The Matrix

However, I can’t help feeling that some gaping holes have been left–deliberately or mistakenly–behind. Here are a few things that strike me as really odd:

• The machines depend on human beings for energy. And so they cultivate humans in vast fields. All fine and dandy, but I can’t understand why the machines can’t harness solar energy? After all, the sun is still shining as brightly as ever above the dark clouds hovering the Earth. Why not exterminate all carbon-based life forms and live happily ever after?
• The clash is between humans and machines, and yet the machines are nothing but human-like in behavior. They get angry, frustrated, enjoy crushing their opponent, and even talk of purpose. “Wait a minute,” you’re saying, “The movie wants to show that artificial intelligence has advanced sufficiently.” That may be so, but it raises more questions than it answers. For instance, the Architect sneers at the human idea of hope when Neo decides he’d go after Trinity. If human emotions were what the machines were after, why hate them?

All in all, there are too many grey areas in the movie, which definitely make it a cinematic treat but weaken the concept. There are some things that can be easily overlooked (Neo can stop bullets with his will power but not punches), and some that can’t be.

I came across a brilliant post on LifeHacker that deals with this crisis. Have a look: http://lifehacker.com/why-its-so-hard-to-make-friends-after-college-and-wha-488975744

The average person may have been too busy to notice, but recently Flipkart has abandoned its flagship warehouse model. That means the company is no longer storing stuff at its own facilities. Instead, it has tied up with sellers to deliver the goods, making it more like — you guessed it, eBay! Of course no noise was made about it, but the absence of any more TV ads will confirm the demise. Another spectacular failure has been SnapDeal.com, which is now selling everything except deals (go on, have a look).

These examples reveal the ugly underbelly of e-commerce, where margins are too thin and competition cut-throat. Portals like Infibeam and Indiatimes Shopping have been selling things online for over a decade now, but e-commerce sweeping everything off their feet and transforming India — nope, that’s not happening.

Is this the end of e-commerce in India? No, it only means that we never even got started.

So imagine my jubilation when, after a long and excruciating search, I found what I believe to be the gentlest, friendliest, and most useful tutorial on the planet. And guess what, I’m afraid to lose it! So I’ve decided to host it on my website, with all credit to the author.

Here’s the file.

And here’s the original link: http://www.sba.pdx.edu/faculty/kristiy/kyaccess/nf3_tutorial.pdf

Every once in a while I have a moment of deep realization about life. These are rare occurrences, which usually follow a period of soul seeking, depression or plain boredom. Some people will say that these so-called epiphanies about life are meaningless subjective feelings unless they bring a real change – I tend to agree.

One such moment was actually a learning experience. It occurred when I was reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl – which, some will say, is already an acknowledgment that I was ripe for any self-discovery whatsoever. The book tells the story of Frankl’s experiences in the concentration camps during World War II, and also includes an introduction to a psychological method developed by the author, called Logotherapy.

Frankl describes the psychological reactions of different inmates, under the extreme conditions of the Auschwitz death camp. He tells about inmates who were so apathetic and hopeless they simply vegetated, waiting for death to come. Others found a reason to live by accepting the ordeals as challenges – for example, the challenge of living another day, the challenge of imagining or remembering a good moment with loved ones, the challenge of helping someone with something every day and so on.

“One could make a victory of those experiences, turning life into an inner triumph, or one could ignore the challenge and simply vegetate, as did a majority of the prisoners.”

After reading those lines, I couldn’t help but to ask myself – could this be true in normal life? Is it true that when I am depressed – I am really lacking a goal to work towards? Is it true that people who are working towards something well-defined are happier than people who are not? Could the meaning of life be the sum of all tasks and challenges that a person faces in order to achieve something?

Those philosophical questions have bothered me, because I couldn’t stand the thought that I was “vegetating” just like those prisoners. I had to find answers that will also be aligned with my world view.

I believe that life has no divine meaning. Nothing in life is more profoundly meaningful than anything else. However, I can still see my life as an opportunity to work towards a goal, viewing all the obstacles and difficulties in the way as challenges to beat. That could be the “meaning” of my life.

That was a moment of realization for me – understanding the benefits of simply having a goal in life, as trivial as it sounds. It is also clear to me that from a psychological point of view, the goal itself is not important – having a goal is all that matters. The goal itself can be arbitrary, as long as it works.

I know that most people will disagree with me that the goal itself is not important. I think that saying that some goals in life are more important than others is once again seeing divine meaning in things. I refuse to be dictated about what is important in life based on religion, culture, unproven beliefs or illusions.

Some will say that “all you need is love” and that family is the most important thing in life. I think that those are great emotion-driven frameworks for goals – they allow you to work towards something with passion, having to face many challenges along the way. That said, if other people are passionate about something else, they can be just as happy. It doesn’t matter what you are looking to get out of life, as long as you are looking.

This sounds a bit depressing, but I have learned that if there are two equally unproven explanations for a phenomenon, the depressing one is more likely to be true.

I believe I have learned something profound by asking myself these questions. It still remains, however, to choose a goal. It has to be chosen wisely: If the goal is too easy, for example, I will just accomplish it quickly and get back to square one. If the goal is too difficult, I will get frustrated and unmotivated. This is a list of criteria that I think life goals should satisfy:

• Distant but not far-fetched
• Simple to describe
• Personal but not secret
• Feasible but not straightforward
• Substantial but not too grand
• Moral

Most people already have a goal that keeps them going, whether it’s a father working hard to put food on his family’s table, or a musician who is practicing for hours a day so she could join an orchestra and perform before a large audience, or a young entrepreneur who is taking part in the development of a new mobile application, or a mother raising two small children – they are all working towards something and for something. In my eyes, they are enjoying all the benefits of having a clear goal in life, even – especially – if the process is hard and painful.

This post is about what I have learned, but I think it can also inspire others. Some people find themselves without clear goals in life. They move from one occupation to another, they find no excitement in their existing relationships, they find no purpose in what they are expected to do by society. They would seem to have everything a person needs: good health, wealth, a loving family and freedom to do whatever they please. They might also seem to enjoy life, doing all the stuff that society considers enjoyable. However, if they are not working toward a goal in life they are prone to feeling lost, depressed and are more likely to get addicted to various negative activities or drugs, constantly raising the dose.

If these people have nothing to work towards because they see no purpose in achieving anything, they should simply realize, like I did, that the achievement itself it not important. The state of having a goal to achieve is all that matters. The feeling that you need to get up in the morning to tackle another obstacle, to complete another task, to contribute a bit more and to work hard – that is what these people should pursue.

It’s a season of heartbreak for Google-lovers. First the Reader was obliterated, and now Google announces it’s going to “upgrade” everyone’s experience of Google Apps. Naturally, people are crying foul; especially those who where making decent money over Apps.

Is the hue and cry worth it? For $50 a year, I think it’s still a pretty decent deal. After all, a well-marketed website can help you make thousands of times more. Maybe millions.

Even people from weaker economies like India have no reason to complain.  $50 works out to be around INR 2,500. It’s the cost of a branded trouser. Hell, it’s less than the cost of a pair of running shoes. You spend more on drinks and junk food every month. Perhaps even every week. Your website is worth more than that, isn’t it?

And, oh, you could always switch to other free alternatives. Including Gmail.

“Compared to” is mostly used to highlight similarities (yes, you read that right) rather than differences. For instance, “Life can be compared to a journey”. On the other hand, “compared with” is used for contrasts: “Compared with last year’s, this year’s sales are better”.

Seems simple, eh? Not so fast! Turns out that “compared to” has another function: to highlight minor differences. So you might come across sentences like “Compared to her, I’m a jovial person”.

Now how to tell a major difference from a minor one, I leave to you. In other words, I leave you in tears!

Why do we fail? Why is it that even after numerous attempts, our goal seems to be no closer?

There are many scintillating successes in the world, but those are actually exceptions. For every person who was able to attain superhuman success (say, Steve Jobs), there are millions of failures who tried just as hard. Sure you can disagree and say that they didn’t try hard enough, but how do we measure “hard enough”? This line of reasoning also doesn’t work when you’re at the receiving end.

As far as I understand this, there are two reasons for not making it. The first is ignorance; that is, people are not wise enough to realize they are working in the wrong direction. For instance, if you do something your heart doesn’t agree with, failure is guaranteed. The second, and more important reason, is destiny. People who seemed to succeed effortlessly were destined to do that thing. It doesn’t mean that they had it easy; quite the contrary. However, once that period of struggle was past, their effort were destined to bring fruit, as dictated by their karma.

So how do we know whether we are struggling in vain or not? Well, we are never struggling in vain, because we are only doing what we were destined to do. All human beings are moving toward perfection, but their roads taken are different. You will find solace only when you have worked out your karma. Running away will not solve anything.

Seen in this light, there are no failures or successes in the world.

Image via Flickr.

The most paradoxical aspect of writing is the sheer reluctance writers feel to get started on something. The idea of having to create “something special” — especially when you have no clue how to — can be paralyzing for most. What can be done to overcome this inertia?

Sadly, I’ve found that the oft-repeated advice of “Just get started!” doesn’t work for me. If I’m not in the mood, how can I “just” get started? And on those countless occasions that I’ve tried, the output has been shoddy enough to arouse self-effacement.

What works, then?

The answer is, a calm mind. It is only through silence that creation ensues. Noise creates nothing but noise. So if you want to accomplish some writing goals, the first job is to calm this wonderful troublemaker we call the brain. Sit down and meditate for 5-10 minutes; more if you want to. Forget about writing and what the finished piece is going to look like. Just focus on the silence, the absolute nothingness.

With practice, you’ll find your writing flowing effortlessly.

Image via Flickr.