“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same” – Flavia Veedn
What do you expect in the ‘ideal’ teacher?
Knowledgeable, wonderful ability to impart wisdom, affectionate, joyful, entertaining and the rarer traits of humility, willingness to correct oneself when wrong and above all, a burning passion to be one.
BUT you were all of that and SO much MORE!
May, 2014: I was quite disappointed after looking at my final scores from Grade 11. I was not in the best of mental spaces and it felt like a glum start to the final year of high school.
Life sometimes trudges along slowly and quite unexpectedly takes you to a place that you didn’t even know existed until then.
You were the shining ray of light (I correct myself, *electromagnetic radiation in the visible region of the spectrum) at that point in time in my life and strived diligently to ensure that your students left that day with a smile on their faces.
Although biology and maths were the subjects I was deeply fascinated by, I, like many others, couldn’t simply ignore the passion and dedication you brought to your classes and continue with my day. I’m sure my peers would unequivocally agree.
In your chemistry class, I felt recognized and worked doubly hard to UNDERSTAND concepts because every one had to be on their toes. You might quiz suddenly while writing a series of equations on board or in the middle of a long-winded story that had little to no payoff at times. 🙂
I’m tearing up as I write this. I cannot recall an instance when you were dull and didn’t feel like teaching. You gave your 120% every day for this profession with a big, wide grin that welcomed everyone. 😊
As a teacher, you may have been graded/ranked by the school administration with the proportion of your class scoring above a certain percentage as a key metric.
But if one were to grade you as a teacher by the amount of scientific curiosity, temper and sense of humanity generated within your students, then your scores would burst through the roof.
I am not the most expressive of people and may not convey my deep respect or display my excitement even if I met you right now but I wish I could for once.
“Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
-JOHN C. MAXWELL
You were an epitome of that statement and I’m sure you would agree. ‘Correct no?’.
I’m a big fan of Neil Grasse Tyson’s idea that all of us are derivatives of stardust when he says:
“We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust.”
I hope that this thought that we are chemically connected resonates with you. Like the strong nuclear forces that hold protons and neutrons together, you bound us all to chemistry, science and life lessons that we still hold dearly.
Life is fragile, unfair and cruel at times but you left it much better than when you found it with lots of love and positivity along the way.
May you teach the properties of benzene and its derivatives, crack jokes and entertain those in Heaven.
Thank you Jacob Sir 🙏
Grateful to have been your student (Class of ‘15, DPS, Dubai)
Note to my DPS Dubai classmates and his students: I want to make a compilation of particular stories/ incidents/classroom interactions involving him and on how he has touched your life and send to his family.
So please contact me at 97vyaas@gmail.com if you’re interested in sharing your stories. 🙏🙏
P.S: My thoughts on him that I scribbled down on Oct 8, 2014
My chemistry teacher, Mr. Ajith Jacob ( power 26,lol 🙂 is a great role model and inspiration to me. He is well versed in the art of rhetoric and provides inspirational examples and quotes to elucidate concepts related to chemistry. Undoubtedly, he is my favourite teacher.
His catchphrases include ” I’ll powder you” , “Correct, no?”.
Sometimes, he cracks jokes that, I feel, are downright lame. A few classes, he entertains us with so many jokes and examples, I forget the concepts he taught that day. His jokes,occasionally, act as digressions leading to an air of laughter and cacophony in the class. Hope you meet him whenever possible.
This is a post where I describe my brief encounter with C9H13NO3.
Adrenaline was something I knew on a superficial level. My understanding of that hormone was strictly limited to reading it in biology textbooks and the occasional roller coaster ride. On that night, I truly understood that reading about biological emotions that others experience pales in comparison to actual experience of those emotions.
The problem when discussing ethical dilemmas like The Trolley Problem is that it is near impossible to tell whether people would actually act ‘ethically’ (or the way they say would behave) when facing that particular scenario in real life. I did not face a moral dilemma with a magnitude comparable to that of the Trolley Problem but it sure felt like one at the end of it.
Now that you have a basic understanding of The Trolley problem, let me get into the crux of my experience.
I was walking up Chauncey Hill on my way to visit friends on campus. It was a cold night with the temperature hovering around 15 degrees Celsius. I was looking ahead and walking at a brisk pace when I saw a man landing powerful punches on a woman’s face and chest. She could barely speak or move herself away from his strong grip.
Let me pause here for a bit and delve a bit into the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism. Yes, the mechanism is something we’ve carried from our ancestors who entered that mode at the sight, smell or sound of a threat. It is important to note that this threat might have been perceived (could have been rustling of nearby branches that triggered our ancestors to this zone) or real (sight of a lion in the savannah grasslands of Africa).
But the phrase ‘fight or flight’ is only partially right. The reason being that there is another automatic response called FREEZE. Think of the time you are in a room having a good time with your friends or family late at night. Most people tend to pause mid-conversation at the sound of an unexpected ring at the door. Well, they’re actually freezing, an excellent survival tactic that enabled our ancestors to survive when they sensed a change in their surrounding areas. The freeze gave us time to reflect and think of the next moves in such situations.
The next time you hear someone say ‘fight or flight’, remember that there’s a freeze that kicks in automatically.
After that little detour, let me continue my story. Naturally, my first response was that I froze for a good three seconds at that sight. His punches were so vicious that I could hear them from a distance of around thirty feet. My adrenaline had kicked in (for the first time in my life where knowledge about ethical dilemmas doesn’t matter, it’s about real-time decision making at this point) and I observed the following changes in quite a visceral manner.
My heart started beating faster to supply oxygen to the major muscles.
My breathing had nearly frozen as I didn’t move an inch and my body chose to stay as still as possible.
I began to sweat a bit and noticed that hairs rose on the back of my neck.
This one is not a physiological change but one that I felt in my inner core. It seemed as if my surroundings had frozen and the two people in front of me were the only ones there.
When I snapped back to reality after a few seconds, I had some semblance of control over my thoughts and movements. I observed that both of them were middle-aged and knew each other on some level. My gut reaction at that instant was to flee the scene and dismiss the whole encounter as a bad dream. I turned halfway and felt an inner voice screaming “This is not who you are”.
I had a choice to make when I heard that voice. Should I let it slide or listen to it?
Moving hesitantly but slowly, I observed that the sneaky hormone, adrenaline, had worked its magic and I was in a better frame of mind to make decisions. “Hey, leave her alone. Move away from her” I screamed at the top of my lungs while I approached them. Mind you, he was still landing punches on the woman the entire time. I could have ran and intervened but realized that my body frame was no match to the bulky, thick muscled man.
The shocking nature of the gut-wrenching act taking place in front of me was completely dwarfed by the callousness of ten people walking right past the physical assault.
“The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
At that moment, I almost checked myself to assess whether my imagination was pulling tricks on me. It was heartening to hear another woman’s loud cry on my left, “Let her go. Leave her alone”. Now, the man had two people yelling at him in his vicinity and that put an end to the punches.
Then, he firmly held her by the collar and dragged her to the entrance of the Greyhouse coffee shop. Critical momentum was reached in terms of strangers speaking up and around six of them formed a circle around the couple. More eyes. More witnesses. More support to the victim. He was now shouting at the woman and didn’t lay a finger on her or the students that surrounded him.
Now that the battery had stopped, I picked up my phone and made the important call. 9-1-1. It was my second time making one. The first time was to report a medical emergency when a jogger collapsed on the ground a year prior to this incident.
My hands were not shivering anymore. No quavering voice. I took a deep breath and told myself that I was ready for this. I recounted the entire incident including the current whereabouts of the individuals to the 911 operator with as much detail as I could. At the end of the call, they asked for my name. Being an international student, I didn’t want to identify myself and get involved in the legal process that might follow. I know it comes across as selfish but I’m simply describing my thought process on that night. Reluctantly, I provided my details and ended the call with the operator thanking me for my report and information that help was on its way.
While I was on the call, the two people had moved into a small restaurant that was thirty feet away from the coffee shop and the crowd that surrounded them earlier had dissipated. His rage died down and they were arguing inside the establishment without physical contact when I peeked inside the restaurant. The ticking time bomb had been diffused for the moment. As he stepped out of the eatery, I walked in the opposite direction to my friend’s place with the hope that the woman was safe inside.
Three months later, I received a call from the police department saying that my description helped them identify the perpetrator and that he was in custody. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Even though it was quite dark on that night, there was a fair chance the culprit made a note of my physical appearance. Since that night, I looked over my shoulder and was extra cautious every time I stepped outside my house. Upon hearing this news, a feeling of relief and calmness flooded over me. More importantly, I knew that my decisions actually made an impact in some tangible manner.
They specifically mentioned that two 911 calls were made on that fateful night. My account and identification proved to be more beneficial in the end. Later, the official mentioned that there is a small possibility that I would have to appear in court to ID the person. I paused for a few seconds before I accepted. I was extremely anxious about it and was hoping for this situation to be resolved without my appearance in court. Thankfully, my prayers were answered and that was the last time I spoke to the local police.
Writing this article now, I would have done one thing differently. Once the man left and turned a corner on that street, I should’ve stepped in to have a chat with her and let her know that she has support and is not alone.
But hey, I’m only human. You win some, you learn some.
The one burning question that I can’t even begin to answer is “What was going on in those ten college students’ heads when they casually strolled past the incident on that night??”
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that when you are put under pressure and facing a life threatening situation or an ethical dilemma, ACT, ACT NOW and ACT FAST. Judging whether your actions were right or wrong is a matter of hindsight and has no bearing when you are on the hot plate.
Following is the verbatim transcript of my meeting with Timothy Bock. Here is a brief description of Tim’s background from Purdue’s Executives in Residence (EiR) program website:
BS Civil Engineering and MS Finance (Purdue University)
Bock is a Purdue Alumnus (’79) with international experience selling engineered products to Industrial Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). He has managed multiple businesses on three continents and served on joint venture boards in Japan and China. Bock’s experience in business development, new product development, manufacturing systems, and business systems and finance led him to becoming Owner and President of CDI Electronics, a prominent company that focuses on the design and manufacturing of ignition components for the Marine Aftermarket.
We dived in deep on emotional intelligence, leadership, dabbled a bit about renewable energy and finally ended our conversation on a positive note about respect and mutual understanding.
1) What is one mistake that you witness leaders making more often than others?
A: Never get angry. Because, you’ll lose your audience. Number two is always be respectful with the people you interact and recognize that everyone wants to have their ego stroked and everyone wants to feel like they’ve contributed. The way you get people to sign up to you as a leader is to treat them respectfully, solicit their ideas and be genuinely interested in what they know. There are people you can learn from and people you can’t learn much from. Maybe they don’t know much or are full of themselves and their egos are out of control among many other reasons. But, you have to be humble enough to believe that you can learn something from everyone in their room. And they’ll walk away thinking “I like that person because he cared about what I thought”. Make people feel validated.
“Think about whether you are playing the role of a teacher, a student or a peer and whether you should be teaching, asking questions or debating.” by Ray Dalio is a profound statement that has shifted the way I view human interactions. We have two ears and one mouth and it is ALWAYS beneficial for people to actively engage by listening. On the other hand, one must continually seek to understand the dynamics of their position in that conversation.
2) How do you go about distinguishing two candidates with equally impressive resumes?
A: Potential, native intelligence, emotional maturity and the ability to communicate their ideas. Everybody’s resume is different. It’s important to gain an ‘intuition’, if you will, or a sense of understanding of someone’s experiences. A skill that I wish I could develop more is asking the right questions. A lot of times in an interview, I’ll end up talking about my business when I should just be asking more questions to see what makes that person tick. Give them a problem and see how they react to it.
3) Do you have a go-to curveball question that you ask to get an idea of their emotional maturity?
A: (laughs for a few seconds) Describe a professional failure and what they could have done differently. That shows you if they’re humble enough or introspective enough to learn from their mistakes.
4) Favorite Books?
A: Good to Great by Jim Collins (mentioned in an earlier post and was recommended by Drew Mattison). He breaks down leadership into five levels in the book. The Level 5 Leader cared more about the organization than himself. He empowered people and it’s always about “How do we get better?” and not about bringing glory unto himself. That really struck me as a good leadership book and finding ways to move a company to the next level.
5) When you look at leadership, either in your industry or in general, do you think the core principles around leadership has changed over the past fifty years? How companies hire or pick leaders? Say, forty years ago, was there for a drive for companies to hire leaders who don’t show weakness?
A: Maybe so. Even today, charismatic people get an undue amount of recognition and publicity. The humble person does not. But that’s not what it’s about. Recognition and publicity isn’t the goal. Business success is the goal. And that’s not to say I don’t have an ego or tooted my own horn now and then, but I admire the people that don’t care about those things.
Humility and charisma are not mutually exclusive personality traits. Yes, I agree that some charismatic people may be outright arrogant and bully those around them. On the other side, you might find the humblest beings on the planet unable to command stage presence like Obama or JFK.
6) Another idea I’ve been thinking about is the relationship between leadership and vulnerability. For a person to be emotionally intelligent, that person has be willing to admit and talk about failures in front of his employees. How do you go about creating a culture where you develop leaders who have that courage?
A: Well, I think of the opposite. The way to mess that up is to call out failure and make an example of people who’ve failed in a negative way. Or to get angry with them or to berate them. It’s okay to make a mistake. The people that work for me have made a mistake or failed at one time or another. My first question is “How do we fix that?” and “How do we learn from that?” and make sure it doesn’t happen again. So, I’ve already gone past the failure on to the corrective action. The unsaid message is “Okay, we failed. So what. Now what do we do about it?”.
The emotionally unintelligent leader gets angry at the failure and has to export their frustration on to people . Then, they’ll be afraid to do anything. Not that it’s okay to fail. But when failure happens, it’s all about the learning process and corrective action.
The book ‘Emotional Intelligence’ goes into quite a bit of depth on this subject. What I enjoy about it is the age old question particularly applicable to Purdue people who are technically oriented who know how things work. And then you’ve got people who are using their personalities to achieve in the business environment. They don’t know how the product was designed or how things work.
It brings up the notion of two kinds of intelligence: IQ intelligence which is how most of our intelligence assessment systems work in schools. And then emotional intelligence. Both are exceedingly important but our traditional systems only measure the former.
The emotionally intelligent people learned to measure what’s going on in the room and to convince someone to accept their position because they are confident enough in themselves and are not worried about proving themselves. What you are really doing is putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and going “Okay, how can I get this person to see things my way?”. That’s got nothing to do with your SAT scores.
In other words, how can a salesman be successful when he gets told ‘no’ a hundred times but when he gets told ‘yes’, he just made a million dollar sale. It’s got to do with the fact that he’s comfortable enough with what he’s trying to do. It’s about understanding the psyche of the people you are working with and learning how to bring them into your tent and bring them along to your way of thinking. It’s a big part of leadership.
I really liked the phrase “learned to measure what’s going on in the room”. Personally, I connected with his remark about salesmanship because I worked for a little over a year as a student fundraiser for my college. My job was to call alumni (aka strangers), form a personal connection based on the limited information I had (name, age, major, hometown) and then ask for a donation. Remember, I was nervous as hell going in to the job because I was not someone who enjoyed small-talk and only spoke if I thought I could add value to the conversation. In this job, I heard a hundred “No”s for every “Yes”. I know it’s not personal and there are a million reasons outside of my control that makes the stranger say “No”.
Like all things in life, there is a learning curve to new skills and over a period of about three months, my conversational skills had definitely improved not just via phones but also in real-life. It was quite rough for the first few months. Over time, it got to a point where I got a kick (little adrenaline rush) out of it when I heard “NO” from an alumnus. Rejection did not faze me anymore, in fact it pushed me to do better and reassess my work. Fast forward a year, I performed my first stand-up comedy act in front of a live audience of about thirty!!!! I hope to write a post outlining my experiences so look out for that!
7) The book Principles by Ray Dalio is one of my favorites (I know, I’ve talked about my guru so many times but bear with me). In that book, he talks about the importance of values, abilities and skills. Anthony Bourdain said “Skills can be taught, character is something you either have or you don’t.” in his book Kitchen Confidential. How much do you think one can shape the character of a person in a company or a relationship?
A: I think it’s possible to mold it. A lot of that comes back to your upbringing. Do you have unresolved issues from your childhood? Are you angry inside? Are you insecure because of something that happened in your childhood? Some people choose to deal with it as adults. That is quite possible with counselling and reaching out for other resources. A lot of times, these things happen when you get married because your demons come out when you’re living with someone in close quarters. That’s the way it happened for me. I had a terrific childhood. I love my parents and they love me. But there were still things that I hadn’t dealt with and didn’t understand about myself. So, I believe the answer is yes. You can mold character.
Now if people have unresolved issues like narcissistic personality disorder, they are constantly trying to prove that he’s smarter and better than everybody. That’s a sign of deep, deep seated insecurity. They can’t give anyone else credit. So you’ll run into narcissists in life. That’s the way to spot them. They can only give themselves credit. They produce the opposite of what they’re trying to create in people’s minds.
You can create character in an organization by leading it with character and setting examples. You might have people in an organization who have problems with their personal character but they know the company culture and that is to do the right thing.
Unfiltered, unadulterated and absolutely hilarious!!!
Bill Maher once said “One word to describe Donald Trump: id.” in his show, Real Time with Bill Maher. So poetic. Just two letters but conveys a lot of meaning and gets to the core of the identity.
8) Another idea that’s been on my mind recently is renewable energy. Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded talks about the five big problems facing America and the world in general namely supply and demand of energy and natural resources, petro-dictatorship, energy poverty, biodiversity loss and climate change. The next global industry to address those issues should be energy technology (marriage of IT and energy revolution). What are your thoughts on this issue and how do you see the future progressing?
A: First of all, I’m a free marketeer. I believe, to the extent – that governments can create a competitive environment and should let the market work. For example, I think ethanol in fuel is a bad idea because it is legislated by the government to have a stipulated amount of ethanol, say fifteen percent, in gasoline. So, that’s distorting the market. When that was put in place, gasoline was $4 per gallon and looked like a declining and a scarce resource. Now, a guy in Texas invents fracking technology and unleashes all these additional hydrocarbon resources and gasoline is $2 per gallon. We’re spending more money on corn which is more expensive than gasoline itself. It doesn’t make sense anymore.
The combination of technical innovation and a free-market took care of the problem but now the government is distorting it. Having said that, the role of the government is to set the rules to eliminate market distortions. If the market isn’t efficient in a particular situation, then the government should act to preclude organizations from taking undue advantage. I’m not saying there’s no place for government, bust usually the government gets in the way of the market.
Subsidizing renewable energy and tax incentives is a good public policu idea, to a degree, as long as the government doesn’t pick winners or losers because the market is much better at doing that than a group of legislators. I support policies as long as there’s a sunset. As long as it doesn’t go beyond its usefulness.
9) Dr. Pete Kissinger, ex-Purdue professor from School of Chemical Engineering, once told me, a couple of months ago, “All the easy problems have been solved by our generation. All that’s left for your generation are the tough ones.” What are some big challenges that you see for the next fifty or hundred years?
A: Energy will stay a challenge. I’m concerned about climate change. That’s a global challenge requiring governments to 1) acknowledge the problem and 2) work together to solve it. So, there’s a situation where the government needs to create rules. The market would be insufficient to do so. And we don’t have consensus. Most people believe it’s a real problem and some don’t.
10) People are inherently biased and the most common one is where they look for information that already confirms their pre-existing beliefs. Now, referred to as echo chambers or bubbles. How do you go about breaking those bubbles on two levels 1) from the standpoint of individuals in a distorted society 2) as a leader, how do you ensure that you don’t fall for this trap?
A: You’re referring to what many people call ‘tribalism’. People tend to gravitate to their tribe and only entertain information that supports the view of the tribe. It’s a huge problem in our government in this country because it’s so polarized. No one wants to sit in the middle and find common ground. It’s a terrible, terrible problem in this country and nothing gets done as a result.
11) Do you have any solutions for citizens or students who are going to be moving the country forward for that problem?
A: Well, it comes back to respecting the other person. Someone who has a different opinion whether it be a technical, political or an environmental issue needs to be respected. They are valuable human beings and deserve to be heard. Our society seems to be devolving into a bunch of insecure third-graders who only want to validate their own positions and not listen to what somebody else might have to say. You have to value the other person and understand where they’re coming from.
I was telling one of the administrators earlier today about how I dealt with difficult problems in organizations. I actually spent some time with an executive coach who made some terrific suggestions for me when someone attacks you in a meeting. Maybe they’ve attacked your position but it feels like they’re attacking you personally. They may be trying to subordinate you to create a greater role for themselves. What the coach taught me was 1) Don’t react to the attack, and 2) Ask questions to gain clarity about why the person feels that way.
You should ignore the personal side of it and say “I am not able to understand where you’re coming from. Can you explain to me further?” or “This is what I heard you say…. Is that correct?”. In other words, don’t make your response about the personal attack.
If all they’re doing is a personal attack, you’ve put that back on them because you’re asking them to explain themselves. Rather than defending yourself, ask for clarity. It takes a lot of emotional intelligence to do that and took me a long time to learn.
In recognizing and being trained to ask questions, I used it very, very powerfully to defuse personal attacks and situations. Quite frankly, to learn about where someone else was coming from, kept the conversation about the facts and not me personally (I said “That makes sense because you’re letting the other person dig a deeper hole for himself.”). Exactly, that’s part of the agenda in the context of gaining clarity. If there was no clarity and it was meant to be an attack, then it becomes clear to everyone else in the room.
12) When did you decide to move away from the technical side and get better at customer-facing skills? Was there a particular instance that led to the change in mindset?
A: Early, in my career, it was all about problem solving. Wanting to solve problems and having the personal energy to try to bring people together to get the problem solved. I slowed my progress, from time to time, because I let personal insecurities get in the way of that. There was an IQ and EQ element to my own career. I didn’t develop some of the emotional intelligence until I failed a few times not because the technical answer wasn’t present but because dealing with other personalities got more and more difficult and I wasn’t very good at that. When it went beyond the facts, people just got emotional or they attacked me. I didn’t always deal well with it. It took some failures and the humiliation led to humility and ultimately to come to grips with what I needed to do emotionally to get to the next level.
I have to admit, as I’m sitting here talking to you, I can remember a particular experience where my boss and mentor who recognized my potential. I was particularly frustrated about something that went awry and I was in denial about my own failure. He looked at me and said “Tim, you’re going to fail.”.
I had never heard that before. I was rocketing through the organization and getting a lot of things done. He was saying this in a helpful way but he really hit me hard when he did that. What he was telling me was “It’s okay to let that happen but your reaction to it is what takes you to the next level. Don’t be afraid to fail because it’s going to happen”. He was getting me over important emotional hurdle of recognizing my insecurities as a young business manager that I was afraid to fail and afraid to admit it. He helped me recognize it and grow emotionally in the workplace.
———-xxxxx———-
Blog I’m Reading Now: Essays by Zat Rana. He has about 30 essays and I absolutely enjoyed all of them. Here is one about happiness. Books I’m Reading Now:I am Malala: The Girl Who Stoop Up for Education and Was Shot by Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Podcast I’m Listening To: Ologies by Alie Ward
Merci for making it all the way to the end!! Feel free to leave comments and feedback down below or send them to 97vyaas@gmail.com!!
Walking past the Ringel Gallery at Stewart Center, I almost missed the opening reception for the exhibition, Sentinel is Watching You, by Björn Schülke but for the crowd that spilled out the room. I did check out the exhibit a few days ago and I was quite intrigued with a mild sense of frustration. It was the first time I ever came across the term ‘robo-kinetic sculptures’. I understand that art is quite subjective and I have no experience with paintings, let alone robo-kinetic randomly moving objects. The frustration arose from a lack of understanding hence I decided to talk with Björn and get his perspective. I was introduced to him by an Associate Professor from Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts, Fabian Winkler.
The display featured robo-kinetic sculptures that combined elements of infrared surveillance, interactive video and sound that monitor or react to the human element. More of his work can be found here !!
Fabian Winkler
Fabian has worked at Purdue for nearly 12 years and primarily focuses on electronic and time based art. He has been awarded a NSF CreativeIT grant along with Dr. Shannon C. McMullen for creative collaboration bringing together scientists, engineers and artists to investigate pressing problems faced by us in the 21st Century.
Q : Being an artist in today’s world is quite difficult. That’s one reason why I have massive respect for people in art and music. Did you face resistance or opposition from people around you?
A : When I got into an art school in Germany, the professor said, out of 100 people who graduate with this degree, only one person will become a professional artist (someone who can pay his bills with his work). It’s hard to make a living being an artist. I’m a professor which is my major source of revenue and I have works on the side that I show around. But Bjorn is someone who made it as a professional, that’s why I decided to work with him and bring him to Purdue.
Björn Schülke
Q : I am unable to understand what’s going on. What is the meaning behind these sculptures?
A : They have been programmed to detect movement and respond through their own movement. Sometimes, not always. It’s completely random. (“The fact that you can’t really control is something that interests me a lot” – from his 2015 interview at Bitforms Gallery, Art Cologne).
Q : What are your favorite museums, say top two or three in the world?
A : (Pauses for nearly thirty seconds) I usually don’t like going to museums because I’m more interested in kinetic sculptures and not paintings. The kind of art I like is not usually found in museums since they don’t generate revenue and attract crowds. One particular one is the Deutsches Museum in Munich. A lot of memories there. You should ask my wife this question because she’s a painter and loves going to museums more than me.
Locomotive exhibit at Deutsches Museum, München, Germany!
Q : What are your thoughts on artificial intelligence? Good, bad? Do we need to be more careful?
A : Well, just like all things in life, there are good and bad sides to anything. If you look at history, about 20 – 25 years ago, when I was in Germany, there was a survey sent out by the government with a few questions asking for personal information and background. There were many demonstrations by people on the streets demanding for their right to privacy. Now, in today’s world (pulls out smartphone from his pocket), it’s all out there and people are giving away their information to big corporations. Climate change is another problem that’s causing a lot of damage and will in the future too.
Robo-kinetic sculptures: Equivalent of mannequins from the perspective of AI in 100 years??
Q : What are your thoughts on climate change?
A : If you look at the lights in the room or people driving cars here in the US. They don’t use LED lights and drive at 50 miles an hour everyday to work. Almost everyone has a car. But in Europe, the public transportation is great and people care more about the society.
When I was down at Penn State a couple of months ago, I chatted with the Lyft driver who turned out be a grad student at the same college. His thesis focused on studying and mapping the climate on Jupiter. I was surprised when he said “They’ve (at the NSF and University level) cut the funding down for Earth’s climate research. People in my lab feel the burden. I’m happy I’m working on Jupiter coz our funding has remained the same and even increased a bit.” I was quite shocked to hear that statement and left to wonder where the planet is headed!!
Q : People care more about individual freedom in America compared to Europe and do not think of the consequences of their actions. I am all for capitalism and idea meritocracy but it needs to be regulated. Do you feel the same way? What are your thoughts?
A : I agree. In Germany, my work with kinetic sculptures is not recognized as much but here in America, my work was well received by museums and agencies in New York city. The reasons being lack of demand for such art and that European museums are more traditionalist. That’s why I’m here.
One book I keep coming back to isUnderstanding Power by Chomsky. He dives deep into international politics and dissects power structures that exist in the world. I learned to read in between the news headlines (of mainstream media) with a healthy dose of skepticism and understand the larger goals of social institutions.
Q : Have you checked out the museums in Chicago?
A : Ahh yes, I’ve been to the museums right next to the park. The Art Institute that’s close to the Millennium park and another one around there. I’ve been to Pittsburg once about 15 years ago with Fabian. It’s quite a nice place. I like going to Detroit as well due to the heavy influence of music and art. I’ve set up exhibits there before in the past.
After talking with him, I was then introduced to his wife, Marion, who employs facets of performance travesty and of the grotesque and a statement of diversity, myth and the exotic.
Marion Anna Simon
Q : When did you realize you wanted to be an artist?
A : Since childhood, I’ve always wanted to create things. When I was 16, I took an art class and realized I wanted to pursue art as my profession. Once I got out of high school, I was accepted into a prestigious art school in Hamburg. Only about 500 students get picked every year. I didn’t think I was gonna be picked.
Q : Is the Mona Lisa overrated?
A : You know what, the Fake News is quite popular everywhere (and laughs).
Q : Favorite museums in Europe or in the world?
A : Most favorite is Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (This was the one she mentioned last. When I asked her about the Mona Lisa painting, her eyes lit up and then she indicated that a large number of paintings in Rembrandt are similar to La Gioconda in the way they freakishly stare at the viewer from any angle). A lot of memories from childhood. Two and three on the list would be Prado Museum, Madrid and Städel museum, Frankfurt.
I haven’t read this book yet but it’s on my bucket list. Received critical acclaim from accomplished artists and even grabbed the attention of Bill Gates !
Q : What was it like growing up?
A : My father was a shoemaker and he died when I was young. My parents did not support my decision when I said I wanted to become an artist. Yes, they provided the basic needs but I had to drive myself to pursue my goals. My friends helped me get through it.
Her latest work, Gewehr Bein Pinsel. A video of her performance can be found here. Confused?? I watched the video a couple of times and could not understand what was going on. Glad I’m not painting. 🙂
Q : Can you describe this painting of yours? What was the inspiration behind it?
A : If you look at history, it’s usually a king who is riding a horse with a sword or gun in his hand. My idea was to make the horse smaller and instead of king, I wanted to have a woman so I drew myself. Instead of the gun, I drew a brush. That’s my weapon.
Q : How long did it take for you to draw the painting? From conception of idea to an actual painting?
A : I usually work on five paintings at a time. So it’s hard to say. This is quite a large painting. Probably about a year.
Q : Is there a reason why the horse is brown? Why is it not black or white? How do you go about picking color schemes?
A : I pick colors based on the background. Here the background is white. That’s why I picked brown. Black is a bit too much and does not bring out other colors. I picked the color brown for the horse because it brings out yellow in this painting.
(Left to right) Myself, shadow of a robo-kinetic sculpture, Björn Schülke, Marion Anna Simon. I am not looking at the camera because the art is too mesmerizing!!
Thanks folks for sticking around and making it to the end!! Please feel free to leave your thoughts or feedback in the comments below or DM to 97vyaas@gmail.com! Adios until the next post which will be about authenticity!
Yes, you got it right. My glasses are loose. I can’t look at the camera or smile like a normal person.
Here is a brief description of Drew Mattison’s background from Purdue’s Executives in Residence (EiR) program website:
BS Design Engineering (Purdue University) | MBA Strategy & Innovation (Michigan State University) Since graduating from Purdue University in 1994, Drew has had vast experiences across multiple industries designing, building, and activating strategy, innovation, practices, and transformation initiatives. As an Executive Leader in Business Development, he has worked with UPS, Nike, Whirlpool, P&G, Ford, JP Morgan Chase, Coca-Cola, Kohl’s, Home Depot, GE, and Target. Always with a systems-thinking lens, Drew focuses and delivers the broader activation of consulting and business development, delivering strategies for organization effectiveness, shaping culture, and lending expertise.
A little bit of background about myself. Although, currently, I am a senior in Biomedical Engineering, over the past few months, I have developed a keen interest towards corporate leadership, consulting, business development, finance and sales. I am definitely no expert in any of these fields but I am constantly expanding my scope of knowledge on these topics and many others. I just finished reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and that book is truly exciting and a real page-turner!! If there’s one thing you need to know about me, the following quote by el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz sums it up.
“I could spend the rest of my life reading because you can hardly mention anything I’m not curious about” – Malcolm X
An immortal legend who kept it 100 (aka real) 24/7!! (Fun Fact: I am a huge Logic fan; 44 More and Contra are my jams!!)
I try to put myself in uncomfortable situations and in rooms where I am the dumbest guy. I firmly believe that surrounding oneself with individuals who are experts in skills one wants to develop and master can exponentially propel that person’s level of knowledge and more importantly morale. My chat with Drew is one such example of how I try to stay out of my comfort zone or rather expand it.
If you didn’t realize by now, I am an avid book reader so I began my chat by asking for book recommendations (Pro Tip: Try this with every person you meet and you will definitely walk away a much less ignorant person).
1) Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray (founder of Xplane, a company Drew worked with for a little over seven years)
2) Who You Know by Theresa Alan
3) Good to Great by James C. Collins
Principles by Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, is another brilliant read!!
EXTRA: Movie Recommendation: Fight Club (1999) by David Fincher based on the book with same title by Chuck Palahniuk. Recommends reading the book before watching the movie. “This movie came out before UFC became famous which was about five to six years back. I love the energy and spirit in the film. Quite a classic.”
Drew Mattison was heavily involved with Purdue Jazz Band and Purdue Musical Organization as a drummer throughout his time at Purdue. This reminded me of Nattachu Periappa’s (Periappa translates to father’s elder brother in Tamil which he is not but that’s for another post!!) point about a high correlation between people who’ve been practicing music or dance (Bharatnatyam in the Tamil community) and the level of success in their chosen fields. Time management, resilience, perseverance, creative thinking and the ability to listen are essential skills that artists learn to master at a very young age. This inner strength translates to all their areas of life and comes in handy in almost every situation. For instance, Condolezza Rice and Woody Allen have achieved a considerable degree of success in their areas and extensively played piano and clarinet respectively [1].
Following are some questions that are almost always on the back of my mind and I do not miss opportunities to ask those around me to understand their beliefs and reasoning. The statements inside brackets are my thoughts and information that I think might add more context to the reader.
1) You’ve had experience working for big companies (like Autodesk) with over 5,000 employees and smaller companies with fewer than 5 employees (He was employee no. 2 when he joined Unchartered – four person company during inception). What are some differences you noticed and why’d you say yes to a start-up?
A: In a big company like Siemens or Autodesk, established protocols and processes are already in place. Imagine a bunch of precise tools in every department and precision is what matters in a big company. It is a matter of execution and very little room for innovation is involved. With smaller companies, I have a greater ability to impact and shape the attitudes of the company. There is more room to implement creative ideas. For instance, in a meeting with smaller companies, the brainstorming process is more democratic and the hierarchical structures are almost non-existent. People are willing to listen to ideas no matter the position held by the person within the company.
Yes, I believe in evolution and that does not mean we evolved from chimpanzees (if you’re still making that argument in the 21st Century to ‘disprove evolution’, I pity you and you should read more!). I like to understand the actions of human beings on an evolutionary scale since modern humans came into existence 100,000 years ago whereas the first bacteria came into being about 3 billion years ago. Our existence is a tiny blip i.e 0.0033% which means that we are living vessels that carry vestiges and are driven by primal motivations.
2) Close to 70 percent of communication that occurs is non-verbal (related to above image caption). Sales is one job where reading body language is key and can make or break relationships. What has prepared you to handle such situations?
A: As a musician, I grew up playing and listening to jazz especially combo jazz. Although there is a framework in place, improvisation on the spot is essential to creating good music for the listeners. In a band where the members are relatively unfamiliar with each other, eye contact and the ability to read the overall atmosphere in the room helped me to develop my body-language reading skills. Being a resident assistant (He was a Resident Assistant at Cary Residence Hall for a couple of years) helped a bit in that regard.
From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense for humans to search, interpret and favor information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs. This trait definitely would have helped our ancestors to stay in herds and avoid being killed in jungles by stronger and faster predators. This cognitive fallacy is termed confirmation bias and Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Fast and Slow” goes into depth on every bias that I believe every human being should be aware of. Each and every one of us are living in our own bubbles also called echo chambers and that is quite a dangerous place to be in. Humans like homeostasis and this bias helps people remain cozy in their own little castles.
3) One question that I like asking people is regarding the existence of echo chambers. How do you begin to break them since people have begun to live inside their own bubbles and the fabric of internet is worsening the problem? When I asked this question to Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short (This book is about the 2008 Recession and there’s a movie about it as well, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!), a couple of weeks ago, he answered “I don’t know. It’s gonna be difficult to reverse that process. But I think that the answer lies with great storytellers. They can help effect change”.
A: I don’t know. It’s a quite toxic attitude that is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. I agree with that point. In most one-tier law schools, they practice something called the Socratic Method where one begins to ask continual questions to understand each other’s viewpoints and underlying presuppositions. This attitude has served me well since childhood. (Reminded me of proof by contradiction which is a commonly used technique in mathematics to prove theorems or principles; More info on Socratic method can be found here [2]).
My thoughts: I feel that ad-hominem attacks should be avoided at all costs and this method can go a long way in making that a reality. The need for “objective truth” or the need to understand the right answer must be placed above the need to be right in any conversation, not just a debate or an argument. I catch myself violating this principle at times and I have told my friends, parents and even my younger brother to call me out my BS.
One of the posters from a recent two-day conference, ‘Dawn or Doom’, on AI-related topics at Purdue.
4) What are your thoughts on the future of AI? Which jobs do you think will be impacted the most in the next 25 years or so?
A: That’s a great question. Let’s step back and look at history as a barometer of how humans have progressed over time. What are the jobs that are going to be affected the most? The ones that require iteration, number-crunching and repeatability. Off the top of my head, the jobs that I think would likely face the impact first are accountants, investors and day traders. There are algorithms and software systems that already in place with enormous processing power capabilities that update market data every 30 seconds and make 10,000 trades within a matter of seconds.
5) How about the influence of AI or virtual assistance in classrooms?
A: There are two roles that are vastly different. The dichotomy of teaching vs instruction. Instruction involves purely a set of cognitive functions that are based on logic and reason. For instance, in a math class where equations are taught about how they can be applied and ways to use those tools to solve problems. Whereas teaching involves empathy and co-creation. It is personalized and customized similar to the improvisation that occurs in combo jazz. The responses happen real time and involve the “cognitive nuance of emotional connection”. I don’t want my pilot or scuba instructor to become emotional when teaching me lessons. AI could replace jobs where you don’t want the emotional component (EQ) to interfere with your decision making process.
Check out the ASAPScience video on social media [4]. I used to spend a lot of time on social media (still do, sometimes) but I slowly realized that I was getting hooked to the dopamine release associated with it. Nowadays, I consciously try to limit my social media usage to less than a couple of hours a day and spend more time reading books, magazines and newspapers (credible websites).6) Do you think the current and the future generations are going to become more isolated and disconnected with the increasing dependence on social media and people “living online”? People get their dopamine hits when someone likes their photo on Instagram or Facebook. Real connection is lost which was present in your generation or my parents’ or grandparents’ generation.
A: Whew, that’s a loaded question. A great question. I’m not sure exactly how to answer it but here’s my take: I feel like my generation doesn’t easily accept praise or recognition compared to yours. They do not easily accept compliments. For instance, I might try to mask my responses with sarcasm or humor when I am offered compliments. To answer your question, I believe it is important for everyone to have someone close to them that respects them well enough and calls them out when they are doing something wrong. Honesty is bitter, and people should learn to fall down and better themselves with unadulterated criticism from loved ones.
7) Thoughts on IQ vs EQ (Emotional Quotient)? Is one more important than the other or do they need to be given equal consideration?
A: IQ opens doors. EQ lets you walk through them. The average IQ lies somewhere around 100 and 130 or above is considered to be exceptional. Both of my children are exceptional in that regard; definitely higher than mine. However, I do have a strong EQ. Therefore, my role is to identify situations where my children might require guidance and help them in the best manner possible by providing emotional and psychological support (Here is an article on the importance of EQ that I found fascinating [3].)
“Father of the Atomic Bomb” quoting a verse from a sacred Hindu text, Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of Mahabarata. His speech after the first nuclear explosion sent literally chills down my spine [5]. Please check it out!My thoughts: His answer reminded me of my Thatha’s (translates to grandfather in Tamil) bedtime stories and his uncanny ability to recall facts and incidents from his past and weave beautiful stories to teach my cousins, brother and me about the importance of perspective in life (he still does every time I call him!). He is one of my biggest role models along with my parents and we do have conversations about emotional intelligence from time to time. I grew up listening to stories from Mahabarata and Ramayana, similar to Greek’s Aesop fables but far older and much more exciting, recited by my Thatha where he effortlessly connected moral lessons from ancient epics to actionable practices that I can apply in my life in the 21st Century. (yes, you read that right, he has been recommending best practices and improving my emotional intelligence since the time I can recall)!
Bravo!! Thanks for reading my ramblings! Hope you enjoyed this read! Leave your two cents in the comments or send to 97vyaas@gmail.com and I am welcome to any and all criticism and questions.
I had never participated in an actual protest before this event. We teamed up with a local organization called Mid-South Peace and Justice Center to hold the protest. The location picked for this event was a sidewalk close to the road with the highest traffic in Memphis. The main purpose behind having such a protest was to protect the rights of those living in major apartment complexes in Memphis. The tenants’ apartment units were infested with bedbugs and necessary action was not being taken by the landlords.
We spread out across one entire section of the sidewalk and ensured that people driving past us had to slow down and take note of the issue. We got quite a few THANK-YOUs in the form of loud honks from the fast-moving Samaritans. We didn’t need food, water or breaks when we got tired. We needed some heartfelt honks from the Memphians. Energetic and enthusiastic chants are some of the key elements of a successful protest along with placards that read witty one-liners like “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, These Slumlords have gotta go!” and “Your Lord hates Slumlords”.
Although we picketed for two and a half hours in the sweltering heat, it felt like a flash. The cause we were fighting for was not even remotely related to the 2016 GOP elections. However one concerned and visibly angry driver shouted “F*** (rhymes with Gump)” as he sped past us. All of us burst into peals of laughter as soon as we heard his bold and spontaneous declaration.
We wanted to try innovative attention-getters so Caleb (a great guy with an infectious sense of humor) came up with an ingenious solution. The Dab. I haven’t dabbed before, let alone on the streets in front of hundreds of strangers I may never meet in person. Both of us dabbed until we reached a point where we wanted to try something else. It was a spectacular experience. Dabbing for a cause in Memphis to the lively tune of whirring engines. Check. Hats off to all those protesters out there striving for change as I ended up with a sore throat and felt tired after two and a half hours of chanting. My respect for them has certainly deepened.
Amid the protest and dabbing, we faced some resistance from a couple of members of the community. They were secret spies who regularly sent information to the landlords regarding the status of the issue. They were frustrated seeing our protest work quite successfully. I knew that I was on the right side of the problem so I shrugged them off and listened to the sweet sound of cars.
Car honks are mainly used by humans to indicate a violation of law by another driver or let others know that we are angry at their irresponsible driving methods. Let’s be honest, honks are annoying to listen to and remind us of disorder on the road. Only during protests do those honks magically transform into melodies and send a positive and supportive message to the protesters.
The following questions do not have answers and they have been baffling scientists and the rest of humanity for decades. Feel free to share your thoughts and voice your ideas.
1. Are we alone in the Universe?
Looking at the tremendous size of the Universe, I believe that extra-terrestrial life is very much present. NASA predicts that we will be contacted by intelligent life within the next couple of decades. One possibility is that ET life is so advanced and has become smart enough to know that we exist but they simply find no reason to contact or visit us. They might be looking at us the way we look at ants. We don’t find reasons to trouble ants until they cause trouble of some sort.
The thought of being alone when you learn about the vast Universe may sometimes make us feel insignificant but that is exactly why we should embrace the awesomeness within us. Neil deGrasse Tyson once said ” We are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust.” You should keep this in mind the next time you look at stars and the moon or literally anything.
2. Can we ever accurately find the fossils of common ancestor of mammals, apes ( any group of species for that matter ) ?
Whenever when I think about evolution, few questions keep ringing in my head- ‘Which animal is the common ancestor? Can we find out its features by tracing evolutionary relationships? Can we find their fossils?’
I believe that we have the fossils of common ancestor of apes but we are not able to pinpoint it accurately due to minute changes present between species that defines and characterizes them as “species”.
This is similar to the Boiling Frog Syndrome which is a great example that is sometimes used in motivational speeches and leadership conferences. When a frog is kept inside a cauldron of hot water, it jumps immediately. However, if it is placed in cold water that is gradually being heated, it doesn’t realize it is boiled alive and slowly departs to heaven. The reason behind using this analogy is to draw comparison between the slow increment in temperature and the infinitesimal random changes taking place between the parents and offspring of a particular species. Over a long period of time, an entirely new species is formed when we are wondering about the exact point at which the switch occurred.
Let me end on a positive note by saying that if we could possibly arrange the fossils chronologically(w/o errors), then we will be in a position to find the “Common Ancestor”( this scenario is highly unlikely).
3. What makes us living? / How did the first forms of life originate on Earth? (My all-time favorite as I love biology)
A bunch of non-living molecules randomly oriented themselves in such a manner to transform themselves to become living. That thought sounds exhilarating and perplexing at the same time.
Millions of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals help in maintaining our body. These NON-LIVING molecules when acted upon by a strong unknown driving force constitute LIVING BEINGS. When asked about life, the astronomer Fred Hoyle once said “A junkyard contains all the bits and pieces of a Boeing 747, dismembered and in disarray. A whirlwind happens to blow through the yard. What is the chance that after its passage a fully assembled 747, ready to fly, will be found standing there?”. We are the Boeing 747s who just happen to exist due to a random event whose probability is almost nil.
Our existence is a stunning improbability so I suggest taking some time off your busy day and treating yourself right now with a big box of chocolates.
If you want to read more on this topic, check out Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ .
Will we ever determine the nature of Life’s driving force and crack the code of life?
e got quite a few THANK-YOUs in the form of loud honks from the fast-moving Samaritans. We didn’t need food, water or breaks when we got tired. We needed some heartfelt honks from the Memphians. Energetic and enthusiastic chants are some of the key elements of a successful protest along with placards that read witty one-liners like “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, These Slumlords have gotta go!” and “Your Lord hates Slumlords”.
members of the community. They were secret spies who regularly sent information to the landlords regarding the status of the issue. They were frustrated seeing our protest work quite successfully. I knew that I was on the right side of the problem so I shrugged them off and listened to the sweet sound of cars.
Welcome! 