"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.