You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car. ~Harvey Diamond
In this era, people are so knowledge logic driven. Tell them something based on intuition and they take you for a crackpot. But who says vegetarianism is only for emotionally soft animal right activists? They want hard facts and science? They’ve got it.
Carnivorous saliva is acidic. Herbivorous saliva is alkaline. Human saliva is alkaline.
The intestine of a carnivore is smooth and shaped like a pipe so that food gets passed through quickly. Intestine of a herbivore is like a windy mountain road with bumps, for optimal absorption of plant food. Go flip into any textbook and check out the picture of a human digestive system.
Herbivores require fiber to move food along its digestive tracts, while carnivores, having short intestinal tracts, do not. That’s why people get constipation.
Carnivores have intestinal tract only 3 times their body length. The human intestine is,...very long.
Finally while carnivores have the ability to handle a high cholesterol diet, herbivores do not. Cholesterol is never found in plants. Some of Human’s adaptations to coping with high cholesterol levels include heart retrenchment, arterial diseases and engaging stroke mode.
This is not about a campaign for animal rights. This is nature.
It’s a race between evolution and food poisoning (eventual even if not immediate). So far, evolution is losing.
If beef is your idea of "real food for real people" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital. ~Neal Barnard
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Vivace Concert
At last, the pressing thoughts about the concert have been relieved.
It was wonderful.
It was also good to see that this year, a wider variety of performances were put up; dance, opera singing, normal singing, contemporary, orchestral and band music.
The pieces we played this year for orchestra were also a lot more suitable for orchestra, as we usually play band scores.
By gradual improvement, I hope that one day we would reach the standard to play classic orchestral pieces. Well, "blue danube waltz" this year was a start.
After a year of being a section leader, I am finally getting the hang of it.
It was wonderful.
It was also good to see that this year, a wider variety of performances were put up; dance, opera singing, normal singing, contemporary, orchestral and band music.
The pieces we played this year for orchestra were also a lot more suitable for orchestra, as we usually play band scores.
By gradual improvement, I hope that one day we would reach the standard to play classic orchestral pieces. Well, "blue danube waltz" this year was a start.
After a year of being a section leader, I am finally getting the hang of it.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Some teamwork
Math Journal: Post assignment reflections
We encountered many obstacles through this assignment, the first being the lack of teamwork our group had. We started off as three members, but we took in another one. That person had little sense of responsibility and understanding. Finding the formula for the harmonic number was a great problem we needed to solve, thus we assigned that to him as his first role. I would not have minded if he had tried early, but he cropped up with many excuses, like it was still such a long time before the deadline, and that he was busy (Relatively free compared to some of us though who takes three times more languages and do not have the privilege of little travelling time from school to home), despite constant reminders. When he claimed to have reaped some results, it turned out to be a recurring function, which required input of the previous result to find the next result(not particularly useful). By the time sense struck us that we should have given up on depending on that person long ago, it was too late. Fortunately the deadline was extended. Sometimes, despite how capable other people are, it still takes just one person to bring the rest down. A balance between compassion and selectivity of team elements would always be helpful. Being too kind at times, does not mean being kind to the person in the long term.
From past experience, I realised that nothing beats face to face discussion; otherwise, and the possibility of horrendous results surface. Some people think that with leaps and bounds in technology, digital communication is a huge improvement from the tiresome times where we have to find a place to meet and discuss work. I beg to differ, because only with physical discussion, will we be able to better communicate, with more than just words. Expressions play an important part too, when wanting to know how each other feels about an idea, and to know who is following and who is not. Doing work face to face, is also physically easier, compared to having to use those computer peripheral to transmit thoughts. Besides, not everyone checks their email all of the time.
On my experience, usually online discussion only leads to two things, a rough idea and the division of work. Many people love to divide work, and they claim that that lightens each person’s burden. However, when we divide work over the internet, most of the time everyone is doing their own stuff, and there is a lack of conformity in thoughts. Despite their work being wonderfully done, the different parts of a report might not necessarily fit properly, both in structure and content. Each jigsaw piece can be beautifully and intricately created, with a melodious blend of colours, but it turns out to be not much use should they not fit with each other. This is not teamwork, this is just well-done individual work neatly compiled together.
That is why, from the start I have suggested us coming together to brainstorm and discuss, and finish the math journal in front of each other, such that we all know what each other is doing. However, due to the lack of time we had because of the extreme delays we suffered from waiting for someone, we could not find a time to do so. It turned out that my postulate had proved itself right once again, because, not meaning to bring myself higher, but it turns out that I was doing a lot of the work in the end because some people did not have the initiative to do so.
The second obstacle was the boundaries of mathematical knowledge we had. As it turned out, the Harmonic Series was not easy topic to write much about with our elementary knowledge of series. We, or at least, I, had to do a lot of research and digestion before being able to start writing the report to ensure I understood what I was writing, instead of mere copying from sources. This research includes reading up on topics in calculus, such as infinite series like the Mercator series and a little integration, understanding it; and also trying to formulate my own equation to make sure that my understanding matches the understanding of books and internet.
Despite the research, the formula for the Harmonic numbers was still a huge problem. The moment I found that there was no straight formula found on the internet about a formula regarding the Harmonic number, I had a feeling that we were in trouble. It finally turns out that it requires understanding the digamma function, the logarithmic derivative of the gamma function, which is equivalent to the factorial operation for positive integers. However, the full equation defining it was way beyond our understanding.
When we found Euler’s result, we thought that our problems have vanished; the Harmonic number is equal to the integral of (1-x^n)/(1-x) from 0 to 1. However, by evaluating the integral we realised that we got back the harmonic series. That was no use. Finally, we made do with a close approximation of the Harmonic number.
The result might not had been as ideal as we had hoped for, but I felt that I have learnt a lot through the constant probing for answers, which lead from one question to another. Although, our goal of finding and understanding the formula for the exact value of harmonic numbers was not clearly achieved, I have learnt many other things, like understanding the proves for alternating series after very long times of pondering and having a slightly better understanding of elementary calculus. I cannot help but to agree that over here, the journey means more than the finish.
I must say that by having done a lot of work, hours of background research, hours of report writing and question solving, I am positive that I enjoyed my work more than anyone else in my group. Now that the journal is done, I found myself learning a lot more than I thought I would be learning. I feel really proud of what we have done, and although it would be ideal that everyone co-operates to their best, it still does not matter who ‘slacks’ and who does not, because diligence and responsibility comes with its own reward. I know that sounds rather cliché.
Wow, the world is fair after all.
We encountered many obstacles through this assignment, the first being the lack of teamwork our group had. We started off as three members, but we took in another one. That person had little sense of responsibility and understanding. Finding the formula for the harmonic number was a great problem we needed to solve, thus we assigned that to him as his first role. I would not have minded if he had tried early, but he cropped up with many excuses, like it was still such a long time before the deadline, and that he was busy (Relatively free compared to some of us though who takes three times more languages and do not have the privilege of little travelling time from school to home), despite constant reminders. When he claimed to have reaped some results, it turned out to be a recurring function, which required input of the previous result to find the next result(not particularly useful). By the time sense struck us that we should have given up on depending on that person long ago, it was too late. Fortunately the deadline was extended. Sometimes, despite how capable other people are, it still takes just one person to bring the rest down. A balance between compassion and selectivity of team elements would always be helpful. Being too kind at times, does not mean being kind to the person in the long term.
From past experience, I realised that nothing beats face to face discussion; otherwise, and the possibility of horrendous results surface. Some people think that with leaps and bounds in technology, digital communication is a huge improvement from the tiresome times where we have to find a place to meet and discuss work. I beg to differ, because only with physical discussion, will we be able to better communicate, with more than just words. Expressions play an important part too, when wanting to know how each other feels about an idea, and to know who is following and who is not. Doing work face to face, is also physically easier, compared to having to use those computer peripheral to transmit thoughts. Besides, not everyone checks their email all of the time.
On my experience, usually online discussion only leads to two things, a rough idea and the division of work. Many people love to divide work, and they claim that that lightens each person’s burden. However, when we divide work over the internet, most of the time everyone is doing their own stuff, and there is a lack of conformity in thoughts. Despite their work being wonderfully done, the different parts of a report might not necessarily fit properly, both in structure and content. Each jigsaw piece can be beautifully and intricately created, with a melodious blend of colours, but it turns out to be not much use should they not fit with each other. This is not teamwork, this is just well-done individual work neatly compiled together.
That is why, from the start I have suggested us coming together to brainstorm and discuss, and finish the math journal in front of each other, such that we all know what each other is doing. However, due to the lack of time we had because of the extreme delays we suffered from waiting for someone, we could not find a time to do so. It turned out that my postulate had proved itself right once again, because, not meaning to bring myself higher, but it turns out that I was doing a lot of the work in the end because some people did not have the initiative to do so.
The second obstacle was the boundaries of mathematical knowledge we had. As it turned out, the Harmonic Series was not easy topic to write much about with our elementary knowledge of series. We, or at least, I, had to do a lot of research and digestion before being able to start writing the report to ensure I understood what I was writing, instead of mere copying from sources. This research includes reading up on topics in calculus, such as infinite series like the Mercator series and a little integration, understanding it; and also trying to formulate my own equation to make sure that my understanding matches the understanding of books and internet.
Despite the research, the formula for the Harmonic numbers was still a huge problem. The moment I found that there was no straight formula found on the internet about a formula regarding the Harmonic number, I had a feeling that we were in trouble. It finally turns out that it requires understanding the digamma function, the logarithmic derivative of the gamma function, which is equivalent to the factorial operation for positive integers. However, the full equation defining it was way beyond our understanding.
When we found Euler’s result, we thought that our problems have vanished; the Harmonic number is equal to the integral of (1-x^n)/(1-x) from 0 to 1. However, by evaluating the integral we realised that we got back the harmonic series. That was no use. Finally, we made do with a close approximation of the Harmonic number.
The result might not had been as ideal as we had hoped for, but I felt that I have learnt a lot through the constant probing for answers, which lead from one question to another. Although, our goal of finding and understanding the formula for the exact value of harmonic numbers was not clearly achieved, I have learnt many other things, like understanding the proves for alternating series after very long times of pondering and having a slightly better understanding of elementary calculus. I cannot help but to agree that over here, the journey means more than the finish.
I must say that by having done a lot of work, hours of background research, hours of report writing and question solving, I am positive that I enjoyed my work more than anyone else in my group. Now that the journal is done, I found myself learning a lot more than I thought I would be learning. I feel really proud of what we have done, and although it would be ideal that everyone co-operates to their best, it still does not matter who ‘slacks’ and who does not, because diligence and responsibility comes with its own reward. I know that sounds rather cliché.
Wow, the world is fair after all.
Questions on Patriotism
On today's chinese lesson, we were debating about whether there is a need for one's eventual return to one's hometown or birthplace.
Soon, the discussion narrowed down to the concept of patriotism.
Later, someone else asked me whether I would ever migrate, without return.
I said that the chances of so are not ruled out. She was shocked, astounded, like that was a scandal!
Is it so?
If I would permanantly reside in a place, I would reside in one which makes me feel the most at ease, somewhere comfortable for my heart and soul. That would be unlikely to be tied down by what they call ' National Education'.
Here, a fine line is needed to distinguish patriotism and loyalty. Patriotism is a love a devotion to one’s country, whereas loyalty has a much deeper meaning only comprehendable by emotional beings.
A country is made up of physical space and people. Physical space, like the scenery, familiar city might bring back memories, sweet or bitter. These are some inanimate things, non-living and emotionless, what would it mean to be loyal to these things? Isn't this more of just liking, than loyalty?
I believe, loyalty can only be expressed to emotional beings. Only then, would loyalty have meaning. Then, isn’t loyalty to the people you love what really matters then, compared to loving your country?
Sometimes, in fact, often, our cultural and political believes simply do not blend in, your social status is not desirable, then what scandal is there in moving to another country with more preferable conditions? You could still bring your loved ones along, couldn’t you? Supposing that they can’t make it, and you choose to stay, it is no longer a matter of loving your country, but a matter of loyalty.
Countless people have emigrated from homelands, in search of a better place to live in; From China to Singapore, from Europe to the free land. In the rise of the power of the Nazis, Albert Einstein emigrated to the United States. I would not say that these people are ‘unpatriotic’ or whatsoever, as they is no such word in my dictionary. The point is, there is no wrong in moving on, (or betraying your country as some patriots just love to call it).
I am not saying that there is any wrong in being patriotic, but rather that that is something quite neutral morally.
I raised this example
Let’s say you gained existence out of a sudden on a deserted island. Feeling the need to enter civilization, you move out. In this extreme case, there is clearly nothing wrong if you do not return to the island.
Certain people like to talk about repaying your country in future, for what it had done for you. However, there are lots of issues here to be weighed.
If your country started a war over some materialistic reason, would it be morally right to “repay” your country by fighting for it, supposed you had choice.
The world is highly interconnected. If we said that working hard for our country is a form of repayment to society, how would we know for sure it is?
We could say that the government had probably subsidized some money for our education when we were young. Of this money however, only a negligible amount of it really belongs to the people making up the government. The rest comes from taxes. So, we could say that the subsidized money in this case was provided by the previous generation.
When we ‘work for society’, economy might improve, but how could you know for sure that that is repaying the person who gave you the money in the first place? They might have migrated, died, or due to the complexity and diversity of the workings of the world, we might even be harming them via the butterfly effect.
Of course, this is only one possible argument, of many others that might contradict and support. So, I cannot say for sure that it would be beneficial or harmful to be working for our country.
But our best chances lie in not being tied down by the concept of ‘patriotism’, to prevent us from doing things based on our principles and how we feel should be done.
Soon, the discussion narrowed down to the concept of patriotism.
Later, someone else asked me whether I would ever migrate, without return.
I said that the chances of so are not ruled out. She was shocked, astounded, like that was a scandal!
Is it so?
If I would permanantly reside in a place, I would reside in one which makes me feel the most at ease, somewhere comfortable for my heart and soul. That would be unlikely to be tied down by what they call ' National Education'.
Here, a fine line is needed to distinguish patriotism and loyalty. Patriotism is a love a devotion to one’s country, whereas loyalty has a much deeper meaning only comprehendable by emotional beings.
A country is made up of physical space and people. Physical space, like the scenery, familiar city might bring back memories, sweet or bitter. These are some inanimate things, non-living and emotionless, what would it mean to be loyal to these things? Isn't this more of just liking, than loyalty?
I believe, loyalty can only be expressed to emotional beings. Only then, would loyalty have meaning. Then, isn’t loyalty to the people you love what really matters then, compared to loving your country?
Sometimes, in fact, often, our cultural and political believes simply do not blend in, your social status is not desirable, then what scandal is there in moving to another country with more preferable conditions? You could still bring your loved ones along, couldn’t you? Supposing that they can’t make it, and you choose to stay, it is no longer a matter of loving your country, but a matter of loyalty.
Countless people have emigrated from homelands, in search of a better place to live in; From China to Singapore, from Europe to the free land. In the rise of the power of the Nazis, Albert Einstein emigrated to the United States. I would not say that these people are ‘unpatriotic’ or whatsoever, as they is no such word in my dictionary. The point is, there is no wrong in moving on, (or betraying your country as some patriots just love to call it).
I am not saying that there is any wrong in being patriotic, but rather that that is something quite neutral morally.
I raised this example
Let’s say you gained existence out of a sudden on a deserted island. Feeling the need to enter civilization, you move out. In this extreme case, there is clearly nothing wrong if you do not return to the island.
Certain people like to talk about repaying your country in future, for what it had done for you. However, there are lots of issues here to be weighed.
If your country started a war over some materialistic reason, would it be morally right to “repay” your country by fighting for it, supposed you had choice.
The world is highly interconnected. If we said that working hard for our country is a form of repayment to society, how would we know for sure it is?
We could say that the government had probably subsidized some money for our education when we were young. Of this money however, only a negligible amount of it really belongs to the people making up the government. The rest comes from taxes. So, we could say that the subsidized money in this case was provided by the previous generation.
When we ‘work for society’, economy might improve, but how could you know for sure that that is repaying the person who gave you the money in the first place? They might have migrated, died, or due to the complexity and diversity of the workings of the world, we might even be harming them via the butterfly effect.
Of course, this is only one possible argument, of many others that might contradict and support. So, I cannot say for sure that it would be beneficial or harmful to be working for our country.
But our best chances lie in not being tied down by the concept of ‘patriotism’, to prevent us from doing things based on our principles and how we feel should be done.
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