Importance of Stupidity

In the recent issue of Current Science, P. Balaram writes about stupidity and success (link to pdf file) in scientific research. He says,

... There seems to be little discussion within institutions and departments on the need to promote a collective approach towards building up an intellectual climate that promotes scholarship. An environment which appreciates the ‘importance of stupidity’ (especially ‘productive stupidity’) would be wonderfully energizing. Unfortunately, we have gone overboard in ‘incentivizing’ research ...

He quotes the essay by Martin A. Schwartz on the importance of stupidity in scientific research. Schwartz writes,

... we don’t do a good enough job of teaching our students how to be productively stupid – that is, if we don’t feel stupid it means we’re not really trying. I’m not talking about ‘relative stupidity’, in which the other students in the class actually read the material, think about it and ace the exam, whereas you don’t. I’m also not talking about bright people who might be working in areas that don’t match their talents. Science involves confronting our ‘absolute stupidity’. That kind of stupidity is an existential fact, inherent in our efforts to push our way into the unknown ...

It is quite interesting to find ways to communicate this confrontation of absolute stupidity in a class room. That's less harder than feeling stupid.

Grand Challenges of Indian Science

According to R. A. Mashelkar's recent article in The Hindu, the grand challenges are as follows:

• To build some irreverence in the educational system
  
• To create innovation ecosystem
• To create truly innovative scientists
• To pose big problems
• To promote out of the box thinking

Primary education, modes and delivery of our education system do not figure in these "grand" challenges. May be it is now fashionable to think big, do big, dream big, etc. We should first learn to do simple things elegantly and effectively.

A Habit of Lies

John A Hewitt writes on his website,

This site is about the way scientists cheat, by falsifying the scientific literature and rigging debate to include and acknowledge only "acceptable" opinion. It is derived from my as yet unpublished book "A Habit of Lies." The particular topic is taken from my own experiences in the field of cell biology but I think the practices described are widespread.

You can read A Habit of Lies here.

Strand Book Festival

The Strand Book Festival is back.

Venue: Basava Bhavan (Opposite Hotel Chalukya & Sophia School), Bangalore
Period: From 26th November (Thursday) To 13th December (Sunday)
(Incl. 3 Sundays)
Time: 10am - 8.30pm

Address of the book shop:

Strand Book Stall,
Manipal Centre, Dickenson Road, Bangalore-42
Phone: 25580000/2222, 30577661-3

They have a website too: www.strandbookstall.com. But when I had visited it Google flashed me the following message:

What is the current listing status for strandbookstall.com?
Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.
Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 3 time(s) over the past 90 days.

I have written to Strand Book Stall about this.

To this blog's friends: I am back with my post after a long time. You will, hopefully, now see posts regularly :-)

A Room With No Exit

Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.

-Thomas Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530)

______________________________________

Levels of Confusions

We do not know many things. We seem to learn few things as time passes but there is this nagging feeling of incomprehensibility. Here is a quote from Oksendal's Stochastic Differential Equations:

We have not succeeded in answering all our problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things.

- Posted outside the mathematics reading room, Tromso University

_____________________________

Going Through the Past

What is the role of evolution of ideas in communicating those ideas? Here is a quote for us to think about such issues.

The task of the educator is to make the child's spirit pass again where its forefathers have gone, moving rapidly through certain stages but suppressing none of them. In this regard, the history of science must be our guide.

- Poincare

_________________________________

We deserve this, don't we?

1. Rahul eats Puri, Curry, and Daal.
2. Cat stuck on the Roof
3. Amitabh Bacchan catches cold
4. Commissioner's pet dog goes missing and later found

These are some of the breaking news of our media!!! Read more here.
___________________________________

Finding the Heaven

Who has not found the Heaven — below —
Will fail of it above.
- Emily Dickinson

I saw those waves splashing against stones with force that could not have been imagined. Driblets were distributed in space. I tried to find a face in those bantam drops. A face that lives amidst the silence of pleaching waves. It is a game of hide-and-seek.

Hide! Hide! I stood for a long time.

Seek! Seek! I stood for a long time until a sparge of dribs caressed my skin. When they diffused and dried up, I heard the sea chuckled.

It is a game of glide-and-eek.
____________________________

Pay Rs.2 and get Rs.700 - the CPM way

The Economic Times reports,

... It (CPM) already has two prime properties in Delhi — one in the Gole Market area and the other on Rouse Avenue. While the revolutionary activities around the country are being dictated from the AKG Bhawan in Gole Market, the BT Ranadive Bhawan houses the party’s trade union wing CITU’s central office. The new plots that the CPM has acquired are on the Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg, close to Rouse Avenue. The new plots, spread over 2,850 sqm have been allotted to the CPM for Rs 60 lakh, according to sources. The market value of these plots is around the range of Rs 45-50 crore.

... The CPM’s grand land acquisition in Delhi clearly indicates a cosy arrangement between the Congress and the Left. The Left, which does not spare any opportunity to amplify its differences with the Congress and the government, has been quite successful in having its way in important postings. Rivals of the CPM have been alleging that the party is benefiting hugely from the patronage dispensation system of the Centre.

________________________________