those holy books, I think we can make our lives longer as the gadget’s life is increased through proper use of the gadget according the operations manual for that gadget. By “increasing the life”, I don’t mean physical life, I mean we can make our lives immortal because we will be living according to HIS will and HE will make our name immortal in the history, due to our good deeds for the humanity.

My this blog is not for or against any particular religion, I am talking in a very generalized terms for all of the religions. As almost all the religions talk of humanity, and human values, which we as humans have to learn to respect.

Sajjad Hussain

Life of Mind

If I want to sow a rose plant (why rose, will be known to you later), I will use its seeds, put them into the soil, water the soil and wait, until a bud is sprouted out of it. Once the flower is out of the bud, it starts spreading its fragrance around and then with the passage of time, it will die down, after completing its life cycle.

Now if I want to save its fragrance for later use, I will separate it from the plant, and squeeze its juice into a bottle and throw away the mutilated petals into the garbage. The fragrance is saved in the bottle, and can be used as and when needed.

When a baby is conceived inside the womb, first of all his body starts taking the shape, once the body is complete, then his soul gets the spirit and then after completing his gestation period, he is born. Spends his life from childhood to adulthood to parenthood and after completing his life cycle dies. When he dies, his spirit is taken out (by God) and his body is left to be buried or cremated as per that individual’s beliefs.

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If we compare the two situations written above, we will find astonishing similarities. Bud is like the body conceived inside the womb, full grown flower is like adulthood and squeezing the fragrance is like spirit being taken out of the body and throwing of the petals is like the body is buried or cremated.

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Now I will try to find out another analogy out of it, to understand the topic. It’s been scientifically proved that the human brain keeps growing until the age of 20 – 21 years and after that it starts shrinking. That could be the reason that a kid is sent to school and then college and then university so that his mental faculty is grown to its fullest by the time he reaches the age of 20 years, because after that, whatever he would be learning would be more based on his life experiences rather than new learning.

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The learning so acquired by the age of 20 years would remain with him as long as he keeps upgrading it with his experiences through continuous thinking and learning. If he fails to make use of his learning while his brain starts shrinking, he will start loosing track of the information he has acquired over the years, to be used at the later stages of his life. A disease called Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example.

The growth of our mental faculty is like the bud, nourishing it with knowledge through education is like injecting fragrance into the rose. Squeezing the rose and extracting its fragrance is like forcing the mind, to leave its comfort zone and think out of the box to see, what others can’t see. The outcome of making use of the knowledge so acquired, are the words of wisdom (WoW), coming from people having knowledge and spreading them (WoW) to make a better world, is like using the rose fragrance and making the surrounding afresh.

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These ‘Words of Wisdom’ (WoW) are the fragrances with which the world will keep smelling, even when the body carrying that mind would no more be around.

Sajjad Hussain

Philosophy – Subjective or Objective

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When people see around them, they see everything as ‘data’. Those who have gone through some education, they get ‘information’, out of that ‘data’. When that ‘data’ is analyzed, making use of the mind, is converted into ‘knowledge’.

Men with ‘knowledge’ are in a position to ponder deep into the hidden meanings to form a ‘philosophy’. They have a clear understanding of the hidden meanings behind that ‘philosophy’, but they are unable to quantify it, using a mathematical model.

Till such time it remains un-quantified, it remains philosophy, but when proved mathematically, it becomes a ‘theory’. When that ‘theory’ is materialized, through experimentation, becomes scientific law.

Since we can not fill our tummy with mere words, and usually people are not as observing as they should be, so their focus mostly is confined only to fulfill their basic needs, i.e. to eat and shit, so ‘philosophy’ for them is more subjective in nature then objective.

But men with knowledge, try to find the wisdom in things around them, to find the hidden meanings, come up with philosophy, to end up in innovation and creativity, to benefit the human kind.

Since their objective is to work for the betterment of humanity, so philosophy for them is more an objective than merely a subject.

Philosophers are visionaries, as they are able to see the future, which others can’t, as the future can only be perceived through abstract mind, and people are mostly unable to see intangibles through naked eyes.

Sajjad Hussain

No Free Lunch But Water

There is no such thing as ‘Free Lunch’, yes that’s right, but when an order is placed at an ordinary hotel, the waiter along with food brings in a glass and a jug filled with water. If you ask him, why did he bring water, his reply would be, it’s free.

I want to make use of my previous analogy of water and knowledge and would say that since water is available in nature for free, so is knowledge in the form of data.

When I tell my students that knowledge is free, they come up with an argument, that they have to pay the fee to get education. My reply to them is, that the answer to their argument is in the question itself, i.e. they are not paying fee for knowledge, that fee is collected to impart education.

Everything around in nature is data, that data is converted into information, during the process of imparting education. and when that information is analyzed by the student making use of his mind, it is converted into knowledge.

For converting information into knowledge, one needs to make use of the gift (mind) given only to humans (there is difference between ‘mind’ and ‘brain’) to distinguish them from other creatures. A capability to make use of and explore the world around.

Using the imparted information and converting it into knowledge using the mind, does not require anything, except that mental effort (thinking), which is the essence of life. So during the process of imparting education students are provided with information and when they (students) make use of this information to open up their minds, it is converted into knowledge and its free.

Sajjad Hussain

The Rise of Spirit

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Since I started teaching Ethics, my mind started boggling to understand the meaning of life. During this awkward (in the eyes of many of us) journey of exploring the ‘SELF’, I came up with the idea, being shared here under:

The idea of writing this article came into my mind while I was engaged in a discussion with one of my friends Mr. Yousuf Ali Mehmood on the life, death, spirit, soul and body. I am putting my thoughts herein for your critical inputs.

In mathematics, when we want to draw graphs in two dimension, we draw X and Y axis. On X-axis, we have independent variables and on Y-axis we have dependent variables. X-axis is drawn horizontally, whereas the Y-axis rises vertically up.

There are two types of dreams, the dreams, which we see in the night, and day dreams. The dreams in the night are beyond our control, so we can put them on X-axis. The dreams which we see during day time are very much in our control i.e. they are dependent, so we can put them on Y-axis. In other words, we can say that the dreams which we see during day time are not dreams; they are our plans which we want to implement in our lives for success. When anything is done using proper planning, the chances of success rise.

When I look at my own body, I see quite a few things which are dependent and others are independent. My heart and lungs are independent of my acts, whereas my eyes and hands are very much dependent on me.

If I manage to use those body parts, which are dependent on my actions, effectively, I am bound to rise.

Our age is dependent on time and as such we can put it on X-axis and our mental capability, which is very much dependent on us, can be placed on Y-axis. So, as we keep making use of our abstract mind to explore the world around, we can see what is otherwise invisible to our naked eyes.

Previously, all the jobs advertised, demanded people with high IQ. Various researches have now revealed that people with high IQ fail miserably in their professional career, whereas people with low IQ but high EQ, excel in organizations. That is one of the reasons why, people from the lower tier of organization are promoted to higher level only after having gone through soft skills training, wherein they are trained for maintaining a balance between IQ and EQ.

Research has also shown that, while making decisions, men think rationally and females think emotionally. All the living beings are created in pairs, so are humans. The wedlock of man and woman is like marriage of rational (IQ) and emotional (EQ) thinking, the outcome is SQ (a new born baby is as pure as spirit).

If this model is applied on the management model where there are three tiers of management i.e. operational, tactical and strategic management. We will have the following model for understanding the significance of IQ, EQ and SQ.

The teacher of Iman Abu Hanifa, Imam Jaffer-e-Sadiq, progeny of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), has said in one of his sermons; A child’s age should be divided into three stages for the sake of his moral development, to make him/her a responsible citizen.

From 1 to 7 years of age; treat him like a ‘KING’, from the age of 7 until 14, treat him like a slave and from 14 until 21 treat him like your advisor and then leave him into society and he would a responsible citizen.

The reason for various treatments in these ages is elaborated as under:

When a child is born, he is exploring the world, so we need to give him full freedom to understand the world his own way. From the age of 7 until 14 he is going through physical transition, and at this premature age, his chances of getting involved in bad habits are very high. So we need to treat him as slave so that we can make him understand the intricacies of life the right way. From the age of 14 until 21, we need to treat him as advisor, because by remaining under severe suppression during his adolescence period, he has lost his self confidence and now is the time to help him regain his lost confidence so that when he goes into the society, he would be a perfect citizen because he has got the right kind of training until the age of 21 years. This may have been the reason that age of adult franchise used to be 21.

Now again applying this theory in the context of communication.

Any information is first considered to be data and applying it on the age of a child, during his early days into life everything is data for him. When he gets into the second phase of his life, this data is converted into information. After adolescence, he is now in a position to understand and relate information with his real life situations. So this information is now transformed into knowledge. When the child has gone through this rigorous training cycle of playing with data to convert it into information and then making relationships to make sense out of this information to convert it into knowledge makes him get ready to change the world through his wisdom. This wisdom coupled with his vision for life would develop his SQ.

Now if we apply all these concepts on the Management Model given above, we can see that if an ethically trained individual takes charge of an organization, he would change the whole organization into a socially responsible corporate giant, as Ethics has a boomerang effect.

Another aspect worth noting is that we have been made dependent in all aspects of our life and this dependency shows that if we work as a team we are bound to rise organizationally and spiritually.

There are still a lot of concepts intertwined within the article which need to be researched.

Continued in the next blog titled Chessboard of Life.

Sajjad Hussain