illogical. Literally

Logic is the fundamental basis of how cognizant, self-aware people form their decision. It influences things as mundane as grocery purchases, to things as vital as who to choose as a life partner 

(I would like to believe the spectrum has those two ends, or maybe grocery shopping can be replaced with choosing which socks to wear, anyway, I digress)

For the longest period of time I think I was pretty illogical. I made decisions based on impulse, I made life choices based on past experiences rather than anticipating their impact and long term consequences. Call me stupid, I wouldn't mind, since I call myself more harsh things than that anyway, because its true, I was stupid. Extremely Stupid

But it doesn't end there. I wasn't JUST stupid, I was illogical. I didn't know how to think, and I wasn't taught how to think. This extreme oversight in my education is not a fluke in my opinion. You've probably noticed this too; the vast majority of people that surround you are those that do not understand or have the desire to figure out why they are doing what they are doing. They are running on impulse. 

7 times out of 10 if you stop a random passerby on the street and pose them this question, or any question relating to why their hold certain beliefs and ideologies, they would post likely thrust their chest out and proudly say "This is just how we do it where Im from". Or some version of that sentence; "My parents did it so I do it", "This is my heritage" etc etc

Very few people swim against the tide and question their ideologies and beliefs. Fewer still have the courage to accept we understand less than we presume. 

You might then ask, "But Muneeb, what difference does it make that these people have fixed beliefs, live and let live" 

The issue then becomes this line that I have decided to live by "How you do something, is how you do everything" 

I mean to say, once you let people decide how to live life based on whims and ancestral traditions, it doesn't take them too long to apply that same...for the use of a better word, "Logic", to other things in life. Case in point being anything that does not directly affirm their personal worldview. Notice how I said affirm and not challenge, because in my opinion, the bar really is that low. 

But we can go on and on about this, youre probably asking yourself what I've asked millions of times. What should be done? 

At this point in time, I would rather ask you, because Im still pondering, and I've let this rest in my drafts section for too long 

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Last night I was sitting with an old friend I had met after 11 years, he sadly choose banking as his career path after A-levels and University, something that is not common at all among our peers given the extremely low return on investment and the very slim chances of making it past a branch manager position. I asked him his reasoning and he mentioned like me, he had a cousin, highly successful, CEO of a well known bank in our country, he wanted to emulate him. It was something that stuck with him from an early age

Anyone that was in Pakistan two decades ago saw the phenomenal rise in two major sectors - Telecommunication and Banking. All my older cousins, relatives and family members seemed to be related to it somehow someway. Either you were running your own business or you were climbing the corporate ladder in these two domains

And I think in part it makes sense, the country was at a tipping point, democracy had returned (a debate to be had), the internet was permeating urban centers and connecting us with the rest of the world, the population was growing and cell towers were being installed literally everywhere.

We were still far behind the developed world, I remember using a dial-up internet from WorldCall or PTCL as late as 2011. Waiting patiently to check my MSN IM account (when I say mine I mean my mothers and mine) 

But now the situation has changed. Banking and Telecommunication are lost sectors, the only corporate security in Pakistan is in Tech, and that too has suffered greatly

As I said my goodbyes, my mind kept switching back and forth, from thinking of the economics of our situation a more pressing issue; just how impressionable children are at a young age, and just how important it is to give them the right guidance 

My parents would joke that I would create a flying car one day, something I might have said to them at a very young age. The joke turned into expectation, and expectations dictated decision making, so I found myself in engineering school without truly wanting to be there. I spent the next decade figuring out what I wanted to do and finally made the switch. 

The following realizations is what I concluded of  my musings: 

1.  Decisions should be rooted in rational and logic, based 70% in data and 30% in emotions - as actions have consequences 

2. We need to ask children "Why" recursively, this is important to understand the true reason behind their decision making since children are naive; it is our job as parents and mentors to make them see the holes in their plans and make sure they dont waste their formative years 

3. There are so many different ways to look at things, one just has to keep an open mind