Decision Making Under Duress

A friend of mine shared this with me. I felt it was extremely thought provoking and wanted it to have a wider audience. Every second of our lives we are making decisions without pondering for a while… read this…

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make................



Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, everyone thinks the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority , no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are , and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one .

"Remember that what's right isn't always popular ... and what's popular isn't always right ."

Everybody makes mistakes; that's why they put erasers on pencils

Issues to ponder - chasing money or enrichment?

We all need to de-clutter and focus on the things that matter. We are all chasing wealth and economic growth. But at what cost? The world's economy has to be 15 times its current size before all the poor nations can be as rich as the OECD nations. It will require a change in mindset. What is the point in chasing faster microchips when a vast number of people don't have access to water supply?

Shouldn't business objectives be directed towards more sustainable growth. Sustainable in the sense where people continue to have jobs and growth in other parameters counts as well? Personal development, better relations with family, friends, participation in the community, etc.

If we stop and think about where we are in our lives today, maybe we have achieved quite a few of our goals. Its a case of recognizing it and redirecting our energies to something more meaningful than the simple pursuit of money! India is also going down the route of disaster by trying to ape the West. Of course we need economic growth, but it should also be tempered by our values and traditions - we have ancient history to back it up too - simplicity in life! While the world looks at Hinduism and Buddhist teachings to help them make sense of their ordinary lives, young Indian professionals are turning their backs on these teachings and chasing the glitz and glamour of the West. If this current recession is not a wake up call then what is?

These days I am struggling to come up with answers. Talking philosophy and metaphysics is fine (which I have done above) but what are the small or big steps/actions that we should be taking to actually improve ourselves and actually make a difference in the way we work, interact with friends and family and most importantly, with the community?

All feedback and discussion welcome...

Prosperity without Growth

This is a very relevant discussion in current times and for the future. Professor Tim Jackson, Economics Commissioner at Sustainable Development Commission provides some deep reflective insights on how to achieve a sustainable economy. I hope you enjoy reading it. You may need to fix a drink, kick off your slippers, put on your thinking caps and settle down with your laptop or computer to read it.

Click here to visit the website and download the report.. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=914

What do we make of the G20 talks?

Reading a blog by Shekhar Kapur "Why the G20 will fail", I couldn't agree more with him.
http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2009/03/_the_g_20_talks.htm,

My thoughts on this are that when the economy recovers in 2 years, will people remember this recession or the lesson from it? They will again start chasing money, wealth and riches at the cost of personal development and improvement of community, environment, etc. The cycle of recession will repeat itself in 7-10 years as it has done in the past.

There is a general lack of Collective wisdom out there. That is why the wise are so rare while fools abound. Not that I am claiming to be wise but the fact remains that vast majority of us measure success in terms of wealth. That is what the whole world is all about - isn't it? Whether free trade or G20 or anything. Even when GreenTech or CleanTech is hot these days, the lines are divided between the true believers and the big corporates. The corporates want to make huge money out of the Wind Energy movement - thats all there is to it.

Out with the Old, In with the New - Lessons from a morning in the vegetable patch

The last week had brilliant sunshine and I was looking forward to the weekend. My 4 year old had sweet talked me into putting up a vegetable patch in our garden. The grand plan was to plant spinach and tomato. Not endowed with "green fingers" I was especially fearful of the activity. But with my wife and daughter joining in the task made it simple and enjoyable: a real example of "we" working together.

As I was digging up the square patch with all its roots, pebbles and sticky soil, a flash of clarity struck me. In our lives, when we set out to make changes whether in ourselves or the way we live, we face the daunting task of changing old habits, mindsets, thoughts and the ingrained ways that we work. These are like the roots in the vegetable patch that are difficult to rid of. I had to work extra hard to dig them up and throw them out. Preparing the patch with compost and filtered old soil and planting new seeds was analogous to introducing new thoughts, ideas and actions in our daily lives to improve ourselves. The job is not done with simply planting the seeds.

I will need to water the patch, add liquid feed and keep the neighbour's cat at bay to ensure the seeds have a good chance of sprouting into saplings and finally plants that will bear fruit. In the same way, we need to continually reinforce the new ideas and habits that we incorporate to ensure that the changes are long lasting rather than one-off attempts. We will need the help and support of family members and loved ones as well in the process. This is similar to the 21-day repetition that Robin Sharma mentions in "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" before a habit is formed. I look forward to the next 7-14 days for the saplings to sprout in my garden!