Mental Models and Magic Potions

Over the last one week the two major influences on my existence have been a class on behavioural finance and my fourth re run of harry potter and the half blood prince.

That is when I made a queer observation. There is a visible common ground between mental models and magic potions, both flatter to deceive.

Mental models are as much an expression of our whims as are magic potions, If we were able to actually make models to map human thought it would be a worthless exercise.

The whole beauty of a human brain is its unpredictability, if we were able to actually deduce behaviour then human beings would end up becoming nothing more than zombies.

Magic potions on the other hand are accepted whims of our imagination but if they were actually true they would in essence suggest the presence of mental model. This can be deduced from the fact that magic potions cause a particular behavioural reaction in human beings and if that were true then the person would be abiding by a mental model.

The one thing I did learn rather re-learn in the behavioural finance class was the concept of proof by contradiction, which I have done above , if you have not understood it yet then let me elaborate.

Theory to prove: mental models don’t exist

Contradiction to proof: mental models do exist

Parallel: magic potions exist

Fact: magic potions don’t exist

Deduction: Magic potions cause mental models

Contradiction: If mental models are caused by magic potions and it is a fact that magic potions don’t exist then mental models don’t exist .

melancholy princess

She may be beautiful

Yet is so vulnerable

She may be smart as a tack

Yet she never watches over her back

She may be radiant

Yet she withers away

Her motions vibrant

Yet she has her melancholy way

Often she sits and wonders why

Her heart’s happiness she does deny

Wild spirited and serene she wishes to be

Yet she is too bound and rooted to free

Her thoughts all scattered

Her confidence shattered

Her memories all tattered

But none really mattered

She blossoms again and burgeons on

She is the beautiful flower with the poisonous thorn

Spinning yet another web of hope

Yet another tragedy she wishes to cope

Invites trouble like the neighbourhood fairy

Lest her life should become dreary

Fights against her own mind and heart

As she goes back to the start

Identity Crisis

Hi my name is Venkat Siddarth rather it is Gudiseva Veera Venkata Surya Satya Vara Siddhartha.

All these 44 characters usually get reduced to 3-5 letters when I am being addressed by friends ,family etc. Most commonly it reduces to "Sid" or "Venki".

"SID" is a very common name I observe.

And sometimes some people forget that it is my name as well and when they see a folder by the name "Sid" on my desktop they think it has something to do with the various other "Sids" around and question my motives.

I m used to being called by other names which have nothing to do with the seven names given to me by my fore-fathers.

But when people question my usage of the one name given to me by my beloved parents it pisses me off.

Over the past twenty four years I have amassed more than twenty nick names all from extremely creative people which necessitates that they have nothing to do with my real name. Hence I am now programmed do respond to many words some of which also have a derogatory connotation.

It often happens that two people are arguing and indulging in name calling and out of the blue one of the flowery words they use is similar to one of my nick name.

Hence now I am stuck in the world with innumerable names but none I can call my own. Not one name which makes me stand out and this has lead to a sort of identity crisis recently. It is only today that I have realised all these names are my identity. I am a person with many identities. There are Jacks of all arts. I am the Sid of all names.