About taking a standpoint....blindly
The squeak of the chalk on the blackboard brought me to class V with a jerk. Seema Miss my math teacher has scratched a word problem on the board. 
Miss: A man has some farm animals. 80% of them are goats of which 40% are black. 25% of the black goats have neat horns. If the black goats with broken horns are 360 in number, how many animals does the man have?
Me: (what!! The man sat and counted black goats with broken horns! Gross…how jobless)Miss: You start by supposing that the man has 100 animals.
Me at db 2: But why ‘hundred’? He could very well have 150 or even 1000 animals…right? In fact I can see he definitely has more than 360 animals!!
I never understood the logic of assuming that he has a hundred. I never built up the courage to ask her though. I did as she told us, and arrived at the answer.
It was only later……..Much later……….That I understood…..
What I did in class V was this…
I start with something I know. A standpoint, a premise I comprehend completely. 100
Then based on known facts I deduce. 80%, 40%, 25%...
Now I arrive at 24 black goats with broken horns.
BUT.......... The man has 360 black goats with broken horns not 24!!
Obviously, the premise that I had made: the man has 100 goats is wrong!
So I think again. .
When the goats with broken horns was 24 the total animal count was 100, hence, when the goats with broken horns is 360….the animal count is 100/24 x 360
And I find that the total animal count is 1200. See The premise is altered to meet the facts observed.
Our math teacher taught us to test our premise when the outcome was different. But do we do that?
Bride must be younger than the groom.
People from only our clan are good.
The Boss must make the best suggestions in a meeting.
Badly dressed men are insensitive.
Men with moustaches are ruthless.
We make premise. We start with supposing its 100. Facts are clearly different.
Yet we fail to modify the standpoint.
Our math teacher taught us
- to make a premise
- and modify the premise.
We remember to make one but rarely modify it.
Why so?
lack of time or
lack of courage
or plain ego?
--------------------Why so?
lack of time or
lack of courage
or plain ego?
It is wiser to find out than to suppose.
Mark Twain.
-------------------
Another good post. We do change our views but only over a period of time and the onus to change that opinion ( i.e. if they care to) is usually on the side that's being judged - ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen I am with strangers in India, I can sense that I am always being judged (from Ladakh to Coorg) - that glass of beer in my hand, that white guy next to me - phew morals in this country! Strangely, the beer causes my friends no such problems but then again, who cares! Let people have their fun and whisper...
i think we only change the opinion when we get affected by it (adversely) ourselves!! until then we feel free to whisper about others!!
ReplyDeletefew people let others be as they are and not whisper about them!!