ANUGOONJ...is back

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (IPU) is back with its much awaited cultural fest- ANUGOONJ. This will be the twelfth edition of the annual cultural festival which is being organized from the 3rd to 5th of February 2011.The University has always garnered great response from the students of all the affiliated colleges and schools of study for the past 11 years in organizing this mega event.

What makes the fest bigger and more awaited this year is the fact that it would be organized in the new campus in Dwarka subcity.It is perhaps the only event in the University that unites the students from various colleges to participate with utmost zeal and vigor.

A large number of events and competitions catering to a variety of disciplines such as music, literature, dance,poetry, theatre and fine arts are a part of the fest.Also, the National School of Drama would be performing in the Universitypremises on the opening day of the fest.The rock band performance on the 5th of February is the most anticipated event of the fest.

I earnestly hope that the fest this year turns out to be exemplary in terms of participation and response and is able to replicate the success of the previous editions of this mega event.I also wish the student coordinators and conveners all the best for the grand success of the event .Finally, I expect the students to make a mark in the competitions and conspire to make this year’s Anugoonj a memorable milestone in the annals of the University

Eagerly awaiting for the fest!

A BILLION DREAMS

February, the month of college fests, the month of love, the month where the chilly cold withers away giving rise to youthful exuberance to the environs. But, what’s new in it….this is how February has always
been….. But for this year…..

February 2011 marks the arrival of the greatest cricketing spectacle on the earth : The cricket World Cup and this time it’s here, in India.

Cricket, as we all know very well might be just a sport anywhere else in the world but here in our motherland, it’s a religion. Thus, these factors make the world cup even more colossal. This is perhaps the only adhesive that unifies a billion people!

With a billion people come a billion dreams. With a billion dreams come a billion blessings. With a billion blessings come a billion hopes….Each of those billion hearts yearns for a victory, like the one achieved 27 years ago at Lords which transformed India from the underdogs to a cricketing power. Each of those
billion hearts wants their team to perform. I once heard Sachin Tendulkar say in an interview that it is his ultimate dream to lift the world cup for India one day and he would do all he can to make that dream turn into a reality. Thus, the God and His worshippers, both have the ultimate glory in their sight.

With the squad announced a week ago, each member has his work cut out. The realization of the dream which a billion Indians have seen is on their minds. With the culmination of youth and experience, convention and innovation, this squad has got everything required to substantiate the dream. With the ever destructive Virender Sehwag, canny Zaheer Khan and the ever cool Mahendra Dhoni, India has got men who can prove their mettle against the best in the world. Also, the emergence of Yusuf Pathan and Virat Kohli as match winners strengthens India’s prospects of conquering the world. Another element which gives this young brigade impetus is home advantage. With thousands cheering in the stadiums and millions watching it live on TV, it just couldn’t get bigger. They also want to do it for Sachin…..the only accomplishment that has eluded his incredible career.

And above all they want to do it for those billion people who give away their heart and soul to cricket, for those billion fanatics for whom victory means more than a win….So guys, go out there with the support, blessings and cheers of abillion people and give India a chance to relive those specials moments of
1983 all over again.

All the best team India!

AI PANIC!

Intelligence is best defined as the ability of an individual to adapt his/her
behavior to new circumstances. Human intelligence is not a single ability but is
rather a composition of abilities like learning, reasoning, problem solving,
perception and understanding of language. Since ancient times, people have been
thinking of designing machines that will replicate human intelligence. The
concept of thinking machines appears in Greek myths like the ‘Talos of Crete’.
John McCarthy coined the term, 'artificial intelligence' in 1956. He defines
artificial intelligence as the science and engineering of making intelligent
machines. AI Researchers hope to invent intelligent machines, which can
perceive, learn and reason like humans. General intelligence is their long-term
goal. By general intelligence they mean to incorporate other    aspects like social
intelligence, judgment, commonsense, robotics and self-awareness into machines.
Researchers dream of bringing into machines, the capacity for wisdom and the
ability to feel.
The modern definition of artificial intelligence (or AI) is "the study and
design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that
perceives its environment and takes actions which maximizes its chances of
success.
The first concern regarding the application of artificial intelligence is about
ethics and moral values. Is it ethically correct to create replicas of human
beings? Do our moral values allow us to recreate intelligence? Intelligence is
after all a gift of nature. It may not be right to install it into a machine to
make it work for our benefit.
Though the idea of machines replacing human beings sounds wonderful as it
appears to save
us from all the pain. But is it really such an exciting idea? Concepts such as
wholeheartedness and dedication in work bear no existence in the world of
artificial intelligence.
If robots begin replacing humans in every field, it may lead to unemployment.
People will be left with nothing to do. Empty time may result in its destructive
use. Thinking machines will govern all the fields and populate all positions
pre-occupied by people.
Apart from all these issues, there is a fear of robots superseding us! Ideally
human beings should continue being the masters of machines. If things turn the
other way round, the world will turn into chaos. Intelligent machines may prove
to be smarter than us; they might enslave us and start ruling the world. Man’s
greedy creativity may endanger mankind!
Artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence after 2020, predicted
Vernor Vinge, a world-renowned pioneer in AI, who has warned about the risks and
opportunities that an electronic super-intelligence would offer to mankind.
In May 1997, Deep Blue (a robot) won the chess tournament against
Gary Kasparov. It was the first glimpse of a new kind of
intelligence.Increasingly autonomous, gun-totting robots developed for warfare
could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot
arms race
“They pose a threat to humanity,” said University of Sheffield professor Noel
Sharkey ahead of a keynote address Wednesday before Britain’s Royal United
Services Institute.
Intelligent machines deployed on battlefields around the world — from mobile
grenade launchers to rocket-firing drones — can already identify and lock onto
targets without human help.
Eventually, it is up to you whether to stand by artificial intelligence or warn
yourself of the likely disaster that it may lead to. In my view, there is no
ideal replacement for human beings. Artificial intelligence can help alleviate
the difficulties faced by man but intelligent machines can never be ‘human’.
In my view, AI should be a upto an extent where human beings can deal
with.Afterall, human brain is a product of evolution with a tremendous time, yet
AI is not.It needs enormous time to create the exceeding brain of humans.
Anyway, there is nothing either exceeding or not, but human thinking makes it
so.But as it goes: ' No threat and
no benefit'.

THE WAY WE THINK!

Thinking….a process that distinguishes human beings from other living species on the planet.It is a trait that can be developed over the years.But, honestly, I’d like to ask, how many of us have used this endowment in its complete utility? How many have understood the true potential of one’s mind and thought process?

I’m afraid but only a few…very few….

Actually, rather ironically, we are not responsible for this.Since the very formative years of our lives, we are encouraged to adopt the technique of thinking that is primarily concerned with judging the true value of statements sand seeking errors.This traditional technique is called critical thinking or vertical thinking.Most people still believe that the traditional vertical thinking is perhaps the only form of effective thinking.But, in this era of stiff competition is it not necessary to rise above the average and do things
differently…rather more effectively?

Last week I came across a book by a renowned philosopher and thinker, Dr. Edward De Bono, which inspired me to write this piece.He emphasized on the fact that thinking is a skill and if developed, it can work miracles.He urged the readers to adopt a strategy called LATERAL THINKING.Lateral thinking is not a substitute for the traditional vertical thinking but a necessary complement. Logical thinking is incomplete without lateral thinking.The twin aspects of lateral thinking are first the provocative use of information and second the challenge to the accepted concepts.

Thinking is generated by the mind, thus it becomes important to understand what goes inside it.The mind is a pattern-making system. It creates the pattern out of the environment and then uses such patterns.This is the basis of its effectiveness.In logical thinking we have developed no methods for going beyond the adequate.As soon as something satisfactory is spotted, our mind stops working.But there are numerous better unexplored arrangements of information beyond the adequate.These arrangements can be explored through lateral thinking.With lateral thinking one can proceed beyond the adequate with insight restructuring.Vertical thinking is selective, lateral thinking is generative.Rightness is what matters in vertical thinking, richness is what matters in lateral thinking. Thus, it becomes necessary to train our minds to generate alternate approaches and avenues to facilitate better thinking.

In simple words, vertical thinking activates the black and white regions of our intellect, lateral thinking creates a GREYregion and works on it!
The ball is in our court now.We must delve into our minds and try to develop a strategy which enables us to think above the rest and rise above the ordinary.

Just THINK about it!

–

Udit Bhatia

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University