Don't be mean to others if you don't want others to be mean to you. Treat others nicely if you want them to treat you nicely.
Then why can't I just be default mean and be nice only when I want others to treat me nicely? We all know the world doesn't work that way, and yet we do not find a suitable reason why the world defies our theory in certain cases.
I guess it all traces down to the instant gratification problem that most of us modern people able to operate a keyboard have. We start to do things only with expectation of equivalent benefits.
Yet somewhere in our minds, we know that is wrong. That would not happen. Why do we only expect good things to happen to us? Why do we always think of ourselves first? Sometimes I really blame the survival instinct, animal instincts that lie deep down. For we cannot erase it, in certain times, are well-guided by it, yet it others, misled by it.
Some call it trustable intuition, others rely solely on it.
How horrible, is this double-edged sword that cuts us along with our enemies. For in life, we cannot hurt others, without hurting ourselves first. We won't know how it is best to harm, if we were never harmed.
Which is why, the most innocent, is everyone, in the few minutes of our life.
Only.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
墨守成规。 According to google translation, it means "rigid".
I really wonder if that is a bad thing as its tone suggests. Personally, I do have this charateristic. The way of thinking, doing things in a structured way, less prone to changes. They say I can't think out of the box, others say I think logically.
Is it really that bad for people to stick to what they're comfortable with? Or will we only be really successful when we're willingly to step out of that comfort zone, put something on the line?
Chinese New Year's coming =).
I really wonder if that is a bad thing as its tone suggests. Personally, I do have this charateristic. The way of thinking, doing things in a structured way, less prone to changes. They say I can't think out of the box, others say I think logically.
Is it really that bad for people to stick to what they're comfortable with? Or will we only be really successful when we're willingly to step out of that comfort zone, put something on the line?
Chinese New Year's coming =).
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Wanted to share a story I heard from my teacher since I was young. Back then, it didn't feel so meaningful. I guess, when we grow up, we understand things better, the very same dull old things, might actually prove to be jewels we've yet to discover.
So the story is about an orange tree.
An orange tree grew beside a road. The road is used daily by many people and is highly accessible! One day, a boy noticed some ripe oranges on the orange tree. Since the orange tree grew near the roadside, and does not belong to anyone, the boy wanted to climb the tree and pluck a few oranges for his own consumption.
Knowing what the boy is about to do, a wise friend advised him that the oranges on the tree would definitely not be sweet, but instead sour. Unconvinced, the boy pointed out that we'll never know whether those oranges are sweet or sour until we taste it. He then proceeded to climb the tree while his wise friend could only sigh at his lack of insight.
Upon obtaining a manageable amount of oranges, the boy greedily tasted the first one, and as expected, found it to be extremely sour. Puzzled, the boy then asked his friend how he knew the oranges were not to be sweet but sour.
His friend answered, "The tree grew by the road, accessible daily to many people. Had the oranges been sweet, countless people would have already been up there and plucked its fruit. The only reason why we still see the oranges on the tree would therefore be because they are sour and nobody wants them."
Isn't that just the perfect mirror of our complicated lifes? To get the sweet oranges, probably we have to be the ones to sow it. Oranges that can be found by the road would almost definitely be sour, for the sweet ones would long be taken already.
So the story is about an orange tree.
An orange tree grew beside a road. The road is used daily by many people and is highly accessible! One day, a boy noticed some ripe oranges on the orange tree. Since the orange tree grew near the roadside, and does not belong to anyone, the boy wanted to climb the tree and pluck a few oranges for his own consumption.
Knowing what the boy is about to do, a wise friend advised him that the oranges on the tree would definitely not be sweet, but instead sour. Unconvinced, the boy pointed out that we'll never know whether those oranges are sweet or sour until we taste it. He then proceeded to climb the tree while his wise friend could only sigh at his lack of insight.
Upon obtaining a manageable amount of oranges, the boy greedily tasted the first one, and as expected, found it to be extremely sour. Puzzled, the boy then asked his friend how he knew the oranges were not to be sweet but sour.
His friend answered, "The tree grew by the road, accessible daily to many people. Had the oranges been sweet, countless people would have already been up there and plucked its fruit. The only reason why we still see the oranges on the tree would therefore be because they are sour and nobody wants them."
Isn't that just the perfect mirror of our complicated lifes? To get the sweet oranges, probably we have to be the ones to sow it. Oranges that can be found by the road would almost definitely be sour, for the sweet ones would long be taken already.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Didn't manage to write anything for the whole week because of work! And I guess even though it wasn't the most meaningful or fun work, it definitely has a lot of things for me to learn from!
In business, the customers always wants the best. They will always push for the best bargain, lowest price, best quality. So on and so forth. Its up to the producer to meet such demands, regardless of how ridiculous they are. The only way to reverse the situation is where no one else in the market are able to do otherwise.
In other words, the customers get the first turn, the advantage. Once it is outplayed, things fall back to the producer, even though the customer's got the money. Because every producer would now exploit the customer. And ironically, the customer is at the producer's mercy despite holding on to the chips.
While at work, my supervisor, someone really nice to us generally, pointed out that even though we had nothing on our hands to do, we shouldn't help him with his chores. Reason being we're the educated youth, and should work holding pens instead of a screwdriver or hammer.
Right now, everywhere in the world, governments think that the way to combat poverty in their country is through education. In view of this, wouldn't the majority of the population be relatively higher educated than what we see today? Wouldn't we all work, then, with just pens?
Who's gonna hold the hammer and screwdrivers?
Someone has to do it. Obviously none of the educated ones will want to do it, then labour-intensive workers would be in huge demand. How then will we survive? These are the questions I kept asking during my employment time.
The only answer I came up with is hardly realistic, yet not completely out of the picture.
Robots, machines, you name it.
Objects that are designed to overtake human expertise in the near future. Mass production is hardly avaliable currently, but would probably be in the near future.
I thought I had all the answers. Then I hit another roadblock.
In my employment period, the main assignment was to test and ensure the accuracy of the machine to be sold, such that the customers would be satisfied and trust such machines to take care of mass production. It was nowhere near an easy job. Sure it ain't labour intensive to do testing in a sample, but neither was it relaxing.
Machines, although less error prone as compared to humans, lack the ability to accurately identify their own mistakes and therefore correct them. Do not misunderstand me though, most machines in our current industries have a proof-reading function that allows products that are not produced properly to be separated from the rest.
Problem is, even the proof-read mechanism is a machine. Without real human supervision, nothing can be guranteed. This brings me back, then how can we really survive just on machines and robots in our lifes? The manpower to supervise them would not come from the educated. And again, a shortage of labour would surface.
I really wonder, how the world would change in the next decade or so. Since every politician would term the change as positive. Maybe I should rephrase and say,
I wonder, how the world would evolve in the near future.
In business, the customers always wants the best. They will always push for the best bargain, lowest price, best quality. So on and so forth. Its up to the producer to meet such demands, regardless of how ridiculous they are. The only way to reverse the situation is where no one else in the market are able to do otherwise.
In other words, the customers get the first turn, the advantage. Once it is outplayed, things fall back to the producer, even though the customer's got the money. Because every producer would now exploit the customer. And ironically, the customer is at the producer's mercy despite holding on to the chips.
While at work, my supervisor, someone really nice to us generally, pointed out that even though we had nothing on our hands to do, we shouldn't help him with his chores. Reason being we're the educated youth, and should work holding pens instead of a screwdriver or hammer.
Right now, everywhere in the world, governments think that the way to combat poverty in their country is through education. In view of this, wouldn't the majority of the population be relatively higher educated than what we see today? Wouldn't we all work, then, with just pens?
Who's gonna hold the hammer and screwdrivers?
Someone has to do it. Obviously none of the educated ones will want to do it, then labour-intensive workers would be in huge demand. How then will we survive? These are the questions I kept asking during my employment time.
The only answer I came up with is hardly realistic, yet not completely out of the picture.
Robots, machines, you name it.
Objects that are designed to overtake human expertise in the near future. Mass production is hardly avaliable currently, but would probably be in the near future.
I thought I had all the answers. Then I hit another roadblock.
In my employment period, the main assignment was to test and ensure the accuracy of the machine to be sold, such that the customers would be satisfied and trust such machines to take care of mass production. It was nowhere near an easy job. Sure it ain't labour intensive to do testing in a sample, but neither was it relaxing.
Machines, although less error prone as compared to humans, lack the ability to accurately identify their own mistakes and therefore correct them. Do not misunderstand me though, most machines in our current industries have a proof-reading function that allows products that are not produced properly to be separated from the rest.
Problem is, even the proof-read mechanism is a machine. Without real human supervision, nothing can be guranteed. This brings me back, then how can we really survive just on machines and robots in our lifes? The manpower to supervise them would not come from the educated. And again, a shortage of labour would surface.
I really wonder, how the world would change in the next decade or so. Since every politician would term the change as positive. Maybe I should rephrase and say,
I wonder, how the world would evolve in the near future.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The character's too real to be fake.
Its personality is far too similar to mine, its actions, consequences, identical. How did someone make up such a character? Are there many like me out there too?
It renacted how much we prefer to stay back and watch first. Understand before proceeding. Others call it stalking, we name it understanding. Wherever, whenever possible, always looking out, observing.
When asked, feign ignorance, yet at the same time wanting to divuldge. And as accurately pointed out, we speak in a not-very-understood manner where we did not lie, yet did not expose ourselves either.
The common thing is though, the happy ending is never meant for us.
Its personality is far too similar to mine, its actions, consequences, identical. How did someone make up such a character? Are there many like me out there too?
It renacted how much we prefer to stay back and watch first. Understand before proceeding. Others call it stalking, we name it understanding. Wherever, whenever possible, always looking out, observing.
When asked, feign ignorance, yet at the same time wanting to divuldge. And as accurately pointed out, we speak in a not-very-understood manner where we did not lie, yet did not expose ourselves either.
The common thing is though, the happy ending is never meant for us.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
How do you measure the value of your life?
Once, I tried to share my "wisdom"(self-proclaimed) and asked my friends, "Have you ever thought of how many people would attend your funeral(when you're dead, obviously)?"
And they treated it like a joke.
I often wonder if its a good gauge of the value of one's life. An average worker, in front of the desk in an office, would probably have slightly less than a hundred. From colleagues, relatives, family.
Those deeply respected, or feared would definitely have more. Politicians for example, even though we all know they have a dark side, but at their funerals, even the public is allowed to visit. And they do. Foes and friends whom used to interact with the deceased would attend. For them, a few hundred would probably be no problem.
What about each one of us? How are our expectations of life. Would we be loved by those around us the very last time, before we enter the earth or would we face an empty funeral?
Would you want to live your life such that when you die, many would come, to see for the last time, the one that used to be precious, loved?
Then again, back to my original question. How do you measure the value of your life? Is the amount of people who attends your funeral a good way? Is the amount of money donated at your funeral a good way?(chinese custom)
Or is it, at the end of the day, we ourselves would know, and have no need for an external indicator.
Once, I tried to share my "wisdom"(self-proclaimed) and asked my friends, "Have you ever thought of how many people would attend your funeral(when you're dead, obviously)?"
And they treated it like a joke.
I often wonder if its a good gauge of the value of one's life. An average worker, in front of the desk in an office, would probably have slightly less than a hundred. From colleagues, relatives, family.
Those deeply respected, or feared would definitely have more. Politicians for example, even though we all know they have a dark side, but at their funerals, even the public is allowed to visit. And they do. Foes and friends whom used to interact with the deceased would attend. For them, a few hundred would probably be no problem.
What about each one of us? How are our expectations of life. Would we be loved by those around us the very last time, before we enter the earth or would we face an empty funeral?
Would you want to live your life such that when you die, many would come, to see for the last time, the one that used to be precious, loved?
Then again, back to my original question. How do you measure the value of your life? Is the amount of people who attends your funeral a good way? Is the amount of money donated at your funeral a good way?(chinese custom)
Or is it, at the end of the day, we ourselves would know, and have no need for an external indicator.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
New year. Never wrote anything for Christmas. Not that I celebrate it much, since I'm not a christian, nor a believer of santa claus.
What baffles me is how everyone seem to think that the new year represents a new beginning. In fact it probably stem from the popular saying that every ending is a new beginning.
From the commonly known end of life leading to the beginning of the afterlife, to the ending of the education journey that leads to the new journey of life in society. We probably are totally stuck with the idea that with endings, come beginnings.
Really. Just because we begin a new year, doesn't mean we start with a clean white sheet. Stains from the previous year will stay. Some things will never change, and others would probably only get worse, regardless of whether our new year resolution is to improve it.
Speaking of new year resolutions, sometimes I wonder why they actually exist. In simple terms, new year resolutions are aims that people make such that they have a goal and can work towards it. Obviously they aren't really bad. Unless you really wanna find flaws with that.
But my question is, aren't aims to improve ourselves being made, supposed to be made, all the time? The moment we realise we're lacking in some places, shouldn't we already be trying to improve it? Why wait till the new year?
And unfortunately, the only excuse, or explanation I can find for it is because most people, me included, are too lazy to set goals and work towards them in our daily lifes. A new year is akin to the start of a new day. Sure, we haven't forgot what we did yesterday, but what's most important is today.
In case anyone is missing the point, what I'm trying to say is, new year resolutions aren't bad, do set them. But try to set goals to improve yourself in your everyday lifes instead of waiting a year. Constantly reminders and improvement is what would allow us to excel. And working towards that in itself, is already a goal.
And probably my new year resolution =).
What baffles me is how everyone seem to think that the new year represents a new beginning. In fact it probably stem from the popular saying that every ending is a new beginning.
From the commonly known end of life leading to the beginning of the afterlife, to the ending of the education journey that leads to the new journey of life in society. We probably are totally stuck with the idea that with endings, come beginnings.
Really. Just because we begin a new year, doesn't mean we start with a clean white sheet. Stains from the previous year will stay. Some things will never change, and others would probably only get worse, regardless of whether our new year resolution is to improve it.
Speaking of new year resolutions, sometimes I wonder why they actually exist. In simple terms, new year resolutions are aims that people make such that they have a goal and can work towards it. Obviously they aren't really bad. Unless you really wanna find flaws with that.
But my question is, aren't aims to improve ourselves being made, supposed to be made, all the time? The moment we realise we're lacking in some places, shouldn't we already be trying to improve it? Why wait till the new year?
And unfortunately, the only excuse, or explanation I can find for it is because most people, me included, are too lazy to set goals and work towards them in our daily lifes. A new year is akin to the start of a new day. Sure, we haven't forgot what we did yesterday, but what's most important is today.
In case anyone is missing the point, what I'm trying to say is, new year resolutions aren't bad, do set them. But try to set goals to improve yourself in your everyday lifes instead of waiting a year. Constantly reminders and improvement is what would allow us to excel. And working towards that in itself, is already a goal.
And probably my new year resolution =).
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