What are the few things that you have read academically and can correlate with observations in real life?
So we all read a lot of stuff during Civils preparation. Is there something that you have read about and are also able to correlate with observations around you. It could be something simple as your city doing well in Swachhhta Sarveskshan to something more complex like a social theory that you have seen unfold around you.
Anything?
Read a theory in Sociology - certain positions in society require training (preparation for CSE) and sacrifices are required to attain those important positions as they carry differential rewards (IAS)!
Every aspirant sacrifices a lot and this is the first thing that came to my mind while reading the theory.
Chief Sage,Most of the feminist theories . Their battle seems real when u reach a certain age, (Cognitively to see it around actually). The daily Judgement, the suppression, stereotypical mindset about everything like work, home making, marriage, separation etc. is so real.
But the tendency to fight against all odds and sticking to one's belief and working on it, is also real.
Be it the expressways that have reduced travel time by a factor of 2 or be it the health workers who visited houses urging people to vaccinate, the India infrastructure story continues to grow by leaps and bounds. What is even more interesting is that I'm yet to mention digital infrastructure, I live in a city that only took cash 5 years back and now everyone prefers UPI.
I had grown up seeing an absent state around me so even if there's little progress, it means a lot.
One more: Application of Prisoner’s dilemma in current Indian political discourse. For instance: it is very well known that a number of left leaning or moderate parties cut through each other’s vote and yet they fail to form alliance to effectively combat the right leaning party, despite knowing that it will be counter productive to not form alliance.
Better to call it playing in the hands of right-wing party?
"Bheda" component of Sama-Dama-Danda-Bheda is used wisely.
One more: Application of Prisoner’s dilemma in current Indian political discourse. For instance: it is very well known that a number of left leaning or moderate parties cut through each other’s vote and yet they fail to form alliance to effectively combat the right leaning party, despite knowing that it will be counter productive to not form alliance.Better to call it playing in the hands of right-wing party?
"Bheda" component of Sama-Dama-Danda-Bheda is used wisely.
I think evasion of anti defection law to would be a better example of that…look what happened in Goa for instance. Prisoner’s dilemma is basically more related to a bunch of people failing to collaborate and do what may benefit all despite knowing that their individual actions will likely cause harm.
Jiraiya,accio_cappuccino
Benefits of digitalisation and bridging digital divide for rural developement :- This time when I visited my hometown I could see that people living nearby and in my own extended family used internet and other govt schemes and programmes to actually change the way agriculture was practiced. I could see they were experimenting with other crops and trying to reduce their over reliance on cereals. Growing horticulture crops for better returns. Experimenting with organic agriculture.
The problems that we read facing our agriculture is also very very real - My village suffers from depleting water table. I have seen people literally digging borewells every 1-2 yrs with a cost of rs 25000+ as ground water is depleting. Access to markets and mandi is a real issue, for selling a product in mandi they have to tarvel for 30+ Kms which sometimes leads them to incur a lot of costs and hence they sell in the nearby market to the traders which take it at a very low price.
I have seen about farmers literally selling their produce at throw away prices. While we consume potato at Rs 20-30 /Kg in states, they sell it at Rs 2-5 Kgs in the village mandi.
Privatisation of schooling and education is real ( from what I have seen in my village) :- People with meagre incomes are not sending kids to the govt school because of either teachers being absent or the school looking more like a residence of stray animals or no facilities at all provided. Those who can afford send kids to private schools and those who cannot their children to go to school just for mid day meal and after being served that they come back to home. Mid day meal has been a failure in retaining children in schools.
And bahut kuch hai, my village visits are always an eye opener and also that problems that we read are ekdum real and they need efforts, a lot of efforts from govt and administration.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Entropy(Randomness) tends to increase always.
Consider yourself. No matter the amount of effort you put, with every passing day, the randomness increases. Howsoever elaborate study plan you make, as soon as the exam approaches, your bulk of pending or to do task list grows.
The best you can do is minimize the growth of entropy. You can't bring it to a still.
Wu Wei.
The concept of Crescive institutions and Enacted Institutions
Sumner put forward this theory of folkways and mores
He says in any given culture.. customs, morals, beliefs and practices of a culture over a period of time develop into folkways and mores ( means something like morals which are acceptable to society or social group and they aren't necessarily written )
And then there are crescive and enacted institutions :Crescive institutions are unintentional social institutions which grew out of the mores and folkways of the people examples being marriage, accepted social behaviour, religion etc... where asEnacted Institutions are social institutions that are deliberately set up to achieve certain goals. Examples - Age of marriage, Dowry prohibition laws etc
Here comes the beauty of his theory
"He says that when enacted institutions are in line with crescive institutions more will be the success of enacted laws"
Observations in real life :
I never understood the case of high incidences of rape cases in India despite most stringent laws in our country. It's like almost they never act as deterrent because we have crescive institutions ( such as customs, traditions ) which promote male supremacy in society.
Since childhood and through socialisation -> special preference for male child, performing last rites by religion, second hand treatment to daughters, male worshiping (In Kadavacho festival women fast for husband where as there are no rituals of men to fast for women ) all these subconsciously and unconsciously made men believe that they have supreme authority over women. And whenever these notions are disturbed in the minds of men either by society or women empowerment they go out of control and perform unexplainable acts of violence and rapes. This means acceptance and success of any laws depends on how sync both crescive and enacted institutions are.
This holds true not just for rapes but for most things that happen in the society.
This totally blew my mind :)
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