Collection of past Facebook status updates

I think since having i-phone that can access internet 24-7, I had posted quite a lot of my thinking on Facebook. These flashes of thoughts are not long enough to become blog articles, but yet are important for me at the time of expressing them out. Hence I have decided to compile them here for future reference, with additional notes.

2010-01-02:

I wonder how people construct logic to rationalize things without first checking for missing links. When even science is based on hypothesis, it seems inexplicable to see why people sometime are so adamant with their superficial logics. Affection with their creation, perhaps.

[Thought developed from opinions from some football fans, suggesting tones of 'logical' answers regarding the situation, of which actually contradicts with the true answer: the missing information. However, this phenomenon can be observed everywhere. How often do we quickly believe something just because they sound logical and outline a simple causal relationship where in reality events have more than one cause?

One of the most vivid examples that I could link from my past readings is this: Since now everyone use cell phone and it has becomes a necessity, it's good to buy stocks of cell-phone companies like Nokia. Sure earnings. It sounds logical, isn't it? This opinion overlooks many major issues, for example the effect of supply and demand. Even demand is always there, if the market is oversupply due to stiff competitions, do you think most of the companies still grow and earn? In fact, a lot of mature industries have entered the market of oversupply.]

2009-11-29:

I will disrupt my healthy lifestyle for the final few days of 2009 for deep reflections in quiet midnight.

2009-11-28:

I believe that before you talk about theory of scarcity you have to realize the scarcity of time first.

[Economics build on the theory of scarcity and one example used is the scarcity of time. Though this is easily understood but how many do actually realize the importance of it?]

2009-11-28:

I wonder why I encounter economics so late...

[I wonder why Malaysia's education doesn't teach economics. It is such an interesting topic that involves everybody's life especially in the era of globalization and highly sophisticated market. The first encounter was in university's first year and I scored an A for that economics 101. But I never discover that I have a deep interest in this field until I have come out to work, start having some doubts on how the society is revolving and found clarifications in books of economics. I think now I have a better understanding of this sentence: "The economic base of production determines the superstructure of a society".]

2009-11-23:

牵动着每个人的，始终是梦想与现实的差距。逃避、反抗、忍受、创造、妥协、擦边、背叛、醒悟。。。有多少情绪随着时间发酵，又有多少抉择能耐岁月风化。

[现实和理想，永恒的挣扎。]

2009-11-23:

Partial truth is not truth. Correlation based on linking of partial truths is mere coincidence or sophisticate manipulation.

[The more I read, the more I know. And the more I know, the more different angle I could see regarding a correlation analyzed by others. When you need to sell to mass, your idea needs to be simple and powerful. However, this doesn't guarantee the truth of the correlation. Yes, what make up the correlation are facts, but by purposely neglecting the black swans, the so-called correlation is nothing more than a sophisticate manipulation. This is especially true for complex topics. Only the coverage of alternative view will complete the whole picture of arguments. ]

2009-11-18:

Three ways to get happiness: help a person, solve a problem, or make a thing happens. It is threefold if all is done in one act.

[I have never stopped wondering what sources of happiness are, and I did conclude few factors in two separate articles written during university time. But at present stage, I am more inclined to think that the three factors mentioned are the most important.]

2009-11-18:

Cooking book vs book cooking: ordinary people vs extraordinary scam

[All the while I know what a cooking book is but I have never heard of book cooking (or cook the books). It just forms such a big contrast between the conscience of ordinary people and the integrity of big fishes.]

2009-11-15:

Sometimes support brings motivation; sometimes expectation exerts pressure; only calmness can bind the forces together and yields great results. Time and again, I have been reminded that:"Life is a marathon, not a sprint." The moral behind the story of the race of the rabbit and the tortoise becomes so impelling now. Only continuity matters.

[Calmness is needed to convert emotions into energies properly. Only through that can emotional roller coasters be avoided and continuity of efforts be assured.]

2009-11-13:

The time will come.

[I was following my manager to see how he brought buyer to see house. After the whole process, the seller's side agent gave me a little tap on my shoulder and said this to me. As usual, there are millions types of people around the people. Good people are not divided by field or industry, not identifiable by looks, but scattered around and sparks a resonance when they meet. ]

2009-11-13:

When disciple of discipline meet wizard of wisdom…

[Discipline needs direction too.]

2009-11-13:

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour.

[It's a quote by Vince Lombardi. I think this is especially true. Whether you have found your direction or not, you need to have the hunger for excellence. With that, even without a direction, some people may eventually still achieve success if luck favors them.]

2009-11-13:

Where decision matters in split second is where learning is hard and slow.

[Leaning something new is always slow because of the need to build a solid foundation. Perhaps exponential growth is only possible with a long period of slow but thorough and accurate learning. Genius, of course, is an obvious exception.]

2009-11-13:

Don't let others control destiny and define luxury. Happiness can be very simple.

[Influential ads have directly or indirectly defined what happiness is by defining what level of quality products you need to consume. Though you did get happiness by doing so, it doesn't mean that this is the only way. Luxurious lifestyle is just one possible way of quality time.]

2009-11-13:

祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏，生活中有太多的晴天霹雳，需要坦荡荡的心灵去面对。多一份不必要的虚伪，等于多埋一个待引爆的炸弹。

[有时候虚伪是必要的，但无论作出什么虚伪都会有代价。不必要的虚伪，就注定了长远利益的双输。]

2009-11-05:

Final day before the final adventure, nothing will be certain but what I could rely on are my discipline and meticulousness.

[I learnt this word meticulousness from my colleague, and when I went back home to check its meaning, I have found a word that best describes one of my strength when I do things that I want to do. This doesn't come without cost of slight procrastination, though the link is not necessary at all. This bad habit needs to be killed.]

2009-11-04:

If I can see and link, life is just as real as any movie, drama, soap, circus, arena, novel, story, history, saying, fable, games, comics and so on - as all of them roots from reality. They are just as real.

[Imagination and sheer curiosity could link puzzles that are scattered and form a bigger picture.]

2009-11-03:

Life is a mystery. When you start asking questions, you get different answers; when you stop asking questions, you get no answer. Either way, there is no one simple answer. Is it a merry-go-round?

[About question of life, I think everyone had asked or will ask. We may never get a simple answer, but is getting a simple answer really the answer? Isn't life borne out of diversity and complexity? We may never get a simple answer, but if we fed up and stop asking questions, are we still passenger inside or passerby outside of our life train?]

2009-11-01:

We compare ourselves against both lesser and greater so that we feel proud but yet not complacent.

[There is an old saying of Chinese idiom: "Comparing against better ones and thus we are inferior; comparing against worse ones and thus we are superior" that conveys the importance of passive contentment. But somehow I think there is a greater meaning for using different targets for comparison: to strike a balance between pride and complacency. By comparing ourselves against the better ones, we develop fear and are stimulated to improve ourselves; by comparing ourselves against the worse ones, we shield ourselves from being overrun by fear and build up self confidence. The same mentality can be applied to comparing different scenarios to strike a balance between overly optimistic and overly pessimistic.]

2009-10-31:

The one that has no fear to rise to the occasion can do much better given a chance to "create" occasion.

2009-10-31:

知音易尋，淡志難明，花開花凋落，無人賞。

[世有伯乐，然后有千里马。千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。]

2009-10-29:

剑散刀乱，意逝琴挥，弹笑千里间，各奔往。

[所有的味道，都是由时间酝酿出来的。]

2009-10-23:

Disobedience is what keeps my fire; madness is what makes me normal.

[Being totally conformed is being totally deformed. Perhaps we all keep a certain degree of disobedience and madness under mask and let it revealed only when the time is right.]

2009-10-22:

风暴将息，坠翔的日子开始倒数，但等待着的，却是更变幻莫测的风向。克服对无定的恐惧，不过是第一关；而最终迎来的，也未必是阳光……但，这就是抉择。

2009-10-21:

Swinging between struggling and rotting, so rarely are we in perfect balance.

[That just illustrates how tough it is when time is running out and how ineffective are we when time is abundant.]

2009-10-18:

And hence one road diverges into two, and perhaps more...in the journey of decentralization.

[I think I am going towards the direction of decentralization and becoming generalist.]

2009-10-16:

Is it a norm that minority group has always been marginalised? The majority may not be tyrannical, but being negligent is enough to form this norm.

[It is sad. But perhaps it is unrealistic for people in majority group to step out of their comfort zone and be less ignorant. If you don't help yourself, no one else can help you.]

2009-10-11:

Tough call made. Tough sail ahead. Tough game everywhere.

2009-10-08:

决定追寻更广阔的天空，飞翔坠空够惊险，此去无路我来开。今曰事今曰完，明日事谁人知？

2009-10-07:

You can have the best of each path but you could only choose one to walk.

[Road diverges, time doesn't.]

2009-10-04:

If life is only worth few fantasies, why are we creating so much trouble for ourselves...

[Only if fantasies are free lunches.]

2009-10-02:

In the end, some fakers have noblest souls as they need different masks to deal with dynamic difficulties; while some moralists have excellence exteriors as they can't contradicts themselves with complicated realities. No one can really tell and perhaps that's why life is so fun. It's gaming world.

[World of masks.]

2009-10-01:

If intelligence, like coin, have two sides...then one side is vision, another side is caution.

[Vision is the front windshield, caution is the rearview mirror.]

2009-10-01:

与时间比赛奔跑时，想要喘气，和时间一同滞留时，渴望飞翔。。。我们总是倾向于不知足，但这样的不知足，是那么地自然，也并非什么错，而是对生活平衡的憧憬。能化一切于安宁，是莫大的幸福。

[知足不是一种平衡，适时的知足和不知足才是平衡。]

2009-09-30:

总是在冒险的荒野才会发现意外的彩虹。。。

[回酬和风险。]

2009-09-29:

There isn't a need to plan if there will not be execution. Planning is meant to make things happen accordingly and smoothly. Unless we are able to act reflexively and yet correctly upon sudden turn of events, if not we need to plan. Anticipation and flexibility work best in pair...perhaps.

[We anticipate whatever we can to reduce risk, whatever we can't, we have to rely on flexibility.]

2009-09-28:

The road ahead would be the roughest and toughest but I shall not regret. Life is no turning back once a decision has been made. Even the worst anticipated outcome would be a blessing in disguise. It's either being courageous or coward...for life is also like investment, risks and returns are often correlated.

2009-09-25:

Life stage is quantized...need concentration and concentrated efforts to break through higher state, or else would always fall back to the same old state, regardless of endurance period spent.

2009-09-22:

Melody of the September: Change is good. What you expect to be difficult has always been magnified by inertia and fear while the experience and excitement are the real flowers that blossom.

2009-09-18:

Good intuition comes from astute observations, poor intuition comes from pure imaginations

[Even abstract arts comes from reality, it's just different transformation, interpretation or representation.]

2009-09-17:

即使是现实的生活，也是介于半梦半醒之间.

2009-09-14:

Sometimes filtering noise for few minutes requires much more energy than working for long hours. And guess who make those noises? Those who talk the walk.

[Noise making is a necessary survival skill for someone without authentic skills to impress.]

2009-09-10:

这世界就是这样，有些人什么都不管，做东西乱乱来，反而落得"两袖清风"：无事干；有些人想认真做点东西，反倒成了"多管闲事"的贱人。

[人的世界最复杂。]

2009-09-08:

太极，年轻人学不来。有些人学了无用武之地，都拿去办公室实践了。

[这不是办公室政治，这是办公室武术。]

2009-09-06:

生活是一段又一段的起跑、加速、超越、喘气、暂歇、望梅、冲刺和结束。

[跑慈善短跑过后对生活的联想。]

2009-09-04:

The path that you think less people has taken, may be a false notion when you really walk along it, but it doesn't really matter, as long as the path is new and unexplored to you, you will find discoveries that would be useful and meet surprises that become memorable.

[Life is not about others, but yourself; life is not about journeys, but discoveries.]

2009-08-10:

The quality of education really matters for long...the power of empowerment and enlightening is simply unmatched by any other forces, and yet most of time it is treated as a materialistic gateway, to success, to glory, to pride...which are all secondary to characteristics.

[Skills can be valued, enlightenment is priceless.]