Imperfect Notions : Life, Culture, Current News and Opinions

  Game Theory, as discussed or taught in the subject of Operations Research, Decision Science, or Management Science has a lot of applications and implications in real life. Here, we discuss one novel application of the same. For example, most of us believe in God, while, we are not even sure whether a God exists in reality or not. We believe in God, because that is the way we are conditioned or taught to think from the very childhood. While we are all rational and educated beings and tend to have an opinion on the veracity of facts regarding other issues communicated to us, this is one aspect we take as gospel truth. We will use the concept of saddle point to illustrate this concept and how our belief system works. An illustration of the payoff table to be used for the same is reproduced below. For learning more about the concept of saddle, point one can refer to the youtube channel link given at the end of the blog. Basically, we have two players in this game, each having access ...

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The purpose of this blog is to share insights on books and movies that I find valuable, helping readers save time by highlighting content worth their attention. By curating recommendations, the aim is to guide both individual and collective growth, sparing you from sifting through material that may not contribute to personal development. This space is designed to foster engagement with enriching stories and ideas, ensuring that the content resonates with meaningful progress. Books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki   The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma  Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles The Goal-A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox (A must read for students of Operations Management) Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda ( High on Spiritual Content ) Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman The Rosie Project by ...

  Recently I came across a movie on this theme and a moving story in a book called “The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle” by Matt Cainon, illustrating ‘love’ between two boys, who are presently in their 50s. The protagonists in both the movie and the book set me thinking. The characters in both cases indicate that, one, ‘love’ is a matter of choice, and, two, that is how ‘these’ people seem to be made. Recorded history in terms of ancient texts, pre-historic paintings, temple arts also depict such behavior in humans in the past. There have been recorded instances of animals exhibiting similar behavior in real life. But, that seems to be more of an aberration than a norm.­­ Going through both of these narratives however made me realize that this behaviour is real and not ‘imagined’ i.e. it is not that the characters indulge in such kind of behaviour due to lack of opportunity or any other external compulsion. It is something very basic and primordial, which, I did not use to believe ...

Few years back there was a huge controversy when one of the political scions of India spoke about ‘poverty being a state of mind’. While poverty is very real and tangible for a segment of population which is below the poverty line and do not have access to a reasonable level of nutrition, health care, housing, clothing etc., for others it is just a matter of degree. It is a matter of degree, for example, as in what kind of medical facilities one has access to ranging from just about basic to ‘luxurious hospitalization’ with best facilities in foreign locations. The end point remains the same, to be cured of whatever was ailing us. Whether we talk of food, housing, clothing, transportation, etc. one can identify the extreme ends of this spectrum and beyond, as far our imagination and experiences take us. However, we as individuals always find it very difficult to identify the optimum point for ourselves. We always seem to be aspiring for the higher or a better level. However, is it po...

  Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainites, they say, as also the   ‘Gentleman’s Game’ or ‘Gentleperson’s Game’, in this age of being gender neutral. But, for the first time in international cricket, a player has been declared out (timed out) for not being able to take to the crease in time. Ergo, the gentleman, ergo the game. I mean, one did not allow the player to participate in the ‘game’, isn’t it? What the ‘phew’… Another rule that I find very funny in cricket is the requirement that if you hit the wickets and bails are off at the first hit, then to run out the player you have to pull out or dislodge the stumps. I mean with DRS and so many other technologies in place it can easily be determined whether the ball hit the stumps for the player to be declared run out. Where is the need to try and uproot the stumps! When we were young and used to discuss fast bowlers, one would claim that ‘Bro! So and so fast bowler starts his run up almost from the boundary’. I mean, i...

The history is written by the winners, it is said and if there are different winners at different points of time then there are different histories, and, then what is the history we are going to teach the kids in school, presently. Such, is the dilemma in which we find ourselves at this point of time. Times are changing fast and so is the technology. What do any of the religious texts, one believes in have to say for that… The use of mobiles/ laptops/ printers for example - Is it ‘haram’ for muslims, or a part of idol worship for Hindus or a copy of Guru Granth Sahib for Sikhs, for that matter. One can think of numerous examples, and, I will leave it to the readers’ imagination to think of so called ‘paradoxes’. The wearing of ‘hijab’ was dictated by the society at that time due to some social complexities. But, do all the muslims in all the countries of the world wear hijab; that is the larger question? The reason Hindus have 33 million Gods, is a case in the point. If one COULD NOT ...

Food and drinks have been a primordial habit with us? And, after we are weaned of ‘mothers’ milk, it is as ‘Sadguru’ would put it ‘What goes into us come from the mother earth (including the five basic elements – water, fire, air, aakash (ether) and will after a certain period of time return to earth.’ While the basic philosophy and dogmas related to it can be questioned and argued, the, basic question remains as to why some food🍲 is tastier than others. So, here I am going to argue purely from an operational point of view as to what are variables involved and how many different permutations are possible, and, is it possible to make the best (tastiest) food? Let us see (stereotypes) – Food made by mother always tastes best, Grandmas make the best savories, pickles, jams, marmalades; Wines think French, and, whiskeys, brandys from England etc. etc. Today I will take just one of these stereotypes and leave my readers to contribute the rest and maybe peace will prevail. So here we begin…...