It has been quite a long time since I've been able to pen (type) a new piece of my mind here. In this time quite a bit has happened in my life. I've formally declared my major as Microbiology, and I've begun to work as a volunteer in a university laboratory as a fish-tank-cleaner. Riveting stuff indeed. But what I would like to focus on is not me, or my hopes and aspirations, because I don't think that blogger would let me write that much, and it's not what's important right now actually.
What I want to talk about is the new and emerging technologies, which I'm sure a lot of you are feeling like are moving too fast. Honestly I have to agree, they are moving too fast. At least the unimportant ones are moving too fast. The important ones however are moving just fast enough. In 2003, the human genome was offically published. It took 13 years and nearly $4 billion to complete. Researchers around the world colaborated to get the sequencing of genes in order. Each sequence was about 50 units long (out of nearly 3 billion total units!), and costs about $1/unit to sequnce. That was in 1992. The sequencing technology, much like original computers, was in its infancy at the time. The machines used took up entire rooms, and the process itself was time consuming. Now days the machines fit on top of a desk, and are millions of times more powerful, performing a 50 unit sequences in fractions of a second. The majority of the human genome project was complete in the last five years of those 13. The growth scale of this technology is not slowing.
There have now (since 2003) been 10,000 human genomes sequenced (2012). It took 13 years for the first one, and now in lest than a decade researchers have sequenced 9,999 more. I'd say we're progressing. Geneticists are begining to notice which genes are particular to olympic athletes, which genes are particular to scholars, and so on. The cost of mapping a genome is now around $1,000 and can be done in a few months. Next year, 2013, the cost is expected to be around $100 and take about a week to do. It is forcasted that part of a general doctor visit in the next five years will be a mapping of your genome. That's not a bad thing though. Body-modification is about to take on a whole new meaning. Evolution is taking on a whole new meaning also, as humans begin to actively change the living organisms around them. There is no turning back from these technologies, only vigilance, and wisdom. Luckily the tools are currently in the hands of the wise, but may not be for very much longer because of it's decreasing costs, and increasing prevalence.
There is no turning back, the human race is evolving into something else. We are becoming more aware of our impact on this planet, we are becoming more aware of our impact on ourselves through psychological and sociological research, and we are learning how to change both of those things.
Through genetic tracking of viruses researchers have mapped out what parts of a rodent brain are affected by certain emotional responses. These maps were generated in two colors, parts turned "on" by the emotion, and parts turned "off" by the emotion. These two parts are used to create a binary code, and therefore a computer program which simulates the brain's emotional responses. Essentially the theory of the project is that we'll be able to download and upload memories! Think about that! Download our memories to our facebook profile for people to upload to their own consciousness. Combine that with the genomic research, and we will be able to colonize the stars. Say there's a planet with a different atmosphere than earth, simply design a body from the genes up that will survive on that surface, and send the body there. Then download your consciousness onto a "server", and upload it into that body on the other planet, and vice versa. We'll be able to wake up in Chicago, eat breakfast with our families, then transport our consciousness to the body in our office in Hong-Kong, do our work, then transport back to Chicago for dinner.
We are progessing fast, and the future will only hold more progress as computers become more powerful, as genomics becomes more available, as psychological research gains further insights to the human mind, and as we begin to terraform our planet now, and other planets in the future. We must be aware of what we're doing, and be sure to ask the question "Just because we can, does that mean we should?"
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
The essence of perfection, and the impossible challenge (Pt. 1)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A proverb of which the origins elude me, but poignant and necessary in this day and age. Some would argue that the American Dream is long-gone, part of a by-gone era which included things like modern appliances, the unskilled labor-force, hula-hoops, tiki-bars, getting ahead in life when one starts out with literally nothing, and doing "better" in life than your parents did. When did that go away? Unless there is some seriously extensive research done, I couldn't tell you that answer, and even then, it could only be speculative. I think that a much more important question that more people should be asking is, why did it go away? This is an incredibly complex and nuanced situation that has been culminating for centuries. Why the discussion of the "American Dream", because it is a lifestyle of beauty, perfection, ideals of aesthetics. The dream has left these shores and sailed across the Pacific to India and China. There, the people have hope that if they move from the countryside to the cities they will live a life that is "easier" or "better" than their parents'. Does that story sound familiar? How about the story of the United States around the turn of the 20th century?
We, as humans, seek an "easier" and "better" life. I say however that one must be sure that they know and understand what it is that they are declaring to be "easier" or "better". The concept of a utopia is in fact a universal concept. Most would agree that an "ideal society" would be good for all. However, everyone has a differing opinion as to what is it that would make that society "ideal." In this era, a majority of people would cite things like a nice house with a garage to hold their nice car, a yard, a stocked pantry, equitable access to healthcare and education, public safety capabilities which assures everyone a restful night's slumber, essentially all the things that money could afford. Within this framework of what money can afford, one must also examine why those things are appealing to begin with, or rather, immediately appear to be appealing. Well, they are all immediately aesthetically pleasing. A nice house and car look "good", equal access to healthcare and education are "good" ideas to have. More or less, the utopia of this description is "pretty" or "beautiful".
I'll take this opportunity to transition the discussion from the concept of "beauty" to "perfection". I think that it is fair to say the word "perfect," is used quite often in our contemporary society. I'm sure all of us at some point or another (myself included here) have made a comment about the perfection of one thing or another. "This cocktail tastes perfect," or "Those mashed potatoes are perfectly cooked," or "Today is just going perfectly!" In fact I'll go so far as to say that the words "beauty" and "perfection" can be used interchangeably. Of course, the literal meaning of each word is different, but within this particular context of something which is very pleasing to the senses, I am going to use the words "beauty" and "perfection" interchangeably. It should be noted, however, that one can say, and has said in the past, that an object's "beauty" is perfect. Here is the dividing line, a sort of razor-blade division in the way we look at the world around us. Beauty is now the thing that is aesthetically pleasing, but it is something that can exemplify perfection.
Perfection is something for which we all strive. It is a point of transendence, where the object or concept in question takes on a divine characteristic. The essence of perfection used to be reserved for the Gods only. To be perfect meant that traits were displayed which were divine in nature, and not created by mortal men. Since this recognition of the divine link to perfection, the human race has been hooked, and chasing it to this day. It is in our nature to wish to be one with the Gods, with the divine, and it is through this desire that humankind has come to think of itself as controllers, or Gods, of the natural world, and through our plethora of technology and knowledge we have been trying to recreate perfection.
But is the re-creation of perfection even possible? Let's look at a specific example for this one. I'm a cook by trade so we'll use a food example, that should be easy enough for me to explain. As a cook I've heard many, MANY times how we should be working towards achieving that "perfectly" cooked product. We'll look at broccoli.
The process begins with a large heavy bottomed stock-pot or deep sauce-pan, one that can hold 2-3 quarts of water. Place this now water-filled pot on the burner and crank-up the heat all the way. Now we'll turn our attention to the broccoli. Most grocery stores in my area sell them in bundles of three stalks, so we'll imagine that you're working with one of those. First you'll separate the bundle, and take one of the three stalks. Next you cut off the large, thick stem as close to the florets as possible without removing any of the florets. Now, rotating the top of the stalk, the "tree-top" end, remove any florets one by one starting on the outside and working toward the inside of the "tree-top". If a large portion of the center "trunk" becomes exposed, simply cut it off, and begin the rotating "tree-top" method again, until you've removed all the florets from the stalk. After that, trim off any extra stalk on the individual florets to your liking, if you like lots of stalk on the florets, then you don't have to do any trimming. Now do this for the remaining bundles. Next get some ice in a mixing bowl (big enough to accomidate the broccoli and enough water to submerge them) and fill with cold water. By this point your pot of water should be boiling. Working in batches, put some of the florets into the boiling water and allow to cook for 1-3 minutes. Long enough that they are chewy, but not mushy, still have a small crunch, maintain their shape and haven't become an olive-green color. Basically to assure this, simply remove one from the water every now and then and try it to make sure it's cooked to your liking. When the batch is cooked, remove from the water with a slotted spoon and deposit to the ice water. This sudden shock in temperature will assure that they stay a bright green color. Finally cook the remaining batches in the way you cooked the first.
When everything is said and done you now have "perfectly" cooked broccoli. Now take a look around your kitchen. Hopefully you'll notice that in the pursuit of this perfection there was an awful lot of waste created. There is leftover broccoli stalks, some really hot and green-tinted water, broccoli-flavored ice water, dirty rags to wipe down your cutting board, green florets that fell off of the broccoli during the cutting. All of this discarded to get to perfection. Which really is not even perfected yet. Now you have to finish the broccoli (reheat) probably with some butter and salt and pepper. The whole idea of what we called "perfect" in this case was a completely man-made definition of "perfect". However, perfect broccoli, in the divine sense of perfection, is that plant growing from the soil. There's a connotation of natural causes and effects with divine perfection. And actually, broccoli (and all vegetables) are much better for you raw, or natural. During the cooking process essential enzymes are broken-down in the boiling water, and important nutrients are lost into the water. So while we spent all that effort to create "perfectly cooked" broccoli, it would have been divinely "perfect" if we simply plucked it from the ground and ate it sight-on-scene. Instead we created a lot of waste (some of which can be used again by nature, and some which cannot) and little bit of usable product.
Perfection, in a universal sense, does not exist. It's defined differently from person to person, place to place, and from moment to moment. We will all end up with a different "perfectly" cooked broccoli, just like we all have a different "perfectly" decorated home, or neighborhood, or whatever. Perfection, as we know it, only exists within our own heads, because that's the only way we have ever experienced it. The reason why "perfect" varies so much is because of our point of view, and that our minds are locked in this body for this brief period of time. So we are only able to have an idea of the world around us based solely on the inputs we have available to us (five senses). However the mind exists in a different realm than that which we touch, taste, smell, hear, and see, and so now the problem is not that perfection doesn't exist, but that language is an inadequate tool to describe the true interpretations of the senses, it is an inadequate tool to describe the mind. More on that to come . . .
We, as humans, seek an "easier" and "better" life. I say however that one must be sure that they know and understand what it is that they are declaring to be "easier" or "better". The concept of a utopia is in fact a universal concept. Most would agree that an "ideal society" would be good for all. However, everyone has a differing opinion as to what is it that would make that society "ideal." In this era, a majority of people would cite things like a nice house with a garage to hold their nice car, a yard, a stocked pantry, equitable access to healthcare and education, public safety capabilities which assures everyone a restful night's slumber, essentially all the things that money could afford. Within this framework of what money can afford, one must also examine why those things are appealing to begin with, or rather, immediately appear to be appealing. Well, they are all immediately aesthetically pleasing. A nice house and car look "good", equal access to healthcare and education are "good" ideas to have. More or less, the utopia of this description is "pretty" or "beautiful".
I'll take this opportunity to transition the discussion from the concept of "beauty" to "perfection". I think that it is fair to say the word "perfect," is used quite often in our contemporary society. I'm sure all of us at some point or another (myself included here) have made a comment about the perfection of one thing or another. "This cocktail tastes perfect," or "Those mashed potatoes are perfectly cooked," or "Today is just going perfectly!" In fact I'll go so far as to say that the words "beauty" and "perfection" can be used interchangeably. Of course, the literal meaning of each word is different, but within this particular context of something which is very pleasing to the senses, I am going to use the words "beauty" and "perfection" interchangeably. It should be noted, however, that one can say, and has said in the past, that an object's "beauty" is perfect. Here is the dividing line, a sort of razor-blade division in the way we look at the world around us. Beauty is now the thing that is aesthetically pleasing, but it is something that can exemplify perfection.
Perfection is something for which we all strive. It is a point of transendence, where the object or concept in question takes on a divine characteristic. The essence of perfection used to be reserved for the Gods only. To be perfect meant that traits were displayed which were divine in nature, and not created by mortal men. Since this recognition of the divine link to perfection, the human race has been hooked, and chasing it to this day. It is in our nature to wish to be one with the Gods, with the divine, and it is through this desire that humankind has come to think of itself as controllers, or Gods, of the natural world, and through our plethora of technology and knowledge we have been trying to recreate perfection.
But is the re-creation of perfection even possible? Let's look at a specific example for this one. I'm a cook by trade so we'll use a food example, that should be easy enough for me to explain. As a cook I've heard many, MANY times how we should be working towards achieving that "perfectly" cooked product. We'll look at broccoli.
The process begins with a large heavy bottomed stock-pot or deep sauce-pan, one that can hold 2-3 quarts of water. Place this now water-filled pot on the burner and crank-up the heat all the way. Now we'll turn our attention to the broccoli. Most grocery stores in my area sell them in bundles of three stalks, so we'll imagine that you're working with one of those. First you'll separate the bundle, and take one of the three stalks. Next you cut off the large, thick stem as close to the florets as possible without removing any of the florets. Now, rotating the top of the stalk, the "tree-top" end, remove any florets one by one starting on the outside and working toward the inside of the "tree-top". If a large portion of the center "trunk" becomes exposed, simply cut it off, and begin the rotating "tree-top" method again, until you've removed all the florets from the stalk. After that, trim off any extra stalk on the individual florets to your liking, if you like lots of stalk on the florets, then you don't have to do any trimming. Now do this for the remaining bundles. Next get some ice in a mixing bowl (big enough to accomidate the broccoli and enough water to submerge them) and fill with cold water. By this point your pot of water should be boiling. Working in batches, put some of the florets into the boiling water and allow to cook for 1-3 minutes. Long enough that they are chewy, but not mushy, still have a small crunch, maintain their shape and haven't become an olive-green color. Basically to assure this, simply remove one from the water every now and then and try it to make sure it's cooked to your liking. When the batch is cooked, remove from the water with a slotted spoon and deposit to the ice water. This sudden shock in temperature will assure that they stay a bright green color. Finally cook the remaining batches in the way you cooked the first.
When everything is said and done you now have "perfectly" cooked broccoli. Now take a look around your kitchen. Hopefully you'll notice that in the pursuit of this perfection there was an awful lot of waste created. There is leftover broccoli stalks, some really hot and green-tinted water, broccoli-flavored ice water, dirty rags to wipe down your cutting board, green florets that fell off of the broccoli during the cutting. All of this discarded to get to perfection. Which really is not even perfected yet. Now you have to finish the broccoli (reheat) probably with some butter and salt and pepper. The whole idea of what we called "perfect" in this case was a completely man-made definition of "perfect". However, perfect broccoli, in the divine sense of perfection, is that plant growing from the soil. There's a connotation of natural causes and effects with divine perfection. And actually, broccoli (and all vegetables) are much better for you raw, or natural. During the cooking process essential enzymes are broken-down in the boiling water, and important nutrients are lost into the water. So while we spent all that effort to create "perfectly cooked" broccoli, it would have been divinely "perfect" if we simply plucked it from the ground and ate it sight-on-scene. Instead we created a lot of waste (some of which can be used again by nature, and some which cannot) and little bit of usable product.
Perfection, in a universal sense, does not exist. It's defined differently from person to person, place to place, and from moment to moment. We will all end up with a different "perfectly" cooked broccoli, just like we all have a different "perfectly" decorated home, or neighborhood, or whatever. Perfection, as we know it, only exists within our own heads, because that's the only way we have ever experienced it. The reason why "perfect" varies so much is because of our point of view, and that our minds are locked in this body for this brief period of time. So we are only able to have an idea of the world around us based solely on the inputs we have available to us (five senses). However the mind exists in a different realm than that which we touch, taste, smell, hear, and see, and so now the problem is not that perfection doesn't exist, but that language is an inadequate tool to describe the true interpretations of the senses, it is an inadequate tool to describe the mind. More on that to come . . .
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wanna change the world?
I've recently become aware of a conundrum I'm sure we've all experienced in this contemporary society, but have just been unable to place exactly what that is. It has to do with the products we use in our everyday lives. When we wash something, or rinse off a dish, where does that go? My immediate response was that it goes away. And at first, that is pretty reassuring, but then once I thought about it for a little bit I realized how silly that sounded. What is "away"? Where is this "away"? When I'm done using something, anything, maybe an empty shampoo bottle, or the water I used to wash the dishes, or my laundry, where does that go?
Of course, now that the thought is in the forefront of our minds, we know where that water goes. It goes to the local sewage drains, and eventually into the waterways which eventually lead to the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico. Or if you're on the west coast of the United states, it leads to the Pacific Ocean. What's that you say? That sewage eventually leads to a larger body of water, big whoop. We've been doing that for years, what's my point? My point is that despite all our society's growing environmental awareness these past few years none of industry has thought about changing the way we design these products we love and use so much so that it doesn't have an environmental impact at all. Redesigning them from the ground up.
Recently when I was walking to the student union after class I was having a little monologue with myself. I was thinking about the nature of time, something I have been pondering for quite a few years now. What is time? Why do we only perceive time in one direction? Many astronomers and physicists also ask similar questions, and can probably give you a better answer than the one I'm about to give. Well, the most simple answer I can come up with, is because we know our own life-cycles' as birth, life, death. So I considered a very extreme and morbid scenario where one is stranded in the northern woods in the dead of winter, with no food, no shelter, no warmth. One would surely die, and does. I would like to believe (and do) that the soul leaves the body upon death of the body. Even though your soul is saved (according to which ever religious beliefs you adhere), the body which was once yours is still upon this earth, frozen solid. Once the spring thaw arrives however, that body becomes a host for millions of organisms. All of its parts are recycled and used again to allow other living things life, and these millions of organisms flourish! Fungi, insects, bacteria, coyotes, ravens, and many, many other living creatures survive and thrive from the flesh that was once called you (like I said, morbid, but allegorically true). Moral of this story, from every ending comes a new beginning. The problem I spoke of at the beginning is this; We think that because our bodies have a beginning and an end, so does everything else in nature. But is nature based upon a linear temporal framework (birth, life, death), or a cyclical temporal framework (from endings come beginnings, which come endings, which come beginnings . . . etc.)?
So back to this "away" I was saying earlier. When we wash our hair, we all know the drill. Wet, lather, rinse, repeat if desired. We have such an out-of-sight-out of mind mentality that we don't know or care what happens to the wastes we produce. In fact we're encouraged not to care! There's a common practice among consumer-goods manufacturers, since the early fifties, called "planned-obsolescence". For those who don't know what I mean, planned-obsolescence is the reason why you have to get a new car every few years, or a new toaster, or a new dining set, or a new whatever. Planned-obsolescence is an industry practice where a product is purposely designed to lose functionality over a period of time so that you HAVE to buy a new product. Ultimately to drive up revenue for whichever manufacturer. Honestly I think it's a brilliant idea, but they forgot one thing when they came up with the concept, what happens to the old one? This concept NEEDS to be completely redesigned so that products are made out of a set of materials that are 100% recyclable and reusable without any reprocessing what-so-ever. So that, whenever the product's "usable period" were up, it could be completely recycled into a new product, without any additional material. The company would make soooooo much more money, save the environment (and I mean COMPLETELY save the environment since no new material was used in the re-creation of the product), and ultimately sway the consumer base to desire this product more than any other because it is 100% recyclable.
What I propose is a radical new way of designing our goods, and products, and cities, in that they are 100% biodegradable, provide the nutrients back to the environment that were depleted in the first place, and are non-toxic and healthy for human, and all life, to live in and around. I challenge industry to build factories in this new century which will have run-off that is cleaner than the water coming in. I challenge civil engineers to build cities which will replenish the nutrients extracted to feed the people living within, and that the cities themselves will more closely resemble the local flora than resemble cities as we know them. Completely self-sustaining, completely safe to live within, and completely at one with nature. 2012 is not the year of world ending, but of world ending as we-have-known-it. Now is the time for change, now is the time to embrace nature again, and we honestly can do it without giving up our standard of living. Human ingenuity trumps all, we just need to stop thinking of ourselves as separate from nature, but instead, just as much a part of nature as we've always been!
Of course, now that the thought is in the forefront of our minds, we know where that water goes. It goes to the local sewage drains, and eventually into the waterways which eventually lead to the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico. Or if you're on the west coast of the United states, it leads to the Pacific Ocean. What's that you say? That sewage eventually leads to a larger body of water, big whoop. We've been doing that for years, what's my point? My point is that despite all our society's growing environmental awareness these past few years none of industry has thought about changing the way we design these products we love and use so much so that it doesn't have an environmental impact at all. Redesigning them from the ground up.
Recently when I was walking to the student union after class I was having a little monologue with myself. I was thinking about the nature of time, something I have been pondering for quite a few years now. What is time? Why do we only perceive time in one direction? Many astronomers and physicists also ask similar questions, and can probably give you a better answer than the one I'm about to give. Well, the most simple answer I can come up with, is because we know our own life-cycles' as birth, life, death. So I considered a very extreme and morbid scenario where one is stranded in the northern woods in the dead of winter, with no food, no shelter, no warmth. One would surely die, and does. I would like to believe (and do) that the soul leaves the body upon death of the body. Even though your soul is saved (according to which ever religious beliefs you adhere), the body which was once yours is still upon this earth, frozen solid. Once the spring thaw arrives however, that body becomes a host for millions of organisms. All of its parts are recycled and used again to allow other living things life, and these millions of organisms flourish! Fungi, insects, bacteria, coyotes, ravens, and many, many other living creatures survive and thrive from the flesh that was once called you (like I said, morbid, but allegorically true). Moral of this story, from every ending comes a new beginning. The problem I spoke of at the beginning is this; We think that because our bodies have a beginning and an end, so does everything else in nature. But is nature based upon a linear temporal framework (birth, life, death), or a cyclical temporal framework (from endings come beginnings, which come endings, which come beginnings . . . etc.)?
So back to this "away" I was saying earlier. When we wash our hair, we all know the drill. Wet, lather, rinse, repeat if desired. We have such an out-of-sight-out of mind mentality that we don't know or care what happens to the wastes we produce. In fact we're encouraged not to care! There's a common practice among consumer-goods manufacturers, since the early fifties, called "planned-obsolescence". For those who don't know what I mean, planned-obsolescence is the reason why you have to get a new car every few years, or a new toaster, or a new dining set, or a new whatever. Planned-obsolescence is an industry practice where a product is purposely designed to lose functionality over a period of time so that you HAVE to buy a new product. Ultimately to drive up revenue for whichever manufacturer. Honestly I think it's a brilliant idea, but they forgot one thing when they came up with the concept, what happens to the old one? This concept NEEDS to be completely redesigned so that products are made out of a set of materials that are 100% recyclable and reusable without any reprocessing what-so-ever. So that, whenever the product's "usable period" were up, it could be completely recycled into a new product, without any additional material. The company would make soooooo much more money, save the environment (and I mean COMPLETELY save the environment since no new material was used in the re-creation of the product), and ultimately sway the consumer base to desire this product more than any other because it is 100% recyclable.
What I propose is a radical new way of designing our goods, and products, and cities, in that they are 100% biodegradable, provide the nutrients back to the environment that were depleted in the first place, and are non-toxic and healthy for human, and all life, to live in and around. I challenge industry to build factories in this new century which will have run-off that is cleaner than the water coming in. I challenge civil engineers to build cities which will replenish the nutrients extracted to feed the people living within, and that the cities themselves will more closely resemble the local flora than resemble cities as we know them. Completely self-sustaining, completely safe to live within, and completely at one with nature. 2012 is not the year of world ending, but of world ending as we-have-known-it. Now is the time for change, now is the time to embrace nature again, and we honestly can do it without giving up our standard of living. Human ingenuity trumps all, we just need to stop thinking of ourselves as separate from nature, but instead, just as much a part of nature as we've always been!
Friday, March 23, 2012
A golden oldie . . .
Recently, I was cleaning out my attic, and found some old notebooks. Many of my writings from years ago when I was 19-22 years old. Kind of interesting, I always love coming across old journal entries. I almost always think to myself, "Self, you really had your priorities wrong back then." But with this new find I thought to myself, "Self, you kinda have your priorities wrong right now. You were on to something back then. What happened?" as well as thoughts like the former. But the thing is there were some pieces of insight then that I've completely forgotten about now, and I do wonder, what happened? Here's the excerpt (with a few sprucing, because I do remember writing this in haste):
Expectations, and Desire
A father and son, while on a family trip to Six-Flags theme park decide to leave the group and explore. It is their first time at the park, and before they showed up that day they had done a little online research to find out what were the cool rides, and which ones they wanted to ride the most. The son says, "I want to go on Giant-Drop!" barely able to control his ten-year-old enthusiasm.
The father simply smiles and replies, "If you have no expectations, then you'll never be disappointed."
"I don't get it, Dad." Says the son in a semi-irritable tone.
"If you want to go on the Giant-Drop, then go get in line for the Giant-Drop, I'll be right behind you. But don't expect to go on the Giant-Drop just because you're in line, because it may be broken before we get to go on, it may even be broken before we get to the line. If you get your hopes up because you expect to do something, and then can't do it, you'd be pretty disappointed, right?"
The son's face clearly shows that he did not foresee a lecture, and is not very pleased to be receiving one while on a trip to this fantastic place. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
The father continues, "For example, I really want to go on Batman, because it looks like it would be a lot of fun. But I also know that Batman has the longest lines, and the most break-downs. And since you and I are on a two hour time limit from your mother, I can't expect to go because the line may be too long, or it may be broken. So let's walk over to Giant-Drop and get in line, okay?" As the father finishes his speech, the pair rounds the corner only to find that Giant-Drop is in fact broken, and for the rest of the day no less. The son's expression changes to utter disbelief, then extreme disappointment, the kind of disappointment that only a parent could bring on in a child.
"Come on kiddo, lets go check on Batman."
The son stomps his feet, "NO! Because you're probably right, and then we'll ride your ride and not mine!"
"If you have no expectations, then you'll never be disappointed." They make their way over to the Batman ride, only to find that it too is broken-down for the day. But the father keeps his cheery self the whole time.
"Dad, why are you still smiling? Your ride is broken too."
"Because I had no expectations, so I'm not disappointed." Instead they discuss the prospects of time, since they haven't had to wait in either line. They agree to go on V-squared and Raging-Bull, and after, find that they had a lot of extra time left over because of abnormally short lines, that they could also go on Viper. The father and son return to the rest of the family just in time, and it a mood that was better then before.
I feel this ideal of releasing your expectations of what life will give you is absolutely necessary in this day and age. Instead of feeling entitled, which I have found myself doing from time to time, to any sort of success, I need to figure out what the terms of success are. Are they defined by my standards, or are they defined by some other set of standards? Am I trying to achieve a level of success that I see on TV or in the movies? Do I feel that to be happy I need to buy stuff, or at least have a lot of money so that I can buy stuff?
"You have a right to your actions,
but never to your actions' fruits.
Act for the action's sake.
And do not be attached to inaction.
Self-possessed, resolute, act
without any thought of results,
open to success or failure.
This equanimity is yoga."
Expectations, and Desire
A father and son, while on a family trip to Six-Flags theme park decide to leave the group and explore. It is their first time at the park, and before they showed up that day they had done a little online research to find out what were the cool rides, and which ones they wanted to ride the most. The son says, "I want to go on Giant-Drop!" barely able to control his ten-year-old enthusiasm.
The father simply smiles and replies, "If you have no expectations, then you'll never be disappointed."
"I don't get it, Dad." Says the son in a semi-irritable tone.
"If you want to go on the Giant-Drop, then go get in line for the Giant-Drop, I'll be right behind you. But don't expect to go on the Giant-Drop just because you're in line, because it may be broken before we get to go on, it may even be broken before we get to the line. If you get your hopes up because you expect to do something, and then can't do it, you'd be pretty disappointed, right?"
The son's face clearly shows that he did not foresee a lecture, and is not very pleased to be receiving one while on a trip to this fantastic place. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
The father continues, "For example, I really want to go on Batman, because it looks like it would be a lot of fun. But I also know that Batman has the longest lines, and the most break-downs. And since you and I are on a two hour time limit from your mother, I can't expect to go because the line may be too long, or it may be broken. So let's walk over to Giant-Drop and get in line, okay?" As the father finishes his speech, the pair rounds the corner only to find that Giant-Drop is in fact broken, and for the rest of the day no less. The son's expression changes to utter disbelief, then extreme disappointment, the kind of disappointment that only a parent could bring on in a child.
"Come on kiddo, lets go check on Batman."
The son stomps his feet, "NO! Because you're probably right, and then we'll ride your ride and not mine!"
"If you have no expectations, then you'll never be disappointed." They make their way over to the Batman ride, only to find that it too is broken-down for the day. But the father keeps his cheery self the whole time.
"Dad, why are you still smiling? Your ride is broken too."
"Because I had no expectations, so I'm not disappointed." Instead they discuss the prospects of time, since they haven't had to wait in either line. They agree to go on V-squared and Raging-Bull, and after, find that they had a lot of extra time left over because of abnormally short lines, that they could also go on Viper. The father and son return to the rest of the family just in time, and it a mood that was better then before.
I feel this ideal of releasing your expectations of what life will give you is absolutely necessary in this day and age. Instead of feeling entitled, which I have found myself doing from time to time, to any sort of success, I need to figure out what the terms of success are. Are they defined by my standards, or are they defined by some other set of standards? Am I trying to achieve a level of success that I see on TV or in the movies? Do I feel that to be happy I need to buy stuff, or at least have a lot of money so that I can buy stuff?
"You have a right to your actions,
but never to your actions' fruits.
Act for the action's sake.
And do not be attached to inaction.
Self-possessed, resolute, act
without any thought of results,
open to success or failure.
This equanimity is yoga."
-Lord Krishna (Bhagavad Gita)
Friday, March 16, 2012
On the food-service industry . . .
The distaste that I have recently developed for my previously chosen field of work originally stemmed from the realization of just how superficial restaurant work really is.
There is a constant struggle to make each plate look appetizing and taste amazing. People have devoted their whole lives, sacrificed relationships for this pursuit of aesthetic perfection. Each step of every preparation, every final execution is meticulously planned in order for the fine dining extreme of restaurants to survive, and at the very least, for every other restaurant, someone needs to care very much about day-to-day operations in order for that restaurant to survive. The main focus of dining out, I feel, is so that you don't have to cook the food you want to eat. Someone else does the hard work, you do the enjoying. Part of this American-consumerism ideal, money gets you any/everything.
The part I like the least about the food-service industry is that no one I've met in the industry is in the industry to seek wisdom, or truth. Not that morals, ethics, or other metaphysical concepts don't exist there, it is merely that folks I've met in the industry haven't told me that they care if they exist or not.
Wisdom does exist in the industry though. It is a different kind of wisdom however. It is very specific to the subject at hand, and mainly pertains to keeping senses and sense-objects from being overwhelmed. An example would be utilizing wisdom while doing your prep-work. You don't want to prep too much or else you'll end up wasting product, and the boss will get on your case for essentially throwing away money. But you also don't want to prep too little, or else you'll be scrambling throughout service to catch up, and will more than likely have a lousy service, which again the boss will be on your case about. The same concept works for purchasing. You don't want to place an order for food without taking an inventory to see what you have on hand, or else the boss will be on your case because the restaurant will now have too much, or too little of something. I'm not trying to say that restaurants are stand-alone in the regard of "the boss getting on your case", it is simply the only experience I have had with that situation. I am 100% positive that people in other lines of work deal with the same problem.
In the first case, scrambling to catch up creates a lot of negative stress, and anxiety which could potentially become overwhelming (sense), and the wasted product, and therefore wasted money, is the sense-object. In the second case the over/under ordered product is the sense-object, and the anxiety created by having too much or too little is the sense. This is the wisdom within the industry that I am talking about. And after looking at it, one might come to the conclusion that it isn't really wisdom, but balance that must be achieved. And it is a very delicate balance at that. Many restaurant owners spend lots of time and resources to find that balance. Chain-restaurants will utilize daily prep-sheets, and establish par-levels of product to have on hand, and devise complex algorithms to predict how much food they should order from day-to-day. But which came first? The sense of balance, or that there is a balance? I'm inclined to say the fact that there is a balance had to have come first, and in order to realize the existence of these particular balances, one would need wisdom to perceive it.
What I am not trying to do with this post is say that restaurant workers are a bunch of big dumb animals, because anyone who has worked in the industry knows that that is not true. Quite the contrary, I've met a great number of people in my experience who are very intelligent and quite deep, what bugged me is that no one talked about it unless I were to bring up the subject. Wisdom within, or without, the restaurant just isn't talked about, and I think that is very unfortunate, because a lot can be learned by simply opening a dialogue or asking what some call "dumb questions" like when speaking to your boss, or purveyor, "do you know where this bag of mixed greens came from?" or "do you know how the workers were treated at this farm?" There's no such thing as a "dumb question" only a dumb answer.
To sum this all up, I feel that this industry (and in many ways contemporary American Society as well) has become complacent and set in the ways of thinking that costs, and aesthetics are everything. I can no longer comfortably remain part of a group that does not and will not question the norms and doctrines of our times. There is such overwhelming evidence that this way of life, whether it be the way we get food, or the consumeristic ideal, or the cars we drive, or the services we use is horribly destructive to the planet, to other living things and ultimately ourselves.
Not to be all doom and gloom however, because if we focus on the bad, only the bad will manifest itself around us. There are solutions to the myriad problems that we see everyday, whether societal problems, work problems, personal problems, car problems, bad hair day, etc. But in order to identify any solution, we must all first identify the problem. More on that to come . . .
There is a constant struggle to make each plate look appetizing and taste amazing. People have devoted their whole lives, sacrificed relationships for this pursuit of aesthetic perfection. Each step of every preparation, every final execution is meticulously planned in order for the fine dining extreme of restaurants to survive, and at the very least, for every other restaurant, someone needs to care very much about day-to-day operations in order for that restaurant to survive. The main focus of dining out, I feel, is so that you don't have to cook the food you want to eat. Someone else does the hard work, you do the enjoying. Part of this American-consumerism ideal, money gets you any/everything.
The part I like the least about the food-service industry is that no one I've met in the industry is in the industry to seek wisdom, or truth. Not that morals, ethics, or other metaphysical concepts don't exist there, it is merely that folks I've met in the industry haven't told me that they care if they exist or not.
Wisdom does exist in the industry though. It is a different kind of wisdom however. It is very specific to the subject at hand, and mainly pertains to keeping senses and sense-objects from being overwhelmed. An example would be utilizing wisdom while doing your prep-work. You don't want to prep too much or else you'll end up wasting product, and the boss will get on your case for essentially throwing away money. But you also don't want to prep too little, or else you'll be scrambling throughout service to catch up, and will more than likely have a lousy service, which again the boss will be on your case about. The same concept works for purchasing. You don't want to place an order for food without taking an inventory to see what you have on hand, or else the boss will be on your case because the restaurant will now have too much, or too little of something. I'm not trying to say that restaurants are stand-alone in the regard of "the boss getting on your case", it is simply the only experience I have had with that situation. I am 100% positive that people in other lines of work deal with the same problem.
In the first case, scrambling to catch up creates a lot of negative stress, and anxiety which could potentially become overwhelming (sense), and the wasted product, and therefore wasted money, is the sense-object. In the second case the over/under ordered product is the sense-object, and the anxiety created by having too much or too little is the sense. This is the wisdom within the industry that I am talking about. And after looking at it, one might come to the conclusion that it isn't really wisdom, but balance that must be achieved. And it is a very delicate balance at that. Many restaurant owners spend lots of time and resources to find that balance. Chain-restaurants will utilize daily prep-sheets, and establish par-levels of product to have on hand, and devise complex algorithms to predict how much food they should order from day-to-day. But which came first? The sense of balance, or that there is a balance? I'm inclined to say the fact that there is a balance had to have come first, and in order to realize the existence of these particular balances, one would need wisdom to perceive it.
What I am not trying to do with this post is say that restaurant workers are a bunch of big dumb animals, because anyone who has worked in the industry knows that that is not true. Quite the contrary, I've met a great number of people in my experience who are very intelligent and quite deep, what bugged me is that no one talked about it unless I were to bring up the subject. Wisdom within, or without, the restaurant just isn't talked about, and I think that is very unfortunate, because a lot can be learned by simply opening a dialogue or asking what some call "dumb questions" like when speaking to your boss, or purveyor, "do you know where this bag of mixed greens came from?" or "do you know how the workers were treated at this farm?" There's no such thing as a "dumb question" only a dumb answer.
To sum this all up, I feel that this industry (and in many ways contemporary American Society as well) has become complacent and set in the ways of thinking that costs, and aesthetics are everything. I can no longer comfortably remain part of a group that does not and will not question the norms and doctrines of our times. There is such overwhelming evidence that this way of life, whether it be the way we get food, or the consumeristic ideal, or the cars we drive, or the services we use is horribly destructive to the planet, to other living things and ultimately ourselves.
Not to be all doom and gloom however, because if we focus on the bad, only the bad will manifest itself around us. There are solutions to the myriad problems that we see everyday, whether societal problems, work problems, personal problems, car problems, bad hair day, etc. But in order to identify any solution, we must all first identify the problem. More on that to come . . .
Monday, March 12, 2012
Long time reader, first time writer . . .
One thing that I would have never thought I would do is start a blog. I've never felt any sort of animosity or negetive feelings in general toward blogs and those who write them. I've just never suspected that I would be one day expounding my thoughts on to the web for all to see.
Well, I suppose I should start with the name choice. For any buddhist(s) out there, one would think that calling yourself a bodhisattva could be viewed as a bit arrogant. Bodhisattva comes from the sanskit "bodhi" which means spiritual awakening, or more commonly now, enlightenment, and "sattva" which means a being, or essence. According to Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is someone of great compassion, and kindness, who has achieved a state of enlightenment, but refrains from achieving nirvana until all others have gone before them. Sounds like cold-feet to me. More commonly though, I've heard bodhisattva refer to someone who is seeking enlightenment, and that is what I am. I'm no golden-beacon of compassionate conduct or great kindness, but I have been known to do a good deed when I can. The whole point of this blog is to get the thoughts and ideas of the mind out there since no one can read minds (that we know of anyway). I feel that that will be the main subject of many of my posts, the nature of the mind. What is it? Why are we sentient? What is sentience? These are all questions that have been pestering me since I was a child. How come I can see what I see with my eyes, but not what someone else sees? How do I know that others are thinking (I'll bet a lot of people are wondering that as well, especially about work colleagues)? I've been thinking about these questions now more than ever because I'm going through a bit of an existential crisis, which you will also hear about. See, for a while, I thought I wanted to be a chef. I had an idea of what it would take to get there, but didn't really understand until I actually made it to a chef position. On top of all the personal sacrifices that would have been necessary to make it in the culinary world, I was also becoming aware of the costs that the average consumer is not privy to, such as the harsh labor conditions of migrant farmers, the unhealthy side-effects of our cheap food. I couldn't go on in a profession (and at times, society) where no one asks the questions about where they get what they put in their body. But, like I said, I'll dive deeper into that another time.
Anyway, I hope this might tickle the fancy of some of you, and you'll be tuning in from time to time. And I am very new to all this, so any advice, tips, pointers, cool tricks are all extremely welcome.
Well, best regards to all!
Well, I suppose I should start with the name choice. For any buddhist(s) out there, one would think that calling yourself a bodhisattva could be viewed as a bit arrogant. Bodhisattva comes from the sanskit "bodhi" which means spiritual awakening, or more commonly now, enlightenment, and "sattva" which means a being, or essence. According to Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is someone of great compassion, and kindness, who has achieved a state of enlightenment, but refrains from achieving nirvana until all others have gone before them. Sounds like cold-feet to me. More commonly though, I've heard bodhisattva refer to someone who is seeking enlightenment, and that is what I am. I'm no golden-beacon of compassionate conduct or great kindness, but I have been known to do a good deed when I can. The whole point of this blog is to get the thoughts and ideas of the mind out there since no one can read minds (that we know of anyway). I feel that that will be the main subject of many of my posts, the nature of the mind. What is it? Why are we sentient? What is sentience? These are all questions that have been pestering me since I was a child. How come I can see what I see with my eyes, but not what someone else sees? How do I know that others are thinking (I'll bet a lot of people are wondering that as well, especially about work colleagues)? I've been thinking about these questions now more than ever because I'm going through a bit of an existential crisis, which you will also hear about. See, for a while, I thought I wanted to be a chef. I had an idea of what it would take to get there, but didn't really understand until I actually made it to a chef position. On top of all the personal sacrifices that would have been necessary to make it in the culinary world, I was also becoming aware of the costs that the average consumer is not privy to, such as the harsh labor conditions of migrant farmers, the unhealthy side-effects of our cheap food. I couldn't go on in a profession (and at times, society) where no one asks the questions about where they get what they put in their body. But, like I said, I'll dive deeper into that another time.
Anyway, I hope this might tickle the fancy of some of you, and you'll be tuning in from time to time. And I am very new to all this, so any advice, tips, pointers, cool tricks are all extremely welcome.
Well, best regards to all!
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