An 'affliction'

Here's how I decided to frame all my academic problems:

Eddie's Syndrome:

ES tends to occur in individuals who have read extensively in both breadth
and depth, and as such, is a multidisciplinary scholar despite not scoring
high scores. Individuals who have this syndrome tend to be slightly angsty
about what major to do, since no single major can accommodate their
interests. It is also manifested in the numerous emails they send to their
academic advisors about their academic dilemmas, especially with regards to
the profusion of academic ideas that they wish to pursue.

When approaching students possessing this genotype, it is advisable NOT to
ask for their majors, lest incurring the wrath of the individual being asked
the question. Such students typically do not believe in the concept of a
'major' and as such, might be more at home in a true-blue liberal arts
college, which might be beyond the individual's economic means to pursue. As
such, it would be more advisable to inquire about the person's interests -
since all of the interests are highly likely to be academic.

Individuals with ES would like to eventually embark on research projects
that make full use of their multidisciplinary capabilities - more than that,
they would also like to change the way the world thinks, not just about
changing how the world works.

Apparently, Eddie's Syndrome is best treated at USP where afflicted
individuals can receive the academic support to pursue all the many things
that they want to do.

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techie

1. Facebook is no longer just a *social network*. It is now a platform which has its own Facebook-verse, which is on its own trajectory that might not correspond to reality.

2. Wouldn't it be cool to have a *smart camera*, a camera that will tell you information on the *things* that you are taking?

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the embodiment of knowledge

I stared very hard at a car and a market today, and my mind begin to drift away into thinking about how social knowledge/information is embodied by food centres and cars. What does a market embody? It embodies the socio-cultural norms embedded in the neighbourhoods, in the food that it contains, in the items that it sells to the residents. What about cars? Still thinking about it though, but I think I am on to something there. I'm now trying to think of EVERYTHING physical artifact as embodying some kind of social/personal information, but I'm not sure how it might all work out. 

What kind of informational flows? I imagine cars to be outfitted with sensors and flexible surfaces so they change the aerodynamic profile given different road, temperature, and air conditions. But thats merely autonomous smart systems, and aren't really paradigm busting. Similarly for buildings - how buildings might self-optimise for energy efficiency - but thats not really new. I don't want to be looking at smart systems, I'm looking for relational, social information, and how they are embodied in the physical artifacts in our lives. 

What does a car represent as an artifact of society? How does a 'car' reflect the personalities of the user? Ditto for a market - how does a market/food centre represent the neighbourhood and the people living in it? How people are part of a larger community, incorporating them into their identity, creating this personal mosaic, perhaps...

Now, I admit that many of these things sound rather abstract, but all of these thoughts and ideas come down to this: how do we think of institutions as stores of information, and what can we take out from thinking in this way?

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Introducing the hypercracy

I hit upon a fantasy... I wonder if it's possible to have a super-efficient civil service that is nimble and responsive, that has zero barrier with the people being governed. Is that a fantasy? With google-like kind of information tech, perhaps it's not that fantastic, even something to aim for, perhaps...

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Something about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The New York Times article sure made me think a lot.

Its one of the things that happen that make people question the existence of a just loving God, and why He might allow things to happen. I have no answer to that. Only God has the answer. But I can guess, and one of the things is that, there is still Evil in the world, and sometimes, it win tiny battles, but it will still lose the war in this good/evil conflict.

Sometimes, there are just no clear answer to things. Why did the Israeli shell hit his home? Sometimes there are just no reason to things, only events as they happen. And to learn to accept these events, moving on from there, always developing this compassion and sensitivity to things - thats always a starting point to move from...

So how do I, as a global individual, as someone who has read about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, look at this tragedy, even as this tragedy is but a small tiny event in the entire universe of tragedy that has pervaded the region?

Honestly, after going through history, I can't help but feel a little jaded, but I know this jadedness is simply insensitive when talking about the tragedies that have happened there - of the heartbreak and sorrow, of the anger and hate. Intellect seems insufficient to deal with this, but for a Singaporean thousands of miles, I find it difficult to summon the emotions to think about this. I know that nothing can add or subtract to the sufferings there, but mere acknowledgment seems insufficient. I think about the need for peace - but even that is insufficient... I can only hope - put my faith in - in a God who cares for all of these tragedies, who somehow turns everything for something better. But I am painfully aware that even the idea is insufficient...

But then even these thoughts are overwhelmed by the thought of human suffering all over the world, in Darfur, in Congo, elsewhere in the world...

It is a sad broken world, and today, I'm reminded of it.

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thinking about identity, food culture, and culture in general

I've actually talked about something like this, but today, there's a different epiphany of sorts. I remembered talking about social change with my pals at NS, and they were hardly receptive about the idea. They erm... well... can't really connect to that idea of a different Singapore. All they want to do, was to get on with life, go to university, get a job, have a nice life. The old me back then would hold partially-elitist thought at them being satisfied with the status quo, and try to convince them that a better future was possible.

But now, the present me would go, 'Thats cool!'

I realise that talk about all those abstract things about social and technological revolutions - all of it seems hollow (vacuous) when I look at the guy in front me in a coffeeshop chopping pieces of meat. I wonder what he wants - just a simple life, I guess, save up enough money, buy a house, even a car, have a family, raise kids, send them off to university, perhaps. And its all the same. All of these choices seem to be equally valid ways to live their lives, and there's no badness or wrongness about it. Its only elitist people with their heads in the clouds who would want to impose a different choice for them, and to declare that ONLY these lifestyles are 'good', 'right' lifestyles to live. Which is plain nonsense.

At the same time, I'm starting to not really care about who's in front me when I order food. Be it Chinese nationals (which is beginning to become common) or anyone else - it just doesn't matter. Its a decent job, serving happiness in the form of food - everyone needs to eat, right?

As for issues of integration and assimilation, well... I guess its just one of those things that takes time. Time for them to settle down, to adapt to Singapore society.

And I'm thinking about the need for creativity. Even culinary creativity, and not just the traditional notions of academic or artistic creativity. Thinking about the notion of cultural hacking, looking at how we might change cultural norms of food and rituals, and how they might be transformed in new ways - something unexpected, but pleasant and desirable. In this instance, I'm thinking about how we might hack our food to become unique Singapore variants of food eaten in SEA.

Is it still feasible to think about intelligent jobs? The perspective that all jobs are really a form of information arbitrage between the source and the consumer. Intelligent jobs are suppose to break down the information asymmetry between the producer and the consumer for mutual benefit. How might that work out?

I guess I'll be on this line of thinking for a while...

So, what really is social change? Its more like, social justice - meaning, have equitable jobs for all, even redistributive income system of taxation, political fairness, inclusiveness, openness.

Again, coming back to the point that the average person on the street really just want to get on with life, unless there is something that captures their imagination.

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not a good science, on the second day of school...

Today was only the second day of school and already I'm feeling much negativity.

Already committed some mistakes, many things still undone, and this dreariness in school... Somehow I'm not feeling excited about school and learning, and I'm wondering if its because... there's no more writing module to do? Or is it some lingering sadness that the semester was past, and that things will NOT be the same.

I have to accept a lot of tings. That this is a time to learn about accepting myself, and accepting the role of other people in my life. That personal isolation is not such a bad thing, that out of all the experiences in life, something good will come out of all these, because well, its God. He's in control of everything. As simple as that. The semester will be tough, but He will not give me something I cannot handle. And I must get motivated again, to write and think, to continue to push my own academic and intellectual frontiers.

Its time to get working again. and to learn to rest too, in the midst of everything. Whatever happens, happens, but it all happens because of God.

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