On World Philosophy Day 2022, (an International Day proclaimed by UNESCO to be celebrated every 3rd Thursday of November ) which falls this year on Thursday 17th November 2022, I will share some thoughts on’ Rational Thinking’ through WhatsApp. This has been influenced by the great Philosopher Voltaire’s comment that ‘no problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking’. I will be making my posts from approximately 7am to 8am, and members of the WhatsApp group “ Philosophy Matters” can view them anytime that suits their convenience. This is a great feature of ‘a-synchronous communication’. The posts will remain with you until you delete them. The posts will most often be in the form of text messages by me, some audio clips from me, occasionally images of PowerPoint slides created by me that you are used to seeing in a traditional lecture and sometimes links to videos or articles of others. All in all, an unusual delightful experience. Not merely passively listening to lectures, but actively participating in the learning process. If you have a thought to share, a question that arises ora comment tomake on any post from any member of the group, just go ahead and post it to the group. If I can respond immediately without drifting from the main narrative, then I will respond promptly. Else, I will compile these and post my responses later. This will be an experience that expands intellectual horizons and encourages independent thinking.
In this age of Big Data, AI and machine learning, it seems that it is the oldest subject that may really guide us in creating the future that we should want.
In Act 1 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet,Hamlet says to his friend: “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”: Ralph Waldo Emerson
Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, ‘love of wisdom’), according to Wikipedia is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved.
The sequence and flow of the topics for my posts for this session will be:
1: The World Philosophy Day?
2: Why learn Philosophy
3: Significance of Philosophy at different stages of life
4: India’s contribution to World Philosophy
5: Philosophy in the age of Artificial Intelligence
6: The Philosophy of the Quantum world
7: Philosophy as vaccination against stupidity
8: Prof MM Pant’s mission on ‘ Rational Thinking’
9: On active learning, not lectures
10: Resources for further exploration
I will do this in the WhatsApp group “ Philosophy Matters”.
Prof. M.M.Pant has a Ph.D in Computational Physics, along with a Professional Law Degree, and has been a practitioner in the fields of Law, IT enabled education and IT implementation.
Drawing upon his experience in world class international institutions and having taught in various modes of Face-to-Face, Distance Learning and Technology Enhanced Training, Prof. Pant is now exploring the nature of institutions which will be successors to the IITs, which represented the 1960s, IIMs, which represented the 1970 and Open Universities which were the rage of 1980s & 90s.
He believes that the convergence between various media and technologies would fundamentally alter the way learning would be created, packaged, and delivered to learners. His current activities are all directed toward actual implementation of these new age educational initiatives that transform education in the post Internet post WTO era..
Prof. Pant, has been a Former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and has been on the faculty of IIT – Kanpur (the premier Engineering institution in India), MLNR Engineering College and Faculty & Visiting Professor - University of Western Ontario-Canada.
He has been visiting scientist to research centers in Italy, England, Germany & Sweden and has delivered international lectures with about 80 papers published.
During his association of almost 15 years with the IGNOU, Prof. Pant has served as the Director Computing and has been the Member of All Bodies (i.e. School boards, Academic council, Planning board, Finance committee and the Board of management).
With his interest in Law, backed with practice of Law in a High Court, and his basic training in Science and IT, Prof. Pant has been particularly interested in the Cyber Law, Patent & trade mark issues, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues etc. and has been involved with many activities, conferences on “Law & IT”
Prof. Pant is presently;
• Advisor to Media Lab Asia - Chairman of working group on ICT for Education, chairman of PRSG handling projects on ICT for education.
• Lead Consultant for an ADB funded project for ICT in Basic Education in Uzbekistan
• Member of the drafting Group for India’s National Policy on ICT in education
• Chairman of the group creating books for class 11 and 12 students on ‘Computers and Communication Technology’ appointed by the NCERT
• Preparing a ‘Theme Paper” for the NCTE in the area of ICT and Teacher Training
• Advisor and mentor to several leading Indian and Multi-national Companies in the area of education.
Prof. Pant has in the recent past been ;
• Member – Board of Management – I I T, Delhi for 6 years (two consecutive terms)
• One-man committee to create the Project Report & Legislation for Delhi IT-enabled Open University
• Advisor to the Delhi Government on Asian Network of Major Cities Project (ANMC-21) distance learning project in association with Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
• Chairman Board of Studies, All India Management Association
With his mission to create and implement new business opportunities in the area of e-learning & learning facilitation, Prof. Pant has promoted Planet EDU Pvt. Ltd., as its Founder & Chairman, along with a team of highly experienced and skilled professionals from Education & Training, Operations, IT and Finance.
