Having a blog is a socially acceptable way to be narcissistic. Unless you're offering things to people, what makes us think that others are so interested in us and our thoughts? With blogs, you don't tend to write for the sake of others, you write for yourself. This is curious, because if I'm writing for myself, why do I bother publishing and sharing this with others? I could just keep this as a private journal.
What I find is that this is basically a private journal. Only one person comments about what I write with any regularlity. I have no idea how many people read this, nor have I made any attempts to find out how many do.
11.27.2004
I invented a new word - "fluffle"
It's a mix between fluff and ruffle. I was commenting on an outfit worn by a model in a fashion show which had long floppy sleeves. I said that if the wanted to do anything with her hands (e.g. pull out a wallet from her pocket), she'd have to fluffle up her sleeves first. This word needs to appear in print a certain number of times (and maybe fulfill some other criteria), and then it can become part of the dictionary.
It's a mix between fluff and ruffle. I was commenting on an outfit worn by a model in a fashion show which had long floppy sleeves. I said that if the wanted to do anything with her hands (e.g. pull out a wallet from her pocket), she'd have to fluffle up her sleeves first. This word needs to appear in print a certain number of times (and maybe fulfill some other criteria), and then it can become part of the dictionary.
11.23.2004
Dave Striver loved the university - its ivy-covered clocktowers, its ancient and sturdy brick, and its sun-splashed verdant greens and eager youth. The university, contrary to popular opinion, is far from free of the stark unforgiving trials of the business world: academia has its own tests, and some are as merciless as any in the marketplace. A prime example is the dissertation defense: to earn the Ph.D., to become a doctor, one must pass an oral examination on one's dissertation. This was a test Professor Edward Hart enjoyed giving.
This is the opening paragraph of a story which was written by a computer program, Brutus.1, which was developed by Selmer Bringsjord, a computer scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and David A. Ferrucci, a researcher at I.B.M.
It sounds like it could have been written by a person. Would you have known it was written without any free will, emotion or life experience? Computers have a rigorous system of logic, while humans make use of serendipitous inspiration and their disorganized natures in their writing. However, if we can't distinguish the products of a computer and a person, is there a difference in their value? I think so - why are hand-made products typically valued more than ones that are mass-manufactured by machines? Even though the quality may be inferior, the intention and effort matters somewhat. Nevertheless, books written by computers may start appearing in bookstores. And after that? Computers and machines that do our work for us?
This is turning into the world just before the world of "The Matrix"... With our dependence on them, machines are supplanting our power and autonomy. I am already a slave to my phone - when it rings I drop what I'm doing, regardless of the importance, to answer it. Even when it doesn't ring, I have to be attentive and devoted to it: I have to remember to switch it off before a class and turn it back on after. Which is the master and which is the slave?
This is the opening paragraph of a story which was written by a computer program, Brutus.1, which was developed by Selmer Bringsjord, a computer scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and David A. Ferrucci, a researcher at I.B.M.
It sounds like it could have been written by a person. Would you have known it was written without any free will, emotion or life experience? Computers have a rigorous system of logic, while humans make use of serendipitous inspiration and their disorganized natures in their writing. However, if we can't distinguish the products of a computer and a person, is there a difference in their value? I think so - why are hand-made products typically valued more than ones that are mass-manufactured by machines? Even though the quality may be inferior, the intention and effort matters somewhat. Nevertheless, books written by computers may start appearing in bookstores. And after that? Computers and machines that do our work for us?
This is turning into the world just before the world of "The Matrix"... With our dependence on them, machines are supplanting our power and autonomy. I am already a slave to my phone - when it rings I drop what I'm doing, regardless of the importance, to answer it. Even when it doesn't ring, I have to be attentive and devoted to it: I have to remember to switch it off before a class and turn it back on after. Which is the master and which is the slave?
11.22.2004
11.18.2004
Today as a PhD student was relating his experience, he said that serendipitous opportunities come to us. I can see how there have been a number in his life -
1) When moving to a new desk during an internship a book fell on him from a shelf - it was from looking at this book that he decided to go to graduate school in organizational psychology.
2) During a workshop a number of years back, he had a leg in a cast and he spilled juice on himself. A person brought him napkins to help clean up - this person eventually became his consulting partner.
3) He was asked by a distant connection in a random phone call to meet with some people who were in a similar field. With no initial expectations on his part, some very meaningful work followed.
I cannot say with conviction that there have been any serendipitous opportunities in my life. Maybe I'm too young to be clear about the fruits or fortune from any discovery or accident. Or maybe I am not conscious of or cannot realize the fortunes. We come across opportunities all the time, and depending on how we seize them and the outcomes perhaps each has the potential to be seen serendipitous.
N.B. Did you know that "serendipity" comes from "Serendip," the old name for Sri Lanka?
1) When moving to a new desk during an internship a book fell on him from a shelf - it was from looking at this book that he decided to go to graduate school in organizational psychology.
2) During a workshop a number of years back, he had a leg in a cast and he spilled juice on himself. A person brought him napkins to help clean up - this person eventually became his consulting partner.
3) He was asked by a distant connection in a random phone call to meet with some people who were in a similar field. With no initial expectations on his part, some very meaningful work followed.
I cannot say with conviction that there have been any serendipitous opportunities in my life. Maybe I'm too young to be clear about the fruits or fortune from any discovery or accident. Or maybe I am not conscious of or cannot realize the fortunes. We come across opportunities all the time, and depending on how we seize them and the outcomes perhaps each has the potential to be seen serendipitous.
N.B. Did you know that "serendipity" comes from "Serendip," the old name for Sri Lanka?
11.17.2004
11.13.2004
11.12.2004
Today is the first day of the Indian new year. I'm not doing anything to celebrate or commemorate it (except for writing this post). When I was younger and lived with my family I always did: there were certain religious and cultural customs/rituals I observed. Is it important or beneficial (psychologically, physiologically, socially, etc) to celebrate/observe festivals? I suppose there's something therapeutic about treating certain days as different to others - there's an air or illusion that things are momentarily different. You can be temporarily elevated by that awareness. There are clear economic benefits for communities that observe certain Western festivals - e.g. Christmas and Valentine's Day. Unfortunately the capitalistic materialism supplants, in my opinion, any deeper or more passionate connection to the festivals.
If any festival or custom is thrust on me, and my participation is not by my choosing, I do not stand to gain from it as an existing individual. Festivals have greater meaning, significance and importance if I freely choose to participate; if there are no pressures or influences from outside which may tranquilize my personal, deeper engagement.
If any festival or custom is thrust on me, and my participation is not by my choosing, I do not stand to gain from it as an existing individual. Festivals have greater meaning, significance and importance if I freely choose to participate; if there are no pressures or influences from outside which may tranquilize my personal, deeper engagement.
11.11.2004
11.09.2004
"For me, this was among all the marvels that I discovered in nature the most marvelous of all, and I must say, that for my part, no more pleasant sight has met my eye than this of so many thousand living creatures in one small drop of water."
- Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, on his discovery of bacteria
Bacteria is mostly benign. If you take one teaspoon of the water at your feet when you shower, there'd be around 820 billion (according to Charles P. Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona). This bacteria doesn't do anything to us, yet the nation is obsessed with antibacterial soaps and cleaning products. I don't own any. The only bacteria to really watch out for are the type that cause food poisoning. But as long as you don't keep food out too long (and keep it in the frige or freezer) you'll be fine. It won't multiply enough to overwhelm your immune system.
- Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, on his discovery of bacteria
Bacteria is mostly benign. If you take one teaspoon of the water at your feet when you shower, there'd be around 820 billion (according to Charles P. Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona). This bacteria doesn't do anything to us, yet the nation is obsessed with antibacterial soaps and cleaning products. I don't own any. The only bacteria to really watch out for are the type that cause food poisoning. But as long as you don't keep food out too long (and keep it in the frige or freezer) you'll be fine. It won't multiply enough to overwhelm your immune system.