REVERSE OSMOSIS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
GOOD HABITS and BAD HABITS
GOOD COMPANY and BAD COMPANY
Saturday
Morning Musings
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Each
individual has some good points and some bad points.
Yes, every
person has some good habits and some bad habits.
When two
individuals interact, or become friends, or colleagues, we expect that each one
will imbibe the good aspects of the other one.
But on many
occasions exactly the opposite happens and each one picks up the bad habit of
the other one.
In most cases,
the “bad” tends to influence the “good”.
It is very
rare that the “good” wins over the “bad”.
This
phenomenon of “reverse osmosis” is more predominant in youngsters who are of an
impressionable age where peer pressure influences you and dominates your
actions.
Let us take a
scenario of youngsters studying in college.
Suppose a
non-smoker become friends with a college crowd, most of whom are smokers.
Tell me, what
is more likely:
Will the
smokers pick up the positive virtue from the non-smoker and quit smoking?
or
Will the
non-smoker “emulate” his friends and start smoking?
It is the same
with other bad habits like drinking, gambling and harmful addictions and
undesirable activities.
It is more
common to see good persons “falling” into bad company and quite rare to see a
“bad” person being reformed by “good” company.
It is easier
to slide down the slippery slope of vices than climb up the steep gradient of
virtue.
This
phenomenon of “reverse osmosis” happens at the group level and organizational
level too.
When two
organizations interact we expect that each organization will imbibe the
positive aspects of the other’s organizational culture.
But on most
occasions the reverse happens.
Let me give
you an example.
In an
inter-service organization in which I once worked there were employees of two different
cadres – uniformed defence personnel and civilian research scientists.
I expected
that when these two different types of cadres interacted with each other, each
cadre would inculcate the positive aspects of the other.
I thought that
the “laid back” scientists would imbibe the good habits of punctuality and
discipline from the defence service officers and the “soldiers” would cultivate
a right-brain “out of the box” thinking “scientific temper” from the
scientists.
To my
amusement I observed exactly the opposite.
The “soldiers”
were quick to embrace the lax discipline and the laid-back “chalta hai” attitude of the scientists and the scientists were quick to adopt
the rigid thinking and hierarchical rank-consciousness prevalent amongst
defence officers.
In fact, some
scientists became so rank conscious and sensitive about their “status” that
they were obsessed with things like inter-se seniority, and rank equivalence and, despite the fact that they called
themselves “scientists”, they were extremely hypersensitive about their place
in the “pecking order” – concepts which are totally alien to a “scientific
temper”.
The upshot of all
this was that most “research scientists” became more interested in
“administering” and “managing” rather than devoting themselves to conducting
scientific research.
Probably the
same phenomenon of “reverse osmosis” happens when the academia interacts with
the administrative services. That is why you see so may “academic babus” rather than genuine scholars in many academic institutions and,
conversely, there are so many “babus” with a “scientific temper” in the
bureaucracy.
Such are the
ironies, paradoxes, incongruities and absurdities of life which you can observe
all around you.
You want
“osmosis” – but you end up getting “reverse osmosis”.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Did you like this article?
I am sure you will like the 27 stories in my short fiction anthology book COCKTAIL -
comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the link below:
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925
Foodie Book: Appetite for a Stroll
About Vikram Karve
A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT BHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
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Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com
Fiction Short Stories Book
Foodie Book: Appetite for a Stroll
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the link below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925
Foodie Book: Appetite for a Stroll
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