Inspiration.
Others.
Sometimes when we lose our way in the dark, we must realize that we are not alone. There are others around who can see better in the dark, or have gone through this dark phase before, and they can lend us a helping hand or ignite a flame within us. We must treasure those around us, and never let their efforts at helping us go to waste.
Never.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Writers' block
Life is like the process of writing a book or essay. Some people might say that this analogy is trite, so why bother talking about it here?
I was thinking about this analogy when I start trying to write college essays. Often when trying to start writing an essay or a book, a writer will come across a phenomenon commonly known as the writers' block. The writer will just get stuck, and in order to avoid writing the first few words, he/she will start to do other things, like talk to people, eat a lot etc. The writer will tend to distract himself/herself. Note that this happens even after the writers have an idea of what the essay should be like. Despite having a plan, it is hard to start and they will distract themselves in many ways.
Similarly in life, one often encounters such writers' block situations. One might or might not have a goal in mind; one will still feel lost at times and start to distract oneself with many things, to stop worrying about life. These things might be very similar to the distractions one do when suffering from the actual writers' block: excessive eating, aimless wandering around the house, uncontrollable chatting on IM.
Professional writers suffer from writers' block too, but they learn to overcome it. When they realize they are experiencing it, they try to start with writing a few words a day, maybe. It varies among writers, but they know how to deal with it. Are they able to cope with procrastination about life as readily?
It is a bit more complex in life, as sometimes people might not even realize they are suffering from such a problem. Is addiction to computer games a form of distraction that they use to overcome 'writers' block'? I do hope I will learn how to cope with this soon; it is a big problem I realize I have been facing.
I was thinking about this analogy when I start trying to write college essays. Often when trying to start writing an essay or a book, a writer will come across a phenomenon commonly known as the writers' block. The writer will just get stuck, and in order to avoid writing the first few words, he/she will start to do other things, like talk to people, eat a lot etc. The writer will tend to distract himself/herself. Note that this happens even after the writers have an idea of what the essay should be like. Despite having a plan, it is hard to start and they will distract themselves in many ways.
Similarly in life, one often encounters such writers' block situations. One might or might not have a goal in mind; one will still feel lost at times and start to distract oneself with many things, to stop worrying about life. These things might be very similar to the distractions one do when suffering from the actual writers' block: excessive eating, aimless wandering around the house, uncontrollable chatting on IM.
Professional writers suffer from writers' block too, but they learn to overcome it. When they realize they are experiencing it, they try to start with writing a few words a day, maybe. It varies among writers, but they know how to deal with it. Are they able to cope with procrastination about life as readily?
It is a bit more complex in life, as sometimes people might not even realize they are suffering from such a problem. Is addiction to computer games a form of distraction that they use to overcome 'writers' block'? I do hope I will learn how to cope with this soon; it is a big problem I realize I have been facing.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Kite
Imagine you are a kite. Life will then be easily visualized.
Some people will release you into the sky, and you will get blown by the wind and lifted higher and higher. Many times the wind might stop; one cannot expect to be lucky all the time. However, the higher you go up, the stronger the wind will be, and the faster and higher you will soar. As time passes, you will eventually fly around easily and gracefully.
The next question then, will be what you will do next. Of course, you will realize suddenly that there is a thread pulling you from below. Looking down, you will see the joyful smiles of your kite-flyer and other observers. There are two things you can do. One, you can bask in your glory and be glad that you have served your purpose: you have entertained your 'masters' and maybe you might even be flying above other kites. You are proud to be who you are.
Two, you can believe that your destiny is more than being bound to the ground. You can believe that you can do more than entertaining the people below on the ground. You can break off the thread stopping you and take flight.
The two choices are both equally valid. The first one is after all the true purpose of the kite. The second one may seem like a bold, fresh idea, but it is also one that is extremely dangerous and might eventually lead to a much shorter lifetime for the kite. But it also means that the kite will have greater freedom, and will be able to float around and explore greater lands before finally being destroyed, instead of decaying in a house when its master gets too busy to fly a kite.
Which kite are you? I believe I am the second.
Some people will release you into the sky, and you will get blown by the wind and lifted higher and higher. Many times the wind might stop; one cannot expect to be lucky all the time. However, the higher you go up, the stronger the wind will be, and the faster and higher you will soar. As time passes, you will eventually fly around easily and gracefully.
The next question then, will be what you will do next. Of course, you will realize suddenly that there is a thread pulling you from below. Looking down, you will see the joyful smiles of your kite-flyer and other observers. There are two things you can do. One, you can bask in your glory and be glad that you have served your purpose: you have entertained your 'masters' and maybe you might even be flying above other kites. You are proud to be who you are.
Two, you can believe that your destiny is more than being bound to the ground. You can believe that you can do more than entertaining the people below on the ground. You can break off the thread stopping you and take flight.
The two choices are both equally valid. The first one is after all the true purpose of the kite. The second one may seem like a bold, fresh idea, but it is also one that is extremely dangerous and might eventually lead to a much shorter lifetime for the kite. But it also means that the kite will have greater freedom, and will be able to float around and explore greater lands before finally being destroyed, instead of decaying in a house when its master gets too busy to fly a kite.
Which kite are you? I believe I am the second.
MSP syndrome
Hmm I have already taken a long break. I guess it is time for me to start picking up speed again. Both mental and physical endurance are similar. During a long distance run, after stopping to rest for a while it is often difficult to start running again. There will be a 'moving starting point' syndrome. That is, one will first identify a lamp-post or a tree that will indicate the point after which one will start running again. But as one approaches that point, the point will seemingly teleport away, and you are again far away from the starting point.
In a marathon or any 'physical' race, one might be able to pace oneself and eliminate the need to experience such a syndrome by not stopping at all. However in a race like life itself, which does not have a clear ending/goal ( or even purpose), can one still do the same? How do we cope with such a syndrome and how do we balance play and work? How do we know when to stop to refuel our planes, and how do we know our planes are ready for takeoff?
In a marathon or any 'physical' race, one might be able to pace oneself and eliminate the need to experience such a syndrome by not stopping at all. However in a race like life itself, which does not have a clear ending/goal ( or even purpose), can one still do the same? How do we cope with such a syndrome and how do we balance play and work? How do we know when to stop to refuel our planes, and how do we know our planes are ready for takeoff?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Halting problem
The halting problem. It describes the ability for a program to exist that can determine if another computer program will halt or not. This is highly similar to the incompleteness theorem of Godel.
The question is: Is human behavior inscrutable? Similar to the two above problems, human behavior contains self-reference; the concept of free will. Does such self-reference lead to paradoxes and unpredictability? 'Randomness' in human behavior then appears to come from not irrational behavior but rational thinking.
The question is: Is human behavior inscrutable? Similar to the two above problems, human behavior contains self-reference; the concept of free will. Does such self-reference lead to paradoxes and unpredictability? 'Randomness' in human behavior then appears to come from not irrational behavior but rational thinking.
Monday, October 13, 2008
x-space
Life is like any other journey. We are able to define life as a journey through a rather abstract space: experience space or X-space. This space embodies all the possible experiences anyone can ever have while living. Of course we have physical space as its dual space.
This space can be analogously visualized as a 3-d environment on earth. There will be some parts of the journey when one will be walking through the countryside, and some parts when one will be walking through the urban cities. At any one time, one will see the immediate surroundings. Memory will keep track of the previous terrains, and there might be many instances when you see similar landscapes.
Sometimes one might be trapped in the forest, where every road seems to be the same; sometimes one might be traveling on rough roads. There will also be times when the scenery will be breathtaking. The real beauty, however, lies in the entirety of the journey: The view that one will have when one finally learns how to float and see how his different choices and paths connect beautifully. With such a view, the microscale roughness disappears, just like how a glass surface seems smooth when its rough microscopically.
How do we see the big picture?
This space can be analogously visualized as a 3-d environment on earth. There will be some parts of the journey when one will be walking through the countryside, and some parts when one will be walking through the urban cities. At any one time, one will see the immediate surroundings. Memory will keep track of the previous terrains, and there might be many instances when you see similar landscapes.
Sometimes one might be trapped in the forest, where every road seems to be the same; sometimes one might be traveling on rough roads. There will also be times when the scenery will be breathtaking. The real beauty, however, lies in the entirety of the journey: The view that one will have when one finally learns how to float and see how his different choices and paths connect beautifully. With such a view, the microscale roughness disappears, just like how a glass surface seems smooth when its rough microscopically.
How do we see the big picture?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sleepwalk
I have been sleeping my past few days away... Why does sleeping always feel so comfortable...
Wake up! Wake up! It's time to start walking again.
Rain rain go away..
come again another day..
It feels great to peg your emotions to the weather. It feels very comfortable, just like the feeling associated with sleeping.
Walk walk! The first few steps always seem difficult, but once you get off the bed and stretch a bit, you will feel wide awake soon...
Wake up! Wake up! It's time to start walking again.
Rain rain go away..
come again another day..
It feels great to peg your emotions to the weather. It feels very comfortable, just like the feeling associated with sleeping.
Walk walk! The first few steps always seem difficult, but once you get off the bed and stretch a bit, you will feel wide awake soon...
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