Saturday, August 30, 2003
I have been thinking of what to write about in my next post for some days now. I haven't thought of a single thing. So, what I am going to do is let my fingers run wild. As my friend Suds says, the following are absolutely the products of the author's brain and fingers. I claim no responsibility nor the credit for such absolutely shameless rip-offs!
There was a meeting of a forum called Reflections held about two or three days back in IIT Madras. This has been organized with the noble aim of making people reflect on many things, right from general living to spirituality. Now, before you think that I am this profound guy, let me clarify that I am not. It was just that there were two talks scheduled by Prof.s who speak well. So, I went to the meeting and ended up giving my name as a volunteer. Guess this is the start of the development of my character, or, who knows, the start of a maybe long spiritual journey!
Why I mentioned the forum is that there is a discussion scheduled for September 2nd on the topic: We know that copying is wrong, but we still do it. Now, this set me thinking (however hard it may seem to imagine me thinking!) Why do we? As far as I am concerned, I don't copy. This may seem a blatant lie, so I will qualify it. I USUALLY don't copy. Maybe some objective questions, but NO subjective ones. This, however, does not mean that I do not show my answers to people when asked. I don't mind sharing the knowledge I have even during exam time. As to why I don't copy, people who know me personally can probably guess the reason - I am terribly myopic. So, it is more a case of a constraint than of choice.
Coming to my views on copying by others. I believe in the saying: Live and let live. So, if someone feels that copying is OK for him, fine by me. That probably explains why I do not mind showing my paper, apart from the fact that it gives me an ego-boost to see people wanting to see my answers! But, as was explained patiently at the meeting of the forum, this is precisely the attitude that the organizers want to change. I keep an open mind and, though I don't believe now that my present outlook actually harms anyone, I am willing to change my attitude if I am persuaded that copying is something that has to be avoided like the plague (what a sad cliche!!).
Now, if anyone is wondering as to why I wrote all this, I just wanted to sort all my thoughts on copying before I went to the discussion. And, I also guess that I can take some credit for what I've written above instead of letting it all go to my fingers. I still claim no responsibility for the copyright infringement of Sudhon's tagline!
There was a meeting of a forum called Reflections held about two or three days back in IIT Madras. This has been organized with the noble aim of making people reflect on many things, right from general living to spirituality. Now, before you think that I am this profound guy, let me clarify that I am not. It was just that there were two talks scheduled by Prof.s who speak well. So, I went to the meeting and ended up giving my name as a volunteer. Guess this is the start of the development of my character, or, who knows, the start of a maybe long spiritual journey!
Why I mentioned the forum is that there is a discussion scheduled for September 2nd on the topic: We know that copying is wrong, but we still do it. Now, this set me thinking (however hard it may seem to imagine me thinking!) Why do we? As far as I am concerned, I don't copy. This may seem a blatant lie, so I will qualify it. I USUALLY don't copy. Maybe some objective questions, but NO subjective ones. This, however, does not mean that I do not show my answers to people when asked. I don't mind sharing the knowledge I have even during exam time. As to why I don't copy, people who know me personally can probably guess the reason - I am terribly myopic. So, it is more a case of a constraint than of choice.
Coming to my views on copying by others. I believe in the saying: Live and let live. So, if someone feels that copying is OK for him, fine by me. That probably explains why I do not mind showing my paper, apart from the fact that it gives me an ego-boost to see people wanting to see my answers! But, as was explained patiently at the meeting of the forum, this is precisely the attitude that the organizers want to change. I keep an open mind and, though I don't believe now that my present outlook actually harms anyone, I am willing to change my attitude if I am persuaded that copying is something that has to be avoided like the plague (what a sad cliche!!).
Now, if anyone is wondering as to why I wrote all this, I just wanted to sort all my thoughts on copying before I went to the discussion. And, I also guess that I can take some credit for what I've written above instead of letting it all go to my fingers. I still claim no responsibility for the copyright infringement of Sudhon's tagline!
