Virtual Realiy

Over the past few years Virtual Reality took center stage in the worlds of education, entertainment, medicine and in a host of other fields.

In this note, however, I wish to touch on some softer aspects of the Virtual Reality term, namely how we perceive reality and how our minds occasionally drift into a world that is bordering on fantasy, be it for something we wish for or, on the other extreme, something we fear.

Needless to say, our level of fantasy is determined, amongst many other things, by the fertility of our minds.

Like a naturally fertile soil in which seeds when sufficiently irrigated and nourished will yield a healthy plant, fertile minds when supported by a depth of experience and imagination will yield good ideas that may include theories or fantasies.

Different nature of soils, e.g. acidic or alkaline, are needed for growing different plants. Likewise, if we think about fertile minds, their ability to produce a theory or a fantasy will depend on the nature of the individual mind. Some will yield theories and some will yield fiction and on a few occasions they may yield both!

Returning to the thought about perception and Virtual Reality, I believe that a novel written by a person with a fertile mind, whether it be romantic, historic fiction, science fiction, etc. or any combination of these, will take you into a virtual reality world which may in turn, depending on the fertility of your mind, help you in perceiving thoughts and ideas and perhaps allowing you to create new ones too!

Hani Badawi
November 9, 2019

Thinking Aloud

A few decades ago when I was embarking on a career in technical research I was unaware of the needed methodology for conducting and expressing my thoughts. Admittedly, I was also fearful of relaying my early thoughts lest they be incorrect or inaccurate.

At that time, the process of “Thinking Aloud” was brought to my attention by my Ph.D. Supervisor (Dr. Krante Anand) who went on to describe the importance of that process in as far as verbalizing one’s technical thoughts with the intent of honing and ultimately refining one’s research skills.

As time progressed, I realized that this was only the first step in him preparing me to enter the world of research. Soon thereafter he proceeded to guide and encourage me to continuously document my research results, to periodically submit my findings to technical journals and to present them at relevant international conferences.

Learning the above process was a lesson that had a profound impact on the evolution of my thoughts over the years and my ability to express them in writing and sharing them with others.

Of course there are other forms of thinking that I learned and used since the formative days of my career. These included amongst others: strategic thinking, critical thinking, lateral thinking and creative thinking. In the process of learning all these diverse forms of thinking, I certainly relied on my previously acquired skill of “thinking aloud”.

Many of the things we do in life are rooted in an experience we were exposed to along our life path and I’m sure that each of you must have had a similar explicit experience or multiple experiences like the one I shared here. Think about it and perhaps you may find that “thinking aloud” is useful!

Note: I owe a debt of gratitude to the late Dr. Krante Anand for his mentoring role and also our friendship that was cut short by his early departure many years ago. May his soul rest in eternal peace.


Hani Badawi
January 23, 2019

Look Inside Yourself

From time to time it is not unusual for us to spit-out critical comments, criticisms and condemnations in view of behavioral patterns and/or policies within our own society/country. I note that these feelings may be expressed with an even higher zeal and a more elevated frequency when we describe what we deem unacceptable behavioral patterns and/or policies related to other societies/countries.

What makes us do that?

The motives differ widely and are not always obvious because they depend on many factors, namely:

1- socio-cultural: (personality, attitude, lifestyle, education, health, religion, wealth, media etc.),

2- political (government, regulations, economy, treaties, constitution, etc.)

3- geographic (resources, terrain, climate, etc.)

It is noteworthy that the above stated three factors with all their sub-factors (and unnamed etceteras) are intertwined in many ways making it virtually impossible for us to reach a definitive conclusion as to what glasses we use to see and perceive the defects within any given society or country.

The more I think about the above, the more I believe that it is a bottomless-pit, because the more thought I invest in trying to understand the motives for these thought declarations, the less conclusions I’m likely to reach!

So, what should we do:

Depending on our individual core values/feelings and common sense inclinations, it would be better to direct our thoughts towards toning down the egotistic feelings and elevating our own values to better serve ourselves, our families and our societies.

Remember that, regardless of which age/social/ethnic/creed/etc. group that we belong to, our leanings, biases, convictions and other feelings may possibly have changed over time. So much so, it is somewhat hypocritical to pass judgment on behavioral patterns that we may have once adopted!

Start with positive, constructive self-criticism, work on self-improvement and back-out of general criticism.

After all, as the saying goes: Charity begins at home!

Hani Badawi
January 6, 2019