Q: "How far is this place from here?"
A: "It will take you about 40 minutes to reach there."
Q: "How far is this place from here?"
A: "About 12 kilometres."
Same question. Two different answers. And not just that, the answers use two different measures altogether. One tells us the distance. Other tells us the time it will take to travel.
They surprised me the first time. But the more I think about them, the more information they reveal. The first answer is something I get in Mumbai. The second is what I got in Kolkata and in Udaipur, a small town in Rajasthan.
My interpretation goes thus. In Mumbai, more people use public transport as compared to those in Udaipur or Kolkata. So they wouldn't care much or even know about the exact distances between two places. All they care is the time taken. As compared to Mumbai, since more people in Udaipur and Kolkata would ride/drive themselves, they have a good idea of the distance and hence, that measure provides a clear answer.
Another possibility is that, with traffic jams all day round and one or the other road under repair or construction, time becomes more critical as compared to the actual distance, in a fast paced city like Mumbai. For example, my office is only 8 kilometres away, but it takes anywhere between 25 and 45 minutes for me to travel. In this sense, if someone asked me, "how far is your office?", an answer of "8 kilometres" indicates nothing.
On a personal basis, it also might give some info about the answerer's priorities. If he does answer with time as a measure in stead of distance, it just shows he is pressed for it. How would you answer this question?
Apr 4, 2009
Feb 26, 2009
A cuppa a day...
This is an inspiration from MathAtheist's post here and a post from Rashmi's blog (Couldn't locate the post, though).
On a recent trip, I realised that I drink lotsa cups of tea and coffee when in office. My brother V was accompanying me and he pointed out that I have got addicted to it.
Maybe he's right, maybe he's not. The only way to find out was to check what happens if I stop drinking everytime I want to.
It's been 3 days, and it's been nice. The target was 'a cuppa a day'. Down from 4 cups a day. AndI have come quite close to it already. I have had only 4 cups of tea in the past 3 days... and no coffee!
And yes, it does prove, I am not addicted. Water quite effectively substituted tea / coffee whenever I felt the thirst, and not drinking tea/coffee felt great too.
"How long will you continue this?" you may ask.
In reply, I quote a dialogue from The Matrix Revolutions [2003]:
The Architect: "Just how long do you think this peace will last?"
The Orcale: "As long as it can."
:)
On a recent trip, I realised that I drink lotsa cups of tea and coffee when in office. My brother V was accompanying me and he pointed out that I have got addicted to it.
Maybe he's right, maybe he's not. The only way to find out was to check what happens if I stop drinking everytime I want to.
It's been 3 days, and it's been nice. The target was 'a cuppa a day'. Down from 4 cups a day. AndI have come quite close to it already. I have had only 4 cups of tea in the past 3 days... and no coffee!
And yes, it does prove, I am not addicted. Water quite effectively substituted tea / coffee whenever I felt the thirst, and not drinking tea/coffee felt great too.
"How long will you continue this?" you may ask.
In reply, I quote a dialogue from The Matrix Revolutions [2003]:
The Architect: "Just how long do you think this peace will last?"
The Orcale: "As long as it can."
:)
Feb 19, 2009
Outliers: An outstanding take on 'Luck'
"I make my own destiny."
This is what my T-shirt says today. But the book in my hand respectfully disagrees.
'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell presents a very compelling case on why successful people are not just brilliant and hard-working, but also 'lucky' to be in the right place at the right time. In fact, as the first few chapters in the books explain, some successful people are 'lucky' even for the month and year of their birth!
Outliers explores both width and depth of 'luck' playing a role in the success stories of people. The first section explains the amazingly wide set of circumstances that, as Paulo Coelho would have said, conspire to make a person fulfill his/her dreams. And the second section goes deep in the history of successful people... in many cases, up to a few generations back in time. And both sections present the same conclusion. Success is as much a matter of chance, as it is a matter of genius.
Talk of equal opportunities for everyone!
This might depressing and dis-empowering, but the book's message is exactly the opposite. And this is where the book itself becomes an outlier among books on success. Gladwell goes on to say that the conclusions simply mean we can 'create' more successes by simply adding the 'luck' factor. In many cases, it can mean doing as simple things as tweaking the circumstances a bit. Like a small change in the rules of how Canadian hockey players are selected for professional leagues can give us double the size of outstanding players, even if the pool of eligible players remains of the same size.
If what the book suggests is true, the impact of making such small changes around us would be so big, that it would be beyond measurement.
At a very personal level, I found the book very inspiring. I finished the book with this thought:
"At the same time when I am carving out a living for myself, I am willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, creating circumstances for others being successful (or failures). I contribute to the 'luck' factor that their genius requires."
And that sounds like true power!
This is what my T-shirt says today. But the book in my hand respectfully disagrees.
'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell presents a very compelling case on why successful people are not just brilliant and hard-working, but also 'lucky' to be in the right place at the right time. In fact, as the first few chapters in the books explain, some successful people are 'lucky' even for the month and year of their birth!
Outliers explores both width and depth of 'luck' playing a role in the success stories of people. The first section explains the amazingly wide set of circumstances that, as Paulo Coelho would have said, conspire to make a person fulfill his/her dreams. And the second section goes deep in the history of successful people... in many cases, up to a few generations back in time. And both sections present the same conclusion. Success is as much a matter of chance, as it is a matter of genius.
Talk of equal opportunities for everyone!
This might depressing and dis-empowering, but the book's message is exactly the opposite. And this is where the book itself becomes an outlier among books on success. Gladwell goes on to say that the conclusions simply mean we can 'create' more successes by simply adding the 'luck' factor. In many cases, it can mean doing as simple things as tweaking the circumstances a bit. Like a small change in the rules of how Canadian hockey players are selected for professional leagues can give us double the size of outstanding players, even if the pool of eligible players remains of the same size.
If what the book suggests is true, the impact of making such small changes around us would be so big, that it would be beyond measurement.
At a very personal level, I found the book very inspiring. I finished the book with this thought:
"At the same time when I am carving out a living for myself, I am willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, creating circumstances for others being successful (or failures). I contribute to the 'luck' factor that their genius requires."
And that sounds like true power!
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