Learning, Pareto Principle, and 9/11

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Anand

EJ Koh is on to a big thing here. I have a feeling that 80% of us would disagree on 20% of it – the disagreed-upon 20% being the “know nothing at all” part.

You do end up knowing something – perhaps 20% of what you had attempted to learn.

The management zombies among my elite readers would recognize that I am trying to use the 20% of the Pareto Principle that I tried figuring out in my graduation. If you have no idea what this principle is, you are among the 80% who have escaped the cookie-cutter run. Any way, the long and short of this awesome principle is: 

80% of the effects can be attributed to 20% of the causes.

Here are a few illustrations:

  1. 80% of the tooth-decay is caused by 20% of our food.
  2. 80% of what we know has come from 20% of our education.
  3. 80% of the blogposts done against the Writing101 Assignments are done by 20% of the participants.
  4. 80% of my comments and likes come from 20% of my readers.
  5. 80% of laughter is generated by 20% of the content.
  6. 80% of my malarkey comes from 20% of my experiences.

I’m sure I could come up with more, if only today wasn’t 9/11.

Today on the anniversary of 9/11, I would like to extend the Pareto principle and say 80% of the terrorists and criminals comes from 20% of the world population. The other 80% must take a stand and protect their homes from the invasion of terrorism. If the 80% decide to become the silent majority, laughter and joy will die a sad death. I won’t be writing malarkey, nor will you be reading it anymore. The world would become a dark place, because 80% of us were made to bow our heads to the 20% who hold the guns of fanaticism. I sincerely believe that those who harbor and nurture criminals and terrorists are equally responsible in the crimes they commit against humanity.

Today, I can’t bring myself to write humor, or parody our tiny harmless human foibles; today I feel the need to be what my forefathers were – the defenders of our families and people. India still has Indian-ness left because our forefathers didn’t leave India when the Mughals and the British came invading. They struggled to keep their way of life alive. They held their ground. I am proud of them and I hope that when my time in this world comes to an end, I leave with my head held high.

Thank you for reading.

 

About Anand

Parodist, Humorist, Caricaturist, Nerd.
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24 Responses to Learning, Pareto Principle, and 9/11

  1. Arpita says:
    September 11, 2015 at 2:53 am

    You sound so inspired, and inspiring. It is indeed sad to see what times we have come to. There is so much violence these days. Wonder if we’ll ever see some reign of peace again.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Anand says:
      September 11, 2015 at 2:57 am

      I don’t know Arpita. Each year, we move a little closer to the brink. But then that’s how it works. Blind compassion is a weakness too. Terrorists have no conscience; I have a feeling that this blind compassion that disregards the learnings from human history, will haunt us for a very long time. But I must hide the warrior within and let the parodist be – at least he makes people smile.

      Liked by 2 people

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      • Arpita says:
        September 11, 2015 at 3:02 am

        Yes, I agree. That said, I am appalled by the times we are living in. Every hour we turned on the television in the last few days, we hear about the gruesome murder of Sheena Bora. If motherhood comes to mean this little, what remains of mankind, I wonder. Seems like all the values that we had accumulated is slowly eroding away, and an ancient beast is raising its heads in us.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Anand says:
        September 11, 2015 at 3:10 am

        Motherhood too follows the 80/20 rule. Everything in this world does. There’s nothing absolute. There are mothers who don’t kill, but stifle their children, get them beaten by their dads, never give them a hug or a kiss all their lives; In the last 4 years 10 Million girl-childs were killed in India, mostly by their fathers, some by their mothers and grandmothers – and not all from poor families.

        Sheena Bora’s case catches our attention, because of the myriad other threads. Most moms who have children that they didn’t want, make their kids miserable all their lives – and I know what I am talking about; they are just smart enough not to kill though. We get surprised because the stereotype deifies motherhood, and the stereotype isn’t unreasonable because 8 out of 10 mothers love their kids. The 2 that don’t are given the benefit of doubt by the society. Enid Blyton’s life is a sordid example of this phenomenon.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Arpita says:
        September 11, 2015 at 3:13 am

        Yes, you’re right. Sometimes, Life is worse than Death. Sometimes, Death can be Mercy. Game of Thrones taught me that.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Anand says:
        September 11, 2015 at 3:16 am

        And when you are handed a life worse than death by your mother, a deathblow even when dealt by her hand could be mercy.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. oneta hayes says:
    September 11, 2015 at 3:07 am

    Anand, thanks for the reminder. We all need sound teaching, admonitions, and Truth to bring our hearts to thankfulness. And we should remember that our words are mighty to heal and they are mighty to hurt. I think it was in my first blog that I said I wanted to speak kind words in case I have to eat them. You are very kind and helpful. Thank you..

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • Anand says:
      September 11, 2015 at 3:15 am

      Oneta, I am not sure if I’m kind in the current sense of the word. I am kind but not to the point of cutting my arm to feed someone. I am helpful, but I must first feed my family and do what I can to keep them from harm, only then would I help my neighbor. I won’t invite a stranger in for lunch, if I had a premonition that he might later murder my family. In that sense, I am neither kind nor helpful. But then this isn’t the guy you should be talking too 🙂 The Quirky funny guy you actually like should be back tomorrow.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. rosemawrites says:
    September 11, 2015 at 5:24 am

    You are indeed a ‘deep’ person. Your thoughts are full of sense and they are just inspiring. Another well-written and moving post from you. Good job!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. adriennea3 says:
    September 11, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Wow what an inspiring post!!! Very thoughtful. I always look forward to your post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. MindandLifeMatters says:
    September 11, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    I read this on my way to work today and I couldnt help but wonder if our world would get better in time or if it is going to get worse! There is so much hatred around! Sometimes I wonder what kind of a world it is that we are leaving behind for our children, what is it that we are teaching them?
    We learned a great deal from our ancestors and there was pride in what we learned from them, but would our future generation be able to say that? Would they be proud of what we have to teach them and what we leave behind for them?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. DeepikaBurli says:
    September 12, 2015 at 6:26 am

    In my post where I’d commented about the education that seemed like nothing, I mentioned that my learning has started now ever since I’ve been reading blogs and opinions etc. You’ve just resounded that idea ‘coz I don’t think I’m ever going to forget the Pareto Principle in my entire life and I happened to learn about it from your post… Guess I’m no more in the 80% now! 😛
    Thank you so much, Anand, for a fun read! 🙂

    Like

    Reply
    • Anand says:
      September 12, 2015 at 6:39 am

      Thank you Deepika. I am glad my post was instrumental in helping you understand the Pareto Principle. 80% of the knowledge we acquire from blogs, comes from 20% of the blogs we read. I am glad my blog figures in your 20% 😀

      Liked by 1 person

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