INFORMATION ATTITUDE

'We live in the digital age, the age of information'. Such a cliché; not a day goes by when we don't
read this sentence in a blog post, a newspaper article, or a simple Tweet.
But really, attitudes toward information sharing differ from a place to another. While all of us may
want access to information, or in it's more raw form, data, we are not always prepared to be the ones
to share it. Institutions in some countries are willing to reach out to a global audience and
communicate the knowledge they have gathered over their lifespan: the most famous perhaps
being the edX initiative launched by the joint effort of MIT and Harvard University. The Khan
Academy is another such online initiative wherein you can, as their website says, 'learn anything for
free'.This is 'real' information sharing: sharing lectures, having discussions and even getting your
queries clarified all in real-time is a mind boggling concept. And to me, nothing short of a science
fiction projection-turned-reality.But in countries like mine, the situation is totally complementary.
Simple things like discussing a university assignment is apt to get you raised eyebrows and a
pretend-I-didn't-hear-you look. Ask for a little help in completing the lecture since you missed part
of it for some reason (usually outdoor-sy) and people change attitudes like they never knew you.
But come the exams and things are totally different: open your textbook and a whole swarm of
people come to check up on what you are reading, what if it's something they missed? Just a hint
that you've got some extra points jotted down for memory's sake and they come like bees on a
flower with puppy-dog faces, 'can I please please please see what you have written too? You KNOW
my preparation is nil!'Just be seen talking to a teacher and hey, watch out! All eyes and ears are on
you!It all makes me think: if you are so loathed to talking about studies in everyday life and just so
busy pretending you were sleeping in class/don't open you books at all/haven't understood a single
topic and what-not, why such poking during the exams then?
It is perhaps the fact that we have a third-world status that we are so possessive about the things we
know. Always the fear that what we have is not really 'ours' and we don't really 'own' it, and that
someday someone can easily take it all away from us. And make it their own.What I want to say is
that we seriously need to change this kind of negative attitude toward 'sharing'.MIT and Harvard are
just two examples from the large swath of international universities and institutions involved in
creating a 'web of knowledge' . They have been none-the-worse for creating such a network of
shared resources and in fact have prospered even more so. There will be no harm if you help out
someone with work. Everything in life is really not about getting 'returns' or 'benefits'. Sometimes
you have to keep the base instincts aside and just be free to work with anyone in anyway you can.
You never know how much your little time may have meant to the other person. Everything is not
necessarily about securing good grades. There is something we all know about but have to be kept
being reminded of: the simple good.