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

Villain Heroes

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Kids are a wonderful gift of God, but are we taking enough care to look after the ‘gift’ the way we are expected to? The featured pic, if taken on the face value, would make you laugh, I also laughed in the first place, but then I asked myself, is it something to laugh at or ponder as to why the naked kid is hanging with the hand pump, who made him do this in the first place? Who is to be held responsible for the plight of this poor kid?

Over my life time, I have never seen a movie, wherein a villain is portrayed as hero, except for few exceptions, where hero is a villain (but in those movies also he is actually doing good things (utilitarian ethics), so a hero is one who does the right thing always) as he is shown doing good things or rising against the rulers for the rights of the poor people around him.

The chequered history of Pakistan is either marred by the autocratic dictatorial regime or semi dictatorial civilian governments over the last 60 plus years during which time, both the dictators and civilians have proclaimed that they are fighting for the rights of the down trodden, but unfortunately the reality is contrary to their claim.

A primary school in Sadiqabad, Punjab, Pakistan

(Temperature in summers soars up to 50 degrees, and the place is usually without electricity during these times and basic facilities are not existing since ages)

This is what they (Villain Heroes) have done so far, and continue to do, to the future generation of Pakistan over the years, yet they continue to be labelled as leaders in their own right.

The economic situation of the country has gone from bad to worse, security of the state, as well as, its citizens is at its lowest ebb, and Pakistan is internationally declared a failed state as its economy is in dire straits, and high security state due to terrorist activities being the norm, and the Western countries have to issue travel advisory to their citizens, travelling to Pakistan .

The rampant corruption in the corridors of power has shattered the confidence of foreign investors, which has ultimately led the ruling elite to stretch the begging bowl to the World Bank and IMF to avoid default on balance of payment position and to be called banana republic.

The very fabric of the society at large has been deteriorated to such an extent that the divide between haves and havenots is increasing at an alarming rate, thus creating chaos and unrest in the society.

Even the basic health and education is not extended to the lower and lower middle class and civic amenities are slowly being reduced to rubble, masses are kept ignorant of their legitimate rights through illiteracy, which is making the so called ruling elite a messiah for all their (peoples) shortcomings and that is one of the reasons why, we see a huge crowd gathering at the reception of some ‘mega project’ inauguration and the ‘Villains’ of the society (the ruling elite) rise to the podium as ‘Heroes’.

Keeping in view the dismal political situation of Pakistan, especially in the wake of 9/11, I came up with this quote of mine:

“In sham democracies, Villains are Heroes”  

Sajjad Hussain

THIN-KING for THINKING

Human Brain is a physical entity capable of seeing things through eyes and Human Mind is an abstract reality capable of visualizing the invisible through thought process. I like to name this gift of God, a THIN KING residing in our heads.

Keeping in view  the potential of this KING, I have come up with a quote, which I am sharing here for your reflecting pleasure.

Train your Brain

to convert it into MIND

~ Sajjad Hussain

Reverse Thinking

This is in continuation with my previous blog Ticking Clock.

Any bottle, be it medicine or ketchup, in order to get the content out from inside the bottle, you need to open it up by moving the cap counterclockwise. Even the door lock of your house can only be opened, if the key is moved counterclockwise.

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Is it not baffling your mind that how on earth there is semblance of symmetry in all the things around us. I am sure that the person who thought about the cap on the bottle to be moved counterclockwise to open, and the person who invented the lock in the first place, were two different people, but they thought the same way for something to open.

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Now let’s find out how is it linked with my previous blog. In my previous blog, I have talked about clockwise movement of our life for gauging the age, with the counter clockwise movement of heavenly bodies. My understanding about these movements (I may be wrong) is that actually it is counterclockwise move which opens up anything, be it your mind.

Most of the people think the way everyone is thinking (to get to understand what do I mean by this analogy, read my blog by following the link Against the Odds, whereas in order to get to understand the hidden meaning of life, you will have to start thinking the other way round, which will open up altogether new vistas.

In electro-magnetics, the right hand rule is a way to predict the direction of a force in a magnetic field. To predict the behavior of positive charges, use your right hand. To predict the behavior of negative charges, use your left hand. 

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Amazingly if you look at the concept above, you will see that the counterclockwise movement of your right hand is taken as positive and the thumb directs you in the positive Y direction. The negativity is attributed to left hand and the counterclockwise movement of your left hand will direct you in the negative Y direction, and clockwise movement of your left hand will direct you in the positive Y direction.

(I am sorry to admit that quite a few concepts are not as easy to digest as I am trying to make them understandable to you. I can only request you to please bear with me on this count)

According to Neuro-scientists, the right brain thinks artistically whereas the left thinks logically, which  in a way substantiates one of my previous arguments described in my another blog Art vs Science.

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In order to be logical in your approach, you need to make use of your mind artistically first and then let it think in the reverse direction to end up in a logical conclusion.

That thinking would come your way, when you start thinking against the usual thought process and that is only possible when you open your mind through ‘Reverse Thinking.’

Continues in the next blog ….. Discus Throw

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