“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” -Thomas Edison

Just like everyone else in the world, I’m “celebrating” the end of the year by reflecting on the ups and downs of the past twelve months. Unlike everyone else, however, I’m not sugarcoating anything — in the realm my own life, 2007 was a failure of catastrophic proportions. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

Projects:

• Dream Machine

Of the five projects on which I made any headway this year, the Dream Machine was probably the most successful… though that’s not a major feat given the competition. Beyond my original prediction that the project would take two weeks (it took six), I’ve also failed to attempt any sort of virtualization. Nowadays, I pretty much just stick with OS X. The laptop runs beautifully, but I’m simply not using it to its full potential. Lesson learned — Tweaking doesn’t need a purpose; it’s fun for its own sake. I’m itching to try out the latest versions of Ubuntu and Fedora, though…

• Fitness

Though the Fitness project admittedly wasn’t the extent of my focus on health (more on that in a moment), it’s safe to say that I bombed it. I didn’t exactly get off to a “running” start (get it?), and I eventually got bored and stopped recording my progress. In the weeks following, I noticed a slowdown in improvement (and even some slight deterioration), to the point where I eventually decided that it wasn’t worth my time and I would have to re-work the project. Lesson learned — Health isn’t a project that can be tackled half-heartedly.

• Polyphasic Sleep

This project was a failure only in the sense that I didn’t achieve what I set out to achieve — two hours of sleep, every night, for an indefinite period of time. I did, however, master such feats as napping around the clock (for varying lengths, averaging about 90 minutes), waking up drenched, and making my roommates think that I escaped from an asylum. Lesson learned — People have no idea what to do about others who don’t share their sleep habits.

• Resolutions 2007

Last year, I claimed that I would score 20 “productive” hours (whatever that means) each and every day. No, I wasn’t under the influence or playing a prank. In some aspects, I’ve achieved that, but what I’ve truly failed at doing is documenting my time or using any form of accountability. I definitely feel better about myself in this regard than I did a year ago, but I don’t really have anything to show for it. Lesson learned — When it comes to productivity, choose quality over quantity.

• Write, Write, Write!

Write, Write, Write! was never an “all-year” project, but it’s worth mentioning. I wasn’t at all frequent or consistent with publishing (especially during this fall); not usually for a lack of writing material, but for a (perceived ;)) lack of time. I wish to carve out a certain amount of time every day for Don’tASQ instead of waiting until I have “a free minute.” Lesson learned — A great thing about writing is that it can be done any hour of the day.

Areas of Focus:

• Finance

Despite having worked a full-time job for seven months (instead of taking classes), I’m arguably not much better off financially now than I was last year. However, there’s no question that I’ve learned a lot about finance from all of the little things — savvy co-workers and roommates studying business, and even the process of finding the right credit card. Lesson learned — Debt in America is bad news!

• Fitness

In addition to the Fitness project (briefly reviewed above), I’ve made some serious attempts to change my diet. While I’ve had a bit of success, my biggest problem is, once again, not documenting that progress. Lesson learned — Fitness and Finance are mutually exclusive (healthy food can be expensive!)

• Relationships

Compared to a year ago, when I lived alone, this year has been incredible from a social standpoint (living with several good friends). Hermitization is on the decline and procrastination is on the rise! On the romantic side, I decided earlier in the fall that the timing wasn’t right to pursue any romantic relationship; surprisingly enough, I’m glad I made this choice, and it’s actually been kind of a stress relief. Lesson learned — Okay, so maybe not everything in 2007 failed.

Happy New Year! 2008 will be your best one yet!

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I’d prefer to avoid writing constant updates about projects which are personal rather than global in nature (by “personal” I mean those which only directly involve me — currently, all of them). Don’tASQ is not about me but about us, and it’s important for readers to understand where that focus lies. Nevertheless, I also feel it’s important to keep you informed when I virtually disappear for a month without warning. In this roll-up, I address the status of all current and a couple of near-future projects — not to explain where I have been (though that will be answered), but to give you an idea of where we will be going. (more…)

Imagine a scenario in which we have a five-person Mini-Congress which votes on various issues. The issue at hand is one of great importance — we must decide on our national fruit. The vote is to be decided by simple majority; it takes three votes to win the selection. Unfortunately, it looks like you and I are currently in the minority. The Stooge Party, consisting of Senators Larry, Curly, and Moe, plan to stay within party lines and make the Sillyfruit our new national symbol. You and I, as respected members of the Ape Party and fans of the Banana, can do little but watch this– err… silliness unfold.

So, what exactly is the problem with political parties? Suppose that neither Larry nor Curly actually wanted to vote for the Sillyfruit, but did it merely to remain in good favor with Moe (the Majority Leader). Suppose that Larry was in favor of the Cashew (he always was a little nutty), while Curly wished to nominate the Snozberry. Since they would obviously have a hard time rallying support for either of those fruits, both of them would have considered voting for the Banana as a second choice. However, doing so would have signaled weaknesses in the party line… and possibly cost them the next election. Thus, the Sillyfruit, an option disliked by four of the five Senators, wins the vote.

It doesn’t take a political pundit to see how the elimination of parties could have ensured a better choice for everyone involved (except maybe Moe). Instead, “silliness” prevailed — and the same thing happens in the real world, probably more often than we’d like to believe. Rather than letting the Congressmen think for themselves, the political world forces them to choose between two sets of ideas, deciding which set most closely matches their beliefs, and basing their entire career around a set of ideas of which they may only agree with a few. Of course, the general public is no less guilty; anyone who dares to challenge the two-party system has only a small chance of even appearing on the mainstream radar, much less getting elected.

Form camps around issues, not stereotypes.

What is information? What is it good for? What is its market value, and how much does it cost to produce? What are the drawbacks of faulty information? Is information subject to laws or other restrictions? Should it be?

None of these questions are trivial to answer, but I’d like to encourage you to look at them from what may be a new viewpoint for you. (more…)

Slumps — those annoying periods of time when we seem to… suck at life, for lack of a better phrase. From athletes to chefs, politicians to poker players, nobody is safe from the occasional slump. In fact, I seem to be having a slump of my own this week; careful scrutinizers will note that I not only skipped a workout day on Wednesday, but on Friday I also failed to write a post in accordance with the Supreme Laws of Write, Write, Write!

While annoying to perfectionists, slumps prove that we are merely humans, and none of us are perfect (or at least very few of us ).

I can’t say for certain that slumps can be readily avoided, but the best way to pull out of one is to apply some motivation. Obviously, someone in a slump is going to have a hard time finding that motivation. You can start by reading some other posts which weren’t written while I was in a slump of my own.

Yesterday, I got into a discussion with a friend about the viability of non-traditional education; specifically, “Sudbury schools,” in which students essentially teach themselves. I had read this article a few months ago (and here is the website of the school mentioned), and that was primarily the center of discussion. I’d highly recommend giving it a read as well.

Personally, I couldn’t agree more with many of the points brought up. Contrary to popular belief, children don’t need adults standing around telling them what to do and how to do it. Heck, Charles XII became the King of Sweden at age 15. If children desire instruction, that should of course be available to them; however, they should be free to learn what they view as important. The article theorizes (and in my experience, this strongly holds true) that humans learn much more quickly and efficiently when they have a reason to be interested in the material. Personally, I think I would have thrived in a “Sudbury” school. I especially like this statistic near the end: 42% of graduates go on to become entrepreneurs.

What do you think?

I’ve written a bit about personal growth, and it’s a topic that will probably be featured here much more. What follows is a blog entry I wrote on April 16th, 2006 (before this site existed). This was a highly stressful period in my life, during my sophomore year of college, suffering the pre-finals crunch at the end of the spring semester.

I’ve often tried to pinpoint when exactly my goals in life shifted from something like, “study Engineering, make big bucks, marry hot chick” to “study everything, devote life to improving the world, marry decent-looking chick who agrees with those plans.” This entry may provide some insight…

My suitemates are in the common room laughing loudly at something most likely vulgar and obscene on the TV. They sound like a bunch of stereotypical, lazy college guys. A year ago, I’d probably be going out there to see what was so entertaining. Right now, though, it’s just kind of pissing me off - and I’m not even doing homework. How can people waste so many hours of their lives engrossed in watching a colored screen, without any sort of interaction or mental stimulation? Sitting on a couch, absorbing the things someone else took days/weeks/months to create, regurgitating various phrases over alcoholic drinks and pretending it’s actually cool.

… What’s happening to me?

While the tone is fairly negative, looking back on it, this was a time of trials with a very positive outcome. Moral of the story: Things will get worse before they get better… and they always get better.

I haven’t slept for a full cycle in three nights… and so far, I’m feeling just fine. This isn’t exactly polyphasic sleep again (yet), but I’m feeling that hyper-awareness state coming on.

What’s this all about? Just another experiment, mostly. I’m using a software-based alarm that plays music and resets itself every 23 minutes around the clock, kind of like an extended snooze button. Even if I sleep through once, it won’t be long until it attempts to arouse me again. And again. And again. I should mention that this music gradually builds up to full volume, and the only way to “hit the snooze” is to wake up and log into the computer; actually shutting the alarm off requires typing commands, something I’m not likely to be able to figure out in a zombie state.

Yes, it’s probably more complicated and geekish than it needs to be, but I thought the concept was worth a mention since I’d never heard of anyone else attempting it — a 20-25 minute snooze button that never gives up! The goal of this would be to first train oneself into sleeping entirely in naps before ever attempting deprivation. Assuming someone could adjust to taking 4-5 naps each day and enduring the constant reawakening at night, it would be extremely simple to cut out that extra sleep at night. The only problem I can foresee would be that simply awakening every 20 minutes wouldn’t be enough to bring someone completely out of sleep (hence immediately returning to a normal sleep cycle rather than “resetting” to a new nap). I guess the best way to test this would be an EEG, wouldn’t it? But where will I ever find one of those…

“The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.” –Unknown

That must mean we crazy world-changers are just fools, right?

In all seriousness, this is something I’ve grappled with on more than one occasion. It’s quite fantastic wanting to change the world and all of that jazz, but in exactly what ways should it be changed? It’s easy for me to point at a major global problem and say, “This is wrong. Let’s fix it.” Someone else, however, may see that problem as less serious than a different one — or not even a problem at all. How can I be so arrogant as to say that my perception of an ideal world is identical to the perception that others might hold? And how can we effectively improve the world when we might not even know what “improving” means?

The questions delve into the deepest crevasses of philosophy, and I have no answers to them. Perhaps someday I will.

Ten years ago…
Do you suffer from heartburn more than once a week? It may not be just your diet… you may have Acid Reflux Disease!

Today…
Do you have trouble sleeping at night and a constant urge to keep moving? It may not be just hyperactivity… you may have Restless Legs Syndrome!

Ten years from now…
Do you suffer from unusual hair color and a tendency to be bratty? It may not be genetics… you may have Redhead Disorder!