How to deal with unconscious biases

 

Ever wonder repenting after doing something wrong with someone else like getting angry on trivial things, writing or speaking hateful word, condemning some action without logical reasons etc. If we are fully in-charge of our self, why we repent after doing things? Because many things which we do, we do without thinking consciously. Our sub-conscious acts before we finish our rational analysis, and our sub-conscious has many biases acquired during our childhood. These are called unconscious biases. Consciously we believe we are free but actually we all have unconscious biases towards others.

Below are some of the steps  you can follow as a good way to begin fighting bias in yourself. It is taken from Blog “HOW STEREOTYPES AND BIASES CAN EVOLVE A PERSON.”

1. Pay attention to how your bias shapes your environment

Eliminating the impact of bias in your life requires you to acknowledge that it exists in the first place. Acknowledging that you have unconscious bias is not admitting a moral failing—this is part of the human condition.

Start a campaign of self-awareness, paying attention to the subtle ways in which bias may be impacting your behavior. Ask yourself: Are there people at work I always ask for advice, and others I ignore? Who is part of my friend group, and who might be missing?

You can also take an inventory of whom you trust. Just off the top of your head, name the top few people you would call if you received bad news or great news. How are those people similar to or different from you? Most of us trust others who are similar to us in significant ways.

Lastly, take an inventory of the media you are consuming—including news, books, music, TV shows, and movies. Are their perspectives basically similar to yours? Are the characters or authors telling stories that represent a different context from your own?

Once we acknowledge our bias and begin to pay attention to how it impacts us, we will be ready to do the work to overcome it.

2. Expose yourself to counter-stereotypical images

One of the most powerful ways to combat unconscious bias is to diversify the stories we encounter, so that we can connect with the humanity of people who may look and sound different to us. This means watching movies, reading books, or attending performances that target groups we are less familiar with.

It can also mean purposefully seeking inspiration from moral exemplars of different ethnicities, races, genders, and abilities. Studies have shown that being exposed to counter-stereotypical images and stories of people from other groups leads to less implicit bias.

My co-author, Tiffany Jana, shares a story in our book about how this worked for her. After a few negative experiences with Indian people in her workplace, she developed an unconscious bias against them, which she discovered later in her life was causing her to avoid all Indians. As she says:

It was not until I served on the board of directors for an innovative art gallery that my bias began to subside. I worked side-by-side with one of the most brilliant, engaging, and kind people I have ever known. My friend Prabir worked tirelessly to help the gallery become an East Coast destination and shape downtown Richmond, Virginia’s arts and culture scene. Five years of working toward the goal of bringing art to a great community alongside someone different from me changed my perspective and openness toward his entire demographic.

3. Reach out across difference

We can also seek ways to connect with people who are different from us in our everyday lives, whether at work or in our personal life.

That means keeping your eyes open and looking for opportunities rather than waiting for them to fall into your lap. For example, when you go to a work or social event, don’t simply scan the crowd for people you already know; look for people you don’t know—who might seem different from you—and see if you can strike up a conversation. Simple contact can be a powerful way to combat bias.


I took this step in my own life by joining an African-American church. As the only white person there, I initially felt awkward, unaware of social norms, and unfamiliar with the style of worship. Over time, however, I formed deep and meaningful relationships that have lasted over a decade, long after I stopped attending that church. The proactive step of seeking to make myself a minority in an everyday part of my life paid off through helping me take off my cultural blinders and form relationships with people I would have never met otherwise.

4. Ask, don’t assume; listen, don’t judge

Once you expand your comfort zone through building new relationships and consuming different media, it becomes easier to include more people in your own circles of trust. And research has shown that cross-group friendships can make a big difference in reducing prejudice and bias.

But how to create that trust? By learning to ask rather than assume, and to listen rather than judge. In this way, we can stop the disconnection that may arise through misunderstanding.

In psychologist Beverly Tatum’s excellent book on racial identity development, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? She writes about how a typical racial disconnect happens between grade-school friends at a very young age.

Imagine an African-American student has a negative interaction with a teacher, which she perceives as racially motivated. She shares this with her lifelong white friend, whose immediate response is, “That teacher is great; I’m sure she isn’t racist!” That is the moment, according to Tatum, when self-segregation begins and kids start to look for others who can understand and discuss their experiences.

The antidote to this disconnection is authentic listening and learning to ask meaningful questions. Your friend’s interpretation of her negative experience may not be correct—perhaps the teacher wasn’t being racist or sexist. But if your first reaction is to tell her she’s wrong before you even listen to her, you are driving a wedge between you.

To authentically connect with people across differences, you must suspend your own judgment long enough to actually hear their experiences. Ask open-ended questions and seek to understand rather than to challenge or convince.

As hard as it can feel to confront your unconscious biases, with motivation and effort these simple steps can set you down that path. And building authentic relationships across differences is an essential part of your journey.

 

To make the post short, some parts are edited.

For full article click on below link:

 

https://venitism.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/how-stereotypes-and-biases-can-evolve-a-person/

 

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War and Peace:

Part-1: WARS

Whenever I start believing we are living in most peaceful time ever, I found some disturbing pictures of mass killing and wars on social media. Last time it was Myanmar, now it is Syria. It seems like Muslims are becoming soft target everywhere. Partially Muslims are responsible for it. They keep fighting each other. Nevertheless, as Indian home minister rightly said during Gujarat riots, “one injustice cannot justify other injustice”. However, people keep justifying voilance as a tool for justice.

Waging war without proper investigation, without trying peaceful diplomatic solutions, is immoral. All nations must respect sovereignty of other Nations. If something wrong is happening in some country, economic sanctions and diplomatic means must be used by world community rather than waging war. Afghanistan, a war-ruined country, attacked by some of the mighty forces of the world just to capture one person. They toppled the government, destroyed the nation and killed thousands of innocent civilians but they were unable in capturing Osama Bin Laden at that time. CIA was not able to find one person. To capture him, America went on War on Terror. To hide their own failure, they diverted world attention towards war against Afghanistan. Similarly, in IRAQ no weapons of mass destruction were found, yet it was attacked, destroyed and left to breed terrorism. Same was the case with Libya. Blaming only Americans is wrong. Few Muslim countries do not want other gulf countries to have strong Army and economy. Whenever there is a war, they keep quite or help USA and her allies.
In Myanmar, America has no interest. Kill Rohingya peoples, rape them and kick them out of their country but it will neither qualify as Terrorism nor as human right violations. Because in this case it is Muslims who are suffering. Moreover, Myanmar (also known as Burma) does not have Petroleum.
If people like Aung San Suu Kyi (the State Counsellor, a position equivalent to a Prime Minister)  could win Nobel Prize for peace in 1991 without any investigation about her views on Rohingya Minority, I have serious doubt about the transparency and credibility of Nobel Peace Prize. If there is no provision of revoking Nobel Prize, in that case, at least they must criticize Suu Kyi recent acts of supporting violence and covering it up as against the spirit of Nobel peace prize.

PEACE :

Since WWII, there were very few major wars and border disputes across the globe, some are mentioned above. Every country has a well define international border. Though there are, some exceptions but that does not affect development of major economic powers. 70 years of peace for economic super powers means development in science, technology, weapons, literature, art, culture and medicines. More and more countries are striving to develop indigenous technologies. China emerged as fastest growing economy in world.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasing at unprecedented rate. There are two forces working together which are increasing speed of development. First, increase in population of educated youth. Second is human machine interface. For example, computing power increased tremendously paving the way to solve difficult problems. Storing, processing and sharing data is becoming faster. Internet has changed everything. Anyone can learn about the latest technologies around the globe. Countries are spending more on R & D than ever before. We are more connected than ever before across the globe. All these are fruits of Peace in world. If countries can resolve border issues and stop internal civil wars peacefully, this speed of development and prosperity can increase further. Let us force our government to choose peace over war.

How to make life happy by having right attitude towards life.

 

Life is all that we have. Once we are dead, we immediately changed from human being to a dead-body ready to be buried or burned. Before being alive, we were star-dust. Then become sperm and ovum. When sperm combined with ovum, called fertilization, we come into existence. Before life and after life we were nothing but dead matter.

It is so exciting that we are alive and we have power of thinking, contemplating, reasoning and being happy.  Yes, we all have power of being happy inside us. However, we keep searching happiness outside and most often become sad when we fail to found it. Outside happiness depends on others. Do not waste time in finding happiness outside. Internal happiness depends on you. You are in charge of your own happiness. By changing your life style, behavior and thinking you can keep yourself happy. Always cherish good memories. Think about the happiest moment of your life when you feel sad. Keep record of you joyful memories. Write them down and read them when you feel life sucks.

Instead of asking question “why this happened to me”, ask question “how I can change that situation or how can I come out of this situation”. Asking right questions yield right answers. Asking wrong question increase your sorrow and anxiety. Most often, we keep asking wrong questions. When we do not get right answers, we keep cursing our life. Wrong questions can ruin your life. Always avoid them. Your mind is more powerful than you think. It can always generate great ideas if you ask right questions.

Share your happiness with everyone. As happiness increases with sharing. Share your sorrow with a few very close people. No one like people who keep talking about sad things. Be joyful to win more friends. Good friends are assets. Help others. It will give you happiness and satisfaction. Focus on creative enjoyment and avoid destructive enjoyment. Destructive enjoyments are those, which gives you, fake instant happiness but in long-term destroy your body and relationships. You were no longer able to enjoy life. Some examples are substance abuse, smoking, excessive drinking and adultery. Creative enjoyment are sports (except extreme sports), social parties, exercising, talking to loved once, love-making with your spouse, helping other, painting, dancing, listening music, watching comedy and motivational video, gardening, perusing your hobbies etc. Creative enjoyment enhance your health and with healthy body, you can enjoy life for longer time.

Death is inevitable. Yet, we have strange attitude towards death. We do not want to talk about it as if talking will cause us to die. However, death does not work this way. Fearing or trying to running away by not talking about it will not help. Be prepared for your death. Talk about it with your spouse and adult children. Tell them you love them. Tell them, what you expect them to do once you are gone. Write your will. Save some money for your family. In case, you die in an accident your family should be financially secure. If you are living abroad with your family, always keep some money in your bank account and teach your wife how to withdraw money from ATM. Give her ATM pin and phone nos. of most reliable persons who can help her in returning to her Nation.

Spread love, laughter and happiness. Be a source of happiness rather than seeker of happiness. Learn to laugh on yourself and no on will be able to make you feel embarrass.

Astrology is not Science-Part-II

I always advocate one thing. Do not criticize anything until you do not know about it. If you do not understand something, study it. Learn about it. If learning creates more doubt that means most probably, you were right. If learning removes your doubts that’s means you were wrong initially in criticizing it. Nevertheless, when I wrote my last post, I made the same mistake. Without knowing much about astrology, I declared, “Astrology is wrong”. Click here to read my last post.

We all are bias towards our own belief. Since Islam does not support Astrology, I do not need any strong reason to reject Astrology. However, astrology is part of Hindu culture and religion. For them, it is not easy to disbelieve in it so easily. They want others to prove astrology is worng and fail to underatand that burdon of proof is on them because they are making an extra-ordanary claim.

Finally, I decided to learn about Astrology. I search for various astrologers and selected one. In two days, I watched eight videos and took notes. I learn that to be an astrologer you need 2-3 month practice. However, that was not my goal. I wanted to understand basic concept of astrology, how it works and how planets affect us. I acquired more knowledge than an ordinary individual who believe in Astrology and horoscope. Now, I am in better position to comment on Astrology.

I am more confident now that Astrology is not a Science. Astrology is faith-based mythology. There is no truth in it. In fact, no planet affect us by any ways. Gravity of planets is far less than gravity of your nearby objects. Sun being the biggest and the energy powerhouse and moon being closest affect earth. However, they are not planets. Calling them planet is first blunder Astrologers made. Second blunder is considering earth being center and sun, and all planets revolving around earth. Long back Geo-centric theory was disproved by scientist. At present, we know that the Sun is at one foci of planets elliptical orbits. Moon is a satellite orbiting earth. Sun is a star. Earth is also a planet. If any planet affect us more than rest of the planet, it must be earth. Nevertheless, in Astrology there is no space for earth’s effect on us! Astrology deals with only five nearby planets, even though we have eight planets plus Pluto. Size and weight wise only two things matters in our solar system. First, Sun and second is Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is approximately 318 times as massive as Earth. If the mass of all of the other planets in the solar system were combined into one Giant planet, Jupiter would still be two and a half times as large as the Giant planet. Sun is almost 10 times larger than the planet Jupiter.

Astrology can at best be defined as ancient astronomy combined with religious mythology. At present, Astronomy and astrology are far more different.

There is a concept in psychology called “cognitive dissonance”. When we have a very strong core belief, anything against it make you feel uncomfortable. You are willing to discard everything how so ever logical which goes against it. For most of the Indian religions (which originated in India like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism etc.) Astrology is one of the core belief. Hence, it is not only difficult for them but somewhat uncomfortable to disbelief in astrology.

Astrology is around 3000 years old. For first 2500 years, when Science was not an organized institute, there was no contender of Astrology. As telescope were perfected , people like Galileo and Copernicus come up with new model of solar system with sun in center and all planets including earth revolving around sun. A new branch of Science originated called Astronomy. If astrology was correct, we never had Astronomy. Astronomy gave us correct and much deeper view of universe. Based on Astronomical findings we are able to send rovers on other planets.

In Vedic Astrology, there are two more mysterious character besides so-called seven physical planets-Rahu and Ketu. Rahu-Ketu is the Sanskrit name given collectively for the Nodes of the Moon. Rahu is the North, and Ketu is the south node of the Moon. They are always directly opposite each other, that is 180 degrees apart. You can read more about Vedic Astrology and mythology by clicking below link at your own risk.

http://vedicastrology.net.au/blog/vedic-articles/rahu-and-ketu/

Based on astrology we can only make guesses. Sometimes they are right, most of the time they are wrong. Whole concept of astrology is flawed. Astrology was developed by those people who didn’t knew the size of planets, eccentric orbits of planets, total no. of planet (they consider only 5 planets and left earth) weight of planets and distance of planets from each other. Moreover, they didn’t knew difference between planet, satellite, sun and star. They treated all the same! Further, they didn’t knew that sun is not revolving around earth. Furthermore, they consider flat earth model while dividing sky in 12 part, each part represent one Zodiac sign.

Mare existance of something for long time does not make it true. Historically many things survived for long period of time but no one believe in their truthness. For example Pyramids were made 3500 years ago and still exists. They were built with a belief that dead person will need all those things which we need while alive. Many stories susrived for thousands years but that does not make them true, if they were not true initially.

This blog is not intended to hurt feelings of any person. Since religion is sensitive issue even mild criticism can hurt someone. I apologise for that in advance. But there is no point in believing pseudo science. With correct world view we can live more meaningful life. Please do not believe in any superstition. Embrace reality.

Truth about Astrology-Part:I

We never know what can inspire us to write new blog. While surfing through different blogs, I come across a blog on astrology. In 21^st century, when we already landed on moon and planning to send man on mars, here is one person like millions other who is advocating Astrology as Science.

People believe all sorts of things, it does not bother me until their belief are against Humanity or Science. Astrology is definitely against Science. As long as you keep it away from science and enjoy reading your horoscope or make a tattoo of your Zodiac it hardly bother anyone. However, when you claim, astronomy is science; you need to produce evidence. Moreover, extra ordinary claims require extra ordinary evidence. So, where are the evidence?

I received a links in support of astronomy being science. Let me present to you their analysis

https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/astrology_checklist

 

It gives checklist to compare astrology with Science as below:

 

Focuses on the natural world?
Astrology’s basic premise is that heavenly bodies — the sun, moon, planets, and constellations — have influence over or are correlated with earthly events.

 

First, Planets are different from moon and sun. Sun is actually a Star like billions other stars in our galaxy. People who invented astrology didn’t knew that planet revolves around sun and not earth. How they can measure planet influence correctly if they did not know correct position of earth, sun, moon and planets respective to each other?

 

Aims to explain the natural world?
Astrology uses a set of rules about the relative positions and movements of heavenly bodies to generate predictions and explanations for events on Earth and human personality traits. For example, some forms of astrology predict that a person born just after the spring equinox is particularly likely to become an entrepreneur.

 

 

When you make a prediction, there must be a certain degree of certainty. Just stating that person is “likely” to become an entrepreneur is mere a guess-work. Astrology explain nothing with high degree of certainty. Thus, it can’t be considered as science.

 

Uses testable ideas?
Some expectations generated by astrology are so general that any outcome could be interpreted as fitting the expectations; if treated this way, astrology is not testable. However, some have used astrology to generate very specific expectations that could be verified against outcomes in the natural world. For example, according to astrology, one’s zodiac sign impacts one’s ability to command respect and authority. Since these traits are important in politics, we might expect that if astrology really explained people’s personalities, scientists would be more likely to have zodiac signs that astrologers describe as “favorable” towards science.¹ If used to generate specific expectations like this one, astrological ideas are testable.

 

The above point refutes itself as “astrology is not testable” . If some theory can make a prediction, it must be true in most of the cases, but if we find few cases, which goes against it, the whole theory is wrong.

Relies on evidence?
In the few cases where astrology has been used to generate testable expectations and the results were examined in a careful study, the evidence did not support the validity of astrological ideas.² This experience is common in science — scientists often test ideas that turn out to be wrong. However, one of the hallmarks of science is that ideas are modified when warranted by the evidence. Astrology has not changed its ideas in response to contradictory evidence.

 

Once again, the above point proved that astrology is not science as evidence did not support astrological ideas.

Involves the scientific community?
Sharing one’s findings and critically evaluating the results of others are not integral parts of practicing astrology. An astrologer can go his or her entire career and not present findings at a scientific meeting or publish a single article. When astrologers do publish, these articles are not usually peer-reviewed or published in places where they will be critically scrutinized by the scientific community.

 

Any article which is not peer-reviewed cannot be considered as scientific paper.

 

Leads to ongoing research?
Scientific studies involving astrology have stopped after attempting and failing to establish the validity of astrological ideas. So far, there are no documented cases of astrology contributing to a new scientific discovery.

 

A correct theory must produce some new discoveries. Astrology has produced none in thousand years of its existence.

Researchers behave scientifically?
Scientists don’t wait for others to do the research to support or contradict the ideas they propose. Instead, they strive to test their ideas, try to come up with counterarguments and alternative hypotheses, and ultimately, give up ideas when warranted by the evidence. Astrologers, on the other hand, do not seem to rigorously examine the astrological ideas they accept. As reflected by the minimal level of research in the field, they rarely try to test their arguments in fair ways. In addition, the astrological community largely ignores evidence that contradicts its ideas.

No test, no evidence, no Science.

Truth about Astrology:

 (Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/is-astrology-science-or-pseudoscience-37018)

The horoscope shows the position of the Sun, planets and the Moon relative to the twelve constellations of the zodiac as they were thousands of years ago. Since then, change in the orientation of the Earth’s rotational axis due to precession shifted the position of the ecliptic—path of the Sun against the background of stars. Consequently, the location of the constellations in the sky changed. They no longer correspond with the constellations in the horoscope.

As an example, astrologically I am an Aquarius because the Sun is believed to have been located in that sign at the moment of my birth. But that was thousands of years ago. In the year I was born the Sun was in Capricorn, not in Aquarius.

Astrologers divided up the year equally, ignoring variations in the size of the constellations. Since Virgo is huge, they chopped some of its sky and added it along with bits of Scorpio to the tiny Libra to bring it up to size. Astronomers call it “equal-opportunity swindling.”

There are currently thirteen zodiacal constellations, not twelve. Astrologers have ignored the thirteenth one, Ophiuchus, because they believe that this constellation was invented by the astronomers to bedevil them.

Unfortunately, people put their trust on the predictions and advices offered by the astrologers without demanding proof or verification. By doing so, they are not gaining any real knowledge. Instead, their blind faith on the prophecies shows a lack of understanding of what science is and of the distinction between scientific theory and faith-based convictions. Many careful tests have shown that, despite their extraordinary claims, astrologers really can’t predict anything.

Astrologers sometimes argue that astrology is based on statistics and may not, therefore, be accurate for an individual. If their claim is true, then there should be a correlation between astrological lore and the different signs under which a person is born. Scientists have made serious attempts to test this hypothesis, but no correlation has ever been found.

Continue…

Click here to read PART-II

The writer is Professor of Physics at Fordham University, New York.

Read more on same website: http://www.thedailystar.net/is-astrology-science-or-pseudoscience-37018

 

 

Humanity First

 

We, the human, created so many geo-socio-political differences among ourselves that sometimes we forget that we all are human being. These differences are causing aversion, genocides, wars, riots, revolts, mutinies and ethnic cleansing based on gender inequality, nationality, race, color, caste, eating habits, and religion. We all have only one similarity -We all are humans. If we start focusing on that, all other differences will perish.

Time has come when we have to raise ourselves above caste, color, gender, religion, ethnicity, profitability, nationality and all other such differences and to keep humanity first. We all share same planet, same atmosphere and same hydrosphere. There is no better planet than the earth in our vicinity. It might takes 500 years or more to reach any habitable planet outside our solar system. Therefore, earth is our only hope for existence of human being and life in general. Colonizing Mars in near term is a hoax. Mars and moon, the nearest destination devoid of water and oxygen, can only be used as a temporary workstation for refueling, research, and launching of rockets for deep space exploration. It will be like Antarctica. People will go there for exploration and scientific studies but not to spent entire life.

We all have to work together for sustainability of our planet. We must remove all our differences and work for Global sustainability. Climate change is real. Ozone depletion is real. Let us join hands and make earth a better place not just for us but also for coming generation. Small contribution can make a big impact. Start planting trees. Save paper. Do not waste water and electricity. Before wasting foodstuff, please think about millions of starving children dying because of lack of food and malnutrition. It is better to eat less than to waste food. Find NGO’s and poor peoples around you who can take your left over food. When you make a charity, make sure your money is going to right place. Many NGO’s and NPO’s spent more on themselves than on the cause. Just donating is not enough. Make sure to donate at right place.

FUTURE: Electric Cars Vs Fuel Cell Cars.

On one hand, electric car-makers are constructing mega factories for mass production of Li-ion batteries on other hand Japanese companies are investing heavily on hydrogen Fuel cell technology. This race is not about who will come first, rather who will sustain in global market finally. Presently and decisively Electric vehicle driven by Li-ion batteries are leading the trend with reduction in battery pack price and increase use of solar energy. Electric vehicles made lot of improvement in recent time. Much of it can be attributed to Tesla-first electric carmaker who took concept of electric cars much seriously than any other carmaker. They set very high standard for electric cars and make much needed improvement to compete with traditional IC engine cars running on gasoline. Charging time reduced from hours to several minutes. Mileage too increases considerably. All these improvement made EV a better solution to IC engine causing pollution. EV do not cause air or sound pollution and is a safe car. However, they need electricity. Sometimes electricity is produced by burning coal, which again cause pollution. Solar power is a workable solution. However, with present efficiency of solar cell, it will be difficult to fulfill future domestic demand. Thus, electric vehicles are not the best solution for future in developing countries.

In future, people will prefer car with inbuilt energy powerhouse. A car, which can run longer than normal electric vehicle and IC engine without creating pollution and have a safe quick re-filling. As soon as hydrogen or any other fuel cell meet these criteria then that will be the turning point in history of Fuel cell vehicle (FCV). At present, peoples are concern about safety of using hydrogen as fuel. Of course, electric vehicle are safest compared to FC and IC engine. Nevertheless, with advancement in technology, fuel cell will become safer than IC engine, which we used for decades. The biggest obstacle for fuel cell cars is filling station, which require lot of money in establishment. Without filling stations, no one will buy such cars. Slowly but surely as filling station will increase, demand for FCV will increase too. With improvement in technology and mass production, price of cars fitted with Fuel cell will decrease considerably.

As we have saying, “Slow and steady wins the race” it is possible that future belongs to FCV. Batteries are temporary solution. If we find a way to fill a vehicle directly from hydrogen cylinders then we can cut off expansive filling station requirement to hydrogen cylinder storage depot.Normally a FCV requires 35-90 MPA pressure. In market, cylinders are available up to 90MPa as well. We only need a hose pipe with connector to fill the Car tank. Some innovative ideas required to make FCT a feasible reality.

Creativity : How Creative Persons Think?

INSIDE CREATIVE PROCESSES

 

 

Studies have shown that consistently creative individuals tend to approach their challenges from a wide variety of angles. Doing so helps create psychological distance from the problem encouraging abstract thinking, a crucial component in the creative process. Flip the question over or ask yourself from multiple different perspectives and you’ll likely come up with many different answers. For example, what would a child think about this problem?

One of the most famous examples of this in history is when Henry Ford invented the assembly line by moving the cars through the factory and keeping the workers still. There are more recent examples though of how asking a different question yields a successful result. Starbucks – Instead of asking “How can I recreate the Italian espresso bar in the United States?” Howard Shultz instead asked “How can I create a comfortable, relaxing environment to enjoy great coffee?” Instagram – Instead of asking “How to create a great location-sharing app? a better question turned out to be “How can we create a simple photo-sharing app?”

The topic of creativity tends to conjure conversations about individual geniuses whose artistic or scientific contributions have rocked history—the Ludwig Van Beethovens, the Emily Dickinsons, or the George Washington Carvers of the world.

So it’s not surprising that scholars of creativity have largely focused on the factors that fuel extraordinarily creative people.

But who studies the ordinary people, who may not be geniuses but nonetheless contribute creative solutions in their personal and work lives all the time? In the short article In Pursuit of Everyday Creativity, Teresa Amabile argues that average folks deserve careful investigation, especially in the age of user innovation and crowdsourced problem-solving, when big ideas routinely come from the masses. The article appears in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Creative Behavior.

“We may see a sea change over the next decade or so, where more and more things that are considered creative breakthroughs will be made by people whose names are never going to be known as famous individuals,” says Amabile, a Baker Foundation Professor and the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, Emerita, who has studied workplace creativity for more than 40 years. “Those breakthroughs will be made by collaborative groups of ‘ordinary people,’ by open innovation contests and other open innovation processes, by users of products and services who are engaging more and more in innovation, and just by ordinary people in their everyday work lives or their everyday lives in their communities and societies.”

Proximity to the problem as a creative stimulant is starting to get scientific recognition as well. A recent study shows a 2X increase in the number of insight problems that could be solved when participants were asked to think about the source of the task as distant, rather than it being close in proximity.

Creating constraints around a problem can oftentimes lead to greater creativity. Famously, Seuss wrote Green Eggs & Ham after betting that he couldn’t produce a story using less than 50 words. Limiting the nature of a task can bring out your most creative side. For example, in 1907 asthma-suffering janitor James Murray Spangler was in search of a dust-free vacuum cleaner. With limited resources available he concocted a machine from a box fan, a soapbox, a pillowcase, and a broom handle.

Steve Jobs was famous for challenging Wozniak and his team to create the Apple 2 inside a fixed-sized box. He was determined to create a computer for personal usage within a certain set of dimensions and this forced Wozniak and his team to completely rethink the design and technology for the final product.

Research has confirmed what many creatives have said for years and that is that sleeping on a problem leads to greater creativity. Scientists speculate that the low levels of stress during sleep play a role in allowing people to access information from the subconscious and make connections that they would not otherwise make.

A recent study evidenced a 30% increase in creativity of participants immediately after waking up from sleep. Another 25% of people dreamt the solution to a problem they were set before sleeping.

History bears a number of famous examples of creatives talking about the power of sleep. For example, Paul McCartney said the melody for the Beatles song ‘Yesterday’ came to him in a dream. Indeed, some of the most innovative companies in the world such as Nike and Google both promote napping at work.

For millenniums, writers and artists have said that they develop their best ideas during a walk. Now the latest research studies have shown that walking, even indoors on a treadmill, can significantly improve new idea generation both during and shortly after the activity. It is thought the combination of increased blood flow to the brain and the freedom to allow the mind to wander is what makes walking so effective.

For full article click on the below link

Source: https://venitism.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/inside-creative-processes/

Green Buildings

Green Buildings are energy efficient buildings that provide year-round comfort without the constant need for heating and cooling systems. These homes save you money and they’re great for the environment, so it can only be a good thing if they become more popular.

The new directive will improve energy efficiency in buildings and encourage building renovation. Decarbonizing the existing highly inefficient European building stock is one of its long term goals. It promotes cost-effective renovation works, introduces a smartness indicator for buildings, simplifies the inspections of heating and air condition systems and also promotes electro-mobility by creating parking spaces for electric vehicles.

Modern comfort comes at a price, and keeping all those air conditioners, refrigerators, chargers, and water heaters going makes household energy very expensive. Here’s what uses the most energy in your home:

Cooling and heating: 47% of energy use

Water heater: 14% of energy use

Washer and dryer: 13% of energy use

Lighting: 12% of energy use

Refrigerator: 4% of energy use

Electric oven: 3-4% of energy use

TV, DVD, cable box: 3% of energy use

Dishwasher: 2% of energy use

Computer: 1% of energy use

One of the easiest ways to reduce wasted energy and money? Shut off vampire electronics, devices that suck power even when they are turned off.  A penny saved is a penny earned, and being more efficient with your energy use is good for your pocketbook and the environment.

Buildings account for 40% of the total energy consumption in Europe. By improving the existing rules, taking advantage of recent technological developments and encouraging further energy efficiency, the EU makes a major step towards fulfilling its 2020 and 2030 energy efficiency targets.

Wake Up India

Note: Purpose of writing this blog is not to share my life experience but to make everyone realize how we are becoming habitual of everything around us and fail to realise what miserable life we are living!

It has been two years since I was working abroad. It was time for my vacation and I was super excited. Finally, after two years I am going back to my country. I booked my ticket, purchased some gifts for my family and friends, packed my bags and left for India. Morning 4 am I landed in India. I took a deep breath and my eyes were filled with tears. As I came out of the Delhi airport (IGI) my family was eagerly waiting for me. It was like a morning of Eid.

While coming out of Delhi there was so much noise of horns and traffic jams. I finally make a remark about it and everyone in the Innova started laughing. By brother exclaimed, “Oh yes, now we have an NRI! Sir this is India you were born here and in two-year, you start feeling problem with noise?” I sit quietly afterwards. We stopped at one Dhaba for breakfast. I eat delicious paratha with aachar and  chai. There was lot of dust due to running automobiles on main road. I ignored everything and focused on my breakfast. Finally we reached home city around 10 am. To reach home we have to cross bazzar. It was too crowded and roads were too narrow for one car. Our driver was expert and habitual in this conditions so he managed and we reached home where my mother was eagerly waiting for me. She hugged me and offer tap water. It was winter so no need to cool water. We talk for about an hour, have lunch and then I went to sleep. When I wake up my stomach was making sounds and I rush to toilet. I vomit and later diagnosed with food poisoning.

We have amazing habit of adaptability. In developing and under developing country we do not care about germs. We eat fruits without washing them; we eat without washing our hand with soap. We do not care about pollution level nor we bother to test water we are drinking. Still most of us became habitual of digesting everything we eat and drink. Even spicy food has no effect on us.

In just two years, all those habits changed and now I was no more immune to germs. I cannot drink tap water or unfiltered underground water, which my whole family can drink without any problem. I can not eat street food too. When I go to market I feel chaos and crowdedness. There are areas where I am afraid to drive two-wheeler because of traffic. Bicycle, motorcycle, scooter, cars, tractor, bullock cart and pedestrian everyone moving on the same road. Shops are extended on roads and covering half of the road.

Some one told  me a story. If you put a frog in warm water, it will jump out quickly. But if you put a frog in normal water and start heating water slowly. Frog will not be able to notice the rise in temperature until water start boiling. Are we going through the same phase? Slowly and gradually, our condition is becoming worst. Population is increasing abruptly. Cities are becoming more and more crowded. Noise, pollution, poverty and cost of living all are increasing. Now a day, we do not find space to make our home. We are forced to live in Flats. When you go out of your country and specially visit any developed country or a rich country then only you realize we are living in inhuman conditions. However, we never realize it. We are happy with small improvements in life and ignoring the bigger picture. Roads are better now, every day we see new model of cars. What about our banking system? What about our education system? What about our soldiers who are complaining about food? What about increasing unemployment in educated youth. For uneducated people’s government has pakoda policy for employment. What is the government plan for Engineers and other professionals? Corruption is increasing day by day. Accountability is decreasing. No one is willing to take blame of fail government policy. De-monetization failed badly but no one took its responsibility. We are moving backward except some lucky corrupt big business man and politicians who are making money. 1% Rich Indians are having 73% of total Indian money. If masses of India will not understand there duty towards nation, nothing will change. Wake up and vote for candidates who are not corrupt. Do not vote for party. Vote for a candidate who is not involve in any corruption and criminal case, who is available to listen your problem. Let us send a message to corrupt parties that they will not get our vote by hook or crook. Our vote is our power. In democracy, you do not need revolution to change government. Just use your vote sensibly and everything will be fixed.