So I thought to myself, instead of letting the blog degenerate into a place where I broadcast my rants, let me instead pause to reflect on all that is good in this world and express my appreciation for the same...
-- A kudos to all the guys who help out at NGO's, small schools or even at some small camps.
I really am awed by the selflessness of these guys. Always, having an excuse of lack of time is how I usually duck out of such things. I find myself cribbing if someone intrudes or eats into my Comp Gaming time and at the other end of the spectrum are these guys who make time to bring about positive change in the world around us.
-- To the general spirit of compassion and brotherhood the common man feels when his fellow mate needs help.
It usually takes a personal incident to give birth to such a belief and in this sense my case is no exception. However, throughout the past week, on looking upon with a non-cynical view, I saw that the spirit does exist..for eg. when my friend had his wallet nicked on the bus..it was complete strangers who backed him as he accosted the would-be pickpocket, and with that support was able to retrieve the same.
-- The deep rooted religious beliefs and practises, which though are used divisively by miscreants, have a power to unite like no other tradition. I find it very heartening that a majority of the public still a special respect and sense of occasion for all such festivals irrespective of their religion/caste/creed etc.
-- A great bunch of friends
No denying that, without them life wouldn't be the same. :)
-- A loving family
Whose love knows no bounds and without whose support the journey till here would have been highly improbable. They are God's best gift to me! :)
Guess that rounds it up...expect a good solid dose of rants to make up for all the Goodness.
Ciao! :)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Breaking the Illusions
That human attention spans are dwindling is now almost a fact. The problem is further compounded by the rapid pace at which trends change nowadays. In such a scenario, I do not envy the task resting upon the shoulders of the Content Managers in Media Houses today. The media houses derive most of their revenue from advertisements, and the Content Managers often use every trick in the book to jack up TRP's. This may not be much of a problem when done on a General Entertainment Channel, the problem comes when News Channels employ such tactics to grab eyeballs.
Objectively speaking, it is easy to see the bias or 'Shadow Packaging' which goes on on a TV news channels, it just takes a switch of the channel to make out the same. However, it is not so easy to make out the same in case of the Print media. The problem lies in the fact that not many people would subscribe to more than 1 Daily or more than 1 periodical, that they could see the inherent slant of the newspaper.
This brings to the fore two very important issues.
Firstly, with so much of packaging and editing which goes on in reported news, how does a Citizen in our country form an unbiased Opinion that his purely his own?
Secondly, even for the well-informed populace, the question arises, are the views he forms his/her own? Or are they simply a result of passive indoctrination?
To the first, the most obvious answer would be to turn to The Internet, but from my experience on the Intertubes, what I have observed is that there tends to be a hive mentality on most Internet Fora. This means that at most fora, the majority of the people are those who have similar set of views and any opinion expressed with an opposing view is quickly shot down. Moreover, as in real life, people on the internet too tend to hang out with people with similar views thus defeating the very fundamental gift the Internet can offer, that is Objectivity.
The answer to the 2nd seems to be a painful Yes. In todays' world very few of our opinions on various matters, are truly ours.
This, then, brings me to my ultimate question, Is it actually possible for a person to ever form an opinion without any outside bias. If yes, Would it be good for the Society on the Whole or Bad?
Do let me know what you think.
Objectively speaking, it is easy to see the bias or 'Shadow Packaging' which goes on on a TV news channels, it just takes a switch of the channel to make out the same. However, it is not so easy to make out the same in case of the Print media. The problem lies in the fact that not many people would subscribe to more than 1 Daily or more than 1 periodical, that they could see the inherent slant of the newspaper.
This brings to the fore two very important issues.
Firstly, with so much of packaging and editing which goes on in reported news, how does a Citizen in our country form an unbiased Opinion that his purely his own?
Secondly, even for the well-informed populace, the question arises, are the views he forms his/her own? Or are they simply a result of passive indoctrination?
To the first, the most obvious answer would be to turn to The Internet, but from my experience on the Intertubes, what I have observed is that there tends to be a hive mentality on most Internet Fora. This means that at most fora, the majority of the people are those who have similar set of views and any opinion expressed with an opposing view is quickly shot down. Moreover, as in real life, people on the internet too tend to hang out with people with similar views thus defeating the very fundamental gift the Internet can offer, that is Objectivity.
The answer to the 2nd seems to be a painful Yes. In todays' world very few of our opinions on various matters, are truly ours.
This, then, brings me to my ultimate question, Is it actually possible for a person to ever form an opinion without any outside bias. If yes, Would it be good for the Society on the Whole or Bad?
Do let me know what you think.
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