Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Statistical Analysis of Interest
What governs interest – interest in doing something and to get involved in a particular task? These are some of the questions that I look for an answer to, but without fail tend to fall back on my own hypothesis.
I believe that if you like doing a thing; you will have a vested interest in finding time to do that thing. The primary requirement for this is that you like the thing. The likes and dislikes of different people are governed by their own senses and perceptions. The like of one man, for example, can be a dislike of another. So it again boils down to a personality attribute, under which we don’t have any control. But it proves a point, that interest and liking go hand in hand – they have a positive linear correlation.
What’s the basic difference between a hobby, a pastime and passion? Hobby is defined as an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation, a Pastime is defined as something that serves to make time pass agreeably, a pleasant means of amusement, recreation, or sport and Passion is something for which you feel a compelling emotion or desire.
Going by the above definitions, an individual’s interest may vary in doing a certain thing, and according to the variation in the individual’s interest, the activity may be classified as a hobby, a pastime or a passion. We may attribute an assumed interest of 30% as a pastime, a significantly more say 60% as a hobby and 90% as a passion. These percentages can be interpreted as number of times the activity in the group is chosen because of liking out of every 100 opportunities given. The numbers do not add up to 100 because more often than not, a person will feel dual-minded about what to choose.
Now comes the big question – what is occupation and what is a goal? Occupation is defined as the person’s usual or principal work or business, esp. as a means of earning a living. No where in the definition of occupation is interest mentioned. This is, I think, the reason why many of the IT professionals (they are the 95% of people I know) are dissatisfied with the work that they do, because being in IT is their vocation/occupation, not their hobby, pastime or passion. Even a pastime involves the person’s interest 30% of the time. Moreover, a goal is defined as the result or achievement toward which effort is directed.
Another factor – time should be considered when analysing interest. It is a known fact that the interest varies inversely with time in a non-linear fashion. So, the bottom line is that the goal will be achieved when maximum efforts are directed towards it, rather than at other things and hence small but multiple passionate efforts towards your goal will definitely yield desired results in the best way.
I believe that if you like doing a thing; you will have a vested interest in finding time to do that thing. The primary requirement for this is that you like the thing. The likes and dislikes of different people are governed by their own senses and perceptions. The like of one man, for example, can be a dislike of another. So it again boils down to a personality attribute, under which we don’t have any control. But it proves a point, that interest and liking go hand in hand – they have a positive linear correlation.
What’s the basic difference between a hobby, a pastime and passion? Hobby is defined as an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation, a Pastime is defined as something that serves to make time pass agreeably, a pleasant means of amusement, recreation, or sport and Passion is something for which you feel a compelling emotion or desire.
Going by the above definitions, an individual’s interest may vary in doing a certain thing, and according to the variation in the individual’s interest, the activity may be classified as a hobby, a pastime or a passion. We may attribute an assumed interest of 30% as a pastime, a significantly more say 60% as a hobby and 90% as a passion. These percentages can be interpreted as number of times the activity in the group is chosen because of liking out of every 100 opportunities given. The numbers do not add up to 100 because more often than not, a person will feel dual-minded about what to choose.
Now comes the big question – what is occupation and what is a goal? Occupation is defined as the person’s usual or principal work or business, esp. as a means of earning a living. No where in the definition of occupation is interest mentioned. This is, I think, the reason why many of the IT professionals (they are the 95% of people I know) are dissatisfied with the work that they do, because being in IT is their vocation/occupation, not their hobby, pastime or passion. Even a pastime involves the person’s interest 30% of the time. Moreover, a goal is defined as the result or achievement toward which effort is directed.
Another factor – time should be considered when analysing interest. It is a known fact that the interest varies inversely with time in a non-linear fashion. So, the bottom line is that the goal will be achieved when maximum efforts are directed towards it, rather than at other things and hence small but multiple passionate efforts towards your goal will definitely yield desired results in the best way.
