Startup Jobs

One thing is for sure. There is no shortage of entry to mid-level opportunities.

http://hkustartupjobfair.weebly.com/

Honestly though, I'd still rather be the one creating jobs. Because more people benefit, and you can be true to your own vision.

A Desire to be Unorganized

It's very strange.

I sometimes prefer stuff to be unorganized. If I can make it messy, it makes me feel like the place is truly mine.

Which is ironically true. Something is only my property if I can do with it as I please.

The corollary, of course, is that there are many things that I can't really mess up. And to be honest, I don't feel entirely comfortable with that.

Frosty Winter in HK 2016

Peak icicles. http://gwulo.com/node/30427

Hilarious. //hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/breaking/20160124/54683567?top=4h

The childlike wonder.

I think I can say why. HK people are bored!

I was there. People I met were genuinely curious and happy, like with a childlike wonder.Whether it is laughing at yourself slip on ice, staring with wonder at icicles. This offers very deep insight into human happiness. It's a little like the Futurama kind, the other worldly kind, or slapstick.

Themes

Curiosity. 

The desire to integrate new things into one's conception of the world.

Happiness. 

Where everything is fulfilled, every part of one's mind/body has found a purpose. Every part of the body, sensory organ, mental construct. 
(Achievable purely through various therapeutic processes, doesn't actually have anything to do with what you have and don't have.)

Beauty. 

Time. The passing of time. For schedule-minded people, it could be "Oh, I gotta go work on Monday, which is tomorrow!" For the nature lovers, it's the fleeting beauty of ice encasing branches and leaves, that would soon melt as the weather grows warmer. 

The interplay between control and loss of control

We can control ourselves, but nature is often out of our control. 
For some, it provokes a kind of fear and rejection. Like "Hey kid! Don't walk on the ice! You'll slip and fall and break bones!", or sealing off an area deemed too dangerous.

For others, it provokes curiosity and desire to integrate. Like what's causing people to walk up hills on a cold wet day.

Thought of the Day ??: Nature is a Bitch.

Nature is a bitch. She can be beautiful sometimes, but still a bitch.

Only environmentalists, people with an agenda would call it gaia, romanticise it.

Anyone who's been in a situation where nature has been extremely uncooperative and threatening knows this feeling. And upon seeing the alternatives, people tend to retreat to the closest civilization.

Crying after a Peak Experience. No. More running psychology

I was going to write about crying after receiving rewards, crying after achievements, crying after the fulfilment of a dream, crying after orgasms, but I figured I'll save those for later.

During the run, there was a time when I began to feel very tired, and began to slow down.

When you slow down in the middle of a big bunch of runners, you see people streaming ahead.

And I felt left behind. Weak. Less worthy. Unworthy. Defeated.

And I began to wish I trained more. But then I thought about all the people who are lean, and have naturally high metabolism. And those Kenyans.

I'm not naturally lean, nor chubby.

It was a painful emotional state to be in.

But then I thought about why I was there.

I am not a running addict. I do it when I feel like it, which has been rather often. I run when I'm happy, I run when I feel the least stress. Running and the ability to gain endurance is just one of those things I as a human being evolved to do very well, apart from thinking and talking.

I was there because I like running in open air, exposed to the elements. It makes me feel fully alive.

But then I looked around, and I still felt slow. I felt small. I felt like the world was making me feel small.

Then I realized it couldn't just be me who felt like this. And it was just my programming, which I could also change it to whatever I wanted, if I wanted to.

So I decided to be whatever I was, world be damned.

And I laughed all the way to the finish line.

And I am still laughing now.

Rand + Psychology = Win!

"Feel deeply to think deeply." 

NOT

"Think deeply to feel deeply"

There, if you take this and run with it, you may never have to see a psychologist.
Ever.

Latest celebrated cheap China phone!

NUU 5
http://cn.nuumobile.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=42

Thought of the Day #????: Integrity and Body Language.

I have difficulty remembering names, so I just treat everybody equally well, all the time.

On the same note, I think there's a lot that people instinctively deduce, rightly or wrongly, from a person's face and body language. Some faces look smarter than others. Other faces look more athletic. Some women look less menacing than others. Some men just look younger than others, even if both have no wrinkles.

I used to be scared of people who had naturally scary, domineering faces. Over many errors though, I began to be more skeptical of my own first impressions and actually probed before projecting.

So, the next step is to stop projecting. And I do. But for now, only if the ice is broken, either by me or someone I trust.

Marathon 2016

Marathon lessons.

Conditions:

Rainy, windy, 17 deg.


1. Get some goretex running shoes if you're going to run in the rain.

I was a bit cheap here. I didn't get those ~HKD1300 goretex running shoes. The result was wet and cold feet.

I think even with goretex the feet would get wet from the water than runs down the leg.

2. Do extensive warmup.

Doing 20-30min of walking and running around the block is necessary.

3. There is no need to stay warm.

The running kept me warm and happy inside.

4. Wear a raincoat if it's raining.

Rain gets soaked and weights down my clothes, adding to my load and dragging me down. I think this is a significant factor.

5. Go sleeveless.

Sleeves get in the way. I try to roll them up every so often.

6. It's easy to be envious of people who run so fast.

Until you realize they have put more time, budget into it, or they are more interested in it.

7. Run at your own pace.

People have a tendency to start way too fast. This is not effective. One almost invariably pays for this later.

On the psychological level, marathons can easily be representational of social competition. While I was running I had a lot of time to think about this. While it appears to exist, the only thing a good and happy individual can do is run at one's comfortable pace. The moment you attempt to compete, one is not being true to oneself. One relinquishes control to exterior "social" forces.

On the upside, envy/jealousy is indicative of something you may want but do not have.

8. (Since SIS) Run at a constant steady pace.

Every change of pace takes energy, which is not used for movement.

9. You are only as strong as your weakest muscle.

For some it's the calf, others it's hamstrings, still other's it's the core and back.

Running is a synchronized movement between many muscles. The moment any one of them becomes tired and weak, the running technique has changed. Athletes are capable of performing well because almost everything works well together.

10. Only the happy memories remain.

When all is good and done, one tends to only remember the good part and not the soreness or the hours spent training.

11. The time does not matter.

The time is a natural consequence of many things - weather, health, psychology, muscles, genes. It is an indicator but I have never worried about it on its own. What it does tell me is what factors may have had an effect.

12. So happy I didn't do a full marathon.

The rain was ok for 2 hours, but 4-6 hours is a bit much. Very happy I was out of the rain before too long.

After Action Extras...

13. Stretching is a necessary evil.

I find stretching totally unproductive and painful, but it's far less painful than the DOMS that I tend to get when I refuse to stretch.

Pay the Price

Pay the price of goods you need,

Pay the price of things you want.

Pay the price now when it is cheaper and easier, 

not in the distant future when it is too late.

If you don't like the price, you don't have to.

Just be sure you can pay the price of that too.

We always pay the price and reap the rewards of our choices.

There is no escape.

But if you think the rewards are worth it,

then go for it.

Applying Cost/Benefit analysis to Goals

We know most goals are not met.

Why? It's very simple.

Put in simplest terms, it doesn't fit our cost-benefit analysis. We are voluntarists at heart. We can force ourselves to a few things sometimes, but "raw willpower", "self-shaming" never works in the long run.

Why doesn't it fit our cost-benefit analysis?

Because we either don't do a through cost-benefit analysis, or we overestimate the benefits, or we underestimate the costs, OR we overestimate our desire to pay for the costs. In fact, most people don't even know ourselves very well. So the goals are nothing more than desires.

So when the time comes to actually act on the goal, the true costs are revealed and we decide not to pay.

It's like that high-end Nexus 6P or iPhone 6S with 128gb memory. Most people want one, until they see the price tag.

The number of people who pay for gym memberships and then decide not to go, are quite staggering. I know a few and I can understand. The gyms advertise their services by showing you the handsome guy with the nice tan and six pack abs, or the slim, toned, active-looking girl, and NOT the agony of exercise.

So a good question to ask, after the desire to set a goal, is what price/pain/struggle is required for the goal? Are you willing to put out for that goal?


Many times, the answer will be no. And that's just how it'll be, unless you change, or the situation changes etc. 

Applying what the principles above to my resolution...

Sleep before 1230 
Costs:
When I'm busy, the time cost appear higher.
When I'm free, the time cost seems lower.
When I'm tired, the benefits appear greater.

Less time for things. Need to get up earlier.

Benefits:
Less sleepy, become more of a morning person.

Conclusion:
Hard to be consistent.

New job, new position
Costs:
Nothing really, just send out CV, do the interviews, decide.

Benefits:
"Happy is a better job"

2-3 races
Cost: 1 hour/day. Less time for whatever appointments. Acceptable.
Benefit: Dopamine rush. More quiet me time.

Breaking through the Matrix 101: Deciding to desire

Warning. This information is neither good or bad. It can be used morally or immorally. I'd prefer if you used it for moral purposes.

Sexual desire.

Attractiveness is a bigger part of society than we are willing to acknowledge. There are many reasons for this, but part of it is sexual repression - the unwillingness or inability to admit one's sex drive and sometimes, urges.

Principles

1. Attractiveness is not the person's doing. A person's body is programmed to become whatever shape it is now, for biological reasons. It is only an inheritance.

2. You are programmed to find certain things attractive. You are a sexual being.

3. By realizing these two things and seeing it everywhere, we can begin the first step of mastering your sex drive. (Note that the sex drive is extremely sophisticated.)

4. Nothing is a coincidence. People try hard to make an impression.

5. Attraction requires two parties. If you see things as what they are, you can decide to think and feel differently.

6. Knowing the above, you have a choice. You can choose to accept and and go along, or you can accept it and say "no thanks".

A mental experiment. 

Look at an image of someone you know personally and find extremely attractive.

Come on...everyone has one and everyone who doesn't is lying or dead. 

1. Self Acceptance.

Accept that you are human and are programmed to be attracted to certain things. For most people, there is at least a physical attractiveness component.

2. Look at that face. Just glance and feel. As you do this, observe.

2.1. What do you see first?
2.2. What does it make you feel?
2.3. What does that feeling mean to you? Is the feeling telling you to do anything?
2.4. Where does that feeling come from?

3. Now try sketching the face or body of that person. Deconstruct that image into body parts.

A bit like what feminists call sexual objectification. 
The ultimate purpose of pretty eyes is to make more pretty eyes.

3.1. Note what parts of the body you were attracted to.
3.2. What caused it to grow in such a way?
3.3. How does it feel like to see this person's face? Is it like a mask through which they breathe through?
3.4. Do you see the skull underneath? The bone structure?
3.5 If you are interacting with the person, you may find that the most important part of that person is the unseen nervous system.

4. Wrapping up.

4.1 Put it together. What is it about the whole combination, package that makes her/him attractive?

At this point, the people you used to see as being highly attractive may now look ordinary. To me, everybody looks like an animal that evolved from other animals, not too long ago.

5. Decision.

5.1 Do you decide to accept the attraction?
5.2 What do you choose to do?

At the end of the day, attractiveness is a fertility and health display. That's all.

At this point, we aren't finished. All we are doing is breaking a form down into the basics. The next step is to see the connection.

Use Cases

I Teach it.
Once one is out of the matrix, there is always a choice, between returning to the matrix - using or forgetting the knowledge of the matrix in order to enjoy it, OR permanently staying out and being dedicated to bring people out of the matrix.

II Use it in interactions.
You learn to see people as equals, no matter how beautiful they are. Ever felt shy because that girl was too pretty? Now you can choose to feel the attraction, and take the bait, OR decide "meh, I got better things to do."

Conclusion

Disney and Hollywood would have you believe that the good guys are the attractive ones and the bad guys are always ugly or deformed in some way.

That's far from the truth and dangerous. Physical and mental attractiveness (observable through speech and body language) has little to do with virtue.

You can choose to feel attraction or not attracted. As a human male, I know how it feels for my mind to be hijacked, when I don't want to be. I also see how females are far less susceptible to this irrationality. Now, I choose.

If more people did this, it can have social far-reaching consequences. (But this will be for next time, because this is out of scope.)

Two ways of looking at the world

I rewatched The Shawshank Redemption yesterday. Damn good movie.

It made me look back at the world we live in. A lot of people want freedom.

Some want political freedom, others want financial freedom, still others want the freedom from burdensome responsibilities.

I see freedom as something that exists in the mind.

There are always limits, or scarcity. Limits on resources, physical limits, limits of the body, endurance.

It's what one does with those limits that makes all the difference.

So now, you can see the world as great big system out to get you. Or you can see none of it at all.

Or you can see it as what is, which is a mix of everything you can possibly think of and not think of, a mix of what you appear to control and what you cannot even appear to control.

That is all.

New Year Resolutions

Let's see last year's new year resolutions...

Always On Time. 
Usually. I'll still be late sometimes, but I'll letchya know.

Always Positive.
Better now, but still plenty of space to improve.

Sleep before 0100.
Still hard. Do try very hard to limit to <0200 .="" p="">

Always have fun.
More of the time. Not all the time.

Eat fast. Study how others eat quickly/efficiently.
Figured out why I like to eat slowly, and figured out how to eat rice/noodles quickly.

Not too bad. I don't care if I reach them or not, just what happens if I make a target.
I only set goals that I can reach.

Me Goals 2016

<1230 b="" definitely="">

New job, different position.

2-3 races in 2016. One in HK, one in Taiwan/Japan/Singapore, one anywhere..

Study abroad, or HK then abroad.

Write a freakin book <30pages .="" b="">

Anything from a manual to a novel will do.

War...war never changes

gizmodo.com/the-real-story-behind-the-1914-christmas-truce-in-world-1749590742

I stand by last year's conclusion.

Dehumanizing the enemy is the simplest and most effective way to get anyone into a warlike trigger-happy frenzy. On the other hand, it takes a lot more effort to empathize, think and decide to do what one thinks to be the right thing.

I don't think this could happen now, not between professional soldiers who also play CoD, GTA and Battlefield in their spare time, ideologically driven fighters and especially not between the operators of drones, UAVs and tanks.


---

V2

This isn't the first time I've reported on this.

My conclusion, this year, is the same. If we rig the game so that

1. two groups are on opposition
2. each group has an officer and soldier class.
3. officers can punish soldiers for disobedience, officers can punish officers beneath them for disobedience.
4. Soldiers are trained to be obedient, subservient

The groups will fight each other than try to stop the game.