What chu bwag abawt?

I have no idea what to blog about. Actually, this is a big problem with blogs. I need to update it regularly. Which means I need a topic. But, I can't really find anything interesting at the moment. Sure, there's the reservation thing for dalits, but that's boring. Actually I'll say everything I want to about that topic in one sentence. Ready?

It's lame to blog about.

And then there's the usual global warming ghalata and this fellow dying here and those fellows getting blown up there. There are hundreds thousand of religious idioticities. Scott McNealy's Microsoft jokes and crappy Vista security suicidal(for the user) features. That annoying Saint Bernard next door that barks at the exact moment I get a phone call and that stupid ant which was trying to get in my underwear. The big and the small. I don't want to blog about any of them.

My next blog post will be something interesting or fun. Fun for me, ofcourse. If it HAD to be fun for you, I'd have to ram my head into a water bottle filled with super glue or something extravagantly stupid and post the video here (and on YouTube! OH! Those yap-mouths).

Study Weariness

I'm bored of studying. Three years of learning math, physics, chem and other stuff that really aren't that interesting have driven me half-crazy. What's worse? I held up all other non-curricular activities so as to study. Contrary to what I thought would happen, I got a major brain drain.

It's funny how things and thoughts have changed over these three years. I used to enjoy solving problems. But now, I want to run away from books. I still have some 5 exams more to go in the next two months.But I don't seem to care much, no matter how much I keep telling myself it's important. I'm pretty much f***ed at this point. My scores have dropped by 30%(relatively speaking), not good. I don't want to know the straight line parallel to a plane and passing through a some point. Nor do I care whether some compound gives some other compound when something is added to it. Also, I'm not as funny as I used to be. Just great. A dying score, and a dead sense of humour(due to dryness).

The only good thing that came off all this is that I've learnt an important thing: never to overdo anything and to exercise moderation in everything.

Technorati Tags: brain drain, studying, IIT

Perspective and Control

Warning: self-help type topic

There are four types of people when it comes to getting things done. The combinations of high,low perspecitive and high,low control. The perspective a person has is essentially his/her planning skills and foresight. They can look at things from the future, from the past, and The control is the ability to focus on the current task.

A lot of us are high perspective, low control types--we dream a lot, but never get our arses off the bed. "I'm going to do task 1, then task 2 , then I'll be a rank 2, etc..". It's a sad case. I've seen high control, low perspective types. These things chug madly, guzzling anything thrown at them. Yup, they are like things. They have no real dreams or ambitions or plans. They can move in circles blindingly fast. They can't get the bigger picture of things. They never are satisfied. Then there are the low control, low perspective. "Go with the flow, dudes!". Yea, right. Flow of what? The air--which flows quite a lot? What everyone needs to be is high control, high perspective. That's when you REALLY chug forward and get where they want to. They are the Masters.

Now, I don't know what to do with the double lows. But for the single lows, I've devised a quick fix. Get your high a bit lower and then raise the low. If you have high control, take a while off to plan and dream. You'll be much better off in the long run. If you are high perspective, then stop planning and get some work done. You can work on increasing both later, but for now, to be more efficient, shift your ' ability points'.

I am a high perspective, low control. It's like I have Attention Deficit Disorder.At any rate, I decided to kill the planning. I've eliminated all 'goals'-yearly, weekly, everything.The formal planning is removed. But now I maintain focus on what I want and need to focus on. I use my Projects List a lot more nowadays. If I feel satisfied at the end of the day, then good. Otherwise I'll know I need to be doing more. No need of tracking it. My subconscious already does that for me. That's that.

The Futility of Debate

I think that debating is a utterly useless activity. Most of the time, nobody changes their mind. You might as well be searching the gutters for ruby rings and expensive things.

Most debates go something like this:
"God does not exist"
"He does! He created you!"
"No. I am a result of chance, years of evolution and conception"
"God created light and the universe"
"Nonsense. We just exist."
"Nonsense"

So, there. It's just a moo point for each other. There's no point in deabting if nobody changes their opinion. Nobody wants to. Nobosy shifts to the other person's POV. Rarely, a person might just do something he was being asked for. That's it. You could have bribed him, and used the saved time to go earn back your money (ok, THAT is a moo point, too--no, not the whole passage).

To conform or to be unique?

I've been thinking about a couple of things for the past few hours, here's a little theory I just made up.

People have two desires which can explain a lot of behaviour. The desire to conform to norms and the desire to be unique. Now these two seem like opposites, and they are.

People do the same things that their peers do. They do it in a 'group'. Ofcourse, no formal groups are made, infact, no group is recognized. One person wears the latest clothes, and the other does the same. It's something like peer pressure, except peer pressure isn't the cause for the desire, but rather an amplifier. Individuals also want to be special, different: the desire to be unique.

These two desires manifest themselves in two different ways. The desire to conform(D2C) shows itself in more generic, large scale-type things. The desire to be unique(D2U) is clearly shown in the specifics of the behaviour. Heres a simple example: Everyone wants cellphones because their friends have them and they are considered cool(mostly by others, but rarely themselves). So, they get them. D2C. But each person gets a different cellphone, a better cellphone. A contest! 'My cellphone has a higher resolution','Mine has bluetooth'. It's also interesting to notice how often people look at a particular feature, THEN find a use for it. Not the other way around. This is show-offing. It's not bad. It's a part of us.

Another example: Everyone believes in God and worships him. D2C. But the competition is in the scale of the worshipping, celebration,etc. 'We had a big(ger) Ganesha', 'We had more types of food', etc. D2U.

Now, notice people. More successful people have a larger D2U, they do things their way. They are leaders. less successful people have more D2C. They are the mob, the followers, they conform to the leaders. People with more D2U are more competetive.

Now, notice the roots of D2C and D2U. D2C comes from the social requirements of humans. You want people to talk to you, to accept you, therefore try to do what they do. You bunk classes because they do. You spin in a temple, because they do. Your parents buy you stuff because other parents do, not because it's useful. D2U comes from the self esteem requirements of humans. You buy a cool cell phone because you want to show that you are 'better'. Parents buy you a cooler bike than your friends, because they want to show your friends' parents that they are better parents. There are a ton of examples.

The way people behave generally tries to satisfy both D2U and D2C. Think about it if you want.

Technorati Tags: D2C, D2U, peer pressure, competition

What 'mourning'?

Warningeth: Ranting ahed. Tread carefully, or thou shalt be denied Christ

An actor called 'Rajkumar' died yesterday. Therefore, there has been a lot of *ahem* mourning going on in Bangalore(and the whole state, I guess). All the shops are closed. The cable operators have cut off all TV channels except news and Kannada channels. All kannada channels are showing Rajkumar movies(which ALL suck, funnily). There is no public transport and most of the shops are closed. I'm glad that atleast the internet is working. I don't want to sadly stare at the story of the maniacal exploits of a demented, over dramatic actor who looks more like a woman and therefore was able to seduce the hearts of gay men who deny their homosexuality.
Wherever that came from...

Anyway, first off: about Dacter(that's what THEY say) Rajkumar. He sucks at acting. Okay, maybe he PRETENDS to suck at acting, so therefore he is a good actor. But to hell, lizards pretend to sleep better. He doesn't act, rather over-dramatizes tjhe whole scene, making everything look satirical or parodical. It's like he's trying to play Shakespeare, but has drunk 3.142 litres of martini, but can STILL somehow remember his lines and not act drunk. Out of the shooting set, he does yoga, sings....something, and gets kidnapped.

Now, the people: most people don't really give a cow's butt(those are small) either. Infact, they don't want to have any holiday and want to do their normal daily stuff. The reason why everyone is doing this nonsense is because they are scared that some crazy Rajkumar fan will come over and destroy and loot their shop or that they will get into trouble with those road romeos. See? People shouldn't bother much. It's absolutely ridiculous for a holiday to be declared just because an actor died. Especially when he was some 78 years old. The government is playing along because they don't want trouble. They don't want people pooping in front of their homes. Ah, but, yes. Look! An internet cafe near my just opened their doors! That's good. And if they get attacked by a homosexual Rajkumar faction, I promise I'll watch.


Technorati Tags: idiotic, rajkumar, mourning, karnataka

Real Happiness?

There are these 'gurus' and 'saints' who go around claiming that by praying, meditating or following certain practices, they have attained true bliss. They say they have a calm state of mind and they are never unhappy.

Now, I don't believe them. I'm not saying they are sad, I'm saying they aren't happy. From my point of view, I have no idea how someone can just sit at a place for 2 hours straight and be happy about it. Maybe they do have a peaceful mind. Doing that once a week might make you happy. But living like that would be like... sitting in the toilet forever. The last thing I want to do is sit around(or on top) for the rest of my life...

My theory is that these dudes(yea, dudes) have somehow eliminated emotion from their brains and therefore, they think they are very happy. I say this because I don't see how everything can make a person happy. If one thing makes a person happy, the opposite should make a person unhappy. If it doesn't, the poor guy MUST have lost it. There is no way TV can make you happy and no TV still make you happy, all else being equal. That is madness.

Ofcourse, they may be unhappy on the inside and they may just be pretending. But being angry and still being able to put a smile on your face is really hard. It makes you want to pull your hair as opposed to pulling others legs.

What's your opinion?

I have just one more exam- Kannada(Second Language). Aw, crud! I make better chicken tikka masala and gobi manchuri than kannada answers(How the hell does one make chicken tikka masala anyway?). Ofcourse, after that I have to write some 6 competitive exams from IIT-JEE to the local entrance exam(K-CET). And IIT-JEE is just 5 days away. Eeps.