Remote Mentoring for Students of SDSN School, Dariyapur village, Raebarely

The Amazing History of the Universe - in Hindi

Arvind, a software engineer by profession and a lifelong physics enthusiast, and I have collaborated under the ‘Timeless Lifeskills’ banner, to produce a video series in Hindi titled, “Brahmand Ka Adbhut Itihaas”. Over 13 episodes we narrate the history of the universe from its creation to the expansion of intelligent life on planet earth. 

There are plenty of resources available online in English on ‘Big History’, a term generally used for the 13.8 billion years scientific history of the universe, but similar resources are woefully lacking in Hindi (and in other languages). Filling this gap was our primary motivation in creating this series.

While these videos are only a beginner’s introduction to the important events that shaped our universe and our planet, we hope that they will inspire our young audience to take that next step and dwell a little deeper into this fascinating story. We start this 13-episode journey with an introduction to the series: https://youtu.be/cjekAfX-THA  

The formal subjects one studies at school are often organised into neat packages that don’t seem to have much to do with each other. This story touches on a variety of disciplines like cosmology, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, anthropology and more, and we hope that by the end of this series our audience would’ve learned that these syllabus and exam-driven boundaries are superficial, and there is an amazing continuity in the human scientific endeavour. Moreover, the ability to connect the dots between different disciplines, to find an innovative solution to a complex problem, is a Timeless Lifeskill!

Over the last 4-5 years that I have been conducting workshops in rural/remote schools, I have observed that the lack of good quality learning resources in Hindi and regional languages puts the students at a disadvantage. This video series is a small step towards bridging this content divide. So please help spread the word about availability of this video series and let anyone in your circle, whom you think will directly or indirectly benefit (students, teachers, parents, school/college principals…), know about the availability of this learning resource by sharing this post, sending the YouTube link as an email or as a Whats App message, tweet about it, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or in any other creative way!

The RGB Life Skills

What makes a student future-ready: O-level or GCSE? IB Diploma or A-Level? Academies, Grammar schools, or Faith schools? These issues seem to be the focus of debate about education today.

However, instead of focusing on ‘how’ should education be imparted, isn’t it a lot more important to first  ponder ‘what’ education should be imparted, given the fast changing contours of the 21^st century, when mechanisation, automation, and now robots and AI are changing the very fabric of employment and entrepreneurship? Isn’t it worth wondering if, like the primary colours Red, Green and Blue, which can be mixed to create millions of colours, are there some core skills and competencies, that when learnt, will prepare students to shine, whatever be the shape of things to come?

The 19^th and 20^th century paradigm of stockpiling knowledge, usually in the form of a University degree, that almost guaranteed lifelong employment is no longer viable, and while the focus of formal education is on ‘vertical skills’ like math, science, history, or marketing and finance, people who excel in different fields have an additional set of ‘horizontal skills’ which are often described as 21^st century skills. For example, UNESCO’s report ‘Learning the Treasure Within - Education for the Twenty-first Century’ describes the four pillars of education as – Learning to Know, Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together, and Learning to Be.

Researching, creating online learning content in multiple formats and conducting regular workshops in remote, rural schools in India to impart life skills to make students future-ready has given me the unique opportunity of interacting with many hues of learners and closely observing challenges of education in a multitude of situations, from metropolitan London to hinterland India. Based on the insights gained I think the RGB life skills are:

Yearning to Learn: how to fire up the learner within, remaining curious, taking ownership of own learning, and being able to answer four questions for yourself: What is worth learning? How will you learn it? How will you know you have learnt it well? How will you become better at learning new things?

Learning to Think: deep and independent thinking, critical, creative and computational thinking, being able to formulate insightful questions, pattern recognition, understanding complexity, ability to solve unstructured problems, ability to innovate and judicious decision making.

Learning to Be: understanding the construct of your emotions, ability to rewrite the script that plays inside your head and determines how you interpret and react to life situations, setting goals that go beyond self-interest, deep self-awareness and living a joyful life.

Once you have awareness and clarity about the RGB life skills, you can chart the ‘how’ of the learning journey for yourself, or for your loved ones, not relying just on formal education but also making the most of the tonnes of informal learning experiences now available, many of them online for free.

Get ThinKING!

In the late 18th century, steam led to the First Industrial Revolution; in early 20th Century, electricity led to the Second Industrial Revolution; in late 20th century, ICT led to the Third Industrial Revolution; and now, Blockchain, Big Data, Robots, Drones, Machine Intelligence, Nanotech, Biotech and other technologies are ushering in another new era. If one ingredient, steam, electricity or ICT, so completely changed the global landscape, just imagine the upheaval that could be caused by the combined onslaught of all these emerging technologies.

Widening hiatus between the rich and the poor, massive displacement in the job market, and super opportunities for those who are future-ready, it's all on the cards. As the global contours shift massively, will you become a mere cog, or will you thrive? It will depend on how you think.

The importance of critical thinking – ability to make rational and reasoned judgments, and creative thinking – ability to create something novel that is useful, is already well established. However, to flourish in the world that is now fast emerging, you need to add more dimensions to your thinking ability. These include,

Abstract Thinking: correctly formulating the problem after looking at the big picture and asking insightful questions that lead to pattern recognition and generalisation. This is very different from solving an MBA Case Study where a pre-formulated problem is presented!

Computational Thinking: algorithmically solving problems of scale. This starts with pattern recognition and abstraction so that the problem can be represented in new ways, then breaking the problem into smaller parts, and finally, recasting the problem to solve it in steps (i.e. algorithmically).

Ability to Innovate to Solve Unstructured Problems: the economic, social, political and other issues we face today are not complicated. They are complex! A complicated problem is difficult to solve but it has a unique solution, like a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. A complex problem is not only difficult to solve, its solutions are fluid and need constant updating, like forecasting the weather. The challenges we face today – clean energy, poverty, terrorism, climate change, water crisis, financial crisis, health and well-being… are all very complex. Amazing value-creation opportunities lie ahead for people who are keen to tackle ‘wicked’ problems – problems that are difficult to solve because of incomplete, contradictory and changing requirements.

Evolving the way you think is the only way to navigate and shine in a future that is VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. You need to shape your thinking such that you connect the unconnected dots, and connect the already connected differently. To do this, you need to not only ask why, what and how but also why not, what if and how else.

Full STEAM Ahead!

At the recently concluded Brexit referendum in the UK, it is estimated that only 36 percent of people aged 18-24 voted, when the decision to leave or remain in the EU impacts the youth most. Young people who did vote, did so overwhelmingly for ‘Remain’ while the overall outcome was in favour of ‘Leave’ begging the question if the voting age should have been lowered to 16, as was the case in the 2014 Scottish referendum. This is anecdotal but on BBC news I heard some young people say that they didn't think through their choice as they figured how could their one vote matter!

Low voter turnout of 50% - 60% has become the norm in most national elections today and voter apathy is especially high amongst the youth. But democracy works only when its citizens vote, and vote with some clarity of consequences of their choice. So how to get more people to cast their vote, sensibly?

One option for a democracy is to adopt a law akin to the Australian law that makes it mandatory for eligible citizens to register and vote in all elections, by-elections, and referendums. If they fail to do so they have to pay a fine and if they fail to pay the fine they can be convicted and jailed. Does this work? Well, in the 2013 Federal Elections in Australia the voter turnout was over 93%

But compulsory voting does not necessarily mean voting with awareness of consequences of choice. Another option that addresses the issue of voting with awareness is educating citizens of a democracy on why and how they should practice their franchise. And, this brings me to STEM and STEAM.

Over the last decade, STEM has become a popular acronym in the educational rhetoric. It stands for the study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths and is often quoted as a panacea, a ‘tabeez’ that will magically solve the problem of unemployability in the age of intelligent machines. But now a new term is slowly coming into fashion – STEAM, which is STEM, with an ‘A’ added for Arts and its advocates want Art & Design to be the centrepiece of STEM education in order to add the element of innovation to STEM.

I personally think that the ‘A’ in STEAM education should stand for a very inclusive definition of Arts – study of Liberal Arts that include languages, music, aesthetics, philosophy, psychology, history, and humanities. You could argue that with such a broad definition of Arts in a STEAM curriculum what is left? Nothing!

And, that is my point. Education means preparing a student for life, not a subset of life.

The Latin phrase for Liberal Arts is ‘artes liberales’ and ‘liberales’ means, ‘worthy of a free person’. In classical antiquity, Liberal Arts meant subjects and skills essential to ‘know’ so that a free person could take an active part in civic life. Today Economics and its still more limited dimension 'learn to earn' has hijacked the education agenda. Imagine the future of STEM only education – students grow up to be highly employable but incapable of sensibly taking part in the civic life of a democracy, and worse, incapable of deep self-awareness hence raising the probability of leading a stressed and unhappy life.

Referendums also point to another possibility – a move away from Representative Democracy to Direct Democracy. Representative Democracy, when an election is held once every 4 or 5 years and people choose their representative to the Parliament who in turn make policies, is a sensible choice when holding elections is an expensive proposition. But taking a cue from the hunt for talent competitions on television, where people vote using their mobile phones, it is not hard to imagine a future where all important legislation is decided by referendums, with voters casting their vote using a mobile phone – Direct Democracy.

If you think Direct Democracy is a dangerous idea just consider the, not very hard to guess, reason for voter apathy – voters don't find a leader worthy of representing them. Like right now in London people over at The Globe Theatre are crying foul. All the Shakespearean drama has shifted to Westminster. And, we the people are wondering what Mr. Gove, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Corbyn and many others in politics are doing in Westminster. They should be in the West End. Given a choice between leaders who are driven by personal ambition or dogmatic beliefs, or a Parliament that is more often than not disrupted, as in India, and Direct Democracy, I would vote for the latter.

The increasing use of referendums, lowering of voting age, voter education and sensitisation, these factors alone make a case for adding Liberal Arts education to a STEM curriculum. Add to that the role education in the Liberal Arts plays to foster the basic human spirit – to learn and to know (including Know Thyself), I think there is a strong case for taking education full STEAM ahead.

‘Flip’ Your Job with AI

Search Engine Optimiser was not in the job lexicon a decade ago and a decade hence, probably earlier, Blockchain Validator might become a sought after job. Artificial Intelligence (AI), or computers that can learn themselves are changing the complexion of employment by becoming capable of doing tasks that could earlier be done only by a human, for example, driving a car in traffic. 

AI is disrupting jobs all across the skills ladder. According to a McKinsey study, this is happening because, be it a low skill or a high skill job, if you deconstruct the tasks needed to be done for the successful performance of a job, you will find that in almost every job there is a component that can be done better by AI. In such a scenario people who have the skills that complement AI will thrive. Think of a good surgeon who can become great by using AI-based Augmented Reality glasses that overlay useful information while the surgeon is performing surgery.

I think the Flipped Classroom model, where teachers curate online learning resources for delivering the didactic part of teaching and use precious classroom time on learning activities like discussions and debates that ensure students have a deeper understanding of the topic of study, can also be applied to the use of AI in jobs. Ability to use AI to ‘flip’ a job will distinguish a good professional from a great professional. For example, doctors could use IBM’s Watson AI machine for better and faster diagnostics and use the time they save in solving more complex cases.

You may not realise it but AI is already very much a part of your life. It lives in your email spam filters, it is present in your smartphones, it drives Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s recommendation system and soon it will impact many more areas. Many tasks being performed by humans today will be better done by AI machines and in the coming decades, this will change the nature of employment. Just like you may not know how your smartphone works but you know how to make the most of it since AI is becoming an integral part of your life, it is better you understand it and know how to complement it with your skills instead of competing against it.

AI is a computer that can learn by itself. It does so by using Machine Learning, which is different from traditional rule-based programming and uses computers' ability to analyse the big amount of data and decipher patterns from it.

Pedro Domingos, the author of the book The Master Algorithm, explains that traditional programming involved inputting data and an algorithm (an algorithm is a detailed sequence of steps or operations that tell the computer what to do with the data), the computer then processes the data based on the algorithm and outputs the result. In Machine Learning, the data is input along with the output and the computer generates the algorithm.

For example, we may input thousands of x-ray images of lungs and tell the computer which x-ray images reveal cancer and which are normal. The computer takes both these inputs and teaches itself how to detect cancer. If it makes a mistake in its diagnosis this data is again fed back and the iterative process helps the computer enhance its cancer detection algorithm. Computers taking data and figuring out the algorithm themselves is called Machine Learning. 

Domingos explains that there are different approaches to Machine Learning. Some computer scientists take inspiration from first order logic to derive the AI algorithm. In this method the data that is input are specific facts and the computer works out the general principle. This approach, for example, is used in drug discovery like finding a new drug for malaria. Another group of computer scientists takes inspiration from the way the brain and the neurons work and create Neural Networks to extract rules and patterns from a set of data. This AI approach, also called Deep Learning, for example, is used by Facebook’s Deep Face facial recognition system, which identifies human faces in digital images. It has a nine-layered neural network and used four million images uploaded by Facebook users to train itself.

In another AI approach, uncertainty decides the probability of different possible outcomes and based on actual outcomes this probability is updated and iteratively the system performance improves. This AI approach is used, for example, in Google’s self-driving cars, and in email spam filtering. Another AI approach takes inspiration from ‘reasoning by analogy’ and uses what is called the ‘nearest neighbour algorithm’. Recommendation Systems (‘if you liked this song you may also like…’) and Collaborative Filtering uses this approach.

We can distinguish between two types of AI.

Weak or Narrow AI: is AI that is good at doing only one task. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue computer beat the world chess champion, Gary Kasparov. In 2011, IBM’s Watson computer beat the human champions of the American television game show, Jeopardy. Earlier this year Google’s AlphaGo AI machine beat the world champion of Go, a really complex strategy board game. These and other areas like spam filtering and recommendations systems are all examples of Weak AI and can do only one task. IBM’s Deep Blue computer was very good at learning and improving its chess playing technique but it was not much good at anything else, not even playing another type of game.

Strong AI or Artificial General Intelligence: is, as yet, a hypothetical machine that can think, learn and perform any intellectual task that a human being can perform. Strong AI can improve its performance by itself using what is called ‘recursive self-improvement’. Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision are examples of strong AI.

Some computer scientists believe that sometime in the future, not certain when, there will be a moment of ‘singularity’ when AI will exceed human intelligence. We could also come to a point where AI machines will create even more intelligent machines themselves – what is described as Artificial Super Intelligence. Although when this will happen is not certain, many prominent people like Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are of the view that we need to put safeguards in place because the ‘maker’ (us humans) will no longer be in charge of such machines. Swedish philosopher, Nick Bostrom, believes that Artificial Super Intelligence poses ‘existential risk’ meaning such machines pose the danger of annihilating humans.

Whether in the long run Strong AI poses an existential threat or not, what is certain is that in the shorter term Weak AI itself is disrupting our socio-economic future. Some experts argue that AI will lead to mass unemployment (leading to massive social unrest) while other experts are of the opinion that adoption of AI will lead to the emergence of new jobs, like repairing robots.

We don't know which of this prognosis will come true but one thing is certain – the skills, competencies and dispositions needed to flourish in the age of intelligent machines will be very different. Creativity, ideation, large-frame pattern recognition, ability to solve unstructured problems, fine dexterity, and complex communication, along with the ability to complement these skills with the use of AI, such that the human-machine alchemy allows you to do tasks that were not possible earlier, will greatly enhance your employability and entrepreneurship potential.

I am Going on a Digital Diet!

Recently I attended a panel discussion at my son’s school on students’ wellbeing and the most hotly discussed topic there was the overuse of computers, internet and smartphones by adolescents. This set me introspecting about my own use of digital technologies. I believe, while I am definitely not addicted to ICTs, I will be better off changing some of my technology-related behaviour.

For example, the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is to check my email on my smartphone, which I keep next to my bed. Another area of concern is frequently looking at how many people have viewed my blog posts and ‘liked’ them! The third culprit is the number of times during the day I glance at my smartphone to check my email and Whats App.

My diagnosis: I need to go on a digital diet, which I hope will also lead to permanent behavioural change.

It will not be an anorexic diet. Luddite abstinence from ICTs will be madness, given all the positives these technologies have to offer, like access to good quality learning content. It will be more like Atkins or Paleo diet where you deliberately choose not to eat certain types of foods, which in my case are the three areas of behaviour noted earlier. I surmise I should go on a digital diet now so that I can nip any possible future technology addiction as there is a fair chance of becoming a technology addict given the proportions compulsive use of internet and smartphones is taking.

Consider: In South Korea, internet addiction and gaming is deemed to be a national crisis. To tackle this problem the Korean government has set up National Centre for Youth Internet Addiction Treatment, where participants admit that they play online games for up to 10 hours during school days and up to 20 hours during holidays, staying awake till 4 a.m. In a recent health poll in Australia, 58% of parents said that their top health concern for their children is excessive screen time. A study conducted by Pew Research Centre in the US noted that – 'young users are particularly likely to use a smartphone to avoid boredom – and ignore other people'. Researchers are finding that pathological use of ICT is impairing familial, social, academic and occupational aspects of life.

While the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the Bible for the mental health professionals, does not yet include smartphone and internet addiction as a mental order (the latest addition notes that this area merits more research), psychology practitioners are finding similarities between gambling addiction (which is included in the DSM) and pathological use of the internet.

Feeling depressed, hopeless, or pessimistic about the future sometimes leads to binge behaviour, which could be excessive eating, alcoholism, or even binging on television. This happens because such binge behaviour presents itself as a relief and escape from negative emotions, even though it is temporary and illusory. Today, gaming, the internet and smartphone apps are emerging as another type of binge behaviour that serve as powerful distracting sensations and provide relief, though momentary.

In his book Sapiens, author Yuval Noah Harari makes an interesting observation about the advent of agriculture in human history. He infers that ‘wheat domesticated humans’ and it was not the other way around. Before agriculture humans were free roaming, hunter-gatherers but once they started cultivating wheat, the crop made humans do backbreaking work so that it could survive and thrive. Humans cleared forests, tilled the land, watered the saplings, removed weeds – all so that wheat could flourish. And in so doing, humans became domesticated. The word domesticated comes from the Latin root ‘domus’ meaning house, or living in a house, and it is not wheat but humans who have ended up living inside houses!

Like wheat, ICT seem to be controlling humans so that ICT can flourish! As one Korean teenage gamer at the National Centre for Youth Internet Addiction Treatment admitted, “I feel like the game is controlling me.”

A good lens to look at your internet and smartphone use is ‘locus of control’. In psychology, 'locus of control' is the extent to which you believe you can control events affecting you. You have a strong internal locus of control if you firmly believe that events and outcomes in your life derive primarily from your own actions. You could ask yourself if the use of technology is leading to a shift of your locus of control from being internal to becoming external?

For example, I write these blog posts because doing so gives me clarity about my own thoughts and ideas and because I enjoy writing them. But if the lack of readership or a single negative comment makes me distraught then I am letting my locus of control become external.

Whether internet addiction makes it into the DSM or not, the question we should be asking ourselves is if our use of technology is becoming compulsive? Are we becoming so dependent on our smartphone that its absence leads to withdrawal symptoms like feeling angry, tense or depressed? In children, is internet taking precedence over necessary life tasks and basic drives? Is its excessive use leading to a loss of sense of time? Is it stopping them from being physically present with their family, friends and with nature?

I should highlight that it is not the amount of time you spend on the internet, or on your smartphone that is a cause of worry; it is how you are using technology that could lead to problems. If your use of ICT is compulsive, if it is leading to an attention deficit (you can’t focus for long periods of time on a single task because you can’t resist checking email, Facebook, Whats App or Instagram frequently), if you are ignoring family, study and work, or if technology is impacting your wellbeing, then you should investigate if you face the danger of becoming a tech-junkie.

In another post, quoting from a story from the Indian lore, I have described ICT as a ‘Bhasmasuri Vardaan’ – a boon that can become a curse if you lose self-control and the ability to self-regulate. To make sure your ‘ability to be’ or what Aristotle calls ‘eudaimonia’ (long-term wellbeing) is not being impaired, check your use of digital technologies and if required, go on a digital diet now before you are forced to go on a digital detox!