Social Conduct – The Gear Wheels Analogy

Image Credit: Adhitya Sibikumar, "Close-up of intricate clockwork gears and roman numerals"

I.      Background – the Flaw

An interesting dimension of one’s attitude and conduct is deliberateness in social settings, the seriousness with which one approaches others. People fare differently along this dimension; depending on their individual natures, people tend to be less formal or more, less deliberate or more, less conscious or more.

There is a breed of humans who endeavour to be very prim and very proper in their general behavior and attitude, who are exceedingly deliberate and conscientious and corollarily expect others too to conduct themselves similarly. (I mean this not in an adverse sense.) They are very mindful of the social etiquette, the accepted rules and the protocols and make painstaking efforts at aligning themselves to them. Their sense of duty and righteousness is highly developed[1] and their words and actions are calibrated accordingly. They will generally be appreciated by those around them, as persons of upright character.

In my life, I have known four persons who would fit the above description[2] – albeit, in varying degrees. It is the ideal that they hold dear, rather than the degree to which they have been able to attain it, that counts. Now, there could usually be nothing wrong with such an attitude – trying to be perfect as regards societal rules and norms. However, despite their good intent and the commendable efforts at applying it to their behavior and attitude, the primness – I discovered rather late – hides a flaw, a sort of persistent blind spot, which can prove to be painful and insidious[3].

The excessive attention to rules and protocols and etiquette leads one to lose spontaneity and naturalness and creates an atmosphere of strain around oneself. Others, who are within such a strained field around such persons, are ill at ease, as it forces them too to abdicate their spontaneity and naturalness. So, while people may respect the uprightness, they would not like to be around such a person and would rather avoid their company. Moreover, while it would still be acceptable for one to be so prissy about one’s own conduct, it is decidedly unpleasant when such exacting primness is imposed on others, when others are expected to exercise such exacting levels of mindfulness. Their respectability is thus marred by distance and withdrawal; despite their admirability, people are forced to approach them with caution and guardedness. Worse still, the flaw remains hidden under the confidence that their adopted righteousness instils in them and thus the blind spot is perpetuated.

II.    The Gear Wheels Analogy

The Gear Wheel

In engineering, we were introduced to the concept of gear wheels –wheels with teeth along their edges that intermesh to transfer motion between themselves. I was immediately impressed by the science as well as the beauty of it: drive one gear wheel (manually, if you wish,) and like magic, all other wheels in the machinery start to frolic like kids in a playground. Besides, the transfer of motion is fully predictive, along with the respective directions and relative speeds of the gear wheels; the system is quite perfect. The phrase ‘like clockwork’, referring to precision, smoothness and synchronicity, actually alludes to this perfection of the gear assembly (that forms the soul of the clock). The harmony despite the complexity is almost poetic – like a grand symphony.

The Nuance

If you look at the design of the gears, it is the complementarity of the meshing gears – their complementary shapes – that is the very basis of their working principle: the tooth of one gear engages with the ‘valley’ of the other gear, in order to transfer the motion.

Now, one would presume, out of sheer intuition, that the shape of the gear’s tooth would correspond exactly with the shape of its valley and that the gears would be aligned and distanced such that, at the time of meshing, the tooth fits into the valley exactly. Thus, the intermeshing of the two gears would be ideal and the efficiency of the movement, optimum – the harmony between the gears would thus be perfect. Incorrect.

An important part of the designing of gear wheels is what is called as backlash. In order for the smooth functioning of gears, some empty space – called backlash – is deliberately left between the tooth and the valley. This is to prevent excessive friction and jamming between the gears[4].

The backlash is the slight clearance between the meshing teeth

Contrary to intuition, if the teeth and the valleys mesh exactly, the gears would be jammed and no movement would be possible. That is why some leeway is left in the form of backlash for smoother movement and for minimizing the friction that would otherwise lead to the burning out of the gears. Hence, unlike what the mind would tell us prima facie, the perfect fitting of the engaging gears is rather an impediment to smooth movement between them and some empty space does need to be provided between them.

This important gear design feature helped me draw an interesting analogy.

The Analogy 

My analogy sees the gear assembly as indicative of the society, we being the gear wheels in it, constantly engaging one another. A one who is too exacting with others is like a gear wheel that meshes too perfectly with other gears: thus, at the face of it, it seems perfect – following the rules and norms to a tee. However, just like the exactness of fit in a gear set-up leads to excessive friction and even jamming of the gear train, an exacting attitude towards others, in terms of propriety, protocol or rules, leads to friction and hostility and even a breakdown of relationship. Just like some empty space in the form of backlash needs to be provided for smooth movement of the gear wheels, some leeway in our behaviour, some flexibility, some personal space needs to be extended to others. Cut others some slack, if you will.

One of the most fundamental features of human nature is its desire for freedom. One’s attitude towards others should not be so exacting that it effectively threatens their sense of freedom and snatches away their spontaneity. One needs to give others some wiggle room, some margin, some allowance.

One of the purposes of backlash in a gear assembly is to provide room for grease, which helps reduce friction. Interestingly, this furthers our analogy beautifully, since according to Swami Vivekananda, “Duty is seldom sweet. It is only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly; it is a continuous friction otherwise.” The space that one should extend to others is thus apt to be filled with love; give others not only empty space, but space filled with kindness and charitability and encouragement and motivation. Such social engagement will be rewarding and fulfilling; those you engage with will blossom in their spontaneity.

III.  A Word of Balance and Caution

It must be noted that I have extolled the virtues of leniency and accommodation, only as a measure for fine-tuning; it is not supposed to serve as advocacy for casualness, waywardness or indiscipline. It has been proposed in the spirit of pursuit of excellence, and not as a general characteristic. Note that the backlash between the gear wheels is only quite minuscule in magnitude and the complementarity between the tooth and the valley is nearly absolute, leaving only room enough for physical movement between the gear wheels. Similarly, one should follow protocols and norms and rules quite closely, just short of being suffocating and accounting adequately for pragmatism and human nature. Excess backlash leads to slippage and non-engagement of the wheels, defeating the very purpose of the gear assembly. The leeway suggested is thus just an adjustment and not a working principle in itself[5]. Extreme on the side of discipline could be discomforting, but extreme on the other side is simply fatal.

I can think of a few other analogies to drive home my point:

1. The strings of the veena must be well-stretched and taut in order to produce musical notes; slack strings fail to generate music[6]. At the same time, tightening it too much will lead to sharp out-of-tune notes and the string may even give in. Hence deliberateness in conduct and attitude is not only desirous but also required; at the same time, too much of sternness will lead to resistance and underperformance and even breakdown of relationship.

   
   

2. The bed (or any other piece of furniture) is made of strong, firm material like solid wood or steel. That is important functionally and forms its very soul. However, it would be painfully uncomfortable to sleep on a bed made entirely of such a material, which is why cushioning in the form of mattress is added to it. Just like the softness of the mattress covers the hardness and firmness of the frame, comfort of leniency and leeway must cover the harshness of discipline. That is not to say that the frame itself be made of foam and sponge – it still has to be made of the firmest, strongest material – just that it is to be supplemented with a more comforting, softer layer for human contact. Similarly, while deliberateness should be the core of one’s attitude and behaviour, one should add a slight layer of leniency and flexibility in social dealings.

   
   

3. In designing objects meant for human handling of any sort, it is generally advised to round the edges and the corners, rather than leaving them sharp and pointed. The sides are still straight and the shapes may be cuboidal, but the edges and corners are rounded nonetheless. This rounding is meant as a pragmatic adjustment in order to accommodate for human nature of routine laxity and carefreeness. In the same manner while one must adhere to well-defined propriety and deliberateness, one should account for human nature and spontaneity in one’s attitude and conduct.

   
   

   Too much primness in the name of protocol or norms or rules is like a sharp-edged glass tabletop that punishes a hand that casually scrapes past it with a deep cut, all on the pretext of uncompromising workmanship; it would be better judgement to soften the edges without compromising on the overall form. Similarly, sharpness of attitude and conduct too should be softened without compromising on the overall principles of deliberateness.

   Be ‘sharp’ in analysis and assessment and yet slightly ‘rounded at the edges’ in attitude and conduct.

Hopefully, these metaphors will help the reader understand and apply the principle in their own life.

________________________

[1]     That is not to say that their judgement invariably has merit; just that they are strongly motivated by a sense of duty and would make efforts to be righteous according to their best judgement.

[2]     I have been one.

[3]     Could it be a matter of chance that all four have been die-hard fans of Rāmāyaṇa (more precisely, the Rāmacaritamānasa)? It is my theory that it is the ardent admirers of Rama, in general, who tend to carry this flaw. This is not to fault the national hero, but rather it is the most fundamental of human vikṛti-s (deep human vices) like ahaṃ, mamatā, īrṣyā, etc., that  create the flaw. As one tries to imitate the Maryādā Puruṣottama, out of genuine admiration of his inimitable character, one’s ego corrupts and colours the endeavour: the uncompromising devotion of Rama to maryādā founded on selflessness when passed through one’s ahaṃ and other vikṛti-s leads to the said flaw. When the boundless kindness of Rama is absent, such fastidiousness to protocol and rules, becomes corrupted and thus, exacting to others. It is therefore my passionate appeal to those like me in whose lives the Rāmāyaṇa has left a profound impression, to exercise caution and understand and apply the Gear Wheels analogy to their lives.

[4]     Apart from backlash, the tooth itself is designed such as to not correspond exactly with that of the valley and thus provide the necessary room for the gear wheels’ rotation.

[5]     Leniency is the salt of which should be added just a pinch; deliberateness on the other hand is the pasta itself, the very soul of the dish being served. One cannot be confused for the other.

[6]     I have taken this analogy directly from my father who would often say in relation to organisational discipline: “वीणा के तार कसे ही होने चाहिए हैं…”.