Blink !
The two “nicest” things to come out of SEM 4 so far have been quizzing and people. SPQC which was co-founded over chai and misal pav in the canteen has started well off the blocks. Quizzing days bring back memories when quizzing was really a fun business back in school. It was fun because we did it for no ulterior motives. Not to impress girls. Not to be cool. Not as a result of incessant boredom. We did it because we loved it. And SPQC has like rejuvanted me this sem. Brought back that sense of dejavu. Thanks to SPQC , I ‘ve met a lot of people in college. Seniors, juniors, everyone. And it’s quite nice knowing people. Rather understanding people.
The more you learn, the more you know how ignorant you are. Stay hungry, stay foolish – a mantra that has always suited me. A couple of weeks ago, I ended up sitting as audience at a pretty large B-School Business Quiz. And there I learnt about a certain Malcolm Gladwell and his works. The foolish part of me had to read this guy. Devour him.
I went to my local library and got my hands over “Blink” - Gladwell’s second book. And without doubt, it is one of the finest pieces I’ve ever read. The book dissects the human mind like never before and the more you read, the more intrigued you are about it all. Especially the theory of thin slicing – which I have taken to very well.
Being one of the co-founders of SPQC, a lot of quizzes have to be hosted by me. Everytime I sit down to research questions, I have this nagging doubt at the back of my mind. What kind of questions are the folks looking out for ? On conversing with most folks, I’ve realised that most people love quizzes where they can answer many questions. People participate to win and are fiercely competitive. People feel nicer about themseleves when can answer stuff put up on the projector. They can massage their self-esteem. Quite contrary, I feel very content when I miss a question for I get to know about something that has been around me but has eluding me for ages. So, i’m always on the hunt for something which people would miss but then go back and say ” nice. i never thought about this “.
So, next time when I host a quiz, it’s going to be simple. Answerable. And so it’ll be very competitive. And it will have a question on Malcolm Gladwell. And I think I love human psychology. And SPQC too.
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its more of ‘preserving self-esteem’ than ‘massaging it’….some of us are quite clueless about almost all the questions at SPQC…but then…as you put it…”I feel very content when I miss a question for I get to know about something that has been around me but has eluding me for ages.”…
Shows how much more knowledge you have compared to us, and its true!
And what happened to that Insignia thing?
1-Human brain happens to be the most fascinating thing around..
2-Trust me!
I’ve always loved learning people…and if there is any subject that really enamors me it’s gotcha be Human behaviour!
I can get really judgemental about people.and trust me i have been atrociously wrong almost every single time.and there is no better way to learn…
Small suggestion,since you seemed to be intriguied by psychology read about Gandhi and Richard Branson…
PS-I want that book!:)
I love SPQC
i doubt the feeling is mutual!!
BlinK! Read the start..cdnt complete it..frm wht i read here it must get preferential treatment..
ya human behaviour n pysche is by far the most interesting thing coz it has no pre-conceived facts or algos to decipher it…
keep the quizzin thing goin on..wantin to bcum a regular-n ya-thr mite b a qst or 2 dat i can ans;elz its all bout discoverin for me…
u can try brian weiss..related to pyscho
I read couple of pages and I don’t really remember what happened after that. I just remember I liked whatever I did read. Hmm, should really search for it and start reading.
And thank you for SPQC
I love SPQC too. It was something I really wanted to do for a long time and it just came together during the trip I suppose. Thank you (and many many others) for all your support. BE Electrical may leave at the end of this semester, but I hope SPQC flourishes for many many years to come.
hi there.was jus bloghopping and as i have read the entire book having found some1 who has read it 2 cudnt stop myself 4m commenting.where better to learn human psychology than in engineering!blink is a very interesting and thoughtful work of gladwell.
As Krithika said, SPQC is the best thing to happen to SP. Cheers to the chai and the misal pav which sparked this idea!
I think I agree with your missing-the-question-and-getting-to-know-stuff theory, although most people don’t really think that way.The QM is likely to labeled a malevolent, sadistic freak. Schadenfreude is alive and kicking after all.
I went to an open quiz which had these questions about Western Classical Musicians, Jazz pieces and unknown sporting personalities(Renee Richards, Antonin Panenka, Frank Chester, Sale & Pelletier etc). And my team was pretty much massacred[To clarify, Delhi quizzing generally never moves beyond Metal, Progressive Rock and Formula fucking 1].
But, I did take the pains to find out about all these things following the quiz the end results of which include growing a great great interest in Western Classical and listening to a lot of Coltrane, Miles Davis etc. Although at the end of it all I wonder whether the rest of my googling(reading about great cricket umpires, tennis coaches, boxing trainers etc) was worth it at all. Which I think is somewhere tied to the question: Why quizzing? Quite often when making quizzes the question that I find myself asking is: why should someone know this?