CAPTURE (5): Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes?

Ever wonder why smart people make catastrophic mistakes?  It’s rarely due to lack of information.  More often, it’s because they miss the meaning of what they hear.  Understanding is more than just receiving data.  It’s like music - not in the notes themselves, but in how they come together to form a symphony.

When Understanding Fails:

In 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter crashed because of a simple misunderstanding.  One team calculated navigation data in imperial units; the launch team misread it as metric.   Result?  The spacecraft missed Mars by 60 miles and burned up.

The Memory Trap:

Memory supplies the raw material; understanding gives it meaning.  In the spacecraft incident, the facts were known, but the understanding was missing.  It’s like the word boot - shoe in America, a car trunk in Britain!  The same word can mean different things in different contexts.   Memory alone won’t bridge that gap.  Only aligned perspectives can.

Understanding Is a Process:

Understanding doesn’t strike like lightning - it unfolds.  That’s the spirit behind this C.A.P.T.U.R.E series: Concentrate, Absorb, Prioritize, Think, and now, Understand.  The Mars teams skipped “Think”; they didn’t question the obvious.

The Assumption Minefield:

We assume understanding is automatic.  It’s not.  A manager’s 'urgent' might mean today to them, but 'this week' to you.  To bridge this gap:

• Question the obvious
• Translate perspectives
• Confirm comprehension

Your Challenge:

True understanding comes with responsibility.  When given instructions, pause and ask: “Can you clarify what you mean?”

Remember, sometimes, you may be using the same words, but speaking different languages.  The key is understanding its true meaning.  

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  

Stay tuned for the next letter:  “R" – Reflect.

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“The greatest enemy of knowledge isn’t ignorance; it’s the illusion of knowledge.”   — Stephen Hawking

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CAPTURE (4): THINK - Where Ideas Come Alive

Part of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E. blog series on teega.com, this episode—THINK—builds on previously uploaded posts: Concentrate, Absorb, and Prioritize.  Thinking isn’t about reacting or rushing.  It’s deliberate reclaiming of attention in a chaotic world - slowing down to process, reflect, and respond with intention.

The Tightrope

To think, is to walk a tightrope between paralysis (endless spirals) and distraction (bottomless curiosity).  What keeps us upright?: 

🪖 Discipline

🚨 Alertness

🎗️ Awareness

And thinking isn’t locked inside our heads.  It flows in the rhythm of a walk, the warmth of a shower, or the scratch of pen on paper.  The Feynman Technique - explaining an idea in simple words to a child - refines clarity and sharpens insight.

Layers of Thought

Thinking unfolds in 3 layers:  

😱 Shallow – fear-driven, reactive  

🧮 Deliberate – conscious, intentional  

💐 Relational – interweaving ideas, like Einstein’s “combinatory play”

It’s composting for the mind - letting ideas mix, settle, and evolve into new growth.  And metacognition - thinking about how we think - helps us confront our blind spots.

Time Travel and Traps

Thinking stitches together our past, present, and future.  But beware of procrastination, which often wears the mask of productivity:

🔍 Endlessly researching

↩️ Replaying scenarios

😴 Postponing or Avoiding decisions for no reasons.

Counter this with:  

⏰ Clear deadlines and the two-minute rule  

👍 Choose 'good enough' over perfect  

✅ Practise 'productive ignorance' - filter out the noise

Reclaim Thinking

Deliberate thought is a quiet rebellion.  Pause.  Reflect.  Your best ideas often wait in the stillness between distraction and decision.

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  Stay tuned for the next letter:  “U" – Understand: Cultivating a mindset of curiosity.

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“Think like you have all the time.....  

But act like you have none."

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Capture (3): Prioritize – The Art of Strategic Neglect

Prioritization isn't about doing more—it's about doing less, deliberately.  It's not about what you should do, but what you shouldn't.  It's a one-way bridge from 'Absorb' to 'Think,' allowing only clarity to pass through, leaving clutter behind.

Think of a pianist:

While playing, he doesn’t press every key.  He knows, that would only create chaos, not music.  By choosing only the essential notes, he lets silence shape the melody.  That’s prioritization—the discipline of omission.

The Myth of Important Tasks:

Urgency often masquerades as importance.  Your “to-do” list may look impressive, but it’s the “to-don’t” list that reveals wisdom.  Before chasing tasks, pause and ask: "Is this truly important—or simply passable?"

Absorb → Prioritize → Think:

Absorbing without direction invites disorder.  Before letting information in, reflect:

🤔 Is this relevant to my purpose?

🤔 Will this still matter tomorrow?

Tools for Let-Go Prioritization:

👎 The 24-Hour Test:  If it won’t matter tomorrow, let it go.

👎 The Gut Check:  If it doesn’t spark conviction or curiosity, let it go.

👎 The Editing Mindset:  Like a sculptor, if the excess distracts the final form, let it go.

🪤 The Trap:

Prioritization isn’t a one-time act.  Like a pianist refining his performance, it’s a daily practice of unchoosing what no longer aligns with your goals.  What served you yesterday might be noise today.

Try this today: 

Let go of one task that no longer serves your clarity. Sometimes, progress begins with subtraction.

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  Stay tuned for the next letter:  “T" – Think: Where Clarity Begins.

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“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” — William James

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C A P T U R E (2): Absorbing the Unseen - The Moments That Shape Us

Absorption is a quiet thief.  We often mistake it for understanding.  But what truly shapes us doesn’t settle easily.  It lingers like a shadow at the edge, waiting to seep in through the cracks of forgetting.

Absorbing isn’t about collecting—it’s about curating.  The less we clutter our minds now, the clearer our priorities will be later.  Because what we let in determines what we act on.  And that’s where the real work begins.

That day, the street screamed with traffic.  An old couple stood frozen at the curb, their hesitation louder than the roaring engines.  I stepped in.  Hand raised, I carved a path through the chaos.  When we reached the other side, the man clutched my wrist—not with gratitude, but something heavier:  “May this not happen to you.”  And then they were gone.

I noticed the visible clues:  The slump of his shoulders, the tremble as he pulled his wife closer, and the way his warning hung in the air.  I thought I’d captured it all.  But absorption works in reverse proportion to our awareness.  The more we clutch, the faster it slips away.

Years later, the meaning found me.  His fear wasn’t about aging or frailty.  It was about becoming invisible in a rushing world.  The horror wasn’t in needing help, but in receiving it from someone who didn’t truly see him.

I thought I'd absorbed that experience.  Now I know—it absorbed me.  It taught, what’s worth letting in… and what to let go.

Share similar experiences if you remember.   

Some lessons, we know, arrive silently, but never leave quietly.

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  Stay tuned for the next letter:  “P" – Prioritize: Where Clarity Begins.

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“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."   — Marcel Proust

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C A P T U R E (1) - FOCUS: Cut Through the Noise. Capture What Counts

In the Mahabharata, Arjuna is given an impossible task -  shoot an arrow through the narrow gaps of a spinning wheel and strike a distant target.  Seems insurmountable.  Yet with laser focus, Arjuna finds the gap, aims true, and the impossible becomes inevitable.

Ancient wisdom, modern problem. 

Your mind is like a camera.  Without focus, everything’s a blur.  Zoom in, and distractions dissolve.  Clarity isn’t just about seeing — it’s about choosing what to see.  As Steve Jobs said, "Focus is saying no to a thousand good distractions."

We face our own spinning wheels every day  -  relentless distractions, dopamine traps, information overloads...   Precision isn’t optional anymore, it’s essential.  The ability to capture what truly matters is a skill worth mastering.

How to Train Your Focus

Lean on these three pillars:

🔭 Look - Zoom in on details. Eyes tell stories, gestures reveal subtext.  Go beyond the obvious.  Don’t just see, observe. 

👂 Listen - Listen to understand, not to respond.  True attention makes people feel heard — and seen.

📚 Learn - Capture knowledge by engaging with it.  Reflect, question, and apply what you gather.

The Reward?

Fewer forgotten names; fewer missed instructions, or "wait, what did I just read?" moments.

Remember - not everything is worth capturing.  Selective attention shapes outcomes.  What we choose to focus on, shapes our reality.

Try This Now

In your next conversation, go into full capture mode  -  Eye contact, attention, curiosity.  You’ll be surprised how much more you absorb,  and how deeply others respond.

Focus brings clarity.  Everything else?  Just noise in disguise.

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“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” -- Annie Dillard 

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Greed: The Silent Force Eating Us Alive

Greed isn’t just about money.  It’s the endless hunger for power, control, and pleasure, often at others’ expense.  From corporate boardrooms to political circles, greed is rebranded as success.

How Greed Shows Up

🤑 Corporate Greed:

Profit over people.  Workers suffer, prices soar, and planned obsolescence fuels endless consumption.  The planet pays the price.

🤑 Political Greed:

Luxury for leaders, neglect for citizens.  Power remains unchecked while corruption becomes a partisan debate.

🤑 Personal Greed:

Social media glorifies excess.  Attention and data are mined.  Scams and deception are repackaged as ambition.

🤑 Cultural Greed:

Division sells.  Politicians and media exploit identity to gain power.  Sense of belonging fractures.

🤑 The Psychological Trap:

Greed hides behind ambition.  Unethical choices are rationalized as survival tactics.  The rich thrive, while society shrugs.

The Way Forward

⤴️ Self-awareness - Recognize our own greed

⤴️ Ethical action - Support fairness and sustainability

⤴️ Accountability - Demand action from authorities 

⤴️ Redefine success - Beyond wealth and possessions

Greed isn't rare—it’s systemic. The challenge is whether we choose to resist it.

🟢 What’s one step you’ll take to challenge greed in your life or community?

💬 Share your thoughts in the comments — let’s start the conversation.

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"There is a enough in the world for man's need,                              but not for his greed."

— Mahatma Gandhi

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The Tomato Test: Why Smart Shoppers Think Beyond Price

While shopping in a supermarket, you’re torn between two trays of tomatoes: one at ₹40 and another labeled "Organic Premium" at ₹90.  That price difference tests your understanding of cost, price, and value behind every purchase, whether it’s groceries or a dream apartment.

The Trinity of Smart Buying

🇨🇷 Cost – What the seller invests in:  

> Production, manufacturing, or services  

> Transport, storage, and distribution  

> Agency or middleman commissions

🇨🇷 Price – What you pay:  

> Cost + business overheads (rent, staff, etc.)  

> Government taxes, duties, and levies  

> Premium markups (Often empty hype)

🇨🇷 Value – Why you buy:  

✅ Trust in quality and benefits  

✅ Personal priorities and desires  

✅ Brand perception and packaging appeal

The Hidden Reality

That "organic" tomato might cost ₹10 more to grow, but the ₹50 premium you pay is often for the story.  Now scale this to that ₹2-crore apartment you’re eyeing.  Its actual cost may be under ₹1 crore. The rest?  

🗑️ EMIs that double your payout  

🗑️ Never-ending maintenance costs  

🗑️ Taxes and illiquidity traps

Emotions can hijack logic, and your wallet!  'Luxury labels' inflate perceived value, and beg the question: Are you buying an asset or a long-term liability?

The Golden Rule

Spend more only when:

✓ Your needs are genuine, not status-driven desires

✓ The quality difference is measurable and real

✓ The long-term benefits justify premium payout

✓ You’ve considered opportunity costs - what else could this money achieve?  

Next time you shop, ask: 

Does this purchase enrich me life or saddle me with debt?  

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"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." 

— Warren Buffett  

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The Power and Peril of Rage

Anger is primal - an instinct rooted in survival.  In a flash, reason can give way to fury, turning vision red and thoughts reckless.  But in today’s world, unchecked rage often harms more than it helps. 

So Why Do We Get Angry?

We often lash out when we feel:

😡 Powerless  in the face of fear or insecurity

😡 Denied something we believe, we deserve

😡 Disrespected, cheated, or ignored

😡 Frustrated by repeated failures

😡 Overwhelmed and emotionally drained

How Do We Express Anger?

Anger wears many faces - some loud, some silent:

👹 Trolling behind screens

👹 Road rage

👹 Vindictive acts, domestic violence, false FIRs

👹 Silent treatment and emotional withdrawal

👹 Self-harm or suicide, when pain turns inward

Whether explosive or suppressed, unmanaged anger always leaves a mark.

How to Defuse Anger?

😌 Pause – Count to ten before reacting

😌 Reframe – Is your response proportional?

😌 Release – Breathe, move away from the scene 

😌 Speak wisely – Use “I feel…” statements

😌 Let go – Accept what’s beyond your control

Mastering anger begins with noticing its early signs - tight fists, shallow breath, or racing thoughts.  That awareness gives us space to choose our response.

Anger isn’t always destructive.  When channeled right, it can fuel justice, and spark change.  True strength lies in using anger, not being used by it.

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"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret."   —   Ambrose Bierce

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If Only We Listened…

A marriage counsellor once asked a quarreling couple: 
“Can you repeat what your partner just said?”  Neither could.  The realization was stark.  They had lived together for years without truly hearing each other.

This isn’t just their story—it’s ours too.  In today’s noisy world, real listening is disappearing.  Conversations are turning into competitions. 

Here’s the quiet crisis:

🚫 What’s said ≠ What’s heard

🚫 What’s heard ≠ What’s understood

🚫 What’s understood ≠ What’s accepted

(symbol ≠ means the "not equal to)

Why don’t we listen?

👎🏿We're too busy framing our response

👎🏿We hear, but miss the meaning

👎🏿We want to sound clever, not connect

The price we pay:

🏷️ Relationships crack when people feel unheard

🏷️ Society polarizes when dialogue becomes debate

🏷️ Growth stalls when we stop engaging deeply

How to bring back real listening:

🤐 Mute your inner voice. Focus fully

👂🏿 Listen to understand, not to reply

❓ Ask, “What do you mean?” instead of assuming

🤫 Let silence deepen connection

Want to make a difference?

As Stephen Covey said:  “Most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand.”  

The antidote is simple:   

Close your mouth.  Open your mind.  Listen - not just to words, but to the heartbeat behind those words.

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“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.”    — Bryant H. McGill

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Caught In the Crosshairs: Fake News & Fake People

“Comparing Imperialism to Nazism is like asking a fish whether it prefers to be fried in margarine or butter!”, said V K Krishna Menon once.  Likewise, choosing between fake news and fake people is futile.  Both manipulate, deceive, and divide. 

This post follows my earlier one on Fake News - Click to read: Part-1 and Part-2.  But here, I go one step further.  Because fake news doesn’t spread on its own.  It takes fake people to create it, amplify it, and make it believable.

Fake news spreads fear and confusion.  Fake people fuel conspiracy and chaos.  Together, they wreck our sense of reality.  Watch for these 12 signs to spot them early:

▶️Hypocrisy: Preaching truth, practising lies.

▶️Selfishness: It’s always about them.

▶️Pretense: Faking expertise to mask agendas.

▶️Inconsistency: Tailoring stories for every room.

▶️Love-bombing: Over-the-top affection to gain control.

▶️False roles: Playing victim or hero to shift blame.

▶️No accountability: Always someone else’s fault.

▶️Manipulative charm: Using charisma as camouflage.

▶️Lack of empathy: Profiting from others' pain.

▶️Digital deception: Fake profiles, real damage.

▶️Plausible deniability: Staying vague to avoid guilt.

▶️Eroding trust: Undermining faith in people / institutions.

From morphed photos to feel-good stories, deception wears a friendly face.  Repeated enough, even fiction begins to feel like fact.  Fake people thrive in such blurred spaces.  Spotting a lie is easy, but spotting the liar is trickier.  The fix?  Stay curious.  Verify before you share.  And trust your gut. 

Have you met a fake person?  Share your story below.  Let’s clean up our information space and rebuild trust together!

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“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” – Mark Twain

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Fake News: Spot It Before Sharing (2)

[Click here for Part 1]

Welcome back!  Wondering how to spot fake news?  These 10 simple signs will help.  Don’t let misinformation go viral because of you!

Poor Language:  “New taxplayer rules. Follow or face actions!”  Sloppy grammar, spelling or phrasing screams 'fake'.  Trusted news is polished.

Too Good to Be True:  “Tomatoes cure diabetes!”  COVID sparked “miracle cures” like cow urine, often harmful.  Real solutions aren’t simple.

Unseen Sources:  “Govt waives farmer loans!” A 2023 viral claim had no official source.  No proof?  Trust your doubts.

Unverified Claims:  “Experts say 5G spreads COVID.”  Which experts?  No data?  Demand proof.

Emotional Triggers:  “Child traffickers in your city!”  Fake forwards sparked lynchings in 2017.  Real news informs, not incites.

Recycled Stories:  “Lion mauls tourist in Gir Forest!”  A 2023 post reused a 2015 Thailand image.  Check dates.

Morphed Images:  “Free rice scheme” poster in 2023.  Google Lens revealed a fake, altered image.  Verify visuals.

Clickbait Urgency:  “Onion prices hit ₹200/kg!”  A 2022 post urged instant sharing.  Later debunked as outdated.  Urgency means fake.

Common Sense Test:  “Chips in Rs 2000 notes track you!”  Does it sound practical?  Don't be gullible! 

Partisan Bias:  "Detergent in milk. Boycott now."   Before you believe, search ‘FSSAI + [brand name]’.  Seek facts, not rants.

Final Tip:  Read between the lines.  Spot agendas.  Use Alt News, Boom, or Snopes to fact-check.  Don’t get fooled!  

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News is sacred. Views are venomous.

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Fond of Fake News? Find Them Irresistible? (Part 1)

We’d never buy a car without a test drive.  Then, why are we “buying” news without checking it first?  Let's explore:

🕶️ THE SKIMMING SYNDROME

Most of us just glance at headlines.  A Reuters study (2018) says 60% read, only headlines - yet 80% feel, "informed." We treat news like background noise.

⏰ THE SPEED TRAP

Fake news travels 70% faster than real news (MIT, 2018).  We share it quickly because we are excited.  Our fingers move faster than our brains.

🧠 THE EMOTIONAL OVERRIDE

Logic takes a backseat when emotions kick in.  Claims "too good to be true", spread 4× faster (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2023).  The brain loves a quick thrill - and skips checking facts.

🔍 THE VERIFICATION VACUUM

Only 12% of us check sources before sharing (Columbia University, 2022).  It's speed over accuracy.  Be first, rather than right. 

📯 EAGER FOR CREDIBILITY

If a post agrees with what we believe, we’re 4× more likely to share it (Nature Human Behaviour, 2023).  We want to feel right, even if we’re wrong.

🌊 THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Each share, boosts fake news' perceived credibility (PNAS 2018, Social Amplification Study).  We are less critical of friends’ posts, and no questions - we just forward them.

 

THE 10-SECOND SOLUTION

Ask, before sharing: "Do I care more about,  being right or feeling right?  Am I informing or misleading?"  Hold for at least 10 seconds.  Remember, our duty is always to -  Stay responsible. Spread truth.

Wait for upcoming Part 2: "Spot It Before You Share It"

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"In this world of speed, truth takes the stairs, while lies take the lift."

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Books: Your Next Chapter Begins Here

In a world ruled by screens and scrolls, reading habit is becoming rare.  Many of us associate, reading with textbooks, exams, and grades.  But what if reading is something else - something we can enjoy anywhere, anytime?

My 4-part blog series explored reading not as a task, but as a source of joy. Books open up worlds of imagination and insight—and they grow with us. 

(Click for Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4)  

The best part?  There are no rules. Read in any format you like.  Choose any genre that interest you.  Skip pages.  Drop books that don’t connect.  You don’t have to finish every book, or stick to serious stuff.  Just begin—even 5 pages a day is enough.

The series targeted the hesitant reader, the busy adults, and those who've never touched a book beyond school.  Books aren't burdens.  They're bridges to fresh thoughts and better version of yourself. 

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Let this be your moment. Pick up a book today. 

As Jim Rohn said:

"Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary." - Jim Rohn

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