Scientific toys from trash: an amazing free educational site from IIT Kanpur where an innovative professor has simplified science through gaming but hands-on gaming. Do it to your toys and it can be great fun to explain the scientific fundamentals.
There are more than 500 toy procedures around more than 15 scientific topics.
Please enjoy making the toys if you have school going children.
This year, the Nobel Prize for Physics and the Noble Prize for Chemistry are on two ends of the spectrum. The Physics Nobel Prize was given to the discovery of the Black Hole and for Chemistry it was given for the Genome Editing Technology CRISPR.
It’s the infinite power of the human mind to go and discover something which is 26,000 light years away from us. Each light year means 9 trillion km i.e. 26,000 X 9 X 1000,000,000,000 km away. Black hole means where the force of gravity is so strong that it pulls light as well.
It’s the power of the human mind that can also go into the minutest to minutest size of chromosomes and then sequence 3 billion base pairs. They measure this in a unit called nanometers which is 1 divided by 1000,000,000.
In Design Thinking, there are 2 competencies that are important which help in ‘Connecting the dot’ i.e. Perspective which is about seeing from a distance and the second is about Expertise, which is about going into micro details. Today, I am amazed to see the infinite capacity of the human mind to traverse from 26000 lights years to nanometers to solve the complex nature of the universe.
innovation #nobel #chemistry #designthinking #physics
How many of you have read this book, ‘Meaning of Life’ by Victor Frankl. He is a survivor of the Concentration Camp and has founded the theory of Logo Therapy based on the Will of Purpose/Meaning vs. Will of Pleasure or Will of Power/Superiority.
Tomorrow is the beginning of Das Lakshan Parva, which means 10 Virtues for 10 days.
My understanding of this festival:
1. I used to visit the temple during these days with my father and sat down in a few lectures randomly. I used to feel good but was not able to connect to my daily life. A few years ago I was searching for a framework from Indian scriptures in relation to where deep knowledge has been made repeatable. I found the answer in Paryushan Parva, where Jains celebrate the 10 Principles of High-Performance Life for 10 days that are committed to learning.
#DesignThinking #HighPerformanceLife #DasLakshanParva
Article: Published on August 23, 2020
My understanding of Das Lakshan Dharam – Design Thinking in action for celebrating a high-performance life
Tomorrow is the beginning of Das Lakshan Parva, which means 10 Virtues for 10 days.
My understanding of this festival:
1. I used to visit the temple during these days with my father and sat down in a few lectures randomly. I used to feel good but was not able to connect to my daily life. A few years ago I was searching for a framework from Indian scriptures in relation to where deep knowledge has been made repeatable. I found the answer in Paryushan Parva, where Jains celebrate the 10 Principles of High-Performance Life for 10 days that are committed to learning.
2. Process Design: There are 3 innovations in this process design
a) Each day is dedicated to understand, reflect and learn about one virtue.
b) Guru (Pandit) has to be from another temple or other cities to provide a different perspective of the virtue.
c) The learning process has 3 sessions – Morning: lecture form, Afternoon: Dialogue form and Evening: Lecture and Clarifications.
3. I relate the 10 virtues to the similar 7 habits of effective leadership
The Process Design and extreme distilling of the knowledge of life in just 10 virtues which can drive ethics, collaboration and continuous learning in a community is the true example of Design Thinking in action for celebrating a High-Performance Life.
Today I enjoyed a slow walk on Boat Club Road. I observed the majestic trees which I did not pay attention to for the last 20 years of walking on the same street. Each tree expresses itself uniquely through its solid trunks, strong branches and their direction, exotic leaves and then beautifully designed flowers. Some of the trees act as large ‘hotels’ for insects and birds. Some trees provide their shoulders to other weaker plant that have weaker trunks. The sleek and weaker creepers are able to climb up to 40 feet and are able to get their food from sun.
I touched 14 trees and tried to feel them. Some trees are over 100 years or 200 years old. They have seen and experienced more history than most of us and kept secrets within themselves.
I experience the power of a slow walk with no pressure on counting steps. I just sat down looking up to see the beauty of each tree. They have grown over 50 feet high. Some are growing upwards and some are growing horizontally to provide shade to humans. They just stand there without any expectation, contributing to humanity year after year.
Truly selfless!
#nature #slowwalk #learningsfromtrees
This morning, I started with a cloudy day and we were enjoying our morning tea with rusks. The weather turned better and it started raining.
I was amazed to observe the cycle of rains resulting in great crops in the field. I admired the cycle of nature – sun’s energy along with water and the natural force of plants, produces so much for humanity.
The thoughts further created a question – What is wealth and how did it get created?
1. All wealth is created by nature.
2. Nature creates wealth through agriculture and minerals. There is no other way to create primary wealth.
3. Trading of this primary wealth by multiple transactions creates secondary wealth.
4. Secondary wealth surplus gets invested into building safety and home conveniences.
5. Secondary wealth surplus invested in education, research and innovation have created multiple technologies resulting in various professions and industries. Each profession and industry then started driving Tertiary wealth.
This means all the wealth in the world gets created by farming and mineral extraction from Mother Nature. The irony is that today a farmer is the most poor of this chain while all wealth is residing in the hands of ‘Value adders’.
I need your help in building on this hypothesis.
#nature #wealth #agriculture
1. School Teacher – 40,000 to 80,000
2. Teaching Assistant – 50,000 to 60,000
3. Assistant Professor – 90,000 to 110,000
4. Associate Professor – 130,000 to 150,000
5. Tenured Professor – 175,000 to 195,000
6. Doctor – 225,000 to 275,000
7. Specialist Doctor – 250,000 to 400,000
8. Lawyer – 250,000 to 400,000
These are the average salaries varying from $40,000 to $400,000.
Does it have any relation to the beginning of inequalities in our society?
Does it have any relation to modern caste/race system in framing?
A young man in his mid-twenties knocks on the door of a renowned Guru. He says: “I’ve come to you because I wish to study the Vedas.”
“Do you know Sanskrit?” the Guru asks.
“No,” replies the young man.
“Have you studied any Indian philosophy?”
“No. But don’t worry. I just finished my doctoral dissertation at Harvard on logic. So now, I would just like to round up my education with a little study of the Vedas.”
Article: Published on June 1, 2020
Amazing story of ‘what is the right problem?’
A young man in his mid-twenties knocks on the door of a renowned Guru. He says: “I’ve come to you because I wish to study Vedas.”
“Do you know Sanskrit?” the Guru asks.
“No,” replies the young man.
“Have you studied any Indian philosophy?”
“No. But don’t worry. I just finished my doctoral dissertation at Harvard on logic. So now, I would just like to round up my education with a little study of the Vedas.”
“I doubt,” the Guru says, “that you are ready to study the Vedas. It is the deepest knowledge ever known. If you wish, however, I am willing to examine you in logic, and if you pass that test I will teach you the Vedas.”
The young man agrees.
The Guru holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”
The young man stares at the Guru. “Is that really a test in logic?”
The Guru nods.
“The one with the dirty face washes his face,” he answers confidently.
“Wrong. The one with the clean face washes his face. Examine the logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So, the one with the clean face washes his face.”
“Very clever,” the young man says. “Give me another test.”
The Guru again holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”
“We have already established that. The one with the clean face washes his face.”
“Wrong. Each one washes his face. Examine the logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So, the one with the clean face washes his face. When the one with the dirty face sees the one with the clean face wash his face, he also washes his face. So, each one washes his face.”
“I didn’t think of that,” says the young man. It’s shocking to me that I could make an error in logic. Test me again.”
The Guru holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”
“Each one washes his face.”
“Wrong. Neither one washes his face. Examine the logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. But when the one with the clean face sees the one with the dirty face doesn’t wash his face, he also doesn’t wash his face. So, neither one washes his face.”
The young man is desperate. “I am qualified to study the Vedas. Please give me one more test.”
He groans, though, when the Guru lifts two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”
“Neither one washes his face.”
*“Wrong. Do you now see why logic is an insufficient basis for studying the Vedas? Tell me, how is it possible for two men to come down the same chimney, and for one to come out with a clean face and the other with a dirty face? Don’t you see? The whole question is nonsense, foolishness, and if you spend your whole life trying to answer foolish questions, all your answers will be foolish, too.”*
That’s why having wisdom is more important than having logic…
*Infinite love* *Infinite wisdom *
One of the greatest creations of humankind is language. Language is by itself complex, comprising multiple grammatical rules, writing techniques, and different writing styles such as poetry and prose.
Language is the outcome of wonderful design. The greatness of its design is that it is sustainable and indeed, future-proof. An apt example of such sustainable timeless designs is that of the Indian languages. They are quite extraordinary and unique when compared to the other languages spoken across the world.
#design #designthinking #sodt
Article: Published on May 7, 2020
Codifying language
Bringing order to sound
One of the greatest creations of humankind is language. Language is by itself complex, comprising multiple grammatical rules, writing techniques, and different writing styles such as poetry and prose.
Language is the outcome of wonderful design. The greatness of its design is that it is sustainable and indeed, future-proof. An apt example of such sustainable timeless designs is that of the Indian languages. They are quite extraordinary and unique when compared to the other languages spoken across the world.
Language groups in the Indian subcontinent
The languages spoken in this subcontinent, especially their written form, can be grouped into two broad categories. Devanagiri script, that is popularly seen in languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi and other languages, has its origins from the Brahmi script. Interestingly, it is said to be visually similar to the script of South Indian languages that are said to be based on Nandinagari script.
If you observe any language closely, you would notice that they consist of several vowels and many consonants. For example, almost all Indian languages have vowels such as A, Aa, E, Ee, U, Ooh and consonants that include Ka, Kha, Ga, Gha and so on.
An interesting pattern
Have you noticed an interesting pattern here? This is about grouping certain consonants in one sequence and grouping few others in the next. This grouping is done based on what parts of the vocal chords are used to utter the consonants.
For example, the first sequence involves consonants such as Ka, Kha, Ga, and Gha. A major effort here involves the usage of the epiglottis only and not the tongue.
The next sequence involves consonants such as Cha, ChCha, Ja, and Jha. To utter every consonant, you have to hit the tongue to the roof of the mouth. The next sequence involves the consonants Ṭa, Ṭha, Ḍa, and Ḍha. A substantial effort will involve using the epiglottis as well as the tongue to hit the roof of the mouth hard. The next sequence is Ta, Tha, Da, and Dha. All of these consonants require more or less similar effort. The final piece involves the consonants Pa, Pha, Ba, Bha, and Ma. Here there is a need to open and close the lips each time to utter these consonants.
The creator of the language system has observed this carefully and placed similar consonants together so as to improve the receptivity of the learner.
Indian languages were developed thousands of years ago but imagine how a simple design phenomenon of patterns has gone into its genesis! Languages have not only flourished for ages, but have helped in the creation of timeless literature, novels and epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and holy books like the Bhagwad Gita, to name a few.
For anything to become sustainable and flourish for ages to come, design is critical.
The author is also a deep researcher of culture, tradition and social fabric that shaped the thinking of different communities and faith systems. He works closely with the Gram Panchayat system to bring a design mindset for sustainable change. His years of research work in connecting Design Thinking elements in various sectors is now captured in a comprehensive book UnMukt: Science and Art of Design Thinking which can be downloaded for free
from http://d-thinking.com/registration/register.php
Hello, my name is Arun Jain. I am a design thinker living in Chennai, India. This is my blog, where I post my thoughts, technology trends and tips about the fintech world and many more.