TED Community » Ratul Banthia

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I'm passionate about

Trains, Cars, Planes, logistics, banking, music, humans, animals, birds, mind, politics, theater, live performances, dancing, traveling, adventure sports, jungles, food & liquor, cultures, psychology,

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• A reply on Conversation: How do smart people "find their level" in conversation?

  Aug 15 2011: Hey Jason,
  
  Apologies for the late reply, was quiet busy with work n formalizing on a new job that I would be taking up from September. I understand the sentiment expressed in your reply but please see my original comment in the context of the discussion topic. I guess you overunderstood the point I was making. My comment was not about how I would segregate people, judge them on the basis of my own concept of 'smart' and cherry-pick them n decide whether to converse with them or not. Who am I in the first place to do anything like that? In my opinion, smartness/ intelligence has nothing to do when it comes to having great conversations at a personal level coz the best personal conversations I've had have used the least amount of words..My comment is only limited to the context of work and to get things done especially in situations that require some quick thinking and fast actions. There are some people who just understand and act fast and identifying them is very important in fire-fighting situations. It's not about good/bad/'my-type' or 'not-my type', it's just about arresting the need of the hour!
  
  Hoping we agree on some of these points now:) Beyond all this, how's life n everything else?

• A comment on Conversation: What is the reason for homosexuality in humans?

  Aug 9 2011: I have seen cases of people turning into homosexuality in 'joint-families'- cases of 10-15 adoloscents sharing a single room, sexually fiddling with each other as a part of 'growing-up' and some of these turning into homosexuals (basically the 'bottom' men at the 'receiving' end). So environment for sure plays a role.
  
  Then there are some people who are just 'born with it', some curious & discreet and some open about it.
  
  As I interpret it, mentally we all (men & women) tread somewhere between the two extreme ends of masculinity and feminity. All of us are different possible variants (with all permutation & combinations of physical body & sexual behaviour) of humans conditioned by our concept of normal/abnormal/right/wrong, thereby exhibiting the image we want to project or stick to.
  
  And I do also feel that at some level (conscious or sub-conscious), sexuality, as everything else, is a choice!

• A reply on Conversation: If you could teach the world 1 valuable thing you learned, what would it be and why?

  Aug 9 2011: Very well articulated Nitesh!
• +2

  A reply on Conversation: How do smart people "find their level" in conversation?

  Aug 9 2011: Totally Bob, you said it! As a famous bollywood (India) song goes, "In your eyes there is a strange beauty"...song and the english translation of lyrics can be found here if you're curious:) http://www.lyricsmasti.com/song/4949/get_lyrics_of_Ajab-Si-Ajab-Si.html

• A reply on Conversation: How do smart people "find their level" in conversation?

  Aug 9 2011: I would agree with you Gisela. I use Reuters Office Communicator (OC) & in my chats the 'twinkle' comes at a time when the other person understands (and responds) on points that one is still typing:)
• +3

  A comment on Conversation: If you could teach the world 1 valuable thing you learned, what would it be and why?

  Aug 8 2011: 'To observe oneself without any bias'
• +7

  A comment on Conversation: How do smart people "find their level" in conversation?

  Aug 8 2011: It may sound funny but I have always managed to figure out other smart folks by looking into their eyes...A twinkle with a smile..kind of a hidden tagging that says 'from the same group, mate':) Has anyone else experienced this?
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Isn't it time to eliminate grades in education?

  Aug 8 2011: If we remove grades and bring in other parameters of judging performance, it's not going to help. Grades are here for a reason and they have been doing their job of communicating the strengths & weaknesses of an individual.
  
  What I feel is what should go is not the grades, but the overemphasis on them and using them as the only basis for judging performance. I would totally support a regime where grades are given along with detailed narratives of strengths & weaknesses and feedback as to how the student can build upon them.
  
  We need to end the mindset of grades being the single most important factor of performance evaluation and instead focus & reward those students who display the most improvement in developing themselves!