What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing? (Theory of Knowledge)

There are several understandings and different ways people can categorize sciences into two groups , Human and natural science. According to my idea and knowledge of science, I divide this into two groups with Natural science consisting of Physics, Chemistry, Biology , and Astronomy are all related to the universe we live in.  Human sciences as the word itself says is related to the behavior, activities , history and experience related to human beings, these can be categorized into social sciences and humanities consisting of History, Economics ,Geography , and sociology .  It is crucial for everyone to understand the importance of both these sciences as it’s the understanding of  both these sciences which makes our place a better place to live in .  

What is a theory?  A theory has a expected hypothesis which is proved through the evidences and research based on the ideas. It’s the techniques in the sciences which are crucial for the success with a methodology and theory which can be a quantitative design or qualitative with a quality research and backing it up with evidences.  It’s the success and research with theories that has made us all believe in what the scientist say and its that success that has lead to  the development in technology with things related to humans in specific and nature outside us and the way it behaves.   The way in which the theories have been formed and concluded itself is a form of a knowledge issue. Over the years there have been several theories in both the categories which have been hugely supported and successful  which have been believed due to several reason.

 According to me there are several factors and reasons for a theory being accepted due to the several ways of knowing  ,  and the way it is understood related to several methods of thinking and knowledge such as : 1) Humans always having a standard and level of acceptance in which everything has to be agreed mutually by everyone which determines the quality of the statement or theory.  2)  A theory from a well known established scientist always gives a human being a pre- understanding  that it can be trusted and believed which is the natural thinking and behavior of human beings. 3) A virtual incident or a disaster which has had a huge affect on humans in the past will be accepted with a theory relating to it which does make sense . 4) Evidence and a key example and a proof is the biggest factor that makes unknown belief true and convincing.  More regarding to natural science , it’s the procedure and format followed to conduct a experiment in a organized way that also makes it convincing with the format and theory consisting of a Hypothesis, background, Data collection,  analyzing  with the final conclusion and evaluation .   

The method for human science in comparison doesn’t have any method common , uniform and followed by many. For any theory or a assumptions its people having one point of view and another person automatically having counter claims with practical evidences from real life situations, examples and experiences. Science itself in the text book tries to show that everything researched is convincing due to several reasons such as it having a blend of logic and imagination,  researched over several years, it being subject to change,  to identify and avoid bias,  and predict with evidence.

There are several theories over the years which have been hugely true and convincing in both natural sciences and human sciences. There are two main theories which I would like to talk about . The reasons for choosing these examples is the fact that both these theories at first were hugely criticized and as time went on due to evidences, development and technology , the theory was convinced and believed.  First the theory of Plate tectonics by Alfered Wegener  in natural science and another being a huge worldwide controversy which can be debatable is the poverty line set by each countries to indicate the economic disadvantage and assistance required for each country in the human sciences , ( in specific to India).

One natural science theory which completely made all of us understand the phenomena  of earths plates was  regarding the movement of plates and continental drifts  by Alfred  Wegener  in 1915 which gave the start to the theory of  plate tectonics .  This was one theory which had many disputes and different point of views and it required the reality evidences to really convince everyone that he was true.  Alfred was the few to say in the early 19^th century that the different shapes of the continents clearly show that they were once close stuck together and earths surface changed over time. Many believed due to the earths natural cycle of heating and cooling that caused the thermal expansion and contraction to cause the separation and far distance of each continent.  During that time everyone had their own views with some following Alfred that continental drift is the reason and others following the fact that it was thermal expansion being the reason  with everyone confused due to lack of awareness and poor knowledge of the issue.  This dispute went on for decades until the moment  when the magnetic field showed that the north pole shifted.  With the north pole axis being fixed and static always , it gave no other idea other then the fact that Alfred Wegener was true. It was one evidence that strongly supported his saying and theory.  In the natural way of thinking of humans , one evidence and example cannot convince such a huge relevant theory regarding the plate movements. 

 It was another incident during the world war 2 where seismometers were installed on the country borders when they discovered the plate edges and the fact that earthquakes and volcanoes are the main cause of shifting. In another incident, it was the finding of minerals and other material that they found the earths crust having stripes which could have been no other way other then the shifting of the lithosphere.  Over the period of time it was several evidences over the period of time regarding the same theory that convinced the people more to the largest extent that it is true . In almost  every natural science theory whether its related to gravity or plates,  it’s the exploration and normal behavior which somehow leads to new findings  which causes us to link to natural phenomenon’s around us with the statement, awareness, knowledge , trust , acceptance standard and  evidence in reality.  

An example of one knowledge issue having several problems  and understanding in the field of Economics in the  human sciences is the poverty line set by countries. Over the past few months in India , there has been huge debate relating to the fact if a person earns more then 32rupees a day, he is considered to be above poverty line?  This means that 1000 rupees a month is a very good standard according to the country.  The government in 2005 showed that only 42% of India’s population is  below poverty line with the prediction of 2015 being 22%. With this amount it is impossible to manage with such a less amount with the huge soaring prices of basic resources such as rice itself costing 30 rupees  per  kg minimum  , vegetables and Fuel. With such a low rate, the whole aim of this is to come up with the statistics to show India at the world economic level that it is doing very well with very less percentage of the population below poverty. 

There is no doubt that India is a developing country with china with great progress in the worldwide economy, the whole data and claim is exaggerated to a huge extent at the cost of the poor people lacking the basic resources  as depending on the rate of poverty , the amount of funds is received.  It is one failure in understanding of the knowledge issue affecting the whole country as the funds go to the people of the agriculture sector, rural education sector, industrial sector and food. There’s clearly no one uniform and agreed official measurement of the poverty line by the government of India. Even the local  National commission for enterprises in the unauthorized sector  after the research show that more then 77% of Indians live on less then 20 rupees per day  and other committee reports showing that its  50% Indians living poverty line.  

Being an eyewitness in the situation and reality of the country,  the statistics put up by the government no where match the actual state of the country.   The reasons for this statement and statistics put up by the government not convincing is the fact that there are conflicting  knowledge, people with different backgrounds, perspective of the common man and the government ,  peoples trust on the government in terms of performance and history   and  lack of evidence that there’s very less poverty .

Its never a fact that we  have to agree to a theory or a statement regarding science and its up to us based on the science philosophy, background, process of research , evidence with the combination of human knowledge, awareness , and different point of views. Its the  common mutual understanding whether to agree or not to a theory  is to help us understand the operations  and behavior  of the world around us with several factors  continuing to convince us  as the years go on as ,research and discovery will never end in the field of human and natural science . 

Euthanasia

How many of us here have heard about the term Euthanasia? I myself not long ago learned about this concept during one of the presentations done by a student in the ethics class. And after viewing that presentation, I really felt this is one concept that everyone should be aware of and know in their life and that’s the purpose and reason for me taking this topic.

 We all feel that doctors and developments in the field of medicine can literally sort out every health problem we come across. But the sad reality is the fact that even they are human beings and there just isn’t a solution for every problem in life.  Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending the life of a person to relieve  pain and suffering. When I’m talking about pain and suffering, I’m talking about the most deadly diseases & life threatening health issues that even the doctors cannot solve. The most common example is of individuals who land up in comma, when they are physically present but mentally dead. Where there is no movement and communication at all.

 The Individuals life itself is shattered and destroyed with absolute no existence with no purpose of being alive at all. There are several examples in the world, where each person is leading a perfectly happy life when disaster strikes and that one incident destroys everything you dreamt of leading a normal life. There are two forms of Euthanasia, one  is passive where there is a intentional cause of death where there is no medical assistance or care provided at all. The other type of euthanasia is active euthanasia where a injection or medicine is given to take the life of a person with immediate effect.

          One example of  Euthanasia was in 1973 on the evening of november 27^th , where Aruna Shanbaug a nurse in King Edward memorial hospital was sexually assaulted by a sweeper. She was strangled by a dog chain which cut off the oxygen flow to her brain, spinal damage, cervical cord injury and permanent blinding. This shocking incident resulted in Aruna being in a vegetative state for 37 long years? Yes, 37 years lying in a bed with no movement, interaction and no life at all.  Her friend wrote a petition to the supreme court saying that she lies on the bed like a dead animal and just a skeleton. Imaging the pain that Aruna went through that evenings incident, and lying in one place for 37 years.

 Imagine the pain that her parents, friends and loved ones went through? Is it practically possible for any one to see her suffering for 37 years with absolute no chance of recovery? Her parents and friends begged the supreme court for Active killing to end her life to end all the pain and struggle she went through to at least reduce the pain that she was bearing and the people taking care of her. Our government as usual never sanctioned this request as this would go down as murder according to them as its forcing the killing of a person. After more then 37 years, Aruna finally rested in peace after all the years of suffering through passive Euthanasia recently. A outcome which should have occurred a long time ago.

 What happens to the sweeper who committed that incident? He was sentenced to jail for 7 years and he was released and free for the rest of his life. Our amazing judiciary system.  Now even after thousands of cases like this world over, related to rape, brain damage, comma state , cancer and soo many other causes.  It still amazes me how Euthanasia is only legal in a few countries world over like Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg,  and Albania. 

There are several arguments against euthanasia saying that doctors are meant to preserve life and not assist and encourage in taking the life of others. Is It assisted suicide? Some also say the whole process is unnatural & unnecessary and against several religions and some may even use it in the wrong way where people always look to take their life away where the fear to face the harsh realities and dangers of life. Some may just end the persons life to save money and financial expenses.

But , when we make all the decisions by ourselves, whether its education , life partner, career, food and all our needs and wants I seriously think it’s the individuals decision and freedom to decide whether he wants to end his life to reduce the pain and suffering  for himself and loved ones or not with proper consent of the individual and if her or she cannot communicate in cases such as brain damage or being paralyzed, the parents and other loved ones should take the decision on Euthanasia.  The purpose of life is to be of use to others where others can benefit from you and you can change the life of others in a positive way and not induce pain and suffering on yourselves and most importantly others.  

My Friends We are born with Dignity, let  the people suffering die with dignity. “ Do to others as you would have them do to you if you were in the same position”

Round Square Project ( Community Service)

I’ve always wanted to make a difference in other people’s life. People who are just purely unfortunate to live a life with no basic necessities. It was the month of April, when I was approached by one of my teachers who requested me to go for a community service project. He briefed me completely about the value, importance, schedule and events during this 8 day social project. Straight away, my first reaction was a big YES without a second thought. This was a project done y me during my 12^th grade as part of CAS (Creativity, Action and Service Program). The location of this project was in the Aravalli hills, and this was a self volunteered and optional project during the summer vacations from the 7^th to the 15^th June 2011.

 Honestly throughout all these years I’ve never started of my summer vacations in a more different and satisfying manner then this after returning from the project.  From pathways Noida it was only four of us representing the school and I really did think, what are we going to do 8 long days? And how everything’s going to pan out.

    There are several combining factors which has made this one project very memorable and one that I won’t forget for a long time.  There were several schools from all over the country which gave an opportunity to interact with individuals from all over the country. I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to go for this Social Project out of all the students in the school. The best part of this trip was meeting new faces from all over the country whom I’ve never met before and making new friends while working together at the work sites, group activities and the hostel. I was also very fortunate and very lucky to meet all my old school friends whom I had studied with for two years from Indus Hyderabad. It was fascinating to see how my old friends had changed so much over a period of time in terms of their physical appearance, voice and character.

This project gave me huge happiness, satisfaction and an opportunity to discover my own talents which I never thought I was capable of. Getting out of the classroom environment and working at the boiling hot temperatures during day , doing everything possible to make a difference in other people’s lives  and make them happier was a great feeling. It involved  doing everything we can in a short space of time from building a huge stage for a rural school, building a long boundary wall ,  cleaning up and widening  two lakes  which was in a poor condition for the cattle’s and agricultural purposes for the people of the village. I’m sure all these four work sites will help them In some way or another which involves our complete 100% effort. While working at all these four locations, there was one thing which was all ways driving me on about the fact that there’s huge gap between the rural and urban population on the basic necessities such as education, food , shelter and wealth. 

These are people who are no different or worst from us . Children there are purely unfortunate that they lack the basic necessities and resources that we have.  During my experience of the whole trip, I really felt how thankful and fortunate I am to live a life with everything I want and need. The trip made me look at my life in a different in ensuring that I never be greedy for more and be satisfied and happy with who I am and what I have and never have regrets in life. There isn’t any extra effort or any factor that is the cause for us to live the life with everything we want and those children who even lack the basic resources and necessities.

There are several other skills which I learnt which is crucial in life such as time management though out each of the 8 days, my physical effort, potential and stamina  for once wasn’t only in sports and  the school environment. Another major factor was adjusting and adapting to the toughest environments and conditions which really did give an idea of how hard it is for us in just to survive for 8 days where as people in the villages have this as their daily life and regular routine. This was an experience which I personally can never forget, and every individual in life should make a effort at some point in their life to give something back to the society which would change other people’s lives and make a difference. The happiness, satisfaction and feeling of helping another person in life can never be comparable to anything else ever. 

Ramadhan, The Holy Month of Fasting

Ramadan, also said as Ramzan,Ramazan or Ramadhan is observed and carried out all over the world by Muslims to observe the revealing of the  Quran to prophet Mohhamad. This marks the 9^th month of the Islamic calendar and to celebrate this holy and historic moment, Muslims worldwide fast for a month (duration of 29 to 30 days).

This fasting is different from most common methods of fasting where food is only consumed before dawn (sunrise) and after sunset. Muslims must refrain from any form of consumption, neither water nor food. It is highly important for all Muslims to carry out the following tasks during the holy month of Ramadan:

 - Regular Salat ( Prayers), all 5 times during the day.

-          -Reciting/Reading and understanding the Quran.

-          -Providing food and resources for the poor and needy.

-         - Learn verses that are used during prayers.

-         - Avoiding bad talks, backbiting, fighting & lying.

The most exciting and fun times during the month of fasting,  are the daily evenings after sunset when its time to break the fast (Iftar).  This occasion is a moment for everyone to come together with a huge variety of juices, fruits, desserts and fried food. This occasion is known formally as the Iftar party where all friends, relatives and loved ones are invited. Food with richness, culture and diversity.

There are plentiful amount of benefits to every Muslim who fasts during the month of Ramadan:

-All the sins and mistakes of the individual are forgiven during the holy month.

- The rewards during the month of fasting are multiplied.

-Health and well being of individuals are extremely improved to carry out a balanced lifestyle.

-An opportunity to reflect on the sins and carry out self control & self discipline.

This leads to the completion and success of fasting for 30 days. This month of fasting is celebrated and known as Eid-al-Fitr ( Festival of charity). This is the start of the new lunar month where Muslims return to their normal lifestyle as changed and unpolluted human beings.

The key purpose and motivation in the month of Ramadan can be summed up as; "When Ramadan arrives, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of hell are locked up and devils are put in chains.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS:

-         -Do you think fasting is a form of worshipping in other religions too? Find out how are they different?

-          -One of the main weapons of Gandhi  to get his things done was fasting, how was Gandhi’s fasting different from religious fastings?

-          -“Anything repeatedly done becomes a habit”, Does doing everything right for a month help form good habits?

     

ACTIVITY:

-Find out how Ramadan is practiced differently in various Muslim Countries? (Countries shown in the map)

USEFUL LINK:

- www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPc7_Q8EG-o

The Forgotten Importance of Motivation in HR

The very first term that comes to a person’s mind, the moment we hear Human Resources is “Recruitment”. Its soo often that most of us perceive that hiring employees is the most imperative function of the HR department, and once that is fulfilled the work is accomplished. This is where most organizations make the biggest slip-up. All the time and effort for months together is done in planning and of course, most HR departments effectively hire the best employees, but they are never taken care of. The element of Motivation is ignored as most organizations see financial rewards and bonuses being the solution to all problems. This in nature leads to foremost challenges which every HR Department in any organization faces over time:

- Inconsistency in work output

-Continuous degradation in the quality of output

-Lack of professionalism with a very high absenteeism

-Constant demand for financial rewards and quick promotion

-Very High attrition rate

There are accumulating hurdles and problems for HR departments, the key lies in understanding the concept of motivation in detail. Motivation in simple terms is reasons for our course of action. Intrinsic motivation is the internal passion, interest & love for what we do. No matter the time spent, or financial payment, it’s the satisfaction and enjoyment an employee gets that cannot be matched with the financial perk provided. How many of us remember the last time we felt like that at our work place? Its either, we have landed up in a job that is not of our interest or the absolute boredom and continuous work repetition. In contrast extrinsic motivations are the external factors that influence an employee’s motivation and drive to do work.  They consist of Salaries, bonuses, and fringe benefits varying from accommodation, transportation and group insurances. 

 Companies set aside Lakhs together in the annual budget preparation to provide financial rewards just to reduce the attrition rate, the effect or benefit of the financial reward to employees is very minimal and it does not prevent the employee from leaving the organization. Any form of financial reward is immediately seen as a accustomed financial payment in just another form. There are various factors that influence an employee’s decision whether to resign the current job or not, but the most determinant factor is work satisfaction (Intrinsic motivation).

The most powerful, cheapest and effective form of motivation is intrinsic motivation. There is absolutely no financial cost at all, but it yields in abundance of benefits for both the employee & employer (Win-Win). To ensure this is achieved, there are some essential components that have to be implemented by organizations:

I.       Aligning employees to the organization’s Mission & Vision Statement:  Every organization has its own Mission & Vision statements, but what defies the best organizations in the world from the rest is ensuring every employee is conscious of the organizations future goals and works every day towards it. In most cases the Mission & Vision statements are just a creation for a official purpose, a one day thing and it’s forgotten. It’s up to the organization to make employees realize the value and importance of achieving the goal and it’s the effort from every single employee and togetherness that would help attain the long term Vision. Every organization has to make that effort to develop a high quality Mission & Vision statement that is realistic. It’s a challenge for the companies to constantly inform, persuade and remind employees of the Mission & Vision statement. This over time would eliminate the financial rewards driven work and make every single employee want to make a difference to the organizations future with a real intention and purpose.

II.     Creativity: How many of us remember the last time we have done something creative at our work place? Every employee has a regular routine with the same work repeated over and over again. The common perception towards lack of creativity is either the particular job has no creativity at all or the existing creativity within an employee is constantly restricted by the work environment. The thought of only a few select jobs having creativity has to be eliminated. Every job has massive scope for innovation, creativity, and coming out with something new or improvising. That extra effort and time has to be invested. Employees who do posses the creativity and innovation are considerably restricted in their work environment. For creativity to transpire an employee has to be given that freedom, flexibility and a very good work environment. But sadly this is very infrequent as employees have a very congested work place, time restrictions & deadlines, constantly monitored, and a very strict standard operating procedure with very less flexibility.

Its only when creativity exists, that employees are going to enjoy what they are doing.

III.  Passion/Interest: The number of employees who land up in jobs which are of their passion and interest has become radically abundant. In the modern day and age, the importance for job seekers has shifted from a career of interest to any job that yields the maximum salary and financial reward. Its all centered around enhancing the lifestyle and meeting the essential needs and abundant wants. Therefore it’s a immense challenge for every recruiter to find an employee who has the passion and interest for the job with less priority towards financial benefits. Along with a job description and job specification, it’s a motivated centric criteria match sheet that allows the employer to find the apt & passionate employee. The motivation criterion has to be given more importance than any other aspect for the job and look for the employee who has the passion for the job. It’s the zeal for the job that would give way to the best quality output and consistency from employees and that in return enhances the entire organization.

IV.  Work Recognition: The self-confidence boost, fulfillment and love for the job can only be obtained when you’re recognized for the work. The natural human tendency in any work place is when your respected, appreciated with a sense of belonging. But sadly most employers and employees associate work recognition to promotion or financial bonus or reward. Given importance in a team, appreciated by the team lead or manager in front of others is a larger boost and happiness  then a financial bonus or reward that is common in every work place. But sadly this is rarely practiced by organizations.