Taking glimpses into the Straits Times seems to have triggered an increase in the number articles i write here. The Economist never produced a similar response. Wholistically speaking, it is the difference in intellectual weight that ultimately creates the difference. Especially when its the forum page. But moving on...
The latest furore seems to be over whether top students should head for elite schools or neighbourhood schools. There are many voices on either side of the great divide, as well as a cacophany of background noise. However, nobody seems to be addressing the concerns raised by the other side. Nevertheless, let us now reconstruct the debate from the bottom up.
First off, let us examine the traditional reasons for top students to go to top schools.
1. The top schools have better teachers
2. Competition spurs achievement
3. Record of better examination results
Now, let us list out some of the disadvantages of going to an elite school.
1. sheltered life/unaware of wider society
2. arrogance/insensitivity
The current vogue suggests that going to a neighbourhood school would address some of the above disadvantages.
Yet, are any of the above assertions based on any logic or fact?
The first assumption is that the best schools also have the best teachers. The evidence usually provided is best results. This logical fallacy is commonly known as post hoc ergo propter hoc. The end result is fact. The top schools have the best results. That is why they are labelled as such. The question, however, is whether these results are caused by having the best teachers, or perhaps other factors. The most obvious factor is the quality of the student intake.
To illustrate, I could fashion a piece of jewellery from 12 different precious stones and platinum. It is admittedly the ugliest thing anyone has ever seen, because honestly, i'm a disgrace to craftsmen everywhere. Fortunately, my abject lack ok skill will hardly affect the value of the piece, simply because its raw components are already worth that much.
As such, there is little reason to believe that the top schools have better teachers. This is not to say that they do not have their share of good teachers, but then so do neighbourhood schools. In fact, the majority of award-winning teachers over the years have not come from the top schools.
The second assumption is that with competition among the brighter students, they will push each other to excel. The spirit of competition is not a bad thing. Nevertheless, the dark side to it is that a sense of extreme individuality and isolationsim may also develop. Competition may also be detrimental to self esteem. The adverse effects could in the end hinder performance.
However, when the brightest are put together into a class, curriculum material can be covered at a much faster pace, yielding more time for teachers to facilitate the development of other skills and project work. This time can also be used for enrichment, which is a Singaporean term for extra-curricular knowledge. The rest of the world uses the term largely in reference to nuclear weapon production. Go figure.
The 3rd and final assumption is that since the school has been producing top results, it will continue to do so, thus benefiting the child. It is a kind of 'rising tide floats all boats' argument, as espoused by Bhagwati. The flaw here is while the students collectively ultimately determine the school's overall results, examination results are largely an individual effort. In other words, just because the entire school did well, doesn't necessarily mean that a particular student did. Anomalies do exist.
So it seems that conventional wisdom regarding the success of top schools is built on shaky ground. Do not be too suprised. Conventional wisdom in general is never very logically robust. Yet the facts persist. Why?
The deciding factor that elite schools have over neighbourhood schools is simply culture. In a school like Raffles Insitution, where the writer was from, a spirit of excellence and achievement was inculcated from day 1. It is written all over school life, from being made to memorise and recite the Principle of Honour, to the roll of exceptional old boys and their achievements at the main entrance, to the annual celebration of the O level result release and the inevitable question of whether we topped Singapore's school rankings again. A student may not enter RI thinking he is any good, but he will leave RI knowing he is one of the best, even though the knowledge may actually be flawed. Nonetheless, the confidence in one's own abilities instilled by the school culture allows for the maximisation of potential to achieve excellent results. I had a classmate who used to languish near the bottom of our class rankings. It was not a comfortable thing in a highly competitive climate, but he made light it, commenting that even if he were rock bottom in RI, he'd still be a top student elsewhere. The confidence and self esteem developed by a school culture can carry students long after they have left the school. More importantly, the school culture is largely unaffected by the coming and going of batch after batch of students. It is built upon past decades of achievement.
Finally there is a good reason to send a child to a top school. But what about the disadvantages?
The intriguing thing to point out here is that the sheltered nature of a top school is precisely what parents are looking for. The endless reminders from parents from all walks of life never deviate from the pattern of studying hard, focusing on grades et cetera. The idea that a school could shelter their offspring from the negative aspects of life, to allow them, even encourage them to focus on their studies is highly appealing to most parents. The filtration of negative distrating influences is precisely what parents look out for. As such, even with enrolment into a neighbourhood school, parents would still attempt to shelter their kids from these life experiences via other means.
The arrogance and insensitivity exhibited by students from the top schools can be mitigated by the lack of exposure. Yet placing them in neighbourhood schools may only serve the heighten their sense of superiority with ample evidence on display. A proven sense of superiority is much harder to counteract later on than a clearly misguided one. And the development of a jaded insensitivity is harder to address than ignorant insensitivity.
At the end of the day, there is no clear logical demonstrations of benefit to top students from enrolment into a neighbourhood school. While acadamic achievement surely is not the be all and end all to life, it is the most significant factor for employment and a basci level of success in life.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
replies
A friend of mine commented that NS defaults occur because punishments are not tough enough. In other words, the disincentive against choosing not to serve are not significant enough for some people.
With regard to the the opinions of people who would default national service, we must understand that it is a pain to them. Given a choice in the matter, they would not serve. As such, a matrix of incentives and disincentives must be put in place to alter the opportunity cost of serving NS.
If NS were a purely voluntary concept, to them, it would be better for them not to serve.
This can also be illustrated in terms of the net gains of their alternatives to NS being greater than the net gains they can accrue from NS. In fact, we will return to this illustration time and again.
By introducing a system of incentives, we can increase the net gains from NS. A system of disincentives would reduce the net gains from the alternatives to NS. In order to persuade these individuals to serve NS, a matrix of incentives and disincentives must be adopted.
So far, there are far more disincentives than incentives. Liability under military law security bonds, fine and potential jail terms are all disincentives. That they can be largely avoided by not being in the country does not encourage people to stay either.
So far, there are next to no incentives to serve NS aside from some nebulous feelings of pride and camaraderie, if one would deign not to see these ideas as propoganda. There is also the fact that pride, achievement and camaraderie are not only exlcusive to military service. In more concrete terms, the incentives offered by NS are dismal compared to any alternative. In a nutshell, McDonalds feeds you, gives you a uniform, and pays you much better. The top payscale possible , after promotions, for the average NSF is actually 2.82 an hour, excluding regimental duties and overtime. Or the disincentive to serving NS of having to stay in camp. McDonalds pays nearly twice that, and no company pays less.
So far, policy regarding compulsion to serve NS has largely been skewed toward making disincentives harsher rather than raising the incentives to serve. There have been attempts at improving the incentives available. But as long as the conditions within the NS structure are inferior to the below-average conditions available as alternatives, such as selling burgers at McDonalds, the incentives are insufficient to persuade anyone to serve. As such, the present incentive policy available in net terms actually serves also as a disincentive.
In conclusion, the current NS policy has no real incentive terms to serve. And disincentive policies one after the next too suffer from diminishing returns. Hence, the trend of introducing harsher and perhaps more draconian measures against defaulters is unlikely to achieve the desired result. It is time to start treating our NSmen like the valued commodities that they are.
With regard to the the opinions of people who would default national service, we must understand that it is a pain to them. Given a choice in the matter, they would not serve. As such, a matrix of incentives and disincentives must be put in place to alter the opportunity cost of serving NS.
If NS were a purely voluntary concept, to them, it would be better for them not to serve.
This can also be illustrated in terms of the net gains of their alternatives to NS being greater than the net gains they can accrue from NS. In fact, we will return to this illustration time and again.
By introducing a system of incentives, we can increase the net gains from NS. A system of disincentives would reduce the net gains from the alternatives to NS. In order to persuade these individuals to serve NS, a matrix of incentives and disincentives must be adopted.
So far, there are far more disincentives than incentives. Liability under military law security bonds, fine and potential jail terms are all disincentives. That they can be largely avoided by not being in the country does not encourage people to stay either.
So far, there are next to no incentives to serve NS aside from some nebulous feelings of pride and camaraderie, if one would deign not to see these ideas as propoganda. There is also the fact that pride, achievement and camaraderie are not only exlcusive to military service. In more concrete terms, the incentives offered by NS are dismal compared to any alternative. In a nutshell, McDonalds feeds you, gives you a uniform, and pays you much better. The top payscale possible , after promotions, for the average NSF is actually 2.82 an hour, excluding regimental duties and overtime. Or the disincentive to serving NS of having to stay in camp. McDonalds pays nearly twice that, and no company pays less.
So far, policy regarding compulsion to serve NS has largely been skewed toward making disincentives harsher rather than raising the incentives to serve. There have been attempts at improving the incentives available. But as long as the conditions within the NS structure are inferior to the below-average conditions available as alternatives, such as selling burgers at McDonalds, the incentives are insufficient to persuade anyone to serve. As such, the present incentive policy available in net terms actually serves also as a disincentive.
In conclusion, the current NS policy has no real incentive terms to serve. And disincentive policies one after the next too suffer from diminishing returns. Hence, the trend of introducing harsher and perhaps more draconian measures against defaulters is unlikely to achieve the desired result. It is time to start treating our NSmen like the valued commodities that they are.
Friday, December 02, 2005
And here we go again
Just caught a glimpse of the headlines on today's Straits Times. They're going to raise the severity of punishment for desertion. In most places, nobody would even blink. Desertion after all is serious business. You don't join the military and just leave arbitrarily. That would drastically impact the reliability of the military as a defensive force. So desertion has to be dealt with harshly.
But then we actually have a problem in the given context. Singapore has a conscript army. This is not about whether a conscript army can be effective or not. Military insiders have in general nothing but good to speak of the performance of the SAF NSmen. In short, in simulated battles, the conscripts actually do very well. As such, there is a case to be made for a coherent deterrence via military strength.
The issue is not with whether a conscription system is effective or necessary. No nation can survive without a military force and with Singapore's minute population, there are few viable alternatives. And as much as I would like to fantasise about the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a solution, the diplomatic problems with that just aren't worth it.
The issue, however, is with how the government relates to the citizens that they, by legislation, force into military service. I do not dispute the actual necessity of this. Singapore needs an army and this is about the only way to have one. What is rankling though is essentially how badly the government treats the people it so desperately needs for national security.
The state claims what is now 2 years of their lives, placing them in controlled but still risky training situations. In return, it provides some accomodation, no laundry services or means to clean clothing, meals and a paltry allowance. It should be noted the the aforementioned non-pecuniary benefits are also provided to the professional soldiers. The greatest difference, nuances aside, is in the remuneration.
NSF conscripts are severely underpaid. In actual fact, legally speaking, they aren't even paid at all. They are given an allowance that is a fraction of what they would earn if they were professional soldiers. Or if they worked the same hours selling burgers for McDonald's.
On the other hand, aside from the loss of freedoms, they become subject to military law, even after they are no longer serving the military as an occupation. Military law as a rule is harsher than civil law. In a nutshell, when charged under military law, an individual defends himself in a military court where he is prosecuted by the military and judged by the military. Despite safeguards otherwise that exist on paper, the potential for a Stigler-type capture remains a real and present danger. The situation does not improve when the person who charges you is both a superior officer and a professional soldier.
In the corporate world, if your manager pursues a civil suit against you, you can be reassured that the courts will see the both of you as equals in every respect. In a military court, this all becomes rather suspect.
The final nail in the coffin is of course what was published this morning. Desertion from an army you were forced to join is now punihsable by a jail term. And if you serve your military term, you will be paid a paltry allowance for the next 2 years.
Ultimately, there is clearly little balance between the carrots involved in serving the nation, and the stick involved if you decide not to. As a progressive and maturing society, it is time for the state to address this, especially if we are indeed as effective and necessary as they have preached.
P.S. The fact that if you leave after the age of 11 before enlistment, it will cost you 30 000 dollars doesn't really help the case for the status quo either.
But then we actually have a problem in the given context. Singapore has a conscript army. This is not about whether a conscript army can be effective or not. Military insiders have in general nothing but good to speak of the performance of the SAF NSmen. In short, in simulated battles, the conscripts actually do very well. As such, there is a case to be made for a coherent deterrence via military strength.
The issue is not with whether a conscription system is effective or necessary. No nation can survive without a military force and with Singapore's minute population, there are few viable alternatives. And as much as I would like to fantasise about the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a solution, the diplomatic problems with that just aren't worth it.
The issue, however, is with how the government relates to the citizens that they, by legislation, force into military service. I do not dispute the actual necessity of this. Singapore needs an army and this is about the only way to have one. What is rankling though is essentially how badly the government treats the people it so desperately needs for national security.
The state claims what is now 2 years of their lives, placing them in controlled but still risky training situations. In return, it provides some accomodation, no laundry services or means to clean clothing, meals and a paltry allowance. It should be noted the the aforementioned non-pecuniary benefits are also provided to the professional soldiers. The greatest difference, nuances aside, is in the remuneration.
NSF conscripts are severely underpaid. In actual fact, legally speaking, they aren't even paid at all. They are given an allowance that is a fraction of what they would earn if they were professional soldiers. Or if they worked the same hours selling burgers for McDonald's.
On the other hand, aside from the loss of freedoms, they become subject to military law, even after they are no longer serving the military as an occupation. Military law as a rule is harsher than civil law. In a nutshell, when charged under military law, an individual defends himself in a military court where he is prosecuted by the military and judged by the military. Despite safeguards otherwise that exist on paper, the potential for a Stigler-type capture remains a real and present danger. The situation does not improve when the person who charges you is both a superior officer and a professional soldier.
In the corporate world, if your manager pursues a civil suit against you, you can be reassured that the courts will see the both of you as equals in every respect. In a military court, this all becomes rather suspect.
The final nail in the coffin is of course what was published this morning. Desertion from an army you were forced to join is now punihsable by a jail term. And if you serve your military term, you will be paid a paltry allowance for the next 2 years.
Ultimately, there is clearly little balance between the carrots involved in serving the nation, and the stick involved if you decide not to. As a progressive and maturing society, it is time for the state to address this, especially if we are indeed as effective and necessary as they have preached.
P.S. The fact that if you leave after the age of 11 before enlistment, it will cost you 30 000 dollars doesn't really help the case for the status quo either.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
week
Time to write another entry. Don't ask me why. I'm not entirely sure. I just feel like you people need to be entertained. Or i need to be entertained by your entertainment. This can go on ad infinitum so i'll cut it off here.
Its been a rather hectic week this side of the Life of Michael. Ok, its a breeze compared to the Life of Jesus, but the world celebrates His birthday. Mine, will get less mention than my obituary, so who's competing right?
Played football twice this week. Woo hoo! I love the beautiful game. Strange they call it that when its the NBA and the NFL that have all the cheerleaders. In soccer, its 22 guys on a pitch, 1 yellow ball, and 1 guy with a whistle. But it is beautiful to watch. More interesting than cheerleaders. Yeah. Then i played badminton on Thursday. talk about de-skilling after a massive period of lull. Can't even slice the shuttle right any more. At least my pool has improved. Darn tootin' sedentary lifestyle....
Friday was a strange day. Base anniversary dinner ie Army Function of the year, for my brigade/formation anyway. Not really sure how these hierarchy things pan out, but who's th professional military guy anyway? Sure as water is wet ain't me!
The MC was halfway decent. He had some talent, in that he could imitate a couple of accents. Not bad. But his humour was just crude, the games he had lined up were repetitive and boring, not to mention often rather crude as well. So on a scale of 1 to 10, he was about 5 overall. But its times like these that make me wanna hop on stage in my shirt and jeans, of all things, grab a mike and attempt a freestyle diss. Pity the DJ was his and so wouldn't co-operate. So large portions of the entertainment was painful. I was gulping down red wine to help tide the time over, I swear. Thank God i'm well conditioned and don't get drunk easily.
Worse still, the scheduled entertainment was Abigail!!! It was absolutely horrendous. Seriously. I don't even wanna think about it.
Had a fantastic prayer meeting on Sautrday. Glory of God came like actual weight. Always a good thing, the glory of God. And Sunday service, well, its sunday service. 'nuff said.
So i had a rather fresh week, hope you did too. If you didn't, next week'll be better.
I'll try and write something more poetic next time, we'll see how the rhymes come together this side of me.
Oh yeah, if you wanna say somethin', holla back yo!
Its been a rather hectic week this side of the Life of Michael. Ok, its a breeze compared to the Life of Jesus, but the world celebrates His birthday. Mine, will get less mention than my obituary, so who's competing right?
Played football twice this week. Woo hoo! I love the beautiful game. Strange they call it that when its the NBA and the NFL that have all the cheerleaders. In soccer, its 22 guys on a pitch, 1 yellow ball, and 1 guy with a whistle. But it is beautiful to watch. More interesting than cheerleaders. Yeah. Then i played badminton on Thursday. talk about de-skilling after a massive period of lull. Can't even slice the shuttle right any more. At least my pool has improved. Darn tootin' sedentary lifestyle....
Friday was a strange day. Base anniversary dinner ie Army Function of the year, for my brigade/formation anyway. Not really sure how these hierarchy things pan out, but who's th professional military guy anyway? Sure as water is wet ain't me!
The MC was halfway decent. He had some talent, in that he could imitate a couple of accents. Not bad. But his humour was just crude, the games he had lined up were repetitive and boring, not to mention often rather crude as well. So on a scale of 1 to 10, he was about 5 overall. But its times like these that make me wanna hop on stage in my shirt and jeans, of all things, grab a mike and attempt a freestyle diss. Pity the DJ was his and so wouldn't co-operate. So large portions of the entertainment was painful. I was gulping down red wine to help tide the time over, I swear. Thank God i'm well conditioned and don't get drunk easily.
Worse still, the scheduled entertainment was Abigail!!! It was absolutely horrendous. Seriously. I don't even wanna think about it.
Had a fantastic prayer meeting on Sautrday. Glory of God came like actual weight. Always a good thing, the glory of God. And Sunday service, well, its sunday service. 'nuff said.
So i had a rather fresh week, hope you did too. If you didn't, next week'll be better.
I'll try and write something more poetic next time, we'll see how the rhymes come together this side of me.
Oh yeah, if you wanna say somethin', holla back yo!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Military Musings
"White dove
Fly with the wind
Take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
That hope will not die
Where the children cry"
~White Dove, The Scorpions
Well guess what? I'm in camp when i'm writing this. As to why, its mostly because reading a bible encyclopedia and understanding it kinda drained me for a bit. So this is my way of relieving some of that tension, and if you're reading this, you can be marginally construed as entertainment, in a third-person sorta way.
What i really wanna talk about though is pop music. Disclaimers first. If you like pop music, i'm not trying to offend you. If you write pop music, hey, whatever rocks your boat, or feeds the kids, depending. Lastly, if you own pop music, yes the degeneration is your fault, fat cat.
Ok. Not much of a disclaimer since it only makes those who would sue me wanna sue me more, but hey, where's the fun otherwise right?
Honestly, up until the early 90s, pop music was palatable. I'm still a MLTR fan. Back then, the norm among songs was that they had to mean something. They carried flavour and intensity. Something that went beyond boy meets girl, boy likes girl, breakup, which is now the standard formula for every other song on radio. The younger generation is starting believe thats what mainstream music is like.
For a standard that used to bear the names of Frank Sinatra, Elvis and the illustrious Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel to be reduced to Britney Spears and err was it TATU? is simply embarrasing.
But before i rant till Kingdom Come, lets just list the objections i have to today's pop music.
1. no lyrical depth
honestly, i could write those words in my sleep. if people get paid big bucks for producing that quality of work, all the good songwriters must've gone to broadway.
2. where's the music?
if you ask me, its all too electronic these days. don't get me wrong eletronica is actually quite refreshing and original. its not my favourite, but i have no beef with it. problem is when people try to use electronica and pass it off as normal pop music. seriously, if you wanna be a musician, work with real instruments. Either play them or find someone who does.
3. hey that sounds familiar
its been a while since i've heard a new sound. seriously, there was more variation in 1 oldschool rock album than 4 hours of radio.
So yeah, that about sums it up for now.
And freestyle rap battles live forever!
Fly with the wind
Take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
That hope will not die
Where the children cry"
~White Dove, The Scorpions
Well guess what? I'm in camp when i'm writing this. As to why, its mostly because reading a bible encyclopedia and understanding it kinda drained me for a bit. So this is my way of relieving some of that tension, and if you're reading this, you can be marginally construed as entertainment, in a third-person sorta way.
What i really wanna talk about though is pop music. Disclaimers first. If you like pop music, i'm not trying to offend you. If you write pop music, hey, whatever rocks your boat, or feeds the kids, depending. Lastly, if you own pop music, yes the degeneration is your fault, fat cat.
Ok. Not much of a disclaimer since it only makes those who would sue me wanna sue me more, but hey, where's the fun otherwise right?
Honestly, up until the early 90s, pop music was palatable. I'm still a MLTR fan. Back then, the norm among songs was that they had to mean something. They carried flavour and intensity. Something that went beyond boy meets girl, boy likes girl, breakup, which is now the standard formula for every other song on radio. The younger generation is starting believe thats what mainstream music is like.
For a standard that used to bear the names of Frank Sinatra, Elvis and the illustrious Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel to be reduced to Britney Spears and err was it TATU? is simply embarrasing.
But before i rant till Kingdom Come, lets just list the objections i have to today's pop music.
1. no lyrical depth
honestly, i could write those words in my sleep. if people get paid big bucks for producing that quality of work, all the good songwriters must've gone to broadway.
2. where's the music?
if you ask me, its all too electronic these days. don't get me wrong eletronica is actually quite refreshing and original. its not my favourite, but i have no beef with it. problem is when people try to use electronica and pass it off as normal pop music. seriously, if you wanna be a musician, work with real instruments. Either play them or find someone who does.
3. hey that sounds familiar
its been a while since i've heard a new sound. seriously, there was more variation in 1 oldschool rock album than 4 hours of radio.
So yeah, that about sums it up for now.
And freestyle rap battles live forever!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
retirement
Felt like i was dealt a blow today. Ok more like hip-hop was dealt a blow. My favourite, i mean all-time favourite freestyle MC just quit. Like that. There wasn't much news, and the terrible bit was I've been waiting for his second album to show up, and it never. And i suddenly found out why. He had enough.
Its like somebody pulled the carpet from under me. Seriously. Its such a shame. The guy could battle. and just like that, no more.
sighz.
At the end of the day, a shout-out to Jin tha MC, cos he was in and out with a blaze of glory. God bless, whatever you decide to do.
Its like somebody pulled the carpet from under me. Seriously. Its such a shame. The guy could battle. and just like that, no more.
sighz.
At the end of the day, a shout-out to Jin tha MC, cos he was in and out with a blaze of glory. God bless, whatever you decide to do.
Monday, November 21, 2005
cell phones
ok. first up, i know we don't call em that this part of the world. but handphone is just a little crass for my tastes, and calling it a mobile is just too vague. so cell phones they will be. comprendes?
there have been a few complaints about me and snippets of foreign languages. the last post featured latin. this one's already feautred spanish. what's going to happen next?
so on with the story. i left my cell phone in my friend's car on sunday. so i went through a day and a bit without my cell phone. in all honestly, it was really strange. i couldn't check the time as often as i wanted. i couldn't access a calendar or my organiser. and people couldn't get a hold of me. ok so the last part is pretty cool. leads to a quiet quiet day. the worst part of it was oversleeping today cos my 'new' alarm clock failed to work and my usual alarm clock (read cell phone) was not with me. well bummer.
so honestly, i can't quite live without that infernal machine anymore. sighz.
and oh yeah. MC Jin in da house ya'll.
haha.
there have been a few complaints about me and snippets of foreign languages. the last post featured latin. this one's already feautred spanish. what's going to happen next?
so on with the story. i left my cell phone in my friend's car on sunday. so i went through a day and a bit without my cell phone. in all honestly, it was really strange. i couldn't check the time as often as i wanted. i couldn't access a calendar or my organiser. and people couldn't get a hold of me. ok so the last part is pretty cool. leads to a quiet quiet day. the worst part of it was oversleeping today cos my 'new' alarm clock failed to work and my usual alarm clock (read cell phone) was not with me. well bummer.
so honestly, i can't quite live without that infernal machine anymore. sighz.
and oh yeah. MC Jin in da house ya'll.
haha.
Friday, November 18, 2005
the problem with problems
Well i did some meditation while walking along marina square. Before all you New Age flunkies and Wicca wannabes tell me thats impossible, i wasn't trying to become one with the universe or tap into some mystical cosmic force. Nope. Just chewing on the nature of God, thank you very much. And for the atheists out there, yes there is a God. For the feminists, yes He's male. And oh yeah, for you gay-rights activists, he's not gay. Ok. Can't believe the sheer number of disclaimers you have to put up just by mentioning God.
Well so i was doing some meditation. And economic theory slipped into this. Thats how the logic eventually panned out anyway. So imagine you have a major problem coming up soon, like exams. Ok, i guess you don't have to imagine. The absolute negative value of this problem is fixed. But your present valuation of it is not. Its pretty simple really. When your exams are 6 months away, they are hardly a bother. In other words, in the grand scheme of life's problems, its a minor issue. By the time your exam is tomorrow, its the biggest problem you have. In a nutshell, the size of your problem does become bigger the closer it is to you.
For you math-o-philes,
Present value of problem = Absolute value of problem * e^-rt
I can almost hear my critics now. What's God have to do with all this? Let's get hopping then.
The question becomes slightly more complicated when you try to solve the problem. Ever get the feeling some problems are bigger than you can handle? Or that they suddenly are bigger than you thought before? I'm sure you have, otherwise the nile would be more than a river in Egypt to you.
Essentially, at any fixed point in time, you have a cap to your own ability. Over time, with effort, you can raise this cap. But at any one time, thats all you have. At this same point however, your problem might have already 'grown' bigger ie its looming closer now.
So you begin to feel overwhelmed. Nothing surprising there. In fact, one could almost say you're doomed to failure. In another translation, you need a miracle. It actually never ceases to amaze me as to how few true atheists there actually are. Atheists would simply accept this situation and attempt to do better next time. There are no miracles for them since there is no God. Yet it seems that every time the situation overwhelms people, they start asking for miracles from a God they proclaim they don't believe in. Then when God does not respond to them, they take it as proof that God doesn't exist. Its kinda like you not believing in me, then you ask me for an apple. When i don't give it to you, you take it as proof that i'm a figment of my friend's imagination.
And yes us God-believing folks are truly better off, when we realise it. God being God is a constant. Kinda like the absolute value of the problem. The value of God is also absolute. The variable here is perspective. You don't have to discount the value fo God over time for the simple reason that He's an eternal being. He's always there, all the time.
So now you have a problem bigger than you. Oh no. You're doomed. The problem looks so big, it even looks bigger than God. Hold on a moment, is that actually possible? Well by definition no. But how did that happen? Its all about focus. The nature of focus is that you can only focus on one thing at a time. At best, if you're mentally very well disciplined, you can focus on a few SIMILAR things at a go. Problems and God, however, are diametric opposites, in that God has no problems. So as you choose to focus on your problems, they tend to be closer to you and thus larger. This automatically means you're not focusing on God, so He seems smaller.
So at the end of the day, the simplest way to deal with problems is to focus on God. Realise that regardless of how big the problem is now, God is still bigger. Just because your exams are tomorrow does not make God shrink. There is no correlation. So its the same-sized God whether your exams are 6 months away or tomorrow. Have a piece of peace pie to go with that.
Thats all for now. Ciaoz.
Well so i was doing some meditation. And economic theory slipped into this. Thats how the logic eventually panned out anyway. So imagine you have a major problem coming up soon, like exams. Ok, i guess you don't have to imagine. The absolute negative value of this problem is fixed. But your present valuation of it is not. Its pretty simple really. When your exams are 6 months away, they are hardly a bother. In other words, in the grand scheme of life's problems, its a minor issue. By the time your exam is tomorrow, its the biggest problem you have. In a nutshell, the size of your problem does become bigger the closer it is to you.
For you math-o-philes,
Present value of problem = Absolute value of problem * e^-rt
I can almost hear my critics now. What's God have to do with all this? Let's get hopping then.
The question becomes slightly more complicated when you try to solve the problem. Ever get the feeling some problems are bigger than you can handle? Or that they suddenly are bigger than you thought before? I'm sure you have, otherwise the nile would be more than a river in Egypt to you.
Essentially, at any fixed point in time, you have a cap to your own ability. Over time, with effort, you can raise this cap. But at any one time, thats all you have. At this same point however, your problem might have already 'grown' bigger ie its looming closer now.
So you begin to feel overwhelmed. Nothing surprising there. In fact, one could almost say you're doomed to failure. In another translation, you need a miracle. It actually never ceases to amaze me as to how few true atheists there actually are. Atheists would simply accept this situation and attempt to do better next time. There are no miracles for them since there is no God. Yet it seems that every time the situation overwhelms people, they start asking for miracles from a God they proclaim they don't believe in. Then when God does not respond to them, they take it as proof that God doesn't exist. Its kinda like you not believing in me, then you ask me for an apple. When i don't give it to you, you take it as proof that i'm a figment of my friend's imagination.
And yes us God-believing folks are truly better off, when we realise it. God being God is a constant. Kinda like the absolute value of the problem. The value of God is also absolute. The variable here is perspective. You don't have to discount the value fo God over time for the simple reason that He's an eternal being. He's always there, all the time.
So now you have a problem bigger than you. Oh no. You're doomed. The problem looks so big, it even looks bigger than God. Hold on a moment, is that actually possible? Well by definition no. But how did that happen? Its all about focus. The nature of focus is that you can only focus on one thing at a time. At best, if you're mentally very well disciplined, you can focus on a few SIMILAR things at a go. Problems and God, however, are diametric opposites, in that God has no problems. So as you choose to focus on your problems, they tend to be closer to you and thus larger. This automatically means you're not focusing on God, so He seems smaller.
So at the end of the day, the simplest way to deal with problems is to focus on God. Realise that regardless of how big the problem is now, God is still bigger. Just because your exams are tomorrow does not make God shrink. There is no correlation. So its the same-sized God whether your exams are 6 months away or tomorrow. Have a piece of peace pie to go with that.
Thats all for now. Ciaoz.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
ailment
I'd growl. But it'd take up too much energy. Being sick, can definitely be avoided. For personal benefit. Nasty combination of a long strenuous day, bad weather and bad food put the Iron Mike (copyright Kenny Yeng) out of commission for a little while. Somehow i'm still sipping gin and juice though, so its not all THAT bad.
And oh yes, if you didn't get the memo, Satan aka the Devil aka Lucifer aka Beelzebub officially doesn't like me. So if you support his kingdom/rulership/government/side, please feel free to 1. send me hate mail 2. curse at me 3. otherwise inconvenience me 4. pick a fight. It might just earn you a field promotion. If you oppose the Bad Guy, then please play nice. Thank you.
Now on with the show. I actually have no idea what to say today, only that i should say something. So bear with me while i distill the actuall message from the vibrant miasma of my thought-life.
.....
if you've caught me on MSN recently, you might have realised i caught latin fever. If you think this is about brass instruments and exotic dances, good guess but you're still wrong. I'm referring to the language. As to why, well its kinda fun. Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur after all. ahh yes. www.google.com for all you people who need to figure out what that means.
another craze i'm working on right now is the sphere of qian bian wen da ti. these only seem to work in chinese, and i am NOT blogging in chinese, lest my mother discovers this place and begins to correct my chinese vocabulary. I'm slightly crazy, not stupid.
so i guess thats it from me for now. hope you were entertained. if you weren't, well, thanks for wasting your time here anyway.
till next time, hopefully soon, so please remind me....
And oh yes, if you didn't get the memo, Satan aka the Devil aka Lucifer aka Beelzebub officially doesn't like me. So if you support his kingdom/rulership/government/side, please feel free to 1. send me hate mail 2. curse at me 3. otherwise inconvenience me 4. pick a fight. It might just earn you a field promotion. If you oppose the Bad Guy, then please play nice. Thank you.
Now on with the show. I actually have no idea what to say today, only that i should say something. So bear with me while i distill the actuall message from the vibrant miasma of my thought-life.
.....
if you've caught me on MSN recently, you might have realised i caught latin fever. If you think this is about brass instruments and exotic dances, good guess but you're still wrong. I'm referring to the language. As to why, well its kinda fun. Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur after all. ahh yes. www.google.com for all you people who need to figure out what that means.
another craze i'm working on right now is the sphere of qian bian wen da ti. these only seem to work in chinese, and i am NOT blogging in chinese, lest my mother discovers this place and begins to correct my chinese vocabulary. I'm slightly crazy, not stupid.
so i guess thats it from me for now. hope you were entertained. if you weren't, well, thanks for wasting your time here anyway.
till next time, hopefully soon, so please remind me....
Saturday, November 12, 2005
returns
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so i had a friend who asked me about my poetry. and i remembered this little hole in cyberspace. went through some trouble to reset my password and everything but now i'm back. once more to terrorise the inane, the mindless and the plan stupid, because its what i do.
we'll probably be seeing more lyrics and poetry up here from now on. maybe a few vicious attacks on policy and stuff. gotta keep with the image you know =p.
so Gerrie, this particular post is dedicated to you, and the page is eternally grateful to you for resurrecting it.
love, peace, joy, and faith.
time and tide wait for no man, unless you're me and can command it.
mike out.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
sanctuary
'Holy Ghost, breathe upon me. Into my soul. Fill me with glory. All my life, i want to sing. Praises to You. Here in Your sanctuary, here in Your sanctuary.'
Its the chorus of a worship song. Its not a psalm, but there's still so much to learn from it.
Starting from a touch from God into our deepest parts that completes us, leading us into songs of joy. But what i want to focus on today is the last line of the song.
'Here in your sanctuary'. So all these great things happen in His sanctuary. It all starts with being in the sanctuary. Wonderful. But what is sanctuary? In a post-modernist world where we are encouraged to see everything as relative, sanctuary seems suprisingly constant. In the 'Age of Chivalry', sanctuary was a place where a person could hide from anything, including the law. It was a place of asylum, where peace was respected and upheld. Weapons were to be left outside the door, or entry was refused. Anyone within was safe. It was a concept beyond the law, something that people honoured without any written backing. If you are not familiar with the medieval concept, AD&D(advanced dungeons and dragons), a pen-and-paper RPG offers the same idea. In the game, sanctuary is a spell, a holy spell that can be cast by priests. It offers protection to the recipient. In some circles, it halves all damage dealt to target. For players, that usually translates to life and death. Its a virtual life-saver.
So how do you find sanctuary? In medieval times, you ran into a church, onto holy ground. In the game, you find a priest, or a holy guy(or gal). In either case, the concept is to approach a symbol representing God. Yet that is an incomplete model.
The truth is God wishes and desires, even yearns, for people to seek Him directly. Think of it as the divine version of 'Come on in. Have a glass of lemonade and tell me about your day'. It's God guarantee that you can come in and relax. Let go of your worries. The bills, the workload, the children, the parents, leave it all behind and be refreshed just by spending time with Him and trusting Him to take care of you and yours.
Its the chorus of a worship song. Its not a psalm, but there's still so much to learn from it.
Starting from a touch from God into our deepest parts that completes us, leading us into songs of joy. But what i want to focus on today is the last line of the song.
'Here in your sanctuary'. So all these great things happen in His sanctuary. It all starts with being in the sanctuary. Wonderful. But what is sanctuary? In a post-modernist world where we are encouraged to see everything as relative, sanctuary seems suprisingly constant. In the 'Age of Chivalry', sanctuary was a place where a person could hide from anything, including the law. It was a place of asylum, where peace was respected and upheld. Weapons were to be left outside the door, or entry was refused. Anyone within was safe. It was a concept beyond the law, something that people honoured without any written backing. If you are not familiar with the medieval concept, AD&D(advanced dungeons and dragons), a pen-and-paper RPG offers the same idea. In the game, sanctuary is a spell, a holy spell that can be cast by priests. It offers protection to the recipient. In some circles, it halves all damage dealt to target. For players, that usually translates to life and death. Its a virtual life-saver.
So how do you find sanctuary? In medieval times, you ran into a church, onto holy ground. In the game, you find a priest, or a holy guy(or gal). In either case, the concept is to approach a symbol representing God. Yet that is an incomplete model.
The truth is God wishes and desires, even yearns, for people to seek Him directly. Think of it as the divine version of 'Come on in. Have a glass of lemonade and tell me about your day'. It's God guarantee that you can come in and relax. Let go of your worries. The bills, the workload, the children, the parents, leave it all behind and be refreshed just by spending time with Him and trusting Him to take care of you and yours.
Reflections
Its been another 3 months. I thought i would comment on local news. But the follow through on that idea is remarkably non-existent. My chief clerk wont let me read the paper during office hours. Sure cramps up my opportunities to spot fallacies.
So another idea in the bin. No worries. Have a dozen more lining up for their shot at fame.
till next time,
el mike magnifico
So another idea in the bin. No worries. Have a dozen more lining up for their shot at fame.
till next time,
el mike magnifico
Friday, January 14, 2005
The return of, well not the King, but someone fairly important anyway
Its been a really long while since my last post. Damn it, i almost forgot this place existed. Ahh well, i've had a lot on my plate as of late. Actually, i think i shattered a few pieces of china along the way. And that pewter tray as well. Focused anger is powerful stuff. Focused faith is even scarier. Well kinda anyway. Its a nice kinda scary. Trust me on this one. At least when you're on the light side of the fence. We're talking about 'Hey Jesus, would you like us to call down fire from heaven and burn that sodding village that turned you away into a pile of ashes?' level faith too. Its pretty cool, when you're on the right side after all.
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But honestly, thats not really the point. I've decided not to rant about national service anymore. Its actually done me a world of good, if you discount what it actually tries to teach and focus on using the environment it provides like a weight. Great endurance and strength training. You can attempt really cool things like 'how not to swear when everyone else can't stop cursing' and 'how not to get angry with infantile behaviour' or 'how not to let intellectual snobbery cloud your judgement'. Those are really cool experiences that are pretty hard to find.
Honestly though, this blog is about to evolve. Times are changing already. Here on out, this is mostly going to be my own commentary column on local and world events, government policy and so on. Yes, you'll still get the occasional dose of mikeyhood around here, the occasional bit of poetry, and maybe some other random nonsense.
But the vast majority of the stuff will be serious discourse on serious issues with the corresponding serious language. So there are going to be language barriers to surpass if you want to read this blog. Its my self-defense mechanism against lousy comments that generally revolve round 4-letter insults and crybaby antics. Its not foolproof, but then, who said panaceas existed?
So get ready for a wave of grey matter, swim or drown people. oh yeah, read some Piers Anthony and Terry Pratchett so you don't die because of the humour involved. My wit is largely influenced by those 2 monstrosities. Evil geniuses. Mad linguists. Whatever.
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