Subjects of Interest

                Continuing partly from the previous write up of Religion, an intriguing idea is that what if we are the subjects of interest to aliens or God. Could we be just mere test subjects, or maybe ‘a ray of hope’ being tested by other universal civilizations as so many movies show? We do always like to think that there is some significance to the things we do. Our lives, and we as a species do matter in some way or the other. In short – we are important.

However, what if that is not true! Dare I say, what if we are just mere mortals, living on the surface of this planet, just like any other species who we consider much less significant than us.  What if we are not all that important as we perceive ourselves to be. If we are just being watched by some superior beings, aliens or whoever, how would that make you feel?

If that would be the case though, would mean firstly we are far inferior to those beings, unimaginably inferior. Second, we are mere test subjects for them in a complex world of our own which could be pretty simplistic for them. Third, we exploring space could might as well be just a mere well fabricated deep illusion for us, to put us out of reach from them.

Now since we are being tested (assuming this to be true), it could be that various different races of aliens descended down upon us when human civilization was far less evolved. They helped us in several ways, maybe at key junctures of time to maintain our survival or influence the course of our future. Something like the building of the pyramids, Machu Pichu and several other ancient sites, which seem quite impossible for man to make at that age, might just have been those superior beings helping us humans for reasons best known to them. The parallels of such structures or stories are aplenty, and these beings, influencing us simple humans, with all their power, might and wisdom, would for sure seem like gods to us at that time, or even now, though now we may only brand them as aliens or robots/humanoids, since our Gods are already defined. No new God can come into existence (proof – the very fact we don’t even think of something like this).

Thus, if this all were to be true, then there would be no heaven or hell, no life after death (probably), and no one to judge us at the end of our lives. We are just a specie being allowed to live our lives in our own way without being affected much from the outside world (the aliens) so as to let us live and evolve over the course of years, as we could be a matter of great interest to them, and also a means for those aliens to maybe understand their own origins better. If you think such an idea seems to far fetched, then please look up the Jarawa tribe of the Andamans in India. We as humans actually do this, so why cannot some other far advanced species? Maybe we interact once in a while with the Jarawas to help them not get extinct, via medical help or resolving some war issues at their level etc. just like the aliens may have done for us in ancient times, and may need to again sometime far in the future.

Who knows.. there are so many questions with so many different ideas. Wonder if we will ever know the answers in our lifetime, or even us humans as a specie, in our quest for knowledge. 

See you guys,

Post T comes out on Sunday to make for the day's loss.

Happy weekend,

I.C.

Religion

First of all sorry for the delay in writing this post; had been travelling so could not write, and did not want to go down on the quality either. Secondly, the below mentioned are solely my beliefs, not meant to influence anyone in whatsoever way or cause any harm/hurt to them.

Coming to the topic, religion if discussed in depth, can be a very volatile topic because of its sensitive nature, and the ability to affect people’s sentiments. Thus it is very important to remember that this is solely my view. Now I do not believe in religion, well not that much fully at least due to various reasons. I do however do believe in God. I simply find it baffling that God came in someone’s dreams and preached the ways (or best practices in corporate world parallel) to a human being, who then in turn preached God’s words. I could be totally wrong in this opinion, and I guess I’ll know the whole truth post death after meeting God, or may be not, if that is all simply an illusion to make our selves better at peace with the world we live in, and our lives as such.

Think of it like this, that in today’s web world a man comes to you and tells you, that he met God in his dreams, who preached certain sermons to him, also detailing on the way of life to be followed, things to do and things not to do. Would you believe him, or you would think he is joking? Need not answer that, however, it does become pretty difficult for majority of us to try and break free from this, to break free from the ideologies being followed since generations, by people you look up to (like family) and the entire society at large. It becomes difficult to not follow the masses in this regard. One wouldn’t want to be labelled as a ‘radical’. It is just easier to fit in, without affecting people’s sentiments and prevalent ideologies. Why go through all that trouble? I for one am not up for that, I’m not in any position of power to be able to pull off anything close to a revolutionary thinking, and neither would suggest any of you to try the same. It is all fine, if just limited to a discussion and nothing more.

There are various religions, which say the exact opposite on several issues. How can such a scenario happen, specially if all are right? Is 1 religion right while rest wrong? Or are all religions correct in their own right? Do they all have their own true distinct Gods? Ancient aliens may be? Several of them preaching their own ideologies, may be testing us humans? *Feels bad to think of ourselves as test subjects!* Or, maybe we are all wrong? No such thing as religion exists? While there are several mythologies (always enjoyed playing those related games), we do not know for sure their origin. Their actual source cannot be defined or rather confirmed, even though a lot of them do mention their sources, just because they are so ancient. It all comes down to one’s belief at the end of the day, and that is extremely important in my opinion. Each individual, and extrapolating to entire world, pretty much revolves around hope. All of us continue with our daily lives, the way we do, because of hope. If there would be no hope, no hope of succeeding, no hope of a better life, no hope of a better pay, we would just quit. Things that we do which are not of leisure or the kind, are done in the hope of something, either for ourselves or our families, and thus it is extremely important to hold on to this hope, to hope to be a better human being at the end of the day, because you hope you would get heaven at the end of your life!

Quality > Quantity

With the severe pressure that most of us face these days, it is extremely tough to simply believe in quality more than the quantity. I feel the fault may lie somewhere with our education system, because of which each and every student, along with the parents, relatives, coaches, etc end up just flushing so much down a student's throat, that we start believing and accepting that quantity is necessary. In fact more like a necessity. Our typical exams also don't force us to think by testing such an aspect, instead the exams test us just how much can we memorize.

Well this all changes in the GMAT. Thus it could come as a shock to many aspiring to score well in the GMAT, as this is a test that actually pressurizes you, testing your ability to think and solve, using logic under extreme time pressure, while getting mentally fatigued. While many are able to ace the exam, there are many more who are not able to, and further many more who just give up on this dream mid way. There are some who are able to ace the exam quickly and on their own, but with a test like the GMAT, with so much of quality being put into each question, it would always be wise to get reliable guidance.

I was fortunate enough to have a dream mentor for me - viz. Rohit Ghosh sir. In my entire life, majority studying, I haven't seen any other teacher who is that dedicated to his work. He is the type of teacher who you would actually call a teacher, or a guru. The man is unbelievably focused, helpful and would add miles to your preparation. He would push and motivate you. If you are slacking, you would end up thinking that my teacher is putting in more effort than me, when it is me who wants to do an MBA while he has a secured job. That is passion, and he teaches that to you first hand. Most of you who know me, would know that I don't just praise anyone that easily, that too this much, so you can think what sort of a guide he must be. He taught us all this great value - that Quality is greater than quantity, something which most of us all very easily forget, specially when in the grind under stress.

By my experience, if you have the determination, and put in the hard work (and some brains too - which all of you have by the way, just got to use it), there is nothing stopping you from succeeding. Having a great mentor is just the necessary icing on the cake ;)

Hope this helps you all who are looking to rock this test by providing that added motivation for success. And the beauty of this mantra - it is applicable almost everywhere. Just be calm, and be the quality you want to be!

Cheers,
AS

Precioussssss

My Precioussssss
Now if that reminds you of:

Yaay Master likeses us

that is Gollum/Smeagol instantly - then you are awesome.

If you took some time to remember that face, well then

Hmmms

But if you don't know this beloved character, then...

Whaaats

Then you really need to watch the Lord of the Rings. Like really, now! Go for it don't think too much about it, while many would have already started going for a re-run having being reminded of LoTR!
Let me tell you, author does not trickses us. It is a genuine advice, and you can come and thank me later (after several hours of watching.)

Are you convinced to go and watch it now? Gollem doesn't wants a no for an answers. Gollem wantss a yes!

We sees it!

Enjoy your time watching it (again for many!)
PS - Take several popcorn buckets, you'll need 'em.

Goodnights

Sweets dreams

         
Ciao
I.C.
#AtoZChallenge

Over-smart

That's a word a lot of us must have been associated with in our childhood. I for sure was regarded as one in more than countable occasions! Some of us even now at times (like me). But why do we tend to get over-smart? Well I have the answer right here for you.

I collaborated with a team of neuroscientists (just for you all), analyzed the brain of various chimps put under different scenarios. their signals being sent off in a tizzy and their impact. Now there was one strikingly similar characteristic among all of our specimens whenever they seemed to getting over-smart, and that was being kewl (cool)! You get my point, there are so many times that there is a need for us to just do something in an uber cool way; being super smart, and incorrectly so - turning out to be a giant over-smart.

However that was not the only trait we found common among our lab pets. Whenever put under stress, like a male chimp in front of a female chimp (we gave the poor male a 'like the female' serum while also giving the female a 'get attracted to me - I am hot ' pheromone), we noticed that the poor male more often than not, ended up being an over-smart. The results leapfrogged by another 70% when there were 2 or more male chimps put together with the lone female chimp. It was as if all of them started to have an over-smartness competition, with no clear winner that too!

Now I could relate to why we end up becoming over-smarts so many times - Ancestors!! Yes, its our primal ancestors who are to blame! No wonder we end up making a fool out of our own selves whenever we like and want to impress a girl, or showoff to people around us. Such is our plight. In spite of having the knowledge of being calm, in the attempt to being so, we most often end up doing the opposite, going overboard and out smarting our own self (not in the good sense).

said my brain to no avail.

Ah well, I guess there is no riddance from this. Its in our genes!! Thus, best bear with it.
PS: Ladies-


Don't you guys agree with me on this? ;)


Cheers,
I.C.

Negative

Be Positive! Not the blood type, but the attitude any and everyone will ask you to have. Having that blood type though does help in having a positive outlook (Okay I'm just kidding..) So it is a good suggestion, and a necessary thing in most people's cases. Being positive can have tremendous effects, just if you do actually become positive, instead of having a pseudo positive attitude, which generally happens when an individual is more focused on being positive through a turmoil rather than actually focusing on the task at hand. Concentrating on the solution of the problem results in you being labelled positive, instead of concentrating on being positive so as to be 'positive'!

Now for the vast majority of the people, who are unable to remain "positive" through tough scenarios - I have a golden solution for you. What if I told you, negativity is good? Surprised? Well don't be. Negativity can be good if used in the correct way. Let me try and explain that "correct way" with an easy example:

Scenario 1:
Person A has to go out. Gets dressed up, sees herself in the mirror, but doesn't like the outfit. Thus she decides to change into something else, checks herself in the mirror, likes this better, and steps out of the house.

Scenario 2:
Person B has to go out. Gets dressed up, sees herself in the mirror, but doesn't like the outfit. On top of it, she also thinks that there will be no point in changing into something else, as she is having a bad day, and just can't make it. Calls up the people she was going to meet, makes an excuse and cancels her plans.

So if you caught my drift, it is Person B who is being negative, the bad kind. Planning and getting ready, that is the first step, which we all do (Work begun is work half done - I wish that was the case always!) Checking yourself in the mirror, is the review part. Always necessary before being presented to the rest of the world. This self review and checking, this is the point, where you need to be strong. I'm not telling you to be positive, and not worry however you find yourself in the mirror (saying I'm the best in my own way) and step out. Instead, be negative, be critical at that moment of time (which we inherently are and it's not a bad thing). Judge it from a third person's view if necessary. Use that critical negativity, use it to fuel you if that drives you (without getting consumed by it), and change, adapt, rework, try and try until you are happy with the end result. That is success. That was Person A finally stepping out after liking her changed attire.

You cannot be a blind optimist. Like they say, there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity (the blind optimist.) There is no happiness if there is no sadness. There is no fun if there is no boredom. And in the same way, there is no positivity without negativity. It needs to be a mix of both.

A problem is perceived as the negative entity. The next time you have a problem, get happy, because now you can use that negative entity, focus on its solution and thus in the end become happy upon conquering it. If there were no problems, no solutions would exist. Thus, even no work! The word unemployed wouldn't exist as there would not be any employment either (no problem thus no need to delegate work.) The world as we know it, would not be the same, in fact drastically different, if there were no problems, if there was no sadness, if there was no negativity.


Peace
Tata
#atozchallenge

Me!

Well not literally me, but you. When you read this title "Me", don't simply continue to read further without a thought. Let that word echo inside of you.
We are all so worried about what others may think about us, but for a change, ask yourself, what do you think about your own self?

As each day passes along in our forever busy lives, we end up not having much free time left. May that be to do the things we love, follow hobbies, hit that elusive gym, play a sport, go on a date, meet your dear ones, or even self introspect. While a lot of our activities can be auto dictated by the demanding requirements, people or the society at large around us, it is important to take a little break, and think, where am I heading? Is this the path I wanted to be on? Is this a better path if it was not initially desired? How am I as a human being? What are the things missing?

Is it that dream job, or dream education, or the dream of starting up your own venture, or the dream of travelling the world? Notice - a lot of dreams.. It is good to have dreams, in fact it is necessary to have dreams. We all do have them! But the problem is, we end up going with the flow, so worried about others judging you and worrying about others worries, that we end up pushing our dreams to the back bench, where the dreams are hardly noticed, and if ever noticed once in a while, it is no more taken seriously, just like a back-bencher in class.

Thus, the caveat is we should not simply go with flow, we are not a herd, but instead take that 1 hour thought break someday (at least once a year), and ask yourself the questions - Who am I and what do I want?
What defines ME? 


Adios,
I.C.
#atozchallenge