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“Mommy, mommy! I want this new doll!” a little girl no more than 3 feet tall shouts, her arms flailing behind her, hair scattering over her eyes and shoulders, as she runs wildly, into the small toy section at the local Wal-mart.

Her mother, only a few paces behind, is pushing an almost full shopping cart very calmly, as she seems to know the drill by now. “Okay little one, which one would you like?” The mother smiles as she turns into the toy aisle. The mother knew it was just another day in which she gets the see the brightest smile in the world.

* * * * *

I went shopping with my mother today. Nothing special, just a normal trip to Costco. This was the first time I seemed to have a different outlook on the experience. It was crowded, as it always is. I looked around at all the people shopping, doing their (what I would expect) usual routine. It seemed as though most of them were just drudging on, taking care of their bi-monthly shopping trip. Others seemed to be happy while shopping, but I’m not sure why they were happy; it couldn’t have been the fact that they were shopping.

I came to wonder, is this it? Will my life come down to the decision between wheat and white bread? I don’t mean this with any depressive connotation, but I guess it’s a question that all of us must wonder at some point. In this great vast universe, what is my role, and more importantly, what is the point of that role?

The worldwide cycle of life seems to be basically the same. Be grown by parents, do some self growing, find someone to grow old with, then grow your own as the cycle repeats itself. I can only imagine other lifestyles, full of adventure, full of mystery and marvel. Ones devoted to travelling and exploring the world and its inhabitants. Ones dedicated to exhausting the lifestyles of many different cultures. In a sense, living life to experience something other than monotony. But at the same time, where does that lead? The excitement is bound to end at some point anyways, and then what?

I know where I’m headed, what path I plan on taking in my attempts to make a mark on this planet. I’m just not sure exactly if this is what I want to do, at this point in my life at least. Maybe everyone around my age wonders this exact thing. I’m young at heart and very young at mind, and the world is potentially my oyster.

I plan on getting married sometime between soon and eventually. I also definitely want to have my own little one(s). As mentioned above, follow in the circle. And I guess my answer to the great existential question might just be this. That the mundane life that we each live is the most exciting and fulfilling thing we can possibly do. Going into work everyday, something enjoyable to you; having that one special person next to you for endless years to come; and knowing exactly what will make that brightest smile emerge from your little one.

All in all, I want to thank my parents for participating in the cycle and making sure I had a great life. I love the both of you very much. If I am able to do even a fraction of the job that you have done, I’ll be very proud of myself.

(Now that I think about it, I was a lot like that little girl from the anecdote in the beginning, except I was running towards the Ninja Turtle action figures).

Theory of life

What is the meaning of life?

Such a question is very difficult to answer but there may be a way of looking at it which could determine a possible reason to life. The short answer is to live happily. But here is how I look at it:

By Darwin's theory, evolution is what has made us what we are today. So by that logic the point of life is to have kids and make sure they are able to have kids.

The other point of life is happiness. Is life really worth living without being happy?

The cool thing is that these two views can actually tie into a whole possible purpose. The common human wishes to one day have children and be able to take care of them. That is what will bring him/her happiness. And in that sense those who are happy will also be those who are fit.

But what about those that do not find happiness from having children? Since they have the "wrong" definition of happiness, natural selection will play against them, and they will pretty much be weeded out of existence (in terms of genes of course).

The small town

Living in Dominica has given me a good sense of what it is like to live in a small town. And by that I don't mean one that is behind in technology, but one in which the population is much less and there is a greater sense of community.

In Northridge, I used to love going to the Wells Fargo branch near my house because my dad had made some friends there and was a frequent visitor. Whenever I went to the branch, I got a friendly hello and was asked how my family was doing. The pleasantries may not have actually meant anything, but it did make me happy, not in the sense of feeling important, but in a sense of feeling that in this not so small town, there were people who knew, and people that cared. Of course in every other situation, I'm always dealing with new people that I will probably never see again.

Now in Dominica, that small notion has become much larger. I see the same people everywhere I go. I know that it is for a limited time, but being nice to them, saying hello, asking how their day is going, makes me feel much better about life. The small sense of social oneness gives a greater sense of self and allows for... well, just a brighter day, even if it is hurricane season.

I have now started talking to my teachers. I don't necessarily go to them for help in subjects that I am having trouble with, but just to pop in and see how their day is so far. Sometimes interesting conversations spark about philosophy and life, sometimes about new creations in the world of drugs. All in all, I leave the office being a little happier myself, and sometimes knowing that I have made someone else's day a tiny bit better.

Moral of this story: be nice, say hi, lend a helping hand. The world is only as bad of a place as you make it. Spreading happiness, for the most part, should brighten it up.

School... obsolete?

Schooling has been around since forever. Now with the new ipod generation and in the times we are living in, is there really a necessity for a building where people go to learn?

We are now well into the age of the internet. A time where almost any information is accessible from devices conveniently stored in each individuals pocket. What is really the point of convening in a geographical location for the sole purpose of education. Of course there is the whole social networking of "school," but in the sense of learning, it seems to be obsolete.

Wikipedia, Youtube, and so many more websites can easily do all the teaching that is necessary for actual learning. Gaining access to knowledge is so easy with all the resources that almost everyone has now.

So then what is the real point of school? It is something to grant proof of "education." It doesn't necessarily mean that you learned stuff, but it shows people that you paid money to learn stuff, and were able to reproduce it on tests. It is proof that you did something rather than nothing.

How long will it take for this proof system to become more efficient? Couldn't it happen now?

I know that there are millions of holes in my theory, but I haven't actually sat down and planned out an entire education system suitable for a large and advanced country. I'm just trying to say that it seems very possible that schools may soon be obsolete.

College

My theory on college:

College is 4 years filled with... well, what is it filled with? There is a lot of partying, socialization, self discovery, and maybe a bit of learning.

It seems a bit unnecessary to spend 4 years of life in an institution, spending tens of thousands of dollars on what seems like just wasting time living somewhere that isn't home. It may be fun, but it seems so very inefficient.

Breaking college down into numbers:

I don't know about other people, but from what I've seen from my friends and myself, nobody really studies for a test more than 2 days in advance, most of which only use 1 day. Let's assume 2.

On a quarter system, most classes come down to 3 tests. 2 midterms and 1 final.

A quarter has about 4 classes.

A year has usually 3 quarters.

And college is 4 years.

3 tests x 4 classes x 3 quarters x 4 years = 144 tests

Giving 2 days of study time between each test (a test every 3 days), that would make college come down to (144 x 3 =) 432 days. Which is 1 year and 2 months about. That leaves a potential 2.8 years for partying and the other fun (or moving on to the next part of life).

Even adding .8 years of vacation time (or adding more study days.. what ever you want) would still make college into a 2 year program. Which in turn would give an extra 2 years to do... anything really.

Don't get me wrong here, I enjoyed college, possibly too much. The problem is that the basics and foundations of learning are never really taught, and so much time is wasted in sessions of attempted learning.

Anyways, the way I see it, lectures are unnecessary. All the material can be learned through reading, watching youtube videos, or just reading the teacher's powerpoints or notes. The actual process of listening to the teacher is quite inefficient, not in the sense of knowledge, but in the sense of time.

Studying and Procrastination

It seems like so many people do this thing called blank studying. Motivation plays a key part in this. Why is it that when we study earlier than necessary, it seems that nothing is going into our heads. And when its crunch time, every little detail (or at least most) seems to be at an easy reach come hours later.

The difference in motivation is tremendous. I'm sitting here attempting to learn eight hours worth of Histology lectures from 2 weeks ago for a test in two weeks. Of course nothing is actually entering my brain. But if the test was in 2 days, I would be learning the material very very quickly.

There has to be a better method to study. Unfortunately, procrastination seems to be the only thing that has been working for me so far. And by procrastination I don't mean studying on the last day, I mean starting to study exactly when I need to in order to know enough information to do decent on the upcoming test.

The Box

Can a normal human think outside of the box?

I don't believe it to be possible. I don't think humans are capable of thinking outside of the "box."

Example, and I'm sure that many people may have seen this before:

. . .

. . .

. . .

Connect all the dots without lifting your pencil with only 4 lines.

If you have seen this before or seen something similar to it, then it is quite simple to do the task. If you haven't, it would be nearly impossible.

The point of this is that to do it, you must literally think outside of the box. Now, given a person that has never seen this puzzle, the literal "box" would contain these 9 dots. To someone that has done the puzzle however, the "box" contains all the the dots and the white space around it.

The box for these people has expanded. And in that expansion, people have learned a new technique to solving problems, and their IQ has increased.

What I'm basically trying to say is that people don't think outside of the box, their boxes just expand.