Sustainability vs Digital Transformation or Digital Disruption or Digital Slavery: Growth of Digital Disempowerment

Digital transformation and sustainability challenges:
Internet and convergence of technologies have created a digital takeover of all aspects of life to an extent that digital intrusion is now monitoring our most intimate details, which has produced a digital monopoly of nearly all services and has recently created the ultimate buzzword "digital disruption" which is actually a fuzz word.

There can be no sustainability without diversity. Diversity requires adherence to the principle of live-and-let-live. Digital disruption assumes the destruction of everything which is nondigital. However, Inclusive growth means allowing small competitors to survive and grow. Which is now an impossibility due to the juggernaut unleashed by digital disruption. Digital takeover of all aspects of life is now a reality. There is no sustainability of human culture, only the perpetuation of digital virtual existence. 

Why corrupt are not caught in pakistan

Corruption and corrupt. Who is responsible

To a person claiming corruption of politicians:

اگر اتنے ہی کرپٹ تھے تو مشرف نے اپنے 9 سالہ ڈکٹیٹر شپ میں اور عمران خان نے اپنی ایک پیج والی ڈکٹیٹرشپ میں ان کی اتنی ساری کرپشن کے بہت سارے ثبوت کیوں نہیں اکٹھے کر کے عدالت میں کیوں پیش نہیں کئے- اب صرف دو صورتیں رہ گئی ہیں (1) یا تو یہ دونوں خود کرپٹ تھے اور انہوں نے مک مکا کر لیا (2) یا پھر ثبوت ہیں ہی نہیں- اس وقت عدالتوں سے نیب کیس واپس لے رہی ہے کیونکہ کوئی کیس ہی نہیں- آپ چاہیں تو میں کورٹس کی پروسیڈنگز بھیج دوں؟

Reply to Irfan Hyder

 درست کہہ رہے ہیں آپ۔لیکن وائیٹ کالر کرپشن پکڑنا نا ممکن ہے ہمارے نظام میں۔اتنا تو میں بھی جان چکی ہوں اب ۔نون لیکی اور پیپلز پارٹی والے خود مانتے ہیں کہ ان کے لیڈر کرپٹ ہیں لیکن بس مہنگائ نہیں کرتے۔جبکہ مہنگائ کم رکھنے کے چکر میں اور اپنی جیبیں بھرنے کے چکر میں ان پچھلوں نے پاکستان پر ہاریبل قرضوں کے انبار لاد دئے ہیں۔

Disillusion of Youth In Search of Saviors in Pakistan: Hopes Pinned on Saviors, Not Principles

My dear ambitious, energetic youth: 

Please pin your hopes on principles not people. You are bound to be disappointed if you pin your hopes on saviors as I have been closely following the rise and fall of many of the saviors over the last 54 years of my life in the course of daily reading of newspapers, and have personally witnessed the rise and fall of Ayub, Yahya, Mujeeb, Bhutto, Zia, NS (thrice), BB (twice), Mush, Shaukat Aziz, Jamali, Junejo, Gilani, Parvez, Zardari, Altaf Bhai, and now Imran Khan. I have come across countless well-intentioned youth who were left disgruntled, disappointed, and disillusioned by the human frailties of their dear larger-than-life leaders who turned out to be just humans.

Why this epidemic of depression and psychosis - Death of Permanence

Why there is such a widespread epidemic of depression and psychosis in the world? 

Too much change, happening too fast and robbing us of the familiar anchors in life; anchors in beliefs, anchors in thoughts, anchors in our habits, anchors in families, anchors in "Old Familiar Faces",  anchors in furniture and household items, anchors in the neighborhood. 

Why are Stupids more Dangerous than Bandits and Thieves

Framework for understanding stupidity: Time for self-introspection 🤔.

اپنا بھی فائدہ کرتا ہے اور دوسروں کا بھی فائدہ کرتا ہے vs اپنا بھی نقصان کرتا ہے اور دوسروں کا بھی!

نادان دوست سے دانا دشمن بہتر ہے! (حضرت علی) 

5 Laws of Stupidity by Carlo Cipolla, 1976 titled “The basic laws of stupidity.” At first it seems hilarious but is not. It is very serious. 

Incompetence is the Mother of Corruption

  Incompetence is the Mother of Corruption l Dr. Irfan Hyder

Typically, the conventional wisdom is that "corruption is the mother of incompetence". The argument goes like the following: If there was no corruption, no incompetent judges would be hired, no incompetent civil servants would be hired or promoted, there would be no incompetent NAB, there would be no incompetent MNAs and MPAs and  there would be no incompetent Ministers. 

Thanks to the dictatorships, they had used the corruption to prolong their rule and survive. Zia ul Haq introduced non-party-based elections to bring the business mafia into the politics and unethical business mafia generated all the mess to engineer incompetence in all areas so their illegal wealth can grow and they never get caught by any system: Judiciary, law enforcement etc. The business mafia ensured incompetent people get hired at all levels to support their illegal actions. Thanks to Zia ul Haque and dictatorship.

Experiments to Control Democracy in Pakistan

مرض بڑھتا گیا جوں جوں دوا کی

Pakistan is so fond of changing the system of governance: We have changed the system every few years since 1947, we have experimented with political engineering of the system more times than any other country in the world. Here is a brief overview of our experiments of such engineering:

Why School Priorities Have Changed

 How short-term observations can lead to faulty solutions? What was important 50 years ago is not important today. See the following post

What was important 50 years ago is not important today. 50 years ago depression was not among the top 10 or even top 20 illnesses leading to death, today it is number one killer disease. 50 years ago memorizing spellings, formulas and multiplication tables was essential for all educated people, today their memorization is no longer important because of Google search, smart phones and auto spell checkers. 50 years ago self esteem, self care, self finances were taught by father mother, uncles, aunts and extended families and neighborhood friends, today we have deliberately cutoff the support environment of extended family and friends, and now want to shift the responsibility to schools.

.....

We are creating new problems because of our selfish pursuits and then want government and school systems to solve these problems.

Why the pendulum shifted in last 50 years. Regarding memorization of formulas, the shift is understandable because of availability of formula and spelling on a single click of smart phone has obviated the need. The increase in depression is owed to what Alvin Toffler called future shock.

For a more detailed understanding of why there is Prevalence of depression over the last 50 years see my other post

https://www.facebook.com/787063350/posts/10156932994243351/

Technology is as good as the people using it: EVM Technology is just a tool. Its user determines the quality of output

Installing cameras for fighting crime and tax evasion, using computer technology for removing corruption, and implementing EVMs for ensuring transparency of election results are all uses of technology to solve problems. However, "technology is as good as the people using it". Utility of a technology is dependent on the ability and competence of people using it.

EVMs will fail in Pakistan because it is more of a management problem than a technology problem

EVM is a much bigger logistics & management problem than a technology problem!
Assuming EVMs are technologically feasible, now please work out the logistics and management issues of manufacturing, testing, transportation, storage, issuance, receipts, returns, installation, post installation testing, quality assurance, maintenance, malfunction detection, repair, supervision etc of uniquely numbered 7 lac devices. Mind you, that all these devices will have to work flawlessly for only two days out of every five years in 100,000 polling stations spread over big cities, small cities, villages in areas spread over a country consisting of mountainous regions, deserts, plains, etc with highly differring levels of roads, internet, communication infrastructure using over 4 lacs polling staff that is conscripted for election duty from government departments for election duty. Each of 1lac polling stations has at least 7 hardware devices; 1 device for voter identification, 1 control unit, two ballot machines for men and 2 ballot machines for women (out of two, one is for NA and the other is for PA), and 1 RTS machine.

A Drive on a Rickety Cycle and Sufistic Thought by Shah M Ismail Rauf

This is a story/article written by my dear mamoo  Shah M Ismail written around 1953-55. Today September 8, 2021 is his 22nd death anniversary. He retired as Major in 1980s. He was great man who taught me how to love and play with children. 

Father of Faizan Shah, Faryal Osman Khan, Faraz Shah, Fariha Ahmreen, Farid Shah.

Rauf Mamoo as he was called by our entire extended family. Humaira Tariq, Sm Omar, Rabia T Zeeshan,.....Whether those who are be relation his grand daughters or grandsons or their sons and daughters would call him Mamoo. 

He was our companion in Hajj of 1996. What a great memorable 40 days.

Rauf Mamoo - How to Make People Feel Special and Close

Rauf Mamoo, My war hero of 1965 War: Major (R) Shah M Ismail at Chawinda Tank Battle.

Growing Up in the 1960s-70s: Recollections of Rauf Mamoo by his Daughter

Partition, Broken Families, Migration Ethos: Bharat ko Janey Waley by Fatima Khatoon

Farewell picture of my grandfather Abdul Ghani Hyder's return in June 1951 with the extended family. Research for names of those in Pic and labeling them with numbers was done by Khurshid Alim Zaidi, a very painstaking task.

My recitation of the poem

Is Marriage an Imprisonment? Feminism, Relationships and Freedom from Responsibilities

کیا شادی قید بامشقت ہے؟ 

 This post is triggered by FB posts which mentioned marriage as imprisonment with hard labor:

"قید بامشقت"

This post captures the intent of feminist and modern thought which is now focused so much on freedom that it considers "responsibilities" as imprisonment (قید).

Phuppi Tufail Fatima Care for Family and Parents

My phuppi Tufail Fatima breathed her last yesterday August 23, 2021. She was 103 years of age. Her birth-year (called ism-tareekh  اسم  تاریخ) is 1918 as given in the manuscript penned by her grandfather (my grandfather's father) Syed Ikram Hyder. Her Tareekhi Names derived from the birth year were Ghani Behr e Rehmat (غنی بحر رحمت), Khabeer Zahir( خبیر ظاہر), Khursheed Nusrat Panah ( خورشید نصرت پناہ). She was an exemplary woman who maintained her regimented lifestyle throughout her life till old age restricted her to bed a few years ago. Strict timings for meals, tea, prayers, and housekeeping. She did her BA in 1938 and BT in 1939 from Aligarh University. She taught in the Mauripur base school in 1950-60s. Her care for immediate family and extended family members was exemplary. All through the 1970s she first cared for her mother-in-law during her old age deathbed for around five years, and then her mother during her old age deathbed. Great lady who was worrying even during her last years about taking care of guests when she had forgotten who was who and could barely talk and had lost sense of time, era, and people around. I remember a year or so before when I visited her, she had forgotten who I was but sensed that I am a visitor and wanted to know whether I had had some refreshment. Something she did with all around. 

Inna lillah e wa inna ilaihi rajioon 

 [Ikram Hyder was a forest officer in late 19th century and early 20th century and belonged to the Naqshbandi Sufistic tradition. This excerpt is from his documents/papers collection. The page from which this pic is cropped also contains اسم تاریخ of my uncles. The date of this writing is 1925-30, which is estimated from the ism-e-tareekh of Tufail's brother, born in 1925, and written on the same page using the same pen]. 

Ism e Tareekh and Qata e Wafat: How Birth and Death Years were remembered in History

Ism-e- tareekh ( اسم تاریخ) was the name computed from the year of birth. There are numbers assigned to each letter of the alphabet. Sum of the numbers assigned to each letter of birth year name  evaluate to the birth year. See the computations of names of my father, uncles and phuppo by Syed Ikram Hyder Naqshbandi (father of my grandfather) written in 1930s. Typically they were made to evaluate to hijri years and then converted to Gregorian calendar year. Here it shows the names of Tufail Fatima, Syed Ahsan Hyder, Syed Luqman Hyder, Syed Osman Hyder, Syed Ramzan (Sultan) Hyder, and Syed Saeed Uddin Hyder. 

Similarly, year of death was often computed from the sum of numbers assigned to the letters of a verse. Typically four (قطعہ) verses were used by poets and was called قطعہ وفات. These verses and names were used to remember the year of death and year of birth.

Teachers at ICB/IMS

Sitting Sir Manzoor Ahmed Khan (English), Sir Nafees Siddiqui (English), Principal MKA Beg, Madam Shuja Zaidi (Headmistress), Sir Jan e Alam (Urdu), Sir Ghalib Raza (Urdu)

This appears to be editorial board of Sumbul, school magazine

Self awareness and layers of intentions

Self-awareness is the process of discovering deeper levels of intentions. Whenever we are disturbed and feel an urge to respond or act on a stimulus we need to introspect about what is it that has disturbed me and is giving me this urge to respond. 

Our response should be based on حسن ظن and not being judgmental because the facts may be wrong or our perspective may be faulty. This is highlighted by the three examples given in the Pic. 

But, more importantly our holier-than-thou feeling that produces this urge to respond may itself have deeper issues that require self awareness and self introspection. 

We need to first identify the intention behind any action (or its contemplation). The first reason that comes to our mind represents the first level of intention. Below the first level intention is another level of intention. Below the second level of our intention there may be another level of intention. We need to peel off these succesive layers of intentions before we discover the core intention that is giving rise to upper levels of intentions. This deepest core intention is most often a fundamental, most disturbing, weakness in us, that we are hiding with our upper level (lesser disturbing) intentions.

This is how I analyze each event that disturbs me

Q: I think there is a layer below the intentions which give meaning to reality, or forming a perception, to which we intend to responding ...

Elegance, Love and Principles in Roman Holiday

One of the most memorable endings of a movie.

I have thought a lot about the emotions and feelings generated by this movie since my early school days. 

First saw this movie in 1971-72 on PTV. Then in 1983-84 on projector at American Center audi (adjacent to Marriott) during classic films festival. Then in 1988 on videocassette checked out from movie collection at UGL in UT Austin, and later at KBVO channel 42. Then a couple of times in early 1990s rented from Blockbuster Videos in Austin. Then bought the videocassette in late 1990s and a couple of times. And watched it several times with each of my children during 2000s. And of course with CDs and now online at least once every other year.

What an experience and what memorable feelings. They don't make movies like this anymore. The delicacy and refinement of the subject, emotions and an everlasting experience. 

Happiness and Forgive and Forget Rule

Forgive and forget rule for happiness! 

The question to ask is whether you want to be happy or not!

اے شمع تیری عمر طبیعی ہے ایک رات 

ہنس کر گزار یا اسے رو کر گزار دے

 

Holding a grudge and protecting it is like carrying stale foul smelling tomatoes for long periods and not throwing them away despite their stench.

وہ اچھا سلوک جو آپ نے دوسروں کے ساتھ کیا اس کا بھولنا اس    حکمت میں پوشیدہ ہے: "نیکی کر دریا میں ڈال"  اور "احسانمند کے شر سے ڈرو"

لوگوں کا رویہ ہمارے رویہ کا پرتو اور عکس ہوتا ہے

اگر آپ کسی کا رویہ اپنے ساتھ تبدیل کرنا چاہتے ہیں تو سب سے پہلے اپنا رویہ ان کے ساتھ تبدیل کریں!

Covey's 1st Habit "Being Proactive"

نیکی اور بدی برابر نہیں ہوتے- نیکی کا بدلہ نیکی ہے- بدی کا بدلہ بدی ہے- کان کا بدلہ کان ہے اور ناک کا بدلہ ناک ہے- البتہ معاف کرنا زیادہ افضل ہے اور معاف کرنے کے بعد بدی کا بدلہ نیکی سے دینا سب سے زیادہ افضل ہے-

How to Identify Synthesis in the tables of your PhD Literature Survey

Instructions to my PhD students:
Please note that The taxonomy master and taxonomy detail are only a "structured" way of organizing the information and identifying "codes" and discovering "themes and categories". It is a tool to help you identify the literature support that leads to your PS.

You need to transform this structured information into distilled tables where individual papers at max could be in footnotes.

We discussed in class the tables used by Dr Omar Javaid and Dr Junaid Ansari dissertations tables in the chapter on literature survey. The dissertations are in lms.

You need to design those kinds of tables that fit the thrust of your paper areas.

Most of you have been asked to change/make these tables.