bliss of ignorance

In my oscillating cycle of interest, now I am switching back to non-fiction – that too more related to building skills required in my trade. This is leading me into some self help style books which I wouldn’t want to read normally. But the current book I am reading has great tips on promoting oneself, how to build more visibility, build a good brand, network and loads of tips – it is written by somebody who has cracked the secret of getting inside the skip of people without their knowledge. It is probably one secret which could give you ability to sell anything and get you those millions. Being cynical about this maybe a case of sour grapes.

But letting people like me in on those kinds of secrets is like giving me a clue to recognize people who use those tricks. For example, I started blogging to just write about what interests me at the moment – I had known only one use of it then. It can also be used as a tool for the “entrepreneurs” to deliver value and get recognized – so that their prospects recognize them. It is part of a branding exercise. While reading a blog post, I am now reluctant to click on a link which is referring to another post in the same blog – I have started considering it as a cheap trick to increase readership. I somehow feel manipulated or I find the information tainted or planted to trick me. What if you know the little secret, that the people who are volunteering for a charity event are really looking for expanding their network? Always suspect the motive if something is given away for nothing.

I think sometimes it may be better not to know certain secrets – those which change a pretty view into some mask. Like a doctor who has seen how it looks under the skin or a psychologist who can analyze what you really mean when you say something (like being funny is a subconscious trick to hide insecurity or something) – you would wish if you hadn’t known that. Leave some things as it is, don’t look under the rocks or peek behind curtains. If you are in on certain secrets maybe then you will have to rediscover happiness or peace in spite of knowing that, whereas you were happy in the beginning without knowing that. It might be better to steal a view of a beautiful place and just leave with that pretty picture in mind than get into the dirty streets and meet its mean people. Sometimes it is good to keep things simple, but no, we have to explore, cut, split, expand, extend and complicate it so much so that the original beauty is lost forever. It might be better not to get into details sometimes. It might not do us any good to know that what we call pretty is just a play of light or trick of geometry or make-up or something that may not look good in a different light or different time of the day. It makes me happy when the salesman/owner of a local store back at home gives me a genuine smile or recognizes me after a long time – he doesn’t know the persuasion/influence/manipulative-still-ethical/networking skills of a trained and successful sales person in a corporate chain store in a big city. If with more knowledge men can be more successful at making money, but staying ignorant preserves some natural goodness, what should we choose?

today's article: self-healing programs

Today I read about IBM’s self-healing programs.
I don’t expect it to be as smooth as it is made out to be, but this is adventurous. I was first of all wondering why terms like autonomic computing, artificial intelligence, regenerative systems etc gives a kind of thrill like a fantasy or science fiction. Anyways, it need not be a macro phenomenon, but the principles could be applied in minute way in routine applications as well. Systems doing preventive maintenance sort of checks (like the on-board diagnostics of car and “check engine” warning light) – it should be possible to put in pre-coded periodic self-checks. Systems trying to do some basis error correction before throwing it out to the user (the very first data format error need not be thrown and program aborted – it could try to correct the format and continue). Systems could learn from how it is used and present better ways – frequent navigations, frequent combinations of data made available. Systems doing self auditing on a periodic basis and sending reports. Not only finding problems, but suggesting solutions for it.