Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.27

Has our generation lost the art of listening?

VIEW:  CALVIN ROBERTS

These days people are engrossed in their electronic gadgets so much that they to forget the existence of fellow human-beings. The results are not only obvious in education, business, society and politics, but also in the very fabric of our individual lives. The introduction of technology has led to the decrease of human communication. Our generation is caught up in their own digital lives that no one has the time and care to listen to each other. This aspect can be seen in every event. We don’t listen to parents, teachers and even our own peers.

However, we can’t put all the blame on technology, another reason being our attention span decreasing and our losing interest in what others are talking about. For example, the other day, in our class, we were discussing a very sensitive topic, religion. During the discussion, a student misheard the other saying that a Holy Book could be fake and all the students following that religion pounced on him. This can be an instance where we say that our generation has lost the art of listening.

If our generation has not lost the art of listening, then why are there centres where listening skills are being taught? Indeed today, listening has become a lost art. When we listen to someone speaking, we are slowing down our brain speed drastically in order to keep up with the speed of the person talking. This leaves our brain with a lot of space to think, so in order to listen better, we need to use our thinking time more efficiently.

A question which one might ask is “how does our generation listen to music and their favourite movies without being distracted?”  Some even memorize the lyrics of songs and the lines of a movie, but if asked what the lecturer spoke in college, they would say they don’t remember. Sometimes even though the class is silent, when the lecturer asks a question, they retort by saying they “didn’t hear what the question was.” From this, we come to a conclusion that it is not that they didn’t hear but they chose not to hear. Our generation chooses what they want to hear and what they don’t want to hear.

In conclusion, I want to use a term often used in the Holy Bible regarding our generation.

They have eyes, but they don’t see. They have ears, but they don’t hear.

• Mark8:18

COUNTERVIEW- ATUL MATHEW

“Genuine listening means suspending memory, desire, and judgment and, for a moment at least, existing for the other person.”
- The lost Art of listening.

Listening like any other skill cannot be developed without practice. Yes, it can be lost if people don’t try and listen on a regular basis, but then it can be regained just as easily. The good listeners focus on what they’re listening to. They pause to think about what they have heard before responding accordingly if necessary. They ask questions because they want to know more on what they heard and not just for the sake of extending the conversation or to show interest. It is an art. You have got to give attention to what you listen. It would be easy to say listening is something that anybody can do at any time. But even listening requires you to be alert.

Now, Many would argue saying in the present generation, Listening is somewhat of a lost art. They might even say in world where self-interest precedes everything else, where intolerance has become an acceptable value. That the art of listening is fast fading into oblivion. But Tema Frank, A best-selling author, once said that she isn’t convinced that our ability to listen is any worse than it has been in the past. So summing it all down to our generation doesn’t seem all that fair, does it?

Am I saying our generation is good at listening? No, that would be completely wrong. But it’ll be equally wrong to say we have lost the art of it. There’s Talking and then there’s Listening which are two sides of the same coin. Both form an integral part in the process of communication. Dalai Lama said “When you talk, you only repeat what you know. But when you listen, you learn something new.” And nobody can deny our generation hasn’t been learning anything new. In fact research has shown that our generation has taken more into learning, understanding and acquiring more knowledge than the previous generations, and that can only be achieved by listening, taking in and understanding the information and applying the knowledge you received into anything you’re interested in.

It’s a common misconception that we, our generation, stopped listening because of any gadget that sucks our consciousness right into it, leaving the outside world oblivious.  Isn’t it also a very critical thing to say that our Know-it-all Ego doesn’t allow us to listen to anything anyone says? We do listen. We do think it over in our heads. Maybe we didn’t want to say anything because of a difference in opinion. Or yes, there would’ve been a few who actually hadn’t listened. Does that mean our whole generation has to be criticized over what the minority did? But that’s just what the society does, and that is what we have to live with, apparently.   

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.26

ALIENS - LIFE OUTSIDE OUR PLANET?

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- Ashwita Binoy

Aliens can rightly be defined as extra terrestrials from civilizations in the outer space. The concept or the idea of life outside our planet has always been a matter of great curiosity. For me, It has always been a case of mystery and interest .The Idea of their existence is something that has been often subdued.

You will discover a gazillion videos and documentaries on the internet that supposedly proves the existence of aliens. These videos and documentaries consist of confessions  and revelations made by pilots,aviators,military officers, government officials, scientists and many common people who have experienced something that felt “out of this world”.

These ‘out of the world’ visitors haven’t been strangers to the people who lived many centuries ago.And if you asked ,why is it  so? It is because  many artifacts, archaeological  findings, carvings and scriptures that talk or depict these extra terrestrials have been found. Some of these findings portray the extra terrestrials as some kind of deity or some godly being. Isn’t it quite astonishing that our ancestors could have supposedly been in contact with these ancient aliens? As a matter of fact the so called gods that we worship today could actually be beings from outer space.

The famous crop circles,many of such sorts found in our country, has been one of the most popular evidences.These crop circles have been so precisely created that it definitely cant be the work of ordinary humans.There have been many UFO sightings .However ,the witnesses of such sightings have been silenced for so called security reasons and sadly  the minimal evidence that supports its existence has been made very discrete by various government organizations.

Stephen hawking is an avid believer of these so called alien astronauts. The brilliant scientist has openly stated his strong  notion about life outside our planet.But ironically, he is against the idea of reaching out to them.He believes that if we do so,there could be a likelihood of invasion as we are ‘apparently’ inferior. But how do we know? Apart from him, There are quite a few celebrities who have mentioned their keen interest on these alien beings for instance Tom Cruise, Katy Perry and even Kendall  Jenner.

Like for many of us, a few questions continue to haunt my mind. Why have the government bodies tucked away most of the information regarding these aliens? Are they planning on an invasion? What if all they want is friendly association  and not to conquer our planet? What if they’re trying to send us a message we cant possibly read? Maybe they could help us in many ways or Maybe they need  help.We will never know. But with a farfetched  imagination, I will continue to indulge myself in researching on these fascinating creatures and My intuition tells me that we are not the only living beings in this universe.

                                                                                                                                                   

Counter view 

- Kevin B Mathews

I think that Aliens do not exist. There are millions of stars, planets, etc in space. This fact alone does not add up to the possibility that there is extra terrestrial life beyond earth. These planets are simple planets with no life. There is no evidence which suggesting existence of extra terrestrial beings. Although renowned organisations like NASA have made several attempts to find life-forms in space, no life has been found so far, and I doubt that it will ever be. From the beginning of civilization till now not one shred of evidence has been found.

Let’s just assume that aliens did exist, then why is it that we only get to see distorted or blurred pictures? Sometimes it is portrayed as just a dot that is visible or sometimes a shadow but it’s never the actual being itself. Although the technology is so advanced still there is not even one picture which clearly shows an alien or a UFO, for that matter.

Some people have also talked about crop circles in relation to alien sightings, and UFO landings, but most likely the crop circles were caused by natural causes like winds, or even done by humans to cause disturbance, or seek perverse thrills. The crop circles have definitely led to a rise in tourism business in the affected areas, mainly fueled by the countless newspaper reports in even the most renowned publications. As we  lack any scientific research into this phenomena, we cannot establish it as a fact that crop circles are caused by extra terrestrials or their “vehicles”.

Very recently, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has told the world in general to be wary of sending signals to the space, as he believes that they will be much more intelligent than us – the earthlings – and more skilled at interstellar warfare than us. However, there is a school of thought that also wonders, and I side with this. that we have been sending countless tv broadcasts, radio signals, satellites, radars, etc into space, and never once have we encountered anything in terms of extra-terrestrial – beings or machines.

So in all fairness, without calling it right or wrong, I believe that it is impossible for extra terrestrials to be in existence, as we do not have a shred of proof that supports their existence. Show me but one clear picture !

                              

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.25

Are curfews effective in terms of keeping teens out of trouble?

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The topic of teen curfews is usually a controversial one. There are many words or phrases that teens dread hearing from their parents, one of such words is “curfew.” Now, what are curfews? Curfews are regulations requiring people to remain indoors within specified hours, typically at night. Or in simple words it is a particular time set for teens to get back home from outing, Leisure, Parties, college, etc.

Curfews are usually implemented by parents on their kids or in a few countries where many hostels exist for students to stay or also by the government to keep crime off the streets. We live in a society where it is unsafe for even an adult to go outside after a particular time. The main purpose of having a curfew is to keep teens out of trouble and danger.

Parents have many reasons for imposing curfews on teens. The first one is because they care for their child and want them to be safe and they have the responsibility to their children morally and legally to keep them safe. Often it is not the actions of a teen that is of concern to the parent but the actions of other people. Eg driving at 8pm is safer than driving at 12am as there can be incidents of drunk driving and this can be life threatening to their teen.

Usually when teens begin to grow up they tend to explore more in terms of going out and they tend to overlook responsibility. Following social rules plays an important part in growing up. Curfews help in making a teen responsible as they learn to maintain punctuality and they also learn the concept of having fun within limits. Often, curfew violations pertaining to breaking the law are quite expensive and time consuming. That is one of the reasons parents also keep curfews for their children.it is essential that a parent should let their teen understand why  a curfew is there and let them know the penalty for violating the curfew. Also, parents should be understanding and teens should be allowed to negotiate their curfews for different activities and understand that they are earning their independence through being trustworthy and mature. Therefore it is important for curfews to be implemented as it helps to keep teens out of trouble.

I hope this article sheds light on why curfews are effective in terms of keeping teens out of trouble.

- Keegan Arthur Pereira

COUNTER VIEW

Although adolescents need limits and guidelines to keep them in check during the teen years, the point of living in a place other than your ancestral/family home is to explore your surroundings, and to take the time one need’s to find  themselves, their space, and their circle. Curfews are an inhibition to finding ourselves.

Even if one manages to do all of this regardless of the curfew, they, as a measure, provide a false sense of security. If one really wants to do anything past the time given to them by a guardian, who says anything could really stop them? People can lie, manipulate or even sneak out of their homes and then go do whatever they want. If anyone puts their mind to something, how could something as insignificant as a curfew stop them?

Legal curfews implemented by the government in various countries have created a lot of problems for parents like when curfew laws are violated it can be quite expensive and time consuming. Minors are by far the most unfree people in our society and they do not have any freedom of movement whatsoever. In many parts of The US curfew laws are enforced on the youth therefore many of them learn to invoke secrecy in what they do like getting older people to buy forbidden products or lying to go to certain places. In many parts of Europe, teens below the age of 18 have fake id’s to enter a pub.

Therefore, I believe it is essential that curfew laws shouldn’t be implemented in our society and curfews aren’t effective in keeping our young teens out of trouble.

- Rahul Parekh

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.24

ADOLESCENCE -  POWER GAINED OR INNOCENCE LOST?

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- Andrea Monisha Leslie

Adolescence is the loss of innocence is what I strongly believe. Children entering the age of adolescence often don't want to be treated as children as they let go of their childhood fancies, interests and cravings in order to show that they have changed and they are grown up. 

Adolescence can be replaced with the term innocence lost  because it has often been an integral part of growing up. As children grow up  they begin to start questioning more and caring less about things which once used to matter the most to them. They start being more individualistic and often claim to know world knowledge and even argue to know better then their parents and elders.

At this phase in life children break out and care less about social obedience. This leads not only to innocence lost but also creates a distance between children and parents and the society as the whole. This is because children are no longer willing to accept every rule or notion the society throws at them, but they question, reason out and rebel against everything that comes their way.

Just like how a coin has two faces, adolescence is not only losing of innocence but it is also gaining power. Children are liberated from the beliefs which they were once oppressed with and start thinking for themselves. This liberation or transformation movement in a child’s life plays an important role in shaping the personality of the teen. Parenting at this phase is also very hard as it is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs.

We have all grown up hearing  the  statement “You used to be such an innocent child”. As some parents and elders find the transformation of their children into adolescent too much of a change . They often find it hard to appreciate their son/daughter’s growth. However this does not mean the children forget their childhood, they do cherish it and even parents have their share of cherishing their children’s childhood memories. Children alone don’t miss what they used to be i.e., the ignorance and everything but parents also miss it. It is always known that too much information which an adolescent seeks destroys childhood innocence.

“No adolescent ever wants to be understood ,which is why they complain about being misunderstood  all the time” – Stephen Fry .

                                 

                                                                                               

COUNTERVIEW

- Ajith Chander B

Adolescence is the period in every person’s life that results in a drastic change.  Due to increase in the brain matter, they become more interconnected and gains processing power. The changes can either be for the better or for the worse  depending upon the individual. Peers often have anxiety issues at this transitional phase. 

Parents are often upset about this change in their children. The changes in the behaviour of their children not only are misunderstood but also most peers are judged by the society. This phase is often mistaken as the “spoilt” phase. Whereas peers gain courage.

I’m still a teenager now, but  from 7th to 10th grade I didn’t really know what I wanted at all. I was smart so I used to hang out with those boys who were in the good books of the teachers. As time passed i started hanging out with the cool dudes of the class. But there was this one part of me which missed my old self, and at that point i wanted to be alone and improve myself as a person. This phase not only moulded my character but it also spoke well about me. This is not a tale of losing innocence but gaining of power. This made me choose the right kind of people in my life and be more careful.

“As you become more clear about who you really are, you’ll be better able to decide what is best for you-the first time around”- Oprah Winfrey

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.23

THE USA LEAVING THE PARIS CLIMATE TREATY

VIEW: Mahima R. Poojari

As we all know, with the Trump government coming into power in the United States of America everything seems to be uncertain. The worlds’ big brother might as well throw all its fellow countries in the ocean in order to become the strongest country in this world. Trump lived exactly up to his expectations when he pulled The USA out of the PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD. His decision was not only criticized by his own people but by the entire world. So what made Trump do what he did?

Well, before he came into power as the President he did promise to pull The USA out of the agreement and he did just that. Apparently, the terms of the Paris Agreement were unfair to his country. He claims that while several other countries, like India and China contribute the most to pollution in the world, they have got nothing to do until 2030, and the USA will have to bring its emissions under control by 2020. That is however, not the case, and it’s just in defense of Trump’s actions.

While he may have found some support in his country, most sensible people are against it. His decision is being called “irresponsible” and “callous”, which is to say the least. He claims to be “protecting” his nation but in reality has dismissed the health, safety and economic wellbeing of the Americans. The USA is also more vulnerable and will be forced to diminish its world dominance. Global leadership also stands affected as the secretary of state of the US warned against leaving the Paris deal.

Other than Syria, which is in the middle of a civil war, and Nicaragua, which argues that the deal doesn’t go far enough to curb global emissions, The USA is the only other country which has opted out of the Paris treaty, that too, without a legitimate reason.

Despite being the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Trump says that the agreement hurts their economy, while US is just more vulnerable to climate change after this move. The Paris Treaty is not even one where the countries are forced to meet their emission targets. It’s a non-binding; no enforcement mechanism. This decision is also going to make other International negotiations more challenging for the US. China will look forward to filling the leadership role that the US is vacating.

To conclude, I think that the president of the United States of America has made a huge mistake withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, even forgetting the climate change issues. It’s only going to radiate bad impacts with respect to the US standing on all other international issues. The USA will also face a massive global diplomatic backlash and permanently hand over worldwide leadership on climate and renewable energy issues to China.

COUNTERVIEW:  Bharat Pratap

When President Donald Trump decided to opt out of the Paris agreement, he was just fulfilling one of the many pledges he had made during his campaign. Divisive would be an understatement, as the backlash received for this decision was monumental. All hate was undeviating and directed towards him. However when one comes to think about this, the intricacies looming around this decision become quite obvious.

The treaty was extremely expensive; it would reduce hundreds of thousands of jobs and would destroy about $2.5 trillion in GDP for USA by the year 2035. The terms and conditions of the treaty stated that all countries must update their commitments every five year, beginning in the year 2020. The previous white house office administration of Ex-President Obama’s stated that their emission of greenhouse gases would be steady and cumulative resulting in an 80 percent growth in the future.

The decision to advance with the pact was solely Obama’s doing as he would not consult the United States congress and would relegate their opinions and their views on the matter. This highlights the fact that he knew why it might not have gotten through, which means that this was only something merely symbolic, but would come to no avail and would have proceeded to anger people. If USA was still part of this, it was bound to happen and people would be enraged to see how much of the taxed money was being poured into this. By 2020 almost 100 billion every year would be collected from all nations.

Obama would end up giving one billion of the taxpayers’ money every year to this fund again without the appropriate authorization of the US congress. Pushing aside the diplomatic matters, how did the other countries in the pact perform in terms of emissions? Germany has seen an increase in carbon emissions for the past two years, China agreed to reduce its emissions by 2030, just around the time when their development will be peaking and this would have happened nonetheless. India made no commitments, but pledged for efficiency of the use of resources, but performed only at half of the efficiency as they had promised. And Pakistan offered a page stating that they would reduce their emissions once they reached their “peak levels” as quick as possible. All, taking advantage of USA’s leniency.

USA’s exit from the treaty would open up more jobs; especially for coal labour which has been a big problem as unemployment has skyrocketed in that sector. This now, is a good opportunity for the current administration as they can try finding means to provide jobs and aid to their own citizens, other individuals and the world without swimming too deep into the taxed money of their country, and this would bring about a good practical change for the world instead of being part of sham like the Paris treaty.

Game of Words: View vs. Counter View 1.22

Automation of jobs? View vs. Counter view!

VIEW: Aditya Sareen   

I believe that Automation of jobs is inevitable as we advance further into the future and is a vital step in the evolution of Mankind. Automation, put simply in the current times, is the occupation of human jobs by robots, AI, and programming.

There are substantial reasons that strengthen the stance for the automation of jobs and one of the primary reasons is simply that humans cannot work as fast as robotic machines. In fact, the pace of humans cannot be increased even if they have lot of previous experience, whereas robots can perform a task within a blink of an eye. Moreover, tasks which are dangerous for the health of a human body can be done by the robots without affecting them in any way. In this way, the work is done in a more efficient manner and also saves a number of lives. In addition to this, robots and robotics systems can also work at a constant speed. Hence, robots can perform even difficult tasks in an easy and time bound manner. Due to the fact that robots work faster than humans, the output of finished products manufactured by robots and robotic systems is much more than the output produced by manpower. While robots help with increased production, the production of the defective good decreases; producing similar quality products in less time and more accuracy.

By the end of this century, it is sensible to believe that 70% of our jobs will be replaced by automation. This wave of replacement is being headed by the development of various sensors, AI technologies and advanced robotic engineering.

COUNTERVIEW: Priya G A

The question I want to put forward here is, 'Does the technology (robots) we are developing ultimately benefit mankind?' Although robots could be potentially beneficial to a certain extent, they would also lead to a huge catastrophe which in turn might lead to technological unemployment which means the loss of jobs by technological change. Just as horses employed as prime movers were gradually made obsolete by the automobile industry, human jobs have also been affected throughout modern history. Historical examples include artisan weavers reduced to poverty after the introduction of mechanised looms. A contemporary example of technological unemployment is the displacement of retail cashiers by self-service task carriers.

             According to Prof. Mosche Vardi, we are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans at almost any task and that the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rates greater than 50%. The reasons supporting the stance that robots should not replace humans in their jobs include the fact that robotic systems and robots are limited to their functions and only the programmers really know what the functions are, and also that the initial cost of the same is high. Moreover, unless Artificial Intelligence is highly sophisticated, robots may not respond properly in times of an emergency or when some unexpected variance occurs. Another reason states that the aggressive introduction of robots and robotic systems in the world is making companies and human beings more dependent upon the same and is therefore paving way to a dependent society which is not desirable. Lastly, robots and robotic systems replace certain workers causing economic losses with possible resultant shortening of their lifespan.

         There are job sectors where robots dare not venture. There are certain professions in which human creativity, subjective judgement, and craftsmanship will remain superior to any skill a machine can offer such as a child care expert as robots cannot take care of small children or babies in the same way a human being can, and chefs because robots don’t eat organic food and nor do they smell or taste things. Only a human can express the art of cooking. Coming to the profession of a doctor, Just like childcare professionals, artists, journalists and chefs – the one human trait a good doctor shares with these people is empathy. If a patient feels their doctor genuinely cares for them, they are likely to feel better and heal faster. Robots, for all their complexity and computing ability, just don’t express genuine human empathy.

Game of Words: View Vs. Counter View 1.21

India and a cashless society?

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- Hetvi Shah 

India is a society where change is accepted easily but adapted over a period of time. India uses too much of cash transactions where in only 5% of payments happen electronically. The entire purpose of the government introducing the term demonetization into our lives was to eradicate black money mainly. There are several reasons but the most important ones are to pool in all those people who were still not paying their taxes and also to make India a cashless society. A cashless society is self-explanatory: An economy in which all payments and transactions are done using cards or by digital means. The circulation of physical currency is minimal.

Going cashless means avoidance of taxes. Every transaction is recorded and there will be a smooth flow of managing accounts. Most of the black money, as seen, is invested in real estates and when the economy goes cashless, the movement of black money will be curbed and real estate prices will reduce.

In laymen terms, it is safer to carry around a credit card rather than cash. If your credit card is stolen, it can easily be blocked but once your cash is stolen, it is lost forever. This may not be much but it is easy to ward off borrowers and pay back the exact amount without worrying to get back change from shopkeepers. A written record will help you keep tabs on how much, on what and where you have spend your money, resulting in a better budgeting system. Controlled spending can result in higher investing. This will in turn increase India's GDP and attract hot money in-flows.

India is changing, we just need to fasten the process by adapting faster and accepting the difficult times that this change is bringing us now because change is gorgeous at the end. Digital transaction is what the world is becoming now or rather, what it already has become so why should India stay behind and just watch? We are what the entire world should look up to. 

Counterview 

- Mohit Damani 

India is a growing country where the higher officials of the country are working endlessly towards building a better society.

Going cashless will make the growth of our society and economy harder. Going cashless means making payments through online transactions done through banks and other forms of online payment portals like Paytm. 

The people don’t know that there are lot of flaws when it comes to cashless payments. With the growing amount of cyber crime and hacking being reported it is highly unsafe. Hacking has reached such a stage where the hackers are able to hack into accounts and transfer the money to their source accounts without leaving a trail. This means that living in a cashless society increases the risk of loosing the money held in the bank accounts.

The lower middle class and the sections of society below them who’s business and family runs on the constant outflow and inflow of cash will suffer.These sections of the society most often avail cash discounts on majority of the consumer goods they purchase. 

When online transactions are done there is a interest cost that is added to it which not only increases their expenditure to the cost of the good but increases it by adding the interest cost, which is a considerably high amount for them to pay. People would prefer a cash transaction as it would turn out to be an easier and a cheaper way to make the ends of the transactions meet.

More over the important question to be asked is, are the banks ready and good enough for a cashless society. A society which works cashless needs its bank to have a good infrastructure and work force and a well organised portal to handle millions of transactions everyday and also be prepared to open lakhs of more accounts of those illiterate people who have barely any knowledge about banks and online transactions.