Do we really crave certainty?

Uncertainty is most commonly cited as the main source of worry and anxiety in our lives. ‘Fear of the unknown’ is a commonly used phrase. Why, then, do we fear death the most, when death in the only certainty in life? May be because of the uncertainty of when?

So is certainty the solution? Is full certainty going to be the source of ultimate happiness? I am afraid not. If all things were absolutely certain – imagine a situation where you know the complete schedule of your future – life would be boring; where is the joy of living in that?

My hypothesis is that certainty is desirable in things required for basic survival. The definition of ‘basic’ may vary from person to person – for some, certainty of food or shelter is enough; for some, certainty of monthly paycheck is bliss; for some, certainty about love and care is essential. It depends on where one is placed in the hierarchy of needs.

What about certainty in terms of results of our efforts? What if there is a knowledge bank, which tells me – if I follow such and such plan, I will get such and such results – life would be so peaceful, no? I doubt it. If all our efforts are destined to bear the desired fruits, then I fear the fruit won’t be valued much (basic demand-supply theory – the fruit is just too abundant).

On the other hand, the uncertainty surrounding the result keeps us on our toes. Uncertainty then becomes a source of creativity – would the plan work, how do I test it, should I tweak it – questions like these create a sense of dynamism.

If the plan eventually does work, we would feel a sense of ownership of not just the result but also the ‘tweaked’ plan – one more way to do it, adding another possibility to the already existing ones - which is now our contribution to the knowledge bank. And that, I believe, feeds our self-worth, for the joy of living is in the joy of giving.

No More Confusion Please!

Recent few days have seen protests by a group of Civil Services aspirants, demanding change in the pattern of Civil Services examination, particularly scrapping of the Paper-2 (CSAT). Responding to these demands, the Central Government has urged the UPSC to postpone the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2014, which is scheduled to be held on 24^th August. In the meanwhile, a committee has been constituted to look into the concerns of the protestors. [1]

This news has brought fresh uncertainty in the minds of very many Civil Services aspirants. The notification for this year’s examination was released on May 31^th after a 15-day delay, presumably to take approval of the new Government. The forms have been filled up now, and the Prelims are only about 1 month away. The examination process which had begun after the Government’s approval is now being disrupted by the Government itself.

Moreover, the UPSC is an independent Constitutional body with a mandate to conduct these examinations. The ‘request’ by Government to postpone the examination looks like undue interference in the functioning of UPSC, and undermines its Constitutional independence.

However, the genuine concerns of the protestors need to be addressed to ensure fairness towards aspirants from all backgrounds. Given that any changes done once are likely to be institutionalized for at least a few more years, the pattern should be changed only after thorough analysis and due consultation. With the limited time available this year, this doesn’t seem possible and any proposed change is likely to be hasty.

The key demand of the protestors is the abolition of CSAT, which, they claim, is biased against the students of Humanities background because of its focus on analytical skills, reasoning and comprehension.[2] But wouldn’t removal of CSAT at this stage be unfair to those students, who have already diverted significant amount of their time and energy towards preparation of CSAT?

Reasoning and comprehension skills are tested in the recruitment process of even clerical jobs. The importance of such skills cannot be ignored in the selection process of the to-be policy makers of the country. The pattern and syllabus of an examination should be decided on the criteria of requirements of the future job profile, not on the basis of the candidates’ profile.

Introduction of CSAT was a part of the larger reform in the outdated recruitment process of Civil Services Officers. Setting the clock back on any such reform in haste may shut the doors on further reforms, as objections to any change in status quo will always arise.

The Government should, therefore, effect changes in the pattern only from the next year onwards and announce those changes well in advance. I hope that the Government will take care of not only the few hundred protestors, but also thousands of other aspirants who are going to be affected by any rushed decision in this matter. Hope better sense prevails!

Mr. Lonely

Days are passing by without any action, as if life has come to a standstill. Moreover, I am not sure of the reason of me staying back at IITD right now, though the excuses are many - volleyball camp, extended minor project, civil services preparation. But, I can't really find out the reasons out of the excuses, because I don't observe any progress on any of those fronts. Besides, I have been feeling lonely too in the last few days. I don't know whether the loneliness is due to the lack of progress, or vice-versa, but I carry the sensation of loneliness from the moment I wake up early in the morning to the time I somehow fall asleep every night.

On the field, I'm not sure of the purpose for which I'm burning out my muscles every morning at 6 am, when some of my "experienced" mates find it to be the least priority activity in their life at present. Whatever energy I can conserve out of the workout (read burnout) doesn't appear sufficient to keep me awake for rest of the morning. The extended minor project has hit a roadblock because I've no clue what am I aiming to accomplish. Additionally, probably due to thinking more than required, somehow I find myself so much entangled in the thought of civil services preparation itself that I can't pick a loose end of the string to start off.

And without doing anything worthwhile today also, except watching a hilarious (but elongated) movie "Pyaar ka Punchnama", I've no option but to sign off without any expectations of something exciting from the coming day.

Facebook - Connecting people, Killing action?

In the current times, it would be difficult to find a person who has internet access but doesn't have a Facebook (FB henceforth in this blog) profile. Lately, FB became the third most populated 'place' in the world after China and India with over 400 million users. [1] But, as I see FB (and many do agree) that it's just a waste of time. Apart from the possibility of connecting with long-lost friends with no possible recovery of contact otherwise, FB just features shitty apps (I too was addicted to Farmville some time back), fraud quizzes (though some people feel happy that FB knows them so well) and who-likes-what, and who-is-friends-with-who, etc etc! So, it gives some losers enough reason to remain glued to their screens 24-7 (been there, done that).

But, does it end here? Is it just a wastage of time? Didn't I ever participate in a discussion as a series of comments on a status update, or share my inner thoughts through my status updates? Though FB gives power to broadcast your thoughts, but generally it's more of a virtual identity which people create so as to gather maximum number of 'likes' or 'comments'. It is not at all uncommon to find people check their FB profiles moments after they connect to internet, and update their status to reflect "What's on your mind?". After all, when was it so easy to express yourself! Too easy to be a cause of inaction in 'real' life? Yes, I'm talking of posts which though invoke opinions when thought about, but the result of the thought process is nothing more than a series of comments. Because it is so much easier to write a few lines on your status update and initiate a chain of comments, it kills the urge to act when and where it really matters. It's not just about cases like Ayodhya verdict or CWG, which aam junta like us have no control over. But, this is relevant to our own local problems (local to IITD), which nobody from outside is going to come and solve for us. Problems as basic as lack of drinking water or poor mess food in hostels. When we all know that raising these issues on Facebook won't make a difference, but troubling the concerned authorities would, yet it feels satisfying to have registered our discontent on some public forum. Such instinct to take the easier way out has extinguished some sparks which had the potential to grow into a large fire if fanned the right way. May be, it is the path and not the destination itself which guides our decisions after all.

When should the Bidding end?

The day started out normally as it has been for about 8 weeks now - Getting up, leaving for Microsoft Research and working on the same project from morning till evening (night). Lately, the difference is me reaching office as late as 1 pm, due to the longer sleep required after the evening football (playing, not watching) sessions. Lately, the difference is me still confused where my intern project will lead to, because of some unorganized mentoring. Lately, the difference is me not happy at the place which probably is the dream for some of the best in my stream. This difference is that I wanted to write myself out this time. Not because I don't have people to talk about it, because I am lucky to have them and I've talked my heart out to them, but I wanted to talk about it to myself. So, I want to pour out some of the thoughts my mind has entangled itself into.

One thought that troubles me is our decision-making process about our goals and the path we take to strive for them. One such process took place when my intern started here, when 3 researchers and me sat for a 'brainstorming' session for hours to find a project of my interest. But, the session failed to churn out an intern topic that interested me. One possible reason could be my misplaced interest which was to do something that involved more than pure coding, which involved actually going out to the field to study how the technology we develop is being used, which could make my stay here different from that at IIT Delhi, which could make it meaningful to be a part of Technology of Emerging Markets group. So, at the end, I agreed to start upon a project for the sake of my internship half-heartedly, and throughout my stay here I've thought, what if I would have taken more time to decide. Now, the internship will end in a few days and won't have a strong influence on my future, but the issue still troubles me because of the 'what if', because I'm standing at a stage where the crucial decision of my career path needs to be taken, because I would certainly like to avoid the regret of 'The Road Not Taken'. So, how much time, patience and energy should we spend on actually finalizing the decision, so that it doesn't cross the optimal limit when we start wasting those resources on deciding and not executing the decision? How do we hit the best trade-off between the two conflicting motives? When should the Bidding end?


Meanwhile, a Ted talk in which Dan Ariely asks, "Are we in control of our own decisions?"