This is a straightforward Question Answer type discussion focused on one problem related to fitness planning and some variations to it that takes deep into the concept of average and exposes some of the errors people make while using it. Question: Rohan is on a fitness drive. He has planned to burn 300 kcal in one exercise session is Gym. He has been suggested to do warmup, cardio, strength training and cooling. He divided his target kcal into 4 equal parts of 75 kcal each. His fitness tracker displays few data including calorie burnt.  Warmup burns 4 calories per minute, cardio exercise burns 8 kcal per minute, strength exercises 10 kcal per minute and cooling 2 kcal per minute.  How much time he would take in the gym to complete his exercise.  Answer: Since Rohan wants to burn 75 kcal in each of the four parts , calculate the time for each activity separately. Warm-up: Burns 4 kcal/min Time = 75 ÷ 4 = 18.75 minutes (18 min 45 sec) Cardio: Burns 8 kcal/min Time = 75 ÷...

If someone has to play a game like cricket in which bowlers ball, batsman bats and fielders field, but there is no score, no record and no competition, this would become a boring activity for players and there would probably be nobody interested in such activities. Activities are same as game of cricket but the thrill and excitement are brought in through numbers by quantification and competition.     Same holds good in study. A bit of quantification and gamification can do wonders. For example, while solving mathematics questions from books, consider one run for successfully solving a question and a wicket in failing to solve a question. Solve the questions one after other. So, if you solve 25 questions successfully and then fail to solve one, the score becomes 25 for 1. You can have test match kind of scoring with two teams in which you are solving numerical questions and maintaining score based on questions solved or unsolved. It becomes fun and great way of learning when y...

  Be in Good Company This article is based on some of the advises given by my father during my school days. The motivation to write this came while seeing a 50 years old photo captured in his camera. Due to privacy reason, I have modified that photo using AI and shared it here. Happy faces in that photo seem to be in good company and enjoying their moments. It can be felt that the kind of positive energy it generates can make challenging tasks look easy.     When it comes to study, being in good company doesn't mean about school, teachers and friends only, but it also includes books, other learning resources and the questions that one practices. You may not have much choices while selecting school, teachers or friends but selection of books, other learning resources and questions for practice are completely in your control. A good company makes study enjoying, helps in setting and achieving right goals, facilitates deep and long lasting learning and leads to a satisfying ...