Dilemma in Decision Making Process

What would you do in this situation?

There are two railway tracks passing by a city. One of them being in use and the other in disuse. Further, a train can change track to the track that is not being used in emergency.

On a bright sunny day kids have come out to play and are playing on the tracks. There is one kid playing on the track that is in disuse. But there are ten kids playing on the track that is being in use.

A train is fast approaching towards children but the kids are unaware of it (you may wonder how, but let us believe it is so!) and the train cannot be stopped within the distance available. You cannot blow whistle and warn them as unfortunately the whistle has stopped working!

The driver of the train has two options and you have to help him decide on this dilemma:

1: Go on the track that is in use and kill 10 kids OR

2. Shift the track to the one in disuse and kill only 1 kid.

Will you help the driver decide providing justifications for the option you choose?

"This shuddering before the beautiful, this incredible fact that a search after beautiful in Mathematics should find its exact replica in Nature persuades me to say that beauty is that to which the human mind responds at its deepest and profound."

S Chandrashekar,

1983 Nobel Prize Winner - Physics

Scientific Method

In the matter of physics, the first lessons should contain nothing but what is experimental and interesting to see. 

A pretty experiment is in itself often more valuable than twenty formulae extracted from our minds.

- Albert Einstein

Likable Quote

Born to Rule, Live to Lead...

Lessons Learnt

Thinking of what are the lessons learnt so far at Brainstars...
Thinking about various aspects of education...

And I conclude...

"I am not a practitioner of science but am a practitioner of the scientific method"

Phases in Life

There are various phases in life of an individual. These phases can be characterised by various parameters. For the day let me just put the onus on the physical aspect - the age of an individual.

Typically, we have the phases to be from birth to death as Kid, Adolescent, youth, middle age, and old age. Once i did consider what is it that drives all of us through these phases! Or rephrasing, as we all go pass these various phases what (energy, spirit) drives us through them all.

My thoughts flowed once from my pen (literally) and I wrote which i rewrite here for the e-version.

MINE

A KID is born and sees the world round
Crying when the mother-mine not around,
Feeling all that is there is mine,
Anything full of colour is fine.

Growing into an ADOESCENT was fun
And frolick, giving time a run.
Playing with friends, fighting for mine
All day running down the ravine.

Reaching the YOUTH for good,
Playing with ideas for food,
Thinking of I, Me and Myself,
Mining thoughts of the self.

Crossing the river of life,or
Walking on the knife,
The MIDDLE AGE passes finding an abode,
Yet one finds oneself at the cross road.

Growing graciously into OLD AGE is best,
Ailment is part of life next,
Lest be this phase suffering only,
One is blessed with a huge family.

From birth to death life flows,
From kid to old age the body grows,
All the while spent in the aging self,
None has time to speak of the ageless Self!

Goal and Dream

We are all told to have a goal in our life as a goalless life is not worth living. Goals set directions in our academic, professional, and personal pursuits. Setting a goal is all about visualising oneself how one would like to be, say, 10 years later. This requires us to think ahead of the immediate present. One needs to think of the long term. One needs to think beyond the short term, say, 6 months to a year.

When one has decided on a goal and has started "walking on the path", one should keep that GOAL in mind at all times during this phase of 'walking on the path'. This requires one to dream about it. One should have it in their 'flesh and blood'. The approach should be at all levels of one's being - the physical: Work for it at all times; the emotional - Feel it at all times; the intellectual - Think about it at all times.

Furthermore, in the Indian classification of the states of awareness we find the waking state, the dream state, the deep sleep state and the 'turiya' (have not found an equivalent english word for it). Stating the above in this scheme is to say that in all the four states of one's awareness we are to have our GOAL and DREAM with us.

Find below the poem on DREAM that captures this idea. I will not decide it is rhyme or reason that is penned below!

Dream

When one falls asleep, inevitable are the dreams,
Many while away their time in day-Dreaming,
Should one then stop dreaming?

Dream, dream big say quite a few,
How to dream, what to dream,
And what is the dynamics of a dream?

Yet dream shouldst thou.
For in dreams one finds
The fount Of success and fame.

Dreams shall set the goal for Life,
Dreams shall set the pace for work,
Dreams shall provide a challenge for the mind.

Dreams are the mantra for one's progress.
So, stop not till you fulfil your Dream.