Category: Interesting Facts
Who is a friend? Why do we have them, do we need them? Why, the concept of Dunbar’s number, limits the number of meaningful relationships to 150. Roles people play Friends and peers play an essential role in the overall development, including the emotional wellbeing of individuals. As a child Children acquire social skills and imbibe the prevailing culture from friends and peers. They discover the basics of sharing, cultural values, linguistic nuances, understanding others’ pain, how to sympathise as well as develop compassion and empathy by observing others. Play while you play Play, a social interaction that is universal...
Achieving mastery in any domain is a journey through time, the time you are willing to put in work for years on end. As the poet reflected As the poet Robert Frost echoed in his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, much before the scientists came up with their hypothesis , that the journey towards accomplishment is protracted. But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep 10,000 hours rule How to become an expert or achieve mastery in any domain? The short answer is, if you are prepared to spend 10,000 hours practising...
Acquiring knowledge is a never-ending mission and a journey into the unknown. Mentioning the word unknown in the recent time brings us to a news briefing that made the known and unknown well-known. A glimpse into Rumsfeld’s news briefing The world listened with a mixed feeling of wonderment and ridicule to the statement from the then US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, at the department news briefing back in 2012. The major appeal of his speech was the tongue-twisting phrases of expressions which later gained popularity as prudent messages. A bit of background The explanation, by the then Secretary of...
What would you prefer to be, a hedgehog or a fox? Enter the world of political, economic or any different business arena, where the leadership qualities of the kingpins are metaphorically characterised as, either a hedgehog or a fox. Modern jungle What are the defining features of hedgehog and fox in the current world? Who is your best bet? Are there any clear winners here? The concept date back to The Hedgehog and the fox concept is credited to a parable by the Greek poet, Archilochus, who wrote, a few centuries ago that, A fox knows many things, but a...
If you want to be happy, be.
Modern life favours egocentric individualist society, where one makes decisions considering their preferences, needs and rights. A collectivist society, on the other hand, perpetuates a set of values in which the well-being of the community as a whole is given priority over individual preferences. Roseto effect is an observation based on such collectivist experience. Roseto during the ’50s Roseto is a town in Eastern Pennsylvania, a settlement area of the immigrants from Southern Italy. Rosetans created a collectivist community by transplanting the peasant culture of Italy to Pennsylvania. An epidemic of heart disease During 1940-1950, America was witnessing a growing...
The name Pandora’s box itself exudes antiquity, as well as an enigma. People often use it figuratively to refer to something bizarre or messy. As you probably know, this box is some kind of unexpected struggle, but how hope got imprisoned in it? The literal meaning of Pandora’s Box In modern times Pandora’s box means “Any source of significant and unexpected troubles.” or “A gift which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse”.Opening Pandora’s Box means, opening a can of worms. The mythology behind Pandora’s Box In one of the classic Greek mythology, Zeus, the king of Gods,...
Robert Oppenheimer was the principal architect of the world’s first nuclear weapon and headed the Manhattan Project during the second world war. As he watched the first atomic explosion, he was moved to quote from Gita. Bhagavad Gita-” the song of the lord.” Bhagavad Gita, a small section of Hindu Epic, Mahabharata presents a tussle between two contrary moral positions-Krishna’s emphasis on doing one’s duty on one side and Arjuna’s focus on avoiding bad consequences. This debate occurs on the eve of the great war, and the doubt about the righteousness of what they are doing is bothering Arjuna, the...
When it comes to attitudes, people generally have different approaches to life. Some are cheerful, some optimistic, few are perennially pessimistic, others have a default complaining mode, some rational and others emotional. The best way forward You can’t claim one approach to be preferable over the other since many factors like culture, environment, and beliefs influence a person’s outlook on their life.A perfect example to show how even the wisest men stand divided on figuring out the essence of life is depicted in the Chinese allegorical painting “Vinegar Tasters”. Vinegar Tasters-The timeless meaning Have a close look at the picture...
