Many people say that the current era is the most stressful of all time. I am inclined to agree.
Yet that does not mean that our lives are worse than before. This is the richest age in human history in economic terms, and never before have we enjoyed more comforts of life, freedom or access to education and opportunity. Hundreds of millions in the developing world have been lifted out of poverty and hunger, while the developed world is largely at peace, with few gunshots being fired.
But all of us are stressed. Why? Do we work harder than ever before? I doubt it, as workers of old were exploited for longer hours than today, with far less pay. Farmers of the past did backbreaking labor for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, just to eke out a living from the meager soil. Slaves were whipped to death if they worked too slowly.
Looking closer to home, now the 5 day week is becoming increasingly the norm over the 6 day week, while living standards are steadily rising.
So why are we so stressed compared to the past? The answer is, because all of us now have a chance.
In the past if we were born in a poor village, the chances of making it were astronomically low. Born a peasant, stay a peasant. Born a noble, stay a noble. Both the haves and the haves not were stable in their position, hence those born in the lap of luxury could laze in glory, while those born to a harsh life were resigned to it.
Today things are different. A son of a poor family can grow up to shake the world, while the richest dynasties can fall from grace. Opportunity is everywhere, but we have to climb our way up. That generates the stress. So if you ask me would I want to go back to the old "relaxed" life where your destiny was largely set, my answer would be:
HELL NO.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Upwards
Today I was rock climbing for the first time in my life. After practicing on some easy beginner routes, I couldn't resist trying a slightly tougher one.
When I reached the halfway mark, I just couldn't find a nice place to place my left foot. My position felt strained, causing me to wobble a little. And there was no rock on my wall to put a foot on! Feeling frustrated, I started trying to pull myself up with my hands alone, but it seemed that I did not have any of Spiderman's powers.
As I was stuck in this conundrum, my friend shouted from below:
"JUST USE THE OTHER WALL".
I was actually climbing up a corner, so once I turned to my left the solution became apparent; I should just brace myself on a rock on the other side of the corner. So I did, and went up to reach the top.
After some reflection, I think in life I tend to keep bashing my head against the same door, either going through or giving up. But maybe, just maybe, if I turn and look in another direction, there might be another and less painful way of ascending.
But it's so hard to see it when you are trying your best to go up. So sometimes, I suppose one has to trust others - or you miss what is staring you in the eyes.
When I reached the halfway mark, I just couldn't find a nice place to place my left foot. My position felt strained, causing me to wobble a little. And there was no rock on my wall to put a foot on! Feeling frustrated, I started trying to pull myself up with my hands alone, but it seemed that I did not have any of Spiderman's powers.
As I was stuck in this conundrum, my friend shouted from below:
"JUST USE THE OTHER WALL".
I was actually climbing up a corner, so once I turned to my left the solution became apparent; I should just brace myself on a rock on the other side of the corner. So I did, and went up to reach the top.
After some reflection, I think in life I tend to keep bashing my head against the same door, either going through or giving up. But maybe, just maybe, if I turn and look in another direction, there might be another and less painful way of ascending.
But it's so hard to see it when you are trying your best to go up. So sometimes, I suppose one has to trust others - or you miss what is staring you in the eyes.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Why I hate photography
I don't normally dislike photography, on the contrary I have a great appreciation for the scenic pictures which appear in National Geographic, as well as a decent liking for photos of Jessica Alba, preferably in a bikini.
What I dislike are constant photography sessions during normal gatherings with friends. The incessant snapping of photos makes any sort of civilized discourse simply impossible to carry out. This situation has been made worse in normal life due to the presence of a camera in the phones of most people nowadays.
Say we have a gathering of 8 people, 4 of which are girls. I will calculate the total amount of pictures that will be taken:
Each girl will take out her camera phone and start snapping. First, they will take a picture of everyone else, which is 7 other people. Multiply that with 4 phones and 28 pictures will be taken. Add some variance here for "yerr, my pic not nice!' after demanding to see the photo, and perhaps another 10 will have to be taken, bringing it to a total of 38 photos.
After this, or perhaps before, some self-photography will take place. As the feat of holding the camera to take a photo of oneself is not an easy one to master, most girls will need 5 tries or so to get some decent pictures. Some girls have mastered this dark art, however such mastery often comes with an increased desire to take photos of oneself, so it ends up pretty much the same anyway. So 5 multiplied with 4 is 20 photos.
58 shots now.
However taking single pictures is not alone. Photos which involve a combination of people have to be taken in order to immortalize the gathering! (yea right) Therefore say pictures of 2 people together have to be taken, the total number of permutations of 2 among 8 people is 8 times 7, so 56. Now not all of them will take together, so maybe half of this number will be taken - 28.
28 plus 58 shots equal 86 shots, and counting.
Now, we must not forget combinations of 3 and 4 people. From my observation fewer of such shots are taken, perhaps 10 or so. The trouble here is that if one person in the shot feels that she does not look nice the shot has to be retaken, which is a very high probability occurrence. Moreover when several girls are facing the same camera a battle for position starts, which I call the "war of the small head". Basically everyone tries to lean back to make their face look smaller, which is not easy to do as everyone is doing the same. In the end an uneasy equilibrium is reached.
96 shots now, 10 of which took a rather long time.
One would now think that one could enjoy food at peace, but! They even take shots while you are eating. So for some people they have to stop and smile, wasting even more time.
So in one meal, including the final group shot, which is the only one I can tolerate, I estimate over a hundred photographs are taken. This is for a gathering of 8; if the number of attendees of the female gender are more the count can be even more frightful.
Lest anyone say I single out the girls for ire, I dislike another breed even more - the wannabe professional photographer, which is usually a guy. He carries an enormous DSLR and snaps photos of everyone in a vaguely stalkerish manner. The flash is incredibly annoying when one is trying to eat and make polite conversation but does he bother? No! I remember it was once considered rude to snap a photo of someone without asking first, but I suppose that piece of etiquette has died out with the dodos.
I wish he would go to Africa and snap lions feasting. If he flashes them enough the outcome might be very pleasant (for me at least).
Really with the double attack of the camera and the smartphone, the art of conversation is tottering out on its last legs. I rue the day when nobody remembers that people used to TALK at dinner, and the skill of chatting goes the same way as the skill of striking two pieces of flint together to make fire.
What I dislike are constant photography sessions during normal gatherings with friends. The incessant snapping of photos makes any sort of civilized discourse simply impossible to carry out. This situation has been made worse in normal life due to the presence of a camera in the phones of most people nowadays.
Say we have a gathering of 8 people, 4 of which are girls. I will calculate the total amount of pictures that will be taken:
Each girl will take out her camera phone and start snapping. First, they will take a picture of everyone else, which is 7 other people. Multiply that with 4 phones and 28 pictures will be taken. Add some variance here for "yerr, my pic not nice!' after demanding to see the photo, and perhaps another 10 will have to be taken, bringing it to a total of 38 photos.
After this, or perhaps before, some self-photography will take place. As the feat of holding the camera to take a photo of oneself is not an easy one to master, most girls will need 5 tries or so to get some decent pictures. Some girls have mastered this dark art, however such mastery often comes with an increased desire to take photos of oneself, so it ends up pretty much the same anyway. So 5 multiplied with 4 is 20 photos.
58 shots now.
However taking single pictures is not alone. Photos which involve a combination of people have to be taken in order to immortalize the gathering! (yea right) Therefore say pictures of 2 people together have to be taken, the total number of permutations of 2 among 8 people is 8 times 7, so 56. Now not all of them will take together, so maybe half of this number will be taken - 28.
28 plus 58 shots equal 86 shots, and counting.
Now, we must not forget combinations of 3 and 4 people. From my observation fewer of such shots are taken, perhaps 10 or so. The trouble here is that if one person in the shot feels that she does not look nice the shot has to be retaken, which is a very high probability occurrence. Moreover when several girls are facing the same camera a battle for position starts, which I call the "war of the small head". Basically everyone tries to lean back to make their face look smaller, which is not easy to do as everyone is doing the same. In the end an uneasy equilibrium is reached.
96 shots now, 10 of which took a rather long time.
One would now think that one could enjoy food at peace, but! They even take shots while you are eating. So for some people they have to stop and smile, wasting even more time.
So in one meal, including the final group shot, which is the only one I can tolerate, I estimate over a hundred photographs are taken. This is for a gathering of 8; if the number of attendees of the female gender are more the count can be even more frightful.
Lest anyone say I single out the girls for ire, I dislike another breed even more - the wannabe professional photographer, which is usually a guy. He carries an enormous DSLR and snaps photos of everyone in a vaguely stalkerish manner. The flash is incredibly annoying when one is trying to eat and make polite conversation but does he bother? No! I remember it was once considered rude to snap a photo of someone without asking first, but I suppose that piece of etiquette has died out with the dodos.
I wish he would go to Africa and snap lions feasting. If he flashes them enough the outcome might be very pleasant (for me at least).
Really with the double attack of the camera and the smartphone, the art of conversation is tottering out on its last legs. I rue the day when nobody remembers that people used to TALK at dinner, and the skill of chatting goes the same way as the skill of striking two pieces of flint together to make fire.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Friend Zone (and stock markets)
Most guys know about the dreaded "friendzone". It's a slowly sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you have just poured out your heart and soul to the girl of your dreams then she stares back at you with eyes wide not due to happiness but due to incredulity: "I thought of you like a friend... never felt that way for you" or worse "you are like a brother to me". The feeling is worse than when you got your exam paper back with a zero on it, worse than when you reached the airport and suddenly realized you forgot your passport, worse than when you are standing under the hoop and Shaquille O. Neal is bearing down on you.
Of course, to be rational it is no big deal, since you lose nothing, although the feeling is terrible. What you should remember is that being in the friendzone is somewhat like owning a stock which has dropped drastically and you know it will never go back up again.
Many traders go bankrupt because they hold on to a stock on its way down. "Oh but I paid RM10 per share for it, it has to go back up!" they think. Unfortunately life doesn't work that way - sunken costs should not be a consideration to base decisions on. The same applies to the friendzone; just because you have spent thousands of dollars buying a girl presents doesn't mean you shouldn't let go when it is clear that there is no chance.
As in trading, you should cut your losses and buy a new stock.
One concept in trading that is useful in terms of avoiding the friendzone is the "stoploss". Traders set a limit of say, 10 percent of the stock's original value, and if it falls by that much it has to be sold, no matter what they feel about it. So if you chase a girl you need to set a deadline, say after one year you haven't got her yet, it's time to pull out!
Of course, to be rational it is no big deal, since you lose nothing, although the feeling is terrible. What you should remember is that being in the friendzone is somewhat like owning a stock which has dropped drastically and you know it will never go back up again.
Many traders go bankrupt because they hold on to a stock on its way down. "Oh but I paid RM10 per share for it, it has to go back up!" they think. Unfortunately life doesn't work that way - sunken costs should not be a consideration to base decisions on. The same applies to the friendzone; just because you have spent thousands of dollars buying a girl presents doesn't mean you shouldn't let go when it is clear that there is no chance.
As in trading, you should cut your losses and buy a new stock.
One concept in trading that is useful in terms of avoiding the friendzone is the "stoploss". Traders set a limit of say, 10 percent of the stock's original value, and if it falls by that much it has to be sold, no matter what they feel about it. So if you chase a girl you need to set a deadline, say after one year you haven't got her yet, it's time to pull out!
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