Pros and Cons

A lot of people do not know what do 'pros' and 'cons' stand for or originate from. Would anyone like to take a guess? Don't google for it. That's just cheap and further reinforce your dependency on search engines. Better yet, if you can live without knowing, it helps prove you are not addicted to knowledge. Kevin and Kevan will know this. Addiction to knowledge is actually a condition. Being curious and 'like-to-find-out' are healthy, but when you actively search for new information, or have developed a habit of must-get-to-know whenever you encounter something you don't understand, it becomes a destructive condition (that means it has negative impact on you overall).

I am sure many people had this experience before: when we finally know what the others are whispering about, it felt like a great relief. This feeling also occurs during moments such as when we get the pieces of a situation together or get the hang of the rhythm when playing Guitar Hero. A more subconscious version of this feeling comes when we come across something we do not know, such as what is the Hammurabi's Code, or Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspace Oligomerizer (DRACO), only to google it later and discover that Hammurabi's Code is one of the oldest well preserved code of laws, and DRACO is a developing drug that has the possibility to treat all viral infection. Did you notice a feeling of excitement, lightness, relief, or any kind of difference moments ago? Most people with knowledge addiction would!

Note that the only final product is wisdom. Also, intelligence is no factor. This is because intelligence has no relationship with knowledge, no matter what people might think otherwise.

There is actually a very simple explanation for this: The 'thirst for knowledge' is actually craving for opium. I am serious. According to neuroscientists led by Irving Biederman from the University of Southern California, the pleasure derived from the 'ohhhh~~'-ness of understanding and knowing is due a trigger in your brain similar to a shot of natural opiates. No kidding! I wonder if we suffer from withdrawal symptoms if we are deprived of the options to know things we don't understand.

Knowledge addiction has similar reasons with opium addiction ranging from those that love the relief of stress to those that just enjoy the high. There are, however, reasons that we are less aware of. For example, many people want to know a lot simply because it makes them feel great, confident and well-equipped. After all, knowledge is power! It is generally acceptable that we would rather know than not know, but there are now increasing reported cases from psychologist offices in which patients declared that they feel frustrated when others know something they don't know. We can predict that this will get worse, given the progression of our knowledge-based society. Few people are geniuses, but everyone have the same chance to know a lot. This is called equality.

If you happen to self-diagnose yourself and think you are addicted to knowledge, and you are not exactly happy about it, don't fret! It isn't exactly a bad thing. We've even got big names people who are addicted to knowledge, or at least they think they are. These people have even made it big, probably bigger than you! Here's some examples:

Natalie Portman: graduated from Harvard University with a B.A degree in psychology. Reportedly, she once said 'I would rather be smart than be a movie star.' She had authored scientific publications, lectured at Columbia University and studied French, Japanese, German and Arabic. For those who aren't sure, she's an actress and was casted as the Padme in Star Wars, Evey in V for Vendetta, Emma in No String Attached and Nina in Black Swan.

James Franco: graduated from University of California, Los Angeles. He was allowed to take 62 course credits per quarter instead of the usual 19. Then he moved to New York and simultaneously attended graduate school at FOUR DIFFERENT universities and colleges! All these were done while being an actor, director, author, screenwriter, producer, professor, painter, pilot, model and musician. For those aren't sure, he is Harry in Spiderman, David in Eat Pray Love, that self-amputating guy in 127 Hours, and the scientist in the recent Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Emma Watson: she's just enrolled in university. But reportedly she said, 'I love learning. I'm addicted to knowledge. It just like, makes me happy.' The actress is the girl responsible for Hermoine in the Harry Potter series.

As you can see, addiction to knowledge really isn't a bad thing at all. These people had taken their addiction with them and moved on to be big shots in the big world. If you are in love with knowledge, you are suffering from no handicap.

P.S. If you had not googled for it, you are still eligible to answer the question of the post: what do 'pros' and 'cons' stand for/originate. Say your answer in the comments!




ZhuZhu8th

↑ Going Up ↑

I press the button, it lit up, I thought to myself, this will get me to the top floor. A few moments later, the door opens and I stood there, everyone was giving me a 'more passengers' look. As confident as I am, I walked in with my head held high, giving them a nodding grin while entering and then turn to face the door of the lift. It closes. Surrounded by 6 strangers, each of them taking their rightfully-own place in the corners of the box-like structure.

"Hmmm... let's be social," I guess, I started to make up sentences to one of the people closest to me. And surprisingly, all I got back was a nod or a smile, some even go to an extend on putting up a serious defensive posture, as if preparing to strike on a helpless prey.

"You guys are really dull," I silently murmured to myself. With the tense atmosphere, it's really started to seem like a prison for trapped mice. With my last-ditch attempt to save myself, I strife up a new topic again, now closely observing the people with the built-in mirrors in the elevator, trying to get at least some to budge. No luck. One of them even look me in the eye with a brick-wall face, an expression which really destroy all my hope and salvation.

"Now I just made my death sentence closer," I rolled my eyes. Silence was all there is, uneasiness, awkwardness, unpleasantness, just name it... It feels like an eternity before I finally got out alive.

Here's what i learned, let's start with the idea of silence in the elevator. How often do you find chatting up a conversation with the mob of strangers in such a confined space? Conversations in the elevator are generally not recommended. If you are the type of person who likes to meet new people and and desperate to find a new friend in the awkward elevator, then keep the topic simple and light, i.e. I love your coat, your earrings are beautiful, or how about those Yankees? But you might really want to reconsider your venues if you want to have a decent night off =D

The reason silence existed comes down to one of the concepts, known as Proxemics. It's basically defined as the use of space by man in relation to respective cultures and social ethics. Any unnecessary bridge into someone's personal space and you might get mild observations from surrounding strangers or just tension building up to critical level while you're on your slow agonizing wait to the 50th floor.

Since making connections are out, you have no choice and left with a decision to 'face the world alone', nothing to do but staring at the plain metal walls of the elevator thinking about the safety of the lift in the suspended air and preoccupied with the thoughts of ending up lying on a white bed with a familiar antiseptic smell you want to avoid. Now, elevators became the sanctuary where you self-reflect or at least a place where your eyes are glued to the elevator floor indicator.

The stories does not end here, We as the main intelligent lifeform on this planet starts by complaining about how slow the elevator was since you have nothing to do and boredom takes over. With that, elevator companies starts to brainstormed in a way how to keep people distracted since a faster, efficient way of vertical transport was not available by then. Hence the idea of the use of mirrors in elevators were born, not the 'mirrors' which traps you in another dimension, not to ever return again to reality but mirrors which are lady's best friends. With the installation of these reflecting glasses, people would think about something else besides danger. Is my hairdo okay? Was her hair combed properly? Now that you don't have to look directly into her eyes, at the same time you can still self-reflect and thought silently to yourself, wow that girl is hot!! And now you know why mirrors were built and do use it to your advantage =D

Innocent

DotA the Movie: TerrorBlade's Revenge

This is amazing! DotA has a MOVIE! An one-hour REAL movie! And it's Chinese! It's no use just saying it. You have to watch it for yourself. And even if you are a girl, you should watch it too. It's a love story! And watch it to know what's your boyfriend looking at everyday xP

Exam of Life

Nowadays, exams are like boss fights of the game of life. There are bosses that crush you and bosses that got crushed by you. Many of us don't really remember the hardest exam we had while the rest are going to sit of their hardest yet. The Chinese pioneered exam, their Imperial Exam famous across the ancient world. Back then, the question involved writing a piece of literature and the reward for passing is a government post and a life of luxury. Fast forward a few thousand years, it's the 21st century, exams now have a few papers spreading across a several subjects and are graded quantitatively. It's just sad somehow passing a huge exam like those in college produce a deeply-in-college-debt graduate who's gonna work the rest of his life off, remain in debt, and retire poor. Sad huh? Perhaps it's because that huge exam is too common. One that's passed by hundreds of students each year. Why maybe a solution is to create an exam that only a wonder person stands a chance! I therefore propose to the education board of the world to offer a new kind of exam for students, and I shall name it the Exam of Life. Take a look at the draft questionnaires:




Instructions
1) Write your name clearly on every pages.
2) Read each question carefully before attempting to answer.
3) Answer all questions in order of the question numbers.

Time allowed: 5 hour

Question 1: History
Write an essay on the history of the Persian empire from its rise to present-day Iran, concentrating especially but not exclusively on its social, economic, political, religious and philosophical impacts on Asia, Europe, Africa and America. Be brief, concise and specific.

Question 2: Communication
Signal to an examiner. 5000 headhunters will storm the exam hall. You must calm them using any languages except ancient Greek.

Question 3: Management Science
Create a generalized algorithm to optimize all managerial decisions. Assuming 1030 with 45 terminals, each terminal to activate your algorithm, design the communication interface along with the necessary control programs.

Question 4: Economics
Develop a feasible plan to refinance the national debt of United States of America. Explain the possible effects of your plan in the following areas: Large Hadron Collider, Justin Bieber, string theory. Suggest a method to counter these effects. Criticize this method from all possible point of view. Point out the deficiencies in those point of views.

Question 5: Sociology
Describe the possible sociological problems that might arise from the end of the world. Construct an experiment to verify your hypothesis.

Question 6: Philosophy
Outline the development of human thought. Compare it with the development of any one other kind of thought. Take a position for or against truth. Prove the validity of your position.

Question 7: Psychology
Evaluate the emotional stability, degree of adjustment and suppressed disappointments during the life of each of the following: Hammurabi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Leonardo da Vinci, Wu Zetian. Support your evaluation with quotations along with appropriate references. It is not necessary to translate.

Question 8: Biology
Create life. Predict the difference in subsequent human culture if this form of life had developed on Earth immediately after the formation of the planet, paying attention to its probable effect on the Roman Catholic Church.

Question 9: Medicine
You will be provided with a scalpel, a piece of cotton and a bottle of Vodka. Remove your appendix. Do not suture until your work has been inspected by an examiner. Do not take more than fifteen (15) minutes.

Question 10: Chemistry
Using the material from the exam table, along with the chemicals in the first aid kit, build an atomic bomb.

Question 11: Physics
Describe the nature of matter. Disprove the General Law of Relativity, at the same time providing a more complete law.

Question 12: Mathematics
Reconstruct the lost Fermat's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Using the A4 papers and the cello tape  provided, build a working model of a sphere which can be turned inside out.

Question 13: Engineering
Signal an examiner to ask for the disassembled parts of a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle and an instruction manual printed in Turkish. In five (5) minutes, a man-eating extraterrestrial prisoner will be released into the exam hall. Take whatever action you feel appropriate. Be prepared to justify your actions.

Question 14: Literature
Write an epic poem of not less than 10000 rhymed couplets on the topic Evil in Man. Do not use more than 9 languages. Then write a critical essay explaining the intentional flaws of your poem.

Question 15: Music
Write a violin concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with banjo, gulingtangan and drum. You will find a violin under your seat.

Question 16: Political Science
Using the atomic bomb built, or otherwise, start World War III. Report on its socio-economic effects, if any.

Question 17: General Knowledge
Describe in detail. Be objective and specific.

Bonus Question
Define the universe, giving two (2) examples.

If you finish before the time is up, check your work to ensure no mistake was made, correcting any if present.

The End

Good Luck

So how well do you think you will score?

Desperate to look smart

Human evolution has brought us to the point where the whole species put emphasis on intellect. After all, it is allegedly our intelligence that led us to dominate this planet. Truth is, we are so clever that one of the most clever group of us (i.e scientists) even cooked up this just-one-factor-considered measuring tool to tell the world that we are the smartest and not to mess with us. And what's important and relevant here is that, scientists predict our intellect/brain has a lot more room to be improved upon! So being extra smart is like, d00d I am higher evolved than you!

X-ray of future you as envisioned by Wikipedia

The idea of your great-great-grandson

that Tom Morris is trying to 'myth-ify'

Then comes the biggest problem as explained by the credited author in Kevan's article in March is that people have polarized thinking. This means people tends to give extreme judgments. For example, you are either pretty or ugly, happy or sad, smart or stupid. Test it yourself: for the three previous opposites, think for an English word that describe the quality that lies in between. If your answers are average, moderate, not bad, etc, then congratulation! You are a human! Anyway, what happens here is, people know that if they aren't smart then automatically they are stupid! And being stupid is TERRIFYING! So what people do next is take the shortcut to smartness: look smart! And I am not talking about faking smart here. I am talking about genuine smartness! But as you will see, some actions can be backfiring as users unwittingly turn their smartness against themselves, actions such as...

1) Bragging About Your Test Results

Let's face it, you don't masturbate and immediately know how good you will be in bed. So what should you do? You get a partner (or more) to observe his/her/their response. And for smartness, there are the popular IQ tests, personality tests, SAT, school tests and even fortune cookies saying 'you will make a good decision today' a.k.a you make bad decisions the rest of the time. Yet although you would be shy to announce how badly you failed a physics test, you never suspect the same on other people. So when someone promptly inform you that he got an A for algebra, your mind instantly implies that he's a freaking genius. After all, it's impossible to get an A for algebra and D for the other subjects, right? RIGHT?

Even more suspicious is how horoscopes or personality tests never have results such as these:

1. You are going to fail in life.
2. You will be a virgin till you die.
3. Your ideal career is begging for money.
4. You are dumb and ignorant.

No, somehow these never appear although we have seen or heard of someone exactly like that. Positive thinking is so important that it is better to hide the truth that your 'Perfectionist' result is actually OCD.

Yes? Then you are a perfectionist!
No anxiety disorder here =D

(oh I am sorry that smiley is tilted 90 degree left)

Facebook personality quizzes are visited by millions of people a day because they allow posting of your results. But the fact remains that you aren't gonna look smart if you can't be smart! This is crucially important because many people focuses too much on the exterior and forgot that they still need to learn and think. Problems aren't restricted to the not-smart category (not saying you're dumb!) as smart people can fall victims to their own traps, as in...

2) Throwing Around Credentials And Achievements

Yes you are the winner of American Idol season X. Yes you won a gold medal in the last Olympic. Yes you have a Ph.D in awarding Ph.Ds. But there's a proper time or place to tell that, like in a job interview or to get laid. Then there are improper time and place that might end you up on FAILBlog, like when getting laid or to prove you are smartest in an argument.

OH YES! This feels good!
I got an A-Star for my A Level Chemistry!

I haven't been catching up with the real world since World of Warcraft, but last time I was around, you win an argument by being correct, not by being smart. I am pretty sure it's still the same way to settle things now. So what makes some people think even if the topic is controversial, smartness trumps facts, is beyond me. Now if you say Hindus should not eat chocolate because chocolate is made by choking a cow, you are d@mn well wrong because we all know that chocolate is made by delivering the cocoa late! When you are proven to be literally and factually wrong, you should just shut up and be embarrassed like anyone else would, but some people got the idea they can make their own 'Return of' by shooting their credentials and achievements by saying 'So you made a chocolate in front of me by liquefying ground fermented cocoa beans, but I've got a Master in the Chemistry of Chocolate Flavouring!' This idea formed because the system of credentials and achievements is misunderstood. When you are acknowledged for being capable of doing a good job, you still have to do the job right, not sit there and everything become done right by you.

It's E=mcD! I know because I finished up to the Big Bang Theory Season 4.

What happens is, it doesn't matter if you showed you are the reincarnation of Archimedes plus Michael Faraday plus Albert Einstein and you have the memory and IQ of all of them combined, if you think that's gonna make 27 alphabets exist then you are idiot at the moment. Being an idiot for even a moment is a death-sentence for many people. That's why the following effort is popular.

3) Be Really Really Smart (When You Don't Have To)

Humans naturally feel insecure. That's why we banded together and owned the Earth since many years ago. Now that we are on the throne, we feel insecure about ourselves. In particular, our smartness. For many of us, there's nothing more horrible than being asked a question and not knowing the answer. Stuttering 'The charge of an electron is... Errrr... Ermm... In Coulomb, the value is errr...' is the equivalent of screaming 'F**k you!' in the face of Hitler or sneezing snots all over the face of the person of your dream. To prevent it, what they do is always prepare the right answer to give, at the wrong time, which can be really annoying.

"Mommy, before I die I must tell you.
Did you know pig orgasm lasts for more than 30 minutes?'

"Good morning! I know the opposite
of a dice cube always add up to a seven."

They go to didyouknow.org, memorize the side notes on an obscure novel then tune in to Discovery Channel to remember every details from Future Weapon so the next time he's playing CoD he can attempt better to talk like a weapon freak. So if the next time you get bombarded by someone with a random trivia or statistics, this is probably the reason. These people have favorite subjects of conversation which aren't like the norm. While other people are talking about common stuffs like boobies or Bieber, they tend to make sudden topic change to conspiracy theories or pseudoscience matters or suspiciously even numbered statistics which most people normally won't know. Probably because they are made up. Because for them nothing beats the demoralizing power of a 'DID YOU KNOOOOWWWWWW...' followed by a 'yeah'.

Better than porn.

Apparently it's a really hard art to master. One has to be skillful to dodge questions or parry them with answers that are gonna beat the wrong bush. Like, the 'How many Irish does it take to change a light bulb?' assault promptly repelled with a 'DID YOU KNOW that Thomas Edison supported direct current for electricity distribution?' It's really pathetic. If Leonardo of Vinci that genius can invent an helicopter and keep it away for four centuries, why do you have to be so excited just because you know the rotor of the largest helicopter spins at 110rpm. If this is not enough, look forward to the long-term planners who...

4) Become Nerds

Now, we know a lot of smart people love science and math and philosophy and literature. But that doesn't mean that's the only thing they do! A brilliant people can also be into other things, like photography or paint balling or skydiving.

Or grinding an ass. Who doesn't?

However, it becomes wrong to associate all intellectuals are full-time intelligent. Just because event A causes event B to happen does not mean event B also causes event A to happen. Then it gets worse when it's assumed smart people are nerdy and nerdy people are into stuffs like Star Wars or Green Lantern.

He's green and ugly but I'm gonna love him so I can be smart.

Now we have someone who always try to start up conversation about the dark matter or demographic stochasticity and the sort and scorn at any discussions of new DVDs out in a nearby shop, unless of course if it's about Star Wars in which they start shrieking "REALLY?! Oh I love Star Wars ever since 63 years before George Lucas was born! OH MY GOD I LOVE STAR WARS I AM SUCH A HUGE NERDDDDDDDDDD~" now don't tell me you wouldn't think that's slightly desperate. But nothing is going top it all, for looking smart, than...

5) Not Be Stupid

Most of us have been there. The blasting in our face "WHAT?! YOU DON'T KNOW?!" coming from a really 'smart' person. Somehow many times in an average person's life, not knowing everything in the world means you're stupid. And not just plain stupid. It's the kind of stupid that says you don't deserve to live. Like if you have the Down Syndrome, only you're worse than that.

YOU IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW THE SQUARE ROOT OF THIRTY-THREE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINE?

And this is the cause of when some 'smart' people believe everyone either has an IQ of 200 or 50. You become stupid for stopping for breath mid-sentence or not having a perfect memory to remember the orgy your friend had forgotten to inform you about. Or you are a ridiculously, hell-homing stupid abomination for enjoying Justin Bieber or Twilight. Meanwhile of course, they are one of the world's rare high-class elites who are the only ones in the world that fully understand how China economy is booming, which in fact are information gotten from the columns at The Economist. But it doesn't bother them that they aren't having the normal fun. Because they are too occupied with the fun of believing they are smart and...

6) Being Sophisticated

These are the people who are superior to anything. Because they are sophisticated, everything else become inferior. They will go to a karaoke but won't sing because it's not the American Idol, attend a party but not dance because well, possibly because they can dance so good your eyes will fall out, although I doubt that.

Or he rules a nuclear nation, so don't mess with him.

Don't get me wrong! They are not arrogant. They are just simply too good to do what average people do. After all, they don't have an average intelligence. That said, they regularly socialize with average people. It's just that they have an allergy to participation in average activities because, well, for these low self-esteem individuals, up-keeping a smart image is important right?

Now I am not saying these people are stupid. I am sure most of them, if not all, are pretty smart people. There are just many types of smartness and many kinds of stupidity, and trying too hard to show you are smart can be one such dumbness. It's a murky border between genius and idiot so no one really cares (except  those people). Dumb people who are friendly and honest are much more preferable than smart ones who keep annoying everyone by showing how smart they are. The world's not gonna think less of you for not being smart in every way, so rather than trying to memorize the crap out of everything on the Internet, why don't you learn something from your fellow human beings instead?

ZhuZhu8th

Red alert!! Communication Glitch in our programmings!!!

Have you ever been embarassed after a statement? Forced into damaged control?? Feel stupid after the fact?? You might be aware of them or you might not, but there's an error in our *programming*.(Yes I treat brains as computers and mindsets as softwares =p). Here's probably one of the reason why.

Error: Treating Inferences as facts.

Fact: A statement or claim that can be objectively verfied or proven. For example: The date today is March 23 . Wood comes mainly from trees. The tallest man-made structure to date is the Burj Dubai skyscraper.

Inference: process of reasoning from premises to a deduction or conclusion. Inferences are inevitable. Our problem arises when we treat inferences as automatic fact. It happens that our brain auto-process infos based on association, relevance and logical reasoning. This is to quickly filter out and deal with the loads of info it receives, both trivial and crucial so it does not overload and short-circuit itself.So be careful. Your inference can be your error.

Examples:

• You see a poorly dressed customer walk into your store and conclude they don't have money to spend.
• You see a woman with a fuller figure wearing a billowing blouse. You congratulate her on her upcoming pregnancy.
• You see a college student normally attired in jeans enter the room sporting a business suit. You assume they had a job interview.
• You hear a voice over the fast-food intercom. You say "Thank you, Sir" at order completion. You drive up and painfully learn that voice belonged to a woman.
• You hear the word "nurse" or "dancer" and immediately decode this as "female". Conversely, you hear "construction worker" or "engineer" and decode "male".
• You see two people standing together at a social situation. You believe they are a couple.
• You see a person driving an expensive car. You assume that he is well off.
• You pick up on a charred smell. You assume whatever your friend is cooking, you'll be looking at a black plate on the table.
• You hear a police siren go off your neighbourhood. You assume there's something big going on around the corner.
• You see a pair of bride and bridesgroom. You went up to congratulate them only to know that the man wearing the tuxedo is the best man.

Solution: It's only human for you to make inferences. Just don't automatically give them "fact" status.

"The brain processes 400 Billion bits of information a second. BUT, we are ONLY aware of 2,000 of those." -Dr. Joseph Dispenza, D.C.

Don't blame your biological processor. It's only doing what's right to keep itself from blowing up its circuitry into bits.

Content credits to LisaMarie Luccioni

TacTics19

Malicious Maths and Problematic Probability

Statistics is employed in a wide range of fields. Banks, investors and gamblers exploit it to earn millions and billions of dollars every year. Everyone agrees that the right use of statistics is advantageous. However, Mr. Statistics can be tricky. I want to demonstrate this using probabilities and to warn people not to take statistics, especially probabilities, at its face value.

Let's say I have this game of dice. There's a host and a player. The game is played with the player choosing a number from 1 to 6, then tossing an unbiased 6-sided die. If the die shows a face value matching the number chosen by the player, the host pays the player $9. If it doesn't match, then the player pays the host $1. The question is, in the long run and if you are the player, is it profitable to play this game? Now many people would think, 'Hey! Why not?? An unbiased 6-sided die means each face shows 1/6 of the time! That means I will lose 5 times and win once on average, earning me $5 approximately every 6 rounds ($10 - 5x$1).' Many people would be wrong. They have forgotten that a number has to be chosen to match. Now, the probability of choosing 1 of the 6 numbers will already be 1/6. The probability of the die face showing the chosen number will be another 1/6. Combined together, the probability of getting a die face value matching your chosen number will be 1/36!!!!! (1/6 x 1/6) That means you lose $35 for every $10 win!!!

Another example: faced with an unbiased 3 choices dilemma with each choice carrying 1/3 chance to the correct answer, choosing any option gives you 1/3 of being correct while the rest of 2/3 are held by the other 2 choices. These 2 choices carry 1/3 each to the correct answer. Therefore the chance of getting the correct answer from choosing any of the other 2 is 2/3 x 1/3 = 2/9, versus 1/3 from your initial first choice. It is now statistically proven that unless there is a change, it is always the best to stay with your first choice. Similarly, imagine a scenario where the chance of getting what you want is 50%, and you only have one try. Now, you might think that getting what you want is 50% for that try. That might sounds true, but it doesn't matter. You see, let's take a large number. Say, infinite! Now, if you have infinite try, you will get what you want 50% of the time. But what matters is the one try you have now. You should then be aware that the probability of that one try carrying what you want is actually 1/4, i.e, 1/2 the probability of that try carrying what you want multiplied by 1/2 the probability of that try being one of the 50% of infinite tries that carry what you want.

So you can see, a lot of times, it's not the fault of the world that statistics lie to you. It's your fault for being ignorant of more variables. After all, stochasticity in nature is part of the wonder of this world!!! Before I end this, I would like to remind readers (or maybe reader or even no one) that I am not an expert on statistics nor do I agree on everything I have written. Also, I would like to wish a happy belated birthday to some of the special people in my life, Adeline Sung and Hui Yi, because I missed out on greeting them on time:

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!

ZhuZhu8th

Valentine

This post is written as a response to Sharon's post.

Well Sharon, Valentine's Day is the day of Saint Valentine (which kinda means Muslims aren't really supposed to celebrate it? =S). It's a tradition started by a pope during the 5th century I think. But it was not associated with romantic love until the Middle Ages. On that day, lovers give each other love notes called valentines, which of course have been replaced by cards nowadays.

As a student of economics, you would understand that Valentine's Day is crucial to the market worldwide. Every year, more than a thousand places around the world manufacture chocolates for Valentine's Day and in fact, billions of dollars are spent just to ship these chocolates (true story)! Not to mention many more billions of dollars are circulated in the economy of the world with the trading of gifts! This is all healthy by mean of money flow and might even revive a stale economy!

On the other hand, in Korea, hallmark holidays set on 14th such as Candle Day, White Day, Rose Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day and omg Silver Day (you gotta love this day if you play in the metal market) are seriously created by the commercial community to spike revenue. But then, like Valentine's Day, it's all for the sake of economy! ^^ Well as consumers maybe you wouldn't like it that much but if you view from a different perspective, these 'Day's are really great ideas!

ZhuZhu8th

新兔年快乐

恭喜发财, 万事顺利, 心想事成



To those concerned, wish we all get good results and scholarships and good uni to go to =) And of course, may all MY dreams come true =P, one of which is that everyone's dreams come true ^^



ZhuZhu8th

Think Again

Hi, people

Just have a comeback, thought i might as well have a share with all of you an article i have come across a few days ago. This is to provide a guideline to all of you for all the grandma's and grandpa's out there that may seem different but actually are a lot in common with all of us, except the part of getting skin wrinkles and the aging of the hair ( it's worse in men)

Legends of the old people : -

MYTH #1: All old people are the same.

REALITY: There is more variety among older people than among any other age group.

MYTH #2: The basic human needs of older people are different from those of younger people.

REALITY: Human needs do not change as we grow old.

MYTH #3: More than 50 percent of the elderly are senile (that is, they suffer memory, disorientation, bizarre behavior)

REALITY: About 80 percent of older adults are healthy enough to carry out their normal activities.

MYTH # 4: All old people are incompetent.

REALITY: Many elderly people, even in the early stages of dementia, can retain their abilities to understand and appreciate information they are given and reason to make important life choices. Physical disabilities are often mistakenly linked to intellectual deficits.

MYTH #5: There is a lack of productivity with older people.

REALITY: While most older people are not in paid employment, they may have important roles as grandparents, caregivers, volunteers, or in civic and social activities.

MYTH #6: All old people suffer from rigid thinking.

REALITY: There is the belief elders shy away from new technologies such as use of computers and the Internet. Over 41 percent of those >65 use the Internet.

MYTH #7: As people age, their ability to learn often stops.

REALITY: Learning patterns may change and speed of learning may diminisg but the basic capacity to learn is retained.

MYTH #8: It is easier to learn new things than it is to recall things from the past.

REALITY: The exact opposite is true: It is easier to remember things from the past than it is to learn new things.

MYTH #9: Forgetfulness is likely to indicate the onset of dementia.

REALITY: Memory loss can be caused by medications, medical conditions, or by depression related to life events. Forgetfulness may be an early sign of dementia but it does not necessarily mean a person will be diagnosed with dementia.

MYTH#10: Everyone who gets old will develop dementia.

REALITY: Only 6%-8% of people over age 65 have dementia and 1/3 of those over age 85 have some dementia symptoms.

MYTH#11: All old people get depressed.

REALITY: Most older adults, most of the time, are not depressed. Depression is NOT a normal part of growing old but rather an illness that needs to be treated. Age alone is not a risk factor for depression.

MYTH#12: Depression in late life is more enduring and difficult to treat than depression at younger ages.

REALITY: The course of depression in the elderly is identical to that of younger persons. The response of depression to treatment appears as positive as at other life stages.

MYTH#13: Depression in late life is typically due to psychological factors.

REALITY: Depression in late life is frequently co-morbid with physical illness such as stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and hip fracture. If caregivers misinterpret the nature and different forms of depression, they may not seek diagnosis and treatment.

MYTH#14: If an older person does not look depressed, he/she does not feel depressed.

REALITY: Depression often causes physical problems such as loss of energy, low appetite and weight, trouble sleeping, social withdrawal, and complaints of pain. Depression can also make someone agitated and delusional.

MYTH#15: If an older person looks depressed, he or she must feel depressed.

REALITY: Depression is often mistaken for apathy which has been shown to be a different syndrome from depression.

So I end my post here and hopefully people would show this post to their children before they get old to avoid your grandkids asking "Grandpa, when are you not able to control your bladders like what happen in the drama series?" =)

Innocent

住在心里面

ZhuZhu8th

Which Is Worse for Your Health: Marijuana or Alcohol?

A few days ago, I stumbled upon an article which is quite fascinating in my opinion. It is about the widespread and legal use of alcohol and how it when compared to Marijuana( illegal ), is commonly assumed to be very detrimental to your health. So here I would state out the points and let you decide which is worse for your health, marijuana or alcohol?

Prolonged and consistent use of alcohol affects nearly every organ of the body

1. the gastrointestinal track
2. cardiovascular system
3. central nervous system

Alcohol is a contributing factor in

1. Gastritis
2. ulcers
3. liver cirrhosis
4. pancreatitis
5. hypertension
6. muscle weakness
7. memory impairment.

Other symptoms include:

1. Tremor

2. unsteady gait

3. insonmia

4. erectile dysfunction.

In pregnant women

1. Abortion or fetal alcohol syndrome and birth defects.

Drinkers fall more and cause accidents. Alcohol is related to 55% of fatal auto accidents. Half of all murderers and their victims are believed to involve alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol leads to disinhibition of feelings of sadness and aggression which can lead to suicide.

On the other hand, Cannabis

1. Increases appetite,
2. Dry mouth,
3. Tachycardia,
4. Euphoria,
5. Sedation
6. Slowed sense of time.
7. Chronic cough or throat problems due to smoking

These are the symptoms and consequences of cannabis and alcohol according to the DSM-IV, the bible of the psychiatric community. Now, that you have read them yourself, what do you think?

TacTics18

25 Quotes on Humor

"Laugh as much as possible, always laugh. It's the sweetest thing one can do for oneself & one's fellow human beings." - Maya Angelou

"A good laugh makes any interview, or any conversation, so much better." - Barbara Walters

"He who laughs, lasts." - Mary Pettibone Poole

"A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing." - Laura Ingalls Wilder

"There is nothing like a gleam of humor to reassure you that a fellow human being is ticking inside a strange face." - Eva Hoffman

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it." - Bill Cosby

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road." - Henry Ward Beecher

"It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously." - Oscar Wilde

"When humor goes, there goes civilization." - Erma Bombeck

"A sense of humor... is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life." - Hugh Sidey

"A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

"I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it." - Frank A. Clark

"No mind is thoroughly well organized that is deficient in a sense of humor." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Comedy is acting out optimism." - Robin Williams

"A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life." - William Arthur Ward

"Humor can alter any situation and help us cope at the very instant we are laughing." - Allen Klein

"Humor is just another defense against the universe." - Mel Brooks

"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it." - Langston Hughes

"Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs." - Christopher Morley

"If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor." - Jennifer Jones

"Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth." - Victor Borge

"Humor is the affectionate communication of insight." - Leo Rosten

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you." - Langston Hughes

"Next to power without honor, the most dangerous thing in the world is power without humor." - Eric Sevareid

"The more I live, the more I think that humor is the saving sense." - Jacob August Riis

Don't take life too seriously, you won't get out of it alive anyway. =)

TacTics18