Social Experiments (5 things - Week 85)

So last night I left the following message here in this post..

"
Considering the fact that the last time I had to do a conversation like this was when I found out that I might have won one of dengue-typhoid-jaundice lottery, you can guess my state right now. As I was physically wrecked that day, I can say with some surety that that isn't the case today. Today, if you meet me right now, you'll find me ghosting through things. It's my mental state that's been compromised.

No. I haven't gone full on mental. I'm only insane within the limits of insanity. But the proceedings at office have ensured that I don't have any mojo left to even squeeze out a conversation - something I have been guilty of in the past few weeks. I guess this is a tipping point. Whether I fall over or fall back, we'll know only in the coming weeks. As of today, I haven't made a conscious decision to shift the posting day to Saturday or Sunday, but I guess I won't be left with a choice given my situations.

So, you'll, hopefully, find the full blog here by this time tomorrow. I will leave you with a teaser. The topic is Social Experiments, and the 5 things are - recounting leaving my zip open for a whole day, dimming the lights on the road, keeping the water running from the tap, giving way to others on the road, and one surprise item. The surpriase is not a surprise because I haven't thought about it. I have. Sachii.
"

You can see that the teething process at my new workplace, that I mentioned in our conversation last week, hasn't completely subdued yet. I don't know when it'll be over. Once it's over we'll have found a rhythm - a work life balance if you would let me call it so. That rhythm will help determine how, when and in what quality our future conversations are forged.

Scientists throughout the ages have studied how such rhythms are established. They found that it's not reached in a single cycle. It's a long, tedious and time consuming process. It uses a loop, which with proper feedback, achieves a state that it stays at, until it's disturbed again. For those interested in expanding their intellect in the nuances of the above, I would recommend at least one post graduate degree in advanced control systems, accompanied with significant practical experience in the field.

Even though I just said that the process is highly complicated to be understood by a layman, it was in no way meant to indicate that it's only something that you see in labs and kind. In fact, that process is the way most of the things get worked out in our life. It's something we all use.

Are you confused?? At least a little bit?? Well I have a few handy examples. You don't have to know the direction an electron flows to switch on the light in your room, do you?? You don't have to know the register settings of your Intel processor to use your computer, do you?? You don't have to understand the rules of English grammar to understand what I mean by all of this. Do you??  (o_O)

Similarly, without knowing the theory behind the process, you actually have been using the process all your life. It's something which was hardcoded into us. Like to stick close to your parents when you are little. Like having the propensity to have fears, etc etc.

And using these processes, we create rhythms. And using those rhythms, we create patterns and habits. We have already covered the habits of an individual in an earlier conversation. In today's conversation, we'll look at the habits of a society. In particular, we'll look at the results of a few social experiments that yours truly had carried out.

Shall we begin then??

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1. Experiment - Open Fly

Procedure - Keep your zip open for an entire day and check how many people bring that to your attention. Before you start moral policing me, let me make it clear that I meant the zip of your bag, not anywhere else. If you thought anywhere else, it was your thought train - not mine. I can't take responsibility.

Result - About 5 people of the many I met that day provided positive responses.

Inference - The pass percentage is very low. It might be because they are too busy in their world of problems, or because they are not that much inclined to make such acute observations in daily life without being instructed to do so. Nothing to cause an alarm though. At least, people are generally quite helpful, if you ask them for help.

2. Experiment - Lights on road

Procedure - While driving at night on the highway, try to make an incoming vehicle dim it's light by alternating yours.

Result - Any positive result depends on your luck. If somebody does dim their light, I recommend you to stop at the nearest lottery booth and take a ticket for the lottery that will be drawn first.

Inference - People are generally selfish.

3. Experiment - Keeping the tap open

Procedure - When you go to use the loo at a public arena, keep the water tap open (if it isn't already). When you come back to wash, check if it is closed or not.

Result - Three out of eight is not good, but not bad either.

Inference - At least some people care about the environment.

4. Experiment - Giving way

Procedure - When you are driving in the city, check how many blocks are formed by people not giving way to others.

Result - Half of the blocks are made from this kind. The other half is made by the private security people minding the road.

Inference - A mix of experiment numbers 1 and 2. People are too resistant to go out of their way to help others. And even if they overcome the resistance, they are too selfish.

5. Experiment - Smile

Procedure - Just smile at random people - in the crowd, at the office, on the road, in the car which almost crushed you onto the divider, etc etc.

Result - Surprisingly, after a blank moment of "why the heck is this guy smiling at me for?", most of the participants in the experiments attempted their own at attempts at smiling - some were feeble efforts, some were a little discomforting.

Inference - There's hope for mankind.

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Extra Experiment - Evaluate yourself.

Procedure - On any random day, instead of being the evaluating entity, subject yourself as the test specimens to all the experiments given above.

Result - Pending.

Inference - Depending on the result, you are either in the majority or the minority. For a better world, I hope you are in the minority.

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So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.