Tag: common-sense

Learn to navigate the 99.99% crap!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

As if the pandemic and a slowing global economy before that was not enough, we now have a whole community of morons and absolute idiots communicating and selling everything and anything promising everything but what a service or the product can do with that timeless 99.99% tag line somewhere around the communication!Join me here as we take a quick look into the what and why of this whole menace which seems to crop up each time humanity is faced with some odd, as if this was the elixir for which the pandemic had to happen for! What is really the unfolding and why do we, as humans individually and collectively get sold into this carp of 99.99% over and over again like a never ending roller coaster ride! So let’s move ahead!

Before you think, that I am one cynic of marketing, well I am not, what I am a little cynical about is, how people can be so gullible to buy into some stupid idea sold by someone who thinks they have been brilliant (while they are actually the ones’ who hang around on the edge of an average IQ which is fast diminishing with every weed and smoke that they consume!) which is anything but the truth! So from where does this whole crap of 99.99% emerge? Well to be honest, I did not have the time to do a thorough research, but my generous scientific and common sense based guess is that, sometime back somewhere in the streets of marketing some idiot would have done, at some point in time that unthinkable folly of claiming something to be 100% and would have ended up with tons and tons if law suits and claims, because of which this is the holy pathways that has been ever chosen- which is as senseless as the earlier one! This is so for the singular fact that no one really knows 99.99% of what! Sure enough, the labels and the packaging have all the technical narratives and explanations around “ideal conditions”, “test conditions”, “temperature, humidity conditions” so on and so forth, but still does not assure anything worthwhile or mean anything sensible that a scientific and rational mind may find it to be meaningful and welcoming! If you ask me, I think this is the biggest lie under the guise of marketing that has always been played over and over with consumers- whether they are consuming that priced cigar or that expensive piece of real estate or that odd perfume which is also labelled as “limited edition”! This whole 99.99% crap plays on one fundamental framework of the human mind- that intrinsic urge of the human brains to seek comparatives and alternatives (hardwired since our days of evolution to get the best of what we can in a “what if” scenario).

As the brain applies this frame to evaluate options that it is presented with (not that all of them have to existential choices- which they are turned into by those hyper smart catchy lines of a communication piece- at times hitting well below the belt of decency and ethics!) it ends up seeking short comparatives- data points, narratives, stories and as it does that what better and impactful then a few numbers- especially when they can be rounded off just below that magical 100, just a decimal or a few decimals short of it and there you go, you have a a great “stuck on” situation, wherein even an uninterested person is now going to stay for that extra fleeting second to know what that new crap of 99.99 % is about for this time! Let me tell you one thing, If you have someone that you care about in an ICU and your doctor wants to tell you the chances-you always want to hear is 100% and not anything short- simply because then you know that some shit is about to hit the roof- yet when the same garbage is served in a polished plate for some seemingly trivial product or service (which rip your wallets off using a baby face communication style) you are all ga ga and ready to lap to up like there is no tomorrow! So what is happening around with your mind? Why does it buy a set of numbers for one instance and relax for the other one?

Marketeers know this facet of the human mind too well to let that go (discount it, should I say!) you see the human brain, when left unto is more smarter then you! You see, the human mind is a powerful tool and runs on a very powerful sub-conscious engine, but when you begin to use it- the way you use it or not use it- greatly reduces the efficacy of that tool to help you and more often then not ends up harming you because the quality of choices that you force your brain to follow and there by the resulting actions take you onto a different route altogether! This is one of the reasons why not every scientist ends up being an Einstein and not every painter ends up being a Picasso! The moment your subconscious mind is fed with the 99.99% crap it knows it is all hog wash and relegates it as too trivial to engage with- basically it is telling you that this is all glorified garbage! But what happens here is that your interference and that dire need to socially conform to the masses around and ensure you don’t look like that child who missed out on that party “I was here”, “I too was here” kind of narrative nonsense buys up that crap and even as your brain may not want to, you end up splurging and buying that 99.99% of crap- knowing well all that it is being sold and all that promise of 99.99% has nothing to do with what the product or the services does and if there’s anything worthwhile that’s going to ever help you stay safe or sane it is going to be your own intrinsic unadulterated intelligence when applied right!

When the human mind notes that it’s laziness will not kill you, at times knowing your habit of overthinking and stretching, cribbing and sulking it simply gives up and gives into that stupid act of buying that dumb communication which promises a 99.99% free of virus, dark spots, blemishes, stains, surface cleansing and God alone knows what all! The sad part of all of this, people end up thinking they are being smart- when actually their own minds have really given up them from within , knowing that there is no end to this fool’s way of thinking! You see, you may have the most sophisticated brain on the planet, but if you decide to not use it for the purpose it was built and designed for, well you alone are to be blamed! if you buy a candles to keep your fire place warm! Well wait to see how wax shapes your melting future right in front of your eyes! So you may say fine, so what’s the problem if no one is getting killed? Does it really matter? Is it really that big deal?

Well ask any qualified psychologist and they will tell you, how big deal a conditioned mind can be especially when it is programmed and conditioned to crap theories and stimuli which go on to make it a wreaking machine rather then being a creative powerhouse! Through the story of human evolution, all greatness of the mind has almost always been achieved either in compelling situations of dire needs and existential crisis of societal proportions or these minds have flourished in times of serene calm and grandeur that made the minds to create and craft wonderful pieces of expression through science and arts! At no time was a mind ever able to produce a masterpiece which was calibrated at 99.99% of anything or something! Did you ever hear any scientists say that their discovery or innovation was 99.99%? I hope not! Deploying the human mind to read through the discount labels and 99.99% communication is nothing but an abuse of the magnificence of what the human brains is able to offer and gift us with! So what next?

Well to begin with allow science and common-sense to prevail! Sure enough if something doesn’t kill you enjoy the idiocracy around and smile about the dumbness around you (much needed in these times) but guard your mind- guard it fiercely from getting conditioned and receptive to these kind of false narratives and the only way to do that is to study the whole narrative of the 99.99% crap and see how the communication has been camouflaged and how smart of lousy that seems to the mind! This exercise alone will keep you mind ever more vigilant and ensure that the next time you get another piece of crap in your mail, you exactly know how to decipher what is not been said and what really the message is! As long s you are able to do this bit, your brain will be able to decipher and sieve through the onslaught of misdirected narratives and stories and promises which are anything but the truth and what’s more, you will be as sharp as you must and should be- no matter how dumb or idiotic the surrounding around you seem to be! Magically enough, the more you use your brain through the frame of enquiry and questioning based on rationality and science- you will begin to see dumbness and idiocracy more and more vividly and trust me, you will be entertained like no one else would ever have been! You will actual start to wonder if there has been a sudden surge in your IQ levels (which is unlikely of course) or is it that now you are able to see with more clarity all the crap that was always pushed towards you, simply because you took that small effort to change the frame of looking at the communication coming your way and did not lap it up as it came!

Well, I leave you here with these thoughts for now, urging you to see around your horizon to find instances of these 99.99% stories that are still nudging into your life all the time and see what is that you want to do about them, lap them up or decipher them and have a hearty laugh! These 99.99% stories are in a way also an indication of failing and falling creative opulence that humanity is now left around with and is reflective of the fact about how creative myopia sets in! Well, now if you want to know what is “creative myopia” all about, well I say, let’s look into that space some other time, perhaps the next article!

Ciao for now! Will be back soon and until then stay 100% at whatever you are and let that mean something sensible! Just remember you don’t want a doctor or that pilot flying your planet to be on anything less than 100% around you!

The virus is not the problem.

~ PA ~ 3 Comments

Many a times, intellectual hallucination and unwarranted cerebral diarrhea leads to aggravating problems rather than solving them and when you try to use the method of applying “collective wisdom” of “empowered group of self proclaimed experts” who have not solved the current problem but something else earlier- we get served what we deserve- More Chaos! This short piece is about understanding how humanity has this unique ability to end up screwing up simple things and create complex problems which tend to become an altogether different problem from the original one! So join me in unraveling stupidity, dumbness and over-rated “specialists” who seem to have answers for all problems that get created while trying to solve the original problem, which remains unresolved!

When the coronavirus problem began, the least I was expecting was a scientific and rational response to meet the challenge and deal with it, but as I look back, what I realized is that more and more people (who are especially in-charge of devising strategies to deal with the situation) have been more dumb and stupid than what their so-called qualifications and experience suggested! Consider this to begin with- The fact that was established way early into this episode of the virus onslaught was that it is contagious and it spreads from people to people when they are in close proximity- within 2 meters of each other- great! so now we know what to avoid- than why the hell do we need to lock down cities, nations and ruin the whole economy of the nations? If there is scientific evidence on how the virus transmission occurs- the common-sense led approach would suggest- have protection, maintain the required distance- whether 2 metres or 20 metres and that’s about- Let the world be what it is! Why do you need to lock down- take way livelihoods- create economic anarchy and destroy a working society? Effective, sustained and persuasive communication in all possible languages and across mediums reinforcing the need of social distancing would have done the needful! Don’t believe me- well , your choice- so can you explain why even after the lock down has been enforced why in few countries the cases keep rising? Well, the answer is simple – Humanity is all about being social and if you ask people not to do something, they will end up doing exactly that- albeit in way that you can’t find out easily! Hence if the messaging would have started with the moral high ground of what one should “Do” rather than “Don’t Do”, things would have been better accepted and hence implementation would have been far more meaningful and so would have the been the results!

Now, if you were to ask the “Coronovirus” what it feels like today, after unleashing mayhem and wrecking the global economy, this is what the Virus would have told you, “You know what, I am simple virus- I hopped onto humans (accidentally or intentionally- you find out!) and found it fun to be here, anyways not many youngsters welcome me that well- so I hardly get noticed- but the oldies do hate me- hence they show their dislike to me by getting sick- and well- that is dangerous for me- because than even I can’t survive- if I they suffer so do I! I never wanted to be within humans any case- I was having fun in the animal kingdom for so many million years! I don’t know how I landed up here! Why is everyone blaming me for economic collapse, I am no banker- I a am a Virus- I may make people sick!,I have nothing to do with economics! You mishandle and misunderstand on how to treat me- how can you blame me for that?! I never asked you to shut down cities and lock everyone in their houses- If people manage their immune system well- by eating well and have personal hygiene- there is nothing that me or any of my cousins can do anything nasty with any of you!

A lot of the problems of the world that we are facing today even as we battle the pandemic is really not about the illness, neither it is about when the vaccine will be available or not, it is far more simpler and I have kept on saying this over and over again! Common-sense deficient decision making is not only ridiculous and foolish it is outright dangerous and fatal! Unfortunately the irony of our times is our so-called experts have all the answers for this pandemic- as if they got killed or survived the last one caused by this virus! The real sane experts on the other hand have been suggesting incremental steps to experiment and deduce in a calibrated manner on- the-go, so that we learn and know what works and what does not in a measured way, rather than creating the global melodrama of the Big bad Lock Down and as if once the Lock Down is lifted we will have the birds singing and spring will be back! This myopic, risk averse and dumb thinking by group of so-called experts has put such a severe strain on all other sections of society that nations will sooner or later feel the shortage of healthcare workers, law enforcement officers and all those who are involved to maintain sanity as fatigue would simple overwhelm them, because they are humans first and no Human being in the entire history of mankind has never won a battle with no definite deadline in sight! If and when societal fatigue sets in, it will rob societies off the very building blocks that define who they are and thereby make each step towards recovery even more harder and difficult, something that will even take time to convince people that everything is safe now! So you may ask me now- If the Virus is not the problem than what is the problem?, and people are dying- so the virus must be real?

Well sure, the virus is real and people are dying for sure- but what is that the people are dying off? Are they really dying only because of the Virus or is the Virus creating biochemical challenges within their bodies which have become fragile because of existing illnesses that is causing the deaths? What are the facts around this? what is the real picture?How many got treatment late? How many were misdiagnose? How many were accidentally killed during experimental treatment? We may know some answers and some we may never know! But this is where the crux of the matter is- Science says that there has to be evidence, predictability, repeatability for things to play out exactly the same way for same set of conditions- well does it work with a virus – the answer is yes and no- yes if the virus is the same and no if the virus – which is a living microbe- mutates! The Influenza virus- cousin of our Coronavirus visits most of us every year- in one form or the other, not all of us die, we struggle and recover- our struggle is proportional to our immune system’s response and wisdom of the healthcare providers! When one of these two factors break down- we have a problem which actually can put us at considerable risk and this is exactly what is being played out in case of the Coronavirus too!

The real problem is the way we are handling the problem- the real problem is “The Problem Definition”. If the Coronavirus has given all the scientific evidence of how that poor little things wants to move from one human to the other, we just need to avoid and break that path- the answer is social distancing- personal hygiene- that’s about it! Personal Hygiene is a private matter-one may say he has brushed his teeth and would not have been doing so for last whole week- you can’t help someone who has a psychopathic mind! Likewise social distancing, like I said earlier it has a lot to do with common-sense- why would you allow a stranger to stand close to you within 2 metres- why? I mean Virus or no Virus- why would you normally also be comfortable with having some stranger sneaking up so close to me, forget about that person coughing, sneezing or even breathing into you face? I mean why? If you say well, that never happens, you manage a high level of personal hygiene, you eat well, you don’t mix with strangers and random people- well than that’s great! so where’s the problem? You just blocked all entry points to the Virus! So what has the Heaven sent lock- down got to do with any of this? Why should you be penalized from taking a walk in the park, walking you dog, picking up your grocery, going for that long drive? Why?

When this pandemic shit is over in a few weeks from now, as the world sits back and thinks about it and as stories will be told to kids who are now under 10-12 year old- they will laugh their hearts out and say it on you face- How come were you grown ups so dumb? Why did you do what you did? Was it really needed? and trust me none of the “so-called” hyper anxious- doomsday centric- “specialist” will have an answer for the virus- well by that time it would have changed itself to be our friendly neighborhood virus which will be kept under check by popping a pill and not Locking ourselves down!

This current pandemic has more to do with the problem of mishandling a crisis and making a bad situation worse more than anything else! t’s a text book example of all that one should not do, during a crisis like this! When problem definitions fail, right questions are not asked and knee jerk- copy-cat solutions are adopted without understanding the contextual realities of life, we set ourselves to a bigger secondary disaster- which at times can outweigh the benefits, making the cure wore than the disease and leaving the original problem unresolved! History is replete with examples when great wars have been won and lost because the challenges were misread or misunderstood, political fortunes and businesses have been created and destroyed all because of incorrect assessment of the gravity of the contextual settings! The problem is not always the “problem”, the problem sometimes is the “way that a problem is perceived and defined” which ends up becoming a bigger disaster than the real challenge at hand! What could have been done, you may want to ask?

Well, simple and straight- social distancing, access to personal hygiene and keeping away risk groups from social arena! That’s about it, three steps implemented well, you have won more than half of the battle! No need for intrusive surveillance, lock downs, travel restrictions and unwarranted narratives! The real challenge with this overly simple solution is that “so called specialists” thrive on making a complex problem even more complicated to earn their brownie points and plain spoken truth gets discounted for unscientific gossip! Until this fixated fashion that “complex problems can only be solved by complex solutions” is not thrown away for good, humanity will keep on suffering from one or the other reason! Simplicity, Plain speak and Common-sense based approaches are the arch enemies of the “so called, know it all, specialists” and that is the real threat, more dangerous than the virus and these threats ensure humanity keeps getting hits by shit in one form or the other from time to time, just to have their inflated hollow egos well oiled!

I leave you with my thoughts here, grab a coffee, take a walk by yourself or walk your dog , eat well, stay fit and rest assured no matter what the “expert” says trust your common sense! Animals have survived with the virus for millions of years and humans have dealt with more nasty visitors coming from mother earth to us than the one we have now with us! So stay calm, and stay wise!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another piece, until then keep that gray matter ticking and learn it well- Simplicity Works and that’s the way of nature!

Learnings from a virus attack!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Even as the world responds and grapples to deal with an onslaught by a visibly invisible enemy- no matter how odd it may look- this episode again gets us back to the same fundamental question (like with any disaster)- “The WHY of it?”

To begin with, this is not the first time that humanity has been hit by nature through a viral route- things have happened in the past too and organisations/ agencies worldwide have provided swift response and made it possible to wage a war to ensure that the crisis ends with minimal fatalities. Each of these battles against the onward march of these seemingly super-bugs has provided ample amounts of learning and takeaways-but for some strange reason- as humans we simply don’t seem to believe what science tells us and we end up at points in history like the one where we are now!

This is not an article that gives us a solution to tackle the Corona Virus (boy- I would be rich real rich!) but this attempts to see what we possibly miss through the rush of our busy lives and why instances like these may continue to strike with predictable timelines and severity as we keep advancing and moving ahead!

What we certainly know is that this tiny virus too jumped from animals onto humans– so the holy question- “What the f**k was anyone doing – in an unhygienic setting around a dead animal?”. What is even more dumb is the fact that – what are the kind of animals do we want to consider having on our plates- and whatever happened to basic personal hygiene- Isn’t that something that we all learnt at playgroup or kindergarten?” Why does the UN (through WHO) need to tell the world “To wash their hands and maintain Hygiene! What does all this speak about ourselves – as individuals and societies – the way we have evolved as Humans- are we becoming more smart by the day or are we setting up ourselves for even more dangers by playing plain stupid and dumb! What’s actually happening here?

Being who we are; arrogant, ignorant, stupid, overconfident- all or any of these- humans tend to put them in harm’s way every now and then- whether it is that casual jay walking across a busy street, riding a bike without a helmet, exceeding speed limits on your sports car, or simple dumb things like- speaking while your mouth is full of food, refusing to brush your teeth at night, binge eating, drinking for no reason- you name it and you will find an instance around you and at times each one of us have been more or less guilty of this! Indulgence- is to blame- that insatiable appetite to wanting more and more and more of everything and anything around you, just because you have the resources to acquire and enjoy- this senseless indulgence is the underlying reason for the mess that we have landed humanity from time to time! You may ask me around this time- well what has this to do with the corona virus- well it has everything to do with it! If reports are to be believed this virus broke through some wet food market and one of the reasons that appeared were possibly an aspect of inadequate handling of meat/food products that were possibly infected and add to that the senseless rush that food markets nominally see ( because we get everything at a lesser price and this small incremental greed of saving that one dollar more by going to a larger market and being ready to buy/sell food products in not so hygienic conditions- what eventually has unfolded is for the whole world to see and understand! It is a classic case of a gross disregard of few people who have put at risk global communities and contributed to early exit of a few lives!- in some cases possibly these poor souls would not have even heard of such a place and any of these unfolding events at a place thousands of miles away from their residence!

In the times of fast city lives, social compulsions and wanting to be conforming with everything what others do- It is but certain that when the wrong role models and wrong practices are picked up and followed- when shit hits those and what you follow; it will hit you too! This again is not limited to only a virus outbreak- this is applicable to almost everything and anything that we do! What this episode us teaches is that – Our Individual value system and common-sense; that internal gyroscope of our mind; (which keeps on telling us always and all the time, “Hey, don’t do this, let’s move out of this place, let’s not buy this, let’s do this over that) whenever it is disregarded; chaos unleashes– it is similar to trying to shut off an ILS landing in heavy rain and trying to land the plane through a visual approach in the blinding rain- the chances are you will land with a bang- and will be lucky to survive! So what’s the answer to all this chaos and is this the last time we are witnessing something like this?

The first part of the answer, a generous helping of common-sense(having nothing to do whether you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate) value systems and inner belief will keep you alive and away from harms way for good- without you having to do anything more then using your brain and applying it for yourself in the right way! The second part, sadly the world will not learn- not that there aren’t any wise people around- in this context the problem is of too many wise people speaking to each other with no one wanting to listen to anyone! As long as this circus continues- you may have billions of dollars and thousands of people as a resource to serve and overcome problems- the fact will remain – that humanity will keep walking away from problem into another! (which would be largely created because of the mishandling of the previous one)- well incompetency – will keep on popping up here and there- as it always happens across large organisations and this in turn ensures that humanity always pays a heavy price – a heavy price for incompetent leadership and lack of common-sense of few people!

I will leave you with these thoughts for now, for you to reflect and really think for yourself- What is that you think you will do from this moment on- not to save the world- but to save yourself and your family to ensure that you do not come in harms way because of the incompetency and stupidity of someone you may have never known!

Keep thinking, stay wise and stay safe! Of course, remember, Personal hygiene is not doing a favor on the world- it is a simple act of ensuring that you don’t end up buying an early ticket for your exit from the theater of the world! If someone said, common-sense is like salt to food, then well makes sense to ensure you use it sparingly and always when you decide to cook up a new dish within your brain! Ciao for now will be back with another piece soon!

Keep writing to us with your inputs on what next you would like to read and to learn more about our structured interventions and consulting solutions for organisations and individuals through our consulting and coaching services! You can reach me at parimal.aluri@simplifylives.com!