Tag: Narrative

The GIGOlo trap!

The GIGOlo trap!

 

Garbage In, Garbage Out, or GIGO, refers to the idea that in any system, the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input.

 

The term originated in the computer science and information technology fields but now has made headway into other industries as well.

 

Yes, it has trespassed its way into our daily zeitgeist.

 

A lazy way of arriving at the conclusion that faulty input leads to faulty results. Lazy (and unfair) because the entire onus is placed on the user or the doer or the environment. And the creator happily puts up his hands, saying, ‘ not my fault ‘. This applies to convoluted tax returns forms, printers, websites with questionable UI, the type of gasoline or tyres used in cars and many such everyday situations. It is far too lopsided and the diktat needs a new narrative that is more inclusive and creates a level playing field.

 

My mother was my best teacher. Getting hold of an absolutely written off country boy and transforming me into someone who can get by reasonably well enough in this world. Don’t you think that should be the benchmark all around? Rather than the cocooned excesses spun off my corporations and individuals who are happy to maintain the stalemate and shirk responsibility. And have the audacity to pass the buck.

 

Just because you are (considered ) trash, it does not mean that you cannot do great things. Remember, it’s called a Garbage Can, NOT Garbage Cannot.

 

There are some ‘ wasted interests ‘ at work and we need to blow the lid off of that. The sooner, the better.

 

Which brand of cooking gas you use should not determine how the recipe has shaped out.

 

The better story to share is ‘ Garbage In, Goodness Out ‘, don’t you think so?

 

That’s what we are here for, irrespective of which side of the fence you are grazing on.

 

ENDS

Curiosity Skilled The Cat!

Curiosity is that strange human trait that got us out of the cave, across the globe, and onto the moon. A trait that has led to communication and collaboration.

It is why children ask: ” why?”

And as we get older and life becomes more complicated, many of us forget to keep asking that question.

” Why?” requires work and critical thought. It requires the openness to learning answers that don’t fit into our existing world views. The brain is hardwired to be lazy. So default meets comfort zone where there is no room for ” why?”.

And sure, if we need to ask ” why?” every time we get a push notification on our phones, it will mercilessly take over our lives.

But ” why?” is also the most significant tool in combatting disinformation. And decoding the true intention of certain governments, organisations, brands.

Curiosity might help us better understand the others.

Their intentions.

Their feelings and fears.

Curiosity might help us understand ourselves.

Our intentions.

Our feelings and fears.

Certain meditation techniques encourage us to approach our emotions with curiosity. We cannot control when and how those emotions arise within us, but we can control how we react to them.

The ancient principle of Occam’s razor invites us to – when presented with competing hypothesis about the same problem– select the one that requires the fewest possible assumptions.

This might benefit us in our external and internal lives. The truth is we need to cultivate curiosity.

Curiosity will help us disregard ‘ human pollutants ‘ like opinion, agenda, power and greed. These pollutants are present at nearly every turn of capitalist transactions, sticking to us like grease from an oil spill.

We need more stories of compassion , and fewer stories of conflict. What’s extraordinary about our story is that it is never complete. It is never finished. It is being written and rewritten every moment in every corner of the world.

For example, it is up to us to confine conflict to our books and films. Because for THE GREAT STORY to succeed, we need to course-correct away from conflict toward compassion and cooperation.

We need to start shaping new stories for ourselves and future generations. And that narrative, in its most basic and simple form might be this..

Human(therefore)kind.

It seems pretty simple: We have to accept our insignificance. Which is significant.

Disinformation has always been part of the political and corporate playbook. However, algorithms, feedback loops, and political polarization have dusted off that book  and put it on the main display next to the gummy bears and ChapStick.

This is complex stuff, and only a few people in the world seem to truly comprehend the scientific underpinnings of the madness we’ve left ourselves be swallowed up in.

If the medium is the message and the medium is a giant tangled ball of fiber-optic cables, doesn’t that make the message, well, a giant tangled mess of messaging?

Now, ” why?” did I write this? Curiosity is getting the better of me. And I like it.

BEGINS