Thought 7

We haven't evolved very far.

We may have less hair on our chest, bloated bellies and the internet, but psychologically, we did not get  past Paleolithic times.

Our need to mate with those who are beautiful is driven by the fact that our offspring and therefore our own brand of genetic code is successfully carried on.
Personality only comes into play if that too is a positive genetic trait that makes it easier for our sons and daughters to continue procreation.

Acne, on the other hand is a purely physical manifestation of inner stress which was a particular trait that marked you as being less likely to survive an attack of natural predators.
For example, if you were a pre historic female living in a cave and was suddenly attacked by wolves or sabretooths, you would have to be able to remain calm and find someway of not becoming dinner.
Those with that genetic code embedded in their DNA are far more likely to be able to handle stress so it would be unlikely that they would have any problems with acne.
So acne really is just natures way of allowing potential mates to assess their partners ability to deal with life threatening situations and being able to pass on that trait to their brood.
And its likely somebody wised up to the situation, put mud on their face to hide them and basically beat natures signs thereby allowing them to procreate.
Acne really is a sign of negative mental and emotional traits brought to the physical level so mates can assess their potential of procreation.

There are honestly more examples of this but I'll stop because I'm sleepy and just awesome that way.

Yours sincerely,
many thanks,
Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year!

On a side note, my favorite Christmas song is Frank Sinatra's - Let it Snow.

Thought no.453

I am starting to feel some pride in Malaysia, but like all good feelings, it never lasts.

We don't own the man, we are proud to call him one of us.
By his own effort and determination, by the grit and strength he has shown us at the Olympics, good show sir, good show.

We should have done more to support him, to give him focus, to give him strength, to allow him every opportunity to shine. We do not deserve his apology, he does deserve our thanks.

As a people, as a nation, we need heroes. People to look up to, to bring us together, that as a fragmented nation in every sense, we NEED, not want, not deserve, not should have, we bloody need people who can inspire and unite our nation.
South Africa managed it (please do watch Invictus for the full, dramatized, version of the story) and they had apartheid.
They managed it by having full governmental support for their sports program. Its not a political agenda, its a national one.

We would not grudge our athletes winning prize money for achievements in sports. What we should be doing is spending that money to train and encourage more athletes to take up sports as a full time profession and to compete at every level.
To instill that belief in the younger generation that if you have a talent, our people and by extension, our government will recognize it and do their damnedest to encourage you and assist you to fulfill your potential and in return, you do your best and you become more than a man, you become a legend, an incorruptible symbol (blatant rip-off, admittedly I do enjoy a good pop-culture reference, thanks Christopher Nolan).

I have detoured into politics and I do not apologize.
No matter who comes into power, a sports program is needed, that talent is rewarded and that they are provided with all the opportunities and advantages available.
Sports is a tool of unity and regardless of your political affiliations, there is something to be proud of, of a man, a woman, a transexual/transgender, a team who shows courage and spirit in the face of insurmountable odds, pressure and expectations to battle to go down in history and to give it your all in that pursuit.

So right now, I hope that he does inspire and that his legacy on that night causes ripples of change in the system that lasts long past we have obtained that elusive Olympic Gold Medal.
And then, only then, would we maybe deserve their apologies.

Reforming the Education System

Fisting really hurts ~ Everybody.

We should really think about what we're teaching our kids nowadays.
I remember when I was a kid, I read an article about how our tongue receptors are not geared towards a particular area.
Each and everyone of the nodes on our tongue is capable of detecting all six flavors.
I remember thinking I was retarded and that was something wrong with me when I couldn't taste the sweet stuff when bitter was on the tip of my tongue.
And this is what my syllabus taught me, so you can imagine my confusion when faced with multiple choice. It was ABCD, all of the above, the imaginary E!
But alas, twas not to be. Reprinting, updating textbooks cost moolah, and somebody in a position of authority did not take into account that science is an ever changing subject of study.

So, point no 1: Teaching outdated information.

Then there are subjects that have no place in our day-to-day lives and should have been removed to make way for much more useful nuggets of information.
Scrap moral, make way for economics.
Scrap certain parts of maths, additional maths, make way for geography.
Make biology about humans as the emphasis, knowing what happens to our body is important.
Make maths more orientated towards our day-to-day use such as "per liter", "per kilo", calculating the sensibility of going into debt, of home loans, of calculating investments.
Make economics a compulsory subject. Lord knows that we would have much more entrepreneurs if they knew they could make a living besides being doctors, lawyers, engineers and businessmen.
History: really, do I even need to explain this one?
Geography, knowing the geographical make up of our society, how to read a map, how road systems work, how public transportation works, start with the home country in the beginning, branch out to ASEAN, then to Asia and finally the world. Know the make up of a particular country, its economics, the main language, it opens up avenues of thought and gives us more daring citizens.
Chemistry and Physics could be combined and more focused on our daily lives. How your television works, how to cure acid burns, how detergent works, deodorant, medicines, emphasis on the day-to-day, the mundane, the common sense that is becoming increasingly rare.

And Living Skills. boiling a pot of water, how to wash your own clothes, how to clean your own house, how pouring water on your computer is not a good idea to clean it, how to pump petrol, take public transportation, where to find information pertaining to everything else.

Think kids can't take this sort of information?
dumb it down for them, make it relevant, make it something they can use.
We're adults, we're smart people. You're telling me that we can't figure out a way to get kids interested in things and skills that they should have in their day-to-day life?

So point no.2 : Syllabus overhaul.

And teachers, need to be paid better. There should be a system of teacher evaluation, of feedback, where they need to be understood by their students and be taught.
So a weighted system where the students' results and their evaluations are brought in with more emphasis on their learning capabilities than on their personalities.
Promotions, benefits, requirement of research papers, teachers are the first line of defense against dumbness in our society should be treated as well as any corporate drone because their contribution to our nation is human capital, which equal profits, which equals bigger GDP, which equals more money going around for everybody.

So point no.3: Better teachers.

We should really think about it, because there's a war coming.
And the nation with the best resources, natural, human, technological, will survive.
Otherwise, we will become a footnote to someone else's history and we won't even warrant a chapter.

This town ain't big enough for the both of us, said an unspecified movie character at a particular point in time.

In Malaysia, we're seen as a country of well mannered, helpful, polite society that always tries to help our lost tourist amigos and generally not decaying into moral ambiguity, drugs, sex and violence.
Actually sex isn't bad, but thats a discussion for another day.

What I'm really winging (win-ging) about is that this isn't true.
What did I just say? Am I calling everybody out there rude and uncouth?
Did I just taint the name of my country?

No idiot. If you thought that, then yeah well, name calling is appropriate.

I'm talking about statistics. Majorities and minorities.
And common sense and reacting differently in different social situations.

Lets take a common event, you meet someone for the first time, you know you're going to be seeing a lot more of time (classmate, colleague, parent) so you make an effort to be polite, considerate, helpful, smart.
Now take an entirely similar scenario, when you're taking a lift and you're not sure if you're ever going to see this person and if they matter in your life.
Would you hold the door for them? Would you step into the lift before they've stepped out? Would you make way or even think about making way to make everybody's life more comfortable? Would you ask which floor they were heading to?

I'm not saying you're rude if you don't. I'm saying that we're a nation of hypocrites, a third world mentality with first world amenities.
If not for the awesome food and long queues in our country we would have descended into chaos and anarchy a long time ago. They keep us pacified so much easier than tear gas and water cannons.

Furthermore, look at traffic jams. EVERYBODY has been cut off by an asshole at one point or another while driving here.
If we were a polite a society as we like to think, this would happen much less frequently.
Its just due to the fact that we're in a protected shell, we know that there's no consequence to us if we make it (assuming we're the asshole), and because the person we cut is probably just as scared of us of confrontation.

So we do that. We become assholes when we know that the consequences don't matter.
Polite? Only in certain situations.
Friendly? When we need to be.

It's not wrong to be, there are many excuses to not do so. Take your pick:
1) no time
2) not worth the effort
3) everybody else is doing it

congratulations. you're now part of the herd. enjoy the rest of your life lying to yourself, that you're better than others when really, you're not.

otherwise, wise up to the reality. we're not all saints. we can think of ourselves as such, but that just makes us arrogant assholes who as we know, are capable of much shitting.
know yourself, be aware, be better, not because you want something, but because you can be.

Abundance

We live for so long.

We think life is short because our day passes by so quickly, then we have to sleep, wake up and do it all over again.

In the grand scheme of things, we have so many days of life that time is rather in abundance.

Everyday we learn something new, we do something we haven't done before but the amazement and wonder of it fades or is dulled by the fact that we don't see nor enjoy what it is we're doing.

We're looking forward to tomorrow, to the excitement of things that are to come, the extravagant, the much more visually appealing, the social uplift.

We are given so much in abundance now.

Previously, a holiday meant staying at home and relaxing.

Currently, it means blowing thousands of cash to jet set to another part of the world.

Previously, eating well meant food to fill your stomach.

Currently, it means to go to a fancy restaurant and blow thousands of cash for cuisine from another part of the world.

Previously, salt was considered a valuable spice.

Currently, it means an essential part of cooking and we are consuming too much of it to the point of killing ourselves.

Previously, fast foods weren't the norm.

Currently, it means obesity for most of the world, harmful nutritional facts where the french fry is considered a fibrous, nutrient rich vegetable.

We live for too long, our bodies have forgotten how to evolve.

So we now depend on technology to save our asses from the deep fryer.

To live until 70 years old, who can imagine.

Especially for some of us whose bodies are already beginning to break down.

If we had lived a shorter life, perhaps some of us would be happier.

Perhaps we would evolved a stomach ready to deal with the oily, salty, fatty fried foods we have now.

That our bodies can deal with the abundance and not kill ourselves in the process.

That our lungs would be able to process more dangerous green house gases to help save the environment.

That we would evolve a tail to use the mouse while our fingers do the typing. Or to swing from construction building to construction building. (Credit to Dilbert strip)

But as it is, we live for just too damn long and I'm afraid the next generation is going to be even worse of than we are.

As those who study economics know, the law of supply and demand run the usage of natural resources and as demand continues raging forward, there is a need to hold back the supply before it all goes to hell.