Monthly Archives: October 2015

A Ghazal By Iqbal Sheikh

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آسمانوں سے مرے خوابوں کو نسبت ہے بہت
خار و خس پر  انجم  و مہ کی عنایت ہے بہت
کھینچ مت چشمِ تخیل کی طنابوں کو ابھی
شہرِحکمت  کی رسائی  میں مسافت ہے بہت
تجھ کو آزدی  ہے،پابندِ سلاسل ہیں سبھی
دست ِ قدرت  کی یہی تجھ کورعایت ہے بہت
ایک چادر ہے فلک ساری زمینوں کی جہاں
پیرپھیلانے کی ہرشےکوسہولت ہے بہت
آل اولاد وں کی منطق تیری جنت میں کہاں
نسلِ آدم کو اِسی شے کی ضرورت ہے بہت
رہ کے دُنیا میں نہ پرواہ جن کو دُنیا کی ہوئی
اُن کا اُخریٰ کا تصور اک حماقت ہے بہت
اپنی فکریں جو  بکھیری  ہیں یہ تُو نےچار سُو
دشمنوں میں یوں تری اقباؔل شہرت ہے بہت

 

‘History of Knowledge-Explosions’ By Mirza Ashraf

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Knowledge multiplies by the principle of reciprocity ~ Ashraf

History of Knowledge-Explosions

Part I: The Greek Explosion 

Abstract: In the history of knowledge, there have been two “Knowledge Explosions.” The first one appeared in Greece during the sixth century BCE, while the second began in Europe four or five centuries ago. But it is important to find out what is mystical about the Greek genius that their unique explosion of knowledge helped trigger a second explosion of knowledge known as the European Renaissance. In order to ascertain why it is the Greek-genius or what was special about these people, I would discuss here four out many important factors responsible in developing the intellectualism of great Greek philosophers. Firstly, it is the uniqueness of Greek mythology, secondly the geographical location of Greece, thirdly their ontology of being experts about being, and fourthly their history of fruitful conflicts.

Though Greek civilization, even today is considered a cradle of Western Civilization, but ironically the Greeks themselves, have not been its beneficiary. The only hope was Aristotle’s pupil Alexander the Great whose demise at the young age of thirty-two can be marked as a Greek Tragedy. But in fact it is not. Alexander the Great has loomed over history as an enigmatic legend. He, even today, emerges as a charismatic and surprisingly modern figure―neither a messiah nor a genocidal butcher but one of the most imaginative and daring military tacticians of all time. … However, there are many reasons for the Greeks to have not benefitted themselves from the light of knowledge which was on its peak for almost a millennium. … Two things had ruined their political system: first, the claim of each city to absolute sovereignty; second, the bitter and bloody strife between rich and poor with most cities. Above all, the Greeks made serious errors, not only about nature but also about human nature. Some of these errors had disastrous consequences, up until our day. It is also a fact that the second explosion of knowledge which began during the European Renaissance, modern man has also made serious mistakes, similar to those the Greeks made, which may ultimately lead to a major disaster for the human race as a whole. … … Mirza Ashraf

To read full article Please visit https://independent.academia.edu/MirzaAshraf

‘Asian Advantage’ By Nicholas kristof

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THIS is an awkward question, but here goes: Why are Asian-Americans so successful in America?

It’s no secret that Asian-Americans are disproportionately stars in American schools, and even in American society as a whole. Census data show that Americans of Asian heritage earn more than other groups, including whites. Asian-Americans also have higher educational attainment than any other group.

I wrote a series of columns last year, “When Whites Just Don’t Get It,” about racial inequity, and one of the most common responses from angry whites was along these lines: This stuff about white privilege is nonsense, and if blacks lag, the reason lies in the black community itself. Just look at Asian-Americans. Those Koreans and Chinese make it in America because they work hard. All people can succeed here if they just stop whining and start working.

Let’s confront the argument head-on. Does the success of Asian-Americans suggest that the age of discrimination is behind us?

It’s not surprising that the children of Asian-American doctors would flourish in the United States. But Lee and Zhou note that kids of working-class Asian-Americans often also thrive, showing remarkable upward mobility.

And let’s just get one notion out of the way: The difference does not seem to be driven by differences in intelligence.

Richard Nisbett, a professor of psychology who has written an excellentbook about intelligence, cites a study that followed a pool of Chinese-American children and a pool of white children into adulthood. The two groups started out with the same scores on I.Q. tests, but in the end 55 percent of the Asian-Americans entered high-status occupations, compared with one-third of the whites. To succeed as a manager, whites needed an I.Q. of 100, while Chinese-Americans needed an I.Q. of only 93.

So the Asian advantage, Nisbett argues, isn’t intellectual firepower as such, but how it is harnessed.

Some disagree, but I’m pretty sure that one factor is East Asia’s long Confucian emphasis on education. Likewise, a focus on education also helps explain the success of Jews, who are said to have had universal male literacy 1,700 years before any other group.

Immigrant East Asians often try particularly hard to get into good school districts, or make other sacrifices for children’s education, such as giving prime space in the home to kids to study.

There’s also evidence that Americans believe that A’s go to smart kids, while Asians are more likely to think that they go to hard workers. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but the result is that Asian-American kids are allowed no excuse for getting B’s — or even an A-. The joke is that an A- is an “Asian F.”

Strong two-parent families are a factor, too. Divorce rates are much lower for many Asian-American communities than for Americans as a whole, and there’s evidence that two-parent households are less likely to sink into poverty and also have better outcomes for boys in particular.

Teachers’ expectations can also play a role. This idea was explored in afamous experiment in the 1960s by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/the-asian-advantage.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region