In-or-out of the box

Mathematics is getting more and more complex and difficult. It pressurizes and plagues most students all time. Most students are usually very tense and stressful during lecture time. So, the lecturer made a joke in afternoon lecture yesterday. Here it is:



Almost every student laughed at it. I bet you find it very funny unless you have heard that kind of jokes before. The joke is simple and amusing. It took a while for hundreds of students to stop laughing at it.

Meanwhile, I asked my friend a stupid question. I said, “Why are we laughing at it? (^^)” He said, “(@_@) My God! That is a funny joke (:D)”. Well, of course I know that is a joke. You may wonder why I asked that stupid question then. We laughed because we know it is mathematics.

Let me clarify my statement. We laughed at it because we know it is a mathematical joke in the first place. We know what mathematics is, how it looks like, what dy/dx stands for, and what we are supposed to answer to that question. We look at it from the mathematical point of view. What if you show that joke to someone who knows nothing about mathematics and is confused mathematic with someone’s name? Would he possible laugh at that joke? I guarantee you, hell NO! He might even says, “Correct lah (:P)! There you see (pointing at dy/dx in question)”.

Our mind categorizes things we see based on our knowledge and images captured. If we see something that looks like a bird, we automatically think it is a bird. If we see something we are unfamiliar with at night, it must be a ghost. I know it is kind of lame but it’s the truth. The mind sees what it chooses to see. Our mind is framed up to narrow down into a certain way of thinking when we see something. In a way, we can’t normally think out of the box. What we have learnt in life make us to be able to realize or comprehend things faster. That is why smartest are the dumbest sometimes. Their brain is too quick in categorizing things. It is just too fast in getting into the box. It is a draw back of knowing too much. (A good reason not to learn :P)

One of my Poly lecturers told the class a story once. I don’t remember who and when he did. It is a true story though. I would like to share the story because it is about smart people who can’t think of out of the box at the right moment and a normal guy who saved smart asses.

A group of professional engineers were in dilemma. They were assigned to build a lift in a hotel to facilitate the guests’ access. To build a lift, it is required to drill big holes on ever floor. No guest likes to stay in a hotel where is rackety and messy. More importantly, they need to shut down the hotel for a certain period due to construction. Shutting down the hotel is the last thing hotel owners want to do. It would certainly affect the business highly. At the same time, the hotel is in a desperate need of a lift. The engineers were discussing over and running out of ideas.

Lucky, there was a cleaner who was washing the floor nearby. When he heard the discussion over, he said, “ You know what! If I were u, I would build the lift outside the hotel”. *CLING*

That is what happened when you cannot think things in a simple way. This is what happened when you are too smart. This is what happened when you cannot think out of the box.

Anyway, this is just my opinion though.

Ciao.

Goodchild.

Holiday Bug

There is something called “balance” in life. Every little thing has its draw back. There is always a “but” after something nice is said. Good news always comes with bad ones. It is always the way it is. It is the beauty of living.

Time is a short immortal. Six weeks of holidays had gone. I did nothing special in those days, not even something that would possibly bring me up to better level. Well, holiday is meant to be holiday. So, I should not really mind how those days were spent. Let bygones be bygones. And now, school day is back.

But…but I am still infected by holiday bug. That is when a “but” comes in, a draw back. My biological clock is corrupted. Not being able to sleep is bad enough. Not wanting to sleep is surely worse than anything else. That is why I am blogging now, a good way of living through a sleepless night. I definitely do not want to miss a very first lecture of a new semester. If I do, it is a bad omen. Lucky, class starts at 1:00pm on Monday in my new timetable. It is a bit relief. Isn’t it?

School day is back. It is time to fight and to be serious. The night is almost over but not quite. Now what?

Goodchild.

Last minute of 2008

A bottle of Tequila and shockingly deep belly buttons?
Nah.

Come on, who could possibly be that damn lucky while counting down the last 10 seconds of 2008? Well, who knows? Lucky few would have a chance to kiss their loves after watching fabulous bursting of fire works. At least, most people are fortunate enough to shout “Happy New Year!!!” to their friends or other faces nearby after counting. But when it comes to me, it was never that awfully simple. It left me a tall tale to tell.

Two bottles of Scotch, Chivas Regal, were a good kick for us to stand all night long on rough sands with bare feet. It was almost 11:00pm when cabs got Vivo. Hundreds of people were queuing at the escalator just to get on the third floor. All of them were pathetically desperate to get on it. The queue was unnecessarily long. Let me rephrase that. That was damn ridiculously long, the longest queue I have ever seen in this island republic. Some people even ended up in a fight. Lifts and escalators were shut down as a consequence of hunger. People are ready to eat each other to survive.

It was already 11:30pm when LRT stopped by at Beach Station. The party was at 20 minutes walking-distance away from the station and no one would be expecting that there would be another long queue waiting ahead for them. Queue, queue, queue and queue again. Why the hell did everyone end up in queuing? What is wrong with their goddamn management plan? I bet no one likes to pay 35 bucks to spend New Year Night in queuing. Not one bit, especially when among those wet and sweaty Indian guys who enjoyed too much in pushing around and staring at fair chicks who were unfortunately stuck near them in the crowd. No manner at all. That is gross and wildly inappropriate. That is totally absurd.

I know our minds tend to exaggerate others’ flaws, but that was a harsh truth going on down there. And the worst part of it is that I was standing just right among those bloody people when fire works burst up perfectly and redden the smoky sky. Unlucky two of my friends were also standing next to me right there and getting pushed. Thank God! I got a chance to say “Happy New Year!” to their faces at the right moment at least. Lucky me! By the time all of us met on the beach, both fire works and crazy high-pitch voices are already gone. What else could possibly worse than that in New Year?

Anyway, we had fun and danced 5 hours straight till exhausted at last. It has been 3 years I never went out in New Year Night. I was in a shower when last seconds of 2007 were being counted and just about to be 2008. For this time, I was among those sweaty guys. At next twelve months time, where would I possibly be?

Anyway ..

Happy New Year! Everybody. Have fun in 2009. :)

Goodchild.