Anupam- The Dreamer

If you want to succeed in life, then you must start investing in your 20s, otherwise you are doomed. If you want to grow your portfolio, then you must invest 20% in equity, 30% in Mutual Funds, 20% in bullion and rest 30% in tax-saving instruments. If you want to stay fit till 60, then you must eat one guava daily. If a person does xyz to you, then he/she is crooked, and if the same person does lmn to you, then he is great!

You must have read all this “gyaanbaazi” that has flooded the social media in particular, and internet, in general. And, when we read such things about career, finance, health, relationships, life etc., everything tends to be true at the face value. Infact, every little piece of information/opinion/thought is camouflaged in such a way that it seems true to our mind and senses. We tend to be swayed by these instantly and come to attach huge importance to it, as if our life depends on such things. For example, every gyaan on WhatsApp University, instagram, etc. is sold as “100% truth”, which makes us feel that every bloody information that is coming before us is true and we are so ill-informed, naïve and lazy that we even don’t know about such things.

Every opinion seems nothing but a white truth. Every tom, dick and harry (on podcasts, stories etc.) is shaping opinions of millions of people, even when they don’t have credentials or accomplishments of their own to prove their worth. Most of the times, some propaganda is sold to the people in the garb of some advertisement campaign or some ulterior motive. And many-a-times, they tell you what you want to hear and not what is the reality! The influencers appeal to the emotions of the people and are excellent at playing with your emotions, feelings and inclinations. They know where to place the bait, so that you start following them as the monkey follows the banana.

This is not to say that some things are not beneficial information/opinions and advice. But, the problem starts when we become too gullible to such things and start accepting them without applying our own mind to them. The quality of critical thinking is becoming rarer day-by-day. The culture of asking questions is diminishing at a lightening pace. To the “gyaani” people, everyone who is asking a question is a criminal or a rogue person or an outcast, and therefore should be called out, ridiculed and bullied. The people who like to follow others like a sheep following its herd, don’t like anyone to stand out. The sheep wants others to join the herd like it did. The culture of application of one’s own mind and critical thinking is alien to the sheep because it has been taught to be so from an early age.

So, there is nothing wrong to read information/gyaan floating across you on the internet. But, at the same time, you need to apply filters to the same as per your interests, liking and choices, so that you don’t accept anything without critical thinking. Also, a piece of gyaan may be relevant to some people, but may not be relevant to others, therefore no opinion or advise can be considered as sacrosanct for everyone. For example, if I say that you must invest this much in equity, this much in xyz, abc bla bla bla, but does that mean anything for a poor guy out there or does this hold true for a millionaire? Not really! Because the poor doesn’t have any savings, and the rich doesn’t need any savings! Also, it becomes all the more relevant to verify the source of information/gyaan. Now-a-days, every other sentence is associated with some famous person by editing his/her picture with the quotation, so fact-check becomes all the more important. In the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), this boundary between real and fake has become all the more blurred, where even your voice can be mimicked by the AI tool to fool other people or to extort money. Now, even Kishor Kumar can be heard singing the new age songs!

There was an advertisement that I remember at this point which said- “दिखावो पे ना जाओ, अपनी अकल लगाओ”. Rest, you are your own best judge that you want to become a sheep or otherwise. And we all know what happens to a sheep- it gets butchered! 😀

Till next time….