The obedient cylinder (Illusion)

 I've found another interesting illusion here I present a Spinning cylinder which can spin clockwise or counter clockwise simply by blinking.

To do this trick all you have to do is blink once while watching the spin of the cylinder and expect it to alter its spin. Flicking your eyes in the direction you want it to spin also works.

Go ahead and try it yourself:

What is interesting about this illusion is that the motion of this cylinder is indeed imaginary because in fact the particles are emitting randomly at each other from two roughly straight lines and everything including the cylindrical shape exists only in our imagination.  

The Spinning Ballerina Illusion

If you are like me you've often looked at this image on the web and wondered if you should click on the banner to find out which of you brains hemispheres is dominant (or some other such insight about your personality).

"The Spinning Dancer, also known as the silhouette illusion, is a kinetic, bistable optical illusion resembling a pirouetting female dancer. The illusion, created by web designer Nobuyuki Kayahara,^[1][2] involves the apparent direction of motion of the figure. Some observers initially see the figure as spinning clockwise and some counterclockwise." Wikipedia

 As it turns out the illusion has nothing whatsoever to do with anything deep but rather its just a matter of perception. One of the quickest ways to make the dancer spin in either direction is to move the focus of you eyes away from the dancer till she is in your peripheral vision. Then you simply tell yourself that you can observe the motion in the other direction and shift your eyes back to the dancer to have her spinning in the other direction.

If the above trick doesn't work for you try these two images to help you see either direction of motion.

Paradox "Wish I could sleep faster"

Happens to me a lot!

'Late into the night on my laptop and an early morning meeting' or 'guilty for that extra partying and wanting to get up bright and early for my workout' and myriad other situations when I need to fall asleep in a hurry.

Truth is, I've been running so scared with all the talk about health problems related to not sleeping enough that I'm really anxious about getting a decent shut eye most nights. However, everytime I put my head on the pillow resolved to sleep early I end up staying awake much longer.

What is happening is the worry (haste) is nagging at my consciousness and won't let me relax enough to sleep. The silent alarm in my mind keeps going off "am I sleep yet" and keeps waking me up.

Most ironically its when I have all the time in the world, days when I can sleep in late that I fall asleep easily and wake up earlier and fresher.

Go figure...

Emotions

What is the point of emotions in human psyche?

This is a question that seems to reoccur quiet often in some obscure vestiges of my mind. My interest in it was seemingly instigated by professional necessity as we are developing a motivational system for interactive education but seems to have become more of a matter demanding some philosophical reasoning.

Emotion as response to stimuli I can understand because its logical. However we are seldom rational beings and have some strange emotional states that clearly defy logic.

We have a lot of interest in the propensity to humanize mechanical constructs or inanimate objects and possibilities of this in the development of motivations tools.

We are somewhat vexed however by the somewhat erratic human ability to instinctively and often without logical reasoning or investigation 'like' or 'dislike' something.

Its something that I do pretty often and perhaps I can advance this reasoning by some introspection.

Unfortunately this is going to be an inconclusive post...

Old Love

Young love is passionate and tumultuous, It is like the boiling river and does not wish to be restrained. It is single minded and waxes your discontent and wanes your interest in things other than the object of your attention.

The distracting force creates a drab gray world in the background against which the shining beacon of you desire burns brilliantly. No other beauty is as beautiful, no other thing as precious and no other desire which is stronger.

Set against this the experience of old love.

Like the ocean it is sure of its depth, It reaches out and wants to touch things around in wonder as if seeing life in all its glory for the first time. It creates curiosity and zest for life.

It is a satisfying surety that makes the world richer, food finds new flavor and pursuits find new vigor. The object of your affection is a brilliant light that makes the whole world brighter and reveals its myriad colors and textures.

Dedication

Normally able to do things with stubborn and determined single mindedness I've lately been confused about the concept of dedication, devotion and loyalty to my profession.

don't get me wrong I love what I do!

I love making playware (my company's name as well as a funky new media phrase we coined), I love teaching others about the industry and about everything else about my professional life and would be here doing this even if I was not paid for it.

I almost equally love writing (including stuff I post here and on other blogs) and despite internal resistance find myself spending more of my free time on it. This I feel may not be fair to what I am professionally.

Its sometimes feels that the solution is simple because I like making playware and having achieved a modicum of success I get paid for it too, so it seems logical to continue.

However, I find it hard to put-off writing so easily and feel that I can have a great time at it as well and make money there too.

I could continue with this status quo but I'm confused as to whether I can do justice to both these pursuits simultaneously.

This one is just a blurb as my thoughts on the subject are not as well formed as I would like.

Psychology: Affinity

I've sometimes felt myself possessing an inexplicable affinity for certain unlikely things, places and people.

I understand the strong attachment I feel towards my family, the common memories of glory days shared with old friends and the comradeship from being on adventures together with my colleagues. I understand the warm feeling I get when I walk into my home and appreciate the harmony I feel in the lap of nature. I even attach logic to my quiet confidence in old and reliable equipment such as my trusty shuffle and laptop.

What I don't understand however is when I experience affinity for places and relationships that are more transactional in nature. Why do I feel a sense of loyalty to soda machine or have immense patience for slip-ups at a regularly visited restaurant (actually this one I know; as a rule I never go back to a restaurant were I've kicked up a fuss no matter what brought it on)

Have not completely figured out what I want to say here and so am going to cut this post off right about...

disclaimer: These posts of mine ostentatiously titled 'Psychology something' mostly have their origins in my somewhat discreet curiosity about my own behavior and have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual discipline.

Psychology: Giving

We humans are just plain weird. If we are really made in God’s own image then I think we might be experiencing the equivalent of an analog signal’s generation loss (loss of fidelity with each generation of copy). I don’t understand even myself and cannot profess to even begin to comprehend the world.


One of the thing I find most baffling (not one of the negative ones) of all is; why we feel happier by doing things for others.

It can’t be simply that the thought of reciprocation acts as a motivation as I’ve often tried to do something for strangers (as an experiment) and move on, without waiting for gratitude, and still felt nice about it.

Small or big doesn’t seem to make much difference either; ever try something simple such as smiling and greeting a person you know may be isolated? (case to point the old helper around my apartment who quietly keeps maintaining the compound without ever talking to anyone).

Is there some weird Freudian explanation about the need to please ourselves by doing for others? (in which case it seems even more delusional as why would it not be simpler to please oneself by doing things selfishly?)

It kind of makes it hard for me to be an atheist as ‘the soul’ that ‘small drop of God in us ‘seems like one plausible explanation.

When we give and do for people we know and like the positive sensation seems even stronger. I've often noted that there is quite contentment in the knowledge that I did something for someone close and have never felt the need for acknowledgment from the recipient.

Furthermore, I don't feel disappointment if such people do go on to let me down. (This may be partially due to the fact that I deliberately have really low expectations* from everyone else and therefore no one can disappoint me. *which may also be a personality flaw in its own right)

Have been researching the 'psychology of giving' to satisfy this curiosity and have come across several interesting articles. Look forward to some links on this...

Relativity of Time

Have you also ever noticed the 'relativity of time'? Let me clarify, before the rest of this conversation gets hijacked by you brilliant scientific mind, that I don't mean this question in the 'e=mc2' sense.

Have you noticed that time has a invert relation to our level of immersion in a given activity. The more we get immersed into an activity the shorter time seems to get. When we are enjoying ourselves time flies by and when we labor* at something time can come to a standstill. (* by 'labor' here I mean; the application of will to keep at a task you don't want to do)

This happens to me a lot. When I am working on design or contemplating a production approach or engaged with something else of a similar nature I often find myself with missing hours. However, if I have to wait without a distraction of some sort (book, music or games; all of which I always carry with me) time slows down to a insufferable crawl and even seconds seem impossibly long.

A small mind game I play with myself when I am stuck in one of the slow time situations (works only in the ones where there is a set amount of time that needs to be sped up) is to calculate percentages of the time remaining in relation to the original time block.

Situations where I have no control over the maximum amount of waiting required, with no way to distract myself, depending on the nature of the situation, I either suffer quietly or try frantically to get out of it. (Note to self: Need to find a solution for this)

Psychology > physiology

Psychology trumps physiology and I don’t mean it in the ‘David and Goliath’ way. A variation in the psyche can bring about tremendous change in our ability to perform physical activities.

We can jump further, run faster and hit harder, than we normally can, simply by beginning to believe that we can. Sports coaches have known this for ages and I found a lot of resources on the internet about sports psychology including some cool sounding ones such as ‘self-hypnosis and better performance’.

My own interest in this topic got piqued over this last long weekend (weekend + extra two days for Chinese new year). I found that because I had more time in the mornings it was almost 11 am before I would finish my morning exercises for the first two days. I was taking almost 3-3.5 hour to finish my exercise quota because the breaks were too frequent and too long. Even though I remember consciously trying to speed up I just felt too tired to perform faster and had to really struggle hard simply to continue.

I decided that I could not afford so much time once the work week started and I may have to lighten my exercise load to accommodate the demands of my body. This was a new sensation for me, for those who know me it would be very evident, I hate to give ground or give up in general.

However, I figured that since my performance was suffering maybe I had something such as sleep debt or maybe something more sinister such as heavy muscle fatigue and had better pay heed to my body.

Come Monday morning (also a holiday) I decided that I would only exercise as much as I comfortably could in an hour without worrying so much about my quota. The defeatist attitude with which I started my session had a genuine unpleasantness. Even though I kept telling myself that I would take it easy I kept trying to meet my original exercise goals and by the end of the hour was so near where I should have been that I continued for a few more minutes and completed my set.

I was simply ecstatic, this meant that I did not have to alter my original program and would be able to adhere to the timeline for my long term goals. In fact I felt so good about completing Monday’s program that I was still pepped on Tuesday morning and actually finished my program 3 minutes before time.

This made me wonder why I had so much trouble in the first place. My guess is that when my mind went into holiday mode it somehow weakened its resolve to workout and this got my body feeling vary even though it had plenty of energy. What got me out of the situation was the tussle between my conscious and sub-conscious mind. (though I can’t exactly figure which one wanted what)

Perspective

How can something so fickle be so powerful?

By simply altering our perception we are able to move mountains, realign planets and stop time. I know about the ‘tree falling in the forest’ bit but still stand in awe of this ability of our minds.

What triggered this chain of philosophical insight was a simple incident.

I was walking back with my groceries through a path in the middle of an open field when it started to rain (yes, I’m back in Singapore again). My first thought was to search for cover. As soon as that thought had arrived came the realization that it was futile as there wasn’t any shelter for more than a few hundred meters on either side (distances I wasn’t about to attempt running laden with 8 leters of milk and at least 6kgs of fruits and veggies all in plastic bags).

I knew that I was caught out in the middle of a flash shower and was going to get properly drenched. Leaving home a few hours earlier I had looked up at the fine sunny afternoon and turned my nose at my trusty umbrella despite knowing that this is monsoon season in a country where it rains all year round anyway. I softly swore at myself for being so obtuse.

As the first light drizzle enveloped me my mood surprisingly turned positive. The rain felt good on my straining arms and the cool drops quickly steamed off my hot head uplifting my spirits. As the breeze began to dance around me I quietly thanked mother nature for paying such close attention to my needs.

All this happened in a span of a few seconds (fast enough for me to notice) and that’s what got me to start thinking about perspective and the impact it has on my outlook.

Note for those concerned; my groceries were in plastic bags and nothing was water soluble anyway

Expectations

Standing on the sideline and cheering someone else on can sometimes be as involving as running the race yourself.

I like to see industrious and/or talented people struggle and overcome difficult odds to do remarkable things as I believe that adversity is the furnace in which the human mettle is tempered.

I may be giving off the impression here that I am mostly a silent spectator but I am not averse to giving a helping hand, vocal encouragement where I can.

However, whether I can or cannot provide assistance of some sort does not deter me from wishing for the triumph of the human endeavor. (over both adversity and more often than not complacency)

Smile :)

I notice that my previous three posts have been a little bit more profound (if I may even use that word with a straight face) than simple thoughts. Here’s a simple thought;

I wonder why we (by ‘we’ I mean the human race and most specially the urban metropolitan variants/deviants) cannot smile more often, especially since it is so easy and satisfying to do. Don’t get me wrong, being an entrepreneur and businessman I get to see a lot of smiles but most of them end at the curled lips with very depressingly few ever reaching the eyes.

Genuine smiles are pleasantly contagious and can spread wide even beyond the immediate vicinity of the smiler (sic). Genuine smiles are inspiring and can transmit faith and conviction. Genuine smiles convey a rich array of positive emotions and uplift the spirits and renew the zest for life.

As kids we all have that little bit of sunshine in us which we lose somehow as we grow up. I love to observe and remember how people smile and can (at least I believe I can) guess a lot about them over repeated encounters.

I am extremely fond of people who can genuinely smile and express warmth, contentment and affection. Such people are irreplaceable gems and perhaps without ever realizing spread cheer and comfort where they go.

If you know me and notice that I often seek your company then you too have shared your magic smile with me (for which I am most certainly grateful).

Restraint

While on the subject of anticipation I would like to mention one simple trial I love subjecting myself to.

For those curious about the immediate past: here’s me sitting with my hot mug of freshly brewed coffee.

I have found that a lot of satisfaction is to be had from simple exercise of restraint.

Case to point; I have come to absolutely adore the various smells that greet me at most Singapore food courts (no doubt a majority originating from cooked fish and various meats). I find the aroma extremely appetizing and since I go past mostly when I am hungry exponentially more tempting.

While I have no qualms about eating meat, I grew up in a vegetarian family and have great deference for my dad who is a strict vegetarian (out of respect for whom I have decided to stay vegetarian all my life).

The simple act of not partaking in what a portion of my mind and body seem to want (sometime quite severely) makes me feel proud of my capability of restraint.

The thing about restraint that we often overlook is that it is akin to any other skill the more we practice the better we get at it.

Anticipation

One of the most unbearably delicious of human conditions is anticipation.

Whether it is for taste, gifts, results of hard labor or simply someone’s company the strong desire and unnerving uncertainty mixed together make a potent cocktail of chemicals in our bodies.

I have discovered that by purposely delaying gratification for the simplest everyday things we can make life so much more exciting.

I want to have coffee right about now and the wafting vapors coming from the coffee machine just a few seconds away are making for quite an interesting tussle between my mind (will), my mind (desire) and body (olfactory nerves).

Hunger

I skipped dinner last night because I had too much popcorn watching the movie. I skipped breakfast to get to the studio on time for a board meeting and then had just tea around noon when I had a chance to eat because I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for my planned lunch meeting which got delayed.

Flash forward to 2.00 pm, time had buzzed past cause I was going through the tide of mail in my ‘unattended since Friday evening’ mailbox. I felt a very unfamiliar but pleasant sensation.

I felt hungry

I haven’t been hungry for a long time, which in itself is a blessing.

As I always eat three meals, and since I sit for most of my day I don’t think I need or burn those calories ever. I can even remember burping in the mornings from meals I ate on previous nights. Feeling hungry felt good and made me realize that for once I had given my digestive system some rest.

I ate a Dosa at a not-so-good restaurant a little while later (only place that was open at 3.30) and it tasted so good. I definitely recommend getting hungry before eating to thoroughly and thankfully enjoy whatever you get to eat afterwards.