Things you don’t have !

Scene 1.0

At 10:56 p.m. EDT Armstrong is ready to plant the first human foot on another world. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder and proclaims:

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." (› Play Audio)

- One Giant Leap For Mankind | NASA

---

This was on the news on 20th July 2015 for whole day. Social media, Newspapers, Internet, Blogs (and now here !) and TV all were rolling the reels.

It’s been 40 years.

It was 20th July 1969.

---

I always wanted to Quote this: somehow, somewhere. It is like a long awaited wish has been granted.

Hmmm !!

Now I suddenly feel sad, excited and intrigued to see how this post will come out.

Anyway, let’s see what I have in the mind.

I have been going through articles on this historic day. I was able to get few things to make a post out of it. Never thought, it will be this topic.

I am kind of having a momentary personality disorder, I suppose !!

Let’s see the,

FACTS :

• “ The computer on the moon lander was of 64 Kb and operated at 0.043MHz. ”

Well, my first phone was Nokia 6600, device with 3.6Mb of memory and 104MHz processor speed and I had installed a media card on it, though I never got a call from NASA to build any Lander till date.

And the worst thing is that… I am an engineer, too !

Damn !! Missed by an inch :)

• “ Even today, the computers on ISS are powered mainly by Intel 386, a Processor which made it’s last  ramp walk during 1985. ”

My brother uses a Dell Vostro with i3 processor, twice a month, just to update his iPhone.

This is strange !

He didn’t got a call from NASA. 

He’s also an Engineer !

Damn !! Missed by an inch, again :)

• “ An IBM System/360 model 75 had been loaded with a software written to monitor astronaut’s bio medical data and spacecraft’s environment. It was of 6 MB, only. ”

My WhatsApp source is of 11 MB. And I use it just to watch some funny videos shared in groups I’m enrolled.

Nope ! Still didn’t get any call !

Damn ! Why the hell I am missing all the things :(

---

The people who worked for the moon mission during 60s at NASA never knew there will be something called a Tesla car. If we take a count, they were like kindergarteners compared to PhDs, today. The technological gap was huge.

Come on I mean, just a 6 MB software? My friends transfer voice messages of 9 MB just to confirm what movie to go this weekend.

Lame ! I am really thinking whether this is the reason NASA never call me or what. :p

The point that I found surprising that, Niel, Michel and Buzz were able to roll out the entire mission with this sort of technology.

That era was the miraculous one. Gordon E. Moore in 1965 said the Moore’s law for ICs.

Two events, narrating the world which probably more complicated and less technocratic, or may be other way around.

---

I had a chance during last year to visit a Health program, run by a famous local Hospital. Being a student of anthropology, I got the entry directly approved by the then program director of that Hospital.

Surprisingly, HP and L&T India had sponsored the technology for the program. It was a Rotavirus vaccination trial unit with well-equipped hospital to handle even a minuscule surgery.

People around the village been taught to operate few instruments and trained to help the onsite doctors. They are not even a high school pass out but they know how to measure Diabetes and assist Pregnancy operations.

It’s been only 40 years and technology that Apollo 11 was not having at that time, is now with the villagers in India. This shows the adaptability of Human nature for technology. We have been surviving for past two hundreds thousands years may be because of this. Technology has served well, very well in fact till now.

…but !

A big BUT

What becomes of you if just for a day you lose your mobile?

Ummm ! I am kind of broke without it.

Seriously !

My work calls, updates, network referrals, task talks or even payment notifications will take a halt with it for one whole day. I’ll skip my food even… :(

Gosh ! This is frightening. Even more than, Batman v Superman trailer.

My worldly transactions and connections are met with this single device. And I can’t afford to get it taking a halt, not even for a single hour and I’m sure most of you would agree with me.

---

Now, let take a wakeup call here.

I have put three cases,

A) Apollo 11

B) HP and L&T India supporting villagers

C) Batman v Superman paradox for my cell (dibs on Batman !)

---

If you want to understand today’s post, you will have to take a deep sneak peek to contemporary human life needs.

We are social connected, but like a bug in the spider’s web. Can’t move or drop out or be free or take a deep breathe, even.

I am writing this post surrounded by four electronic media devices. This is not bad. This is good. This is the gift of last 40 years. And I am really enjoying it. Those villager who are part of HP and L&T India program, are also enjoying it.

Technology has definitely helped us. Connected us. Made life more simple and interesting. In the example of spider’s web, it is on Bug’s discernment as to what limit, get into the web’s depth, with what sort of muscle strength.

I write this blog to make the life simpler. But that can never happen by going back to the Stone Age.

Never, I say.

This does not mean that the bug should go with the lean muscles to the web, else there will not be anything left to connect right after Spidy’s breakfast.

There are contradictions.

The best psychologist is one, who can build contradictions, if there aren’t any, just to make a point clear.

Well, following two are there already, saving my much of the time.

• Have a technology
• Use a technology

One side of the contradiction is, you get technology. And the other is, you must know when.

• First is web, second is the bug’s muscle power
• First is what you can have, second is what you should
• First is choice, second is the understanding of choices
• First is opportunity, second is utility
• First is ability, second is responsibility
• First is action, second is the reaction
• First is availability, second is capability
• First is assumed life, second is provable transcendence

Enough !

---

(…watch the Batman v Superman trailer and listen to the original of this dialogue…)

“…the world has been so caught up with what It can do, that no one had asked what It should do…”

This is what I exactly want you all to understand.

In my last post, The fights we Lead !, I tried to make a point how easily we get misguided with the power of Exaggeration and Attraction for anything and making life a race to collect exaggerated things. Stocking a pile of them.

This seems to be absolutely in resonance with this post’s findings also.

We are motivated and encouraged to stock. (May be by some inner psychological needs, let’s find out them in next post)

YES !

To Stock.

Just like the stockist, who stock for the products.

We spend hours together standing in line just to buy a phone; whose 65% functions will remain unused even after banging it for 16 to 17 hours a day.

Frankly, just tell me, when did you use the stopwatch of your cell phone? When did you use the inbuilt currency converter last time? How many applications are there in your cell that you don’t use daily? Just check the last opened in history. I have 11 out of 29.

I just found that I have been on blogspot.com, since 2007, but never thought to write till last few months.  :D

We are excellent stockist. Be it Gold, Silver, Shares, Money or Things.

The silver line between what we have and what we actually need, is very very thin. For some people, may be it isn’t there at all, i.e my mother: The super stockist.

---

 The findings are,

• We are stockiest. We store; memory, feelings, pain, money and things, matters and motives and the technology, too. We just store too much than needed
  
• We don’t know how to utilize. We just know consumption. (cell phone example)
  
• Technology is there to make life simple, like it did for those villagers
  
• We should learn to make simpler choices for technology
  
• Life went on and will go on even if you have only needed technology (like, Apollo 11 )

---

With this, I’ll plan for next post.

Read the FACTS again.

Those people reached to the moon with much basic technology than even today’s preschools got; which BTW have started to use animated videos making children understand how the Apple looks like.

Finishing with last quote,

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

Carl Sagan

---

This post has taken its data and facts references from,

• Man on the Moon: Technology then and now 

• Apollo 11's Vintage Tech: The Most Amazing Moon Landing

---

The Four ! (Ep. 02)

Get ready people for another interesting fact about Human body.

In a new research at Futurama University, Minato, Tokyo, Japan; Dr John A. Zoidberg has found, “Humans are the direct descendent of the Octopus”. Explaining his research Dr Zoidberg told, “...this settles the query, from where our mind has got its nature like the suction cups, from Octopus!”

A very shocking but much needed breakthrough it is. And tell you what, I have been regular kind of victim of this nature. Believe me.

Here are some examples of Suction cups of minds,

• If I don’t eat green vegetables, mom would kill me.
• If I don’t play cricket, my dad would kill me.
• If I don’t crack exam, my teacher would kill me.
• If I break the TV, my brother would kill me.
• If I don’t make it to the dinner, my aunt would kill me.
• If I operate the computer, my uncle would kill me.
• If I accidently smile at my neighbour’s car, his dog would kill me.
• If I don’t go the movie, my friends would kill me…etcetera! (and if I’ll write more of these things, you would kill me)
  
  

I am not sure, if I would have been failed to any of the above, how many times I would have met death.

---

This is what I have understood as the mind’s suction cups. Even my neighbour’s dog was holding something with the suction cups. No matter how old the mind grew with brain, culture or society since the beginning of the Evolution, I don’t think any of us (even Dogs) was able to locate the depressurizing switch to these suction cups.

Let’s move forward. I have something to explain. 

Something like this,

I have analysed two things about the Suction cups,

A) We hold many (dead or alive) things with them

B) These holdings are mostly unseen to us (even to Dogs) (I’ve seen some of them running after vehicles…not sure whether this government has announced separate licenses for them or what !!)

And the take away point here is that, these findings are true. These holdings manage, our subconscious behaviours all the time. Or let’s say hiding that depressurising switch from us.

And this is mean I say  :(

---

How these unseen holdings are smirking at us?

(Don’t know about ‘us’ but I definitely have been being bothered a much with these holdings)

Anyway, I was able to list these conclusive points to the question,

• First, these holdings are unseen, means none of us take a deep think over it. We are having some features (um, let’s not decide whether it is a bad feature or not) that we don’t know how to operate. Cool, aye? (I think, we all should be given a Self-Guide Kit at the time of birth, to know things like this in advance)

• Second, these holdings might (they usually do) have been consuming our utility, capacity and calibre to do something more important (other than watching who is smiling at your owner’s car ! Damn you Dog!!), than giving attentions to these holdings.
   

A simple exercise to find out how attention savvy you are:

• Think how much time, your boyfriend/girlfriend playing a little more cool to the guest in the party, did it take to trash the memory?
   
• Remember, when that idiot crashed your new Porsche with an era old motorbike? For how many days you were thinking to run over his bike?
   

Guess what! They say, it takes almost 30 years for a child trauma, blocking the creativity, to get healed. Who gave us that trauma? (6 out of 10 times, The Schools)

• Third, the more holdings we have in a company, the more we get from the profits and the more from losses. So is the rule for these holdings too. The more we have, the more we put ourselves in the places where we’re simply not needed. And the more we are put in to the things which really can be taken of the shelves, the more amount of Happiness we take to make ourselves comfortable.
   

Happiness is like the cash earnings out of things you do or do not. More numbers of holdings means the smaller piece each holding would get. Like, more the number of children, smaller the piece each will get of Cake, a simple paradox. To balance this paradox, either don’t invite notorious kids who will ask for a large piece of cake, or get a bigger cake.
 

• Fourth, having small piece of cake in the plate will make you smile? Think. Think deeply (and if it does, I am definitely gonna take the large piece). (But sadly) it usually does not make you happy. Meaning that, the more things to hold, the more to do for happiness and it will not be enough ever (it is called the indirect proportionate between two functions in mathematics, if A increases, B will decrease with the same rate. A = k/B, k being a constant).

• Fifth, (now this is a ‘for’ argument) this goes true for the sadness even. So, with the simple rule; more numbers of things you can hold to, less sadness you would get to each piece. This is why perhaps, rather than running over to that idiot’s bike, you ran over your Porsche to some Policemen in the GTA.
   

Understanding these five points the next big question you should ask is,

How do we depressurize these suction cups, then? And is it suitable do that?

Well, this is simple.

Actually, you kind of have a list in mind about these holdings. So, these holdings are unseen but not been there unrecorded. If you find that list, you will have to just check which is having a positive sign and which is not.

Those, which carry a positive sign against them, are the ones helping you to smoothen your growth trajectory, for the environment you are in.

For example, having a holding in fear let’s say, making students to study hard and skip the smiling at neighbour’s car, at the times of examinations, usually supports them to do well.

Or having a holding in the controls, your life partner should act safe with others, usually help to deepen the trust factors in relationships. This shows a depth of Care and Feelings of attachment to each other.

Science has found out that, without these positive emotional holdings, our IQ actually drops down. We can easily be broke psychologically and like a black hole, tend to suck into the singularity, whooping off all the happiness out of every single thing. These situations lead to many of the psychosomatic dieses known to mankind (now you know why you have been taught that, ‘Man is a Social animal’).

This suggests that, it is not suitable to us to remove or drop all types of the holdings. If we do, we might lose all of our stakes (creating the sad black hole).

We will have to use the secret tool we have been gifted with, to keep a balance. It is called “Discernment” (in an offshore meaning, “The Common-sense”). This tool will help us to enlist the holdings into two categories, let’s say white (those we shouldn’t drop) and black (other than white :p).

Once you have a clear and categorized list, you can think the complexity of each holdings, falling in black category.

You never know since how long you’ve been investing into any particular holding. The longer the duration is, the longer it will take to drop. You will have to use your judgements now, how to drop.

Dropping isn’t that much hard to do once we know which one is to be dropped.

Let’s say you want to drop your holdings of overly concern about your Porsche. It is just the matter of understanding that, you would have not been much of the sad, even if you did not have a Porsche at all. Yes, you get it right.

You just have to analyse yourself without that particular holding. Even if you wouldn’t have it, would you’ve been able to manage the life? And believe me, most of the times the answer to this question is YES.

Not because you don’t share esteem or pride or honour in having a Porsche, but you know that the feelings you got for having a Porsche, are not stationary. Your brain already know, how likely is to get it stolen, crashed (of course you would survive to think this) or even get it lost (um, well, once I kinda lost my Bike. Don’t ask me HOW?).

It says this is the 1440th word (Yaay !).

Anyway, so point what I am trying to make is that, we already are recording/registering these holdings. We kind of know the distinction from Black to White and we even know which holdings are temporary and which are not.

Then where and what is the Question smarty pants?

Chill…!!

The only thing we must notice is that: we have to dig these explanations out.

Yup. We need to dig since when we are investing into what all holdings and what will be life if we have not had them at all. If you can do this, you will find a way to handle the things very easily.

For, now you know how to handle life without them. And if you find your life manageable without these holdings, you won’t invest them a dime into it.

There is a saying in Supply Chain Management stream,

If you don’t know what is where,

You can’t say how much is there !

---

---

Let’s put all things together at the end,

• Our mind acts like the Octopus suction cups
• We have certain holdings to these cups
• We invest in these holdings to make ourselves comfortable
• We should figure out the explanations of these holdings
• We have to maintain a suitable amount of holdings to keep a balance (not creating black hole) (maintaining the critical mass)
• Futurama is a Cartoon Series and Dr Zoidberg is a talking lobster in it (believe me)(:p)
• The car = daughter
   

Ahaan ! I knew it about the Futurama.

Hmm !

----

We all know what we know at all.

Long live Dr Zoidberg !!