Quote of the Day that I don't understand:

"I think computer science, by and large, is still stuck in the Modern age. "

Larry Wall

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/computer_science_2.html

Why do people hate cheap things?

I find a lot of people hating cheap things. Maybe the economy is doing too well and those who are employees forget what it's like to be laid off.

So much so, that when I eat out as part of a group, I fear for my social life when I suggest we go for, Sushi Express instead of Genki Sushi, the humble McDonald's instead of Burger King, or the friendly neighborhood noodle place instead of Big and Shiny Tsui Wah.

So. Why?

People have this massive misconception about the relationship between quality and price. Most people believe that quality is proportional price. Fair enough, what's wrong here?

Well, firstly - what people call quality is not really quality. They mean grade. Grade would be the difference between a Nexus 5X and 6P - the Nexus 5X is not of lower quality, it just has a lower performance grade.

But back to the dining example. Herein lies a problem. If they provide the same stuff, why should I go for the more expensive one?

I dislike working harder than I need to to pay for a premium for things I don't need, especially with my own money.

I believe that being efficient means that the optimum grade is not necessarily the highest grade, it just has to be adequate.

But not everybody thinks the same... It doesn't answer the question at the social level. Why does this "hate of cheap things" exist?

It's very simple. People do things for a reason (which is usually a kind of incentive). So what's the incentive here? Well, for one, this trait allows one to feel superior. Or try this - it filters out people who aren't willing to spend as much, or don't work as hard, or don't make as much (and are therefore tighter on their disposable income), or have less disposable income. So a classical case here is if you are a young female looking for a mate (or mates). Biologically, you're looking for guys with lots of resources that you can tap into for nesting. So having "high standards" helps you filter out the cheapskates, exponentially speeding up your selection process and potentially allowing you to turn more resources into more descendants. Multiply this by tens of thousands of generations and you end up with a lot of people who hate cheap things.

Suddenly, it all made sense to me, why that fear for my social life arose out of my subconscious.

They say in evolutionary psychology that you can basically boil down everything to reproduction. And I think at the end of the day, that is the natural meaning of life, and incidentally, why people hate cheap things.

End

A View on the American Dream

People with similar viewpoints are often far closer than one (I) thinks.

So a while back, I was having lunch with some colleagues. And then we talked about outlooks on life. Big topics, like "Do you think intelligence matters?" and "What do you think about work?"

A: "I don't think we should work so hard. It's important to enjoy your work."

E: "What about the American Dream? What about all those trendy cliches like "Work Hard, Play Hard"?"

A: "It doesn't exist. And I don't think they are healthy. I mean, I think it's good for the companies, investors and corporations, but it makes people work harder than they need to, to buy things they don't need."

E: "Wow, my thoughts exactly."

Now, this person A is no slacker, but still surprising to hear that.

Totally made my day. 

You have to be a bit crazy to be free.

I find that stresses and pressures are fundamentally my own. Sure there is competition everywhere, but at the end of the day, I can choose how I feel in the long run.

Beliefs are powerful, precisely because they are not grounded in reality, as we perceive it. And the less one is able to perceive about the full reality for what one wants to do, the more one needs dogmatic beliefs.

Take, for example, a humble spam filter. Now, suppose it always predicts non-spam. Since most emails coming into most accounts will not be spam, our naive spam filter will actually be 90+% accurate. Beliefs, rational or irrational, play a role in maintaining a person's psychological integrity and consistency.

Or maybe it's just that whatever seems irrational is actually the optimum and necessary for existence. Viewed in this way, I can appreciate why humans have built all sorts of cultures to hold societies together.

When horse nudges you, is it trying to show dominance?

That's one thing I've wondered about for as long as I have ridden.

I don't know. Deep down, I feel it sometimes has to do with dominance, but I like to see it as a kind of connection, a connection that attempts to equalize the power dynamics between horse and rider. After all, the horse is, for the most part, submitting to the will of the rider. What can the horse really do to bend the rider to its will?

Allowing the horse to initiate bodily contact for a while is but a small token. I'm happy to be your grooming partner/scratching post for the minute.

Of course, I have had a few horses nudge too hard, but I always push back, and being aware of body language, I pet it accordingly. This ensures that the interaction is mutual and reciprocal, and you're not just a push-over.

Speaking of pushing, I actually invented an exercise designed to make people more confident with horses. It's just a shame it isn't adopted by any formal trainer.

Stand beside the horse. With control of the horse's head, slowly and firmly push the horse sideways across the yard. Horse, like humans, do wonder what you are doing. Depending on your strength of will, the horse can be trained to be totally obedient.

Speaking from a decade of basic experience, I guess interacting with animals is all about a sense - a primitive, basic feeling. After all, they cannot talk to us and tell us in words how they feel. I can only know what I feel about the situation, without clarification. And yet, I have a silent expectation that they would do so. Maybe I'm treating them too much like humans. Maybe I see things this way because I am somewhat egalitarian at heart. I treat people like people indiscriminately. I want others to treat me the best they can, too.

So, I'll ignore this part of animal nature and transcend this dominance, pecking-order hierarchy when I'm riding, as I do in every other area of life.

A Guide to maintaining a healthy weight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXTiiz99p9o

OK, so we all have a bit of a tummy now. Here's some helpful info with that.

The way to lose weight is just to 

SLEEP ENOUGH/SLIGHTLY MORE and EAT HEALTHIER AND LESS.

Exercise is only a supplement.

Exercise is only a small percentage of our energy expenditure. If I spend 10 hours sitting and 1 hour running, the running is just 10%.

Eating a slice of pizza will totally erase a full hour of hard running.

If you do more exercise, you may compensate elsewhere by slowing down.

Quote of the Day - "What You Want are Feelings"

What do you want in your life?

Whatever it is, it is the feelings you are after, the product/service/action is merely the process by which you obtain it.

Quote of the Day: We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals

We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals.

—Quarry worker's creed 

Quote of the Day: Education is easier than reeducation.

Education is easier than reeducation.

As I progress from job to job, project to project, task to task, I have realized that

it is far easier to accumulate bad habits than it is to remove them.
it is easier to learn something the right way than to relearn it.
it is far easier to do it the right way the first time than to keep changing it.
relearning may never be as perfect as learning it right the first time.

But as life goes, there is rarely perfection on the first round. We make errors. And so we labor on, figuring it out as we go along.

You were born an original. Don't die a copy. ~John Mason

Right now, I feel a lot like a copy. I attempt to focus on the things that only I am, but find that it's an illusion.

It feels like, everything I love to do, there's another someone doing the same, and yet another doing it better.

Of course, I can learn from them, but then I become dissatisfied whenever I hit a block. If all goes naturally, I will simply internalize all this,

On one hand, I can just sheepishly follow my routines.
On the other, I desperately need my own unique space.

Quote of the Day

The world is not outside you. ~Ramana Maharshi

Fascinating Idea of the Night #1: Removing infrequent letters

The least frequently occurring letter in English are z, q, x, j. etaoinshrdlcumwfgypbvkjxqz

What if we removed the least frequent letters? 
Would that make English a slightly easier language to use?

Top 10 things to do in Japan

1. Hike.

The hills in Japan are much cleaner than SouthEast Asia. There are no ants to make things complicated. Trees are often big and dry. Clean, smooth granite monoliths are the norm. Even the moss on the rocks by the rivers look serene and beautiful.

Oh, and the hikers are the most polite in the world. I have trouble getting even a "Hi!" out of most HK hikers.

2. Dip in the ocean.

Yes, it's cold as heck. But it'll make you warm for the rest of the day.

3. Take thousands of photos.

The place is very pretty.

4. Enjoy the food

Sashimi seems to cost a little less than in HK.
Sushi is available for every price level, from the humble 100yen sushi to 2000yen for a few slices of tuna or 5000yen for top class Kobe beef.

5. Check out the toilets

I. Love. Bidets.
I could really do with one at home if I could justify the budget.

6. Pay to enter the Castles

I still find the castles cool. Now, since I haven't been to Europe, the Japanese castles are about the coolest castles I've seen so far, besides the Chinese walled cities.

7. Pay expensive admission to temples

The thing is, I have no idea what they're about. All I've ever been able to do is marvel at the sheer number of people who pay and worship those things. I wonder what's going through their minds.

8. Enjoy The Politeness

The Japanese are mysteriously polite and professional. There is no other place in the world I see this, not even at Walmart in the States (the Walmart greeters don't come close). I often wonder if they harbor some secret resentment towards other people, or bloody foreigners who can't figure out how to use their bus lines or Japanese-style toilets. The sense of de-individualization is most interesting.

9. Meet The Poor

The Japanese poor seem to just suck it up and suffer in silence. Why aren't they demanding more welfare or begging like in most other places? In all the places in I see very few beggars, at least far fewer than homeless people quietly desperate in their efforts to stay warm and out of the wind.

10. Watch The Salarymen at the metro

They all look the same to me. They are like a swarm of black and white at rush hour. Of course, we can see this in HK too, but the uniformity there is just incredible to me.


There's more, but I'll stop here.

"One thing I wish I knew in my 20s"

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2016/10/one-thing-wish-knew-20s/

Classical James Altucher:
Well-written, 

not totally true, 

but a good reminder to take it easy when I push too hard.

Success is the easiest thing in the world

I think I have always been a determinist/unknownist at heart. By that, I mean that everything can be determined by computation, provided that you have the sufficient computational power and intelligence. Unknownist, because the future is unknown unless you compute it, or the universe "computes" it.

The social illusions known as "success", happiness are easy, for those with the means and timing. After that, it's all about making sure that you play all your cards (this is what all the pushing for equal opportunities is about)

Success is mostly about the optimum, getting the optimum cost-benefit ratio. The most comfy income source for the lowest price, which takes you the least time. That's what makes one happy. If you play your cards right, you get the optimum result.

Reality is totally annoying. I think whatever we call reality knows that too, because plenty of people are annoyed with parts of itself. Maybe reality being annoyed at itself is reality.

"Success" is by definition easy, if you consider the costs and benefits in its entireity. "Failure" is by definition less difficult.

Then, in this way, we all succeed in our own way. We are all successful by default and always. What you are successful at, people and society and institutions may not approve of, but you are always successful.

Socially-approved success is by definition difficult and sub-optimal for most people - if everyone was successful, it wouldn't be called success. We wouldn't have a word for it. Some people like to critique others.  I think things are how they should be. The success of American/Western societies is essentially based on the idea that if everyone operates at their optimum, there is least wastage of useful resources AND resources on the less successful, also known as the optimal. Of course, this means that not everyone's going to be rich, the wealth gap is always going to grow and some people will always be least well off. But it's the best of both individualism and collectivism - individuals free to do as they please and society getting the optimal result - as long as it doesn't get subverted by artificial ideologies like socialism, or the individuals don't try to tweak the collective (eg. government, lobbying) and the collective doesn't try to force the individual to adopt its values. In other words, back to a Garden of Eden situation where you don't try to gain forbidden knowledge regarding how to tweak the system and God leaves you alone to live naturally.

Success is...just a word, a representation of subjective meaning. Success is just things are. And that, is the definition of easy.

Above is also a demonstration of how you can take a word causing psychological stress and render it harmless. I should call this meaning-destruction therapy and license myself, like all the other so-called great psychologists/psychiatrists Freud, Jung and Skinner.

Why do I value menial tasks?

I find that after accomplishing something difficult, I like to schedule more mindless tasks. Why?

The world is full of mindless tasks.  Pointless choices, What to buy,  How to spend money,  Bureaucracy  Exams. 

The common thread is this: 

All these actions are good for the collective, at the expense of the individual. All these actions are altruistic. Of course, you may have something to gain too. But overall, it's kind of a loss for you.
I think it's because deep inside, I derive a kind of security from doing this. The fact that I have time for this indicates that I am in a secure place. 

I know it's dumb, and I want to change it, so I'm still figuring out this habit.

Narrative

Who are you?

Because the narrative you tell yourself determines how you will live your life.

"I am very proud of my great performance tonight. I am not a debater, but I am a winner. If I am elected I will make this country a total winner --- I will Make America Great Again," Trump said.

What personal narrative do you think Donald Trump is?

My narrative is simple. 

With respect to other people, I see myself as an underdog. The underdog narrative grows out of a need for intimacy and a long history of fulfilling this need through being an underdog.

With respect to things, I see myself as a seeker of truth, an explorer on the trails of logic and reason into the unseen realms of possibility.

Why can't Singapore be a democracy?

Why can't Singapore be a democracy? I was just thinking about the degree to which people have in-group preferences and realised these two are related.

People will vote for their own ethnic groups. Local Chinese will vote for local Chinese candidates and policies that are good for them. Malaysians will go for Malaysians. It is also possible that the political system could be subverted by the neighbours, such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

It is likely that the society will disintegrate into ethnic factions.

But is this absolutely and certainly true? No, but that's what the political class thinks.

I "heart" bugs

I love bugs.

I really do.

Bug or feature, I enjoy giving life to things.

I have too much love.

Happy Birthday to Me!

1.
It's been a while. I'm a bit bored with my routine in HK and want to move elsewhere.

2.
I have found a few things to live for. I haven't found anything worth dying for.

3.
I'd thought that by this age, I'd be fully financially free. Or at least, that was what I thought when I read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" back in high school. Why not? Because I thought it wasn't for me. I get scared. I can only take little steps on the long journey.

4.
I made some dumb decisions and now I'm paying for them. Like getting into degree programs abroad and not going to them, and now having to devote time to making it work again. But I can't blame myself for it because that was how I felt genuinely at the time.

5.
I consider myself a prostitute of sorts. I think the main difference between prostitution and its negation is to what degree you are doing it for the money. I try not to work for money, but when work feels repetitive and the only reason why I finish it is because I feel it is responsible to do so, I feel like I'm getting screwed.

"No matter what a man’s job may be – bookkeeper, doctor, bus driver, or managing director – every moment of his life will be spent as a cog in a huge and pitiless system – a system designed to exploit him to the utmost, to his dying day. It may be interesting to add up figures and make them tally – but surely not year in, year out? How exciting it must be to drive a bus through a busy town! But always the same route, at the same time, in the same town, day after day, year after year? What a magnificent feeling of power to know that countless workers obey one’s command!" - Esther Vilar, "The Manipulated Man".

In what areas of my life have I chosen to sacrifice my authentic and soulful needs for money, physical possessions, popularity, security, comfort or respect?

I took a job.

• Am I currently staying in a personal or working relationship that is clearly toxic to my well-being?

No, I just know I can be more.

• What parts of my identity have I prostituted to others? (Examples: time, intellect, affection, heart, soul, creativity, friendship.)

time, intellect, creativity, heart, soul, what ever that is.

• Have I sold or sacrificed my morals for anything?

not really, though my products do have the potential to be used to invade other's privacy. I don't control that.

• How many times do I lie or tell untruths in order to personally gain something?

none, yet.

• Have I ever caused a person to compromise themselves so that I have power over them?

I won't put myself in such a situation.

• What extent am I willing to go in order to achieve “security” or “safety”?

Any.

6. 

Fat... is one big thing I'm not so happy about. And it has to do with this: http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/exercise/why-do-men-keep-getting-fatter-20150714 

Losing weight is a massive pain in the ass. I exercise more and eat less and I get this hunger feeling to tell me to eat more. The brain sees the new fatter state as the new normal and defends it. And it's not like I didn't know about it since an early age. I just can't believe it's happening to me.

It's something I'm looking for answers about. I know it's mostly two things: physical inactivity during most time on the weekdays and genes. I hope gene therapy isn't the only thing I can do about it.

7.
I have acquired a lot of self knowledge. I know that I go for certainty for the most part. I know what I like, what kind of people I work well with, who to love, who to avoid. I know I have troubling tendencies to sweat the simple stuff, but is a bit like procrastination, just a little more useful, but prevents me from doing better.

8.
I think I know, with respect to the job market, my price. I know what marketable skills I have. However, I have yet to realize my deepest value - the things that take many years to develop but are extremely useful to the world.


That's it. I got stuff to do. Happy Birthday to me!

Learning Languages: Comprehensible input

Comprehensible input means that students should be able to understand the essence of what is being said or presented to them. 


I'm trying to learn French off my colleagues and it's just not that easy. Native speakers talk fast.

Inno-Tech Expo in Wan Chai

The Inno-Tech expo in Wan Chai is just one more aptly timed propaganda campaign.

How can you tell? It's sponsored by Our-HK-Foundation.

So what is it saying?

In the hall, HK is right in the center, but that's it. The HK booths are small, consisting of each of the main universities in HK. All around it are the cutting edge tech from China.

It's obvious what that means. HK is not exceptional, you're just part of our grand plan, along with our drones, YJ-8 transport planes, submarines, security bureau helicopters, autonomous watercraft, VR education, quantum satellites, supercomputers... "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated!"

Your move, HK.

Dream List: Nature Edition

Dream list.

1. Achieve technical dive qualifications and dive to the bottom of the Blue Hole.

2. Do a 6000m+

3. Hike in Nepal. Annapurna circuit, Everest Base Camp.

4. Backpack Europe on a reasonable budget (above coach-surfing)

5. Road trip the Americas.

6. Cruise around the world all at once.

7. Bike one round around Taiwan.

8. Do the Via Ferrata around Mount Kinabalu.

... Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount Hua, Mount Pinatubo. (Anything but Victoria Peak makes me extremely happy)

9. Go to Space.

10. Do the above alone

11. Find a big group of friends to do that with me.

12. Bonus: Find a virtuous female to do the above with me.

Word of the Day: hubbub

A loud, confused noise, as of many voices.

I really dislike the hubbub of crowded dimsum restaurants on sunday afternoons. 

Thought of the Night: Competing Ideas

Our lives are arguments in a sea of competing ideas. 

Our choices are the words with which we write our thesis.

If you choose to work hard and achieve, you are making the argument that life is best spent working and that the goal of life is to achieve.

If you slack off and do the minimum required, and spend your time fulfilling your deepest desires, you make the case for spending whatever time it takes to fullfill one's desires.

Me writing this post is an argument that there is a human need for life to be record, acknowledged.

What do you stand for?

Waltzes

Once, I listened to some waltzes while working on some code.

And then I realised what the best waltzes were making a statement for.

The best waltzes are making statements about how a wonderful life has regularity in it. The fact that it is played by orchestra is a statement about how everyone has their role to play in the big picture, that it's about how well you play the role.

It is a very classical, mechanistic view of society working like clockwork.

In a world full of chaos and unintended consequences, waltzes are an invitation to suspended disbelief, to believe in a deterministic universe as people once did.

Want vs Demand

Do you want it or do you demand it?

Demand is to both want and willing to pay the cost for it.
I find that we generally want more than we are willing to pay for.

Most people want to be millionaires, if not billionaires, but far fewer demand it.

Ideas are commodities. Execution is not.

Ideas are commodities. Execution is not. 

Always bet on the jockey and not on the horse.

Always be the jockey and not the horse.

Ideas are useless unless executed properly.

Zizek!

Disclaimer: I generally dislike leftists, but here I can sympathize.

There is a problem with this perspective. Why do you want to be interesting instead of happy? Isn't the end goal still to be happy?

Does that make you feel happier, than if you just aimed to be happy?

I have felt the exact same thing. I have felt somewhat insecure about being happy because of this feeling that all happiness is fleeting, and so being interesting was the safer, more long-term choice to lasting happiness. 

I now recognize that happiness will always be fleeting and that it's not a reason not to be happy. And I do still see that being interesting gives a kind of satisfaction and meaning that leads to greater happiness.

Objectivism and Machiavellianism

Objectivism is for idealists. Machiavellianism is for realists.

And both are sides to the same shape that is social reality.

Buggy Blogger

Blogger has a rather obvious bug. Clicking update often double-posts, or creates a draft post and updates the current one.

Perhaps Google/Alphabet don't bother putting much resources into this, and we should move to something else soon, like wordpress.

Questions for thought

So I got this email a while back from SIS, asking the following three questions.

·         What would you like to say to SIS(HK) for its 25^th birthday?

First of all, I had no idea SIS is just about my age. Congratulations for living that long. And me for growing up to see you. 

Anyway, thank you for what you helped shape me, for better or worse. 

·         How has SIS(HK) nurtured you or brought you to where you are today?

Back then, I was choosing between three schools. I didn't know the difference really, but the local schools were really scary. The rooms were grey and boring, the kids looked kind of mean. And they didn't have a pool!

But who knew, SIS would be just as scary. Back then, we had this Head of Discipline who'd dish out punishments. Like when I was late one morning, and everyone on time were in the gymnasium. And so someone told me to go line up behind the stairs. I felt lonely and the worst part was when students came out and stared at us. It wasn't so much shame, but feelings of abandonment.

This sort of programming haunted me for the next decade or so, when I realised I should go to therapy for. Perhaps it was earlier relevant experiences. And even after long discussions about this, I find that effects still linger. Today, I still choose to work for companies that are flexible in their working and lunch hours.

Having gone through that, I would not have it any other way. I believe it inspired me to ever greater depths of self-knowledge. If anyone ever writes a biography about me, the early impact of Eugene's time at SIS cannot be overstated.

·         What are your aspirations for SIS(HK) in the near future?

I aspire to move out of HK in my twenties.

I aspire to save most of my money and retire early.

I aspire to do a nightwalk or dayhike everyday. I hear the bosses of my company bike up to the peak every morning at 5. I don't feel comfortable biking on the road, so I hike.

I aspire to own a car and maybe drive myself around someday.

I aspire to never get out of therapy. I used to think of therapy as being for sick people. No, not at all. I get counselling and therapy to advance my self-understanding.

To be continued...

What do you think?

Answer Below!

Quote of the Day

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month. 
- Fyodor Dostoevsky

I make at least a dozen of errors (that I catch on my own) a day. 
Software engineering is a humble profession.

Slavoy Zizek, Psychoanalysis

Things which also contain the counter-thing.

Wars for Peace
"For your own good"
Chocolate laxatives. Chocolate leads to constipation, laxative leads to bowel movements.
Decaffeinated Coffee.

-

It used to be that we feel guilt if we enjoy too much.
Today, we feel guilty if we cannot enjoy things. 

Much of modern therapy has been focused on this, to the point where I feel the need to ask "Why??". So this really turns it around its head.

"Psychoanalysis allows you not to enjoy, to open a space where you have the freedom to enjoy or not."

And I believe this is indeed a paradigm shift, for psychoanalysis at least.

Thought of the Day: Social Science

It is common for social sciences, economics academia to be the reality generator of the political elite.

Example

Keynesian economics.

Why?

Keynesian economics provides the intellectual justification for economists, statisticians, technocrats, bureaucrats, and policy wonks in their exalted positions as “fine tuners” of economies the world over. 

Keynesian economics is a dominant view because it is of high political value. 

And political value often has nothing to do with truth and long-term well-being of the economy.

Favorite Movie of the Week

Samsara (2011)

Synopsis:

Samsara explores the wonders of our world from the mundane to the miraculous, looking into the unfathomable reaches of humanity's spirituality and the human experience. Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation."

Thoughts:

I felt a great sense of peace, satisfaction and freedom.

Thought of the Night reading Dostoevsky 2

Dostoevsky's thesis is that the world is not a happy place full of goodness. Instead, it is filled with incompetence, stupidity and evil, and the best we can do is struggle to make it less bad.

What a way to look at the world. As with any way of looking at the world, there are causes and effects.

If one has gone through a lot of shit in life, like Dostoevsky did, one is likely to at least contemplate the feelings and philosophies that say the world is shit.
If one were to feel that most canteen food is rubbish, one is going to associate canteen food with rubbish, which is negative.

What can replace religion? Culture.

I didn't realize Nietzsche already had an answer for this thing.

Culture.

Atheism can never replace religion, because atheism is only a reaction to religion and does not offer the community and common experiences that all religions can do.

Culture can do this.

But what about those who seek answers to unanswerable questions? Religion can always offer that.

The only price is to suspend disbelief.

And what about morality?

The more moral a society becomes, the more common sense is able to settle this issue.

Thought of the Night reading Dostoevsky

Software/IT is what literature was to Russia in the 20th Century.

People of Hong Kong

We should make a people of hong kong site!

Singapore

http://thepeopleofsingapore.tumblr.com/


New York

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

.blog available in November!

https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2016/08/18/its-time-apply-for-early-access-to-your-own-blog-domain-name/

ugine.blog here I come!

Thought of the night: I am a geyser of fresh ideas 1am in the morning.

I am a geyser of fresh ideas 1am in the morning.

We all influence each other...subconsciously

Swearing

I work closely with at least one compulsive, foul-mouthed but professional, high-disciplined engineer. After three months, I found myself swearing under my breath in French, German and Russian.

I've had a swearing habit for more than once in my life. It's always a lot of fun, because I learnt very early on, that swearing is great, as long as it is never out of anger.

I've seen many people who don't see this and think venting actually helps one feel happy. It doesn't. It's just a release of energy, which wires you to be angry easier next time, and makes it harder to be truly content.

And as fast as I learn to swear, I stop just as fast. It depends on who you hang out with.


Head Scratching

For a few weeks last month, I had a dandruff scratchy head problem. I'd find myself scratching my head every single time I needed to think deeply.

And then, I found that the guys on the next desk, who I've bonded deeply with, started to scratch their heads en masse, so much that their keyboards were littered with lint.


Staring into space -> into people

Staring into space is generally ok, as long as you're not staring right at someone else. Staring at someone's head and tracing the outline of their ears is considered weird at least and disturbing at most.

But I love to do that. I remember the many exams I've had to take and everytime I had to think, I'd stare at other people, usually people I believed to be smarter than me. This of course was considered possible cheating, so I always had to dart from one back of the head to the next.

And these few days, I saw my colleagues staring at me while they were thinking for tasks directly related to me. It's been very disturbing and I always make a point of staring right back at them.

Conclusion.

I have always suspected that people influence each other in subtle ways. And it's everywhere and it's totally true.

On a deeper level, these habits are generally not socially accepted, at least not at the highest level.
What do I mean by the highest level? Mating rituals and community acceptance. To our primal psychology, there is nothing more important than mating and passing down the genes. And swearing (un-cultured), head scratching (low confidence?), staring into space -> into people (creepiness) none of these behaviors are universal signs which tell potential mates that you're a good mate.

What I did manage to do is give them permission and decrease the social costs of these behaviors, after which they discover the benefits of these behaviors.

Perhaps it is in granting each other the freedom of social risks to be whoever we want to be, that bonds are built.

Favorite Movie of the Week

The BFG

On the implementation layer, It's a beautiful movie complete with live actors acting and advanced CGI.

At its core, the BFG is about the author, Roald Dahl, himself and how he brings fantastic tales to the budding minds of lonely children.

4/5

It's not a surprising movie, but a classic nevertheless.

Inverse relationship between Connectedness and Hierarchy

Things which are less connected tend to be much more hierarchical.

In the adult world of work,  it is because instead of being transferred, the only way is up or down and not sideways. Army is hierarchical cuz the skills, training are restricted.

On the other hand, the ownership of companies is far less subject to artificial hierarchy. There is no artificial hierarchy to raise up. You don't go from trainee company owner to senior company owner.

To get rid of hierarchy in your life,  connect.  Always connect.

8 ways to tell if a movie is going to suck

I don't usually post clickbait, but this one really hits nail on head almost every single time.

http://www.elistmania.com/8_ways_to_tell_if_a_movie_is_going_to_suck/

I'd add that any movie rated 3 or below by the critics is almost certainly going to suck.

The Core objective of Mental First Aid (My perspective only!)

The objective is movement.

Get the concerned person moving in a non-negative direction, no matter how slowly, as soon as possible.

If someone is unhappy about something, even asking about it will almost always help.
If someone is depressed, getting them moving physically, even just a walk, is enough to change mood significantly.
If someone overweight is eating unhealthily, telling them to change even just one small thing, like telling them to eat one leaf of vegetable, or ordering less carbs will let them know it is at least possible.
If someone has a bad dream, asking them about it alone will help.

This is the bottom line of helping anyone psychologically. And of course, there is a lot more which can be done, many better techniques that lead to faster results.

The Core Problem of Environmentalism

The core issue is this - people don't see the connection between their actions and consequences. I do not see the water pollution caused by using antibiotics, toothpaste, caustic detergents and draino. If it directly affected me, I'd change.

Until they do, they will act as if there are no consequences, which is detrimental if the consequences are negative.

How do you make it so that the consequences are not invisible?
Don't subsidize them, for instance. Garbage disposal and treatment should not be free. Charge trash disposal by weight and recyclability, for example.

Quote of the Night

Experience is an understanding of the unintended consequences of all efforts, intentional or unintentional.

So this is why people voting for Trump

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/the-original-underclass/492731/

The poor whites feel left behind.
They feel that they're doing worse than previous generations and other minorities.
And think Trump can help.

A Troubling Hypothesis

Help me out here. There's something I can't get my head around.

When computers are able to invent, apply and adapt new concepts all on their own, there will be no need for the average person (given the current elitist state of affairs).

In a free anarchic society, I can somewhat see how people will adapt to it. But I can't quite see it happening in this world.

Am I somehow wrong? I hope I am. Will computers raise the standard of living and work together with humans in the long run, as many believe?

I hope we're right.

Blogger looks much better than I thought

Holy crap, that blogger homepage looks so material and wonderful!

blogger.com

Thought of the Night. #47

Free will exists to the extent in which things can be explained. If one day, AIs become indistinguishable from human intelligence and neuroscience/psychology can tell us everything about how the brain works, the whole concept of free will will have been explained into oblivion.

And yet, people must believe in it. Or at least a society that does not fully embrace or cannot accept evolution and reason.

People must believe it because how well a person believes that he will do determines his motivation. 

Further study: Why is this so? Is there a way to get around this? Getting over false beliefs.

People act as if they have free will, even those who do not believe so.

I believe in free will, but I know it does not exist.

-

It’s a little like what Feynman said about the god of the gaps. 

My answer to the god of the gaps is simple. God is a concept, a thought. If there were no sentient beings alive, it would not matter if he existed or not existed or whatever. In a way, our existence, the existence of our minds gives god the very possibility of existence and meaning.

I believe in god, but I know that god does not exist. 

God is the conglomerate of everything and everything else combined for all time, personified. God is everything that you see with and that you see, and not see. 

See my approach to bible/religious texts study.

Startup Fads: Whiteboard

Sometimes, these startup things really look like a fad to me.

Like that whiteboard product that won some pitch competition years ago Heck I still remember them. 

Who the f*** needs that sh*t?

Just shrink wrap and tape will do, at much lower cost and environmental friendliness.

Quote of the Day

"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
~Groucho Marx

New Concept: "Brain cooling"

Brain Cooling. Brain cooling is whatever you need to do to keep your brain cool, calm, stable, logically.

The main difference between the coder and so-called architects, is that coders work with their hands mostly and architects are supposed to be using their brains, logically.

Cooling can be achieved by physical, creative exercises.

My favorite is talking to people about random stuff. How your weekend went, where did you go for lunch, what are you thinking now, what are you looking at?

What to look for when hiring someone

Be aware. The following information is worth a lot, if you use it in the right situation.

Let me get something straight. I generally dislike HR. I think it's mostly boring, administrative work.

But there is something I do like to do.

Interviews are a lot of fun. Especially interviewing others. 

My methodology, which is not officially sanctioned, but which has been very useful, is 2 things. Incidentally, these criteria may not be what I'm good at.

1. IQ Test

For better or worse, IQ matters, especially if you want to be doing something groundbreaking, or that which the person has little experience in. Small differences can be ignored, but I'd think twice before dismissing a highly intelligent person.

2. Basic job skills test - Ask them 10 questions only someone who has worked on the project will know. 

Some people will literally give you an exam, like a coding exam. I think this is not necessary and not particularly indicative of performance. 

3. Psychological assessment. Understand where they came from, what their childhood was like, insecurities, any lifelong issues they may have, what are they aware of in themselves.

Not your typical HR question - "What are your strengths and weaknesses?"

I enjoy this part because it is one of the few places where I can offer real value to interviewees. Most people have never been counselled, in therapy or coached, especially those who need it. And chances are, no other interview will seek to understand their candidates in such a deep manner. 

Everyone has insecurities and things that make them uneasy. Insecurities are at the heart of office politics. One persons insecurities may trigger other people's insecurities, triggering a chain reaction that brings people down. If that person knows about them, they can control them. And the less issues they have, the less drama will occur.

4. Drive. Cite past examples. What do they want? Why are they motivated? What motivates them? Is this really in line with their priorities? What is the happiest time they've ever had? 

From my experience, there are many people who are extremely good at faking it. Especially the younger ones, who actually don't know what they want in life, but cannot tell you what they really think because they're told to always know what they want and are looked on as aimless when they don't.

So I convince them, in an argumentative manner, that it's totally not in their interests to try and fool me.(Because it really isn't. They'll be wasting their time and my time.) If they are being honest, their body language should become more relaxed and they are able to bring more reasons to support their thesis.

Hiring people who don't know what they want is a rather dangerous affair, forcing us to consider the other criteria more heavily - which isn't good because for most positions, being driven and naturally in line with requirements is what keeps productive and around in the long run.

5. Demo and discussion of current work. 

Self-explanatory. Basically let them know what the current day consists of, if they were to be in their position now.

6. What value will you bring to the business? Monetary terms welcome.

The more original the answer, the better. Originality means that they have thought deep about the problem and are likely passionate about it. Common answers don't count for much here, because they are, well, common, and I would probably have thought of them too, which means they aren't bringing anything new.

This should also be an easy answer if they want it.

At the same time, the thing about originality is that it reduces competition, the core issue leading to much stress and invariably triggering hidden insecurities. If everyone has their own specialisation and is somewhat dependent on other specialists to do their thing, mutual respect and symbiotic harmony naturally grows. 

But if you have a homogenous team of coders doing the same things without regard for personal preference, all using the same tools and in the same pay range, competition is always in the air. To achieve harmony would require each individual to find their specific strength and focus on it.

If you ask me, that's what managers are paid to do.

Stupid things I do.

1. Go for a walk...because I got videos to watch and I think the female runners are cute and is a good mating criteria. I like saying hi to them just to say what they think. And I must admit that the western style pick-up does not work very well here.

2. Try making silly mistakes...it's really hard and I end up making fewer.

3. Blogging. Rather unproductive to be honest. But I feel that it's important to leave a trail of words behind, everyday, and so I do.

4. Take long baths. There's nothing like the feeling of cold and warm water enveloping one's body.

5. Glorification of any one object, person or thing.

If you think about the brain, there is not a single brain cell that does all the work, make beautiful pictures and achieve great things. It is a collection of cells.

So the truth is that both individual and collective work together to achieve desired results. It is an individual-collective duality. It is just as it is. The individual and collective are hence exposed as artificial, imaginary constructs.

Incredible how many people will fight for such concepts. A truly enlightened world would perhaps be meditating all the time and spend the time enjoying what we are programmed to enjoy, while thinking about the meaninglessness of such constructs.

This is the Dao. Feeling one as a collection of forms, while also feeling one as a whole.

In the context, it is absolutely possible to have one's cake and eat it too.

6. Fantasize.

I have a wonderful dream life. It helps me cope everytime reality falls short of my expectations. It answers my "what if" questions in as much detail as I can desire. It pleases me beyond most things in reality. It gives me what I want and the feelings that comes with desires, before I have them in reality. I have a rich inner life that guarantees that I can take my outer life without being stressed.

The drawback of this is that I may simply be less driven in things I don't feel are as high priority to me, but which I still wish to enjoy.

7. Comparing to others.

We are innately programmed to do this. It kept our ancestors alive. And it's generally a good heuristic.

But no one really told me how exactly you stop comparing yourself to others. I've found a couple of reasons why I do it and it does reduce the rate significantly, but as far as I can see, there is no way to totally prevent it.

8. Sleep late.

nuff said.

...

Quote of the Night #1

"All bad precedents begin as justifiable measures."

    - Julius Caesar (13 July 100 BC - 15 March 44 BC)

Bedtime Reading: CEO at 40?

How difficult is it to be a CEO?
https://www.quora.com/How-difficult-is-it-to-be-a-CEO/answer/Geoff-Cooper-1

Use your time well.
Pursuing a legacy is a fool's errand.

They say that life begins at 40. What is your greatest fear when you will reach that age?
https://www.quora.com/They-say-that-life-begins-at-40-What-is-your-greatest-fear-when-you-will-reach-that-age/answer/Alexandra-Damsker

You are beginning your life at 40, because, if you do it right, you are finally living as the person you are - fully developed. ... You are independent financially, emotionally and mentally - and no longer subject to the grueling whims of others, defining your personality and desires as those around you wish.

Can't wait!

Cautionary Tale for all Software Engineers/Developers 1: Over-Specialization

I have met more than a few middle aged developers/architects who have had to undergo massive changes in their careers.

I've worked with people who wrote Perl/Script/PHP all their lives. But somewhere along the way, he needed to get ahead, due to the need to start a family. So what did he do? After 20+ years of development, he became a business analyst. It wasn't easy. It took at least a few dozen interviews to get an offer better than what he had.

I've also worked with hardware/firmware people who wrote hardware assembly all career long. They would stick to 2-3 platforms and intend to stay there all life long.

Unfortunately, the market is not so lax. His company went under and he had to use his rusty knowledge of C to get good fast at STM boards and find a job. So he ended up getting a big pay cut down to more junior positions. 

On the other hand, there are eco-systems that change more slowly over time. Enterprise backend Java  and Oracle products for any kind of transactions are complex enough to provide significant legal and technical barriers to entry and change, as well as clearly-marked career paths. Changes here tend to be rather gradual.

A mentor once cautioned me on this, "Always be learning the next big thing. You never know when the wave will sweep you off to your next position. It is better to move than be moved."

Hiking Dreams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKORFFsT6Jc

VR

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/07/02/2123223/google-searches-for-vr-porn-increase-10000

As VR and other simulation tech becomes more powerful, the need for sexual parters to fulfill purely sexual needs may become vastly reduced.

What will be left is the ability to reproduce naturally, social status and ability to make one feel loved. The prior may become overtaken by designer babies and the latter will probably be far more appreciated, in that people will be willing to do far more to love and feel loved.

The social acceptance aspect remains to be seen.

Cue

When I hear the word "culture", I cringe and put my make-believe hat on.

This was making the rounds within conspiracy circles lately.

Even the BBC is asking what the heck is going on here?
http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-36428799

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4NU0Tok1T4

What the f*** is that?

I think it is a shame on parts of humanity, to be the latest technology and the most primitive cultures together in the same place.

In Praise of DDT

So tonight, I am getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

I went for a morning walk. There were mosquitos.
I go on the train. I get bitten.
I go to the office. I sit for an hour. I get bitten.
I go for another walk. Nothing yet.
I go home. I get bitten.

5 bites today.

And so, I checked DDT. It turns out that it is an extremely effective insecticide and it's not that toxic to humans, actually. As long as they sprayed it well away from human presence, I'm happy with it.

On the Current Nature of Technology

http://www.price.com.hk/news.php?id=5944

Today, I have been reminded that there is no "catching up" with technology.

There are $5 Android devices and excellent $999 devices running Android 6. That's awesome.

The reality is that technology has and will move at speed far exceeding our ability to totally catch up with it. Trying to catch up with all the latest tech is like chasing trains while on foot.

We can only do what we truly need, want and enjoy, and make our peace with it. That's it.

On a related note, I also feel that all happiness is like this.

Thought of the Day #52: Bible and Psychology

And I heard some very wise words last night about the nature of hell:

Hell is filled with people who want what they cannot have and feel suffering as a result.

One of the things that really draws me to the Bible, is just how relatable it is to just about anything related to society and human nature.

Because in Jungian psychology, it is said that...

The foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of legitimate suffering. 

Notice how similar they are. And I tend to agree. Because it has been true from my observations. 

Of course, it doesn't tell you why people avoid reality, but this is how it is.

On the Slowness Pattern

Anyone who has known me for a long time knows that I seem to have a relatively slow natural pace.

The reason for this is simple. I try very hard to be with people who are better than me. Whether it's math, programming, software architecture, I like being with the best people in the field.

But that's far from being the whole story. As I recently realized, there is insecurity involved.

1. Feeling slow is a part of it. Telling myself I am slow or worse at something is self-sabotage. A part of me is scared of being good.

2. I very much dislike competition and people comparing themselves to each other.

Many people are like that. Evolutionary psychologists say that we are hardwired to do this.
But that's not all of it. Most people only feel negative when they are losing or feel inferior. They like it when they feel superior.

I'd just not play. In fact, I look past the players and shun the game any way I can. Because I see the players and game for what it is - the game is an emergent phenomenon, just like out of quantum physics come the regularities of chemistry, and from chemistry comes organic chemistry, and biology and so on.

Emergent phenomenon has many examples. Groupthink. "The Free Market". Collectivism. Mobs. But the common thing is that its members are altered in ways they do not choose.

I love freedom first and foremost. Nothing else really matters.

And here I face a dilemma. Because speed is associated with efficiency, which in turn means being slow can mean being less free.

So since speed is ultimately the way to go, I have learned to adapt to this.

But adapting is kind of like compromise, in that no party is truly happy about it. And so I had to find a new way to do things.

And find one I did. I would start off slow, totally accepting that I would be a bit slow. And then slowly move up to being good in it, and then finally become fast.

This seems to work well, but it remains an issue.

And I know the ultimate answer to this, but it's not one I feel like accepting. And ironically, it is just this one word - accepting. Accepting reality for what it is and moving on.

The Male Sex Drive: What is the fundamental nature of the male sex drive?

Sex is fun to write about.

Male sexuality is generally characterised as moving towards a goal.
Female sexuality is generally characterised as attracting something.

Mainstream culture would have us believe that male sexuality and rules of physical attraction consists mostly of the female form and its various dishonest enhancements.

My question is, suppose we strip these away. What's left? What are men really attracted by?

The next layer is actually already well-known. Males are attracted to loyalty. And the reason for this is simple. If our man mate with female, and the female then mates with other males, our man will never be sure if he has passed down his genes or not.

All work and no biological immortality makes Jack a dull boy.

It is for this same reason that most men have a preconceived notion of an ideal female, and just as strong a tendency to idealize a female.

But suppose we peel this layer off too. Suppose our man is stranded on a desert island with no female in sight. What does the male sex drive do here? What triggers the male sex drive here?

The gathering of resources, gaining competence and social dominance.

Since the dawn of man, gathering resources has been what man is all about. Our brains associate a surplus of resources with sex. Food, breeding and families are tightly interconnected.

So that's clear. What's next?

Suppose our man is now old and stranded on an island he will never get off. What then?
Well, he'd have either no sex drive or it would be meaningless. Incidentally, while meaninglessness may make it seem totally weird, otherworldly and even perverse, he is also free to direct it at anything.

Or consider a monk who has learned to fully control every aspect of his urges and is able to channel his energy to whatever he pleases? Well, in this case, it is clear that the sex drive is just pure energy that can be used towards whatever he wishes.

And so, we come to the purest form of male sexuality -

The desire to accomplish whatever things he directs his attention to.

But still, what if there was nothing to accomplish? What then?

Then the males generally become non-masculine and care only for whatever they fancy. Of course, men are naturally good at finding interests too, for we are built to seek, regardless of whether it's the truth or resources.

Next up: Female sexuality.

Truth about Human Mating

I'm not saying I am great at the game, but I do have a thing for truths.

During the mate selection phase, people always try to settle for the best they can get. 

If it isn't the best, they may leave. If they think they can do better, they may leave too.

Sounds obvious, doesn't it?

But this is a fact that can be rather difficult to deal with.

Why is office comfort important to productivity?

Comfort reduces the amount of willpower needed to do things. If you have to go to the pantry to get water, make tea or coffee that reduces energy you have to tackle work.

Truly good work is difficult and takes effort. This requires willpower.

The less willpower squandered, the more willpower available for challenges.

Truths about Software Engineering

Most code will not exist after a decade.

All code is temporary.

When all is said and done, the only valuable thing left for the developers involved is the knowledge,  experience and joyful memories of having worked through the process.

And of course, the eternal truths,  non existent entities like math, algorithms and data remain.

It is not unlike monks that meditate and draw beautiful art in the sand, only to wipe it all out.

So always do what satisfies you and is most enjoyable,  because that's all that matters. The product releases, deadlines... are just momentary waves in the ocean.

Tell that to the project managers.

I sure will ask 'what do you think about deadlines? What do you really feel about deadlines?'.

What is the meaning of life?

You know what the meaning of life feels like? Satisfaction.  That's all anyone who questions the meaning of life is looking for.

Or rather,  the right kind of satisfaction.

Like if at this very moment, I want the bus to come,  I would be satisfied if the bus came.

Or like when I am playing golf in an indoor driving range. I am looking for that perfectly arching trajectory,  hearing that perfectly crisp sound of the ball being hit and the feeling of effortless flight on my grip as the club sails into the ball and away into the green.

Every animal lives,  eats, has sex,  sleeps and hopes to die for and with satisfaction.

Fulfillment of the criterion of life is precisely the definition of the meaning of life. The irony is that in satisfaction of the requirements of life,  one becomes happy with life itself, which also includes death.
So satisfaction makes one happy with death too.

That is all.

The intelligence of a Bee

This morning, I saw one of those incredible sights of nature: the sight of a bee flying around.

I watched as the bee flew through the window. And then through my cabinet handle, through my curtains, 

And then it went back out.

Which made me think: Is the bee systematically searching? Does it know where it is relative to, say, the exit?

Or was it just luck?

The John Galt Oath

I will never have anyone live for my sake,  nor live for the sake of another.

Corollaries:

When you seek to control others, you lose power over yourself.

When you live for others, you lose power over yourself.

If there has ever been a sentence of wisdom that encapsulates the meaning of individualism, this is it.

What will a world where everyone had free time look like?

Suppose all adults always had enough wealth to only work a day a year.

What would humans do?

I think people will still "work", but only on the things they really liked to do.

What would I do?

1. Travel and live as a digital nomad. Go camping everywhere in a camper truck.

2. Innovate.

3. Write novels.

4. Research "Immortality"

5. Fuck.

Sex will become really interesting, if taken out of its original function and context. Mate selection, even for recreational sex, would essentially become  meaningless and unnecessary. It would be seen as a game, as it actually is.

6.  Make comedy and laugh

If the ultimate goal of life is to be happy, laughing is the easiest way to be happy.

7. Help the less privileged get what they want.

8. Create games and alternative realities.

Ongoing list...

Abortion is Absolutely Horrendous.

Abortion is a difficult problem with morality.

The Emotive Argument

But what I can say, is that it is distasteful and I don't think anyone who does it even after witnessing an abortion is one I want to be associated with.

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/while-you-were-crying-over-a-dead-ape-125-thousand-babies-were-just-murdered/

Moral Argument

The thing is, as horrendous as late-term abortions are, we will always have trouble making a definitive case for its immorality. It depends on what we call morality.
If we define immorality is defined as violence against a conscious being capable of grasping and obeying a moral code, then no, it is not immoral.
But if we define it as anything capable of consciousness, feeling pain and its death, abortion is immoral.

How morality is defined is affected by languages, concepts, utilitarianism and based on consequences, and the simple fact that only living human beings make the rules and determine what is moral and immoral. Since abortions don't directly affect society negatively, it will likely stand in a technocratic society. As will human embryo testing. And cloning. And all the other things possible.

Complexity

Eventually, the only complexity left would be computational complexity.

Would it make you feel any safer if the mass murderer said sorry?

All government is based on violence and coercion.

Peter Principle

Peter Principle

People rise to the level of their incompetence.

Revised Principle

People rise to what other people will pay them to do, rightly or wrongly.
Competence is only part of it.
People do as much as they can get away with.
People are usually operating at the edge of their competence and constantly trying to push it further.

How to win at life

Adopt the Bender attitude.

When everyone cares about something, it makes good sense to care.

The moment people start to break ranks and squabble,  dont give a f*ck. Consider options and do what you want.

Of course,  do try to do what is good for yourself and others.

How did "What if Tinder show your IQ" get so many views?

I don't get it. Why?

Any ideas?

A world of total emotional openess

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201409/is-emotional-openness-the-key-healthy-relationships

If you define synchronization it to be the key to good relationships,  then yes,  obviously.

This would lead to greater overall efficiency.

It would also spell the end of machiavellian schemes. That would be good for us not using these, of course.

On the issue of taxes

You have only two choices.

Serve, or be served.

The Story of Null

No Unrelated to that rather dull novel/film called the Life of Pi.

The concept of nothing first came out of some brilliant philosopher.

Nothing is better decomposed to No Thing where Thing can be anything.

In many languages, the ultimate nothing is Null.  Dev/null,  null...

Null has nothing,  can do nothing.

In some systems of logic,  programming,  trying to do things with true null gives exception is not allowed, because any attribute of null is undefined and yields undefined results.

Likewise, a null pointer exception shows that it is not only an object that can be null.  References to an object can be null too. This mistake has led to many crashes.

Of course,  you can always be explicit about nothing, if you want nothing to mean the absence of that thing,  and you know what the absence of that thing means. This is called a null object pattern.

In others, the fact that something can be undefined is acknowledged and accepted, and a default behavior prescribed.

The ideal language would handle these problems gracefully and intelligently,  aware of the context in which they are used,  instead of just crashing

Nature as software developer

Nature is a very bad bad developer. The DNA  code is totally unmaintable,  the system is full of side effects and programming of features is somewhat based on random changes.

How to Code most efficiently

This analysis only pertains to the code part.

What does it mean to Code efficiently?
Least context, mind frame switches
Least file,  scrolling switches.

Maximize both to find best method.

I believe the best way is to program by feature.

If you think about it,  the way we,  designers,  developers and users alike,  conceive of a program through its flows.

Flows are big,  but they can be broken down into units called features.

Ideally,  we would love to see features programmed directly. But that leads to redundant code which is also messy.

So what we want to do is trace through code paths of a feature. That is also the optimum way to read code and become productive.

So no matter how messy code,  specs are,  one can always straighten things out like this.

Of course,  code can have side effects. This increases the complexity the coder needs to understand, often overloading their poor minds. In this case,  minor refactoring,  documenting may be required and best for understanding.

There is a pitfall of the evil side effects story.  Event driven programming can seem like it is all about side effects. Nothing can be further from truth.  Every event fulfills a code path required by feature, while allowing each kind of event to be handled by totally independent modules.

Feature is forever the most important.  It is the why of developing applications in the first place.

Footnote.
I wish some CS professor could chain this up into a flowing story through development like I did here.

A Pattern in The Progression of Computer Science

Why are things cyclical? A is the fittest.
Paradigm A is moving along. It is the best solution to a problem.
A hits an issue.
Paradigm B addresses issue.
B leads for a long time.
Tech makes A possible again.
People come to A again.

Thought of the Day #51: Follow up

Some inspiring nature to look at from your desk job.

Thought of the Day #51: Why are pictures of nature are so inspiring?

Because most of us very rarely go outside.

Most of us do not live in that Garden of Eden.

Thought of the Day #50: Venezuela

Socialism... Socialism always fails.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000004371789/shortages-in-venezuela-spark-looting.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FVenezuela

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2016/05/15/world/americas/public-health-emergency-in-venezuela/s/16venezuela-web1.html

Another Story

When I was still in Elementary School (aka Primary), we would have these breaks in between lessons, when the first teacher had left and the next one has yet to come. Now, some teachers are very late.

I found myself on the dirty blue floor, by the grey metal teacher's desk and the grey classroom cabinets. A friend, named Alex I think, was sitting next to me, and we were drawing tanks and submarines with pencils and crayons. We completed our masterpieces as best we could, before discussing

"Hey, we should send this to the People's Liberation Army."

"No, Singaporean Army lah, of course!"

LOL all you want, but we were dead serious back then.

We have learnt much since those days of innocent naive-ity. But one thing that I have had to relearn, was how one should always make bold moves in the face of uncertainty and it's part of life to be stupid and ignorant.

Creation of the Day: Android says...

Censored Edition

A bunch of hikes I'd do

Came across this wonderful site: http://www.hkadventurer.com

Moon Gully

Flat Bread Rock

Ape Valley

What If Tinder Showed Your IQ?

http://nautil.us/issue/28/2050/what-if-tinder-showed-your-iq

Genetic Engineering is going to make society more efficient overall. Higher IQ people would start with the work suitable for them, the lower IQ people would start with the work suitable for them. When higher IQ people are stuck in jobs where IQ does not make a difference, they are wasting their time and society has to make do without them. When low IQ people do jobs that they are not good at, they are wasting everyone's time.

The only matter is who benefits most from this efficiency and to what ends the excess wealth is used. Right now, most of the excess wealth is lost through all sorts of government inefficiency and intervention. Everyone loses but the less money one has the more one is affected. In general, the larger the state, the more the suffering. Of course, low IQ person is statistically expected to make less. But they would still be better off, and if you think of compound economic growth as exponential, it's much better than words can make it sound.

In a world with autocratic government (think Hunger Games), IQ and other resources merely become pawns in a win-lose game where people scramble over each other just to survive. This is stark contrast to a free market, where the games tends to be win-win.(Smart businesses will just see demand for intelligence enhancing tech and innovate.) There is much fear about how genetic engineering being one of these pawns, and this fear sounds well-justified, historically and empirically . Except that the fear is not actually directed towards genetic engineering, but government power, violence and the zero-sum games they create.

It is not genetic engineering or any tech that can sabotage society, it is government intervention and its acceptance by society. 

Since we have a mixed economy at the moment, I'd say the results are probably going to be midway between terrifying and spectacular.

And of course, overall IQ may rise.