A friend of mine sent me this curious notation about Men, Women and the human body.
It takes 7 seconds for food to pass from the mouth to the stomach.
Human hair can hold 3 kg.
The length of one's penis is 3 times the length of their thumb.
The femur is hard as concrete.
A Woman's heart beats faster than a man's does.
Women blink twice as much as men do.
We use 300 muscles just to hold our balance when we stand.
A woman has read this entire text.
A man is still looking at his thumb!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Final Day at NIE.
I'm having coffee in the NIE library(legally...there's a cafe inside), as I reflect on my 9 months here. I think over these 9 months, I have changed a little more. I did stuff that I would never have done as a student in my time. For example, openly challenging the lecturer if I disagreed on certain facts, talking absolute nonsense in class, laughing like a madman whenever I wanted to, etc. I think the people take one or two classes with me must think I'm one of those psychos who was brought in to give variety to the system.
But i think the salient point is that I wanted to test the system, how my lecturers would respond to me, how my classmates would respond to me, and more importantly what students who like that are thinking deep down inside, since I was brought up to shut up in class and do whatever my teachers told me. It has been an interesting experiment to say the least, not withstanding the times in which I have been utterly embarrassed by being stuck speaking halfway, getting too emotionally charged when arguing and being totally way off the topic, to erm..saying the darn-est things that my classmates will always remember(no... im not saying what happened, suffice to say that whatever good impression ppl had of me being intelligent and stable was prolly flushed down the toilet after that incident).
I think its hard to say if the experiment was a success or failure. but i did learn a lot. I short circuit when I talk about myself, for some weird reason or another. I think it's really cool to be yourself, say what you want and not worry about the consequences(bearing in mind that there are consequences), so I understand some of my ex students a bit better. But I think as I embark on my actual job I need to revert to my reserved self, for fear of ruffling feathers.
Oh yeah, i kinda think the no apology thing works. I'm kinda on talking terms with ppl I offended in the past, not that they like me now, but we're like ok. I guess faking friendliness it until you feel it works sometimes.
But i think the salient point is that I wanted to test the system, how my lecturers would respond to me, how my classmates would respond to me, and more importantly what students who like that are thinking deep down inside, since I was brought up to shut up in class and do whatever my teachers told me. It has been an interesting experiment to say the least, not withstanding the times in which I have been utterly embarrassed by being stuck speaking halfway, getting too emotionally charged when arguing and being totally way off the topic, to erm..saying the darn-est things that my classmates will always remember(no... im not saying what happened, suffice to say that whatever good impression ppl had of me being intelligent and stable was prolly flushed down the toilet after that incident).
I think its hard to say if the experiment was a success or failure. but i did learn a lot. I short circuit when I talk about myself, for some weird reason or another. I think it's really cool to be yourself, say what you want and not worry about the consequences(bearing in mind that there are consequences), so I understand some of my ex students a bit better. But I think as I embark on my actual job I need to revert to my reserved self, for fear of ruffling feathers.
Oh yeah, i kinda think the no apology thing works. I'm kinda on talking terms with ppl I offended in the past, not that they like me now, but we're like ok. I guess faking friendliness it until you feel it works sometimes.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Reflection on judgment
Lately I've been thinking that I have been judging people too quickly. Just because they do not conform to my standards, I am quick to pass a judgment and think that they are incompetent and not worth my time.
In retrospect, these very same people have surprised me in a lot of ways. Some are deeply passionate about certain issues, a trait i find admirable, yet not too long ago I found him myopic. Some are so naturally good and accepting of people, I originally thought they were hypocrites who agreed with everything. There is something good in all of us, well ok, most of us. I just needed to see it without the dirt in my eye.
Smile a little more, look past shortcomings for a little longer. People tend to surprise you. :)
In retrospect, these very same people have surprised me in a lot of ways. Some are deeply passionate about certain issues, a trait i find admirable, yet not too long ago I found him myopic. Some are so naturally good and accepting of people, I originally thought they were hypocrites who agreed with everything. There is something good in all of us, well ok, most of us. I just needed to see it without the dirt in my eye.
Smile a little more, look past shortcomings for a little longer. People tend to surprise you. :)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Pride is the deadliest Sin
Unlike the other Sins out of the seven sins stated in the holy bible, pride is like a slow poison. It sits on your personality and slowly devour from within when you stop reflecting upon your own action.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Learn Faster: Boost your creativity By Scott H Young
I found this article very relevant.
writen by Scott H Young
Whenever I tell people about my website, one of the questions I'm
often asked is, "How do you think of so many ideas?"
I suppose it's a valid question. Over the last 5 years I've written
over 900 articles and 4 books. I know plenty of students that
struggle coming up with a topic for an essay, nevermind one thousand
of them.
But I'm definitely not a creative genius. Instead I just have a
trick I use whenever I want to increase my creative output. And
today I'm going to let you steal it.
---
The "Secret" to a High Creative Output
The biggest problem in having a high creative output is flow. It's
really hard to get into a creative flow, and once you do, it's
difficult to sustain any level of quality.
I'm sure you have had the experience of staring for hours at a blank
screen. Where do you start?
I'm sure you've also had times where you were insanely creative, but
looked back on your work an hour later and realized it was mostly
garbage.
These two extremes plague all creative types. On the one hand, you
don't want to get stuck. On the other hand, you want to be producing
magnificent work, not easily forgettable drivel. How do you balance
the two?
---
How to Produce Effortlessly, Without Sacrificing Quality
I got stuck in this trap a few years ago. At the time I was on a
hellish 5x per week article-posting schedule, in addition to around
2-3 freelance articles each week. This meant I needed to publish
a new essay of about 1000 words, more than once every single day.
Given I was writing roughly 8 articles each week, getting writer's
block wasn't an option. Staring at the computer screen could mean
dozens of hours wasted every week and I was already a full-time
student.
I also couldn't sacrifice quality. I was try to aggressively grow
my blog's presence, and I needed the freelance contracts to pay my
bills.
How would you handle it?
My solution was to think deeply about the creative process itself.
Notice when I was stalling, notice when I was producing great work
and see if there was something that could be replicated.
I also did a lot of research into creativity, to see what great
writers like Stephen King had to say about the problems of creative
block.
---
The insight that saved my sanity was that creativity is actually two
very different tasks. Neither are that difficult, but they are
virtually impossible to perform at the same time, which is the cause
of most creative blocks.
Once I started using this tactic, meeting my writing quota was a lot
easier.
Aside: Astute readers may notice I've wised up since those days,
after learning a high posting rate actually hurts my readership, but
I still stand by these tactics that I use whenever I need to do a
lot of creative work.
---
The Insight -- Two-Flow Theory for Creativity
The insight was this--every creative task consists of two elements:
1. Creation
2. Destruction
The creation phase is the generation of ideas. When famous writers
recommend, "just write and don't proofread," they are talking about
this aspect.
The creation phase requires a wide focus, high-confidence, zero
self-criticism and enthusiasm. Basically the opposite of every
neurotic creative-type.
I had learned about accessing this creation phase when reading about
brainstorming, mindmapping and other learning tactics. The problem
with this advice, I found, was that it wasn't enough. Trying to push
the creation switch all the time resulted in mostly garbage.
That's where the second phase comes in: destruction. In this phase,
you take on the opposite mentality. You're judgemental, analytical,
narrowly-focused, self-doubting and rational.
This mentality comes when you're reviewing and constructing your
work. Creation makes the raw material, destruction sculpts it into
something worthy of demonstration.
The key to having both a high-quality and high output, it turns out,
was to be aware of both these phases, use them aggressively, but,
DO NOT USE THEM AT THE SAME TIME.
Writer's block results from the hasty attempt to be both excellent
and prolific.
---
How I Implemented This to Write 8000+ Words Per Week
My implementation of this two-flow theory was straightforward:
First, I set aside one day per week devoted exclusively to
brainstorming. I made sure this was done on a Sunday, or similarly
quiet day, so I would be sure that I wouldn't be writing that day.
That day, my only goal was quantity. I aimed to create at least 20
to 30 headline ideas, all in one go. They didn't need to be good,
and I didn't need to know how I was going to write them. They just
had to seem vaguely interesting.
It's important that I stress how critical it was that I did this on
a day that no writing occurred. In fact, I tried to do most my
writing on Thursday and Friday. So I generally had a full five days
before I actually had to use any of the ideas I generated.
If you try to split these two tasks up on the same day, you'll
probably fail. The reason is that you'll start unconsciously
slipping into the judgemental, destruction mindset prematurely.
When I've tried this method on the same day, I would find myself
automatically thinking about how I could write a particular essay.
This distraction meant I would have a lower output and fewer truly
great ideas in total.
---
How to Implement Your Own Marathon Creativity Session
Here's what I'd suggest if you want to replicate my results:
1. Identify the minimal creative act associated with your art.
For essays this could be theses. For paintings it could be
subjects. For designers it could be layouts. For comedians it could
be potentially humorous observations. The idea is you want to
distill the core root of creation in your medium.
2. Split the minimal creative act to a separate day and place from
when you'll actually do the work.
Don't write on the same days you generate headlines. Don't compose
songs on the same time you think of melodies or hooks.
This rule is only if you need an unusually high output. If you only
need a normal output, it isn't necessary. I use it whenever I know
I need to do a lot of writing in the upcoming weeks.
3. Generate way too many ideas.
Spend a lot of time generating tons of ideas. Don't think about
execution, just brainstorm dozens of ideas.
4. Wait at least a day to start work. Then pick the best ideas and
start creating something great.
Once you have 20-30 possible starting points, it is a lot easier to
avoid getting stuck. Best of all, you can be discriminating and
perfecting, because you have so much material to work with.
5. Split complex projects into multiple creation/destruction parts.
As a final step, if you're still getting stuck, you might want to
digest the steps even further. Writing a book, for example, you
could start with c/d on the title, then c/d on the chapters, and
then c/d on material to cover in the chapters.
I didn't need to go too deep because most of my writing was in
article-format, which usually takes one sitting. However, if you
are working on something more difficult, there is no reason you
can't use this tactic multiple times.
writen by Scott H Young
Whenever I tell people about my website, one of the questions I'm
often asked is, "How do you think of so many ideas?"
I suppose it's a valid question. Over the last 5 years I've written
over 900 articles and 4 books. I know plenty of students that
struggle coming up with a topic for an essay, nevermind one thousand
of them.
But I'm definitely not a creative genius. Instead I just have a
trick I use whenever I want to increase my creative output. And
today I'm going to let you steal it.
---
The "Secret" to a High Creative Output
The biggest problem in having a high creative output is flow. It's
really hard to get into a creative flow, and once you do, it's
difficult to sustain any level of quality.
I'm sure you have had the experience of staring for hours at a blank
screen. Where do you start?
I'm sure you've also had times where you were insanely creative, but
looked back on your work an hour later and realized it was mostly
garbage.
These two extremes plague all creative types. On the one hand, you
don't want to get stuck. On the other hand, you want to be producing
magnificent work, not easily forgettable drivel. How do you balance
the two?
---
How to Produce Effortlessly, Without Sacrificing Quality
I got stuck in this trap a few years ago. At the time I was on a
hellish 5x per week article-posting schedule, in addition to around
2-3 freelance articles each week. This meant I needed to publish
a new essay of about 1000 words, more than once every single day.
Given I was writing roughly 8 articles each week, getting writer's
block wasn't an option. Staring at the computer screen could mean
dozens of hours wasted every week and I was already a full-time
student.
I also couldn't sacrifice quality. I was try to aggressively grow
my blog's presence, and I needed the freelance contracts to pay my
bills.
How would you handle it?
My solution was to think deeply about the creative process itself.
Notice when I was stalling, notice when I was producing great work
and see if there was something that could be replicated.
I also did a lot of research into creativity, to see what great
writers like Stephen King had to say about the problems of creative
block.
---
The insight that saved my sanity was that creativity is actually two
very different tasks. Neither are that difficult, but they are
virtually impossible to perform at the same time, which is the cause
of most creative blocks.
Once I started using this tactic, meeting my writing quota was a lot
easier.
Aside: Astute readers may notice I've wised up since those days,
after learning a high posting rate actually hurts my readership, but
I still stand by these tactics that I use whenever I need to do a
lot of creative work.
---
The Insight -- Two-Flow Theory for Creativity
The insight was this--every creative task consists of two elements:
1. Creation
2. Destruction
The creation phase is the generation of ideas. When famous writers
recommend, "just write and don't proofread," they are talking about
this aspect.
The creation phase requires a wide focus, high-confidence, zero
self-criticism and enthusiasm. Basically the opposite of every
neurotic creative-type.
I had learned about accessing this creation phase when reading about
brainstorming, mindmapping and other learning tactics. The problem
with this advice, I found, was that it wasn't enough. Trying to push
the creation switch all the time resulted in mostly garbage.
That's where the second phase comes in: destruction. In this phase,
you take on the opposite mentality. You're judgemental, analytical,
narrowly-focused, self-doubting and rational.
This mentality comes when you're reviewing and constructing your
work. Creation makes the raw material, destruction sculpts it into
something worthy of demonstration.
The key to having both a high-quality and high output, it turns out,
was to be aware of both these phases, use them aggressively, but,
DO NOT USE THEM AT THE SAME TIME.
Writer's block results from the hasty attempt to be both excellent
and prolific.
---
How I Implemented This to Write 8000+ Words Per Week
My implementation of this two-flow theory was straightforward:
First, I set aside one day per week devoted exclusively to
brainstorming. I made sure this was done on a Sunday, or similarly
quiet day, so I would be sure that I wouldn't be writing that day.
That day, my only goal was quantity. I aimed to create at least 20
to 30 headline ideas, all in one go. They didn't need to be good,
and I didn't need to know how I was going to write them. They just
had to seem vaguely interesting.
It's important that I stress how critical it was that I did this on
a day that no writing occurred. In fact, I tried to do most my
writing on Thursday and Friday. So I generally had a full five days
before I actually had to use any of the ideas I generated.
If you try to split these two tasks up on the same day, you'll
probably fail. The reason is that you'll start unconsciously
slipping into the judgemental, destruction mindset prematurely.
When I've tried this method on the same day, I would find myself
automatically thinking about how I could write a particular essay.
This distraction meant I would have a lower output and fewer truly
great ideas in total.
---
How to Implement Your Own Marathon Creativity Session
Here's what I'd suggest if you want to replicate my results:
1. Identify the minimal creative act associated with your art.
For essays this could be theses. For paintings it could be
subjects. For designers it could be layouts. For comedians it could
be potentially humorous observations. The idea is you want to
distill the core root of creation in your medium.
2. Split the minimal creative act to a separate day and place from
when you'll actually do the work.
Don't write on the same days you generate headlines. Don't compose
songs on the same time you think of melodies or hooks.
This rule is only if you need an unusually high output. If you only
need a normal output, it isn't necessary. I use it whenever I know
I need to do a lot of writing in the upcoming weeks.
3. Generate way too many ideas.
Spend a lot of time generating tons of ideas. Don't think about
execution, just brainstorm dozens of ideas.
4. Wait at least a day to start work. Then pick the best ideas and
start creating something great.
Once you have 20-30 possible starting points, it is a lot easier to
avoid getting stuck. Best of all, you can be discriminating and
perfecting, because you have so much material to work with.
5. Split complex projects into multiple creation/destruction parts.
As a final step, if you're still getting stuck, you might want to
digest the steps even further. Writing a book, for example, you
could start with c/d on the title, then c/d on the chapters, and
then c/d on material to cover in the chapters.
I didn't need to go too deep because most of my writing was in
article-format, which usually takes one sitting. However, if you
are working on something more difficult, there is no reason you
can't use this tactic multiple times.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Bad apology is worse than no Apology.
I read this saying in the last lecture by randy Paush. Dunno if I Agree with it. Comments?
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The Prodigal Son Returns
So like after his many adventures in Aussie, fighting floods and saving maidens in distress, no doubt in more than one way, the prodigal son returns. this friday. Of course, as his hometown family, we need to embrace him like a brother even thou he abandoned ship at our most distressing moments at NUS.
So ya like how is the evening of 2nd day of CNY or 3rd day of CNY for us to embrace our dear missed brother. Vote for which nite you want to engage in activities that will leave long lasting memories, no guarantees they will all be good.
signing off,
the brother who shld have taken his inheritance also....
PS: it's mitch, in case any of you STILL had ? in ur heads.
So ya like how is the evening of 2nd day of CNY or 3rd day of CNY for us to embrace our dear missed brother. Vote for which nite you want to engage in activities that will leave long lasting memories, no guarantees they will all be good.
signing off,
the brother who shld have taken his inheritance also....
PS: it's mitch, in case any of you STILL had ? in ur heads.
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