there’s more to it than meets the eye
I’m sure a lot of you have come across
this ancient English idiom well I think
you do yes I want to share with you
three different stories and then you
decide for yourself whether you can
really see what’s there than meets the
eye let’s get going
my first story is about the story of the
broken window so imagine this you’re
taking a nice stroll in the evening on a
beautiful day and you’re admiring this
wonderful showroom which is made of
different pieces of glass windows and as
you are continuing to admire this you
suddenly notice one of the windows is
broken into shatters and how did that
happen well some kid randomly decided to
do this piece of genius and as you’re
trying to make sense of what’s going on
a guy standing next to you says you know
what I love this glass but now that is
broken but there’s a bright side to it
and the bright side to it is that this
is good for the economy okay this truck
should be good
destruction is never good but then he
goes on to explain so here’s the
explanation he says you see now that the
glass is broken this glass needs to be
replaced
so the shopkeeper who owns this showroom
has to spend money to get it replaced
and then the guy who sells this glass
will then spend that money let’s say on
restaurant and then the restaurant guy
would perhaps spend that money on I
don’t know maybe to watch a movie and
the chain reaction moves on so at the
look
fit it appears like it’s a good thing
but remember there’s more to it than
meets the eye
so if you dig deep you’ll quickly
realize that there’s more to it and let
me tell you what that is if let’s say
the glass was not broken then the
shopkeeper had the option of spending
that same money on let’s say going to
the same restaurant and the same
restaurant buying the same grocery and
so on and so forth the same chain
reaction you see in one case you have
the glass window and the whole chain and
the other one you don’t have the glass
window decide for yourself which is a
more wealthier society I hope I have
triggered a few thoughts here this
ladies and gentlemen is known as the
broken window fallacy right
it was first constituted and expressed
succinctly by Frederic Bastiat who was
an Austrian school economist who comes
from the libertarian point of view
that’s just a side note though let’s go
on to the second story which offends how
many of you got a savings bank account
here yeah question to ask I’m sure most
of you your first bank account was a
savings bank account I imagine but what
if I come around and tell you you know
think about it most of us have been
brought up to look at a savings bank
account like a piggy bank you know where
you keep depositing money and it’s safe
there isn’t it but think about it does
the piggy bank pay you interest but the
bank pays you interest you think they’re
doing charity most of us don’t realize
that when you open a savings bank
account you become a net lender to the
bank you are a creditor bank in other
words it means is that the risk that the
bank is taking by lending that money out
to whoever it is you are part of the
if they’re more to it than meets the eye
here’s my third story for a lot of us
it’s almost a lifelong dream to own a
home in fact all over the world not just
in India and in fact I know for a fact
that people work hard their entire lives
save up a lot of money and even Chile
buy a home so let’s take the situation
let’s say you buy a home and for the
sake of this example let’s keep things
easier
you have no loan on it in other words
there’s no mortgage all right so here’s
my question to you do you own your home
100% I think the vast majority will say
yes if there is no home loan
I own the home ask yourself again do you
play a property tax on that if the
answer is yes
then you need to think even more deeper
simply because as per the law if you
fail to pay the property tax the
authority to whom you owe this tax can
put a lien on your property do you pay
property tax on your mobile phone do you
pay property tax on your laptop or
whatever else so think about it I am NOT
saying or commenting whether the law is
good or bad no I’m just here to share a
few facts again is there more to it than
meets the eye
definitely so here’s my point
in retrospect all of this seems obvious
now right but then why didn’t occur to
all of us these are everyday examples
these are not rocket science if you
think carefully today we live in a world
where information travels at the speed
of light and you have access to that
information at the fingertips yet we
don’t seem to get these obvious things
and my own assessment of that is because
of a very important tenet that I think a
lot of us have given up on and that is
thinking and let alone thinking I’m
going to be talking about something even
more exciting and that is called free
thinking so what is free thinking you
may ask
here’s a quick definition of
free-thinking it says positions
regarding truth should be formed on the
basis of logic reason and empiricism
rather than on authority tradition or
dogma and if this sounds like one of
those boring textbook definitions let me
give you a more simpler one simple words
free thinking thinking thinking without
constraints thinking without constraints
would you all love to be in a world
where you could think freely and here’s
my question do we naturally prefer to be
free thinkers in my experience the
answer has been a resounding yes
all over the world that have been so
what is stopping us from being a free
thinker well there are a bunch of things
that we can think of it could be our
social upbringing it could be the
culture you brought in it could be your
prejudice it could be the environment
you live I mean there could be one too
many these are the more obvious ones but
I want to share with you the ones which
are not all that obvious
so I have put together common
impediments to free thinking so let’s
see what they are number one on this
list is subliminal autosuggestion now in
one of the heavy topics but let me
simple it down for you what would come
to your mind if I say I’m loving it
McDonald’s what comes to your mind if I
say just do it hey did you ever sit down
and practice it everyday morning 100
times yet you are able to respond to it
in a flash of a second ladies and
gentlemen that is subliminal
autosuggestion where the thought has
been implanted in your mind without your
consciousness fYI these are the positive
ones so think about all the negative
ones that have been embedded in your
mind without even your knowledge so
every time you find yourself responding
in a flash of a second ask yourself who
is trying to do the subliminal
autosuggestion on me the next one is
time effects
what’s a paradigm a paradigm is nothing
more than a set pattern that for example
this venue has a bunch of rules governed
within this paradigm our country has a
certain paradigm for example in India
you need to drive on the left side of
the road that’s the paradigm we live if
you are abroad let’s say in the u.s. you
are driving on the right side that’s the
paradigm so that is like a box the
perimeter which has been drawn now as
far as thinking is concerned ask
yourself is there a box around it and
that is where that great dialog comes
from thinking out of the box and some
people like to think out of the box some
people like to think inside the box but
I am more concerned about part of the
box because that is what we figure out
whether you are in or out so ask
yourself that question
next is dogma dogma by far is the most
dangerous of them all dogma is
essentially a bunch of rules or
regulations laid down by a certain
Authority and everybody is is expected
to follow them regardless but I like the
definition that Steve Jobs once used in
one of his speeches he says Dogma is the
result of living with other people’s
thoughts let that sink in for a moment
and next time you find yourself
following somebody for whatever reason
it is or for the lack of reason it is
ask yourself is that dogma so these are
the ones which are not so obvious right
I mean by no means this is an exhaustive
so in order to counter-attack this like
an anecdote I have put together a
free-thinking toolkit that you could
perhaps use to be a free thinker and
again fYI this is not an exhaustive list
the first one is etymology what’s
etymology etymology is the study of
words well do words come from what do
they mean and they have a huge impact on
our understanding let me give you a
quick example I’m sure you all have come
across the word enthusiasm yes where
does the enthusiasm come from from an
etymological standpoint it comes from
the word N
from Greek which means if you split it
in three US n in Latin means in here us
comes from
etymologically another word called Theo
which means God now if you don’t believe
God strike it down replace that with
energy and what that means is anything
us is God within me or energy within me
do you think you have a new perspective
towards the word enthusiasm now ask
yourself what is the etymology of the
word because the words have the power of
accumulating knowledge behind them
because words don’t come first meaning
comes first and then the word comes to
express that so therefore understanding
the word is of paramount importance the
next arrow on the toolkit is the art of
questioning Voltaire once said was a
great French philosopher judge a man by
the questions he asks and not the
answers he gives or to be more precise
judge a man by the questions he asks and
not his answers if you want to get the
right answer you need to ask the right
question and in fact Toyota are very
famously created with smaadahl to figure
out what is the real problem and to find
real solutions the root cause as they
say it’s called the five whys keep
asking why five times on the same
subject by the time you get to the
fourth and fifth why you not only
understand the problem very well you
probably will also find the solution to
it
my next arrow on the toolkit is figure
out what is the thought behind the
thought just as the way for every action
there is a sub action for every part
there is a sub part so for example we
are all used to using a lot of internet
services like Google Facebook and most
of them are free for us we don’t pay for
them is that right but then how do these
companies survive then how do they make
money a lot of us don’t think about it
but if you think of quality you will
quickly realize they are not selling
their platform or services or products
they are selling you and they’re selling
your data now again I’m not saying
it’s a bad thing all I’m saying is you
should know what’s going on free
thinking is all about removing the
clutters and seeing for really are and
here’s my last one and my personal
epistemology what is the epistemology
mean epistemology asked the great
question how do I know that I know for
example if I ask you what is the color
of the seed that you’re seated on you
quickly say orange but how do you know
it’s orange you would probably say oh I
was taught that in school how does the
school know oh you know the book that is
says this is orange how does the book
know the author knows so how does the
author know well he learned it in his
school and you can keep going on on this
journey until you have to come to a
point where you have to say that this is
a self evidencing truth in simple
example if I have to take one more if
somebody asks you through there is son s
un the easiest answer is just take a
walk out and since it’s daytime you
would probably find son but if it says
no no true son to me you cannot take a
torch and point out to the Sun you see
the stability in that approach because
Sun is a self evidencing truth so please
try to understand what is the
epistemological origin of anything that
you are told or anything that you are
taught and if you think you have never
done this before let me give you an
instance in your life when you have done
this back when you were in high school I
think most of a studied geometry and in
geometry one of the common axioms to be
proved to be theorem was proved that
diameter is two times the radius and as
you started to work on the proof one of
the first lines you wrote in that and in
the assumption you wrote given us here
are my Azzam but given a circle is an
assumption in itself how do you know
it’s a circle the circle is defined
based on the radius and diameter is that
right but you are trying to prove their
relationship so you cannot use the same
word to define itself this is called a
regressive loop makes no sense so what
I’m trying to get to is whenever you try
to explore and understand a new concept
you have to start somewhere and then go
and validate it and understand where
comes or where does the epistemological
origin exist so guys here’s a quick test
for all of you to answer these questions
to yourself and figure out if you are a
free thinker let’s go
first one do you ever adopt a belief
without considering all the variables
around it I don’t know don’t answer me
that’s for yourself here’s the next
question do you know why you love or
hate something next question do you just
accept all the new trends and fads that
come into the market and if so do you
change them when the fads and trends
change I’m not going to give any
response to any of this it is for you to
contemplate and think and this is I
think by far the most important are you
comfortable
to deal with people around you who have
completely opposite principles or
beliefs than yours and still look at
them objectively this is one of the
highest levels of free thinking if you
can my humble opinion though here are a
couple of quotes that I would like to
mention on my way out good once said
none are more hopelessly enslaved than
those who falsely believe they are free
and for all of you who are thinking that
free thinking sounds exciting sounds
wonderful but it’s not an easy thing to
do here’s a bit of advice or should I
say word of encouragement from George
Bernard Shaw who’s the reasonable man
tries to adopt himself to the world the
unreasonable one persists in trying to
adopt the world to himself therefore all
progress depends and look at the choice
of words depends on the unreasonable man
nothing ever great has been achieved or
will be achieved in my opinion if we
don’t open up our minds towards free
thinking towards the ability to think
without a clutter and my third and final
excuse me not really a coat it’s more
like the summary of the fourth chapter
37 the words of the bhagavad-gita which
says the fire of knowledge will burn the
darkness of ignorance let that sink in
for a moment the fire of knowledge will
burn the darkness of ignorance ladies
and gentlemen it’s my sincere belief
that free thinking is that one powerful
tool not the only powerful tool but one
of the most powerful tools that I
believe can help you ignite that fire of
knowledge that will burn your darkness
of ignorance and therefore free thinking
is an idea worth spreading thank you
very much [Applause]
I’m sure a lot of you have come across
this ancient English idiom well I think
you do yes I want to share with you
three different stories and then you
decide for yourself whether you can
really see what’s there than meets the
eye let’s get going
my first story is about the story of the
broken window so imagine this you’re
taking a nice stroll in the evening on a
beautiful day and you’re admiring this
wonderful showroom which is made of
different pieces of glass windows and as
you are continuing to admire this you
suddenly notice one of the windows is
broken into shatters and how did that
happen well some kid randomly decided to
do this piece of genius and as you’re
trying to make sense of what’s going on
a guy standing next to you says you know
what I love this glass but now that is
broken but there’s a bright side to it
and the bright side to it is that this
is good for the economy okay this truck
should be good
destruction is never good but then he
goes on to explain so here’s the
explanation he says you see now that the
glass is broken this glass needs to be
replaced
so the shopkeeper who owns this showroom
has to spend money to get it replaced
and then the guy who sells this glass
will then spend that money let’s say on
restaurant and then the restaurant guy
would perhaps spend that money on I
don’t know maybe to watch a movie and
the chain reaction moves on so at the
look
fit it appears like it’s a good thing
but remember there’s more to it than
meets the eye
so if you dig deep you’ll quickly
realize that there’s more to it and let
me tell you what that is if let’s say
the glass was not broken then the
shopkeeper had the option of spending
that same money on let’s say going to
the same restaurant and the same
restaurant buying the same grocery and
so on and so forth the same chain
reaction you see in one case you have
the glass window and the whole chain and
the other one you don’t have the glass
window decide for yourself which is a
more wealthier society I hope I have
triggered a few thoughts here this
ladies and gentlemen is known as the
broken window fallacy right
it was first constituted and expressed
succinctly by Frederic Bastiat who was
an Austrian school economist who comes
from the libertarian point of view
that’s just a side note though let’s go
on to the second story which offends how
many of you got a savings bank account
here yeah question to ask I’m sure most
of you your first bank account was a
savings bank account I imagine but what
if I come around and tell you you know
think about it most of us have been
brought up to look at a savings bank
account like a piggy bank you know where
you keep depositing money and it’s safe
there isn’t it but think about it does
the piggy bank pay you interest but the
bank pays you interest you think they’re
doing charity most of us don’t realize
that when you open a savings bank
account you become a net lender to the
bank you are a creditor bank in other
words it means is that the risk that the
bank is taking by lending that money out
to whoever it is you are part of the
if they’re more to it than meets the eye
here’s my third story for a lot of us
it’s almost a lifelong dream to own a
home in fact all over the world not just
in India and in fact I know for a fact
that people work hard their entire lives
save up a lot of money and even Chile
buy a home so let’s take the situation
let’s say you buy a home and for the
sake of this example let’s keep things
easier
you have no loan on it in other words
there’s no mortgage all right so here’s
my question to you do you own your home
100% I think the vast majority will say
yes if there is no home loan
I own the home ask yourself again do you
play a property tax on that if the
answer is yes
then you need to think even more deeper
simply because as per the law if you
fail to pay the property tax the
authority to whom you owe this tax can
put a lien on your property do you pay
property tax on your mobile phone do you
pay property tax on your laptop or
whatever else so think about it I am NOT
saying or commenting whether the law is
good or bad no I’m just here to share a
few facts again is there more to it than
meets the eye
definitely so here’s my point
in retrospect all of this seems obvious
now right but then why didn’t occur to
all of us these are everyday examples
these are not rocket science if you
think carefully today we live in a world
where information travels at the speed
of light and you have access to that
information at the fingertips yet we
don’t seem to get these obvious things
and my own assessment of that is because
of a very important tenet that I think a
lot of us have given up on and that is
thinking and let alone thinking I’m
going to be talking about something even
more exciting and that is called free
thinking so what is free thinking you
may ask
here’s a quick definition of
free-thinking it says positions
regarding truth should be formed on the
basis of logic reason and empiricism
rather than on authority tradition or
dogma and if this sounds like one of
those boring textbook definitions let me
give you a more simpler one simple words
free thinking thinking thinking without
constraints thinking without constraints
would you all love to be in a world
where you could think freely and here’s
my question do we naturally prefer to be
free thinkers in my experience the
answer has been a resounding yes
all over the world that have been so
what is stopping us from being a free
thinker well there are a bunch of things
that we can think of it could be our
social upbringing it could be the
culture you brought in it could be your
prejudice it could be the environment
you live I mean there could be one too
many these are the more obvious ones but
I want to share with you the ones which
are not all that obvious
so I have put together common
impediments to free thinking so let’s
see what they are number one on this
list is subliminal autosuggestion now in
one of the heavy topics but let me
simple it down for you what would come
to your mind if I say I’m loving it
McDonald’s what comes to your mind if I
say just do it hey did you ever sit down
and practice it everyday morning 100
times yet you are able to respond to it
in a flash of a second ladies and
gentlemen that is subliminal
autosuggestion where the thought has
been implanted in your mind without your
consciousness fYI these are the positive
ones so think about all the negative
ones that have been embedded in your
mind without even your knowledge so
every time you find yourself responding
in a flash of a second ask yourself who
is trying to do the subliminal
autosuggestion on me the next one is
time effects
what’s a paradigm a paradigm is nothing
more than a set pattern that for example
this venue has a bunch of rules governed
within this paradigm our country has a
certain paradigm for example in India
you need to drive on the left side of
the road that’s the paradigm we live if
you are abroad let’s say in the u.s. you
are driving on the right side that’s the
paradigm so that is like a box the
perimeter which has been drawn now as
far as thinking is concerned ask
yourself is there a box around it and
that is where that great dialog comes
from thinking out of the box and some
people like to think out of the box some
people like to think inside the box but
I am more concerned about part of the
box because that is what we figure out
whether you are in or out so ask
yourself that question
next is dogma dogma by far is the most
dangerous of them all dogma is
essentially a bunch of rules or
regulations laid down by a certain
Authority and everybody is is expected
to follow them regardless but I like the
definition that Steve Jobs once used in
one of his speeches he says Dogma is the
result of living with other people’s
thoughts let that sink in for a moment
and next time you find yourself
following somebody for whatever reason
it is or for the lack of reason it is
ask yourself is that dogma so these are
the ones which are not so obvious right
I mean by no means this is an exhaustive
so in order to counter-attack this like
an anecdote I have put together a
free-thinking toolkit that you could
perhaps use to be a free thinker and
again fYI this is not an exhaustive list
the first one is etymology what’s
etymology etymology is the study of
words well do words come from what do
they mean and they have a huge impact on
our understanding let me give you a
quick example I’m sure you all have come
across the word enthusiasm yes where
does the enthusiasm come from from an
etymological standpoint it comes from
the word N
from Greek which means if you split it
in three US n in Latin means in here us
comes from
etymologically another word called Theo
which means God now if you don’t believe
God strike it down replace that with
energy and what that means is anything
us is God within me or energy within me
do you think you have a new perspective
towards the word enthusiasm now ask
yourself what is the etymology of the
word because the words have the power of
accumulating knowledge behind them
because words don’t come first meaning
comes first and then the word comes to
express that so therefore understanding
the word is of paramount importance the
next arrow on the toolkit is the art of
questioning Voltaire once said was a
great French philosopher judge a man by
the questions he asks and not the
answers he gives or to be more precise
judge a man by the questions he asks and
not his answers if you want to get the
right answer you need to ask the right
question and in fact Toyota are very
famously created with smaadahl to figure
out what is the real problem and to find
real solutions the root cause as they
say it’s called the five whys keep
asking why five times on the same
subject by the time you get to the
fourth and fifth why you not only
understand the problem very well you
probably will also find the solution to
it
my next arrow on the toolkit is figure
out what is the thought behind the
thought just as the way for every action
there is a sub action for every part
there is a sub part so for example we
are all used to using a lot of internet
services like Google Facebook and most
of them are free for us we don’t pay for
them is that right but then how do these
companies survive then how do they make
money a lot of us don’t think about it
but if you think of quality you will
quickly realize they are not selling
their platform or services or products
they are selling you and they’re selling
your data now again I’m not saying
it’s a bad thing all I’m saying is you
should know what’s going on free
thinking is all about removing the
clutters and seeing for really are and
here’s my last one and my personal
epistemology what is the epistemology
mean epistemology asked the great
question how do I know that I know for
example if I ask you what is the color
of the seed that you’re seated on you
quickly say orange but how do you know
it’s orange you would probably say oh I
was taught that in school how does the
school know oh you know the book that is
says this is orange how does the book
know the author knows so how does the
author know well he learned it in his
school and you can keep going on on this
journey until you have to come to a
point where you have to say that this is
a self evidencing truth in simple
example if I have to take one more if
somebody asks you through there is son s
un the easiest answer is just take a
walk out and since it’s daytime you
would probably find son but if it says
no no true son to me you cannot take a
torch and point out to the Sun you see
the stability in that approach because
Sun is a self evidencing truth so please
try to understand what is the
epistemological origin of anything that
you are told or anything that you are
taught and if you think you have never
done this before let me give you an
instance in your life when you have done
this back when you were in high school I
think most of a studied geometry and in
geometry one of the common axioms to be
proved to be theorem was proved that
diameter is two times the radius and as
you started to work on the proof one of
the first lines you wrote in that and in
the assumption you wrote given us here
are my Azzam but given a circle is an
assumption in itself how do you know
it’s a circle the circle is defined
based on the radius and diameter is that
right but you are trying to prove their
relationship so you cannot use the same
word to define itself this is called a
regressive loop makes no sense so what
I’m trying to get to is whenever you try
to explore and understand a new concept
you have to start somewhere and then go
and validate it and understand where
comes or where does the epistemological
origin exist so guys here’s a quick test
for all of you to answer these questions
to yourself and figure out if you are a
free thinker let’s go
first one do you ever adopt a belief
without considering all the variables
around it I don’t know don’t answer me
that’s for yourself here’s the next
question do you know why you love or
hate something next question do you just
accept all the new trends and fads that
come into the market and if so do you
change them when the fads and trends
change I’m not going to give any
response to any of this it is for you to
contemplate and think and this is I
think by far the most important are you
comfortable
to deal with people around you who have
completely opposite principles or
beliefs than yours and still look at
them objectively this is one of the
highest levels of free thinking if you
can my humble opinion though here are a
couple of quotes that I would like to
mention on my way out good once said
none are more hopelessly enslaved than
those who falsely believe they are free
and for all of you who are thinking that
free thinking sounds exciting sounds
wonderful but it’s not an easy thing to
do here’s a bit of advice or should I
say word of encouragement from George
Bernard Shaw who’s the reasonable man
tries to adopt himself to the world the
unreasonable one persists in trying to
adopt the world to himself therefore all
progress depends and look at the choice
of words depends on the unreasonable man
nothing ever great has been achieved or
will be achieved in my opinion if we
don’t open up our minds towards free
thinking towards the ability to think
without a clutter and my third and final
excuse me not really a coat it’s more
like the summary of the fourth chapter
37 the words of the bhagavad-gita which
says the fire of knowledge will burn the
darkness of ignorance let that sink in
for a moment the fire of knowledge will
burn the darkness of ignorance ladies
and gentlemen it’s my sincere belief
that free thinking is that one powerful
tool not the only powerful tool but one
of the most powerful tools that I
believe can help you ignite that fire of
knowledge that will burn your darkness
of ignorance and therefore free thinking
is an idea worth spreading thank you
very much [Applause]
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