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.