[[How has been]]

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

[[The beginning of something]]

Well, the most pressing thing on my mind now is the fact that I have somehow managed to waste one and a half hour of my time mindlessly entertaining myself on the internet. This happened despite the fact that I had the intention of starting to write this way before I got home today. Now that it is almost 2145, I’m tired and see to have lost my train of thought, somewhat. This happens way too often. I guess I ought to start now, though, it’s now or later or never. Now is the best time.

So now that that is out of the way, I shall explain what this is about. I have, you see, a desire to record down my thoughts and reflections for others to see and hopefully to agree. This project hopes to fulfil that. God willing, it will be of use to some people.

The main difference between this and writing a blogpost is the target audience. For a normal blogpost, the target audience is usually myself, it is a rather self-indulgent habit of mine to chronicle whatever goes through my mind for my future self or perhaps my children or future spouse to read. It is meant, in a way, to charter my progress as a being. Additionally, the meaning within a casual blogpost usually requires some knowledge of myself to interpret.

With this project, I hope to write in clearer prose for a larger audience (or rather, a less familiar audience) and in the process, hone some writing skills. This project ought to churn out some pieces with much more deliberate thought than directionless musings. Furthermore, I hope that it can be categorically grouped to be a coherent ‘larger picture’ piece of work on life at large.

This introduction will probably be the only piece of work done in 2014.

Labels: Something

[[I wrote this at]]*|10:31 PM|

[[]]

Insulting another person's intelligence is like cheating. You cannot dismiss the other person's intelligence groundlessly. It is like disqualifying a person from a race. A fellow competitor and his supporters cannot do such. Perhaps something independent like an IQ test can. What would happen if you score worse in the IQ test then?

[[I wrote this at]]*|12:27 AM|

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

[[On holidays]]

As I have told Ashraf and the people at the 3K gathering today, I have never enjoyed family holidays much, at least in recent years. About the time where I entered into the teenage years where i started craving the company and acceptance of friends more than family. I guess my family has always been there for me. Some things, you take for granted when they have been there so solidly. Though I guess I have realised before they have passed on and have taken steps to cherish them, the attraction of novelty and things-you-cant-have still remains as part of my human (sinful?) nature. So most recently, like 1 month recently, family holidays have been elevated from 'waste of my time' to like 'a duty'.

I know of people who have less than ideal families and all they desire are happy holidays and such and that they would probably envy my family situation. I guess it is nice to have a family as such though it is a case of 生在福中不知福.

Ok anyway more generically about holidays first. I prefer to do things rather than to see things. With the advent of the internet, I find sightseeing exceptionally boring. Especially it is about things that I do not give the slightest shit about. Especially if it is mafan and time consuming. Especially if they do not have signs for me to read. I do not see a point in seeing stuff that I know nothing about. I rather read a wikipedia article about it. What is the purpose of seeing something just because everyone is seeing it? I do not understand. Put it another way, of what use is this visual information without an appropriate tag? How is 'I have visited this temple' worth anything when you dont know nuts about the temple but you have seen it? I find seeing things lame. Maybe that is why I do not watch the TV. Nothing new to learn but just passive absorption of unprocessed content. And besides, if I really wanted to watch an elephant shitting, I'm sure I can find tons of youtube videos taken from a better angle. Perhaps not the main point, I dont really wanna watch an elephant shitting would be the main point.

Oh right, background, I just returned from a trip to Sri Lanka with my family from 21st to 29th Dec, that is yesterday.

So I think I enjoyed the playing in the Indian Ocean most followed by the mini mountain climb and maybe the waterfall. Best part is that all these were free! Whereas stuff that you had to pay to do were all terribly boring.

Perhaps there are more reflections on holidays but these first. Nic Lam doesnt like long blog posts.

[[I wrote this at]]*|11:46 PM|

Monday, December 22, 2014

[[Walking]]

Anyway, so yesterday was quite an interesting day spent mostly with Lesterdae. Perhaps I shall narrate it.

So the plan yesterday was for us to walk from hougang mrt to nus then for me to play frisbee there!

Some background, so Lester said he wanted to meet. I said lets go trampoline park, perhaps with several other people. He said check the prices. Then after he checked the prices he said that he wasn't keen on going to the trampoline park with me. He wanted to go with other people, first. Ok sure.

Then he suggested walking somewhere. I think he just wanted to meander around aimlessly and see where we ended up at the end which was an ok plan, I have done stuff of that sort before. BUT since I was supposed to be at nus by 5, I suggested we walk to NUS. And so, the plan was made.

So it was raining in the morning. And I didnt have my shoes at home. So from home I walked to hougang mrt in my slippers to meet lester. And walked in the rain to my grandmother's house. Thereafter, I got my shoes and a cap and off we went! We started at 11am or so.

We turned left and headed to SRJC intending to go past Kovan, to NEX then to Lorong Chuan and then Bishan. At SRJC, I had a change of heart (or rather I had an epiphany) and decided to go to Lorong Chuan straight, cutting out the Kovan and Serangoon stops. While attempting to cut to lorong chuan, we appeared back on the upper serangoon road. We then decided to head to Bishan straight.

At about Bowen, it started to storm really heavily (before that it was a mere drizzle, nothing for the army man Lesterdae who used to run in such puny rains with a boat on his head). So we took shelter for awhile at Bowen bus stop. And we talked about, stuff. If you are interested in knowing what stuff we talked about you can pm me.

Then when it returned to a constant not-full-storm rain, we resumed our journey south. Then we turned to AMK ave 10 hoping to hit Bishan and eat at Bishan. But with every food thingum we passed we got hungrier. So... we ate at teck ghee food center in the end. Chicken rice for me and some noodles for the lesterdae and soya bean and whatnot. We were quite wet by lunch but I still removed my shoes to attempt to dry my socks. In the hope of preventing foot rot and ingrown toe nails.

Thereafter we continued and followed the mrt track to j8. After j8 we went via raffles to marymount and turned down into thomson road. We followed thomson road all the way till chancery lane (because I couldnt find the lornie road turning lol) and then appeared at bukit timah road. We then cut down stevens road, turned out to cluny road and rested at the botanical gardens. Lester was happy to use the toilet and he wrung a fair bit of water out of his shirt.

We headed towards holland village mrt next. There he attempted to buy some bread but was repulsed by the pricing (I believe). We then hit north bouna vista road, went past bouna vista and one-north and turned into dover road which lead to nus-utown! We reached at about 1715 which was in time for me to play frisbee however it was was, uh, cancelled. The total distance plotted on google maps was about 24 km. Lester had many blisters and my legs felt rather sore but I avoided the dreaded footrot and ingrown toenails. So that was fun.

Ok thats it. It was quite fun. Im just writing this down so that you can try it if you want. And also, for the standard chronicling purposes.

[[I wrote this at]]*|9:39 PM|

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

[[]]

One uber annoying part of reading Narnia is how the protagonists are all so pathetic to begin with. Lucy cries, Edmund is mean, Susan is vain, Eustace is a douche, Peter is impulsive, Jill is a proud wimp and Bree is ignorant and conceited. (Pardon me for I have only read up to book 5)

I guess since I was young I have been sold and I have bought the idea of a hero. The hero must be valiant and principled. In every story it is always about the good against the evil. Seldom do we have weak protagonists. Or perhaps it is only the adventure fiction kind of story that I read. In the ranger's apprentice and magician's apprentice series the protagonists all fit this kind of mould.

I think here we have to make a further distinction on hero attributes. In ranger's apprentice and magician's apprentice the idea seems to be that the protagonists are highly skilled in addition to having impeccable character. In the ranger's apprentice, the first book had a part about the heroes growing up and how one was a bully before and all but after the first book all the characters seem to be rather perfect.

So I shall class these books as perfect protagonist books. In perfect protagonist books, there is a clear good against evil. The good side has good people in it, the evil side has evil people in it. When you read these stories you feel fuzzy warm feelings. You read about true comradeship, about promises kept, about men of great valor. The antagonists are all evil and they mostly remain evil. Usually the antangonists have some treachery or some forbidden power that makes them a threat to the already powerful good heroes (because of course, they cannot be lazy). The heroes usually do every right action and ends up outsmarting the evil. So the main plot is actually on how evil is outsmarted or how evil selfdestructs after using some forbidden power.

Rather close by, there is the learning hero types of book. Where the hero starts off as weak but slowly and surely learns his trade and is eventually strong enough to triumph over the evil. So you see a rugged hero that never gives up, is courageous and learns from his mistakes. Usually the perfect protagonist has a little bit of learning before he becomes the perfect protagonists where he overcomes his character flaws (possibly) and puts in some good hard work to become what he is.

Reading these types of books makes you wanna be the protagonist. You seem to relate to them in their actions, their character. You wish that you could be like them though you are obviously too lazy. These books usually shorten the period of hard work with stuff like - And so he trained for six years under the tutelage of whatnot. And said training is arduous as shit and boring as hell to read so obviously its not gonna be in the book.

Ugh, I think i rather over elaborated this post in an attempt to sound clever and eloquent and ended up failing. And that has sapped much brain juice so I shall leave it for later. Basically Narnia is quite the opposite, quite the opposite. Makes you relate and go like eugh, what disgusting cowardiance, I dont want to be like that. And then you realise that hey, you are like that, instead of the hero in shining armour. What a shame, what a shame. Yet, there is the whole Aslan thing.

[[I wrote this at]]*|9:55 PM|

Thursday, December 11, 2014

[[]]

I have been thinking much even if I haven't been writing much.

So this is my first holidays since... 2011? Thereafter it was all periods of unemployment. (not holidays per se). Holidays are quite cool. Quite cool.

Anyway, I have resolved to not get annoyed (or more accurately, jealous) when people are in better circumstances than me. More specifically this is actually with regard to people studying in overseas university. It was something that I have been grudging, grudging towards myself, God and others. Even though in talk and action I have been saying that I am fine with my lot, I think I ought to erase this from my thoughts too. It just wont do.

Second resolution is to read the chronicles of narnia. I cleared the first 3 books in like, 24 hours so I dont really see this as much of a problem. Perhaps finding book 6 will be a problem though, the physical copy is missing. I saw the voyage of the dawn treader to be very similar like the earthsea story though. What with the sailing to the end and the chain of islands.

Anyway, I there was this point of Christian hedonism. Misleading title much. But yeah. More to come!

How does one lead a more Christian life? Go around and feed the poor like nigahiga or some santa claus? Or do your best and chiong in all areas of life. Surely living for Christ is inherently dissimilar to a living for self (or others) at the most fundamental intrinsic intention level. Surely this will lead to some, some dissimilarity within action? (Of course Christians should not seek to act differently for the sake of acting differently. It just goes counter to what I just said in the last two sentences.)

[[I wrote this at]]*|9:52 PM|

Thursday, December 4, 2014

[[]]

The theory of natural selection states that those best adapted for the environment survives and is able to pass down their favorable traits to the offspring.

And mutations create these favorable traits (perhaps), otherwise it would just be a decreasing of genetic information.

I think the most scientific testing possible should show a general increase in genetic information over a period of time yes? I mean, if mutations are slower (and I am granting that there are mutations that possibly create information, something that I am not granting) than natural extinction and death, the theory of natural selection that is able to create genetic information and hence macro-evolution will be certainly proven wrong.

For one we know of many species that have gone extinct, we have yet to see a species 'speciate' or subdivide on the family tree into two separate species. Maybe you can blame it on the humans, maybe. But it seems jokable that these beneficial mutations are unable to outpace one of the millions of organisms that were created out of it. Anyway, I am sure we can find certain extinctions without human causes. The longer we know this theory the more 'speciating' we ought to see right.

Anyway, I find it rather funny, this theory, though I see where it is coming from. So imagine a fantastic typewriter that is able to create itself, constantly create new copies of itself. Mutations are errors, right, 99.99% of mutations are either neutral or harmful. (or whatever, I dont know the real number but it is really high). So there is a need to show how these mutations end up being beneficial and hence passed down. So this happens to be death and reproduction. This assumes that death is always outpaced by reproduction and secondly, beneficial mutations occur in time before a species goes extinct. (Here I am talking about a increase in information mutation which I do not really have an example cos I dont really see any but lets say there is).

Ok long story short- Once extinction outpaces mutation and reproduction at any point or for any period of time, macro evolution becomes less tenable. Especially at the start. Imagine after ages of chance and whatnot you form the simplest of the barely living things. And it dies because the temperature increased by 0.1 a degree and it is really simple so it cannot survive that. Or that the salinity increased by 1%. Or whatnot. Lolol.

[[I wrote this at]]*|11:04 PM|

[[Look ma! Revision!]]

Rowe in Philsophy of Religion calls mystical experiences of an extrovertive type experiences where people perceive through their senses of an inner experience within all things and realise that they are the same and that we are all the same.

Meanwhile, the acquiring of knowledge is the ability to make finer distinctions.

Meanwhile in introvertive experiences, I quote "The point on which mystics insist is that only as the self loses awareness of itself and other things can it be emptied and ready for God to enter." And this is supported by quotations from two Chrsitian mystics, Eckhart and St John of the Cross. Kinda queer but doesn't that seem to go against the thrust of omnipotency.

Wait, why is animal suffering an evil again? Or why is suffering an evil?

Ok maybe I can give that. If suffering were an evil then hell would inflict further evil onto the evil.

Does God not comfort us when we go through evil like a good parent? He does what..

The response to Hick's theodicy is like the heap argument. How much evil in the world is required for soul making? And the atheists will say that less than current is needed (probabilistically they corner that but no one knows eh). Any one bit of pointless evil will not affect soul-making although without all pointless random evil it will.

Anyway, it appears to me that the Homeric concept of death is very similar to that in Shinto. Where life after death is a pale inferior shadow of the former life.

Also, is describing something as indescribable describing it?

[[I wrote this at]]*|8:53 AM|