My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady

Just came across an interesting article about the good old Marshmallow Test and the new interpretation that some researcher has come up with:

• Marshmallow Test - The Modified Version

I tried to think about a few other areas where the results and inferences from this test can be applied, and it looks like there are quite a few areas in the Indian context:

• People litter on the streets, people spit around, people urinate liberally all over the place
• People smoke in "no-smoking" zones
• People don't bother to put their mobiles on "Silent mode" even in hospitals and theatres
• People don't bother to obey traffic rules (like wearing helmets, stopping at a red signal, etc.)
• People don't hesitate too much to give or take "minor" bribes
• People are perfectly willing to violate virtually any rule or law if they are reasonably sure that nobody "out there" is noticing.
• People either don't bother to vote in elections or don't hesitate to vote based on considerations such as a couple of hundred bucks, the caste of the candidate, etc.

Once you've taken a look at the link above about the Marshmallow test, you'll appreciate the connection!

Perhaps the solutions to many problems of the country depend on creating a virtuous cycle so as to successfully break the vicious cycle that we're currently caught in!

Regards,

N