WEET: Weekend Evening Talks ( with WhatsApp):
Since these are evening talks, the weekend is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
For our lunch-time learning, the weekend is only Saturday and Sunday.
Friday evening talks are on Quantum phenomena. Saturday evening talks are on Learning and Sunday evening talks are on Thinking.
Time slot for scheduled posts: 8pm to 9pm. But you can access them at any later time as well. They will remain there until you deliberately delete them.
Schedule of these WhatsApp talks for October 2020: beginning Friday 9th October 2020:
The Quantum Track:
Friday 9th October : WEET01: Quantum Magic
Friday 16th October : WEET02: Quantum Concepts
Friday 23rd October : WEET03: Quantum Computing
Friday 30th October : WEET04: Quantum Biology
The Learning Track:
Saturday 10th October: WEET05: Awaken the Learner Within
Saturday 17th October: WEET06: The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge
Saturday 24th October: WEET07: How Artificial Intelligence will transform Learning?
Saturday 31st October : WEET08: Questioneering??
The Thinking Track:
Sunday 11th October : WEET09: Avoiding Natural Stupidity
Sunday 18th October: WEET10: Ideas: their creation and spread
Sunday 25th October : WEET11: Developing Foresight
Sunday 1st November : WEET12: Thinking Clearly
Brief course descriptors :
WEET01: Quantum Magic
The purpose of this one hour session is to illustrate the Quantum magic that leads from Quantum surprises to Quantum devices. While many Physicists have said that quantum mechanics is magic, the same expression is not used, for example, for relativity, classical mechanics, geology, chemistry or biology. But from semi-conductors to superconductors, photosynthesis and our sense of smell to the migration of birds, Quantum Magic is all around us.
WEET02: Quantum Concepts
The conceptual building blocks of Quantum technologies are wave-particle duality, superposition, spin, quantum tunnelling, entanglement and decoherence. Quantum engineers work on practically implementing them. This session attempts to describe these non-intuitive concepts.
WEET03: Quantum Computing
This one hour session is devoted to the nature and future of Quantum Computing. With Quantum Supremacy having been demonstrated by Google in 2019, and the race for solving really difficult problems of new materials, better batteries, pharmaceutical products and coping with climate change, this is perhaps the most exciting knowledge domain now.
WEET04: Quantum Biology
Quantum biology is an emerging field; most of the current research is theoretical and subject to questions that require further experimentation. Though the field has only recently received an influx of attention, it has been conceptualized by physicists throughout the 20th century. Quantum biology is concerned with the influence of non-trivial quantum phenomena in living systems.
WEET05: Awaken the learner within:
We are all ‘born learners’ but many factors and experiences make us reluctant and passive learners. This one hour session will rekindle in you the desire to learn well, and forever. There is a bit of warning here also of “use it or lose it”. You wouldn’t want your brain to become a ‘vestigial’ organ, like the appendix; being there but serving no useful purpose.
WEET06: The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge
The search for answers to deep questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without concern for applications, often leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs. In short, no quantum mechanics, no computer chips, or no prime numbers, no cyber-security.
WEET07: How Artificial Intelligence will transform Learning?
This recently all pervasive technology has been portrayed as the ultimate evil or the final saviour. The truth naturally will be somewhere in the middle. This session deliberates on how AI will transform learning to serve humanity in an unprecedented manner.
WEET08: Questioneering??
We were not only born learners, but naturally curious with a lot of questions. Research shows that children ask hundreds of questions every day. The growing up process required that we stop questioning and accepting the various authorities. This session draws attention to the importance of asking questions and how one becomes wiser for having asked good questions.
WEET09: Avoiding Natural Stupidity
The literal opposite of Artificial Intelligence is natural stupidity, and you would be surprised by its pervasiveness. Even if we may not be have the help of AI technologies to empower ourselves, we could significantly improve our lives, if we could cut down on the natural stupidity prevailing in our lives.
WEET10: Ideas: their creation and spread
It is widely believed that we have evolved from hunter-gatherers, agricultural, industrial to a post industrial society driven by creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. And ideas are the currency of such a society. The goal of this session this is to give you pointers and examples of how you could play an important role in both generation of new ideas, as well as being a propagator or evangelist of useful ideas generated by others.
WEET11: Developing Foresight
All of us can learn to anticipate the future. All sportsperson playing cricket, football or tennis for example have to guess ( successfully) where the ball is headed. Foresight is the secret ingredient of all success, because without foresight we cannot prepare for the future.
WEET12: Thinking clearly
Thinking clearly is an ability that is acquired by deliberate practice. It is often said that we need to learn how to think rather than what to think. There are often errors that creep into our thinking process-ranging from cognitive biases to envy and social distortions. This session points to such possible errors in our thinking process, and provides guidance on how to avoid them.
Course access and delivery process:
- A WhatsApp group will be created for each talk. The group formation is not contingent on a minimum number enrolled. Even if there is only one person enrolled for a particular slot of a course, the course will be delivered to that person.
- I will be making my posts during the scheduled time slot of 8pm to 9pm. These posts may be in the form of text, images of PowerPoint slides, my audios, my videos or curated videos of others… But if you are unable to join the group during that time, you can access them at any later time as well. They will remain there until you deliberately delete them.
- About 10 minutes before the scheduled time of my posts I will post a message to the effect that the session is about to begin
- If any course participant has a query, question or observation, they may go ahead and make it right there. If this concerns the whole group, please make it in the group. If it is meant as a message to me, then please send me a direct message rather than posting it in the group.
- If I can make a quick short and effective response, without losing the thread of the conversation, I will respond right then, else I will pool all these and make a special post in response.
- Towards the end of the session I will share the PowerPoint slides as a pdf file that can be used in ways that the learners find convenient.
- You may keep posting your queries and comments even after the scheduled time for my posts is over. All the posts and conversations ( including audio) will remain with you until you consciously and deliberately delete them. This is the greatest advantage of this method
Enrolment and fee payment:
- As the courses are being delivered through WhatsApp the enrolment process is simply that of sending a WhatsApp message to Prof MM Pant at +919810073724.
- The fee for each of the above courses is Rs 500/- and can be easily remitted through PayTM to MM Pant ( mobile number : +919810073724).
- For those who would rather pay into a Bank account, the relevant information is :
- Madan Mohan Pant
- HDFC Bank, Unitech Cyber Park, Sector 39, Gurgaon
A/c 26451000000301
HDFC0002645
- (The account number is 26451 followed by six zeroes followed by 301)
To know more, please send a WhatsApp message to Prof MM Pant at +919810073724