Common sense and/or application of mind

What differentiates smart people and dumb people or idiots?

It is the power of common sense, a keen eye to observe things, validate what they hear or read, not take things for granted. It is about application of mind on simple things and not doing things blindly or mechanically. A lot of graduates know or taught only doing tasks and not application of mind. Over a period of time and a lot of skulduggery of their bosses and by learning from mistakes they become wise and start using common sense. They start perceiving information and how to relate it to what they already know. But some people are unwilling to learn or disinterested to learn and are sometimes pre-occupied with other than office work to continue being ignorant and committing a lot of errors and blunders at which point in time they are either given lesser responsibilities or are forced to leave the organisation.

A major part of the ability to think on things and apply their minds and be conscious of the environment and data while performing a task or taking a decision is dependent on the way the people are brought up during their schooling or college days. The environment, the people and the projects that encourages them or forces them to think through things is the key to understand how things work and what things affect and how they affect a certain object/objective. This enables them to do a self check with readily available knowledge/information in their head to understand the trade offs and take a decision or perform the task right in the first instance.

Curiousity is another factor that enables people to learn and apply their minds. Curiousity also leads to creative thinking and adds value to things and brings about new solutions. Curiosity too is a factor that has to be encouraged in the childhood and cannot come suddenly at an old age. This factor in turn can be identified and leads to a talent.

Determination helps people focus. Another key factor that avoids innumerable distractions and stops others needs taking over your identified goal. This also allows people to bring more of their resources (time, money, connections, etc.) to the goal instead of using their resources to do other things.

So, to be smart and use common sense, encourage people to increase their curiosity and help them achieve their goals for them to see the value of their goals achieved through determination.

Why I hate (many) Marketers

From when did babies start having 3 different life STAGES? I thought babies/kids was one life stage.

Lets see how Johnson's does it:

Three Life stages:

New born, Baby & Toddler.

New Born:

Head to toe baby wash, Baby lotion, Baby shampoo, Baby oil, Head to Toe foaming wash, Head to Toe fragrance free baby lotion.

Baby:

Baby Lotion, HEAD-TO-TOE^® Baby Wash, Baby Powder, Moisture Care Baby Wash, Baby Bar, BEDTIME^® Bath, BEDTIME^® Baby Bubble Bath & Wash, Baby Bubble Bath & Wash, Vanilla Oatmeal Baby Wash, Soothing Vapor Baby Bath, Honey Apple Baby Wash, Baby Cream, BEDTIME^® Lotion, Shea & Cocoa Butter Baby Lotion, Vanilla Oatmeal Baby Lotion, Baby Lotion with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Daily Face & Body Lotion SPF 40, Baby Shampoo with Natural Lavender, Baby Oil with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Oil Lavender, Baby Oil Gel, Baby Oil Gel with Shea and Cocoa Butter, Baby Oil Gel with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Creamy Oil Cocoa & Shea Butter, Baby Creamy Oil Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Powder Calming Lavender & Chamomile, Baby Powder Medicated with Aloe & Vitamin E Medicated, Baby Powder Pure Cornstarch with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Cologne.

Toddler:

Baby Powder, Baby Bar, BEDTIME^® Bath, BEDTIME^® Baby Bubble Bath & Wash, Baby Bubble Bath & Wash, Soothing Vapor Baby Bath, Honey Apple Baby Wash, Baby Lotion, Baby Daily Face & Body Lotion SPF 40, NO MORE TANGLES^® Shampoo, NO MORE TANGLES^® Extra Conditioning Shampoo, NO MORE TANGLES^® Detangling Spray, NO MORE TANGLES^® Leave-in Conditioner, , Baby Oil with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Oil Lavender, Baby Oil Gel, Baby Oil Gel with Shea and Cocoa Butter, Baby Oil Gel with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Creamy Oil Cocoa & Shea Butter, Baby Creamy Oil Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Powder Calming Lavender & Chamomile, Baby Powder Medicated with Aloe & Vitamin E Medicated, Baby Powder Pure Cornstarch with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E, Baby Cologne, BUDDIES^® Moisturizing Body Wash, BUDDIES^® NO MORE TANGLES^® Easy-Comb 2-in-1 Shampoo, BUDDIES^® NO MORE TANGLES^® Detangler, BUDDIES^® Easy-Grip Sudzing Bar, KIDS^® HEAD-TO-TOE^® Body Wash Tropical Blast, KIDS^® E-Z GRIP SOAP™ Berry Breeze, KIDS^® NO MORE TANGLES^® Detangling Spray STRAWBERRY SENSATION™! If you have read all these so far, I congratulate you for your sense of detail or boredom!

Can any normal mother tell me what on earth all these products are for and how many of them are  DIFFERENT... like the difference between baby cream/ baby lotion, baby wash/ bedtime bath/ baby bubble bath & wash/ bedtime baby bubble bath & wash and so on and so forth...

FMCG Marketing at its wits (or otherwise)....and so called Innovations!

If the mother starts using all these products, I wonder if she will have any time for anything else and if she will end up being a good masseuse or complain of hand pain!

Motherhood

"A baby gives birth to a mother".

Dangerous kids :D

New ratings and censorings

http://poomanam.blogspot.com/2010/02/brothhood-lurve.html

One comment there this is very apt!

We now need shows and movies with rating:CG - Under Children's guidance.

And we also need a parental filter when they browse the internet.  :P

The guidance

http://average-everyday.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-post.html

Pasted here for easy readability:

The Fiction-

"Papa, He took my ball...... took my ball...."

The child came whining at the top of her unbroken virgin voice.

"It's your ball. Right??"

The six year old looked up at her father and nodded.

"So, What are you going to do about it??"

The sharp question put the child to silent thinking.

Her father just smiled.

Author's note-

A child is an individual with it's own thinking, capabilities and creative intuition. More often I come across parents who feed their children on what to do, rather than kindling their own child's problem solving quotient. In a culture like ours, where kids stay with the parent until almost they get married, I think parents guide their children a little too much.

After all, how many times have we heard parents saying- "I made all the decisions for her till now. I care for her. So wouldn't it be appropriate for me to find her a good suitor."

Parenting is a gift, a bliss. To see a child make it's own mistakes, it's own choices and to take part of it's tears and laughs in it's life is a privilege in it's own right.

Continous obsolescence

While I was walking on one of the Mumbai suburb roads last month, all of a sudden I smelt something that I hadn't smelt for more than a decade. That smell was of freshly made atta (powdered wheat) at one of the atta making shops. I remember going to a shop and grounding atta when I was in Mumbai in 1999-2000. Ever since, I have never done it and I don't even recollect seeing a shop that makes ground atta with that curious looking long mechanical machine. As a kid, I remember countering my dad on many occasions when he used to argue that during his days, he used to carry many kgs of wheat to the atta maker and get them back ground. That he used to work so hard and not have all the luxuries we have in our times. I used to hit back saying I too have done that. Now, looking back, I could be making the same claim to my kids, the problem is I don't think they will even understand what I am talking about. With all the commercial atta available in ready made packs of various sizes, the need of buying raw wheat or getting it from the ration shop and then grounding it with instructions of the coarseness of the powder (more like the short/medium/long when we guys go to the barber and instruct) has stopped by my family and many other middle class people. It is hard to even see these shops in the cities now.

Found this related article about the flour milling occupation written last year:
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/26/stories/2008102658640300.htm

Do feel free to add things that you once used to do as a kid and now our children can't even understand the things if we start claiming those things we did.

Forget the father, forget the mother

Forget the terms "mother" and "father". It does not seem to make any sense to me anymore. After the recent event that has taken place in the US, I am very confused about the definition of father and mother. I have a few questions that I would like you to answer before I go ahead with this topic:
1. Does giving birth to a baby make a person a mother?
2. Does providing the egg for making the baby constitute making the mother?
3. Has the mother always have to be a female?

In the most conservative answers, yes will hold good for all these questions. But think a little more liberally. Answer1: No. Haven't you heard of surrogate mothers? The egg donor is called the mother. Ans2: yes, a biological mother. But no, in case of adoptions.
Ans3: Now I am really confused about the meaning of the mother in the first place. So I will say cant say. I will explain this part. In the most reccent event, a father has given birth to a child. The story is as follows: There was this girl born 35 years ago and around ten years ago got her sex changed by surgically removing her mammary glands and taking testosterone, but retained her original reproductive organs. Then the state of Oregon in US pronounced that the person was man enough to be called a man(now this is legal). So she is now a he. He marries a woman. But the woman has had hysterectomy( a surgery where the uterus is removed) and cannot bear a child. So he stops his testosterone doses, orders a donor sperm, gets artificial insemination done, and he reproduces naturally(remember he still has the female reproductive organs). So he(legally a man) bears a child. 

So now I am really confused about the role of a person as a mother? What is the one critical condition that makes a person a mother? Looking by the way things are going, gays and lesbians wanting to adopt and raise children and also use donor eggs/sperms to have kids of their own, the definition of father and mother is going to be very blur and fuzzy. Interestingly, I have a solution to this :) Forget the terms father and mother. Call them parents. Primary parent and secondary parent. (Just like in a joint bank account). If the parents have two kids, one could be the primary parent for one and the secondary for another and alternatively for the second kid. This generalisation will bring all kinds of parents to the same level(Gay parents, Normal heterosexual parents, Lesbian parents, Single dad parent, Single mom parent and guardians for kids without parents). All will anyway be taking on the role of a human being who wishes well for the kid and wants the kids to succeed. So we can put an end to stopping the discrimination based on gender and then even the sexual minorities(cross dressers, transvestites, gays, lesbians and people with genetic defects where they may have the sex chromosomes of XXY and very rarely XXXY) will benefit and everyone should be treated as equal human beings. Oh! And by the way haven't you heard "Research is on to make a sperm in the lab just from a woman"? Science keeps getting interesting. :-) If you know or think you know the answer to this question, please comment :"What is the one critical condition that makes a person a mother?"

Update 26 Sep 2012:
After 4 years of proposing my above idea, France is set to ban words 'mother' and 'father' on official documents under plans to legalize gay marriage.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/09/25/france-set-to-ban-words-mother-and-father-under-plans-to-legalize-gay-marriage/