Tag: #philosophical

The digital battleground.

~ PA ~ 1 Comment

Each one of us has the warrior soul entrapped within and thanks to the modern age marvel of the digital landscape, a new phenomenon has now become possible where each one of us is able to participate, voice out and express ourselves many a times in a civil way and yet at other times by punching under the lines and yet other times, delivering a debilitating blow to a chosen opponent for the day! Join me here as we explore this space and try to understand why we have ended up reaching this far as a global society and what is that you and I can do to stall the un-serving overtures around this! So here we go!

As the digital age ushered in, it was seen as a force multiplier for humanity to share all that signifies progress, relevance and serves the greater good! Today after three decades, much of our contemporary world is all digitized! Whether we are seeking research papers, rare books, manuscripts, information nuggets or access an encyclopedia, all of this which was primitively a laborious task unto itself has become as easy as a few clicks! If this has been the boon of the digital age, this same power to be omnipresent everywhere and anywhere is perhaps its greatest vulnerability! You see, like with everything else, what can be used for you can always be used against you! The digital world is no different, if the digital landscape can empower you and take you to new heights even before you realize it, the same can disempower and shred you in no time! But the important question is, if the digital landscape indeed is so influential and fluid, why has it been allowed to behold a veto and power to alter and influence societal narratives like nothing else before?

Well, partly the answer resides in the mechanism of how this new age digital disorder crept into our lives. The human mind relishes to get more done with minimal effort for the freed time was originally utilized for serious and intriguing enquiry of what was around on the world; today however, this freed up time is often wasted through the digital landscape for pursuing meaningless time wasting endeavors! Sure enough not everything or everyone associated with the digital world is wasting their time, but the problem is that, the proportion of those meaningful engagements with the digital world is a very limited and low percentage compared to the majority who keep loitering around it and this is how the digital landscape ends up being a wonderful wasteland, potent for creating and striking chaos by facilitating spread of directed narratives, half-truths and yet at few times full lies! Add to this the last 12 months, wherein more and more people have been compelled to be online for one or the other reason, meaningless engagements, interactions and discussions have only added to the already cluttered space and in this digital noise throw up a few spices to stir up political ideologies, thoughts that may impact societies, narratives directed against nations, you make this meaningless wasteland of the digital landscape a dangerous territory- an open zone to facilitate the war of words, hashtags and in those rare occasions end up altering the fabric and narratives of societies permanently!

As battles break out over the digital landscape, as long as they are the proverbial “tongue-in-cheek”, witty, intelligent narratives that win hearts and minds over brands vying for consumers, everything is great; the moment however the landscape begins to add a spin and entertain or get into creating, altering or driving narratives on socio-political matters, things begin to get awkward and at times notoriously dangerous! Given the reach of the digital landscape through all sorts of connected devices and toys available in the market place, it has now become perhaps ended up being an instrument of state policy in case of some nations when they want to begin creating directed narratives on ongoing issues across any society anywhere in the world! Sure enough, being globally connected this could be a great asset, while discussing issues that are of existential in nature and which call for collaborative effort of nations across the world, but when nations begin to form groups and start targeted narratives against another one or another groups is when the battle commences in the real sense of it!

Once the digital landscape has been hijacked by either states or state sponsored actors, it is perhaps a matter of hours and days before manageable problems begin to end up being full blown crisis and that too with an added layer of ambiguity and opaqueness and with an ever increasing blurring of the lines that separate facts from fiction! The problem ironically is really not about how people intend to use or abuse the digital landscape, but the problem is really about how it is perceived and what is consumed, the way it is consumed. When segments of societies have differential level of understanding and pre-disposed ideological positions to keep, even what is authentic begins to look cooked up and what is fiction tends to achieve larger than life status! More often then not as the digital landscape is all about connectedness of a society, the way it tends to shift almost always also gives an indication to the direction that a society is likely to take in the times ahead- whether it will progress or regress and by how much!

Perhaps the only meaningful approach that you and I can take as individuals and urge fellow like minded individuals to replicate is about- applying a discerning mind to all that comes our way over the digital landscape, before we rush in to share, like or forward what has come to our notice! As long as the consumers of the digital landscape exercise intellectual restraint through validation, rationality and wisdom, even the most directed efforts to build a narrative to suit someone’s designs will be almost always defeated, all it takes is a discerning mind with an ability to decipher, when things look too bad then actually are or when things seem to be too good then they really are! As long as this practise is followed rest assured a lot of meaningless issues that threaten to come your way will be stalled in their very nascent stages!

As long as the digital space is utilized for the less harmful and relatively harmless banter of our daily consumption centric life issues of food, water and shelter and a calibrate whining, it all is fine, but as the stakes go higher and further to touch complex issues with layers of opaqueness and ambiguity, it is always worthwhile to practise the pause and ponder whether it is really relevant, valid and necessary before you hit those buttons to get connected into a raging issue! I am not suggesting to avoid participation or voicing of your views, thats fundamental, we must all do so, but the method, approach and meaningfulness must be adhered to and only after a thorough validation and evaluation and ascertainment of facts and credible data has been done, should you ever think of stepping into unknown spaces of the digital landscape which is often riddled with intellectual and ideological minefields, waiting to entrap the unsuspecting entrant!

The digital battlegrounds are an extended theatre of conflict, confrontation and international tug-of-war between nations and power groups who are all out there to drive specific narratives and ideologies that suit their audiences! There is nothing right or wrong about this, this is what it is and will ever be! What is important to understand is the fact that, as Individuals we must ensure that we never end up unwittingly contributing to any of that space unless we have ascertained the facts and stayed away from seducing fiction. The digital world is the new theatre of war- war for supremacy of ideas, thoughts, ideologies and creating and sustaining fluid turbulence which can be amplified or lowered by a few digital instruments- with or without the complicit assistance of the providers of the interface!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, urging you to reflect upon a singular fact, that being, “How empowering you have been and can continue to be over the digital landscape to ensure that you can do your bit when you come across something that doesn’t seem right through your discerning mind!” You never know, you may actually end up saving the world! The world is not wrapped in the search engine and neither is it what comes up on your search bar or your screens! It is much bigger and beyond all of what emerges on the digital arena and so is it with people- they are never what they seem on the digital space and are far more real and authentic when you engage with them in-person, in flesh and blood and walk a few steps along them to know the humanistic connect that binds all of us together on this third rock from the Sun!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise and stay safe!

When numbers don’t add up!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

As we come close to end of January, many nations around the world and organizations are busy diving deep into the number game! For some or the other reasons these numbers communicate and convey what their masters want them to say and no matter what you think, they never really add up! Join me for a short walk through this space and decode why the world embraces this number and data driven craze and what is that you and I must guard against and be wise enough to see beyond what the numbers portray!

To begin with let me share some statements with you, I got a 100% increase on reader engagement, I have a strike rate of 99% to finish articles and I write them; now let me add two additional information, first I have only 10 readers and I write only one article per year! Now what happens to your understanding and appreciation about me- am I effective or ineffective? Struggling or Great? Well, this is what the reality and truth of the world of numbers and data sets is, all the time, everywhere people are almost always presented with what will empower decisions to be driven in a particular way to conform to some needed outcome and as long as that happens, governments stay, CEOs can relax on their chairs and societies can keep doing what they do, but when the numbers and facts begin to stand out on the basis of what they are without any shadows around them, reality ushers in and people begin to get a taste of an oncoming reset and realignment of priorities! But why does this happen? Why do people get discreet and secretive with numbers and data? Why is it almost always shared on a need to know basis and never- rarely- in a comprehensive and holistic way? Well read on!

Part of the answer to the trickery involved in sharing numbers and data resides in the core values, strife, struggle of the bygone and the promise of the future and what path has been embraced to achieve the same! Say, you are a nation sure enough you may never want to- you will not and should never have to- share intricate details pertaining to your armed forces and preparedness as a nation- thats perfectly sane and when it comes to elements and sensitive data points like these, nations, societies, organizations guard them with all that they have! But when the guarding and distorting commences for all that is available in public domain, it sets the tone for competing analysis, conflicting inferences and a more confused decision making- courtesy- the conflicting data points and numbers which seem to have a mind of their own!

This happens all the time, sales targets are revised upwards with no or limited rationale, under the garb of operational efficiency and optimization, resources and people are driven to work and perform right upto their breaking point! Business have one number for the government ( to ensure their tax optimization is achieved) and one for the workers and yet another one for the investors! It is this space of conflicting objectives done simultaneously that creates a mirage of information which seems true all the time- depending upon who you are and what you are searching in that number maze! The reality, sure enough resides hidden away somewhere around and within that universe of staged appearances and narratives and this is what becomes the foundation for entities to either rise high (when their compelling cause is wise and just and sink deep when they are on a trajectory of self-destruction, already passed the stage of repair! So what’s the sane way to deal with this space and is there anything that you and I can do around this?

Well, the only real and meaningful way to deal with the number and data maze that keeps coming your way endlessly is by being pragmatic and being able to apply what is coming your way to the contexts that mean to you, even as you appreciate the contexts in which they were recorded! You see, like my first example a 100% increase in readership will have meaning and efficacy only when the numbers that go on to reflect that percentage are sizable and meaningful in the ocean of readership data! Sure enough nations, companies and agencies have their pressing compulsions to do what they do with the numbers that the have access to, but the ability to gauge and see what is not been shared, is where your intelligence and prudence comes to play and the more better you get at that bit, the higher are your chances to excel and surge ahead!

When governments, experts and organizations play with numbers to avoid chaos in the society, that is understandable, but when these data points are selectively played out and represented in a manner to benefit a few sometimes and yet few others all the time, things start to get undone and this is where mistrust and gross disregard for any sort of metric begins to manifest! Once this stage is arrived at, even the most well managed aspects of a society can come crashing down. What’s more worrying is the fact that when the big corporate world steps in to create compelling narratives on the bed rock of staged data sets by the governments, it takes the whole society on a joy ride to no real destination and this is what manifests as companies go bust and as markets crash every now and then!

Even as all this is unfolding, it is always worthwhile to remember that, there may or may note be a compelling need to cheat to trick per say, but when an intent to trick is set, things really begin to get awkward and chaotic, eventually the only way that they are controlled is by allowing them to run their race, fizzle out and diminish! No data set or number story has ever been complete or whole and there are good reasons for that to be that way, there are reasons too for stories to go the other way; what really matters is your ability to decipher this fluid nature of numbers and data points and appreciate that no matter how well you control or manage what you do, given the interconnected world that we all are a part of, there is very little real and meaningful control that you can exercise to be sure that numbers will always stand by you or your aspirations!

No matter what you do, and how much power you wield the numbers and data sets that wrap up around you, are the only ones’ that you get to play with and as long as you are alert, prudent and wise with regards to dealing with them, you will be covered! The moment you stretch or flex beyond what is manageable, things will begin to unravel and all the data and numbers that the world need not see, will end up getting spread to create even more challenges even for your tomorrow, than the ones’ you probably face in your now! Every segment of a society will have a contextually valid reason to assert and vouch for the data that drives their narrative and no matter what anyone else says or not, nothing will ever be accepted or paid heed to! The only way to work with numbers and data to ensure they at least seem to be agreeing upon something, is by creating pathways and mid-ways for converging divergent observations and summarize narratives withing permissible and meaningful margins of variance!

Individuals and businesses that are successful and resilient often are so because they have also been able to decode this crucial number game alongside building up and exceling at their competence in what they choose to do! Numbers and data, by themselves are never inaccurate, it is how they are actioned upon and inferred upon that either goes on to make them more potent or a piece of crap!

I leave you with these thoughts here, urging you to practise the pause as and when you immerse into the numbers and the data that comes your way, so that you are able to not only see what is shown but also what is hidden within and not visible at first sight!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one soon! Until then stay safe and yes, keep crunching those numbers and data set, but ensure that all what you do stays, relevant, meaningful and directed in the contexts that come wrapped along with them!

As protests become entertainment…

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

As I go in to write this piece the world is in a fluid state, across nations we have segments of the social fabric expressing anguish, disagreement, discord and negation of what has been sent their way! Irrespective of who you are, what you believe or stand for and whichever side you want to take, there is always a limit to what unfolds and as that threshold is crossed the very essence of the reason is lost and every struggle, strife or expression for a cause, ends up being nothing more then pure entertainment! Join me here as we take a trip down this route to understand why and how compelling expressions of humanity end up as entertainment! So here we go!

Through the progress of humanity or should I say as human societies evolved, every step and every chapter has been sprinkled with a generous amount of compelling narrative, thought or an ideological pursuit , either non-aligned, conflicting or competing with the main narrative of the prevailing social construct of the time, this is the essence of the genesis of protests, strife and struggle of humans within the societies that they give unto themselves, it sounds paradoxical and strange, but that is true and is what goes on to make who we are, as we are and wherever we are! The whole concept of protest, non conformity and taking a route to either compete or embrace conflict is all about creating an etched document in the space of time to record a simple fact that- not all were fine with what was unfolding and they did do what they could, the way they did! All seems fine until this space, but then if protests are all about competing o conflicting ideologies or thoughts, why do they get disregarded and brushed away as aberrations and end up being a source of entertainment rather being something meaningful and purpose driven? Read on!

As humanity advanced, alongside it, the way history was documented altered and as more multipronged societies came to exist, the confluence of influences coming into societies soon began to move away from a traditionally rooted way of documenting structured for- against views to multiple, competing and conflicting narratives. Needless to say, the truth has always been and will always continue to be embedded somewhere within and around this ambiguous cloud of human narratives! Based on what the majority of a given social construct happens to be in a context of time, that particular thought, idea will be taken up as being the high moral stand and the gold standard for all that gets done and undone! As times flows by, soon enough the public memory fades, hardships are accepted and dealt with and opulence is celebrated in a never ending party as societies simply shift their view away form what has transpired to what is unfolding and probably will in the times ahead! When protests and compelling narratives are seen through this space of human development and progress, is when you begin to realize that, these incidents are not mere aberrations or something to do with the “now” of a society but rather are a part of a long term attribute displayed and held within the very soul of the society! But then why and how did protests loose their potency?

Like with everything else, as and when there is an excess of something, that technique soon tends to loose its potency either because the execution and deployment begins to get sloppy or the way of tackling them gets better and better- owing to the previous incidents! Either-ways a once proven formula soon ends up being reduced to virtual nothingness and with that the social disposition towards the very essence and concept of a protest begins to fade away and as that happens- the society reaches a state where- what is served becomes the new standard , with no or little room to debate of what else could have been possible- simply because there is no other way around and no people available to show the pathway to that route! There is really no need to jump to a conclusion that, this may not be good for a society or be bad, that all depends on multiple other aspects- which is a totally different matter together! As far as protests loosing their credibility and potency is concerned the reasons are almost always, what I already discussed above and the next important aspect being the contextual relevance of what is being fought for! Unless there is a holistic consensus for an approach and view with a formidable echo, even the best attempts and well laid protests will eventually fade away and tire out as governments begin to play the protesting leaders against themselves and thereby end up creating other more competing and compelling narratives, ending up everyone confused wondering what the whole noise was really about! So how do we ensure that protests don’t loose their potency and remain relevant?

The only real and meaningful way to ensure that protests, strife and expression of competing or conflicting narratives stays relevant is by ensuring that the effort is backed up by a solid contextual understanding of what the matter is and more importantly is deployed and executed only when it really matters and when something can be done about what is being debated! Many a protests and strife take up high moral and utopian stand points which are neither practical nor rational and very often they end up evaporated in their own fog of confusion and day dreaming! Protests need to be timed, executed and deployed in a space where, there is a good enough probability for the counter narrative to be accepted, imbibed and adopted over a current prevailing approach and it is only when this fertile spaces is available that any protests will be able to move towards realizing its objectives and stay aligned to what it has set out to achieve!

Protests that don’t resonate with the thought and expression of the majority will fail and falter and even a whisper that echoes the concern of the many will rumble on to become a deafening roar- this is what the truth of history has been – this is what the rise and fall of empires across civilizations has always been all about- and that continues to be the case with rise and fall of nations across the world in the modern context of our times and lives! As societies get fragmented and torn within and around on different parameters of opportunism, opulence and quality of life- at any given time- some or the other segment will feel the compelling need to raise its expression and make itself felt, heard and healed, but if this is done with an unfocused and ambiguous mind- even the most well planned protest/ strife will end up being only a spectacle which comes up once in a while for one or the other reason and soon enough will end up loosing all its credibility and potency-thereby going to prove all that they were against- to be true- by just one move of retreat and failure!

In our current modern age, when we have so much to consume and ponder about, every meaningless act that arrives in the space of strife or protest, end up becoming the most entertaining space for the whole society- people on either side are kept engaged and glue to the topic, even as the nation, businesses and the people who make the difference and shape the future move on and stay aligned to their true purpose and objectives! Protests become entertaining acts, not because their content, orientation, competing narrative is wrong or misleading (which at times could be the case too!), but also because when the counter attack and new narratives come in to play- already a lot of energy has been lost in creating the chatter and as the space of negotiations and discussions begin to arrive- the twist of modern day media management drives in the final nail in the coffin of a protest to rob it away from it’s very soul- of trust, credibility and unity of purpose! This is how even the most potent and meaningful protests are failed and more often than not when that does happen, it leaves societies even more disillusioned and confused then ever before with the person-to-person trust issues hitting an all time low, like never before!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, just remember, you may be on any side, of an ideological competition or conflict, but only when you are able to decipher the nuances of the ability of the protests being managed or stalled is clear, will you ever know whether you chose the right side or not! Else you too will feel only entertained like the vast majority does and nothing comprehensively new, worth learning will ever get added to your repository of wisdom and intellectual finesse!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise, speak up and stay safe, and yes, always remember, too much of anything will always act as the fatal foundation to conspire your failure! No one built a one storey house with a 100 feet foundation! Think it over!

Are you lost in your wonderland?

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

As you go about your busy lives, what is that you are actually engaged in? Are you by any chance a victim of being lost in your own wonderland? Join me here as we take a short walk in this interesting space and try to understand why a major part of humanity almost always ends up living a life entrapped in their own perceptions and hallucinations and what is that we can do about this to break free of these limiting shackles and propel ahead! So here we go!

No matter where you have grown up, all of us have some or the other time read about, “Alice in Wonderland”- that sublime story of adventures of a young girl – something that even to this day brings a smile to any face- just by thinking about it- perhaps one of the most potent examples of great writing and story telling! Coming back to the real world, each one of us too, are entrapped into this “wonderland concept”. You see, you and I included all of us end up living our lives in our small or big wonderland- ever checking into something new, getting excited with something that goes as we plan and getting sad when things don’t measure up as we expect them to- well nothing to complaint about this, because this how human life is supposed to be- the regular journey between achievements and near misses! But the important aspect that we tend to miss is that, we almost always end up limiting our lives within our own found wonderlands!

Now if you have started to wonder about, what kind of wonderlands I am speaking about here, well yes, these are made up of all the perceptions, hallucinations and unfound realities that you tend to stay engaged with on an ongoing basis! What’s more funny is that, often people end up living their full lives running after their limited pursuits confined within their wonderland. So what is really happening here? Well, people are more often then not tricked by their minds and sold into believing what they think with regards to their view and approach is just fine and this is where the “wonderland effect” commences! You see, unless the mind has a ceaseless ability to question, enquire and re-validate whats around and what is being observed on an ongoing basis, people end up calibrating themselves to some metric or standard, which may or may not be relevant and thereby begin to set all their pursuits against this flawed calibration of their own abilities and competencies!

The wonderland effect is operational all around us, all the time, it goes by how we define our life, our approach and what we set out to achieve, the only problem here is that as we succumb to this effect and we tend to forego what we can be really capable of and end up short serving ourselves and others around! You see when you begin to get comfortable with all that is around you- whether it be that job or business you are engaged in, that apartment that you stay in or any other facet for the matter- you are actually ending up short serving yourself- if you tend to say quite often , “I would do this, if only…” for all that is around you! You see the wonderland effect, is all about getting lost into the maze that you have created around you by accumulating unwarranted clutter of people and things- which don’t serve you in any manner and on the contrary tend to drain you to the last drop of sanity that you are left with!

Your wonderland, rather each of our’s wonderland is a reflection of the horizon of our minds where it limits ourselves! This is the zone wherein we become comfortable about who we are, what we can achieve and how we are set on the path of our journey, the reality, sure enough is something altogether different, the reality is all about, going beyond and further then what is apparent and this is exactly why the wonderful effect is so dangerous and damaging- it holds your mind captive to its own imagination! Human minds, are almost always limited by their ability to think and that thinking is limited by the wonderland that we end up gifting ourselves, which, of course again is a product of our thinking, with a touch of our life’s learnings and experiences! If you have observed, I have not said, what is the right way, or the wrong way around this space, simply because there is none and that is what is so wonderful about humanity! It is only when people begin to accept the realities of their wonderland over the truth of their existence and ability, is that problems begin to manifest!

These wonderlands can be a thousand different things to a thousand people and more often then not the hallmark of the wonderlands stems from the foundation of insecurity, missed opportunities and mediocre acceptance before giving a worthy enough fight and attempt! You see, if you take a step back and try to rethink just around who you are, what you could have or can be and what you are currently doing, you will know the essence of what I am saying here! Sure enough there is nothing to sulk, complain or stay pessimistic about whatever life you have chosen or what has come your way- in the case where life ends up choosing you; the million dollar question is, whether you have the realization of the fact that, the life that you have given unto yourself is a sliver of what it actually could be and can be, simply because you are entrapped within your wonderland! So what’s the real story?

Well, as you stay locked into your own self-propagated wonderland, you will run a risk of not achieving what your true potential is, because that always will reside beyond the confines of your wonderland! This is the reason why you find so many people lost and confused each time whether they don’t get that promotion that they desired or when their business does not proceed the way they thought it would! People often end up living a confused life confined by their wonderland, never ever realizing what their real potential is or could have been and only if, they would have taken that one step to move beyond that comfort and predictable zones of their lives- which gives them an enduring sense of surety and safety- both of which are an enduring illusion which melt away as soon as the first major crisis emerges!

How big or small that entrapping wonderland is well largely depends on who and what you are, but more often than not it is proportional to the fears, anxiety and self-doubt and inversely proportional to the intrinsic wisdom and courage that a person may hold! So what’s the ahead?

Well, the only and perhaps the only meaningful way ahead is all about being able to know your wonderland, live through it and while doing so, stay ever aware about the greater world that resides beyond it’s entrapment! It is about developing enough intrinsic courage and leading yourself when the time is apt to move beyond and away form your wonderland to create a new reality for yourself and those around you! Enduring success becomes a lifestyle when you begin to make your wonderland a place of recreation and ensure that you come to visit it once in a while and don’t get trapped within it’s convenient and appealing comforts! The real essence of creating a meaningful life almost always resides beyond your wonderland , unless you are Alice!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe, stay wise and get going for your real life beyond your wonderland!

Ciao, take care!

Thinking-Default, Design or Unique.

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Human societies the world over are a reflection of the potency and efficacy of their collective thinking which again is a factor of how empowered Individual thinking is! Join me here as we take a walk down the path of the very essence of thinking and try to understand what makes us think the way we do and what is that we can do to sustain and walk the path of empowered thinking! So here we go!

Needless to say the human mind has been at the centre of all medical research and even till this day, we learn new things about it on an ongoing basis. Not going into the space of the clinical aspects of the brain, but staying aligned to the other aspect of it- that is the Thinking Mind- is what seduces Psychologists and Psychiatrists the world over! It is the sheer number of approaches that a Thinking Mind can take to events and triggers that baffles the professionals and even for someone like me who has been engaged in observation and study through behaviour, it is really an engaging discovery!

Through evolution, humanity has been able to harness the power that the brain has been equipped to first secure the “need to have” and then move further to secure and pursue “the good to have”. The essence of human development is the ability to Think! It is when this thinking begins to serve or stall that we experience progress or regress even for Individual, which ultimately ends up becoming the story of the society, simply because thinking too is infectious and contagious! No matter who you are, what you do and how well off you are or not, Thinking typically, if you ask me is either by Default, Design or Unique and based on the extent of mix that an Individual embraces around these three attributes, the space around original Individualistic Thinking is born!

Thinking by Default is pretty simple as it sounds, within this realm, Individual thinking approaches are reined in by set “acceptable” and “conformation” norms (which may or may not be relevant) and furthermore as time progresses, reinforcement of this approach creates compelling patterns- which are picked up by others (as they require) and what we are left with is a society that Thinks in a methodical and directed way (even as the reasons may or may not be valid!). This is the space where emphasis is given more to the process rather then experimentation. When genius stumbles across this space, they have only two options, be a rebel- create a great disruption and alter the narrative of the social construct or simply move away and out and pursue what their Thinking Mind calls for at another place, another society where their thinking is adequately rewarded and not bound to the chains of templated and default thinking!

Default thinking is a great equalizer, that is- it gives everyone a chance to trim at a level and as long as Individuals are ok to accept their trim they will seem to be ultra comfortable at the place where they are. The only risk with Default Thinking is that, it is predictable and can be read with great ease to a greater detail! So when you have Individuals and societies practising this method and approach, all it takes for the other person or a society to create an imbalance is to seed in a conflicting narrative or disruption (big or small- doesn’t matter!). When there are continuing small disruptions, that makes the journey of Default Thinking, tiring and testing. When disruptions are larger, it only makes the approach of Default Thinking that much more difficult pushing it back to a limited Defensive Thinking- simply because the Mind has never been conditioned to deal with what it has come face to face!

When you walk into the space of Thinking by Design or Design Lead Thinking, the whole narrative and approach towards Thinking changes and this is the birth place of Empowered Thinking- Thinking that is empowered by the elements of Design and ushers in a new dimension and potency to Human Thinking- both at Individual and Collective levels! When you begin to think by virtue of the design around you and the one that you behold within, you are directing your thinking in a powerful way to manifest what the design aims for! This is not to be mistaken for “Design Thinking” this is the space where Human mind begins to think and accelerate owing to a trigger from an omnipresent design space- which nudges the brain that can decipher it to work upon it and create new solutions for perplexing problems at macro as well as micro levels! Great innovations and discoveries are indeed a result of the human mind nudged by some compelling contextual design in the space around it! It is confluence of a fertile mind and a contextually empowering design around it, that great marvels of humanity come to see the light of the day! However there is one more higher stage wherein the human mind stays empowered and vibrant like nowhere else and that power emerges from the depths of original or unique thinking- that power is harnessed by diving deep within and coming up with solutions and answers to perplexing questions that plague humanity and when the answers are found, they have the power to alter the course of human history on a massive scale!

You see, original or unique thinking and the ability to do so is deep rooted into the very fabric and essence of the Individual and carries a vibrant stamp of Individual brilliance! This brilliance then waits for no one and has the power to create complimenting contexts and at times even change or alter conflicting settings to become helping or neutral so that the manifestation of the idea (which is held within the empowered original thought) lives to see the light of day! This is the space where iconic business tycoons are born, award wining researchers, scientists, technologists, bureaucrats and politicians all of them are to be found!

In fact if you were to turn back to any page of human history and see narrative altering spaces along that history, you will almost always stumble upon the empowering and original thought or an idea of one individual which had the potency to align everything around itself and set a new path for the society at large! This is where seeds of great revolution are set and this is the path where humanity begins to rally each time it seems to hit a wall or ends up loosing traction for some or the other reason! Hence you see, when nations seem to fail, the population almost always rallies behind a powerful leader who think different and are original and not one among the many templated solutions available and when societies elect templated leaders who are predictable- be assured that society will have a predictable future for both growth and regress- simply because everyone knows when what is coming and how to encash that time and space!

Another way of looking at this space, is that as a fact, each one of us are a combination of all these three approaches and whenever we apply our unique and original approach to what we are dealing with, you will almost always notice that you surge ahead- whether that is a positive or a negative aspect largely depends on what you end up doing with your originality- when you deploy your strengths to serve only you alone- the world is likely to take that as a negative trait, when you display an intent to serve many (that’s what normal societal norms are all about!) automatically what you choose to do, sounds humanistic and is taken as a great deed or idea! Have doubts? Well, just observe the business landscape around you right now and the political leaders of your choice, you will know what I meant here!

There is a good reason why Thinking is so vital (all of which is visible around us as it begins to get manifested!) and the path that you choose to take- rather the segment that you allow to dominate as your natural approach to think and manifest, is what will bring to life- what you manifest for yourselves and those around you!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, keep thinking and think as you must and as you can and as often you may! Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one soon!

Stay safe, stay wise and yes Think!