Enigma Solution

“The real enemy is the man who tries to mold the human spirit so that it will not dare to spread its wings.” In an age obsessed with practicality, productivity, and efficiency, I frequently worry that we are leaving little room for abstract knowledge and for the kind of curiosity that invites just enough serendipity to allow for the discovery of ideas we didn’t know we were interested in until we are, ideas that we may later transform into new combinations with applications both practical and metaphysical. This concern, it turns out, is hardly new. In ' The usefulness of Useless Knowledge' , originally published in the October 1939 issue of  Harper’s , American educator  Abraham Flexner  explores this dangerous tendency to forgo  pure curiosity in favor of pragmatism  — in science, in education, and in human thought at large — to deliver a poignant critique of the motives encouraged in young minds, contrasting those with the drivers that motivated so...

R ecession or boom time, employers, organisations and leaders always echo one sentiment, 'We can't get good people these days'. Good, means different things to different people. Unfortunately most leaders and employers rarely know what they themselves want. It is safe to say that employers want subservient employees who will do as told, deliver miraculous results and never give a dissenting opinion. Employers expect employees to never complain, be productive, always deliver high quality with a smile.  Typically bosses and colleagues only demand saying 'Give me, give me, …….  Give me this and give me that'. Everyone wants but no one wants to give. People resent this unilateral approach preferring rather the relationship to be bilateral. They would be delighted to hear from employers and colleagues, 'I want to do this for you and I want to give you this'. * Image by Ben Heine As social creatures most human endeavour requires ...

Imagine watching a sporting match , say a game of cricket, where there are no announcements, or commentary or display boards giving any information. If all one sees is a lot of activity with players running all over the playing ground with someone bowling and some chaps batting, obviously it will be difficult to fathom what is really happening. If one has not even an inkling as to who is winning or losing and what are the runs or run rate required to win the match or wickets remaining etc, the game will in all likely-hood not sustain the interest of the spectator. Not only spectators but players too will soon get bored, and likely to lose interest in the game /match and of course the results. Unfortunately this is the same situation in many organisations. Many employees within organisations haven’t a clue on what is happening. Yet they are screamed at, lectured, and sent to motivational and training camps to get them to be enthusias...

Every day some outrageous events occur. The media starts a frenzy and the masses get begin to holler for blood. A sacrificial head is needed on the block or something has to be done. Politicians find it expedient to bow to public and media pressure and some knee jerk reaction is announced. The government administration swings into action drafting new laws and imposing curbs and the mobs are silenced. Then peace returns briefly to the land before the next uproar. The cycle repeats endlessly. There is a dangerous pattern. With each action our liberties, freedom are being taken away. Like killing the people with a thousand cuts, until one day all we have is a compliant, submissive and frightened people. It is becoming impossible to exist without breaking some law or the other or causing offense to      some individuals or groups. Trial by media is the new norm, and inquisitions are on the rise. In a travesty of justice people are now first judged guilty and must prove t...

Mary Smith earned sixpence a week shooting dried peas at sleeping workers windows. A Knocker-up (sometimes known as a knocker-upper) was a profession in England and Ireland that started during and lasted well into the Industrial Revolution and at least as late as the 1920s, before alarm clocks were affordable or reliable. A knocker-up’s job was to rouse sleeping people so they could get to work on time. The knocker-up used a truncheon or short, heavy stick to knock on the clients’ doors or a long and light stick, often made of bamboo, to reach windows on higher floors. Some of them used pea-shooters. In return, the knocker-up would be paid a few pence a week. The knocker-up would not leave a client’s window until sure that the client had been awoken. There were large numbers of people carrying out the job, especially in larger industrial towns such as Manchester. Generally the job was carried out by elderly men and women but sometimes police constables supplemented their...