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Acknowledgement ,Acceptance, and Appreciation

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The Human species has achieved feats that no other species in the animal kingdom has come close to. And history has been a witness to how the sheer intentionality that the human mind brings, in everything they do, generates an energy that transforms generations to come. But while being intentional about life is critical, our ability to stay intentional stems from a few basics in everyday life. While happiness is celebrated as an eternal goal, the quest for it doesn’t always lead to success, and it brings up a larger question that is happiness the right end goal for each one of us? Is there something more profound that we all look for subconsciously? As a kid we all have heard our parents say “that’s not right”, the dilemma it creates in most of us is the question on what is right? On one side we have the universal right, a right which is agreed upon by society or the larger collective. This collective may be as large as humanity, where one of the highest virtues is not to harm or ...
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Layered lives

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We all live in layers in our lives. Multiple layers of our own identity which we try to signify as one. Do we really have one identity. Or are we just an amalgamation of all these layers that we portray in different situation and social constructs. While we seek our true self we also deny a lot of our identities which exist even if we deny it. It's like the identities that we represent but we do not own as us. In the end even if we deny those identities they are a part of our existence. And perhaps they are not our favorites or even not the ones which we consciously want to represent ourselves with. But they help us float through the non deterministic world that we have to drag our existence through. And if this were to be true, then what remains is the challenge of knowing who are we in the end. We are definitely more than the flesh and blood or the mind and meaning that we construct. Perhaps we are just a figment of our own imagination, but then who is imagining in the first plac...
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Believable Boundaries...

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The human mind is a strangely powerful thing. While the world is busy being awed by the wonders of generative AI, we are lacking a true understanding that our brains, the OG natural intelligence to AI, have immense capabilities beyond our own human inventions. I woke up this morning with a terrible nightmare, and while I took time to control my emotions, the designer in me started observing the nitty-gritty of this generated world. As you can imagine, everything was believable. It had to be, because it was directly connected to my neural system. But the main part was how it didn't feel alien and had elements of my existing world, which increased my believability. I saw my daughter in a space that seemed fairly familiar. The twist of the fear-producing nightmare was when, from that real space, I was taken into a totally unknown realm. I felt lost, and I had lost my daughter as well, which added to my anxiety. While this is as much as I remember in detail, what is fascinating is the ...
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Why are we caught in momentary design?

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As makers we tend to create things from the instance of momentous usage. What would the user do when he clicks this, or what would the user do when he is in this situation. Most of our design processes and methods have been traditionally focussed on design for that particular moment or period. However, the success of most designs is not just relevant to the aha moments of joy or failure. Human beings live a life, a period of continuous actions and reactions with multiple facets of objects and processes around them, hence the existence of our designs over a period of time needs to be treated as much seriously as we see the particular time period of use. While I write this I clearly do understand the limitations that drive us to design and develop things for specific moments. Firstly the challenge is to imagine a longer period of time for our users, the world is uncertain and may not always showcase results as we plan them to, we all know that systemically its not just one thi...
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Comfort of being yourself

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When you look at the animal kingdom, most of the times they try to use best of what they are. But as humans we are blessed with the notion of synthetic extensions. We tend to cover our natural selves to put up an identity that we desire to be...Be it at physical level by using perfumes, fancy clothes or even makeup or grooming. Or even at a psychological level many times we are not even true to our selves, or even in presence of certain audience or environments.  The question then is not about is it good or bad to have this facade over our existing selves, but its about our discomfort with our natural self. Why are we humans not comfortable being ourself always? Some may argue that the mask we put up on ourselves is just an extension as against a facade. But then even there whats . wrong with the plain jane us? Is it too boring or is it the drive to prove our identity distinct from other humans? Or perhaps human capability lies in projection of identities in dif...
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Fear of being "Not Good"

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Human beings grow up in social spaces where the value of " goodness" is extremely hyper rated. This not only leads to humans wanting to conform to the good values around them, but also creates a massive fear of not being good. Ever since childhood we are subjugated to this process of discerning between what is good and what is bad. We are shown role models of ideal behavior and told to follow the paths of the ones that showcase overall good values. Apart from the positive values that this brings us to fit into the social structure of humankind. What really concerns me is the negative effects it brings in. Just to be fitting into a set structure and form of "goodness" we avoid questioning any thoughts beyond it. We also fail to recognize that the very "Goodness" that the world preaches us is relative in nature and changes from place to place and time to time. It then becomes a deep imperative to follow the good spirit just to avoid any ire or repulsio...
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Illusive realities

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As humans we all face various levels of struggles and challenges travelling through the journey called life. But there is a magical part in our lives which we often ignore or are not cognizant about. It starts as kids when we believe in the starry fairy tales or start role playing into worlds that exist in the corner of our minds. But it doesnt end there, however serious and "professional" the adultworld may look our illusions dont change. Infact we still have illusions as a prime motivator in our thoughts. We still love to be swept away in a world that is different from the real. More so when we are adults. We watch movies or plays just to imagine ourselves as the protagonist living the life that we imagine we could live. And even if you are a billionaire life doesnt stop there, we want to cut away from the steady routine reality and breakaway into short sweet bubbles of momentary comfort. Todays technology makes being in the illusive space even more easier a...
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