Do you think education of scientific concepts (in the field of

management, philosophy, psychology, economics, science or

any faculty that affect human beings) to people can make
life better?

I have recently posted a book SITUATIONS IN FAMILY,

SOCIETY AND WORKPLACE WITH REFERENCE TO SCIENTIFIC
CONCEPTS on Kindle at Amazon. Read and Comment

This book is about situations we encounter in our family,

society and work place which can be properly managed for
getting better results with the help of scientific concepts
available in the field of management, philosophy, psychology,
economics, science or any faculty that affect human beings.

It is observed often in the writings of many scientists and

scholars that we have developed, discovered and invented
many concepts for the betterment of human beings but
many people are not able to use them.

If you think, education of scientific concepts to people can

make life better then propagate the message.

Read Introduction and three sample chapters .

INTRODUCTION

It is observed often in the writings of many scientists and

scholars that we have developed, discovered and invented
many concepts for the betterment of human beings but
many people are not able to use them. I am trying here in
my little way to bridge the gap.
This book is a beginning to understand the scientific concepts
in management, philosophy, psychology, economics, science
or any faculty that affect human beings and consider the
possibilities of using them in different situations at Family,
Society and Workplace.
It is observed that concepts have the power to change the
way we live and work today and how we will live and work in
the future. For example, knowing the facts about who is
responsible for producing girl child have changed the way
society look at the women. Historic blaming women for
infertility or giving birth to girl child have stopped in the
society.
The Original concept has its own context. I have not
tampered with the context. I saw the possibility of
application of the concept in another context. For example,
even if the concept was originally written in the context of an
organization, I have written situations for home and society.
You may disagree with me in judgment for the applicability.
Each chapter is organized mainly in three sections
HOME/SOCIETY: This section has situations at home or
society.
 CONCEPT: This section has a brief explanation of the
concept. I have tried to maintain the explanation in the
language of the person who is the originator of the
concept. I suggest you to go through the concept in detail
and the assumption on which it relies so that your
reasoning or understanding do no go astray. Wherever
possible I have included the reference so that you
explore more. The Original context of the concept is not
tempered.
WORK: This section has situations in the workplace.
I have tried to give you at least one situation for a concept.
These situations are based on my experience in society and
the workplace. You are advised to relate the concepts to your
real life situations so that the concept goes deeper in your
mind and becomes useful throughout the life. Situations
here can act as a catalyst to spark more situations.
You can have different opinion on a situation with respect to
the concept. I tried to narrate with my little experience. If
you can come up with a better situation kindly share them
with me so that I can integrate them in the next edition.
Concepts are arranged alphabetically for easy reference. You
can read it anywhere.
It's just the beginning. Look more of such concepts and utilize
them for your personal and professional growth.

Chetananand M. Raut
1. ABILENE PARADOX

HOME
Your wife has left you and your daughter five years ago when
your daughter was three years old. After that incidence your
parents stayed with you to take care of your daughter and
look after the home as you were busy on the job.
You thought that it would be beneficial for your daughter and
parents if you get married. You believed that wife would
take care of your daughter and parents. Your daughter
thought that you are feeling alone and wife would bring
some happiness to you. Your parents believed that they
would be free to travel home at the village and take care of
agriculture, once you had a wife who could take care of your
household.
Actually, nobody wanted a wife, but nobody talked, which
resulted into you are marrying again. After a year you are
unhappy as your wife has different expectations than you
imagined. Parents cannot leave you as they can see that you
are not compatible with wife and you need the support.
Daughter feels and can see that you are not happy and feels
bad for you.
Recently, when you discussed with your daughter and parent
(of course not in front of the wife) you came to know that
nobody wanted a second wedding , but they did not speak
openly which resulted into more mess at home.
This is Abilene Paradox

CONCEPT
The Abilene Paradox is a phenomenon in which the limit of a
particular situation seems to force a group of people to act in
a way that is the opposite of what they actually want. This
situation can occur when groups continue with misguided
activities which no group member desires because no
member is willing to raise objections, or displease the others.
The term was coined by Jerry B. Harvey in his 1988 book
"The Abilene Paradox and other Meditations on
Management". Here is the anecdote in the book which
Harvey uses to elucidate the paradox.
On a hot afternoon visiting in Coleman, Texas, the family is
comfortably playing dominoes on a porch, until the father-in-
law suggests that they take a trip to Abilene (53 miles away)
for dinner. The wife says, "Sounds like a great idea." The
husband, despite having reservations because the drive is
long and hot, thinks that his preferences must be out-of-step
with the group and says, "Sounds good to me. I just hope
your mother wants to go." The mother-in-law then says, "Of
course I want to go. I haven't been to Abilene in a long time."
The drive is hot, dusty, and long. When they arrive at the
cafeteria, the food is as bad. They arrive back home four
hours later, exhausted.
One of them dishonestly says, "It was a great trip, wasn't it."
The mother-in-law says that, actually, she would rather have
stayed home, but went along since the other three were so
enthusiastic. The husband says, "I wasn't delighted to be
doing what we were doing. I only went to satisfy the rest of
you." The wife says, "I just went along to keep you happy. I
would have had to be crazy to want to go out in the heat like
that." The father-in-law then says that he only suggested it
because he thought the others might be bored.
The group sits back, perplexed that they together decided to
take a trip which none of them wanted. They each would
have preferred to sit comfortably, but did not admit to it
when they still had time to enjoy the afternoon.

WORK
You are the Chairman of a Co-operative bank. Because of
changes in the attitude of the public towards the Co-
operative sector, internal inefficiencies of the bank and
competition from other banks, your bank is not making
sufficient profit. At the recent board meeting you suggested
to increase the rate of interest on the loan to increase the
profit margin. Everybody in the meeting thought that you
will feel bad and other members in the meeting may not
support if they raise concern. Hence, they put forwards the
points in favor of increasing the rate. Even you also did not
want to raise the interest rate, but thinking that all
participants in the meeting are convinced on the suggestion,
endorsed the decision to increase. This decision resulted in
people going to another bank for a loan and shifting the
present loan. Also, it affected the deposits as customer
movement becomes low in the branches.

To avoid the Abilene Paradox from occurring, when the time

comes to decide, somebody should ask: 'Are we going to
Abilene here?'
2. AD HOMINEM FALLACY

HOME
You are regular liar in your family and this becomes your
character. Most of the times nobody believes you, even if
you are telling the truth. The focus is diverted from the
strength of your argument to your character and this is
making communication difficult at home.
Now you want to change the way people see your character
and you know that it will not be simple.

CONCEPT
An Ad Hominem Fallacy, also known as an argument against
the person, is a logical fallacy in which focus is diverted from
the strength of an argument itself to the qualities of the
person making the argument. By finding fault with the person
making an argument, it is hoped that the argument can be
easily discredited without addressing its merits or faults
directly.
Ad hominem attacks can be traced back to Aristotle in his
Rhetoric, where he observes that the character of whoever
presents an argument is often instrumental in the acceptance
of that argument.

WORK
Your boss is not punctual about time and hence most of the
staff under him also started arriving late in the office. Boss
took the meeting of all the staff with a monthly time sheet
from the attendance machine and started giving lectures on
time management and advantages of coming on time in the
office.
Nobody followed his instruction. Whatever he said went
against his character.
Speak what you act. Act what you speak.

REFER
Book: Ad Hominem Arguments: Fallacies and Argument
Appraisal. By Tindale, C. W
3. BASE RATE FALLACY OR BASE RATE NEGLECT

HOME
You are a teacher in a village and you come to know that one
of a farmer in the village does not want to educate his
children. When you asked the reason, the farmer explained
that educated children leave home, agriculture and parents.
This is based on his experiences with two-three families in
the village.
Please tell him that education may not be the sole reason.
Not educating children will have a more adverse impact on
childrens life.
CONCEPT
The base rate fallacy is a tendency to judge the probability of
an event based entirely upon irrelevant information, rather
than the actual base rate probability of that event.
Base rate neglect is a fundamental flaw in human reasoning,
resulting from our innate weakness in analyzing complex
probability problems. It is an example of where our intuitive
judgments or instincts can lead us astray. Having an
understanding of base rate neglect, along with the
supporting math, can help you arrive at more accurate
judgments, conclusions and decisions.

WORK
You are running a finance company. You had appointed an
external audit team for audit of processes and people in the
branches.
Auditors one of the comments is that staffs at many
branches are coming late to office.
In the same month many branches could not achieve the
target.
You concluded that not achieving the target is primarily
because of late coming of the staff.
Actually reasons for the dip in the achievement of the target
were not late coming.
You again could not achieve target next month.