Make Money or Serve Society

"If the primary duty and concern of a corporation is to make money, then conflict is inevitable when the corporation must also acknowledge a duty to serve society."

From your perspective, how accurate is the above statement? Support your position with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

From my perspective, the above statement is inaccurate. 

The statement seems to imply that any industry that acknowledges a duty to serve the society will do so at the cost of getting detracted from its primary duty of making money. 

The case of Muhammad Yunnus of Bangladesh, who won a nobel prize for his micro-finance business, illustrates how wrong this assumption is. His business lent small amount of money at a nominal interest rate to small-scale social entrepreneurs in villages. These were generally women who would employ other women in a village based small scale industry like making baskets, knitting etc. Not only the business was profitable, it created prosperity at the bottom of the social ladder. The desire to serve the society did not conflict with profitability.

What is true for social entreprenuers like Yunnus, is true for other industries as well. Anybody who has a doubts just needs to see that Bill Gates's Microsoft, Narayan Murthy's Infosys and Richard Branson's Virgin Group are involved in a lot a charitable activities. Acknowledging a duty to serve the society has not led to any conflict in case of these very successful companies. Hence, any claim to the contrary is not credible.

The desire to serve the society and the desire to make money are not necessarily at odds with each other. If it was not so, a lot of successful companies and social entrepreneurs would not have made any money what-so-ever. The very fact that these entities are profitable in spite of serving the society clearly exposes the inaccuracy of the statement. 

Need For Stronger Control and Ethics

The following is an excerpt from a memo written by the head of a governmental department:

"Neither stronger ethics regulations nor stronger enforcement mechanisms are necessary to ensure ethical behavior by companies doing business with this department. We already have a code of ethics that companies doing business with this department are urged to abide by, and virtually all of these companies have agreed to follow it. We also know that the code is relevant to the current business environment because it was approved within the last year, and in direct response to specific violations committed by companies with which we were then working-not in abstract anticipation of potential violations, as so many such codes are."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The above reasoning not only lacks data, it is also seriously flawed at a few counts.

The first part of the argument is built around the presence of an existing code of ethics and the agreement of all relevant companies to follow it. This, however, does not tell us if the companies have actually followed the code of ethics. Action, and not words, alone can warrant concessions. It does not matter what the companies say. What matters is what they have done. If the companies have not followed the code of ethics, making enforcement mechanisms stronger would be the logical recourse. 

Then the writer talks about the code being approved within the last year. The relevance of the code, however, is determined by when the code was made and not when it was passed. Without that information we cannot say for sure if new and stronger ethics regulations are needed or not.

The writer further mentions that the code was formulated in direct response of violations committed by companies with which the department is working. Since the companies have committed enough violations, there is absolutely no case for arguing for not bringing in stronger enforcement mechanisms. The violations show lack of fear due to absence of a deterrent. Mere word of companies that have blatantly violated the code of ethics cannot be trusted. 

Concluding, at best the writer can argue about not bringing in stronger ethics regulations if it is established that the current code was made pretty recently. On the other hand, as far as enforcement mechanisms are concerned, the writer does not have a case - by his own admission the companies have committed violations in the past. 

An Old Love Letter

There are times in life when all words are useless. I find myself in one such situation where all words, including the ones I am writing now, are useless. Utterly, completely, pathetically, totally. Yet this friend, if nothing else of yours, writes what he can and he wonders why.

You have some ideas and concepts about me, many of which are contradictory in themselves as you yourself said once. I will not attempt to clarify any of them.

You have some genuine and some unfounded fears. I will not try to allay any of them either.

You heart is very well "insulated". Nothing aimed there too.

You don't want to talk as you feel that even that will cause problems. I will not ask you to talk.

Now you feel we are not even similar remotely, what to talk of same. So our life together is guaranteed to be rocky. No comments here too. Good you think about so many things.

So, my dear, do you feel you have taken a decision you are going to regret, getting into a doomed relationship? Keep your answers, I am not looking for them either.

When it all started, I did not know how to react, what to say. It is still the same. But I am calm, collected. Cool as ice. Freezingly. And it just gets colder every day.

I could talk to you about faith, love and fear. Why bother with the "lecture"?

I could tell you how much I like you but that you already know.

From point of view of fear no guarantees are strong enough. If you cannot talk to me, even my utility as a friend is zero.

You cannot see my eyes, you cannot feel my hand in yours and you cannot feel my presence. Would that make any difference? I hope.

I can just tell you that somewhere, somehow what you do hurts. Just this much that I was always right being defensive and being straight about it.

The only way we learn to love is by loving. People talk of love as l-u-c-k. I believe we all earn our l-u-c-k, if that is important for us.

My faith takes me ahead. I see it as a rough patch that will subside. Your handling does hurt but that's OK. So be it.

Take your time: think, judge, sleep, decide. Do whatever. But remember that love cannot endure indifference. It is said that it needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another's heart, or its flame burns low. And dies one day sadly to never rise again. If you still feel so sure that our lives together are doomed, it is still not too late. Why live with bitterness?

I am a lover. I believe we are all born for love. It is the principle existence and it's only end. If there is no love in life, life is useless. Even if you are on page3.

My liking, my talents, my experience, my sincerity etc. (cutting short before you say ego talking) seems to not matter at all. You still have to learn to live "we" like me... Who is this girl to Orion.. She is a girl with spirit and intelligence. She is a girl who wants to grow in life ,has strong roots and a tender heart. She is beautiful and her eyes tell all the stories you would ever want to listen. She is the girl I would love to spend my life with, loving her. But what does she want? Can she take it, digest it that someone can love somebody tenderly with all their heart on an innocent faith?

See, even when words are useless and there is nothing to write, I can still write an epic. Hope didn't hurt you more. I bleed if you cut me, told you so..

love

S

Rigid Planning or Flexible Time Management?

"Some people believe that the best approach to effective time management is to make detailed daily and long-term plans and then to adhere to them. However, this highly structured approach to work is counterproductive. Time management needs to be flexible so that employees can respond to unexpected problems as they arise."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Effective time management demands both discipline and flexibility. Moving ahead without a plan is like moving with a blindfold through a minefield. Detailed daily and long term plans provide a guideline to adhere to and enable successful execution of projects. If this was not true, corporate planning processes like Six-Sigma and CMM would not have been so successful. When dealing with a large workforce, a detailed plan is necessary to enforce standards across the whole company.

However there is a small pitfall. Rigid, detailed plans that do not take into account risks of change can stifle creativity and prove to be counter-productive. Nothing is certain. The only certainty is change. A detailed planning can serve as a roadmap, a guiding beacon. However on the field it may become necessary to take deviations due to changing circumstances. It is akin to having a map of an area and actually exploring the area; the difference between reading about swimming and actually swimming. A detailed planning can help a person to face problems in a better way,but he should be flexible enough to deviate from the original plan to accommodate unexpected changes if a need arises for the same. 

Keeping this in mind, modern corporate planning is goal-driven and takes into account the possible risks involved.  Individuals and companies are able to plan successfully by using their vast experience in dealing with similar kind of problems. They lay down concrete guidelines but do not try to micro-manage events as the nature of life and circumstances is dynamic. Elaborate planning helps in using previous experience and handling a project efficiently. Maintaining flexibility at the execution level helps in tackling unexpected changes successfully. 

Concluding, I agree with the need for a detailed planning but I don't agree with being inflexible about its execution. Planning gets better with experience and ideally a company can reach a stage where it can afford to have rigid plans. Practically it is almost impossible to plan for every event; so having a flexible time management is crucial to handle unexpected changes successfully.

Comparing Medicines

The following appeared in an article in a consumer-products magazine:

"Two of today’s best-selling brands of full-strength prescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid, Acid-Ease and Pepticaid, are now available in milder nonprescription forms. Doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid. So people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The argument cites the fact that Acid-Ease was prescribed by a higher number of doctors to the convince the reader about Acid-Ease being effective but milder. I think that it is neither a clear nor a well-connected reasoning.

The reasoning does not clarify the condition of the people who took the prescriptions. Depending on that one can deduce which of the two prescriptions is actually milder. Since both are best-selling brands, there must be some value proposition in both of them. If more people with acute condition were prescribed Acid-Ease, it would mean that Acute-Acid is strong and Pepticaid is milder. The vice-versa is also true. This scenario would mean two different drugs for two different purposes.

However if the medicines have been prescribed for similar patient conditions, Acid-Ease has a definite edge. Such a data would point at the popularity of Acid-Ease with doctors and clearly demonstrates their faith in its effectiveness against the ailment. Still by no stretch of imagination it can be called mild in such a scenario and will be seen as strong and effective. So the writer's contention that it is mild is counter-intuitive.  

Concluding, at best one can agree that Acid-Ease is more effective but it is not possible to say for sure if it is mild or not. Hence the reasoning above is not convincing as it leaves a lot to imagination and seems to convey conflicting conclusions.

Public Buildings and Societies

"Public buildings reveal much about the attitudes and values of the society that builds them. Today’s new schools, courthouses, airports, and libraries, for example, reflect the attitudes and values of today’s society."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

All artistic manifestations carry the attitudes and values of the society they were built in. This happens because they are influenced by the science, culture and ethics of the society.  Architecture is a part of this noble family. 

Sampling any part of the whole can give a fair idea about the underlying causes. If it was not so then marketing surveys would not have worked. So the reasoning above is partly true.  However I do not agree with the logic of confining the sampling to public buildings only. To me that would indicate the attitude of the Government or the ruling class rather than the whole society. To get a complete picture both public and private buildings need to be considered.

However none should doubt the power to understand a society by looking at its buildings. Looking at the Sistine Chapel one can easily deduce that it was built in a religious and creative society.  One look at a primitive building in an Amish village is enough to deduce their refusal to accept anything modern. Seeing huge glass skyscrapers in hot tropical countries shows the enormous western cultural influence. Preservation and glorification of all traditional buildings in Europe indicates the pride that the society takes in its history. Standing before the Pyramids is enough to convince anybody of the strength of purpose of the Egyptian civilization. So on and so forth, it is not too hard to see. One does not even need to be an expert to see it. Simply by looking at the public buildings one can get a good idea about the attitudes and values of the society. The point to note is that there is nothing to differentiate between the buildings commissioned by kings, governments or rich individuals.

Concluding I agree with the stated opinion to some extent. The opinion glorifies a small sample, public buildings, from the vast sea of arts and applied arts. Even if the opinion took into account architecture as a whole I could have agreed with it. The reasoning is in the right direction but is not comprehensive.

Demographics and Job Opportunities

 The following appeared as part of an article in the education section of a Waymarsh city newspaper:

"Throughout the last two decades, those who earned graduate degrees found it very difficult to get jobs teaching their academic specialties at the college level. Those with graduate degrees from Waymarsh University had an especially hard time finding such jobs. But better times are coming in the next decade for all academic job seekers, including those from Waymarsh. Demographic trends indicate that an increasing number of people will be reaching college age over the next 10 years; consequently, we can expect that the job market will improve dramatically for people seeking college-level teaching positions in their fields."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

In essence the reasoning seeks to establish a link between the increase in number of people reaching college over the next 10 years to the rise in number of teaching positions and ,hence, to better employment prospects for Waymarsh graduates. The reasoning is a bit far-fetched to say the least.

The writer concedes that throughout the last two decades it has been very difficult for graduates, especially Waymarsh graduates, to get a teaching job in their fields. The reasoning does  not attempt to find a cause behind such statistics. There can be a variety of reasons behind it: the concerned subjects may not be in demand, teaching may need higher or additional qualification or the teaching infrastructure may not be growing due to government's negligence, lack of demand for education or no change in number of college going students. The fact that it is more difficult for Waymarsh graduates may indicate that either the education standards in Waymarsh need to rise or their placement cell is not doing its work properly.

Second part of reasoning can hold some of its ground if the problem is indeed only unchanging number of college going students. Ultimately an increase in their number may push the demand for expanding existing institutions or creating new ones. This in turn can improve the job market significantly. Even if this is indeed the case, it does not absolve Waymarsh of its poor placement record. Since it is already very difficult to get a job for everybody, even if more jobs are available they are likely to be cornered by graduates from better institutes. For Waymarsh graduates getting a job may at best turn from near impossible to difficult which is not a very huge consolation. 

Concluding the reasoning is not very well thought of and fails to make a detailed analysis of the situation. Even in the best case scenario the picture painted is far-fetched and much more rosier than ground realities.

The Need to Check Underage Access to Adult Material

"Nations should cooperate to develop regulations that limit children’s access to adult material on the Internet."*

*The Internet is a worldwide computer network.

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

I completely agree with the above opinion.

The Internet revolution is an information revolution. Not only does it allow fast dissemination of knowledge, it also adds wheels to the speed of research, data mining and data analytics. However this revolution does not come without its pitfalls. One of the biggest problem faced by Internet is that there are very few, if any, controls or means of knowing the correct age of people accessing this vast storehouse of data. The question becomes especially pertinent due to indiscriminate  proliferation of pornography and other adult material on the Internet. 

Instead of a systematic sex-education youngsters get exposed to a debilitating world of fanciful lust. This can not just pervert and disturb the young minds, it can also lead to youngsters believing in unproved sexual myths and falling prey to manipulative paedophiles. If there are no punitive measures against websites that do not do any effort to check the age of people visiting their website, this will not stop. It will not help if only one nation takes these measures unilaterally as the problem is not limited to any one country. On the other end of the chain parents need to be made aware of this threat and held accountable to keep a check on their ward. A lot of underage access can be easily cut down by using filters or child locks. Only the Government has the means of enforcing such legislations.

Shakespeare said that the child is the father of man. Protecting our children is a duty that we cannot disown and hence it is extremely important for all nations to develop regulations that limit children's access to adult material. Only such a combined and resolute effort can deter proliferators of pornography and force parents to monitor the progress of their underage wards. 

Voting for Economic Growth

The following appeared as a part of an advertisement for Adams, who is seeking reelection as governor:

"Reelect Adams, and you will be voting for proven leadership in improving the state’s economy. Over the past year alone, 70 percent of the state’s workers have had increases in their wages, 5,000 new jobs have been created, and six corporations have located their headquarters here. Most of the respondents in a recent poll said they believed that the economy is likely to continue to improve if Adams is reelected. Adams’s opponent, Zebulon, would lead our state in the wrong direction, because Zebulon disagrees with many of Adams’s economic policies."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The advertisement tries to convince people to vote for Adam on the basis of his economic achievements. Further, it tries to use this reasoning to convince people that Adam's competitor Zebulon would not be able to sustain the economic growth as he disagrees with Adam's policies. The reasoning is not very convincing due to many reasons.

The reasoning attempts to present economic growth as a simplistic function of worker wages, jobs created and corporations moving to the state. Concrete figures that can be compared with other states may have been more convincing. For example if the argument would have said that the state's gross production and human development index improved at a rate reasonably ahead of other states in the country, it would have sounded more convincing and well-reasoned. Every event needs a reference or a comparison to ascertain its magnitude.

Further, one cannot rely on one of the many polls to forward the reasoning; especially when no reference is given as to who conducted the poll and how. At best this claim may be taken with a pinch of salt. If the advertisement named a polling agency known to be neutral and efficient, it would have helped the reasoning a lot.

Lastly, there may be two different and yet equally good ways to reach the same destination. So a generalistic claim that anything that does not agree with Adam's policies will be detrimental for the economy does not hold any water. If the reasoning would have tried to nail a specific example from Zebulon's economic agenda, it would have been more convincing.

Concluding, the presented reasoning falters on account of being vague and generalistic. Making it a little focused can turn it into a reasonably strong line of argument. However in its current form it is not very good.

Hierarchical or Flat Structures: Which is Better?

"Organizations should be structured in a clear hierarchy in which the people at each level, from top to bottom, are held accountable for completing a particular component of the work. Any other organizational structure goes against human nature and will ultimately prove fruitless."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Having a strictly hierarchical structure and having a completely flat structure are two diagonally opposite ways of handling people working for a company. In order to be able to ascertain what is better we need to have a closer look at these two styles.

Truly flat structures sound idealistic on papers and seldom, if ever, work practically. There has to be an element of individuality in order to encourage individual performance. However if all that the company needs is a regimented army of workers that follow instructions precisely with minimum innovation or conflicts, there is nothing better than a flat structure. This can be particularly useful if skilled labour is in abundance and it is difficult for one worker to significantly differentiate his work from others. Even such a mass would ultimately need a leader to direct them and take responsibility. The flattest of structures cannot escape hierarchy if they have to be successful.

Hierarchical structures put responsibility on every point in the chain of command. The clear chain of command does give incentive for individual performance and fixes accountability. However an extremely hierarchical structure can also become bureaucratic with too many leaders and too few workers. Each level of leadership may tend to pass the buck to the lower level, be close-minded to good ideas from juniors and reluctant to resist catastrophic decisions from superiors. 

With these views in mind we can safely say that a hierarchical system has better chances of working when compared to a flat structure as it gives people an incentive to work. Historically systems that advocate abolition of hierarchy like socialism and communism have worked for the detriment of people despite of sounding good on papers. Hierarchical systems have their pitfalls but there is nothing that they cannot overcome. If the chain of command is not stretched unreasonably and leaders keep an open mind, the system will be successful. The basic human nature is individualistic and this system exploits this trait perfectly. Any other system may discourage creativity/hard-work and make any kind of achievement difficult. Hence I completely agree with the point of view presented.

School Dropouts, Results and Computer Instruction

The following appeared as part of a newspaper editorial:

"Two years ago Nova High School began to use interactive computer instruction in three academic subjects. The school dropout rate declined immediately, and last year’s graduates have reported some impressive achievements in college. In future budgets the school board should use a greater portion of the available funds to buy more computers, and all schools in the district should adopt interactive computer instruction throughout the curriculum."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

I do not agree with the above reasoning.

Decline in school dropout rate can be due to a variety of reasons. A particular state saw its dropout percentage going down from 49% to 3% when the state government provided a wide array of scholarships and incentives to study. This included building social awareness on benefits of education. At the end of the day dropouts is more of a social and economic problem. Simply enhancing the instruction medium cannot hope to solve it alone.

Achievements of graduate students can be partly attributed to making the instruction medium more interactive. I agree that such an improvement can help the students to understand and grasp things faster. This can ultimately translate to better results. However at the end of the day the main credit goes to the students who worked hard to achieve the results and the teachers who used the medium effectively. 

I believe that computers are tools. They are only as good as the people who use them. Hence using computers would entail some level of training for the people involved besides buying computers. Not all schools may be in a position to make that kind of investment and may have other priorities. So even though it may be desirable to have more computers for interactive instruction, forcing it down the throat of all district schools may not be a very good idea.

Concluding, interactive computer instructions can make a subject easier to grasp and more interesting. However attributing every positive event to one single change and forcing it on a huge group based on the back of such a weak reasoning can be counter-productive.

Preserving Environment: Who is Responsible?

"Responsibility for preserving the natural environment ultimately belongs to each individual person, not to government."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Does a government policy rely only on public support in order to be implemented successfully? To some extent yes. Any unpopular decisions can cost the government power and erode its popular support base. However in order to implement the rule of law and its policies the government cannot rely completely only on the conscience of the masses. It has an elaborate machinery in place to address and enforce them. The fear of law helps the government to collect taxes and maintain law and order. The power that the people place in hands of the government allows it to take pan-national policies that cannot be implemented by ordinary citizens. Ordinary citizens generally lack the expertise, funds and/or authority to enforce a vision that they may agree with. They may support it by adhering to the laws, paying their taxes and voting for the government whose policies they agree with. However to hold only them responsible for implementing it is preposterous. I admit it does sound good and may be in an ideal world citizens would take care of everything that needs to be done. However for what would such a society need a "government" for?

Keeping this reasoning in mind we can safely say that preserving environment should be a concern of every citizen and they should contribute to it. However implementing a nation-wide policy to preserve the environment and making it a part of the law and order mechanism can be done only by the government. Both need to work in tandem in order to raise awareness about environmental issues and enforce such policies on the ground level.  Even if the government does not participate directly, it needs to play a huge role in making the environment conducive for such efforts. For example, an individual cannot challenge an industry destroying the environment without the backing of the government and strong laws punishing people who do not take environment preservation seriously.

Concluding, there is no doubt that an individual does hold some responsibility to preserve the natural environment. However to absolve the government of any responsibility what-so-ever is ridiculous. In fact with the power a government holds on policy making issues, their responsibility is far greater than any individual responsibility.

Advertising With Radio

The following appeared as part of a campaign to sell advertising time on a local radio station to local businesses:

"The Cumquat Café began advertising on our local radio station this year and was delighted to see its business increase by 10 percent over last year’s totals. Their success shows you how you can use radio advertising to make your business more profitable."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

There was a time when radio was written off by many. Emerging technologies like television, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, satellite TV and then digital media made the radio look primitive. Till a certain point in time it seemed just like that. However the entry of private sector entrepreneurs and FM helped to stage an unexpected comeback for radio. This has seen radio getting transformed from a monolithic national entity to small, vibrant regional chunks. This is turn has turned them into potent advertising mediums for local businesses.

Hence I feel that the writer has reasoned diligently and effectively for the most part. He has provided a concrete name, a concrete growth figure and a concrete time period. This makes the message seem sincere. However it may have helped if the reasoning also hinted about the radio's intended audience segment, if any. If the radio has a defined theme (like some music genre, comedy, youth etc.), highlighting the same could also help. Since the invitation to businesses is also generic, it does not hurt the reasoning. However adding them may make the reasoning more targeted, compelling and informative. 

For example if the campaign had clearly identified its target audience, it could have appealed to all Cafe and restaurants or small and medium businesses in this part of the campaign. 

Concluding, I feel that it is well reasoned with concrete data to back it up. However it is a bit generic and does not target any specific business segment. This makes the campaign seem to be following undifferentiated marketing with no clear idea about whom it wants to target. This is fine if the number of segments is really small. However for a large market it needs to be reasonably targeted in order to be effective.

What Ensures Success: Money or Education?

"Education has become the main provider of individual opportunity in our society. Just as property and money once were the keys to success, education has now become the element that most ensures success in life."

In your opinion, how accurate is the view expressed above? Explain, using reasons and examples based on your own experience, observations, or reading.

Money and property cannot guarantee success but they can definitely help one to reach success. They can help in networking and investing in the right opportunity. However, it is not difficult for a fool to loose his material possessions, to let them go as easily as they come and not use them wisely. 

On the other hand, education can ensure success in a more effective way than money or property can ever do. It is so as education brings in knowledge with itself. Money and property can be lost but knowledge stays forever. If anything it just grows and becomes stronger with experience. This makes people with knowledge valuable and helps them to be recognized in the society for their contribution. To add to this we live in an information age and there is a lot of focus on specialists. This demands deep knowledge. Quality education can ensure that the person has that knowledge. This will be more re-assuring to a prospective employer than knowing that the candidate is very rich. 

I may add that spectacular success is often not the result of either money or education but vision. The biggest example is Microsoft that was founded by a college dropout and not by some academician or a billionaire. Richard Branson's Virgin Group is another point in case. Education and money can at best be tools that help the vision but can never be a substitute for it. A determined person can find opportunities with them or without them. 

Concluding, given all things equal I feel there is only one key to success: vision. However even the best of people may need the opportunity to prove themselves. Once having money and property could help people get that chance. In the changing world of today education has indeed come up as an even stronger factor and can be seen as the main provider of individual opportunity.

Hopelessness

Finding a purpose for a meaningless existence is funny. And it is funnier to live with the connections that you make with the world, the way each channel digs into you and saps away your energy. But that is fine. Who are we to decide what is to stay with us and what is to go away. Everything seems to have its time, reason, rhyme, season, pattern..  The mind with its age old experiences and lack of originality lies suspended in an unknown vacuum. Even if you want to write, talk, reason, work; you can't as you cannot feel your very life force that could help you to do it. You are stuck in a time warp with no likes, dislikes, hatred, love, wants or desires. The sands take different shapes. Before you have a chance to make sense out of something you see, it is gone. Leaving you with the sweet-old drowning sensation. The eye-lids become heavy. Your eyes droop but you cannot sleep. The mind works relentlessly doing absolutely nothing. You want to scream, may be you just did. Yet there is nothing to hear in this vacuum you live in. As the quicksand consumes you, ever so slowly but inevitably, you even stop trying...

Progress of Makind: Who did it?

Another good friend of mine said to me, "We used to live in caves. We are where we are because of religion. If not for religion, we would still be barbarians in a cave." I could not disagree more.

Religion is an important force and has played its part in promoting harmony and stability as I pointed out in my last article. However crediting it with all the progress that human beings have made is preposterous and downright ridiculous. Any form of mass/mob/group is never known to have played a positive role in any kind of tangible progress of humanity. Religion is no exception.

The progress of the humankind has been due to the spirit, defiance, vision and intelligence of a few people in every age. Religion and the society (other word for the mass), if anything, has tried to pull back such people. Especially if their views run contrary to dogma and the so called established rules of the times. Religion's, or any other social structure's, function is to create or impose harmony. Change is not a friend of an imposed harmony and progress is the enemy of state. Besides that, well-informed people with strong reasoning are difficult to mislead, rule or exploit. Mediocrity, on the other hand, burns with jealousy and tries to impose itself on everything it can while trying to destroy anything great. Thank God it doesn't succeed always or we would indeed still be in caves. A support system is for the growing and those not sure of what is to be. People who have really experienced God do not need any religion to go to Him. They are with Him.

The man has come from caves to skyscrapers due to inventors, explorers, entrepreneurs, artists, thinkers and other individuals who dared to see beyond the gibberish of finality. People who had the vision, belief and love for their work and what it could achieve. Their religion was their work, their God only their passion and their creations the manifestations of the divine. Nobody else can be or should be credited with our progress except these heroes of mankind.

Why We Need Religion

One of my good friends asked me if I feel that the world would be a better place without religion. Question particularly pertinent when I say that the religious nuts are most prone to self-righteousness. My answer is a clear,  unequivocal NO. The world will not be a better place without religion, practically speaking.

I may also add that we can talk in the same way about any philosophy that promotes self-righteousness to promote social stability, encourage moralistic behavior as per the circumstances and address the spiritual hunger.

A group of people agreeing to live on common terms defines any social structure. You can put fear of God to implement it and it would become religion, roughly. It is fine as it does promote stability. However when it takes form of prosecution for all those who have a different idea, it becomes a mess. Like the Church killed so many as part of their bloody inquisitions (including Joan de Arc). Religion has its value, I agree and it can be a means to an end of peace. But today we need something more. I don't know what and I am searching.

Spiritual hunger is a prime hunger in almost every human being. We find different paths to satiate it. Any self-righteous system can fill in the spot like a chewing gum that fills the mouth. It may not actually lead to something going in your belly but you will definitely be chewing something sweet and easy. It may be like an appetizer that can awaken your hunger for God. It can be even like a signpost pointing in His direction. Or it may simply be the security of being in a mass, that so many people cannot be wrong. Whatever way you look at it. Religion in particular can be seen as a support structure that people may need till they realize that there is something beyond. Very much the opium of the masses but not that bad. In fact even helpful and beneficial to some extent. 

What makes religion unique is that the fear of God can be a potent deterrent from doing anything "bad". The masses may not fear the Government but they will fear God. Charity, meditation, good deeds etc. get a major boost due to religion. Besides a significant part of the world population is religious. At the end of the day God is beyond religion. He is bigger than any religion. But the absence of religion can create a serious spiritual and moral vacuum for a lot of people.

Religion is something like democracy. It may look like the worst form of Government to some but all others have already been tried. We need something better but for now we have to manage with the best we have.

Advertising for Grocery

The following appeared as part of a promotional campaign to sell advertising space in the Daily Gazette to grocery stores in the Marston area:

"Advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette will help you increase your sales. Consider the results of a study conducted last month. Thirty sale items from a store in downtown Marston were advertised in The Gazette for four days. Each time one or more of the 30 items was purchased, clerks asked whether the shopper had read the ad. Two-thirds of the 200 shoppers asked answered in the affirmative. Furthermore, more than half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The data presented firmly establishes that advertising with the Daily Gazette really helped some downtown stores. However it is not clear what kind of periodical Daily Gazette is - in the sense what is its focus subject. Is it a tabloid publication that just focuses on life of film-stars and scandals? Is it a financial daily covering essential financial changes? Is is just a generic daily with no particular focus on any area? If it is, say, a high-priced tabloid or a financial publication, it will make little sense for grocery stores to advertise with it. On the other hand if Daily Gazette is a cheap, generic publication; the reasoning above would appear very strong.

Further it is not clear if the goods sold by the benefited stores were of similar nature. If mentioned it would have given more confidence to the user that indeed the audience of the gazette would have interest in groceries as well.

Concluding, advertising cannot be random if it has to be successful. It should be carefully built around the targeted segment of customers so as it sends across a coherent, well-thought message. On top of that it should be disseminated using the right medium, at the right place and at the right time. The reasoning above keeps some of this in mind and presents an argument that is fairly strong but not beyond doubt. Some detail about the stores and the gazette content can make it pretty strong or make it completely irrelevant.

What is Important: Achievements or Personal Faults?

"When someone achieves greatness in any field-such as the arts, science, politics, or business-that person’s achievements are more important than any of his or her personal faults."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

It is said that to err is human. Under normal circumstances total perfection does not exist. We all have our flaws. It can be summed with the classic story of asking the first stone be cast by the one who has not sinned. In the end we are all human. Hence pinning attention on somebody's personal faults and conveniently glossing over the person's achievements is not fair to the person. It does not help the society either.

Most of the time it is mediocrity trying to pull back greatness in guise of personal attacks. People who can do things do them. The rest talk, criticize, plan or judge.Despite of all such attacks greatness is capable of leaving its unique stamp on the face of the earth. Still such attacks can hamper the speed of such people. Hence an attitude of not attacking personal faults can help the advancement of various fields.

The best example I can think of is Mozart. As a person many of his contemporaries described him as a shallow, skirt-chasing individual. That cannot take away the fact that he is one of the greatest composers of our time. Most people do not remember who he was, what he did and what were his intentions. Yet his work lives to date inspiring people with its sheer genius. If people had been more considerate at his time, may be he would have lived longer and contributed to the field of music.

Concluding, I strongly agree that personal faults can never be as important as greatness. We all have our faults and it is unfair to single out an achiever for having one. 

Voting For Mayor

The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:

"In the first four years that Montoya has served as mayor of the city of San Perdito, the population has decreased and the unemployment rate has increased. Two businesses have closed for each new business that has opened. Under Varro, who served as mayor for four years before Montoya, the unemployment rate decreased and the population increased. Clearly, the residents of San Perdito would be best served if they voted Montoya out of office and re-elected Varro."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Shrinking businesses imply deteriorating business conditions and herald an increase in unemployment. Unemployment leads to migration and the consequent population decrease. It is pretty much a downward spiral from there. With no opportunities at hand the city may as well become a ghost town. 

It seems that Mr. Montoya's policies (or lack of it) made San Perdito unattractive as a business destination over his 4 year tenure. It may be high taxes, change in the local laws, too powerful trade unions, a deteriorating infrastructure or emergence of another nearby city which offers better opportunities. Any way it shows lack of vision and foresight from the mayor. 

On the other hand Mr. Varro delivered a fall in unemployment and rise in population. That is an encouraging sign and definitely indicates the Varro may be a better choice to halt the city's downward slide.

The reasoning can be made stronger if it is mentioned explicitly that the business too grew under Varro. Decrease in employment and increase in population may as well come from a short-time grand project. Such a project would not only employ people but will also attract people from nearby city and towns. It does not represent any permanent gains as such project may not happen very often.

The reasoning can be weakened if the whole country is in recession right now.

Concluding, I find the section pretty well reasoned. Voting for a mayor based on his performance sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Process or Product?

"In any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

In a fiercely result-oriented world of today it is hard to take this opinion on its face value. 

In theory it sounds very poetic, even a bit romantic, to say that the process is more important than the final product. Even practically it makes some sense to some extent. If the process is good then it is highly probable that it will take care of the end product. After all, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If each step is done with due care and diligence, it can ensure that the final product will be good too. However the real focus for a practical person would still be the final product. 

Moreover this statement seems to imply that there are always some ways of doing things that are better than the others. Even when the quality of the end product is same. This may be true but I am not convinced if it is always the case.  If all the processes produce the same quality of product, then saying that one is better than the other can be practical opinion, personal opinion or both! If it is a personal opinion, I do not agree with the same as it may be a simple prejudice. However I may agree with it if it has some strategic, practical or ethical value. In a relative world it is very easy to assume a self-righteous, idealistic position and never realize that you are wrong. I would rather keep an open mind than assume a process to be superior.

Concluding, I do not agree with the idealistic premises of the stated opinion. In the end people judge a process by the quality of the product produced. Moreover assuming that there exists one process which is always better than others goes against tenets of lateral thinking and keeping an open mind.

Cancelling College Grants

The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:

“This past winter, 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,000 Waymarsh students evidently weren’t so concerned about their education: they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. Since the group who did not protest is far more numerous, it is more representative of the state’s college students than are the protesters. Therefore the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.”

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

If one considers only short-time practical implications from the lens of short-term profit-loss for colleges, one can agree with this reasoning. However if considered from a humane perspective and taking into account the possible long-term effects, the reasoning is not very good.

The writer correctly points out that only 200 out of 12000 bothered to protest. Effectively this implies that even if the authorities do not act on the grievances of the current group, it would not cause any serious damage to the institutions as they are a minority. As reasonable this may sound, it conveniently ignores that 200 students may have the moral support of a bigger number. When the session begins after the winter break, authorities may find themselves looking at a 2000 students group with more vociferous demands just because they bungled up to sort the issue when it was small. Ignoring a problem, an enemy or a disease; however small; is not a wise thing to do.

Another aspect that is conveniently ignored is the fact that the funding may have been for economically disadvantaged pupils. It is possible that very few may have made it to the college due to their difficult circumstances. If funding is cut further, it would only hurt them. Such a move goes against the basic tenets of humanity and social justice for poor. Many brilliant but poor students would be condemned to no college education due to this elitist, high-handed approach. At most the move may save some money for colleges but in long term it may cost a lot to the nation. I would see it as being penny wise and pound foolish. 

Concluding, the reasoning tends to underestimate the problem at hand and fails to see its long term consequences. Hence I see the reasoning as logical but flawed.

Private Lives and Professional Lives

“Employees should keep their private lives and personal activities as separate as possible from the workplace.”

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. 

There are two basic components that the opinion focuses on to separate from workplace: private lives and personal activities.  

I support separating private life from workplace in the sense that one should not allow personal prejudices or interests to affect productivity or take decisions against the interests of the company. However when it comes to sharing personal information with your colleagues, I am not against it as long as it is done in good taste and takes into account the other person's cultural background and preferences. In fact I feel such sharing can encourage camaraderie and may be good for team bonding at the end of the day.

As far as personal activities are concerned, I feel that the only concern of the company should be the output of the employee and that he is not having any negative impact on the company culture. A company must understand that an employee spends one third of his life in the office and it is impossible for him to not do any personal activity in workplace. Giving employees flexibility keeps them happy and makes them productive. It also fosters loyalty.  As long as the employees meets their targets and are present in the core meetings, I have absolutely no problem with personal activities.

Concluding, I partially disagree with the stated opinion. To some degree it is desirable to separate private lives and personal activities from workplace. However cutting them off completely without taking into account employee's performance and his needs can have a negative impact on the workplace, employee morale and team spirit.

Eyes of the Orion

How does a realized person see the world, I wonder. 

For him there is nothing like a nation. No piece of land stands up and shouts "I am UK/India/China/US". To the wise nations are nothing but political entities. Lines drawn by men on earth to monopolize resources, impose order and live in a particular way. 

For him there is no religion. He sees spirituality and goodness as guiding lights. To him the quest for God is entirely personal. Dogmatic, rigid, ritualized, bigotted, fanatic, violent search for God is not his way. His religion is of humanity alone and his search for God is tolerant, rational, peaceful and flexible.

For him there is no society. His travels and experience have shown him that what is a taboo in one society is normal in other. There is a thin line between righteousness and prejudice, virtue and bigotry. People wishing to control other people are alien to him as he believes in responsible freedom. He respects the rules of the society in which he lives as he sees their value in keeping some kind of order. However he does not let it shackle his mind in form of taboos and rigidity.

He is humble and does not believe he knows everything. This humility helps him to progress and learn with each passing day. He lives his life with honour and is not bound by anything except the right action in the present moment.

He does not use arrogance, bigotry, dogma, religion, nationalism or fanaticism to guide him or people around him. He has no reason to fight as he has found peace in his heart but knows how to defend himself. He wishes to bring this peace to the people who want it and knows that everybody takes their time.

He know his kind is very less on this planet and it seems that the numbers are dwindling fast. Yet he beleives that God has a plan for everybody and there is no reson to despair. So he moves happily through the world with a song on his lips and a prayer in his heart for he sees the world the way he sees it. 

He has the eyes of the Orion.

The Evils of Righteousness

I feel that righteousness is the root of all fanaticism. Unflinching, self-sure, in your face cockiness proclaiming unabashedly: "I know!". Any doubt or question is met with derision, hostility, threats, violence, anger, hysteria and a host of other things except reason. Any attempt to talk reason is taken as an insult, heresy, conspiracy or foolishness. People who think that they have all the answers are the most stupid and dangerous ones. Unfortunately they are a plenty of them in today's world.

The chief and obvious candidates for the self-righteous are of course all the religious nuts. But it is not their sole-property. Anybody who thinks he knows all can qualify. It can be a communist, a Marxist, a leftist, a socialist, a Leninist, a fascist, a Nazi, a neo-Nazi, a rightist or a centrist too. Not just the established extreme thinkers. They can also be your free-thinkers, capitalists, atheists, human right groups et all. Without going too far from home, it can even be your parents, wife, husband, sibling, colleague, neighbor, boss or the society you live in too. Anybody who does not believe in "live and let live" and tries to impose his thinking on others is a good candidate. You can call this belief as my personal pillar of righteousness. And hell, I know! :D

Narrow and fixed sets of thinking cause conflict. Tolerance levels are falling, falling and falling all the time. What the heck,I think it is time I too develop my set of immutable set of beliefs. Who knows it may start a new religion :p. On the other hand, thank you very much. The people of the world (and I) already have enough problems to handle!

Where are we heading to, I wonder sometimes...

The Masterplan

There was a time that I used to believe. However as life went by I just found myself looking. Looking for answers. But what were the questions? Umm... A bit philosophical but important to me.. How does this world work? What is my purpose in this world? Why is this world in existence and where are we going? 

The more I have moved through this world, the more I have started seeing and believing in the dichotomous nature of the world. Relativity blurs the lines between good-bad, right-wrong, desirable-undesirable etc. In the end I don't find any ideological reason to do anything or believe anything. I just see a flux, an unpredictable flow determined by a few simple rules of thumb. I don't know if I should call them rules of power or rules of existence and I don't know how far I will be able to define them if I try to. To say, to write : to be interpreted into half truths that may come back to haunt me. I don't know. Nobody really does, I feel. Just moving along.

I have reconciled that everybody's lifestyle and belief system, including mine, are one of convenience. We act as per our nature, as per the basic grain of our personality. It may take advanced combinatorial mathematics and hardcore psychology but it is possible to predict how people can affect each other and their environment in term of possibilities. The system may look pretty anarchic to start with as a complicated criss-cross of events. What makes these systems even more complex is the fact that whenever an event occurs it invariably has the potential of triggering other events and can drastically change probability distribution of the entire system. People do try to predict events by building a probability matrix around a reported event. However the very probability of any future event is not a simple function of one event though it is possible for a lot of events to point in one direction.

The world of probability is a world of possibility. According to this theory prophets are simply people smart and common-sensical enough to see the world matrix distribution and connect dots well. Experts are people who can do it for a particular field. Consultants and entrepreneurs are people who can apply it to daily life. At the end of day this ability can play a significant role in the rise of the person as a formidable power. Will it? Nobody knows. This is the beauty (or tragedy if you like) of complex probabilistic systems: nothing is impossible, conditions applied. 

At the corporate level this is used to some extent in form of adaptive planning. In technology Spring seems to come from a similar mind set. Wherever I see beauty, progress, power, apparent control; I can relate it with this theory which reasonably explains the working of the world to me and answers how. My purpose is constant all-round improvement, having fun, living life as I please, taking care of my family and if I have resources help fellow human beings. My inspiration is H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. My source of energy is meditation, eccentricity, love and praying. Why and where are something that I hope to find out as I master the How and What. Clear cut plan for me so far. Lets see where it leads to!